Bulgarian customs officials seized a large number of live reptiles, insects and crabs - some of them dangerous - stashed in suitcases in a bus travelling from the Czech Republic, they said on Monday. The alleged trafficker, a Bulgarian national, was arrested for trying to smuggle 49 turtles, 15 chameleons, six komodo dragons, four Cayman crocodiles and other animals including pythons and poisonous tree frogs, officials said.
"The animals were destined for sale on Bulgarian territory," Nikoleta Elenkova, a spokeswoman for the customs office, told Reuters. "They've been transported to the Sofia zoo and experts from the environment ministry will investigate them."
Elenkova said demand for exotic animals in the Balkan country, which joined the European Union in 2007, had increased significantly in recent years. Political analysts say such animals can be more easily transported across EU countries, which also include the Czech Republic, because border controls are more lax.
"I'm surprised that all the animals survived such a long journey - some 1,500 kilometers, as they've been packed in boxes," Milen Dimitrov, chief of the Kalotina checkpoint on the Serbian border, told reporters.
Dimitrov said passengers were lucky as some of the suitcases, including those containing the tree frogs, were located between seats and not in the luggage compartment.
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Flight attendant on plane rants about crashing
A female flight attendant who started ranting about a possible crash over the public address system of an American Airlines plane on Friday was subdued by passengers and crew as the plane returned to the gate, passengers said. The incident at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport led the pilot to taxi back to the gate, where police and FBI agents took the unidentified flight attendant for a psychiatric evaluation, airport spokesman David Magana said.
Passengers who arrived later at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport said the attendant had begun babbling about technical problems with the plane, saying "Captain, I can't be responsible for crashing this plane."
"No one was responding, and then when she said 'crash' twice, we knew something was wrong," said an unidentified passenger, whose comments were broadcast on WBBM radio in Chicago.
"She said she was bipolar, so we continued to hold her until police arrived. When they showed up they put the cuffs on and got her off the plane," another unidentified passenger said.
The attendant also spoke about losing friends in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.
"She said she just wanted to save people and that she wouldn't be responsible if the plane crashed," passenger Whitney Bessler was quoted as saying by the Dallas Morning News.
"She was screaming bloody murder," passenger Bethany Christakos told the Dallas Observer.
Another female attendant suffered minor injuries during the altercation on board the Chicago-bound plane, Magana said.
The FBI and airport police both said they did not plan to charge the attendant with any crime.
It was an "unfortunate but non-violent confrontation involving a flight attendant aboard an aircraft preparing for takeoff," and no one was seriously injured, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, a union, said in a statement.
American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp, issued a statement saying the incident involved "some of the cabin crew" and said "two flight attendants were taken to local hospitals for treatment."
Tim Smith, a spokesman for the airline, declined further comment, saying the incident was being investigated, and he apologized to passengers.
When the flight finally got under way with a new cabin crew, passengers who wanted drinks were served for free, Christakos said.
Passengers who arrived later at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport said the attendant had begun babbling about technical problems with the plane, saying "Captain, I can't be responsible for crashing this plane."
"No one was responding, and then when she said 'crash' twice, we knew something was wrong," said an unidentified passenger, whose comments were broadcast on WBBM radio in Chicago.
"She said she was bipolar, so we continued to hold her until police arrived. When they showed up they put the cuffs on and got her off the plane," another unidentified passenger said.
The attendant also spoke about losing friends in the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.
"She said she just wanted to save people and that she wouldn't be responsible if the plane crashed," passenger Whitney Bessler was quoted as saying by the Dallas Morning News.
"She was screaming bloody murder," passenger Bethany Christakos told the Dallas Observer.
Another female attendant suffered minor injuries during the altercation on board the Chicago-bound plane, Magana said.
The FBI and airport police both said they did not plan to charge the attendant with any crime.
It was an "unfortunate but non-violent confrontation involving a flight attendant aboard an aircraft preparing for takeoff," and no one was seriously injured, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, a union, said in a statement.
American Airlines, a unit of AMR Corp, issued a statement saying the incident involved "some of the cabin crew" and said "two flight attendants were taken to local hospitals for treatment."
Tim Smith, a spokesman for the airline, declined further comment, saying the incident was being investigated, and he apologized to passengers.
When the flight finally got under way with a new cabin crew, passengers who wanted drinks were served for free, Christakos said.
Take the money and vote, song tells Senegalese
Hard-up Senegalese who are offered cash for their vote in a presidential election this month have an easy option, according to a popular music video: they should simply pocket the money and vote as they wish anyway. Poll officials say attempts to buy votes, often made before election day and well away from scrutiny, are common in African elections but among the hardest forms of vote-rigging to spot.
