• austriantimes.at
• croatiantimes.com
• salzburgtimes.at
• viennatimes.at

© europics.at

14. 08. 12. - 13:00

• more Around the World news...
• RSS Feed Around the World

14. 08. 12. - 13:00

Handy Invention

Kathryn Quinn

You have to hand it to plucky Sun Jifa - who refused to let being left massively disabled by a freak explosion lose is grip on the family farm.

Sun, 51, lost both his hands when a bomb he was creating for blast fishing in Guanmashan, Jilin province, northern China, exploded prematurely.

"I survived but I had no hands and I couldn't afford to buy the false hands the hospital wanted me to have - so I decided to make my own," he explained.

Sun spent eight years making prototypes before finally creating a pair of metal hands which can grip and hold thanks to a series of wires and pulleys inside the shell.

"I control them with movements from my elbows and I can work, love normally and feed myself just like anyone else," explained the real life tin man.

"The only drawback is that steel is quite heavy so they're tiring to wear and get hot or cold in the extremes of summer and winter," added Sun.

Now he plans to develop the design for other similarly disabled people.

"I made this from scrap metal for virtually nothing. There is no need to pay hospitals a fortune," he said.

Tragic Ski Girl Dies
A 10-year-old British schoolgirl has died after skiing into a tree at high speed during a family holiday tragedy in the Austrian Alps.

Peak Performance
Police chiefs in Hamburg, Germany, are celebrating after new crime figures showed there wasn't a single bank robbery in the city last year.

Chinese Fakeaway
Chinese property developers who've been thwarted in a bid to buy up an entire Austrian village have settled on the next best thing - an entire life-sized replica.

Austrian children help Romanian kids
A charity project run by the middle school in Hippach has been recognised with an award for its social work by officials in Tyrol.

Mother kills disabled daughter because she couldnt take care of her any longer
A Romanian woman killed her 8 year-old disabled daughter on Wednesday (yesterday)because she couldn't pay for her care, Libertatea newspaper reports.

Policeman accused of sex with the son of his girlfriend
A Policeman from Vulcan, Western Romania is currently being investigated for having sex with a minor, the son of his girlfriend, Cancan newspaper informs today (Thurs).

Serial killer survivor walks away alive after fall
An 85 year-old woman who survived the most cruel and notorious serial killer in Romania some 40 years ago, recently fell from the first floor of her apartment building and she walked away safe and sound, Cancan newspaper reports today (Thurs).

The son of Qatar Airlines BA beaten up in Romania
The son of the Board of Administration of Qatar Airlines Akbar Al Baker, was beaten up over the weekend at the launching party of a posh club in Mamaia, at the Romanian Black Sea shore, Cancan newspaper reports.

Majority starts president’s suspension procedures
A day after the Social Liberal Union (USL) legislators dismissed with a large majority of votes the two Speakers of the Parliament, the Union started today the procedures for the suspension and possible impeachment of President Traian Basescu. This is the second time when the Parliament asks for Basescu’s suspension.

Some 177 Roma repatriated by French authorities to Romania
Some 177 Romanian citizens of Roma origin were repatriated on Tuesday night from Lille, France, Romania TV news channel informs today (Weds).