Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Location: my place in the sun Country:
Posted: Sun Sep 06, 2009 2:16 pm Post subject:
Appetite spells three wolves' doom in Switzerland
GENEVA (AFP) - - It is unclear if the three wolves were too greedy or simply hungry, but what is certain is that by killing more sheep than they should, they have violated Swiss law.
Swiss authorities have issued a death warrant for the three offending wolves originating from Italy and France, and wardens have 60 days to hunt them down.
Over the last few weeks, herders raised the alarm that their sheep were being attacked.
Dozens have been reported to have fallen prey in western Switzerland's canton Valais, with some 15 sheep killed on the night of August 1 and 2 alone. Meanwhile, 27 sheep were killed in July in the central Swiss canton of Lucerne.
Unbeknownst to the predators, the rampage had exceeded those tolerated under the official quota.
Swiss law allows predators to kill only 35 animals in four months, while in a month, the quota is 25.
However, that limit falls to 15 a month for protected herds, as in the case of the wolves' prey.
Animals violating this law can be shot.
Taking into account the recent damage, cantonal authorities in Valais and Lucerne in early August gave their nod to hunt down the three guilty wolves.
The first was killed on August 20.
"When the wolf was on the way back in the early morning, it was less suspicious. It was at this moment when the warden surprised it. He was alone, 150 metres from the wolf, when he shot it," said Jacques Blanc, deputy chief of Valais' hunting service.
The other two wolves may have to raise their guard, as some 20 wardens from the two cantons will be lying in wait through September.
Environment groups are however up in arms against the cantons' decision.
For conservation group WWF, the decision to hunt these wolves was made "too quickly." It has therefore put forward an appeal to the judicial authorities.
"In most cases, the sheep which were attacked had not been efficiently protected," said WWF's spokeswoman Pierrette Rey.
She added that if the wolves had such a good haul on the night of August 1, they were perhaps aided by fireworks set off amid the Swiss National Day celebrations that prompted the sheep to wander out of their pens.
But farmers want the animal eliminated from Swiss soil.
Wolves had disappeared from Swiss territories in the last century but after several appearances since 1995, they seem to have returned more permanently.
For the head of the association of herders in Valais Romand, Florian Volluz, wolves "have no place here."
He said he was "exasperated by a situation that has lasted 15 years," adding that protection measures proposed by the authorities, such as installation of enclosures, guards, and watch dogs, were "inefficient."
"These measures are like bandaging a wooden leg," said Volluz, who believes that the only solution is to root out the wolves.
His troubles may be far from over.
While the 12 wolves known to be in Switzerland have not formed into a pack, they may soon do so, said the Swiss Federal Office of the Environment's species management chief Thomas Briner.
"At the moment, the young males are looking for new territories and the first packs will form because there are two females," he said.
Once the first cubs emerge, the wolf could once again become a permanent resident of the Swiss alps.
Hopkins student kills intruder with samurai sword, police say
Off-campus house was burglarized Monday; suspect recently freed from county jail
By Liz F. Kay and Brent Jones
Baltimore Sun reporters
September 15, 2009
A Johns Hopkins University student armed with a samurai sword killed a man who broke into the garage of his off-campus residence early Tuesday, a Baltimore police spokesman said.
According to preliminary reports, a resident of the 300 block of E. University Parkway called police about a suspicious person, department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said. An off-duty officer responded about 1:20 a.m. to the area with university security, according to Guglielmi. They heard shouts and screams from a neighboring house and found the suspected burglar suffering from a nearly severed hand and laceration to his upper body, he said.
The suspect was pronounced dead at the scene. Based on the initial investigation, the student killed the man with only one strike of the sword, according to Guglielmi. The medical examiner will make the final determination, he said.
The student told police that he heard a commotion in the house and went downstairs armed with the sword, Guglielmi said. He saw the side door to the garage had been pried open and found a man inside, who lunged at the student. There was no indication that the suspected burglar was armed, however, according to Guglielmi.
Burglars had already stolen two laptops and a Sony PlayStation from the student's home Monday, Guglielmi said.
Dennis O'Shea, a spokesman for Johns Hopkins, said all four residents of the house are undergraduate students at the university. Police had released three of the roommates by Tuesday afternoon. The student who wielded the sword remained in custody while investigators worked to corroborate his story with evidence and witness statements. Police have not released the name of the residents, but department sources identified the detained student as John Pontolillo, 20, of Wall, N.J.
The city state's attorney's office will determine whether to press charges, Guglielmi said.
