Each of the half-dozen Philadelphia residential neighborhoods where I grew up in the 1930s and early '40s had many things in common. Within walking distance of every home, there was a trolley car line, two or more drug stores, a few penny-candy and magazine stores, a few small bakeries and at least a half dozen movie theaters.
A ride on the trolley was 8 cents. Magazines sold for a nickel or a dime. Most candies cost a penny, with the larger candy bars selling for a nickel. Admission to a movie was 10 cents for youngsters and about 15 cents for adults. A seat in the bleachers at a Phillies or A's baseball game was 25 cents, and a grandstand seat was 50 cents.
At the local soda fountains, double-decker ice cream cones and ice cream sodas were a nickel, sundaes were a dime, and milkshakes 15 cents. At local diners or at the lunch counters at Woolworth's Five and Ten Cent Stores, a cup of coffee, tea or hot chocolate was a nickel, and a hamburger or just about any other type of sandwich was a dime or 15 cents.
A quart of milk or a loaf of bread was a dime, and was delivered to your doorstep on a daily basis.
Occasionally, local hucksters would drive through the streets (mostly in horse-drawn wagons) hawking fresh vegetables and fruits by loudly calling out their wares. A pound of tomatoes, a dozen bananas (when available), or a dozen ears of corn cost a dime. A quart of fresh strawberries was 15 cents.
Yet the most important sources of food for a hungry populace during those darkest days of the Great Depression were the hundreds of grocery stores that dotted the city. It was a rare street corner where no grocery store could be found.
Back then, with most large supermarkets still far in the future, the bulk of food shopping was done at the corner grocery stores.
There, a chicken, a pound of steak, ground beef, sliced ham or several pork chops could be had for about 50 cents. A box of Wheaties (or some other breakfast cereal) and most cans of fruits or vegetables sold for about 10 cents. A pack of Tastykake cupcakes or Krimpets was a nickel, as was a 12-ounce bottle of Pepsi-Cola.
Since it was at the peak of the Depression, pennies to buy food items were scarce. For those individuals lucky enough to find employment, a salary of $20 or $25 a week was considered a decent income. Anyone making $100 a week was considered rich.
It was also a time long before credit or debit cards would come into use, and just about every working-class family was struggling to live from payday to payday. This, combined with the low wages of that era, generally posed a severe problem for the average family when it came to putting the proper amount of food on the table.
Friday, October 26, 2012
POP QUIZ (Presidential campaign slogans)
This year, "Forward" and "Believe in America" are among the competing political campaign slogans.
Match up themes or slogans from previous years with the presidential candidate.
1. "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage."
2. "54-40 or fight."
3. "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men......."
4. "Happy days are here again."
5. "He kept us out of war."
6. "In your heart, you know he's right."
7. "It's the economy, stupid."
8. "It's morning again in America."
9. "Return to normalcy."
10. "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too."
a) Bill Clinton
b) John C. Fremont
c) Barry Goldwater
d) Warren Harding
e) William Henry Harrison
f) Herbert Hoover
g) James K. Polk
h) Ronald Reagan
i) Franklin D. Roosevelt
j) Woodrow Wilson
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. f ; 2. g ; 3. b ; 4. i ; 5. j ; 6. c ; 7. a ; 8. h ; 9. d ; 10. e
Match up themes or slogans from previous years with the presidential candidate.
1. "A chicken in every pot and a car in every garage."
2. "54-40 or fight."
3. "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men......."
4. "Happy days are here again."
5. "He kept us out of war."
6. "In your heart, you know he's right."
7. "It's the economy, stupid."
8. "It's morning again in America."
9. "Return to normalcy."
10. "Tippecanoe and Tyler, too."
a) Bill Clinton
b) John C. Fremont
c) Barry Goldwater
d) Warren Harding
e) William Henry Harrison
f) Herbert Hoover
g) James K. Polk
h) Ronald Reagan
i) Franklin D. Roosevelt
j) Woodrow Wilson
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. f ; 2. g ; 3. b ; 4. i ; 5. j ; 6. c ; 7. a ; 8. h ; 9. d ; 10. e
Exam students in China for whom the bell tolled too early
A man in central China has been sentenced to a year in jail for ringing a bell to end a national college entrance exam too early, forcing the students to hand in their papers nearly five minutes before the exam should have ended, state media said on Friday.
Xiao Yulong, 54, admitted having rung the bell at the school in the province of Hunan four minutes and 48 seconds early "by mistake" on June 8, meaning 1,050 students had to hand in their exams before they were required to do so, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The incident lead to thousands of students and parents gathering "multiple times" at the school and the local education bureau to demand that the government investigate, it said.
A court sentenced Xiao to one year in jail for negligence, Xinhua said. However, he was also given a one-year reprieve, Xinhua said, which means he may serve either very little or no time inside.
"Xiao was careless in his work and mistakenly rang the bell too early, resulting in adverse social impact," the report added, citing a court statement.
The national college entrance exam is a fiercely competitive test in which high school students battle for a limited number of university spaces, in country which sets great store on education as a means to social advancement.
Xiao Yulong, 54, admitted having rung the bell at the school in the province of Hunan four minutes and 48 seconds early "by mistake" on June 8, meaning 1,050 students had to hand in their exams before they were required to do so, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
The incident lead to thousands of students and parents gathering "multiple times" at the school and the local education bureau to demand that the government investigate, it said.
A court sentenced Xiao to one year in jail for negligence, Xinhua said. However, he was also given a one-year reprieve, Xinhua said, which means he may serve either very little or no time inside.
"Xiao was careless in his work and mistakenly rang the bell too early, resulting in adverse social impact," the report added, citing a court statement.
The national college entrance exam is a fiercely competitive test in which high school students battle for a limited number of university spaces, in country which sets great store on education as a means to social advancement.
Gloved-up Hong Kong city slickers fight "mid-life crisis"
Adam Gazal trained for six months to stand in the ring for six minutes of live boxing. He remembers the noise, and not much else, and said he'd like to try it again, though he realizes that the time in the gym took time away from home.
"I think my wife will divorce me if I go through another six months of training," Gazal, 35, said after the fight.
The managing partner of National Australia Bank was one of 14 contenders who took part in Hong Kong's sixth annual IronMonger Hedge Fund Fight Night, a fundraising event that is now a staple of the city's financial community.
Attended by 550 people, Thursday night's event raised just over HK$500,000 ($64,500), nearly matching last year's total. Proceeds go to children's charities Operation Breakthrough and Operation Smile.
Gazal, who fought his pal Grant Livingston, 35, an executive director at JPMorgan with a long reach and quick jab, won by a unanimous decision. In a pre-match video aired before Gazal and Livingston's fight, "mid-life crisis" was among the reasons given for wanting to take on the six-month challenge.
A survey of the crowd found more bankers than hedgies in attendance, perhaps a sign of the industry's struggles in the region. Asian-focused hedge funds as measured by the Eurekahedge index rose 3.8 percent through September this year, falling short of a 7 percent rise in the MSCI Asia index. At least 73 Asia hedge funds have shut down this year.
The city's bankers and financiers aren't faring much better, though the sector's woes failed to impact attendance. At more than HK$2,000 ($260) a seat, the black-tie crowd filled every chair inside the makeshift boxing tent.
American Anthony Carango, 40, an executive director at Nomura Holdings, had a focused plan going into his match - a plan that he said "went out the window" as soon as the bell rang.
Carango, who squared off against Craig Barnish, 30, a managing director at BAH Partners Ltd, said it came back to him occasionally - "head, body, head, body" - enough to allow him a unanimous-decision victory.
HSBC fielded three fighters on the night. Richard Rouse, an account manager at the bank, held steady in his match against Andrew Wylde, head of sales and operations at Hatstand consultancy. Wylde, 28, fought hard, needing to stop twice to mend a bloody face, but Rouse held on to win.
Blair Crichton, an assistant vice president of HSBC, and Brad Moreland, a director of prime services at the bank, each won their matches, pulling off a clean sweep. Crichton defeated Stephen Taw, a director at South Ocean Management Ltd, while Moreland won against 36-year-old Frenchman Nicolas Boulay, a derivatives broker at Louis Capital.
"As the fight goes on, you get tired, you tend to lose form, which was obvious," said Boulay, who noted his strong crowd support from friends and clients.
Danielle Midalia, 30, a creative manager at Operation Smile, defeated Andrea Glynn, 28, an associate at the Bank of Montreal, in the night's only female match-up.
Mark O'Reilly, 36, a managing director at Astbury Marsden, lost to 29-year-old George Radford, a consultant at IP Global.
Mark's wife Ashley said she hopes he keeps his fitness level maintained, but that may be a tall order.
"He says after it's all over, he's going to eat a lot of pies and sit on the couch," she said.
Taw, 53, was the eldest boxer and crowd favorite, known as the "Wizard of Wanchai". With grey hair protruding from his red headgear, he went down in the first of three rounds, then held tough throughout.
"My strategy was simple: do not get hit in the face," he said, a strategy that quickly fell apart. Standing near the ring in his boxing outfit after the fight and holding two glasses of beer, Taw reflected on his performance.
"I think I won the third round," said Taw, his face now cleared of blood. "But I didn't land my jabs."
"I think my wife will divorce me if I go through another six months of training," Gazal, 35, said after the fight.
The managing partner of National Australia Bank was one of 14 contenders who took part in Hong Kong's sixth annual IronMonger Hedge Fund Fight Night, a fundraising event that is now a staple of the city's financial community.
Attended by 550 people, Thursday night's event raised just over HK$500,000 ($64,500), nearly matching last year's total. Proceeds go to children's charities Operation Breakthrough and Operation Smile.
Gazal, who fought his pal Grant Livingston, 35, an executive director at JPMorgan with a long reach and quick jab, won by a unanimous decision. In a pre-match video aired before Gazal and Livingston's fight, "mid-life crisis" was among the reasons given for wanting to take on the six-month challenge.
A survey of the crowd found more bankers than hedgies in attendance, perhaps a sign of the industry's struggles in the region. Asian-focused hedge funds as measured by the Eurekahedge index rose 3.8 percent through September this year, falling short of a 7 percent rise in the MSCI Asia index. At least 73 Asia hedge funds have shut down this year.
The city's bankers and financiers aren't faring much better, though the sector's woes failed to impact attendance. At more than HK$2,000 ($260) a seat, the black-tie crowd filled every chair inside the makeshift boxing tent.
American Anthony Carango, 40, an executive director at Nomura Holdings, had a focused plan going into his match - a plan that he said "went out the window" as soon as the bell rang.
Carango, who squared off against Craig Barnish, 30, a managing director at BAH Partners Ltd, said it came back to him occasionally - "head, body, head, body" - enough to allow him a unanimous-decision victory.
HSBC fielded three fighters on the night. Richard Rouse, an account manager at the bank, held steady in his match against Andrew Wylde, head of sales and operations at Hatstand consultancy. Wylde, 28, fought hard, needing to stop twice to mend a bloody face, but Rouse held on to win.
Blair Crichton, an assistant vice president of HSBC, and Brad Moreland, a director of prime services at the bank, each won their matches, pulling off a clean sweep. Crichton defeated Stephen Taw, a director at South Ocean Management Ltd, while Moreland won against 36-year-old Frenchman Nicolas Boulay, a derivatives broker at Louis Capital.
"As the fight goes on, you get tired, you tend to lose form, which was obvious," said Boulay, who noted his strong crowd support from friends and clients.
Danielle Midalia, 30, a creative manager at Operation Smile, defeated Andrea Glynn, 28, an associate at the Bank of Montreal, in the night's only female match-up.
Mark O'Reilly, 36, a managing director at Astbury Marsden, lost to 29-year-old George Radford, a consultant at IP Global.
Mark's wife Ashley said she hopes he keeps his fitness level maintained, but that may be a tall order.
"He says after it's all over, he's going to eat a lot of pies and sit on the couch," she said.
Taw, 53, was the eldest boxer and crowd favorite, known as the "Wizard of Wanchai". With grey hair protruding from his red headgear, he went down in the first of three rounds, then held tough throughout.
"My strategy was simple: do not get hit in the face," he said, a strategy that quickly fell apart. Standing near the ring in his boxing outfit after the fight and holding two glasses of beer, Taw reflected on his performance.
"I think I won the third round," said Taw, his face now cleared of blood. "But I didn't land my jabs."
New York police officer charged with plan to cook, eat women
A New York City police officer was charged on Thursday with conspiring to kidnap, torture, cook and eat women whose names he listed in his computer.
In a criminal complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court, Gilberto Valle III, 28, of Forest Hills, Queens, was charged with conspiring to cross state lines to kidnap the women and with illegally accessing a federal database.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Investigators uncovered a file on Valle's computer containing the names and pictures of at least 100 women, and the addresses and physical descriptions of some of them, according to the complaint. It said he had undertaken surveillance of some of the women at their places of employment and their homes.
Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman, in denying Valle bail at a hearing on Thursday evening, said: "the allegations in the complaint are profoundly disturbing. I have never seen allegations similar to this in 16 years on the bench."
Valle's court-appointed attorney, Julia Gatto, had vigorously argued to the judge that her client, a 6-1/2 year NYPD veteran who appeared before the judge in a red T-shirt and jeans, was all talk and deserved to be released on bail.
"The best this complaint alleges is talk, just idle talk," Gatto said. "There is no actual crossing the line from fantasy to reality, your honor."
In an excerpt of a July online conversation with an unnamed co-conspirator, Valle is quoted in the complaint as saying:
"I can just show up at her home unannounced. It will not alert her, and I can knock her out, wait until dark and kidnap her right out of her home."
"I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus ... cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible," he said. The woman in question is identified only as "Victim 1."
ONLINE FANTASY GAME?
A Manhattan federal prosecutor, Hadassa Waxman, told the judge on Thursday that Valle was as "close as he could possibly come," short of "kidnapping a woman, drugging her, cooking her and actually eating her."
Federal prosecutors, in announcing the charges, said Valle had created a document called "Abducting and Cooking: A Blueprint." Valle also told an unnamed co-conspirator he would kidnap another woman for $5,000, they said.
"This case is all the more disturbing when you consider Valle's position as a New York City police officer and his sworn duty to serve and protect," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
Valle, who an official said had no prior criminal record, was not charged with carrying out any of his suspected plans.
A law enforcement official involved in the investigation characterized Valle's actions as an online "fantasy game."
"He was titillated by it," said the official, who is not authorized to discuss the case publicly. "It looks like he was having these fantasy conversations with people he's talking to in foreign countries."
Valle's attorney, Gatto, agreed. "This was a fantasy, a sexually deviant world where people talk about unreal things," she said.
Valle's estranged wife contacted the FBI after discovering pornography on his computer, according to the law enforcement official, who said the couple is separated. Valle was arrested Wednesday by the FBI. He is due back in court on November7.
A spokesman for the Police Department could not be reached for comment.
In a criminal complaint unsealed in Manhattan federal court, Gilberto Valle III, 28, of Forest Hills, Queens, was charged with conspiring to cross state lines to kidnap the women and with illegally accessing a federal database.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Investigators uncovered a file on Valle's computer containing the names and pictures of at least 100 women, and the addresses and physical descriptions of some of them, according to the complaint. It said he had undertaken surveillance of some of the women at their places of employment and their homes.
Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman, in denying Valle bail at a hearing on Thursday evening, said: "the allegations in the complaint are profoundly disturbing. I have never seen allegations similar to this in 16 years on the bench."
Valle's court-appointed attorney, Julia Gatto, had vigorously argued to the judge that her client, a 6-1/2 year NYPD veteran who appeared before the judge in a red T-shirt and jeans, was all talk and deserved to be released on bail.
"The best this complaint alleges is talk, just idle talk," Gatto said. "There is no actual crossing the line from fantasy to reality, your honor."
In an excerpt of a July online conversation with an unnamed co-conspirator, Valle is quoted in the complaint as saying:
"I can just show up at her home unannounced. It will not alert her, and I can knock her out, wait until dark and kidnap her right out of her home."
"I was thinking of tying her body onto some kind of apparatus ... cook her over a low heat, keep her alive as long as possible," he said. The woman in question is identified only as "Victim 1."
ONLINE FANTASY GAME?
