An Austrian applauded for capturing a 2.3-metre (7.5-foot) boa constrictor he said he discovered on a riverbank has admitted he made up the story to get rid of a pet snake he found too big to handle, an animal rescue group said on Thursday.
"It turns out he could not get to grips with the snake and wanted to get rid of it this way," said Susanne Hemetsberger, head of the Austrian Animal Protection Association. The owner handed over the reptile to an animal shelter.
She said in hindsight the tale originally told by the Salzburg man, who has not been identified, that he had happened upon and bagged the 7-kg (15.5-pound) boa last week, seemed suspicious.
"No passer-by who isn't familiar with snakes would ever grab a boa constrictor. On the contrary, they would scream, run away and call the police," she said.
The man has two other two-meter snakes that he wants to give away as well, Hemetsberger said.
"The snake owner dished up one lie after another and I hope he gets the proper punishment for this. He can't just release a snake and then pose as its finder," she said, calling for curbs on the sale of exotic pets that inexperienced owners often find overwhelming.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Taiwanese vegetable vendor among Asia's Nobel winners
A Taiwanese vegetable vendor, who has personally given away over 7 million Taiwanese dollars ($231,800) to several charities for children, was among six winners of Asia's equivalent of the Nobel prize this year, its foundation said on Thursday.
The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation named Chen Shu-chu as one of six winners, citing her for "personal giving, which reflects a deep, consistent, quiet compassion, and has transformed the lives of the numerous Taiwanese she has helped".
From her daily earnings as a vegetable vendor, Chen, who reached only the sixth grade and sleeps on the floor, was able to help build library and feed and shelter children-at-risk as well as families displaced by disasters.
"Money serves its purpose only when it is used for those who need it," she said. "I feel happy whenever I could help other people."
The awards also honored Filipino Romulo Davide, who helped farmers fight pest infestation on rice, bananas and other crops; Indian Kulandei Francis, head of a village self-help group; Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an environmental lawyer from Bangladesh; Cambodian agronomist Yang Saing Koma who helps farmers' improve rice production; and Indonesian Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto who is fighting to stop illegal logging.
The winners will receive a prize of $50,000 with a ceremony set for late August.
"The Magsaysay awardees of 2012 are six remarkable individuals, all deeply involved in creating sustainable solutions to poverty and its accompanying disempowerment -- whether in the forests or on farmlands, in exploitative industries or in inadequate education," Carmencita Abella, foundation president, said in a statement.
The awards, named for a popular president of the Philippines who was killed in a plane crash, were set up in 1957 by the trustees of the New York-based Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Nearly 300 people and groups, including the U.S. Peace Corps and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have been recognized since 1958.
($1 = 30.1955 Taiwan dollars)
The Manila-based Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation named Chen Shu-chu as one of six winners, citing her for "personal giving, which reflects a deep, consistent, quiet compassion, and has transformed the lives of the numerous Taiwanese she has helped".
From her daily earnings as a vegetable vendor, Chen, who reached only the sixth grade and sleeps on the floor, was able to help build library and feed and shelter children-at-risk as well as families displaced by disasters.
"Money serves its purpose only when it is used for those who need it," she said. "I feel happy whenever I could help other people."
The awards also honored Filipino Romulo Davide, who helped farmers fight pest infestation on rice, bananas and other crops; Indian Kulandei Francis, head of a village self-help group; Syeda Rizwana Hasan, an environmental lawyer from Bangladesh; Cambodian agronomist Yang Saing Koma who helps farmers' improve rice production; and Indonesian Ambrosius Ruwindrijarto who is fighting to stop illegal logging.
The winners will receive a prize of $50,000 with a ceremony set for late August.
"The Magsaysay awardees of 2012 are six remarkable individuals, all deeply involved in creating sustainable solutions to poverty and its accompanying disempowerment -- whether in the forests or on farmlands, in exploitative industries or in inadequate education," Carmencita Abella, foundation president, said in a statement.
The awards, named for a popular president of the Philippines who was killed in a plane crash, were set up in 1957 by the trustees of the New York-based Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
Nearly 300 people and groups, including the U.S. Peace Corps and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, have been recognized since 1958.
($1 = 30.1955 Taiwan dollars)
In New Mexico, daredevil skydives from 18 miles above Earth
An Austrian daredevil jumped from a balloon flying at an altitude more than 18 miles above Earth on Wednesday, falling at speeds topping 500 miles per hour (805 kilometers per hour) in a training run for his attempt to make the world's highest skydive.
Felix Baumgartner landed safely in a desert near Roswell, New Mexico after leaping from an estimated 96,940 feet wearing a pressurized space suit equipped with an oxygen supply.