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Location: my place in the sun Country:
Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 9:24 am Post subject:
'World's smallest' melon cultivated in Japan's Inland Sea
Thursday 17th September, 04:18 AM JST
TAKAMATSU �\
People on a small island in the western Japan prefecture of Kagawa are making efforts to preserve what they believe to be the world�fs smallest melon, about the size of a quail�fs egg, in hopes of the little-known fruit becoming a tourist attraction. The variety of melon, called MG 16, is a native plant of Megi Island in the Seto Inland Sea, off Takamatsu, and is sometimes called �e�eWeed Melon�f�f as it grows naturally alongside farm land.
Unlike cultivated melons, the fruit reaches only 1.5 centimeters in diameter, making it the smallest melon in the world, according to Noriyuki Fujishita, an 80-year-old former professor at Osaka Prefecture University who discovered the fruit some 40 years ago. The melon, which has a bitter taste, used to be fed to livestock. But Yoshikiyo Kawai, chairman of the island�fs tourism association, said islanders will try making and selling pickles made from the fruit.
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Location: my place in the sun Country:
Posted: Sun Sep 20, 2009 1:02 pm Post subject:
Bear attacks tourists at Japan bus station
AFP - Sunday, September 20
TOKYO (AFP) - – A bear was shot dead Saturday after it attacked nine people, including tourists, at a bus station in a mountainous area of central Japan, Kyodo news agency reported.
Four men were seriously injured in the attack in Takayama, Gifu prefecture, Kyodo said, quoting local police. Injuries included facial bite marks but none were life-threatening.
After the afternoon attack, the 1.3-metre (four-foot) male black bear fled into the bus terminal building, where it was trapped in a souvenir shop by employees.
It was later shot dead by hunters, Kyodo said.
An expert on Asian black bears told the agency it was unusual for them to attack humans and suggested it may have panicked.
The bus station is at the end of a scenic road where buses take tourists through the spectacular mountain scenery between May and October.
A company that manages the terminal for the Takayama city government said it had received reports of bear sightings in the area this year, but had not taken countermeasures such as setting up a fence around the facility.
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Location: my place in the sun Country:
Posted: Mon Sep 21, 2009 9:56 am Post subject:
Kissing quest makes Taiwan woman a web sensation
AFP - Tuesday, September 15
TAIPEI (AFP) - – A Taiwanese woman's ambition to kiss 100 men in Paris has become an overnight web sensation after she provided details of the quest on her much-visited blog.
Yang Ya-ching, a 27-year-old music major living in the French capital, has so far notched up 54 smooches, she said on her blog, which features photos of some of the encounters.
Collaborators in her project included a factory worker, a model, an Italian tourist and even a soldier visiting the capital of romance for Bastille Day.
"I came up with the idea three years ago," she said on her blog.
"Three of my four friends who were aware of the plan warned me that I might wind up getting slapped rather than kissed."
Yang, who plans to write a book about her kissing experiences, has attracted 1.97 million visitors to her blog (www.wretch.cc/blog/angelduck777/24982946), including more than 224,000 on Monday alone.
"Aren't you afraid of catching a disease?" one of her followers asked.
"No," she replied. "The more you're afraid of, the less you accomplish."
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Location: my place in the sun Country:
Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 11:38 pm Post subject:
New hire is lost brother
WALDOBORO (Maine) - SEVEN years into his tenure as a furniture mover for a bedding retailer, Mr Gary Nisbet was joined by a new colleague, Mr Randy Joubert, who looked so much like him that customers asked whether they were brothers.
'We thought they were just trying to razz us,' Mr Joubert said.
Turns out the customers were on to something. They really are brothers - and the attention they got after finding each other also has turned up a sister.
The two men were given up for adoption as babies about 35 years ago, then attended rival high schools and even lived in neighbouring towns on the Maine coast before working together at Dow's Sleep Centre in tiny Waldoboro and uncovering their relationship.
'This kid could have been anywhere in the world, and here I am riding in a Dow furniture truck with him,' Mr Joubert said in a telephone interview Monday.
Mr Joubert's adoptive mother, Mrs Jacqueline Joubert, said she and her late husband raised him with four sisters. She said he knew from a young age he was adopted and she wasn't surprised he would try to find his biological siblings when he grew up.
She said she always thought he had a brother because a social worker at the time of his adoption had mentioned it.
'But when he said he was driving a furniture truck with him, that really surprised me,' she said. 'I think it's great.' Dow's hired Mr Randy Joubert on July 7, and soon afterward co-workers began commenting on how similar he and Mr Nisbet looked.