A Manhattan federal prosecutor, Hadassa Waxman, told the judge on Thursday that Valle was as "close as he could possibly come," short of "kidnapping a woman, drugging her, cooking her and actually eating her."
Federal prosecutors, in announcing the charges, said Valle had created a document called "Abducting and Cooking: A Blueprint." Valle also told an unnamed co-conspirator he would kidnap another woman for $5,000, they said.
"This case is all the more disturbing when you consider Valle's position as a New York City police officer and his sworn duty to serve and protect," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
Valle, who an official said had no prior criminal record, was not charged with carrying out any of his suspected plans.
A law enforcement official involved in the investigation characterized Valle's actions as an online "fantasy game."
"He was titillated by it," said the official, who is not authorized to discuss the case publicly. "It looks like he was having these fantasy conversations with people he's talking to in foreign countries."
Valle's attorney, Gatto, agreed. "This was a fantasy, a sexually deviant world where people talk about unreal things," she said.
Valle's estranged wife contacted the FBI after discovering pornography on his computer, according to the law enforcement official, who said the couple is separated. Valle was arrested Wednesday by the FBI. He is due back in court on November7.
A spokesman for the Police Department could not be reached for comment.
Canadian Mountie does not get his moose
Legend has it that a Canadian Mountie always gets his man. But nobody said anything about a moose.
An officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was injured early on Thursday after being charged by a bull moose while driving on patrol in central British Columbia.
The officer was driving toward two moose at an intersection in the small community of Prince Rupert in an attempt to head off another vehicle approaching the same junction.
As the officer neared the animals, a bull moose charged his vehicle, breaking the front bumper as it jumped on the roof of the car. The moose began stomping and kicking, and a hoof broke the driver's side window, injuring the officer.
The moose then jumped on the trunk of the car and finally back on the road.
"Both the culprit and accomplice departed the area on hoof," the RCMP said in a statement.
The officer suffered bruising on his left shoulder, but did not require medical attention. He finished his shift and went home to rest, the police said.
An officer with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was injured early on Thursday after being charged by a bull moose while driving on patrol in central British Columbia.
The officer was driving toward two moose at an intersection in the small community of Prince Rupert in an attempt to head off another vehicle approaching the same junction.
As the officer neared the animals, a bull moose charged his vehicle, breaking the front bumper as it jumped on the roof of the car. The moose began stomping and kicking, and a hoof broke the driver's side window, injuring the officer.
The moose then jumped on the trunk of the car and finally back on the road.
"Both the culprit and accomplice departed the area on hoof," the RCMP said in a statement.
The officer suffered bruising on his left shoulder, but did not require medical attention. He finished his shift and went home to rest, the police said.
China's Ai Weiwei bemoans block on his "Gangnam" parody
Dissident Chinese artist Ai Weiwei criticized the government on Thursday for removing from Chinese websites his parody of Korean pop sensation Psy's Gangnam Style video.
Ai, a world-renowned artist and China's most prominent dissident, and staff of his company performed Psy's famous horse dance in his Beijing studio and posted the video late on Wednesday to Chinese sites such as "Tudou", the equivalent of the blocked YouTube site.
Ai, 55, called the video "Caonima". "Caonima" means "grass mud horse" but the word, which sounds like a very crude insult, has also been taken on by Chinese Internet users, and by Ai himself, and featured in postings mocking the government's online controls.
"We only filmed for a bit over 10 minutes but we used a whole day to edit, and eventually put it online at midnight," Ai told Reuters.
"After we had uploaded it, a few hours later ... we found that a lot of people, tens of thousands, had already watched it. Now, in China, it has already been totally removed, deleted entirely, and you can't see it in China," Ai said.
Ai said Psy's Gangnam Style song and dance was a grass-roots expression of individualism that should be allowed in his country.
"Overall, we feel that every person has the right to express themselves, and this right of expression is fundamentally linked to our happiness and even our existence," Ai said.
"When a society constantly demands that everyone should abandon this right, then the society becomes a society without creativity. It can never become a happy society."
Ai, whose 81-day detention last year sparked an international outcry, has regularly criticized the government for what he sees as its flouting of the rule of law and the rights of citizens.
Last month, a court upheld a $2.4 million tax evasion fine against him, ending a long legal battle with the authorities. He can be jailed if he does not pay.
Ai, a world-renowned artist and China's most prominent dissident, and staff of his company performed Psy's famous horse dance in his Beijing studio and posted the video late on Wednesday to Chinese sites such as "Tudou", the equivalent of the blocked YouTube site.
Ai, 55, called the video "Caonima". "Caonima" means "grass mud horse" but the word, which sounds like a very crude insult, has also been taken on by Chinese Internet users, and by Ai himself, and featured in postings mocking the government's online controls.
"We only filmed for a bit over 10 minutes but we used a whole day to edit, and eventually put it online at midnight," Ai told Reuters.
"After we had uploaded it, a few hours later ... we found that a lot of people, tens of thousands, had already watched it. Now, in China, it has already been totally removed, deleted entirely, and you can't see it in China," Ai said.
Ai said Psy's Gangnam Style song and dance was a grass-roots expression of individualism that should be allowed in his country.
"Overall, we feel that every person has the right to express themselves, and this right of expression is fundamentally linked to our happiness and even our existence," Ai said.
"When a society constantly demands that everyone should abandon this right, then the society becomes a society without creativity. It can never become a happy society."
Ai, whose 81-day detention last year sparked an international outcry, has regularly criticized the government for what he sees as its flouting of the rule of law and the rights of citizens.
Last month, a court upheld a $2.4 million tax evasion fine against him, ending a long legal battle with the authorities. He can be jailed if he does not pay.
Suit filed to block deer shoot in Washington park
Animal rights activists filed a lawsuit on Thursday to try to stop a plan to cull deer in a Washington park, saying it would create a "killing field" in the heart of the U.S. capital.
The deer population in Rock Creek Park has soared in recent years, creating a threat to plant life, and the National Park Service said in May that it would launch a program to trim numbers to 15 to 20 per square mile (six to eight per square km), from 67 (26) recorded in a 2009 census.
Residents and activists filed suit in a U.S. District Court charging that the planned cull in the 12-mile-long (19-km-long) park would create a "killing field" in the heart of Washington.
The NPS plans to use sharpshooters or reproductive controls to cut deer numbers. Shooting would be carried out mostly at night in the winter and autumn and the meat donated to food banks.
The suit by five area residents, including economist Jeremy Rifkin, and the In Defense of Animals advocacy group said the NPS would be violating its statutory obligations to conserve wildlife and allow visitors to enjoy the park.
The suit said that if the cull went ahead it would be the first time the killing of wildlife had been allowed in the park since it was created in the 19th century.
The deer population in Rock Creek Park has soared in recent years, creating a threat to plant life, and the National Park Service said in May that it would launch a program to trim numbers to 15 to 20 per square mile (six to eight per square km), from 67 (26) recorded in a 2009 census.
Residents and activists filed suit in a U.S. District Court charging that the planned cull in the 12-mile-long (19-km-long) park would create a "killing field" in the heart of Washington.
The NPS plans to use sharpshooters or reproductive controls to cut deer numbers. Shooting would be carried out mostly at night in the winter and autumn and the meat donated to food banks.
The suit by five area residents, including economist Jeremy Rifkin, and the In Defense of Animals advocacy group said the NPS would be violating its statutory obligations to conserve wildlife and allow visitors to enjoy the park.
The suit said that if the cull went ahead it would be the first time the killing of wildlife had been allowed in the park since it was created in the 19th century.
Rare "headless" ladybug discovered in Montana
Sleepy Hollow has its headless horseman and now Montana has a headless ladybug.
The newly discovered insect tucks its head into its throat - making it not only a new species but an entirely new genus, or larger classification of plants and animals.
Ross Winton captured the insect in 2009 in traps he set in a sand dune while an entomology graduate student at Montana State University. Winton, now a wildlife technician in Idaho, at first thought he had parts of an ant but then discovered the bug can hide its head, much like a turtle ducking into its shell.
Winton sent his discovery to scientists in Australia working on this group of insects and the headless ladybug was formally described in a recent issue of the peer-reviewed journal Systemic Entomology.
Just two specimens of the tan, pinhead-sized ladybugs, also known as ladybird beetles, have ever been collected, a male in Montana and a female in Idaho, scientists said, making it the rarest species in the United States.
Entomologists historically used males to describe beetle species so the credit for the new discovery went to Winton.
However, the new species - Allenius iviei - was named after his former professor and Montana State University entomologist Michael Ivie.
The insect, with the proposed common name "Winton's Ladybird Beetle," may prey on aphids and other plant pests.
Ivie said it was rare to discover a new beetle in the United States and rarer still to uncover a completely new genus. The discovery is no small accomplishment considering the bug is the size and color of a grain of sand, he added.
He said it was unclear why the beetle slips its head into a tube in its midsection.
"It's a whole new kind of ladybug. Whatever this does, it is very specialized. It's quite the exciting little beast," Ivie said.
The newly discovered insect tucks its head into its throat - making it not only a new species but an entirely new genus, or larger classification of plants and animals.
Ross Winton captured the insect in 2009 in traps he set in a sand dune while an entomology graduate student at Montana State University. Winton, now a wildlife technician in Idaho, at first thought he had parts of an ant but then discovered the bug can hide its head, much like a turtle ducking into its shell.
Winton sent his discovery to scientists in Australia working on this group of insects and the headless ladybug was formally described in a recent issue of the peer-reviewed journal Systemic Entomology.
Just two specimens of the tan, pinhead-sized ladybugs, also known as ladybird beetles, have ever been collected, a male in Montana and a female in Idaho, scientists said, making it the rarest species in the United States.
Entomologists historically used males to describe beetle species so the credit for the new discovery went to Winton.
However, the new species - Allenius iviei - was named after his former professor and Montana State University entomologist Michael Ivie.
The insect, with the proposed common name "Winton's Ladybird Beetle," may prey on aphids and other plant pests.
Ivie said it was rare to discover a new beetle in the United States and rarer still to uncover a completely new genus. The discovery is no small accomplishment considering the bug is the size and color of a grain of sand, he added.
He said it was unclear why the beetle slips its head into a tube in its midsection.
"It's a whole new kind of ladybug. Whatever this does, it is very specialized. It's quite the exciting little beast," Ivie said.
Oops: Harvard affiliate apologizes for promotion of "weak" study
A Harvard-affiliated hospital is backing away from its decision earlier this week to promote a paper linking the artificial sweetener aspartame and cancer, now saying the evidence was "weak."
Brigham and Women's Hospital said in an e-mail to reporters that data in the paper, which was published Wednesday in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "is weak, and that Brigham and Women's Hospital media relations was premature in the promotion of this work."
The hospital apologized to reporters for wasting their time.
Earlier this week, the hospital's public relations department promoted the study with an attention-grabbing headline: "The truth isn't sweet when it comes to artificial sweeteners."
In the study, titled "Consumption of Artificial Sweetener and Sugar Containing Soda and the Risk of Lymphoma and Leukemia in Men and Women," researchers at the hospital, including noted nutrition researcher and study co-author Dr. Walter Willett, combed through two large studies of nurses and health professionals looking for evidence of an increased risk of blood cancers related to consumption of the artificial sweetener aspartame.
When they looked at the two studies combined, they found some trends toward a higher risk of cancers that could be linked with aspartame, but the researchers admitted that the findings could also be due to chance.
The American Beverage Association shot back with a defense of aspartame, an ingredient found in many beverages and thousands of foods.
"Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly tested ingredients of all time with more than 200 scientific studies confirming its safety," the industry group said in a statement.
"It has been repeatedly reviewed and approved by regulatory agencies around the globe, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the British Food Standards Agency, the European Union Scientific Committee on Food, and the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives," the group said.
Brigham and Women's Hospital said in an e-mail to reporters that data in the paper, which was published Wednesday in the Journal of Clinical Nutrition, "is weak, and that Brigham and Women's Hospital media relations was premature in the promotion of this work."
The hospital apologized to reporters for wasting their time.
Earlier this week, the hospital's public relations department promoted the study with an attention-grabbing headline: "The truth isn't sweet when it comes to artificial sweeteners."
In the study, titled "Consumption of Artificial Sweetener and Sugar Containing Soda and the Risk of Lymphoma and Leukemia in Men and Women," researchers at the hospital, including noted nutrition researcher and study co-author Dr. Walter Willett, combed through two large studies of nurses and health professionals looking for evidence of an increased risk of blood cancers related to consumption of the artificial sweetener aspartame.
When they looked at the two studies combined, they found some trends toward a higher risk of cancers that could be linked with aspartame, but the researchers admitted that the findings could also be due to chance.
The American Beverage Association shot back with a defense of aspartame, an ingredient found in many beverages and thousands of foods.
"Aspartame is one of the most thoroughly tested ingredients of all time with more than 200 scientific studies confirming its safety," the industry group said in a statement.
"It has been repeatedly reviewed and approved by regulatory agencies around the globe, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the British Food Standards Agency, the European Union Scientific Committee on Food, and the Joint Food and Agriculture Organization/World Health Organization Expert Committee on Food Additives," the group said.
September 11 mastermind's beard mystery solved: he dyes it with berries
Accused September 11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has been tinting his beard red by rubbing it with fruit juice and crushed berries from his breakfast, a Pentagon spokesman said on Tuesday.
Mohammed first showed up for his April arraignment hearing with his long, scraggly beard tinted a rusty red, and it remained dyed the same hue when he returned last week to the courtroom at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba.
That sparked a flurry of questions, since the rule book for the detention operation known as Joint Task Force Guantanamo, or JTF-GTMO, specifically prohibits prisoners from receiving hair dye because it can contain chemicals such as ammonia that could be used as a weapon.
Journalists asked whether someone had been smuggling contraband henna to Mohammed, who is held at a top-security camp whose very location on the Guantanamo base is kept secret. Henna is a plant often used to make hair dye.
A Pentagon spokesman, Army Lieutenant Colonel Todd Breasseale, revealed the answer on Tuesday.
"I can confirm that Mr. Mohammed did not avail himself of any outside-the-JTF means to dye his beard but did craft his own natural means by which to do it," Breasseale said, explaining the inmate used fruit juice and berries from breakfast.
He said he did not know Mohammed's reasoning.
It is not uncommon for men in the Muslim world to dye their beards with henna, as the Prophet Mohammad is said to have done.
Or it could be a case of simple vanity. At age 47, the alleged architect of the hijacked plane attacks that killed 2,976 people has gone gray in the beard.
Mohammed first showed up for his April arraignment hearing with his long, scraggly beard tinted a rusty red, and it remained dyed the same hue when he returned last week to the courtroom at the Guantanamo Bay U.S. Naval Base in Cuba.
That sparked a flurry of questions, since the rule book for the detention operation known as Joint Task Force Guantanamo, or JTF-GTMO, specifically prohibits prisoners from receiving hair dye because it can contain chemicals such as ammonia that could be used as a weapon.
Journalists asked whether someone had been smuggling contraband henna to Mohammed, who is held at a top-security camp whose very location on the Guantanamo base is kept secret. Henna is a plant often used to make hair dye.
A Pentagon spokesman, Army Lieutenant Colonel Todd Breasseale, revealed the answer on Tuesday.
"I can confirm that Mr. Mohammed did not avail himself of any outside-the-JTF means to dye his beard but did craft his own natural means by which to do it," Breasseale said, explaining the inmate used fruit juice and berries from breakfast.
He said he did not know Mohammed's reasoning.
It is not uncommon for men in the Muslim world to dye their beards with henna, as the Prophet Mohammad is said to have done.
Or it could be a case of simple vanity. At age 47, the alleged architect of the hijacked plane attacks that killed 2,976 people has gone gray in the beard.
Brazil car washer turns up alive at own wake
A 41-year-old car washer from northeastern Brazil shocked his family by turning up at his own wake after his family mistakenly identified a murdered local man at the morgue as him, local media reported on Tuesday.
Family and friends in the town of Alagoinhas in Bahia state were gathered around the body of another car washer resembling Gilberto Araujo when he showed up after being told of his "death" by a friend who had spotted him in the street.
"I said, 'guys, I'm alive, pinch me,'" Araujo told the O Globo news website. He had not seen his family for about four months until then.
