Teacher in London becomes Somalian Dy PM
London: In what could be termed a bizarre chain of events, a teacher in a London college failed to return when classes reopened after summer recess. His colleagues were astonished when they found he had a new job as the deputy Prime Minister of Somalia.
Mohamed Ibrahim, 64, was a learning support teacher at the Newman Catholic College in Brent, north London, for the past two years.
Ibrahim was summoned back to Somalia to take up a senior role in the West-backed transitional government which was introduced over the summer, the Daily Mail reported.
Head teacher Richard Kolka said he only found out about Ibrahim’s political reputation when he “Googled” his name.
He discovered his colleague had his name on the Somalia government register.
“I first heard that Mohamed was not coming back to school from a Somali colleague, who told me he had been appointed to an important political position. I Googled his name and realised that he had been appointed the new deputy prime minister,” Kolka said.
“I just thought Mohamed would be having a normal summer holiday, but when I found out he had helped form a new government I must say I was truly astonished.”
“I didn’t quite believe it, to be honest, and looked at the calendar to make sure it wasn’t an April fool,” he said.
Ibrahim later contacted Kolka and said he would not be returning as a teacher because he was now a deputy prime minister.
“I congratulated him – but must admit it was one of those situations where you don’t quite believe it is happening,” Kolka said.
Somalia has been hit by insurgency and piracy, and is suffering from the worst famine in 60 years. (IANS)
Man dies after getting entangled in clothes airer
London: A man was killed in a bizarre accident at his home after getting entangled in an indoor clothes airer, used commonly for drying washed clothes.
A father of two, Brian Depledge, 38, fell backwards into the airer, causing it to collapse with his head trapped between rungs and surrounded by wet washing, the Daily Express reported.
Depledge made frantic efforts to free himself, but all in vain, as it only made the compression worse by creating a “cat’s cradle effect”, an inquest heard.
Detective inspector Mark Long said Depledge, who lived alone in Bradford, appeared to have attempted to untangle himself from the airer by putting his right arm through one of the segments. But by pushing down on the bars, it tightened “like a concertina”.
He said the man could have tripped over a small stool in his living room, which was found lying at his feet.
The clothes at the top of the airer were still wet, which would have put even more pressure on his neck, Long added. (IANS)
Russia major jailed for beating soldiers
Moscow: A Russian army major has been sentenced to four years in prison for beating a warrant officer and a soldier.
A military court in Vladivostok also stripped Maj. Igor Matveyev of his rank.
Matveyev, who has a previous criminal record, said he would appeal the conviction.
The former major gained notoriety after a video posted on YouTube exposed corruption at an army base near Vladivostok.
In the video, he accused the base chief of overseeing illegal activities and forcing servicemen to eat dog food. (IANS)
Kids entertained at Abu Dhabi hospital
Abu Dhabi: The Abu Dhabi administration staged an event at a city hospital to entertain about 100 children admitted there for long periods.
The programme held at Al Mafraq Hospital comprised contests and plays featuring popular cartoon characters, poems and magic shows. Gifts were also given to the children who were extremely delighted.
Their parents hailed this humanitarian initiative launced by the Municipality of Abu Dhabi City.
Badriyah Al Dhahiri, director of community services at the municipality, said they were pleased to stage such humanitarian programmes that promote community values, interaction and compassion as well as which boost social solidarity. (IANS)
Chinese school steals its teachers’ identities for scam
Beijing: A school in China stole the identities of more than 200 of its teachers and used them to take out mortgages amounting to over $2.8 million.
The No.5 Middle School in Shanxian county in Shandong province used fake documents to get mortgages from a bank.
The information of some teachers was used several times and the school even paired up male and female teachers by having fake marriage certificates, Shanghai Daily quoted China National Radio as reporting.
The scam came to light when some teachers applied for loan.
Wei Anting, the school’s union president, learnt he had at least two mortgages in his name.
Li, housing authority director, claimed the loans were approved due to “an oversight”. (IANS)