Incumbent Abdoulaye Wade, who failed to get an absolute majority in last month's first-round vote, now faces ex-premier Macky Sall in a tough March 25 run-off in the West African country which prides itself on its stable democracy.
"If a politician offers you 5,000 CFA francs ($10), take them, if he offers you rice, take it," sings veteran musician Ousmane "Ouza" Diallo in "Le Vote" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SfPN1lKbDw).
"But if he asks to buy your elector's card, say no," he warns, referring to the document which voters must present to polling officials before they can cast their ballot.
Reuters reporters heard anecdotes from voters in February's first round that men wielding suitcases of cash offered money in return for their elector's card - a tactic used in the bastions of rival candidates to limit their scores.
The EU election observer mission also cited suspicions of such a practice.
"THINK OF THE FUTURE"
Seeking to bribe someone outright to cast their vote favorably is less certain of success because if procedures are properly respected, voters cast their ballot in secret.
"That's why I say in the song, take as much as you like ... it's all taxpayers' money anyway," Diallo told Reuters. "But when you are in the booth, think of the people, think of the future of the country more than the money they are giving you."
Wade, 85, emerged in the lead after the first round with 34.8 percent of the vote against 26.6 percent for Sall.
The vote passed off peacefully after at least six died in pre-election protests over Wade's decision to stand for a third term, which critics say breaches a two-term limit in the constitution.
Poverty and mass unemployment remain the two main grievances against Wade, who first came to power in 2000. He argues he has done more in 12 years than rival Socialists did in the 40 years they ruled since 1960 independence from France.
Sall, who like his one-time mentor Wade is an economic liberal, has secured a number of endorsements from defeated candidates but it is not clear to what extent they will persuade supporters to back him.
Wade this week solicited major religious leaders in the predominantly Muslim country to pray for his victory. But the so-called "marabouts" did not give a public endorsement of him.
Sall is also expected to pay visits to them next week.
Incumbent Abdoulaye Wade, who failed to get an absolute majority in last month's first-round vote, now faces ex-premier Macky Sall in a tough March 25 run-off in the West African country which prides itself on its stable democracy.
"If a politician offers you 5,000 CFA francs ($10), take them, if he offers you rice, take it," sings veteran musician Ousmane "Ouza" Diallo in "Le Vote" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SfPN1lKbDw).
"But if he asks to buy your elector's card, say no," he warns, referring to the document which voters must present to polling officials before they can cast their ballot.
Reuters reporters heard anecdotes from voters in February's first round that men wielding suitcases of cash offered money in return for their elector's card - a tactic used in the bastions of rival candidates to limit their scores.
The EU election observer mission also cited suspicions of such a practice.
"THINK OF THE FUTURE"
Seeking to bribe someone outright to cast their vote favorably is less certain of success because if procedures are properly respected, voters cast their ballot in secret.
"That's why I say in the song, take as much as you like ... it's all taxpayers' money anyway," Diallo told Reuters. "But when you are in the booth, think of the people, think of the future of the country more than the money they are giving you."
Wade, 85, emerged in the lead after the first round with 34.8 percent of the vote against 26.6 percent for Sall.
The vote passed off peacefully after at least six died in pre-election protests over Wade's decision to stand for a third term, which critics say breaches a two-term limit in the constitution.
Poverty and mass unemployment remain the two main grievances against Wade, who first came to power in 2000. He argues he has done more in 12 years than rival Socialists did in the 40 years they ruled since 1960 independence from France.
Sall, who like his one-time mentor Wade is an economic liberal, has secured a number of endorsements from defeated candidates but it is not clear to what extent they will persuade supporters to back him.
Wade this week solicited major religious leaders in the predominantly Muslim country to pray for his victory. But the so-called "marabouts" did not give a public endorsement of him.
Sall is also expected to pay visits to them next week.
U.S. regional dictionary gets in last word as it wraps up work
The Dictionary of American Regional English has finally reached its final word - "zydeco" - as researchers wrap up almost 50 years of work charting the rich variety of American speech. The dictionary's official publication date is March 20 but lexicographers and word fans have been celebrating ever since its fifth and final volume emerged earlier this year.
"It truly is America's dictionary," Ben Zimmer, a language columnist and lexicographer, told a Washington, D.C. news conference on Thursday.
He said when the final printed volume was delivered to its longtime editor, Joan Houston Hall, at a meeting of fellow dialect scholars: "There were audible gasps in the room."