His mother, shopkeeper Maria Menezes, said some of those attending the wake fainted while others fled.
"It was a fright ... I'm very happy because what mother has a son that they say is dead then turns up alive?" she said.
On first learning of the confusion, Araujo tried to call an acquaintance at the wake to inform them he was alive, but his call was dismissed as a prank. The corpse has now been returned, O Globo reported.
Family and friends in the town of Alagoinhas in Bahia state were gathered around the body of another car washer resembling Gilberto Araujo when he showed up after being told of his "death" by a friend who had spotted him in the street.
"I said, 'guys, I'm alive, pinch me,'" Araujo told the O Globo news website. He had not seen his family for about four months until then.
His mother, shopkeeper Maria Menezes, said some of those attending the wake fainted while others fled.
"It was a fright ... I'm very happy because what mother has a son that they say is dead then turns up alive?" she said.
On first learning of the confusion, Araujo tried to call an acquaintance at the wake to inform them he was alive, but his call was dismissed as a prank. The corpse has now been returned, O Globo reported.
South African in toenail campaign to clip rhino deaths
A South African film production designer armed with a nail cutter is trying to help stamp out rhino poaching by sending toenail clippings to the Chinese embassy in Pretoria.
Mark Wilby said he wants to make the point that rhino horn, which sells for prices higher than gold as a traditional Chinese medicine, is made up of keratin - a protein which is a component in human nails and hair.
"I felt that we have moved beyond the time of politeness. I am not doing it out of disrespect to the Chinese authorities, but how else do you get their attention," Wilby told Reuters on Wednesday.
Wilby has produced a video released on YouTube, calling on others to clip their nails and send them by post to the embassy.
Chinese embassy officials were not immediately available for comment. Officials from China and South Africa have been working together to reduce poaching.
Rhino poaching deaths in South Africa, home to almost all the rhinos in Africa, hit a record annual high in October, driven by the use of horns in Chinese medicine and a spreading belief in Southeast Asia, unfounded in science, that they may cure cancer.
The number of rhinoceroses dying unnatural deaths in South Africa, either through illegal poaching or legal hunts, has now reached a level likely to lead to population decline, according to an expert study.
Mark Wilby said he wants to make the point that rhino horn, which sells for prices higher than gold as a traditional Chinese medicine, is made up of keratin - a protein which is a component in human nails and hair.
"I felt that we have moved beyond the time of politeness. I am not doing it out of disrespect to the Chinese authorities, but how else do you get their attention," Wilby told Reuters on Wednesday.
Wilby has produced a video released on YouTube, calling on others to clip their nails and send them by post to the embassy.
Chinese embassy officials were not immediately available for comment. Officials from China and South Africa have been working together to reduce poaching.
Rhino poaching deaths in South Africa, home to almost all the rhinos in Africa, hit a record annual high in October, driven by the use of horns in Chinese medicine and a spreading belief in Southeast Asia, unfounded in science, that they may cure cancer.
The number of rhinoceroses dying unnatural deaths in South Africa, either through illegal poaching or legal hunts, has now reached a level likely to lead to population decline, according to an expert study.
North Korea's Air Koryo opens online booking
The world's only one star airline, North Korea's Air Koryo, has finally joined the Internet age with an online booking service, offering flights to and from the isolated state to Beijing and Shenyang in China as well as Vladivostok in Russia.
The website (http://www.airkoryo.com.kp/en/home) says it started operations in August and promises "a convenient reservation ... day and night".
Air Koryo is the only airline ranked as a one-star service by Skytrax global airline ranking, a rating that represents "very poor quality performance".
The airline uses mainly Russian-built Tupolev aircraft on its international flights although older, Soviet-era aircraft are also still used domestically.
Few North Koreans are allowed to travel outside their impoverished state.
North Korea expert Leonid Petrov was quoted on North Korea-watching website NK News (www.nknews.org) as saying: "Clearly, this website is created with the purpose to impress the people who have never thought of traveling to Pyongyang".
A business class flight to Beijing was listed online at a price of $374, a lot for a country where annual gross domestic product per capita is estimated at $1,800.
The website (http://www.airkoryo.com.kp/en/home) says it started operations in August and promises "a convenient reservation ... day and night".
Air Koryo is the only airline ranked as a one-star service by Skytrax global airline ranking, a rating that represents "very poor quality performance".
The airline uses mainly Russian-built Tupolev aircraft on its international flights although older, Soviet-era aircraft are also still used domestically.
Few North Koreans are allowed to travel outside their impoverished state.
North Korea expert Leonid Petrov was quoted on North Korea-watching website NK News (www.nknews.org) as saying: "Clearly, this website is created with the purpose to impress the people who have never thought of traveling to Pyongyang".
A business class flight to Beijing was listed online at a price of $374, a lot for a country where annual gross domestic product per capita is estimated at $1,800.
North Korea's Air Koryo opens online booking
The world's only one star airline, North Korea's Air Koryo, has finally joined the Internet age with an online booking service, offering flights to and from the isolated state to Beijing and Shenyang in China as well as Vladivostok in Russia.
The website (http://www.airkoryo.com.kp/en/home) says it started operations in August and promises "a convenient reservation ... day and night".
Air Koryo is the only airline ranked as a one-star service by Skytrax global airline ranking, a rating that represents "very poor quality performance".
The airline uses mainly Russian-built Tupolev aircraft on its international flights although older, Soviet-era aircraft are also still used domestically.
Few North Koreans are allowed to travel outside their impoverished state.
North Korea expert Leonid Petrov was quoted on North Korea-watching website NK News (www.nknews.org) as saying: "Clearly, this website is created with the purpose to impress the people who have never thought of traveling to Pyongyang".
A business class flight to Beijing was listed online at a price of $374, a lot for a country where annual gross domestic product per capita is estimated at $1,800.
The website (http://www.airkoryo.com.kp/en/home) says it started operations in August and promises "a convenient reservation ... day and night".
Air Koryo is the only airline ranked as a one-star service by Skytrax global airline ranking, a rating that represents "very poor quality performance".
The airline uses mainly Russian-built Tupolev aircraft on its international flights although older, Soviet-era aircraft are also still used domestically.
Few North Koreans are allowed to travel outside their impoverished state.
North Korea expert Leonid Petrov was quoted on North Korea-watching website NK News (www.nknews.org) as saying: "Clearly, this website is created with the purpose to impress the people who have never thought of traveling to Pyongyang".
A business class flight to Beijing was listed online at a price of $374, a lot for a country where annual gross domestic product per capita is estimated at $1,800.
Did French prime minister accidentally reveal big Airbus order?
Airbus parent EADS, whose merger talks with BAE Systems leaked to the press in the summer, may find more of its business subject to accidental early disclosure - this time by the French prime minister.
Jean-Marc Ayrault, who has just returned from Singapore and Philippines to help drum up business for French companies, told Airbus workers his trip had highlighted the importance of remaining competitive on world export markets.
But departing from a prepared speech for the opening of a new Airbus factory in southwest France, Ayrault then referred to billions of dollars of plane orders that did not appear to correspond to business already announced from those countries.
"I would like to add that during this trip, Airbus signed an order for 15 aircraft and took options for the A350 and possibly the A380," Ayrault told an audience of 1,000 staff and media.
The expressions of Airbus executives at the event gave nothing away, but aerospace industry watchers have said Singapore Airlines is among a number of top carriers seen as candidates to consider fresh orders for long-haul jets.
Such deals are sure to grab industry attention because a battle between Airbus and Boeing over the lucrative "mini-jumbo" market for large twin-engined jets has reached a crucial phase.
Airbus is looking to bag a high-profile endorsement for its A350-1000 long-range jet, while Boeing is pondering upgrades for its 777 airliner which is enjoying record sales.
During Ayrault's trip, Philippine Airlines confirmed an order for 10 Airbus A330 jets on top of a purchase in the summer. An official in the French prime minister's office said his comments alluded to this latest purchase "and nothing else."
An official government transcript of his comments confirmed the wider reference to potential A350 and A380 orders.
Airbus declined comment. Neither the Singapore nor Philippine carriers were immediately available for comment.
Ayrault was speaking as Airbus inaugurated a factory for the A350 in the latest chapter of its rivalry with U.S. planemaker Boeing.
Airbus hopes to boost sales of the A350-1000, the largest variant due to seat 350 people. A four-year drought ended when Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific placed an order for the airplane and upgraded 16 orders for smaller A350-900s in July.
Armed with Cathay's endorsement, Airbus is widely expected to target other standard-bearers including Singapore Airlines and major Western carriers that might be ripe for an upgrade to the larger model or a brand-new order. Singapore Airlines already has 20 A350-900s on order.
"They're big 777 users, and anything that indicated a pattern of 777-300ER migration towards the A350-1000 would be a big wake up call for Boeing," said analyst Richard Aboulafia.
The 777-3000ER is the most recent version of Boeing's most profitable aircraft and sells for $298 million apiece.
The A350-1000 is worth $321 million at list prices.
Airbus says the lightweight carbon-composite aircraft will beat the 777 on efficiency, but will not be available before late-decade. Airbus plans to increase output of the largest A350 to try to break Boeing's firm hold on the mini-jumbo market.
Influential aircraft lessor Steven Udvar-Hazy, founder of Air Lease Corp, urged Airbus to focus on this model.
"We are trying to persuade Airbus to de-emphasize the A350-800 in favor of the A350-1000," he told Reuters.
For its part, Boeing wants to persuade major customers like Singapore to keep ordering the current 777-300ER or else wait for a possible upgrade around the turn of the decade. Airlines such as Emirates have pressed it to firm up the design plans.
Airline sources say the U.S. planemaker is holding a summit of carriers next week to discuss their large-jet requirements.
Boeing declined to comment on the meeting.
"We schedule a series of meetings with customers to discuss twin-aisle airplanes, including our existing product line and future development options," a spokesman said by email.
"We are always talking with our customers about their fleet requirements, and per Boeing policy, do not discuss details".
Jean-Marc Ayrault, who has just returned from Singapore and Philippines to help drum up business for French companies, told Airbus workers his trip had highlighted the importance of remaining competitive on world export markets.
But departing from a prepared speech for the opening of a new Airbus factory in southwest France, Ayrault then referred to billions of dollars of plane orders that did not appear to correspond to business already announced from those countries.
"I would like to add that during this trip, Airbus signed an order for 15 aircraft and took options for the A350 and possibly the A380," Ayrault told an audience of 1,000 staff and media.
The expressions of Airbus executives at the event gave nothing away, but aerospace industry watchers have said Singapore Airlines is among a number of top carriers seen as candidates to consider fresh orders for long-haul jets.
Such deals are sure to grab industry attention because a battle between Airbus and Boeing over the lucrative "mini-jumbo" market for large twin-engined jets has reached a crucial phase.
Airbus is looking to bag a high-profile endorsement for its A350-1000 long-range jet, while Boeing is pondering upgrades for its 777 airliner which is enjoying record sales.
During Ayrault's trip, Philippine Airlines confirmed an order for 10 Airbus A330 jets on top of a purchase in the summer. An official in the French prime minister's office said his comments alluded to this latest purchase "and nothing else."
An official government transcript of his comments confirmed the wider reference to potential A350 and A380 orders.
Airbus declined comment. Neither the Singapore nor Philippine carriers were immediately available for comment.
Ayrault was speaking as Airbus inaugurated a factory for the A350 in the latest chapter of its rivalry with U.S. planemaker Boeing.
Airbus hopes to boost sales of the A350-1000, the largest variant due to seat 350 people. A four-year drought ended when Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific placed an order for the airplane and upgraded 16 orders for smaller A350-900s in July.
Armed with Cathay's endorsement, Airbus is widely expected to target other standard-bearers including Singapore Airlines and major Western carriers that might be ripe for an upgrade to the larger model or a brand-new order. Singapore Airlines already has 20 A350-900s on order.
"They're big 777 users, and anything that indicated a pattern of 777-300ER migration towards the A350-1000 would be a big wake up call for Boeing," said analyst Richard Aboulafia.
The 777-3000ER is the most recent version of Boeing's most profitable aircraft and sells for $298 million apiece.
The A350-1000 is worth $321 million at list prices.
Airbus says the lightweight carbon-composite aircraft will beat the 777 on efficiency, but will not be available before late-decade. Airbus plans to increase output of the largest A350 to try to break Boeing's firm hold on the mini-jumbo market.
Influential aircraft lessor Steven Udvar-Hazy, founder of Air Lease Corp, urged Airbus to focus on this model.
"We are trying to persuade Airbus to de-emphasize the A350-800 in favor of the A350-1000," he told Reuters.
For its part, Boeing wants to persuade major customers like Singapore to keep ordering the current 777-300ER or else wait for a possible upgrade around the turn of the decade. Airlines such as Emirates have pressed it to firm up the design plans.
Airline sources say the U.S. planemaker is holding a summit of carriers next week to discuss their large-jet requirements.
Boeing declined to comment on the meeting.
"We schedule a series of meetings with customers to discuss twin-aisle airplanes, including our existing product line and future development options," a spokesman said by email.
"We are always talking with our customers about their fleet requirements, and per Boeing policy, do not discuss details".
Brothel, funeral home bail out Greek soccer clubs
A brothel and a funeral home have become the newest benefactors of two cash-strapped Greek soccer clubs struggling to survive the country's economic crisis.
As Greece endures its worst slump since World War Two, thousands of businesses have closed, one in four is jobless and government funding for anything from health to sports is hard to come by.
So Yiannis Batziolas, chairman of the Voukefalas club that competes in the A1 amateur league, decided to turn to the local brothel owner for help.
"We had a very serious financial problem so I thought, why not?" Batziolas, who has managed the club since 2010, told Reuters from the team's home city of Larissa in central Greece.
Their new sponsor Soula Alevridou, a stocky 67-year-old woman who owns three luxury brothels, agreed to cover all costs and the players now flaunt pink shorts and T-shirts emblazoned with her brothels' logos, including "Villa Erotica".
"The players couldn't believe it at first but now they're happy about it," Batziolas said, estimating the club needs about 10,000 euros a year to survive.
"The first thing they said to me - half-joking, half-serious - was 'What kind of bonuses will we get?'" he added, laughing.
Voukefalas, named after the horse of Alexander the Great, is not the only ailing club to sign a deal with unconventional sponsors.
On Saturday Voukefalas, which is fighting a ban by local league organizers to wear the jerseys at matches, played against Hercules, a team sponsored by the All Day Bar, an escorts bar.
Further north in the city of Trikala, the Palaiopyrgos club - many of whose players still attend school - have signed a deal with a funeral home.
"For us it was a matter of survival," manager Lefteris Vassiliou told Greek radio, saying the team had not been able to secure any sponsorship since Europe's debt crisis erupted here three years ago.
Despite the macabre attire - black jerseys with the undertaker's logo and a large white cross down the middle - Vassiliou said the players had taken it well, and it had even given them an advantage over their opponents.
Recounting a recent match, he said: "The goalkeeper kept crossing himself, our competitors lost every play. It seems they were too scared to come near us."
As Greece endures its worst slump since World War Two, thousands of businesses have closed, one in four is jobless and government funding for anything from health to sports is hard to come by.
So Yiannis Batziolas, chairman of the Voukefalas club that competes in the A1 amateur league, decided to turn to the local brothel owner for help.
"We had a very serious financial problem so I thought, why not?" Batziolas, who has managed the club since 2010, told Reuters from the team's home city of Larissa in central Greece.
Their new sponsor Soula Alevridou, a stocky 67-year-old woman who owns three luxury brothels, agreed to cover all costs and the players now flaunt pink shorts and T-shirts emblazoned with her brothels' logos, including "Villa Erotica".
"The players couldn't believe it at first but now they're happy about it," Batziolas said, estimating the club needs about 10,000 euros a year to survive.
"The first thing they said to me - half-joking, half-serious - was 'What kind of bonuses will we get?'" he added, laughing.
Voukefalas, named after the horse of Alexander the Great, is not the only ailing club to sign a deal with unconventional sponsors.
On Saturday Voukefalas, which is fighting a ban by local league organizers to wear the jerseys at matches, played against Hercules, a team sponsored by the All Day Bar, an escorts bar.