The test parachute jump was the second for Baumgartner, who is on a quest to complete a record-breaking skydive from 120,000 feet in the coming weeks. He also hopes to become the first man to break the speed of sound at 700 mph in a free fall.
"Only one more step to go," Baumgartner said in a statement.
The current record for the highest altitude skydive is 102,800 feet. It was set 52 years ago by U.S. Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger, who is serving as an adviser to Baumgartner.
A 43-year-old former member of the Austrian military, Baumgartner has jumped from Malaysia's Petronas Towers and Taiwan's Taipei 101, two of the world's tallest buildings.
A helium-filled balloon lifted Baumgartner into the sky on Wednesday carrying him in a pressurized capsule.
He executed a free fall of 3 minutes and 48 seconds, reaching speeds of 536 mph, according to Red Bull Stratos, a project using the jumps to gather medical and scientific research data.
In the next jump, the size of the balloon that will carry Baumgartner will rise as tall as a skyscraper.
Felix Baumgartner landed safely in a desert near Roswell, New Mexico after leaping from an estimated 96,940 feet wearing a pressurized space suit equipped with an oxygen supply.
The test parachute jump was the second for Baumgartner, who is on a quest to complete a record-breaking skydive from 120,000 feet in the coming weeks. He also hopes to become the first man to break the speed of sound at 700 mph in a free fall.
"Only one more step to go," Baumgartner said in a statement.
The current record for the highest altitude skydive is 102,800 feet. It was set 52 years ago by U.S. Air Force Captain Joe Kittinger, who is serving as an adviser to Baumgartner.
A 43-year-old former member of the Austrian military, Baumgartner has jumped from Malaysia's Petronas Towers and Taiwan's Taipei 101, two of the world's tallest buildings.
A helium-filled balloon lifted Baumgartner into the sky on Wednesday carrying him in a pressurized capsule.
He executed a free fall of 3 minutes and 48 seconds, reaching speeds of 536 mph, according to Red Bull Stratos, a project using the jumps to gather medical and scientific research data.
In the next jump, the size of the balloon that will carry Baumgartner will rise as tall as a skyscraper.
Germans blow off steam with swearing hotline
Two German entrepreneurs have devised a way for passive-aggressive citizens to blow off some steam - dial a telephone number and give the person on the other end a verbal lashing.
The swearing hotline, known as "Schimpf-los" ("swear away") in German, has operators standing by seven days a week for frustrated individuals to jeer at and taunt using the most unsavory language they can muster.
"We don't judge people who are angry," said Ralf Schulte, who set up the hotline with his fellow media services provider Alexander Brandenburger.
"It happens. It's natural. With us you can blow off steam no strings attached," 41-year-old Schulte told Reuters.
The creators of the service found inspiration in their own stressful daily routines. The way Schulte sees it, he is doing people a favor by providing a release for pent-up aggravation and helping to avoid altercations in the workplace or at home.
"If you're stressed out at work, you go home and your partner gets an earful," he said. "Even though it's not her fault."
When callers are not creative in their cursing, or find themselves tongue-tied, operators on the hotline prod them with cheeky provocations like: "That's the third time I've heard that today - is that all you've got?"
The service costs 1.49 euros per minute - a figure Schulte feels is completely justified. "For getting everything off your chest, it's a bargain."
The swearing hotline, known as "Schimpf-los" ("swear away") in German, has operators standing by seven days a week for frustrated individuals to jeer at and taunt using the most unsavory language they can muster.
"We don't judge people who are angry," said Ralf Schulte, who set up the hotline with his fellow media services provider Alexander Brandenburger.
"It happens. It's natural. With us you can blow off steam no strings attached," 41-year-old Schulte told Reuters.
The creators of the service found inspiration in their own stressful daily routines. The way Schulte sees it, he is doing people a favor by providing a release for pent-up aggravation and helping to avoid altercations in the workplace or at home.
"If you're stressed out at work, you go home and your partner gets an earful," he said. "Even though it's not her fault."
When callers are not creative in their cursing, or find themselves tongue-tied, operators on the hotline prod them with cheeky provocations like: "That's the third time I've heard that today - is that all you've got?"
The service costs 1.49 euros per minute - a figure Schulte feels is completely justified. "For getting everything off your chest, it's a bargain."
Singer quits Wagner festival over Nazi tattoos
A Russian opera singer has pulled out of the Bayreuth opera festival over Nazi tattoos on his chest days before the start of the celebration of Richard Wagner's works that was once popular with Third Reich leaders.
Evgeny Nikitin was meant to play the Flying Dutchman in Wagner's opera of the same name but German newspaper and TV images have shown him bare chested with tattoos that resemble symbols used by the Nazis.
One looks like a swastika, which appears to be covered by a new tattoo in more recent pictures.