The Dictionary of American Regional English's (DARE) 60,000 entries running from "A" to "zydeco," a style of Louisiana Cajun music, serve as a comprehensive sample of how American speech changes from region to region.
That space between sidewalk and curb? Depending on what part of the United States it is in, it can be called "parking," "devil's strip," "swale," "parkway" or "tree lawn."
Hall, who has headed the DARE project since 2000, said she was convinced fears that American English was becoming homogenized through television and mass media were unfounded.
"I don't buy it. Yes, language changes at different rates and at different places," she said. "But most of the words among our family and friends that are regional we don't even recognize as regional."
Although the idea of a dictionary of American dialects had been around since the 1880s, the project did not take shape until 1962, when Frederick Cassidy, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was appointed editor.
The DARE project was based on interviews carried out in more than 1,000 communities from 1965 to 1970 by University of Wisconsin researchers.
They asked Americans about their ways of talking about kitchen implements, housing, animals, diseases, food, music and more.
For the next several decades, editors sifted the 2.3 million responses and a mass of written materials including newspapers, letters and diaries ranging from the Colonial period to the present.
The dictionary, published in five volumes by Harvard University's Belknap Press and running to over 5,500 pages, includes words from about 70 languages, ranging from Bantu to Lithuanian to Choctaw. It retails for about $545.
Hall, who took over the project with Cassidy's death in 2000, said the last volume took longer to complete, about 10 years, because of the wealth of materials that had become available online.
"We felt that there was so much of value we didn't dare ignore it," she said at the news conference at the National Endowment for the Humanities, one of the book's main sponsors.
Dictionary entries include "bealing" for an abscess, "bear claw" and "kolacky" for types of pastries, "calf rope" for surrender in children's games, "dew poison" for a foot rash, "Lucy Bowles" for diarrhea, "rippet" for a disturbance or fight, and "pogonip" to describe a thick, cold fog.
"It truly is America's dictionary," Ben Zimmer, a language columnist and lexicographer, told a Washington, D.C. news conference on Thursday.
He said when the final printed volume was delivered to its longtime editor, Joan Houston Hall, at a meeting of fellow dialect scholars: "There were audible gasps in the room."
The Dictionary of American Regional English's (DARE) 60,000 entries running from "A" to "zydeco," a style of Louisiana Cajun music, serve as a comprehensive sample of how American speech changes from region to region.
That space between sidewalk and curb? Depending on what part of the United States it is in, it can be called "parking," "devil's strip," "swale," "parkway" or "tree lawn."
Hall, who has headed the DARE project since 2000, said she was convinced fears that American English was becoming homogenized through television and mass media were unfounded.
"I don't buy it. Yes, language changes at different rates and at different places," she said. "But most of the words among our family and friends that are regional we don't even recognize as regional."
Although the idea of a dictionary of American dialects had been around since the 1880s, the project did not take shape until 1962, when Frederick Cassidy, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, was appointed editor.
The DARE project was based on interviews carried out in more than 1,000 communities from 1965 to 1970 by University of Wisconsin researchers.
They asked Americans about their ways of talking about kitchen implements, housing, animals, diseases, food, music and more.
For the next several decades, editors sifted the 2.3 million responses and a mass of written materials including newspapers, letters and diaries ranging from the Colonial period to the present.
The dictionary, published in five volumes by Harvard University's Belknap Press and running to over 5,500 pages, includes words from about 70 languages, ranging from Bantu to Lithuanian to Choctaw. It retails for about $545.
Hall, who took over the project with Cassidy's death in 2000, said the last volume took longer to complete, about 10 years, because of the wealth of materials that had become available online.
"We felt that there was so much of value we didn't dare ignore it," she said at the news conference at the National Endowment for the Humanities, one of the book's main sponsors.
Dictionary entries include "bealing" for an abscess, "bear claw" and "kolacky" for types of pastries, "calf rope" for surrender in children's games, "dew poison" for a foot rash, "Lucy Bowles" for diarrhea, "rippet" for a disturbance or fight, and "pogonip" to describe a thick, cold fog.
California man accused of trying to sell fake wine
A California wine collector and dealer accused of trying to sell more than $1.3 million in counterfeit wine has been charged with fraud, a federal prosecutor said on Thursday. Prosecutors charged Rudy Kurniawan, 35, with "multiple fraudulent schemes" relating to his wine business between 2007 and 2012, including attempting to sell fake wine and fraudulently obtaining millions of dollars in loans.
The complaint was unsealed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court.
