Thiruvananthapuram

An eight-year-old Indian boy has died trying to show his sister how ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was hanged, police in the southern state of Kerala said on Tuesday. Vishnu Sashi fell from a bathroom water tank after tying a plastic cord round his neck on Sunday evening in Vaikom town, said inspector Rajesh Menon.

Hard-line Muslims in southern India have launched a campaign to dissuade youths from watching too much World Cup action, saying they had "gone mad" over football. "Wherever you go, you see [youths] wearing jerseys of various teams. It’s like idol worship, which our religion doesn’t promote in any form," said Sattar Pathallur, secretary of the Sunni Students Federation.