GLOBAL SNAPSHOT

Rain ramps up hope

WELLINGTON: Light rain has fallen in Christchurch, boosting New Zealand firefighters’ efforts to control a huge bushfire as residents evacuated from their homes wait to find out when they can return. At least 11 homes have been destroyed in the Port Hills blaze, which forced the evacuation of about 450 homes and sent more than 1000 people fleeing.

Twins at 64

MADRID: A doctor in northern Spain says a 64-year-old woman has given birth to healthy twins following her second successful pregnancy at an advanced age. Dr Enrique Martin said the babies were “perfectly healthy” and weighed 2.4kg (boy) and 2.2kg (girl). The mother had her first child at age 58 and became pregnant a second time after seeking in-vitro fertilisation in the United States.

Thimble won’t pass

NEW YORK: You can still pass Go and collect $200 on the Monopoly board, but you soon won’t be able to do it with the thimble game piece. During Hasbro’s recent Monopoly Token Madness Vote, people rejected the thimble in favour of hashtags, tyrannosauras, emojis and a rubber duck.

Free Sim with entry

NEW DELHI: India will start giving tourists free, preactivated SIM cards on arrival in the country. The cards will be loaded with 50MB of data, plus some credit for phone calls, and they’re available to tourists from 161 countries who come to India on an e-visa. They’ll first be available in New Delhi.

Samsung plunges

SEOUL: Samsung’s stock price plunged at the Seoul Exchange after it was announced that its vice president and heir to the business conglomerate was arrested over his alleged role in a corruption scandal. Lee Jaeyong is accused of giving financial support to Choi Soonsil.

Pet project brewing

CLEVELAND: A craft beer company is offering staff with new dogs a week of paw-ternity leave. BrewDog will offer the benefit to staff at its soon-toopen Ohio brewery. Founders James Watt and Martin Dickie, who started the company with their dog Bracken, said they were eager to give workers time to bond with their new pets.

Cafe pulls the plug

VIENNA: The owner of a popular tourist destination in Austria is charging tourists extra for charging their devices. Tourists who visit Vienna cafe Terrassencafe in Hundertwasserhaus are charged one euro ($A1.40) if they spend too much time charging their phones, tablets and laptops. “Tourists ... always electricity, electricity, electricity ... but who is going to pay for it,” said owner Galina Pokorny.