A woman survived throwing herself from the 23rd storey of a Buenos Aires hotel when a waiting taxi broke her fall.

She landed in a sitting position on its roof just after the driver got out. The impact deeply dented the roof and shattered the windscreen.

The 30-year-old woman suffered multiple injuries and was being treated in hospital.

The taxi driver, who gave his name as Miguel, said he saw a policeman looking up and that prompted him to get out just before the driver’s side of the car was smashed by the woman’s body.

Another taxi driver, Juan Carlos Candame said that he saw the woman climb over a barrier and jump.

The woman fell from the top of the Hotel Crown Plaza Panamericano, where a restaurant overlooks the landmark Obelisk in central Buenos Aires.

Picture shows a damaged taxi after being hit by the woman. (PA)

Soldiers jailed

Indonesia yesterday sentenced three soldiers to between eight and 10 months in jail for disobedience after they were filmed torturing Papuan civilians.

A military tribunal found them guilty of abuse and disobeying orders and sentenced Second Sergeant Irwan Rizkiyanto to 10 months in jail, First Private Yakson Agu to nine months and First Private Tamrin Mahan Giri to eight months.

In footage posted on YouTube last year, the soldiers were seen applying a burning stick to the genitals of an unarmed man and threatening another with a knife as they interrogated them about the location of a weapons cache.

“They caught two men who had no identification documents and took them to a military post. The men suffered torture there,” chief judge Lieutenant-Colonel Adil Karokaro told the tribunal in the Papua provincial capital, Jayapura. (AFP)

Heated pool!

A council has defended “insulting and insensitive” plans to heat a swimming pool with a crematorium incinerator.

Redditch Borough Council in Worcestershire has drawn up proposals to use excess heat generated by the incinerator at the town’s crematorium to warm the water for swimmers at the nearby Abbey Stadium Sports Centre.

A spokesman for the Conservative-run authority said: “Redditch Borough Council, with a commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions, is considering proposals to re-use energy at its crematorium to heat a nearby leisure centre. The heat would otherwise be exhausted into the atmosphere.”

The plans, which will be discussed at a full council meeting on February 7, have been branded “sick” by opponents. (PA)

Royal escape

The royal wedding appears to be tempting some Britons to head for the sun rather than celebrate Prince William and Kate Middleton tying the knot. Thousands are gearing up to leave the UK during the last week of April when the couple wed at Westminster Abbey, according to research by an accommodation website.

William and Kate’s wedding day on Friday, April 29 has been made a public holiday and will mean millions of workers will enjoy two bank holiday weekends in quick succession, with just a three-day working week in between. (PA)

Spanish bins

A council has defended spending taxpayers’ money on sending a delegation to Spain to inspect a company’s bin collection service.

Gosport Borough Council is currently looking at axing jobs to meet a £2 million cut in its budget.

But the Tory-led Hampshire local authority spent a total of £7,344 on site visits as it looks to award £175 million in contracts for a wide range of services over a 15-year period. (PA)

Returned to sender

An American woman who raised a child kidnapped 23 years ago from a New York hospital has given herself up to police. Ann Pettway, from North Carolina, came forward after a widely-publicised reunion between the biological mother and the daughter taken from her as a baby.

She is expected to face kidnapping charges. (PA)

Canoe capsizes

A man has been rescued after his canoe capsized off the Co Down coast, Ireland. Lifeboats were launched after the man, in his early 50s, became exhausted trying to get back into his craft close to Donaghadee, yesterday morning. (PA)