"I had these tattoos done in my youth. It was a big mistake in my life and I wish I had never done it," Nikitin said in a statement on the festival's website.
"I was not aware of the extent of the irritation and pain these signs and symbols would cause especially in Bayreuth and in the context of the history of the festival," he added.
Nikitin resigned after the festival's management confronted him with the media reports showing his tattoos.
"His decision to give back the part of the Dutchman for these reasons is in line with the consistent rejection by the festival's management of any form of National Socialist thinking," the festival's management said on its website.
The Bayreuth Festival, which was conceived by Wagner, dates back to 1876 and is celebrated for its stagings of his operas, including "Tristan and Isolde", "Parsifal" and the four operas of the monumental cycle "The Ring of the Nibelung".
Although Wagner, who penned several anti-Semitic texts, died half a century before Adolf Hitler came to power, the Nazi dictator was an admirer and drew on the composer's writings in his own theories on racial purity and exterminating the Jews.
Winifred Wagner, Wagner's daughter in law, who headed the festival under Nazi rule, was a close personal friend and an admirer of Hitler's until her death in 1980. Hitler frequently attended the festival.
Wagner's work has played to sold out crowds at the festival since the mid-1950s, with eager opera enthusiasts often waiting as long as 10 years for tickets to the Bayreuth Festspielhaus theatre.
The annual opera frenzy is a highlight of German cultural life, providing both scandal and entertainment. Chancellor Angela Merkel visits it regularly and it is one of only few occasions a year where her husband Joachim Sauer accompanies her in public.
Evgeny Nikitin was meant to play the Flying Dutchman in Wagner's opera of the same name but German newspaper and TV images have shown him bare chested with tattoos that resemble symbols used by the Nazis.
One looks like a swastika, which appears to be covered by a new tattoo in more recent pictures.
"I had these tattoos done in my youth. It was a big mistake in my life and I wish I had never done it," Nikitin said in a statement on the festival's website.
"I was not aware of the extent of the irritation and pain these signs and symbols would cause especially in Bayreuth and in the context of the history of the festival," he added.
Nikitin resigned after the festival's management confronted him with the media reports showing his tattoos.
"His decision to give back the part of the Dutchman for these reasons is in line with the consistent rejection by the festival's management of any form of National Socialist thinking," the festival's management said on its website.
The Bayreuth Festival, which was conceived by Wagner, dates back to 1876 and is celebrated for its stagings of his operas, including "Tristan and Isolde", "Parsifal" and the four operas of the monumental cycle "The Ring of the Nibelung".
Although Wagner, who penned several anti-Semitic texts, died half a century before Adolf Hitler came to power, the Nazi dictator was an admirer and drew on the composer's writings in his own theories on racial purity and exterminating the Jews.
Winifred Wagner, Wagner's daughter in law, who headed the festival under Nazi rule, was a close personal friend and an admirer of Hitler's until her death in 1980. Hitler frequently attended the festival.
Wagner's work has played to sold out crowds at the festival since the mid-1950s, with eager opera enthusiasts often waiting as long as 10 years for tickets to the Bayreuth Festspielhaus theatre.
The annual opera frenzy is a highlight of German cultural life, providing both scandal and entertainment. Chancellor Angela Merkel visits it regularly and it is one of only few occasions a year where her husband Joachim Sauer accompanies her in public.
Austrian find dates bras back to 15th century
Four mediaeval bras have been found in a collection of textiles excavated from an Austrian castle, confounding conventional wisdom that bras did not exist before the 19th century.
The linen garments were found in the remains of Lengberg Castle in eastern Tyrol. They resemble modern bras in that they have two distinct cups, and have decorative needle lace that would not have been visible when worn under a dress.
The bras were among 2,700 textile fragments found during archaeological investigations of the castle by a team from the University of Innsbruck, which began in 2008.
Carbon dating has now confirmed that the garments date back to the 15th century, the researchers said.
Varying accounts exist of who invented the modern bra, but Sigmund Lindauer, who came from a German family of corset makers, patented an elastic version in 1913 and began mass producing the garments.
The metal shortages of World War Two helped hasten the demise of the corset.
The linen garments were found in the remains of Lengberg Castle in eastern Tyrol. They resemble modern bras in that they have two distinct cups, and have decorative needle lace that would not have been visible when worn under a dress.
The bras were among 2,700 textile fragments found during archaeological investigations of the castle by a team from the University of Innsbruck, which began in 2008.
Carbon dating has now confirmed that the garments date back to the 15th century, the researchers said.
Varying accounts exist of who invented the modern bra, but Sigmund Lindauer, who came from a German family of corset makers, patented an elastic version in 1913 and began mass producing the garments.
The metal shortages of World War Two helped hasten the demise of the corset.
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