Both are light-haired, wear glasses and have stocky builds. Their goatees and curled-brim baseball caps add to the effect. -- AP
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Location: my place in the sun Country:
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:55 am Post subject:
Teenage pair catch cash, not fish
AP - Monday, September 21
SYDNEY – Two Australian teenagers who found almost 100,000 Australian dollars ($87,000) in cash during a fishing trip have handed it over to police _ after spending some time thinking about it.
The pair discovered the money earlier this month near the New South Wales town of Nimbin _ a center of hippie culture where members of numerous communes annually celebrate a festival to promote cannabis use.
The teenagers contacted police on Friday, after revealing the find to an unidentified adult they know and getting some legal advice, police said in a statement.
Inspector Greg Moore said police were investigating whose money it might be, and whether the stash of cash was linked to crime. "It could be proceeds of ill-gotten gains," Moore told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. on Monday.
Police had searched an area at Tuntable Creek where the teenagers found the money, but found no more cash and no clues, he said.
He said the teenagers, who were not identified, might be able to claim the money if no one else comes forward with a legitimate claim.
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Location: my place in the sun Country:
Posted: Wed Sep 23, 2009 10:04 am Post subject:
Taxi driver suspected in taxi robbery
Wednesday 23rd September, 08:36 AM JST
CHIBA �\
A 54-year-old taxi driver was arrested Tuesday over the robbery of another taxi that occurred last April in Urayasu.
Noriyuki Enomoto was arrested on suspicion of stabbing another taxi driver, 75-year-old Yoshio Sagawa, and stealing the man�fs fares on the morning of April 8. Enomoto then stole the taxi, dumping it near JR Suidobashi station in Tokyo.
Police identified Enomoto by analyzing video footage from a nearby security camera.
Enomoto has admitted to the charges, and was quoted by police as saying, �gI had to pay off loan sharks and owed rent.�h
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Location: my place in the sun Country:
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 11:54 am Post subject:
33% of men sit to pee: Toto poll
Saturday, Sept. 26, 2009
KITAKYUSHU (Kyodo) About one in three Japanese men tend to sit on the toilet when urinating at home, according to results of a survey by toilet maker Toto Ltd.
The Internet survey conducted in May, covering 500 men in their 20s to 60s whose homes have Western-style toilets, found 33.4 percent said they prefer to sit, citing "ease of posture" and "to make cleaning easier" as the main reasons.
The figure was 9.7 percent higher than in Toto's last survey in 2004.
Takuji Yano of Toto's public relations department said, "It seems that people are tending to be more conscious about the bathrooms in their home, such as equipping washlet attachments to the toilet and trying to keep them cleaner."
Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 190 Location: my place in the sun Country:
Posted: Sun Sep 27, 2009 3:15 pm Post subject:
Japanese toddler survives being run over by train
AFP - Tuesday, September 22
TOKYO (AFP) - – A Japanese toddler who strayed onto rail tracks got away with scratches Monday after a train ground to a halt on top of her, police and rescuers said.
The driver spotted the girl standing on the tracks in Suzaka City, northwest of Tokyo, and applied its emergency brakes, local police said.
The train stopped with the girl beneath, they said.
She was alive and trapped in the 50-centimetre (20-inch) gap between the train and the tracks, rescuers said.
"It could have been a tragedy. It's a miracle that she survived this way," a rescue worker told the TV Asahi network.
TOKYO (AFP) - – A Japanese toddler who strayed onto rail tracks got away with scratches Monday after a train ground to a halt on top of her, police and rescuers said.
The driver spotted the girl standing on the tracks in Suzaka City, northwest of Tokyo, and applied its emergency brakes, local police said.
The train stopped with the girl beneath, they said.
She was alive and trapped in the 50-centimetre (20-inch) gap between the train and the tracks, rescuers said.
"It could have been a tragedy. It's a miracle that she survived this way," a rescue worker told the TV Asahi network.
Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 2061 Location: Melbourne Country:
Posted: Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:01 pm Post subject:
Business booming for rent-a-friend agencies
By North Asia correspondent Mark Willacy for AM
In Japan, you can buy almost anything - and now you can buy a friend, a wife, even a best man for your wedding.
There has been a boom in so-called 'rent-a-friend' agencies, as people strive to save face in sometimes awkward social situations.
One professional 'rent-a-friend' says his service is about helping people, not deceiving them.
Ryuichi Ichinokawa is many things to many people - kind uncle, loyal friend, supportive work colleague, eloquent best man.