Further north in the city of Trikala, the Palaiopyrgos club - many of whose players still attend school - have signed a deal with a funeral home.
"For us it was a matter of survival," manager Lefteris Vassiliou told Greek radio, saying the team had not been able to secure any sponsorship since Europe's debt crisis erupted here three years ago.
Despite the macabre attire - black jerseys with the undertaker's logo and a large white cross down the middle - Vassiliou said the players had taken it well, and it had even given them an advantage over their opponents.
Recounting a recent match, he said: "The goalkeeper kept crossing himself, our competitors lost every play. It seems they were too scared to come near us."
Arizona ballot measure contests ownership of the Grand Canyon
When voters in Arizona go to the polls next month, they will be asked to decide a landownership tug of war: Should the Grand Canyon belong to all Americans, or just the residents of Arizona?
A controversial ballot measure backed by Republicans in the state legislature is seeking sovereign control over millions of acres of federal land in the state, including the Grand Canyon.
Proposition 120 would amend the state's constitution to declare Arizona's sovereignty and jurisdiction over the "air, water, public lands, minerals, wildlife and other natural resources within the state's boundaries."
The measure is the latest salvo in the so-called "sagebrush revolt" by Republicans in the West aiming to take back control of major swaths of land owned by various federal agencies, much of it by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management.
State Senator Sylvia Allen, one of the Republican backers of the measure, argues that federal retention of the land hurts the economy of the Western states and leaves them struggling to fund public education, nurture their economies, and manage their forests and natural resources.
"We do not have the ability in rural Arizona to provide jobs for our citizens due to the fact that the federal government controls all the land," Allen told Reuters. "It leaves us at a great disadvantage. We're not able to bring in industry and provide for the jobs that we need," she added.
The exact area of public land targeted by the measure - which excludes American Indian reservations and federal installations such as arsenals - was not immediately clear on the Arizona Secretary of State's website.
The Sierra Club pegged the area at between 39,000 and 46,700 square miles (101,000 and 121,000 square km) - or 34 percent to 41 percent of the entire state.
BATTLE OVER LAND
The ballot measure is just the latest move in a decades-old federal-state skirmish over control of a wide range of natural resources in Western states, often pitting mining, drilling and logging companies against those seeking to protect the environment.
The efforts have had mixed success. In May, Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a state bill calling on Washington to relinquish the title to 48,000 square miles (124,000 square km), arguing that it created uncertainty for existing leaseholders on federal lands in difficult economic times.
But similar legislation was signed into law by Governor Gary Herbert in neighboring Utah in March, despite warnings from state attorneys that it was likely unconstitutional and would trigger a costly and ultimately futile legal battle.
Opponents of the latest drive to assert Arizona's ownership say that, if successful, the initiative could undermine protections provided by federal environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act, and would saddle Arizona with lands for which it would be unable to care.
"They can't even fund and ensure that their (state) parks are protected, so how they would take on an additional 25 to 30 million acres of land is a big question mark," Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, told Reuters.
No polls have given a sense of whether Prop 120 will prosper during the November 6 election. But Bahr cautioned that, should it pass, it would inevitably trigger fresh litigation for Arizona, which recently fought a legal battle over its tough 2010 crackdown on illegal immigrants all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"This one is just blatantly unconstitutional," Bahr said of Prop 120. "Does Arizona really need another lawsuit?"
A controversial ballot measure backed by Republicans in the state legislature is seeking sovereign control over millions of acres of federal land in the state, including the Grand Canyon.
Proposition 120 would amend the state's constitution to declare Arizona's sovereignty and jurisdiction over the "air, water, public lands, minerals, wildlife and other natural resources within the state's boundaries."
The measure is the latest salvo in the so-called "sagebrush revolt" by Republicans in the West aiming to take back control of major swaths of land owned by various federal agencies, much of it by the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management.
State Senator Sylvia Allen, one of the Republican backers of the measure, argues that federal retention of the land hurts the economy of the Western states and leaves them struggling to fund public education, nurture their economies, and manage their forests and natural resources.
"We do not have the ability in rural Arizona to provide jobs for our citizens due to the fact that the federal government controls all the land," Allen told Reuters. "It leaves us at a great disadvantage. We're not able to bring in industry and provide for the jobs that we need," she added.
The exact area of public land targeted by the measure - which excludes American Indian reservations and federal installations such as arsenals - was not immediately clear on the Arizona Secretary of State's website.
The Sierra Club pegged the area at between 39,000 and 46,700 square miles (101,000 and 121,000 square km) - or 34 percent to 41 percent of the entire state.
BATTLE OVER LAND
The ballot measure is just the latest move in a decades-old federal-state skirmish over control of a wide range of natural resources in Western states, often pitting mining, drilling and logging companies against those seeking to protect the environment.
The efforts have had mixed success. In May, Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a state bill calling on Washington to relinquish the title to 48,000 square miles (124,000 square km), arguing that it created uncertainty for existing leaseholders on federal lands in difficult economic times.
But similar legislation was signed into law by Governor Gary Herbert in neighboring Utah in March, despite warnings from state attorneys that it was likely unconstitutional and would trigger a costly and ultimately futile legal battle.
Opponents of the latest drive to assert Arizona's ownership say that, if successful, the initiative could undermine protections provided by federal environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act, Endangered Species Act, and Clean Water Act, and would saddle Arizona with lands for which it would be unable to care.
"They can't even fund and ensure that their (state) parks are protected, so how they would take on an additional 25 to 30 million acres of land is a big question mark," Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club Grand Canyon Chapter, told Reuters.
No polls have given a sense of whether Prop 120 will prosper during the November 6 election. But Bahr cautioned that, should it pass, it would inevitably trigger fresh litigation for Arizona, which recently fought a legal battle over its tough 2010 crackdown on illegal immigrants all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"This one is just blatantly unconstitutional," Bahr said of Prop 120. "Does Arizona really need another lawsuit?"
New York court finds pole dancing revenue can be taxed
Pole dancers might be athletic and artistic but their performances don't qualify for tax-exempt status under New York law, a state court ruled on Tuesday.
The owners of Nite Moves, an exotic dance club near Albany, New York, had sought to have pole dancing and private lap dances qualified as tax exempt since revenue collected from "dramatic or musical arts performances" is not taxable under state law.
But the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, decided against the club in a 4-3 ruling handed down on Tuesday.
"Surely it was not irrational ... to conclude that a club presenting performances by women gyrating on a pole to music, however artistic or athletic their practice moves are, was also not a qualifying performance entitled to exempt status," the majority wrote in an unsigned memorandum.
Nite Moves was trying to fend off a $125,000 tax bill on admission fees, beverage sales and income from private dances between 2002 and 2005. The owners argued that exotic dance qualifies for the tax exemption because it is difficult to perform and requires practice and choreography.
In dissent, Judge Robert Smith said that deciding the artistic merits of different dance forms "is not the function of a tax collector."
"The people who paid these admission charges paid to see women dancing. It does not matter if the dance was artistic or crude, boring or erotic," Smith wrote. "Under New York's Tax Law, a dance is a dance."
Andrew McCullough, who argued for Nite Moves, said on Tuesday that he is considering appealing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. "We're very unhappy and looking at whatever options we have," he said.
Geoffrey Gloak, a spokesman for the state Department of Taxation & Finance, said, "We're pleased with this decision, because it gives similar businesses clear guidance on the issue of sales tax when it comes to live exotic dance establishments."
The owners of Nite Moves, an exotic dance club near Albany, New York, had sought to have pole dancing and private lap dances qualified as tax exempt since revenue collected from "dramatic or musical arts performances" is not taxable under state law.
But the Court of Appeals, the state's highest court, decided against the club in a 4-3 ruling handed down on Tuesday.
"Surely it was not irrational ... to conclude that a club presenting performances by women gyrating on a pole to music, however artistic or athletic their practice moves are, was also not a qualifying performance entitled to exempt status," the majority wrote in an unsigned memorandum.
Nite Moves was trying to fend off a $125,000 tax bill on admission fees, beverage sales and income from private dances between 2002 and 2005. The owners argued that exotic dance qualifies for the tax exemption because it is difficult to perform and requires practice and choreography.
In dissent, Judge Robert Smith said that deciding the artistic merits of different dance forms "is not the function of a tax collector."
"The people who paid these admission charges paid to see women dancing. It does not matter if the dance was artistic or crude, boring or erotic," Smith wrote. "Under New York's Tax Law, a dance is a dance."
Andrew McCullough, who argued for Nite Moves, said on Tuesday that he is considering appealing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. "We're very unhappy and looking at whatever options we have," he said.
Geoffrey Gloak, a spokesman for the state Department of Taxation & Finance, said, "We're pleased with this decision, because it gives similar businesses clear guidance on the issue of sales tax when it comes to live exotic dance establishments."
Referee sends off 36 brawling soccer players in junior match
Thirty-six players, including both teams and substitutes, were sent off during a Paraguayan junior league soccer match that ended in mayhem.
In the last five minutes of the game on Sunday, referee Nestor Guillen handed out two red cards, one to a player from each team, but the pair ignored him and continued their fight on the field.
In a matter of seconds the clash spun out of control, involving players from both teams and all the replacements.
"Many of the players that were on the field and on the substitutes' bench, everyone went on to the field to try to control their team mates and even the players from the other team," said Hernan Martinez, president of the home club, Teniente Farina.
Rather than trying to end the brawl, the match officials ran off the field in fear.
For this reason, Martinez believes they had no other recourse but to dismiss all 36 players since they did not stay to identify culprits.
"The referees didn't even stay on the field. As soon as the fighting broke out they went to the dressing room," he said.
"They ran through the tunnel to their dressing room. They weren't able to see anything that happened. But, in the report, to more or less wash their hands of the responsibility, they expelled all 36 players," said Martinez.
Visiting Libertad club president Sixto Nunez said he thought the referees had shirked their duties in fleeing the scene.
"The referee needed to take better care of the boys. He should have made sure that the two dismissed players were completely off the field," Nunez said.
"Instead, the officials left the field and when the players were all leaving together that's when the fighting started again.
The players, who were all automatically suspended, await sanctions from the league's disciplinary committee.
In the last five minutes of the game on Sunday, referee Nestor Guillen handed out two red cards, one to a player from each team, but the pair ignored him and continued their fight on the field.
In a matter of seconds the clash spun out of control, involving players from both teams and all the replacements.
"Many of the players that were on the field and on the substitutes' bench, everyone went on to the field to try to control their team mates and even the players from the other team," said Hernan Martinez, president of the home club, Teniente Farina.
Rather than trying to end the brawl, the match officials ran off the field in fear.
For this reason, Martinez believes they had no other recourse but to dismiss all 36 players since they did not stay to identify culprits.
"The referees didn't even stay on the field. As soon as the fighting broke out they went to the dressing room," he said.
"They ran through the tunnel to their dressing room. They weren't able to see anything that happened. But, in the report, to more or less wash their hands of the responsibility, they expelled all 36 players," said Martinez.
Visiting Libertad club president Sixto Nunez said he thought the referees had shirked their duties in fleeing the scene.
"The referee needed to take better care of the boys. He should have made sure that the two dismissed players were completely off the field," Nunez said.
"Instead, the officials left the field and when the players were all leaving together that's when the fighting started again.
The players, who were all automatically suspended, await sanctions from the league's disciplinary committee.
Argentina in diplomatic offensive at U.N. over seized ship
Argentina's foreign minister launched a diplomatic offensive in New York on Monday, urging top U.N. officials to pressure Ghana to release an Argentine naval training vessel seized after creditors won a court order to keep the ship in port.
Foreign Minister Hector Timerman's appearance at U.N. headquarters came as sailors from the detained ship prepared to leave Ghana after spending weeks in dockside limbo, a government official said in Accra.
The ARA Libertad, a tall sailing ship with a crew of more than 300, has been detained in Ghana's port of Tema since October 2 on a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd, which claims Argentina owes it $300 million from defaulted bonds.
Timerman has been in New York since last week, when Argentina was elected for a two-year term on the 15-nation U.N. Security Council that begins on January 1, 2013.
He met on Monday with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, General Assembly president Vuk Jeremic and the president of the Security Council, Guatemalan Ambassador Gert Rosenthal. Jeremic's office issued a statement after he met Timerman.
Timerman "expressed his grave concern about the situation and reiterated his call to the government of Ghana to desist from its conduct and respect its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," and other international laws, Jeremic's office said.
"The president (Jeremic) underlined the need for all member states to fully comply with their obligations under international law and conveyed his disposition to assist both parties to reach a solution on the issue," the statement added.
Ban's office also issued a statement, saying the U.N. chief "expressed the hope that both governments will find a way to address the matter on a bilateral basis."
Speaking to reporters at the world body, Timerman said he used his U.N. meetings to make clear Argentina's opposition to Ghana's moves.
"We've said that, although we were going to exhaust all legal avenues within Ghana, we reserve the right to go to international courts because this is a violation of a convention signed by both Argentina and Ghana," Timerman said.
Timerman expressed little sympathy for NML Capital or investment funds in general.
"We're not going to negotiate with vulture funds," he said. "We're going to keep on fighting and demand in the G20 the total and absolute elimination of the possibility for these vulture funds that work from tax havens to try to stamp on the sovereignty of countries like Argentina."
NO MORE SWABBING DECKS
Meanwhile, the ship's crew stranded in Ghana was getting ready to leave the country.
"We are preparing them and most of them will start leaving tomorrow, if they are able to complete their immigration processes," a government source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
He said most of the remainder of the crew would leave in batches throughout the week.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Saturday ordered 326 sailors on the detained ship to evacuate - leaving just the captain and a core crew - claiming their human rights were violated because a judge had prohibited fuel deliveries required to run plumbing and emergency equipment.
Ghana said on Sunday the crew was free to depart and NML's lead lawyer, Ace Ankomah, said it would not stop them from leaving.
The sailors appeared to be in good spirits on Monday as they worked the decks. Some returned from the city with suitcases and packing boxes, a Reuters witness at the port said.
Since the ship's detention three weeks ago, the crew has often been seen jogging, playing soccer and shopping at local markets.
"Ghana is a nice country, the people are nice, but still, being here doing nothing is different from being home doing nothing," one of them, a man in his mid-20s, told Reuters during a visit to the port's duty-free shop.
Argentina declared a massive sovereign default a decade ago at the height of an economic crisis and now faces a raft of lawsuits in U.S. courts by so-called holdout bondholders seeking Argentine assets to recoup the defaulted bonds.
Ghana said it turned down demands by Argentina to release the boat because it wanted to comply with the law.
Foreign Minister Hector Timerman's appearance at U.N. headquarters came as sailors from the detained ship prepared to leave Ghana after spending weeks in dockside limbo, a government official said in Accra.
The ARA Libertad, a tall sailing ship with a crew of more than 300, has been detained in Ghana's port of Tema since October 2 on a court order obtained by NML Capital Ltd, which claims Argentina owes it $300 million from defaulted bonds.
Timerman has been in New York since last week, when Argentina was elected for a two-year term on the 15-nation U.N. Security Council that begins on January 1, 2013.
He met on Monday with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, General Assembly president Vuk Jeremic and the president of the Security Council, Guatemalan Ambassador Gert Rosenthal. Jeremic's office issued a statement after he met Timerman.
Timerman "expressed his grave concern about the situation and reiterated his call to the government of Ghana to desist from its conduct and respect its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," and other international laws, Jeremic's office said.
"The president (Jeremic) underlined the need for all member states to fully comply with their obligations under international law and conveyed his disposition to assist both parties to reach a solution on the issue," the statement added.
Ban's office also issued a statement, saying the U.N. chief "expressed the hope that both governments will find a way to address the matter on a bilateral basis."
Speaking to reporters at the world body, Timerman said he used his U.N. meetings to make clear Argentina's opposition to Ghana's moves.
"We've said that, although we were going to exhaust all legal avenues within Ghana, we reserve the right to go to international courts because this is a violation of a convention signed by both Argentina and Ghana," Timerman said.
Timerman expressed little sympathy for NML Capital or investment funds in general.
"We're not going to negotiate with vulture funds," he said. "We're going to keep on fighting and demand in the G20 the total and absolute elimination of the possibility for these vulture funds that work from tax havens to try to stamp on the sovereignty of countries like Argentina."
