News of the Weird: Three wedding stories, a happy jogger, unhappy hookers and some sausages

South Carolina, US

TWENTY YEARS ago, twin brothers Guy and Gilles Leclerc made a pact: after both had fallen for the same girl while on holiday, they agreed that in future they would date only twins. Last weekend, in Lablacherre, France, their agreement reached its natural consequence as they married Joelle and Florence Banani whom they met and courted thanks to a web site for French twins. The Leclerc brothers, aged 36, are both professors of biology at the University of South Carolina.

Minneapolis, US

DAVE WEINLICK, 28, will marry today, but he is still not sure who his bride will be. Weinlick, an anthropology student at the University of Minnesota, said that he had become so tired of people asking him when he was going to get married that he set a date - 13 June 1998 - and enlisted a committee to select a bride for him. Pete Johanssen, a roommate of the groom, said that there is a confirmed list of about 40 candidates, but the number is expected to grow as local radio stations bus in women from other areas. But their chances look slim: "If you don't know Dave or anyone else there you probably won't get picked," Johanssen said.

New York, US

ACCORDING TO the Moet & Chandon Matrimonial Matrix, the cost of a top- of-the-range June wedding with 150 guests in New York has risen 2.6 per cent since last year. The cost of champagne itself is up by 4.1 per cent, though the price of a Priscilla of Boston wedding dress and wedding bands from Van Cleef and Arpels has remained the same.

Belarus

"THERE IS no shortage of sausage in Belarus and there won't be," Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko said on Thursday. The president has ordered a meat processing factory to boost production of cheap sausages to keep up with increased demand.

Norway

A NORWEGIAN prisoner who had been granted special privileges, including going jogging with the guards, took advantage of them on Thursday as their morning jog reached its end at a recreation area outside the prison in the town of Bodoe. Leaving the guards panting, the prisoner increased his pace and ran away.

Moldova

THE MOLDOVAN parliament passed a law on Tuesday making prostitution a crime and banning advertisements by prostitutes.