GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

1 Bandy-ing the rules

MOSCOW: Two clubs in the winter sport of bandy raced to put the ball into their own nets 20 times on Sunday and now face disciplinary action. The Russian Super League game finished in an 11-9 win for BaikalEnergiya over Vodnik. It was 0-0 with 22 minutes to go before Vodnik player Oleg Pivovarov scored three own goals. BaikalEnergiya responded with nine own-goals. Not to be outdone, Pivovarov then put the ball into his own team’s goal eight more times.

2 Bilden withdraws

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s choice to be secretary of the navy has withdrawn from consideration for the post, citing concerns about privacy and his business interests. The nominee, Philip Bilden, is a businessman and former military intelligence officer in the army reserve. Mr Bilden said he would not be able to satisfy the Office of Government Ethics requirements without what he calls “undue disruption and materially adverse divestment of my family’s private financial interests”. He recently retired from a global private equity management firm after 25 years.

3 Phone may be fake

LONDON: A battered wartime telephone said to be Adolf Hitler’s personal “hotline” which sold for $315,500 last week could be a fake. The British man who let go of the handset after 72 years in his family dismissed doubts about its authenticity, but revealed the sale had caused him anguish and regret. Ranulf Rayner said his decision to sell the red phone had caused ructions with his sons.

4 Bomber captured

JAKARTA: Indonesian police have shot and captured a suspected terrorist after a bomb explosion in West Java. The man let off a pressure cooker bomb in a park in the city of Bandung about 8.30am yesterday local time, before running and hiding at a nearby government building where he started a fire. It is understood no one was injured in the attack.

5 OJ parole possible

NEVADA: OJ Simpson could be released on parole as early as October after serving just nine years of a 33-year sentence for kidnapping, robbery and assault. Due to good behaviour, the 69year-old former NFL star and actor’s chances for release are said to be good. Once paroled, Simpson, who was infamously cleared of the 1994 murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman, can begin to cash in on the $3.5 million built up from his NFL pension during his jail time.