Thursday, August 03, 2006
India tries to throw monkeys from trains
In an effort to keep monkeys out of the New Delhi subways, authorities have called in one of the few animals known to scare the creatures — a fierce-looking primate called the langur, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported Wednesday.
The decision to hire a langurwallah — a man who trains and controls the langurs — came after a monkey got into a metro car in June, the newspaper reported.
The langur handler is being paid a retainer of India rupees 6,900 ($160) a month, and "he will be called whenever there is a monkey problem," Anuj Dayal, the spokesman for the Delhi Metro Rail Corp., was quoted as saying.
Full Story Here
They won the lottery and kept on flipping burgers
A couple who work together at McDonald's say they have no plans to give up the job despite winning more than £1.3m on the lottery.
Emma Cox, 28, and Luke Pittard, 23, went for a celebration burger after picking up their cheque at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
"It's an enjoyable job. They treat us really well," said Luke.
The pair, who have a two-year-old daughter, have been living with their parents, and will start house-hunting. The couple both work in the Pontprennau branch of McDonald's, where they met four years ago.
Full Story Here
Expert: give alcohol to children as young as five
Children from the age of five should be encouraged to drink wine at home to prevent the toll of alcohol abuse in later life, one of the country's leading experts on the problem has told Scotland on Sunday.
Jack Law, chief executive of Alcohol Focus Scotland and a member of the Scottish Ministerial Advisory Committee on Alcohol Problems, believes the practice would cut binge drinking among youngsters by taking the mystery out of alcohol.
Law, who is helping ministers draft new alcohol policies to tackle the nation's appalling health record, believes parents should also drink more responsibly themselves to set a good example.
Full Story Here
Urine-damaged mail returned to senders
Naples postal employees are mailing back to the senders today up to 200 pieces of urine-damaged mail found in a mailbox in the city on Monday.
The wet, reeking mail was found by an employee at 10:30 a.m. Monday in a mailbox outside the Post Office on Goodlette-Frank Road in Naples, said Postal Service spokeswoman Debbie Mitchell said.
The urine, she said, appears to have been contained in a plastic bottle with a loose cap found inside a priority mail envelope in the mailbox.
On the advice of health officials, the pieces of mail were laid out to dry, Mitchell said.
The damaged postage was put in plastic bags which are being mailed back to the senders today along with letters of explanation of what happened and stamps so that new mail may be sent out, Mitchell said.
It isn't known who fouled the mail with urine, but such an act is a criminal offense that can result in fines and prison time, Mitchell said.
"It's not a smart thing to do," she said.
Full Story Here
Live bombs produced in court create chaos
Five live bombs were produced in court yesterday during a hearing, throwing the court into panic, a report on BBC online said yesterday.
The bombs were produced as exhibits during the hearing of a case trying militants.
The discovery prompted the presiding judge to order a hasty adjournment as the court was evacuated, according to the website.
A security force officer said that he got the "shock of his life" when he realised that the bombs were live. Officials blame police for not defusing the devices before coming to court. The police say they were not asked to. The incident happened during the trial of five suspected members of the banned Jamatul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).
Meanwhile, at least 25 suspected militants were arrested after Bangladesh's crack security force raided their hideout in a forest north of the capital, officials said yesterday.
Full Story Here
Man’s penis bitten off, wife arrested
A 29-YEAR-OLD man was admitted at Mulago hospital in critical condition after his penis was bitten off in a domestic brawl in Namuwongo, a Kampala suburb.
The wife, Margaret Apio, 25, was arrested and was by yesterday being held at Kisugu Police Post. Apio and Richard Okwi, a casual labourer, have two children and have been married for three years. The Katwe Division Police commander, Amos Gumisiriza, said Apio was likely to be charged with assault, occasioning grievous harm or unlawful wounding. Okwi was too weak to speak when the New Vision visited him yesterday. A neighbour of the couple narrated that they heard noise and commotion soon after Okwi, who had gone on his daily drinking spree, returned home late at night. The neighbour said Apio had been complaining about her husband’s randy ways. “Mama Apio has always been complaining about her husband. She has always been saying she is tired of a cheating husband and once promised to teach him a lesson he would live to remember,” the neighbour explained. He said when Okwi returned home on Tuesday night, raised voices could be heard from his house. “It seems the quarrel had just began and shortly afterwards, we heard an alarm and wild cries from Okwi.
Full Story Here
Man says he has right to have sex with children
A man accused of sexually assaulting nine boys with physical or mental disabilities told a judge that having sex with children is a sacred ritual protected by civil rights laws.
Phillip Distasio, who said he is the leader of a church called Arcadian Fields Ministries, represented himself at his pretrial hearing Wednesday. He is charged with 74 counts including rape, pandering obscenity to minors and corrupting another with drugs.
“I'm a pedophile. I've been a pedophile for 20 years,” he said in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Wednesday. “The only reason I'm charged with rape is that no one believes a child can consent to sex. The role of my ministry is to get these cases out of the courtrooms.”
Distasio said some of his congregants are among the victims in this case. Distacio, of Rocky River, is accused of molesting two disabled boys he tutored at his home and raping seven autistic boys at a Cleveland school for special-needs students where he was a teacher's aide. All but one of the victims were under 13.
Full Story Here
Woman Asks Cops To Make Husband Have Sex
Police in the German city of Aachen received an unusual call for help late Wednesday when a woman telephoned to complain her husband was not fulfilling his sexual obligations.
After the couple had been sleeping in separate beds for several months without intimate contact, the 44-year-old woman woke the husband, 45, in the middle of the night and demanded he satisfy her needs, police spokesman Paul Kemen said Thursday.
When her advances were refused, a row broke out and she called the police and asked them to intervene, he added.
"The police officials did not feel able to resolve the dispute, let alone issue any kind of official order," Kemen said.
"And because no crime or infringement could be identified, all they could do was file a report in case intervention might be required at a later date," he added.
Dog destroys Elvis' teddy bear at museum
A guard dog has ripped apart a collection of rare teddy bears, including one once owned by Elvis Presley, during a rampage at a children's museum.
"He just went berserk," said Daniel Medley, general manager of the Wookey Hole Caves near Wells, England, where hundreds of bears were chewed up Tuesday night by the 6-year-old Doberman pinscher named Barney.
Barney ripped the head off a brown stuffed bear once owned by the young Presley during the attack, leaving fluffy stuffing and bits of bears' limbs and heads on the museum floor. The bear, named Mabel, was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff.
Full Story Here
Barney ripped the head off a brown stuffed bear once owned by the young Presley during the attack, leaving fluffy stuffing and bits of bears' limbs and heads on the museum floor. The bear, named Mabel, was made in 1909 by the German manufacturer Steiff.