NO MORE SWABBING DECKS
Meanwhile, the ship's crew stranded in Ghana was getting ready to leave the country.
"We are preparing them and most of them will start leaving tomorrow, if they are able to complete their immigration processes," a government source told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
He said most of the remainder of the crew would leave in batches throughout the week.
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez on Saturday ordered 326 sailors on the detained ship to evacuate - leaving just the captain and a core crew - claiming their human rights were violated because a judge had prohibited fuel deliveries required to run plumbing and emergency equipment.
Ghana said on Sunday the crew was free to depart and NML's lead lawyer, Ace Ankomah, said it would not stop them from leaving.
The sailors appeared to be in good spirits on Monday as they worked the decks. Some returned from the city with suitcases and packing boxes, a Reuters witness at the port said.
Since the ship's detention three weeks ago, the crew has often been seen jogging, playing soccer and shopping at local markets.
"Ghana is a nice country, the people are nice, but still, being here doing nothing is different from being home doing nothing," one of them, a man in his mid-20s, told Reuters during a visit to the port's duty-free shop.
Argentina declared a massive sovereign default a decade ago at the height of an economic crisis and now faces a raft of lawsuits in U.S. courts by so-called holdout bondholders seeking Argentine assets to recoup the defaulted bonds.
Ghana said it turned down demands by Argentina to release the boat because it wanted to comply with the law.
Dutch art heist museum says security system in order
The Dutch art gallery at the center of an audacious heist last week said that the electronic locks on its doors were disarmed before thieves made off with paintings by Picasso, Monet and others worth tens of millions of dollars.
The seven stolen works - which also include a Gauguin, a Lucian Freud and a Meyer de Haan - were on loan from a private collection for a special exhibition at Rotterdam's Kunsthal of impressionism, expressionism, and other modern art movements.
The theft was one of the art world's most dramatic in recent years, and one of the biggest in the Netherlands.
The apparent ease with which the thieves entered and escaped has raised questions about the Kunsthal's security system and whether an insider was involved.
The Kunsthal said in a statement on Monday that the electronic locks on its doors were in working order, but were designed to automatically unbolt shortly after the burglar alarm was set off. After that, only mechanical door locks stood between the intruders and the Kunsthal's treasures.
"The theft on Monday night suggests the intruders forced the lock after the unbolting, presumably quickly," the statement said.
The thieves forced the mechanical lock on an emergency exit at the rear of the ground floor gallery. Police arrived at the scene within five minutes, but the intruders had already gone.
Defending its security installation in the face of speculation, the gallery said an independent inspection of its security apparatus in August had found only that one motion detector was blocked off. It had been immediately repaired.
On Friday, the police released security camera footage which showed the thieves entering through the back door before disappearing from the camera's field of view. Seconds later, they come back into view carrying bulky objects, and leave the same way they entered.
The faces of the thieves cannot be seen clearly on the footage, but police are appealing to the public to come forward if they recognize their bags or clothing. Police say they have already received 60 tips relating to the robbery.
The Kunsthal, in Rotterdam's leafy museum quarter, does not have its own collection.
It had only just opened a new exhibition of works from the private Triton Foundation - collected by the Cordia family, which made its money in shipping and oil - to celebrate its 20th anniversary when the break-in took place during Monday night.
The gallery reopened on Thursday, and the empty spaces previously occupied by the stolen paintings were filled with new works from the Triton collection.
Police appeals for information are posted around the museum park, home to half a dozen museums besides the Kunsthal, which was designed by Rem Koolhaas.
The museum has not said which paintings now hang in place of the stolen works, which included Matisse's "La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune", Monet's "Waterloo Bridge, London" and "Charing Cross Bridge, London", Gauguin's "Femme devant une fenêtre ouverte", De Haan's "Autoportrait" and Freud's "Woman with Eyes Closed".
But even the absence of Picasso's "Tête d'Arlequin", which was the exhibition's centerpiece, has not dampened interest in the exhibition, which was crowded on Sunday.
"Numbers are way up since the theft," said the cloakroom attendant with a smile. "Disaster tourists."
The seven stolen works - which also include a Gauguin, a Lucian Freud and a Meyer de Haan - were on loan from a private collection for a special exhibition at Rotterdam's Kunsthal of impressionism, expressionism, and other modern art movements.
The theft was one of the art world's most dramatic in recent years, and one of the biggest in the Netherlands.
The apparent ease with which the thieves entered and escaped has raised questions about the Kunsthal's security system and whether an insider was involved.
The Kunsthal said in a statement on Monday that the electronic locks on its doors were in working order, but were designed to automatically unbolt shortly after the burglar alarm was set off. After that, only mechanical door locks stood between the intruders and the Kunsthal's treasures.
"The theft on Monday night suggests the intruders forced the lock after the unbolting, presumably quickly," the statement said.
The thieves forced the mechanical lock on an emergency exit at the rear of the ground floor gallery. Police arrived at the scene within five minutes, but the intruders had already gone.
Defending its security installation in the face of speculation, the gallery said an independent inspection of its security apparatus in August had found only that one motion detector was blocked off. It had been immediately repaired.
On Friday, the police released security camera footage which showed the thieves entering through the back door before disappearing from the camera's field of view. Seconds later, they come back into view carrying bulky objects, and leave the same way they entered.
The faces of the thieves cannot be seen clearly on the footage, but police are appealing to the public to come forward if they recognize their bags or clothing. Police say they have already received 60 tips relating to the robbery.
The Kunsthal, in Rotterdam's leafy museum quarter, does not have its own collection.
It had only just opened a new exhibition of works from the private Triton Foundation - collected by the Cordia family, which made its money in shipping and oil - to celebrate its 20th anniversary when the break-in took place during Monday night.
The gallery reopened on Thursday, and the empty spaces previously occupied by the stolen paintings were filled with new works from the Triton collection.
Police appeals for information are posted around the museum park, home to half a dozen museums besides the Kunsthal, which was designed by Rem Koolhaas.
The museum has not said which paintings now hang in place of the stolen works, which included Matisse's "La Liseuse en Blanc et Jaune", Monet's "Waterloo Bridge, London" and "Charing Cross Bridge, London", Gauguin's "Femme devant une fenêtre ouverte", De Haan's "Autoportrait" and Freud's "Woman with Eyes Closed".
But even the absence of Picasso's "Tête d'Arlequin", which was the exhibition's centerpiece, has not dampened interest in the exhibition, which was crowded on Sunday.
"Numbers are way up since the theft," said the cloakroom attendant with a smile. "Disaster tourists."
Thirteen Italians die in bloody start to hunt season
Italian hunting enthusiasts have killed 13 people and wounded 33 in shooting accidents since the season opened in September, increasing pressure to reform antiquated hunting laws.
The death toll swelled across the country this weekend when a 16-year old was killed by a friend while hunting, a pensioner was shot and wounded in his garden and a cyclist was hospitalized after being hit with grapeshot.
Hunting groups agree with environmentalists that the law - which allows hunters to roam on private land and discharge firearms within 150 meters (yards) of a house - should be changed. But the sides have become entrenched in a long-running stalemate over how.
Among those calling for an outright ban is Daniela Casprini, the head of the Association of Hunting Victims.
"The question is no longer about who is for and who is against hunting. This is to stop a true massacre," Casprini said on Monday.
Less than one in five Italians said they considered hunting to be an acceptable pastime in a survey by Italian research group Eurispes last year.
Pro-hunting groups point to a need to control populations of species like wild boar, which can cause damage to agriculture.
Yet the shooting of deer, rabbits and birds in the country's woodlands is the subject of a rift between a more ecologically sensitive younger generation and Italy's ageing hunters.
The number of hunters has declined steeply to about 700,000 from two million three decades ago, with most aged between 65 and 78 years, according to farming association Coldiretti.
The head of animal rights group Animalisti Italiani Onlus said the accidents proved that legislation to protect rare wildlife was ineffective.
"This explains why wolves, bears, hawks and other protected species are found killed by firearms," said Walter Caporale.
"They shoot because something moves."
The death toll swelled across the country this weekend when a 16-year old was killed by a friend while hunting, a pensioner was shot and wounded in his garden and a cyclist was hospitalized after being hit with grapeshot.
Hunting groups agree with environmentalists that the law - which allows hunters to roam on private land and discharge firearms within 150 meters (yards) of a house - should be changed. But the sides have become entrenched in a long-running stalemate over how.
Among those calling for an outright ban is Daniela Casprini, the head of the Association of Hunting Victims.
"The question is no longer about who is for and who is against hunting. This is to stop a true massacre," Casprini said on Monday.
Less than one in five Italians said they considered hunting to be an acceptable pastime in a survey by Italian research group Eurispes last year.
Pro-hunting groups point to a need to control populations of species like wild boar, which can cause damage to agriculture.
Yet the shooting of deer, rabbits and birds in the country's woodlands is the subject of a rift between a more ecologically sensitive younger generation and Italy's ageing hunters.
The number of hunters has declined steeply to about 700,000 from two million three decades ago, with most aged between 65 and 78 years, according to farming association Coldiretti.
The head of animal rights group Animalisti Italiani Onlus said the accidents proved that legislation to protect rare wildlife was ineffective.
"This explains why wolves, bears, hawks and other protected species are found killed by firearms," said Walter Caporale.
"They shoot because something moves."
Dubai cafe "camel-ccino" new take on Bedouin staple
A Dubai cafe, trying to give a modern twist to an old Bedouin tradition, has started putting camel products on its menu.
Cafe2Go, launched in September last year by an Emirati entrepreneur as part of a scheme to revive Bedouin traditions, now features camel-lattes, camel-ccinos and camel-meat fajitas.
Earlier this month, he launched Camellos -- a brand name for his products derived from the Spanish word for camel.
"Camel milk has been around for centuries and I wanted our younger generation to start drinking it again," Jassim Al Bastaki, the cafe owner, said. "From here came the idea of mixing it with modern drinks."
Camel milk has been a staple for desert Arab nomads for generations. However its boom in modern day food and beverage industries in the UAE adds a new level to its commerciality.
Apart from being a novelty in the glitzy home of the world's tallest building and the man-made palm islands, Bastaki swears by the health benefits of camel milk. Studies show it is almost as nutritious as human breast milk and offers 10 times more iron and three times more vitamin C than cow's milk.
The challenge in marketing the product comes from the taste and smell. Unlike common dairy products, camel milk is slightly saltier and has a heavy taste, and from the smell, one knows immediately where it came from.
Bastaki said he had spent months testing different concoctions on family and friends before coming up with the perfect blend.
"Camel milk is known for being a healthier choice," he said. "We just had to find the right coffee bean mix and degree of steaming the milk to make it taste good."
Cafe2Go, launched in September last year by an Emirati entrepreneur as part of a scheme to revive Bedouin traditions, now features camel-lattes, camel-ccinos and camel-meat fajitas.
Earlier this month, he launched Camellos -- a brand name for his products derived from the Spanish word for camel.
"Camel milk has been around for centuries and I wanted our younger generation to start drinking it again," Jassim Al Bastaki, the cafe owner, said. "From here came the idea of mixing it with modern drinks."
Camel milk has been a staple for desert Arab nomads for generations. However its boom in modern day food and beverage industries in the UAE adds a new level to its commerciality.
Apart from being a novelty in the glitzy home of the world's tallest building and the man-made palm islands, Bastaki swears by the health benefits of camel milk. Studies show it is almost as nutritious as human breast milk and offers 10 times more iron and three times more vitamin C than cow's milk.
The challenge in marketing the product comes from the taste and smell. Unlike common dairy products, camel milk is slightly saltier and has a heavy taste, and from the smell, one knows immediately where it came from.
Bastaki said he had spent months testing different concoctions on family and friends before coming up with the perfect blend.
"Camel milk is known for being a healthier choice," he said. "We just had to find the right coffee bean mix and degree of steaming the milk to make it taste good."
Saturday, October 20, 2012
POP QUIZ (Women's Health)
How much do you know about living a longer, healthier, happier life?
1. Which is the best step you can take to improve your overall health?
a) Drastically cutting down on salt
b) Eating only organic fruits and vegetables
c) Playing a sport that you love
2. Which fruit was recently shown to help keep women's brainss young?
a) Berries
b) Pomegranates
c) Apples
3. Women's happiness in relationships is most closely tied to:
a) How well their partner can sense when they are upset
b) How often their partner compliments them
c) How often their parner prepares dinner
4. Breast cancer survival rates are better for women who:
a) Maintain a healthy weight
b) Get plenty of sleep
c) Both (a) and (b)
5. True or False: All postmenopausal women should take a daily iron supplement.
6. True or False: Chocoholics tend to be skinner than those who rarely indulge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. c ; 2. a ; 3. a ; 4. c ; 5. False ; 6. True
1. Which is the best step you can take to improve your overall health?
a) Drastically cutting down on salt
b) Eating only organic fruits and vegetables
c) Playing a sport that you love
2. Which fruit was recently shown to help keep women's brainss young?
a) Berries
b) Pomegranates
c) Apples
3. Women's happiness in relationships is most closely tied to:
a) How well their partner can sense when they are upset
b) How often their partner compliments them
c) How often their parner prepares dinner
4. Breast cancer survival rates are better for women who:
a) Maintain a healthy weight
b) Get plenty of sleep
c) Both (a) and (b)
5. True or False: All postmenopausal women should take a daily iron supplement.
6. True or False: Chocoholics tend to be skinner than those who rarely indulge.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. c ; 2. a ; 3. a ; 4. c ; 5. False ; 6. True
POP QUIZ (Women who've won the Nobel Peace Prize)
Last year's awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize was a rarity, as it was divided among three women: Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen.
Match up previous female winners of the award, which was first presented in 1901, with the year they were honored.
1. Jane Addams a) 1905
2. Emily Greene Balch b) 1931
3. Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams c) 1946
4. Shirin Ebadi d) 1976
5. Wangari Maathai e) 1979
6. Rigoberta Menchu f) 1982
7. Alva Myrdal g) 1991
8. Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicita von Suttner h) 1992
9. Aung San Suu Kyi i) 1997
10. Mother Teresa j) 2003
11. Jody Williams k) 2004
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. b ; 2. c ; 3. d ; 4. j ; 5. k ; 6. h ; 7. f ; 8. a ; 9. g ; 10. e ; 11. i
Match up previous female winners of the award, which was first presented in 1901, with the year they were honored.
1. Jane Addams a) 1905
2. Emily Greene Balch b) 1931
3. Mairead Corrigan and Betty Williams c) 1946
4. Shirin Ebadi d) 1976
5. Wangari Maathai e) 1979
6. Rigoberta Menchu f) 1982
7. Alva Myrdal g) 1991
8. Baroness Bertha Sophie Felicita von Suttner h) 1992
9. Aung San Suu Kyi i) 1997
10. Mother Teresa j) 2003
11. Jody Williams k) 2004
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Answers : 1. b ; 2. c ; 3. d ; 4. j ; 5. k ; 6. h ; 7. f ; 8. a ; 9. g ; 10. e ; 11. i
F. Y. I.
State Stats
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska is the largest national forest in the U.S.
Of Note
The Carpenters' signature song. "We've Only Just Begun," debuted in a television commerical for a California bank.
Still on the Books
In Destin, Fla., it is illegal to sell ice cream in a cemetery.
Weighty Diet
Crocodiles swallow stones to help with digestion.
Quotable
by Robert Frost, American poet (1874-1963)
"The best way out is always through."
Water Words
Fish communicate with each other by rasping their teeth to make sounds in their throat.
The Tongass National Forest in Alaska is the largest national forest in the U.S.
Of Note
The Carpenters' signature song. "We've Only Just Begun," debuted in a television commerical for a California bank.
Still on the Books
In Destin, Fla., it is illegal to sell ice cream in a cemetery.
Weighty Diet
Crocodiles swallow stones to help with digestion.
Quotable
by Robert Frost, American poet (1874-1963)
"The best way out is always through."
Water Words
Fish communicate with each other by rasping their teeth to make sounds in their throat.
Morocco denies pagan rock carving destroyed
The Moroccan government has denied that an 8,000-year-old rock engraving depicting the Sun as a divinity has been destroyed in the south of the country in an attack residents had blamed on ultra-orthodox Salafi Muslims.