But in fact he's none of those people - he's a professional rent-a-friend who runs the Hagemashi Tai agency, which translates as "I want to cheer you up".
"We get requests from the groom at a wedding to be the best man; the bride and her parents are not aware we are stand-ins," he said.
"So I'll meet the groom for the first time on the day of the wedding and I'll read a speech about the groom that he's written.
"I'll tell stories about his time as a student, his current job, or his nickname in the old days, that sort of thing."
For this grand deception, Mr Ichinokawa charges $300.
He has rolled up to weddings, grieved at funerals, boogied at staff parties and mingled at social functions.
He has pretended to be the father of a boy in trouble at school and the parent of a woman attending a formal match-making party.
"My next job is a request from a woman who told a man over the phone she was tall, thin, and younger than her actual age," he said.
"She also lied about her looks and now that she has to meet the man she's asked me to find a woman in my agency who actually fits the description she gave to the man."
Mr Ichinokawa has also been asked to stand in as a bogus boss for a man who was too scared to tell his wife he'd lost his job.
He learns everything he can about his clients - their work history, their phone numbers, the names of their kids.
One of his next assignments is to revive a waning love affair by bumping into a woman - his client - and pretending to be an old boyfriend, thereby making her current beau jealous.
But isn't this all just deception and downright lies?
"I have some feelings that I'm telling a complete lie and acting a lie. But I have a stronger feeling to help the client to get over their problem or difficulty that they have. So that's how I justify it," he said.
Mr Ichinokawa isn't the only one justifying his clandestine characterisations. There are now 10 rent-a-friend agencies in Japan - one has 1,000 people on its books.
With friends like these, the Japanese have someone for every occasion - as long as you're prepared to dig deep into your wallet, and your conscience.
Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 2061 Location: Melbourne Country:
Posted: Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:23 pm Post subject:
Jailbird to guards: 'Which way is out?'
Forget the knotted bed sheets or tunnel. A New York prisoner has come up with a much easier way to bust out of jail: ask guards for the exit.
The inmate, who was wearing a suit and tie for a court appearance on charges of multiple store robberies, simply wandered out an open door and into a courtroom on Wednesday, the New York Post reported.
There, a court officer mistook jailbird Ronald Tackman for a lawyer, asking: "Counselor, what are you doing here?" the Daily News reported.
Tackman didn't miss a beat, the Post said, asking: "Which way is out?"
The hapless guard then showed the escapee the way to the lobby.
Next the daring jailbird went to his 81-year-old mother's Manhattan home to change clothes, and left, she told the Post.
"I thought he was discharged. He was all dressed up," she said.
Court officers' embarrassment only increased when it was revealed that Tackman, 55, was a known master of disguise, the tabloids said.
"The guy is a celebrity as far as the penal system," the Daily News quoted a court source as saying.
Past exploits include wearing a hat, sunglasses or a plastic nose, and using ingenious methods of making fake firearms.
In 1985, while being transported to serve out a robbery sentence, he took a guard hostage with a fake gun carved out of soap, the Post reported.
He also fooled victims with pretend guns made from a cigarette lighter and even a comb, the News said.
Joined: 26 Mar 2007 Posts: 2061 Location: Melbourne Country:
Posted: Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:18 am Post subject:
Kids hand out 15,000 euros in German playground
Children in a school in Germany had a day to remember this week when four pupils found around 15,000 euros ($25,000) and then handed it out to their friends in the playground, police have said.
The four, two boys and two girls aged between 10 and 13, found the bundle of cash stuffed in a dirty brown envelope on the way into their school in Frankfurt on Tuesday morning.
One worried child went to the teaching staff following the excited playground handout that followed, however, and the children were told to return the money.
"But since some were quite pleased by their new-found wealth, with many already making plans for what they would spend it on, collecting the money proved to be harder than handing it out," police said in a statement.
By the time a patrol car arrived at the scene, around 12,000 euros had been collected, rising to 14,040 euros after teachers made a final appeal to their pupils' consciences.
With the possible owner of the money, identified later as a 33-year-old Afghan man, unable to say exactly how much was in the envelope, it was unclear how much was still missing, police spokesman Karlheinz Wagner said.
The possible owner, identified using passport copies and documents for a Chinese visa application also in the envelope, will only get his money back once he has provided documents proving it was his, Wagner added.
The man from Offenbach, a town south of Frankfurt, told police that the money was for a trip to China to pay school fees there and to pay off debts. His name was not made public.
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