Communications Minister Mustafa el-Khalfi took journalists to the site of the pagan engraving in the Toukbal National Park to demonstrate that reports of its destruction were untrue.
Ahmed Assid, a prominent activist for the indigenous Amazigh people and member of the Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), had said the petroglyph had been destroyed this week and that local activists had blamed Salafis. However, Assid said at the time he had yet to see pictures of the reported damage.
Meryem Demnati, of the Amazigh Freedoms and Rights Watchdog, had also said the petroglyph had been destroyed.
Morocco has generally followed a tolerant form of Sunni Islam, but Salafis rose to prominence after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. Hundreds were jailed after suicide bombings in the city of Casablanca in 2003.
Amazigh, or Imazighen, are berbers who lived in north Africa long before Muslims arrived there in the 7th century. While there are no official figures on their numbers, Morocco is widely believed to have the biggest Amazigh community in the world.
Communications Minister Mustafa el-Khalfi took journalists to the site of the pagan engraving in the Toukbal National Park to demonstrate that reports of its destruction were untrue.
Ahmed Assid, a prominent activist for the indigenous Amazigh people and member of the Royal Institute for Amazigh Culture (IRCAM), had said the petroglyph had been destroyed this week and that local activists had blamed Salafis. However, Assid said at the time he had yet to see pictures of the reported damage.
Meryem Demnati, of the Amazigh Freedoms and Rights Watchdog, had also said the petroglyph had been destroyed.
Morocco has generally followed a tolerant form of Sunni Islam, but Salafis rose to prominence after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001. Hundreds were jailed after suicide bombings in the city of Casablanca in 2003.
Amazigh, or Imazighen, are berbers who lived in north Africa long before Muslims arrived there in the 7th century. While there are no official figures on their numbers, Morocco is widely believed to have the biggest Amazigh community in the world.
Poland's narrowest building opens
A building just 92 cm (36 inches) wide as its narrowest point was opened in Warsaw on Saturday as an artistic installation that will be a home from home for Israeli writer Edgar Keret.
Keret, who told news channel TVN24 he would live there when he visits Warsaw twice a year, said he conceived the project as a kind of memorial to his parents' family who died in the World War Two Holocaust.
Wedged into the narrow gap between two existing central Warsaw blocks of flats on the edge of the former Warsaw Ghetto, the several-level structure was designed by Polish architect Jakub Szczesny and is never more than 152 cm (60 inches) wide.
"It contains all necessary amenities such as a micro-kitchen, mini-bathroom, sleeping cubicle and tiny work area, all accessible via ladders," Szczesny explained.
The station called Keret House Poland's, possibly Europe's, narrowest residential building.
Keret, who told news channel TVN24 he would live there when he visits Warsaw twice a year, said he conceived the project as a kind of memorial to his parents' family who died in the World War Two Holocaust.
Wedged into the narrow gap between two existing central Warsaw blocks of flats on the edge of the former Warsaw Ghetto, the several-level structure was designed by Polish architect Jakub Szczesny and is never more than 152 cm (60 inches) wide.
"It contains all necessary amenities such as a micro-kitchen, mini-bathroom, sleeping cubicle and tiny work area, all accessible via ladders," Szczesny explained.
The station called Keret House Poland's, possibly Europe's, narrowest residential building.
Man who thought plane was on fire charged with disrupting Utah flight
A Ukrainian immigrant, who is accused of disrupting an airline flight and assaulting its crew because he believed the wing was on fire, was ordered on Friday to remain in custody in Utah to face charges.
A federal judge ordered a mental evaluation for Anatoliy Baranovich, 46, who authorities said had been drinking and had passports for 19 women and $6,500 in cash in his luggage.
Prosecutors believe the mental examination may shed light on Baranovich's actions during a Delta Airlines flight from Boston to Salt Lake City on Monday. Baranovich is charged with one count each of damaging and disabling an aircraft and interference with a flight crew.
Prosecutors say Baranovich, who was returning home to Oregon after a trip to Ukraine, awoke from a nap, looked out a window as the plane descended for landing and thought he saw fire.
He became agitated and began yelling in Russian before bolting from his seat to the rear of the aircraft where he tried to open the emergency doors.
At a detention hearing in Salt Lake City's federal court, FBI agent Cameron Smiley said Baranovich ignored commands from flight attendants to calm down and fought off at least five passengers before he was subdued.
Baranovich told police he had a few beers at airport stops in Amsterdam and Boston and one glass of wine on the Boston-to-Salt Lake flight, Smiley said.
Smiley said Baranovich was calm during their interview, but again became violent when officers found 19 Ukrainian passports, mostly for young women, in his luggage. Baranovich also was carrying more than $6,500 in cash and offered to give the money to police if they would release him, the agent said.
"I told him we didn't work like that," Smiley testified.
Defense attorneys asked that Baranovich be released because his behavior was an aberration. A permanent U.S. resident, Baranovich has no history of violence or any record of criminal behavior or arrests in the U.S., his lawyer said.
District Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead said he was troubled by Baranovich's access to passports and cash, which could make him a flight risk.
No new hearing dates have been set. If convicted, Baranovich faces a possible maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
A federal judge ordered a mental evaluation for Anatoliy Baranovich, 46, who authorities said had been drinking and had passports for 19 women and $6,500 in cash in his luggage.
Prosecutors believe the mental examination may shed light on Baranovich's actions during a Delta Airlines flight from Boston to Salt Lake City on Monday. Baranovich is charged with one count each of damaging and disabling an aircraft and interference with a flight crew.
Prosecutors say Baranovich, who was returning home to Oregon after a trip to Ukraine, awoke from a nap, looked out a window as the plane descended for landing and thought he saw fire.
He became agitated and began yelling in Russian before bolting from his seat to the rear of the aircraft where he tried to open the emergency doors.
At a detention hearing in Salt Lake City's federal court, FBI agent Cameron Smiley said Baranovich ignored commands from flight attendants to calm down and fought off at least five passengers before he was subdued.
Baranovich told police he had a few beers at airport stops in Amsterdam and Boston and one glass of wine on the Boston-to-Salt Lake flight, Smiley said.
Smiley said Baranovich was calm during their interview, but again became violent when officers found 19 Ukrainian passports, mostly for young women, in his luggage. Baranovich also was carrying more than $6,500 in cash and offered to give the money to police if they would release him, the agent said.
"I told him we didn't work like that," Smiley testified.
Defense attorneys asked that Baranovich be released because his behavior was an aberration. A permanent U.S. resident, Baranovich has no history of violence or any record of criminal behavior or arrests in the U.S., his lawyer said.
District Magistrate Judge Dustin Pead said he was troubled by Baranovich's access to passports and cash, which could make him a flight risk.
No new hearing dates have been set. If convicted, Baranovich faces a possible maximum sentence of 40 years in federal prison.
Star Trek fans tie the knot at "Klingon wedding"
One couple has boldly gone where no other has gone before by tying the knot in Britain's first Klingon wedding ceremony at a Star Trek convention to celebrate the much-loved TV series in London on Friday.
The couple, 23-year-old Jossie Sockertopp and 29-year-old Sonnie Gustavsson, came from their native Sweden to marry at the "Destination Star Trek London" event, which will see 17,000 "trekkies" flock to London's ExCel centre this weekend.
The pair, who met four years ago at the retirement home where they both work, were inspired to hold the ceremony after watching an episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", in which Klingon character Worf marries science officer Jadzia Dax in a traditional Klingon ceremony.
"We saw the clip from the series...and we thought it was very romantic about beating hearts and a battle for each other. We really liked it, that's why we want to do this," Sockertopp said.
It took around three months to plan the event, which was Britain's first wedding ceremony to contain blessings in Klingon, the guttural-sounding language spoken by the Star Trek characters of the same name.
The bride eschewed the traditional human white dress for a floor-length red robe with a diamante headdress, matching her husband-to-be. Prosthetic foreheads with deep wrinkles and stringy black manes completed the look.
Three bangs of a gong ushered the bride and groom to an altar adorned with decorative screens and a throne made from animal bone and hide. The celebrant, Peter Wyllie, conducted the wedding ceremony and included some phrases in Klingon.
"That was a bit of a challenge and I hope I got some of the sounds right. I had it written phonetically, so that made it a little easier," he said, adding that it sounded similar to the Welsh language.
It was the second wedding in two days for the couple, who had a legal ceremony at a registry office in Sweden on Thursday.
"The legal part is done, this is just a fun ceremony," Sockertopp said.
Both weddings had been kept a secret from their families until a few days before the newlyweds jetted to London. None of their relatives attended the Star Trek-themed nuptials.
"Mum didn't talk to me for three days and my father wonders if there is something contagious about weddings as my big sister got married in secret last week. It must be something in the gene pool," Gustavsson said.
The newlyweds will spend their honeymoon at the convention, which sees all five captains from the Star Trek TV series appear on stage together for the first time. The gathering is the first major Star Trek live event in Britain. for more than a decade.
The couple, 23-year-old Jossie Sockertopp and 29-year-old Sonnie Gustavsson, came from their native Sweden to marry at the "Destination Star Trek London" event, which will see 17,000 "trekkies" flock to London's ExCel centre this weekend.
The pair, who met four years ago at the retirement home where they both work, were inspired to hold the ceremony after watching an episode of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine", in which Klingon character Worf marries science officer Jadzia Dax in a traditional Klingon ceremony.
"We saw the clip from the series...and we thought it was very romantic about beating hearts and a battle for each other. We really liked it, that's why we want to do this," Sockertopp said.
It took around three months to plan the event, which was Britain's first wedding ceremony to contain blessings in Klingon, the guttural-sounding language spoken by the Star Trek characters of the same name.
The bride eschewed the traditional human white dress for a floor-length red robe with a diamante headdress, matching her husband-to-be. Prosthetic foreheads with deep wrinkles and stringy black manes completed the look.
Three bangs of a gong ushered the bride and groom to an altar adorned with decorative screens and a throne made from animal bone and hide. The celebrant, Peter Wyllie, conducted the wedding ceremony and included some phrases in Klingon.
"That was a bit of a challenge and I hope I got some of the sounds right. I had it written phonetically, so that made it a little easier," he said, adding that it sounded similar to the Welsh language.
It was the second wedding in two days for the couple, who had a legal ceremony at a registry office in Sweden on Thursday.
"The legal part is done, this is just a fun ceremony," Sockertopp said.
Both weddings had been kept a secret from their families until a few days before the newlyweds jetted to London. None of their relatives attended the Star Trek-themed nuptials.
"Mum didn't talk to me for three days and my father wonders if there is something contagious about weddings as my big sister got married in secret last week. It must be something in the gene pool," Gustavsson said.
The newlyweds will spend their honeymoon at the convention, which sees all five captains from the Star Trek TV series appear on stage together for the first time. The gathering is the first major Star Trek live event in Britain. for more than a decade.
New York bans "Broadway Bomb" skateboard race
A New York judge has banned up to 2,000 skateboarders from racing down a bustling stretch of Broadway after city officials said the unauthorized event known as "The Broadway Bomb" was a danger to pedestrians and motorists.
For a decade, skateboarders from around the world have barreled down an eight-mile section of the landmark Manhattan street, dodging traffic and people, as part of the annual daredevil race.
This year, they will have to defy a court order, and risk arrest to participate.
Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Wright on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order banning skateboarders from riding in the race, scheduled to start Saturday at noon in upper Manhattan. He said they would be subject to arrest if they defied the order.
The ban was requested by city officials, who argued the event required a police permit to proceed because it involves more than 50 people on a public roadway. The city claimed nearly 1,800 people were registered. A Facebook page for the event listed close to 2,000 participants as of Friday morning.
"Lawless unauthorized Broadway Bomb races cause problems for vehicular traffic stoppages, safety issues for pedestrians and has resulted in accidents," the city's court papers said.
Ian Nichols, the race's organizer, said in a phone interview Friday that he would abide by the court order and cancel the event on the Broadway Bomb website. But he said he could not predict whether some racers would choose to show up anyway.
"People come from around the world to skate in this," he said. "For many people, it's the highlight of their life. They may try to do something."
A message on the Facebook page indicated that some participants planned to show up anyway, despite the expected police presence.
Nichols said he would try to work with city officials to create a sanctioned event for the skaters in the future.
"We've known for a number of years that this couldn't go on forever," he said.
For a decade, skateboarders from around the world have barreled down an eight-mile section of the landmark Manhattan street, dodging traffic and people, as part of the annual daredevil race.
This year, they will have to defy a court order, and risk arrest to participate.
Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Geoffrey Wright on Thursday issued a temporary restraining order banning skateboarders from riding in the race, scheduled to start Saturday at noon in upper Manhattan. He said they would be subject to arrest if they defied the order.
The ban was requested by city officials, who argued the event required a police permit to proceed because it involves more than 50 people on a public roadway. The city claimed nearly 1,800 people were registered. A Facebook page for the event listed close to 2,000 participants as of Friday morning.
"Lawless unauthorized Broadway Bomb races cause problems for vehicular traffic stoppages, safety issues for pedestrians and has resulted in accidents," the city's court papers said.
Ian Nichols, the race's organizer, said in a phone interview Friday that he would abide by the court order and cancel the event on the Broadway Bomb website. But he said he could not predict whether some racers would choose to show up anyway.
"People come from around the world to skate in this," he said. "For many people, it's the highlight of their life. They may try to do something."
A message on the Facebook page indicated that some participants planned to show up anyway, despite the expected police presence.
Nichols said he would try to work with city officials to create a sanctioned event for the skaters in the future.
"We've known for a number of years that this couldn't go on forever," he said.
Skeleton of French man found in bed after 15 years
Police in France said on Friday they were trying to identify the skeleton of a man believed to have lain undiscovered in bed for more than 15 years.
The body, found in an abandoned house in the northern city of Lille, is thought to be that of the elderly owner of the property, who lived alone and appeared to have no relatives.
Police said they had found piles of unopened mail at the house dating back to 1996.
The body, found in an abandoned house in the northern city of Lille, is thought to be that of the elderly owner of the property, who lived alone and appeared to have no relatives.
Police said they had found piles of unopened mail at the house dating back to 1996.
Namesake, mugshot mix-up lands Mexico cop in murder line-up
What's in a name? A stunned Mexican policeman found himself drafted into a murder investigation identity parade after a police database confused his mugshot with his namesake - a suspected killer.
To make matters worse, a policeman from a different precinct then said he recognized the mugshot as that of "El Pelon," a main suspect in the killing of a prominent politician's son - until he saw him in the line-up and realized his error.
"They kept saying: you're the guy, you're the Pelon," Carlos Eduardo Flores, the police officer from Monclova, about 190 miles south of the town of Ciudad Acuna where the killing took place, told newspaper Reforma.
Fortunately for him he had a solid alibi and was quickly exonerated.
"The state prosecutor says 'sorry,'" Jesus Carranza of the Coahuila state attorney general's office said.
Mexico's police have been plagued by damaging allegations and convictions of corruption, bribe-taking and murder amid a surge in drug-related violence that has killed some 60,000 people since 2006.
To make matters worse, a policeman from a different precinct then said he recognized the mugshot as that of "El Pelon," a main suspect in the killing of a prominent politician's son - until he saw him in the line-up and realized his error.
"They kept saying: you're the guy, you're the Pelon," Carlos Eduardo Flores, the police officer from Monclova, about 190 miles south of the town of Ciudad Acuna where the killing took place, told newspaper Reforma.
Fortunately for him he had a solid alibi and was quickly exonerated.
"The state prosecutor says 'sorry,'" Jesus Carranza of the Coahuila state attorney general's office said.
Mexico's police have been plagued by damaging allegations and convictions of corruption, bribe-taking and murder amid a surge in drug-related violence that has killed some 60,000 people since 2006.
Vienna museum to cover nude male posters after outcry
A prominent Vienna museum has decided to cover the "intimate parts" of three naked male soccer players on big posters put up in the Austrian capital after they caused an outcry.
"We got many, many complaints," Leopold Museum spokesman Klaus Pokorny said about the public display of the placards used to advertise its "Naked Men" exhibition due to open on Friday.
"We didn't realise that many, many people would be really upset or really angry in a way that we are also afraid about security, about protection of the visitors of the museum."
He said a red paper stripe would be used to hide the genitalia on roughly 180 large posters in Vienna. But smaller posters with the same motif would not be touched during the work which he expected to start on Tuesday and last about a day.
"Many people told us that they wanted to or had to protect their children," Pokorny said. Some had warned that "if we won't cover it they would go there with a brush and they would cover it with colour. Already somebody did that."
Pokorny added: "We are not really happy about the situation. You always hope that we have made progress, that we are now in the 21st century."
The Leopold exhibition, which will run until January 28, is designed to show how the depiction of male nudity has evolved in art history.
Around 300 art works - including the controversial photograph by French artists Pierre & Gilles called "Vive La France" of three men of different races wearing nothing but blue, white and red socks and soccer boots - will be on display.
"Previous exhibitions on the theme of nudity have mostly been limited to female nudes," the Leopold said on its website.
"Thanks to loans from all over Europe, the exhibition 'naked men' will offer an unprecedented overview of the depiction of male nudes."
The museum houses the world's largest collection of works by Egon Schiele, one of Austria's major 20th century artists.
"We got many, many complaints," Leopold Museum spokesman Klaus Pokorny said about the public display of the placards used to advertise its "Naked Men" exhibition due to open on Friday.
"We didn't realise that many, many people would be really upset or really angry in a way that we are also afraid about security, about protection of the visitors of the museum."
He said a red paper stripe would be used to hide the genitalia on roughly 180 large posters in Vienna. But smaller posters with the same motif would not be touched during the work which he expected to start on Tuesday and last about a day.
"Many people told us that they wanted to or had to protect their children," Pokorny said. Some had warned that "if we won't cover it they would go there with a brush and they would cover it with colour. Already somebody did that."
Pokorny added: "We are not really happy about the situation. You always hope that we have made progress, that we are now in the 21st century."
The Leopold exhibition, which will run until January 28, is designed to show how the depiction of male nudity has evolved in art history.
Around 300 art works - including the controversial photograph by French artists Pierre & Gilles called "Vive La France" of three men of different races wearing nothing but blue, white and red socks and soccer boots - will be on display.
"Previous exhibitions on the theme of nudity have mostly been limited to female nudes," the Leopold said on its website.
"Thanks to loans from all over Europe, the exhibition 'naked men' will offer an unprecedented overview of the depiction of male nudes."
The museum houses the world's largest collection of works by Egon Schiele, one of Austria's major 20th century artists.
Maine town is shaken by Zumba prostitution scandal
Every summer, vacationers come to this lighthouse-studded stretch of the Maine coast to nibble on lobster and admire the scenery.
Now locals are confronting allegations that dozens of men from the surrounding area have also been visiting the picturesque town of Kennebunk to rendezvous with a Zumba fitness instructor charged with running a prostitution business out of her downtown studio.
Even more disturbing for many, what's become known as "the list" - the names of alleged clients that fitness instructor Alexis Wright kept - is in the hands of the Kennebunk Police Department.
The names of 21 of the estimated 150 johns documented by Wright were released by police this week on the orders of a judge. Dozens more are expected to be disclosed as charges are brought. Those named so far include prominent Maine businessmen and professionals as well as men from Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Wright, 29, of neighboring Wells, and her business partner Mark Strong Sr. of Thomaston, have been charged with running the prostitution business from her studio and a nearby office space.
The two also face charges of invasion of privacy for allegedly conspiring to secretly videotape Wright's encounters with the men. A lawyer for Wright did not return a call seeking comment.
Though the charges against the men would be a misdemeanor likely to generate no more than a fine, the very fact that prosecutors are going after the men as well as the woman points to broader questions about how to deal with prostitution.
The case has also led to much soul-searching in a community unaccustomed to scandal.
A local newspaper ran an article advising families on how to cope with the airing of sexual infidelity.
Donna Littlefield, a 45-year-old hair stylist in the town, described the situation as "a big mess."
"Let's move forward and have it come out so we can all deal with it," she said, adding that release of the names of Wright's clients was a question of fairness.
"You play, you pay. It's no different from anybody who gets arrested for drunk driving," she said. "Of course, if you know your husband is on the list, it'd be different."
Videos of a woman appearing to be Wright have surfaced on the Internet, offering a glimpse into the dual life police allege she led.
In one video, she is leading a dancing group of middle-aged women clad in pink t-shirts in a Zumba class to raise money for breast cancer research. In another, one of several provocative videos linked to the case, she appears to perform a striptease in the Zumba studio clad in a revealing evening dress.
Adding to the drama was the tortuous way the names were released. After two of the men lost a legal fight to block the release on the grounds that it was an invasion of privacy, a judge ordered the names of the first 21 men facing charges be released, but without ages and addresses.
After this stirred confusion, he issued orders allowing police to release the alleged clients' middle initials, addresses and ages.
"The issue is weighing and balancing the individual's privacy interests versus the state's rather minimal interest in prosecuting a crime classified as among the least serious in the state of Maine," said Stephen Schwartz, a lawyer for the two men who tried to fight the release. "The frenzy is incredible in our community."
Kennebunk is a few miles away from the more famous town of Kennebunkport, known as the location of former President George H.W. Bush's summer home.
Lieutenant Anthony Bean Burpee, who is heading the investigation for the Kennebunk police, said he has gotten more than 300 messages of criticism and support for the department's effort to prosecute the alleged johns.
The next round of names is likely to be released on October 26, with more to come in the weeks that follow.
Burpee said he could not recall a single prostitution case in the small town in his 14 years on the job.
"This is Kennebunk. It's a postcard community," he said. "We certainly wish she could have rented space elsewhere."
Now locals are confronting allegations that dozens of men from the surrounding area have also been visiting the picturesque town of Kennebunk to rendezvous with a Zumba fitness instructor charged with running a prostitution business out of her downtown studio.
Even more disturbing for many, what's become known as "the list" - the names of alleged clients that fitness instructor Alexis Wright kept - is in the hands of the Kennebunk Police Department.
The names of 21 of the estimated 150 johns documented by Wright were released by police this week on the orders of a judge. Dozens more are expected to be disclosed as charges are brought. Those named so far include prominent Maine businessmen and professionals as well as men from Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Wright, 29, of neighboring Wells, and her business partner Mark Strong Sr. of Thomaston, have been charged with running the prostitution business from her studio and a nearby office space.
The two also face charges of invasion of privacy for allegedly conspiring to secretly videotape Wright's encounters with the men. A lawyer for Wright did not return a call seeking comment.
Though the charges against the men would be a misdemeanor likely to generate no more than a fine, the very fact that prosecutors are going after the men as well as the woman points to broader questions about how to deal with prostitution.
The case has also led to much soul-searching in a community unaccustomed to scandal.
A local newspaper ran an article advising families on how to cope with the airing of sexual infidelity.
Donna Littlefield, a 45-year-old hair stylist in the town, described the situation as "a big mess."
"Let's move forward and have it come out so we can all deal with it," she said, adding that release of the names of Wright's clients was a question of fairness.
"You play, you pay. It's no different from anybody who gets arrested for drunk driving," she said. "Of course, if you know your husband is on the list, it'd be different."
Videos of a woman appearing to be Wright have surfaced on the Internet, offering a glimpse into the dual life police allege she led.
In one video, she is leading a dancing group of middle-aged women clad in pink t-shirts in a Zumba class to raise money for breast cancer research. In another, one of several provocative videos linked to the case, she appears to perform a striptease in the Zumba studio clad in a revealing evening dress.
Adding to the drama was the tortuous way the names were released. After two of the men lost a legal fight to block the release on the grounds that it was an invasion of privacy, a judge ordered the names of the first 21 men facing charges be released, but without ages and addresses.
After this stirred confusion, he issued orders allowing police to release the alleged clients' middle initials, addresses and ages.
"The issue is weighing and balancing the individual's privacy interests versus the state's rather minimal interest in prosecuting a crime classified as among the least serious in the state of Maine," said Stephen Schwartz, a lawyer for the two men who tried to fight the release. "The frenzy is incredible in our community."
Kennebunk is a few miles away from the more famous town of Kennebunkport, known as the location of former President George H.W. Bush's summer home.
Lieutenant Anthony Bean Burpee, who is heading the investigation for the Kennebunk police, said he has gotten more than 300 messages of criticism and support for the department's effort to prosecute the alleged johns.
The next round of names is likely to be released on October 26, with more to come in the weeks that follow.
Burpee said he could not recall a single prostitution case in the small town in his 14 years on the job.
"This is Kennebunk. It's a postcard community," he said. "We certainly wish she could have rented space elsewhere."
Barley genome breakthrough may lead to better beer
An international consortium of scientists has published a high resolution draft of the barley genome in a move that could not only improve yields and disease resistance but may also hold the key to better beer.
"This research will streamline efforts to improve barley production through breeding for improved varieties," said Professor Robbie Waugh, of Scotland's James Hutton Institute, who led the research.
"This could be varieties better able to withstand pests and disease, deal with adverse environmental conditions, or even provide grain better suited for beer and brewing."
Barley which has been malted is a key ingredient in brewing beer along with hops and yeast.
The research, published in the journal Nature, could also be a boon for the whisky industry while barley is also a major component of animal feed for meat and dairy industries.
Barley is the world's fourth most important cereal crop, trailing only maize, rice and wheat, and its genome is almost twice the size of that of humans.
"It will accelerate research in barley, and its close relative, wheat," Waugh said.
"Armed with this information breeders and scientists will be much better placed to deal with the challenge of effectively addressing the food security agenda under the constraints of a rapidly changing environment."
"This research will streamline efforts to improve barley production through breeding for improved varieties," said Professor Robbie Waugh, of Scotland's James Hutton Institute, who led the research.
"This could be varieties better able to withstand pests and disease, deal with adverse environmental conditions, or even provide grain better suited for beer and brewing."
Barley which has been malted is a key ingredient in brewing beer along with hops and yeast.
The research, published in the journal Nature, could also be a boon for the whisky industry while barley is also a major component of animal feed for meat and dairy industries.
Barley is the world's fourth most important cereal crop, trailing only maize, rice and wheat, and its genome is almost twice the size of that of humans.
"It will accelerate research in barley, and its close relative, wheat," Waugh said.
"Armed with this information breeders and scientists will be much better placed to deal with the challenge of effectively addressing the food security agenda under the constraints of a rapidly changing environment."
Australian "misogyny" speech prompts change to dictionary
A fiery speech against sexism by Australia's first woman prime minister has prompted the textbook of Australian English to broaden the definition of "misogyny" to better fit the heated political debate raging downunder.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard last week used a parliamentary debate to launch a strong attack against conservative Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, accusing him of being a misogynist, and her speech has since become an Internet hit.
In response, Australia's Macquarie Dictionary, the authority on the English language in Australia, has decided to broaden the definition of "misogyny" to better match the way the word has been used over the past 30 years.
The dictionary currently defines misogyny as "hatred of women", but will now add a second definition to include "entrenched prejudice against women", suggesting Abbott discriminated against women with his sexist views.
"The language community is using the word in a slightly different way," dictionary editor Sue Butler told Reuters.
In her parliamentary speech, Gillard attacked Abbott, a conservative Catholic, for once suggesting men were better adapted to exercise authority, and for once saying that abortion was "the easy way out". He also stood in front of anti-Gillard protesters with posters saying "ditch the witch".
Abbott has labeled the attack as cheap and personal and part of a government smear campaign against him.
The fallout from Gillard's speech has followed her on an official visit to India, where it was raised during a panel discussion, but she told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday that she would not give advice on word definitions.
"I have been left in no doubt that a lot of people have clicked on and watched that speech here in India," she said on Wednesday.
"I will leave editing dictionaries to those whose special expertise is language."
But the opposition has ridiculed the dictionary's move, with lawmaker Fiona Nash saying Gillard is the one who needed to be more careful with her words.
Abbott, a super-fit cyclist and swimmer, has been battling perceptions he has a problem with women voters, with his wife and three daughters making public appearances in recent weeks to soften his tough-guy image.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard last week used a parliamentary debate to launch a strong attack against conservative Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, accusing him of being a misogynist, and her speech has since become an Internet hit.
In response, Australia's Macquarie Dictionary, the authority on the English language in Australia, has decided to broaden the definition of "misogyny" to better match the way the word has been used over the past 30 years.
The dictionary currently defines misogyny as "hatred of women", but will now add a second definition to include "entrenched prejudice against women", suggesting Abbott discriminated against women with his sexist views.
"The language community is using the word in a slightly different way," dictionary editor Sue Butler told Reuters.
In her parliamentary speech, Gillard attacked Abbott, a conservative Catholic, for once suggesting men were better adapted to exercise authority, and for once saying that abortion was "the easy way out". He also stood in front of anti-Gillard protesters with posters saying "ditch the witch".
Abbott has labeled the attack as cheap and personal and part of a government smear campaign against him.
The fallout from Gillard's speech has followed her on an official visit to India, where it was raised during a panel discussion, but she told reporters in New Delhi on Wednesday that she would not give advice on word definitions.
"I have been left in no doubt that a lot of people have clicked on and watched that speech here in India," she said on Wednesday.
"I will leave editing dictionaries to those whose special expertise is language."
But the opposition has ridiculed the dictionary's move, with lawmaker Fiona Nash saying Gillard is the one who needed to be more careful with her words.
Abbott, a super-fit cyclist and swimmer, has been battling perceptions he has a problem with women voters, with his wife and three daughters making public appearances in recent weeks to soften his tough-guy image.
Get your checkbook out - you've come last, S.League says
As if a rock-bottom finish in Singapore's S.League was not bad enough, the city-state's soccer bosses are now planning to punish the weakest team further with fines, according to a local newspaper.
Under a new "carrot-and-stick" approach, while the reward for winning the Singaporean title was being boosted, five-figure penalties were to be introduced for make-weights, TODAY newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The team that finishes last in the 13-team league next season will face a 50,000 Singapore dollar ($41,000) penalty, while the 12th-placed side will be S$30,000 worse off.
"We hope these - stiff penalties, not just a slap on the wrist - will inspire clubs to do well," S.League boss Lim Chin told the paper.
"'Competitive' and 'interesting' were the two key words for us in deciding on the initiatives for the league next year and, while the S.League is not ready for a promotion-relegation system, we want every team to give their best," he added, explaining the unusual tough-love approach.
The Singapore Football Association was unavailable for comment when contacted by Reuters.
Fans' reaction in Singapore has ranged from incredulity to outrage, with a number saying the fines would be counter-productive and tantamount to kicking a man while he is down.
But Lim said the change would be "better for the league than just sticking to what we've had before.
"We think the quantum of the penalties is painful enough to force teams to make an effort to do well, while not big enough to force clubs to sit out the league," he added.
"Having said that, we will allow clubs to make phased payments out of their subsidies in the following year."
($1 = 1.2208 Singapore dollars)
Under a new "carrot-and-stick" approach, while the reward for winning the Singaporean title was being boosted, five-figure penalties were to be introduced for make-weights, TODAY newspaper reported on Wednesday.
The team that finishes last in the 13-team league next season will face a 50,000 Singapore dollar ($41,000) penalty, while the 12th-placed side will be S$30,000 worse off.
"We hope these - stiff penalties, not just a slap on the wrist - will inspire clubs to do well," S.League boss Lim Chin told the paper.
"'Competitive' and 'interesting' were the two key words for us in deciding on the initiatives for the league next year and, while the S.League is not ready for a promotion-relegation system, we want every team to give their best," he added, explaining the unusual tough-love approach.
The Singapore Football Association was unavailable for comment when contacted by Reuters.
Fans' reaction in Singapore has ranged from incredulity to outrage, with a number saying the fines would be counter-productive and tantamount to kicking a man while he is down.
But Lim said the change would be "better for the league than just sticking to what we've had before.
"We think the quantum of the penalties is painful enough to force teams to make an effort to do well, while not big enough to force clubs to sit out the league," he added.
"Having said that, we will allow clubs to make phased payments out of their subsidies in the following year."
($1 = 1.2208 Singapore dollars)
UK police sorry for using stun gun on blind man
British police apologized on Wednesday for using a stun gun on a blind man after officers mistook his white cane for a samurai sword.
Officers were responding to "a number of reports that a man was walking through Chorley armed with a samurai sword", when they confronted Colin Farmer, who was on his way to meet friends in a pub last Friday, in the northern English town.
When Farmer, 61, did not respond to their calls to stop, one of the officers used his taser stun gun, which delivers a 50,000 volt shock.
"I certainly didn't know they were police - and I certainly didn't know they were shouting at me. I thought I was going to be attacked by some hooligans," Farmer told the Lancashire Evening Post newspaper.
Despite pleading with the police and telling them he was blind, he was handcuffed.
"It then became apparent that this man was not the person we were looking for and officers attended to him straight away," said Chief Superintendent Stuart Williams in a statement, adding the innocent man was taken to hospital for treatment.
"Lancashire Constabulary deeply regrets what has happened. We have clearly put this man through a traumatic experience and we are extremely sorry for that."
Police later arrested a 27-year old man in connection with the sword reports but released him without charge.
The incident has now been referred to the independent police watchdog for further investigation.
Officers were responding to "a number of reports that a man was walking through Chorley armed with a samurai sword", when they confronted Colin Farmer, who was on his way to meet friends in a pub last Friday, in the northern English town.
When Farmer, 61, did not respond to their calls to stop, one of the officers used his taser stun gun, which delivers a 50,000 volt shock.
"I certainly didn't know they were police - and I certainly didn't know they were shouting at me. I thought I was going to be attacked by some hooligans," Farmer told the Lancashire Evening Post newspaper.
Despite pleading with the police and telling them he was blind, he was handcuffed.
"It then became apparent that this man was not the person we were looking for and officers attended to him straight away," said Chief Superintendent Stuart Williams in a statement, adding the innocent man was taken to hospital for treatment.
"Lancashire Constabulary deeply regrets what has happened. We have clearly put this man through a traumatic experience and we are extremely sorry for that."
Police later arrested a 27-year old man in connection with the sword reports but released him without charge.
The incident has now been referred to the independent police watchdog for further investigation.
EU settles on threesome to collect Nobel peace prize
Almost a week after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the European Union has finally decided who will collect the award.
Rather than one person making the trip to Norway on December 10, the EU has decided it will send three people -- one to represent each of its main institutions: the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.
As a result, Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Parliament President Martin Schulz will all fly to Oslo for the ceremony, EU officials said on Wednesday.
However, it remains unclear who will deliver the speech accepting the award, which normally involves just one speaker. And it is also unclear what will happen to the $1.2 million prize money, although it is expected to go to charity.
The Nobel Committee announced the EU had won the award last Friday, saying the 55-year-old organization had helped transform Europe "from a continent of wars to a continent of peace" in the decades since World War Two.
Critics of the EU, which has struggled for three years to get to grips with its debt crisis, will see the fact that three people are accepting the award as a reflection of how the union struggles to take decisions and always ends up compromising.
The last time the award went to an organization was in 1999, when emergency aid group Medecins Sans Frontiers won.
Usually when an organization is recognized, an individual is also named.
That was the case in 2005 when the award went to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its then director general Mohamed ElBaradei -- making it easier to know who to send to collect the prize.
Rather than one person making the trip to Norway on December 10, the EU has decided it will send three people -- one to represent each of its main institutions: the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.
As a result, Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Parliament President Martin Schulz will all fly to Oslo for the ceremony, EU officials said on Wednesday.
However, it remains unclear who will deliver the speech accepting the award, which normally involves just one speaker. And it is also unclear what will happen to the $1.2 million prize money, although it is expected to go to charity.
The Nobel Committee announced the EU had won the award last Friday, saying the 55-year-old organization had helped transform Europe "from a continent of wars to a continent of peace" in the decades since World War Two.
Critics of the EU, which has struggled for three years to get to grips with its debt crisis, will see the fact that three people are accepting the award as a reflection of how the union struggles to take decisions and always ends up compromising.
The last time the award went to an organization was in 1999, when emergency aid group Medecins Sans Frontiers won.
Usually when an organization is recognized, an individual is also named.
That was the case in 2005 when the award went to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its then director general Mohamed ElBaradei -- making it easier to know who to send to collect the prize.
EU settles on threesome to collect Nobel peace prize
Almost a week after winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the European Union has finally decided who will collect the award.
Rather than one person making the trip to Norway on December 10, the EU has decided it will send three people -- one to represent each of its main institutions: the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.
As a result, Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Parliament President Martin Schulz will all fly to Oslo for the ceremony, EU officials said on Wednesday.
However, it remains unclear who will deliver the speech accepting the award, which normally involves just one speaker. And it is also unclear what will happen to the $1.2 million prize money, although it is expected to go to charity.
The Nobel Committee announced the EU had won the award last Friday, saying the 55-year-old organization had helped transform Europe "from a continent of wars to a continent of peace" in the decades since World War Two.
Critics of the EU, which has struggled for three years to get to grips with its debt crisis, will see the fact that three people are accepting the award as a reflection of how the union struggles to take decisions and always ends up compromising.
The last time the award went to an organization was in 1999, when emergency aid group Medecins Sans Frontiers won.
Usually when an organization is recognized, an individual is also named.
That was the case in 2005 when the award went to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its then director general Mohamed ElBaradei -- making it easier to know who to send to collect the prize.
Rather than one person making the trip to Norway on December 10, the EU has decided it will send three people -- one to represent each of its main institutions: the European Commission, the European Council and the European Parliament.
As a result, Commission President Jose-Manuel Barroso, European Council President Herman Van Rompuy and Parliament President Martin Schulz will all fly to Oslo for the ceremony, EU officials said on Wednesday.
However, it remains unclear who will deliver the speech accepting the award, which normally involves just one speaker. And it is also unclear what will happen to the $1.2 million prize money, although it is expected to go to charity.
The Nobel Committee announced the EU had won the award last Friday, saying the 55-year-old organization had helped transform Europe "from a continent of wars to a continent of peace" in the decades since World War Two.
Critics of the EU, which has struggled for three years to get to grips with its debt crisis, will see the fact that three people are accepting the award as a reflection of how the union struggles to take decisions and always ends up compromising.
The last time the award went to an organization was in 1999, when emergency aid group Medecins Sans Frontiers won.
Usually when an organization is recognized, an individual is also named.
That was the case in 2005 when the award went to the International Atomic Energy Agency and its then director general Mohamed ElBaradei -- making it easier to know who to send to collect the prize.
Florida man sues Venezuela over Simon Bolivar's hair, letters
A Florida man has filed a lawsuit against Venezuela's government demanding the return of artifacts that once belonged to Simon Bolivar, including a lock of the 19th-century independence hero's hair.
The lawsuit, filed in a Miami federal court, alleges the Venezuelan government borrowed the items from Ricardo Devengoechea five years ago but has repeatedly ignored his requests to give them back.
Allegedly among the items were Bolivar's hair - which was used by Venezuelan officials to verify the authenticity of his remains in Venezuela - documents and letters, some written by Bolivar, and epaulets from one of Napoleon Bonaparte's uniforms.
In the complaint filed on Monday, Devengoechea was described as a descendant of a founding family of Colombia. He said Bolivar gave the items to his great-great-grandfather.
Devengoechea said he loaned them to Venezuela when he was approached by government officials in 2007 after President Hugo Chavez ordered an investigation into how Bolivar died.
The items were "taken by the Venezuelan government under the guise of a cooperative investigation with Ricardo Devengoechea into Venezuela's history," the complaint says.
A spokeswoman at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Bolivar, a Venezuelan soldier and military tactician who helped free much of South America from Spanish rule, is revered by Chavez. He had Bolivar's bones exhumed for tests in 2010, ordered a new mausoleum built for them, then this year unveiled a 3D image of his face, based on scans of Bolivar's skull.
According to a court document, Devengoechea said Venezuela sent a private jet to Florida to pick him up and transport the artifacts to the South American country. He said he spent nearly a month in Venezuela as a guest of Chavez's government.
Last year, after learning the government had completed its probe into Bolivar's death and burial, he met with officials from Venezuela's Consulate in Miami to make arrangements for the return of the artifacts or a possible sale to the Venezuelan government, the complaint said.
However, following a decision by Chavez earlier this year to close the Miami consulate, Devengoechea said subsequent phone calls and written requests to the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington have gone unanswered.
The lawsuit, filed in a Miami federal court, alleges the Venezuelan government borrowed the items from Ricardo Devengoechea five years ago but has repeatedly ignored his requests to give them back.
Allegedly among the items were Bolivar's hair - which was used by Venezuelan officials to verify the authenticity of his remains in Venezuela - documents and letters, some written by Bolivar, and epaulets from one of Napoleon Bonaparte's uniforms.
In the complaint filed on Monday, Devengoechea was described as a descendant of a founding family of Colombia. He said Bolivar gave the items to his great-great-grandfather.
Devengoechea said he loaned them to Venezuela when he was approached by government officials in 2007 after President Hugo Chavez ordered an investigation into how Bolivar died.
The items were "taken by the Venezuelan government under the guise of a cooperative investigation with Ricardo Devengoechea into Venezuela's history," the complaint says.
A spokeswoman at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.
Bolivar, a Venezuelan soldier and military tactician who helped free much of South America from Spanish rule, is revered by Chavez. He had Bolivar's bones exhumed for tests in 2010, ordered a new mausoleum built for them, then this year unveiled a 3D image of his face, based on scans of Bolivar's skull.
According to a court document, Devengoechea said Venezuela sent a private jet to Florida to pick him up and transport the artifacts to the South American country. He said he spent nearly a month in Venezuela as a guest of Chavez's government.
Last year, after learning the government had completed its probe into Bolivar's death and burial, he met with officials from Venezuela's Consulate in Miami to make arrangements for the return of the artifacts or a possible sale to the Venezuelan government, the complaint said.
However, following a decision by Chavez earlier this year to close the Miami consulate, Devengoechea said subsequent phone calls and written requests to the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington have gone unanswered.
McDonald's sues Milan over eviction from Galleria
McDonald's has sued the city of Milan for 24 million euros in damages over being kicked out of a tourist-packed shopping arcade, the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, after the U.S. fastfood chain had rented the space for 20 years.
A second Prada store will replace McDonald's in the 19th-century marble-floored shopping mall as a result of a public tender whose terms McDonald's called "unfair."
To celebrate the last days of one of its busiest restaurants in Italy, McDonald's offered free burgers, fries and drinks to over 5,000 people from noon to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
"We wanted to say goodbye to the Galleria with a smile," said Paolo Mereghetti, head of communication at McDonald's in Italy.
Losing the spot in the Galleria, which links the city's historic Duomo cathedral to La Scala Opera house and is close to the chic Montenapoleone shopping street, would cause a 6 million euro loss in missed annual sales, said Mereghetti.
"No jobs will be lost as a result," he said.
In a show of affection, 1,500 people left messages on a Facebook page set up in early October to comment on the closure.
"I will miss it because from now on I can no longer eat my favorite Miami fries admiring the spectacular Vittorio Emanuele arcade," Catia Fiorentino wrote on the website.
($1 = 0.7679 euros)
A second Prada store will replace McDonald's in the 19th-century marble-floored shopping mall as a result of a public tender whose terms McDonald's called "unfair."
To celebrate the last days of one of its busiest restaurants in Italy, McDonald's offered free burgers, fries and drinks to over 5,000 people from noon to 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
"We wanted to say goodbye to the Galleria with a smile," said Paolo Mereghetti, head of communication at McDonald's in Italy.
Losing the spot in the Galleria, which links the city's historic Duomo cathedral to La Scala Opera house and is close to the chic Montenapoleone shopping street, would cause a 6 million euro loss in missed annual sales, said Mereghetti.
"No jobs will be lost as a result," he said.
In a show of affection, 1,500 people left messages on a Facebook page set up in early October to comment on the closure.
"I will miss it because from now on I can no longer eat my favorite Miami fries admiring the spectacular Vittorio Emanuele arcade," Catia Fiorentino wrote on the website.
($1 = 0.7679 euros)
Panama leader tells Germany he wants to adopt euro
Panama would like to introduce the euro as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar, President Ricardo Martinelli told German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday during a visit to Europe.
"In Panama the currency in free circulation is the American dollar and I told the chancellor we are looking for ways for the euro to become another currency of legal circulation and to be accepted in the Panamanian market," President Ricardo Martinelli told a joint news conference with Merkel in Berlin.
Martinelli provided no details about the switch but he expressed "full confidence" in the German and European economies and said he expected the euro zone debt crisis would soon pass.
Seventeen of the European Union's 27 member states are in the euro zone but euros are also in circulation in a number of non-EU countries, including Kosovo and Montenegro in the Balkans as well as tiny Monaco and Andorra, and in overseas territories.
Panama's dollarized economy - almost 10,000 kilometers from mainland Europe - is one of the fastest growing in Latin America, expanding 10.6 percent last year with help from heavy infrastructure spending including the expansion of the Panama Canal.
Financial markets' fears of a possible meltdown of the common currency have eased since the European Central Bank said it was ready to buy unlimited quantities of sovereign debt to reduce borrowing costs of vulnerable countries such as Spain.
But Merkel, head of the currency bloc's largest economy, has said Europe needs to persevere with tough austerity measures and move towards closer banking, fiscal and political union in order to secure the euro's future.
"In Panama the currency in free circulation is the American dollar and I told the chancellor we are looking for ways for the euro to become another currency of legal circulation and to be accepted in the Panamanian market," President Ricardo Martinelli told a joint news conference with Merkel in Berlin.
Martinelli provided no details about the switch but he expressed "full confidence" in the German and European economies and said he expected the euro zone debt crisis would soon pass.
Seventeen of the European Union's 27 member states are in the euro zone but euros are also in circulation in a number of non-EU countries, including Kosovo and Montenegro in the Balkans as well as tiny Monaco and Andorra, and in overseas territories.
Panama's dollarized economy - almost 10,000 kilometers from mainland Europe - is one of the fastest growing in Latin America, expanding 10.6 percent last year with help from heavy infrastructure spending including the expansion of the Panama Canal.
Financial markets' fears of a possible meltdown of the common currency have eased since the European Central Bank said it was ready to buy unlimited quantities of sovereign debt to reduce borrowing costs of vulnerable countries such as Spain.
But Merkel, head of the currency bloc's largest economy, has said Europe needs to persevere with tough austerity measures and move towards closer banking, fiscal and political union in order to secure the euro's future.
Harvard scientists suggest Moon made from Earth
A new theory put forward by Harvard scientists suggests the Moon was once part of the Earth that spun off after a giant collision with another body.
In a paper published on Wednesday in the journal Science, Sarah Stewart and Matija Ćuk said their theory would explain why the Earth and Moon have similar composition and chemistry.
The Earth was spinning much faster at the time the Moon was formed, and a day lasted only two to three hours, they said.
With the Earth spinning so quickly, a giant impact could have launched enough of the Earth's material to form a moon, the scientists said in an explanation published on a Harvard website. http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~planets/sstewart/Moon.html
According to the new theory, the Earth later reached its current rate of spinning through gravitational interaction between its orbit around the Sun and the Moon's orbit around Earth.
The scientists noted that their proposition differed from the current leading theory, which holds that the Moon was created from material from a giant body that struck the Earth.
Stewart is a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Harvard, and Ćuk, an astronomer and an investigator at the SETI Institute, which supports research into the search for extraterrestrial life. The latter was conducting post-doctoral research at Harvard.
In a paper published on Wednesday in the journal Science, Sarah Stewart and Matija Ćuk said their theory would explain why the Earth and Moon have similar composition and chemistry.
The Earth was spinning much faster at the time the Moon was formed, and a day lasted only two to three hours, they said.
With the Earth spinning so quickly, a giant impact could have launched enough of the Earth's material to form a moon, the scientists said in an explanation published on a Harvard website. http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~planets/sstewart/Moon.html
According to the new theory, the Earth later reached its current rate of spinning through gravitational interaction between its orbit around the Sun and the Moon's orbit around Earth.
The scientists noted that their proposition differed from the current leading theory, which holds that the Moon was created from material from a giant body that struck the Earth.
Stewart is a professor of earth and planetary sciences at Harvard, and Ćuk, an astronomer and an investigator at the SETI Institute, which supports research into the search for extraterrestrial life. The latter was conducting post-doctoral research at Harvard.
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