"Mr. Kurniawan's days of wine and wealth are over, if the allegations in this case are proven," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "Rudy Kurniawan held himself out to be a wine aficionado with a nose for a counterfeit bottle, but he was the counterfeit."
The complaint alleged that in one scheme, Kurniawan consigned for auction at least 84 bottles of counterfeit wine purporting to be from Domaine Ponsot in Burgundy, France, which were expected to sell for about $600,000.
Kurniawan attempted to sell one bottle that he said was a 1929 bottle from Domaine Ponsot, but Domaine Ponsot did not begin estate bottling until 1934, the complaint said.
Kurniawan also consigned bottles of wine that had supposedly been bottled between 1945 and 1971 from the Clos. St. Denis vineyard of Domaine Ponsot, according to the complaint. But Domaine Ponsot did not make wine from that vineyard until 1982.
Kurniawan was arrested on Thursday in Los Angeles and charged with three counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Originally from Jakarta, Indonesia, Kurniawan is living in the United States illegally, according to the complaint. He has sold millions of dollars' worth of wine in recent years, including about $35 million in 2006 alone, prosecutors said.
His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
The case is U.S. v. Kurniawan, 12-MAG-606, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
The complaint was unsealed on Thursday in Manhattan federal court.
"Mr. Kurniawan's days of wine and wealth are over, if the allegations in this case are proven," Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "Rudy Kurniawan held himself out to be a wine aficionado with a nose for a counterfeit bottle, but he was the counterfeit."
The complaint alleged that in one scheme, Kurniawan consigned for auction at least 84 bottles of counterfeit wine purporting to be from Domaine Ponsot in Burgundy, France, which were expected to sell for about $600,000.
Kurniawan attempted to sell one bottle that he said was a 1929 bottle from Domaine Ponsot, but Domaine Ponsot did not begin estate bottling until 1934, the complaint said.
Kurniawan also consigned bottles of wine that had supposedly been bottled between 1945 and 1971 from the Clos. St. Denis vineyard of Domaine Ponsot, according to the complaint. But Domaine Ponsot did not make wine from that vineyard until 1982.
Kurniawan was arrested on Thursday in Los Angeles and charged with three counts of wire fraud and two counts of mail fraud. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, prosecutors said.
Originally from Jakarta, Indonesia, Kurniawan is living in the United States illegally, according to the complaint. He has sold millions of dollars' worth of wine in recent years, including about $35 million in 2006 alone, prosecutors said.
His lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
The case is U.S. v. Kurniawan, 12-MAG-606, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).
She sings, she dances, she's ... not real
Hatsune Miku has a following that would make most Japanese pop stars green with envy, with thousands of fans at every concert and a big international following. She never misses a beat, fluffs a line or messes up a step. But then she doesn't really exist.
Hatsune Miku is computer generated, based on a voice-synthesizing programme developed by the company Crypton Future Media that allows users to create their own music.
Her image was produced by the company, but her music is a creation of her fans, Her best songs -- the ones headlined at her concerts -- have emerged from more than 20 different people.
The fans know what the fans like.
All 10,000 tickets for the digital diva's four shows in Tokyo -- two on Thursday and two on Friday -- sold out in hours despite the 6,300 yen ($76) ticket price.
Hatsune Miku was projected onto the stage at the shows while thousands of other fans packed into 24 cinemas to watch live.
"It was absolutely amazing, it's like my heart is still dancing. I don't think I'll be able to sleep," 21-year-old Yuya Ofuji said as she came out of a concert.
Another fan, Hazuki Koide, showed her dedication by dressing up as Hatsune Miku.
"I've liked her for a long time and wasn't able to come to the concert last year and watched it in a movie theatre. But this year I thought that I absolutely had to make it," Koide said.
The concert, billed as possibly Hatsune Miku's last, was also broadcast in cinemas in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Some fans came from further afield to catch what could be their idol's last gig.
"We thought we really had to make a real effort to come because we wouldn't get a chance to see her in the future," said Daniel Noll who flew in from Australia.
It's not clear why organizers said these shows could be Hatsune Miku's last, but if they are, she'll be going out on a high. Some online polls have her down as the most-requested singer for the London Olympics opening ceremony.
Whatever her future, the virtual star has made a real difference to many fans, they say.
"She gave a lot of people that didn't have a voice, a voice to express their feelings and thoughts," Noll said.
Hatsune Miku is computer generated, based on a voice-synthesizing programme developed by the company Crypton Future Media that allows users to create their own music.
Her image was produced by the company, but her music is a creation of her fans, Her best songs -- the ones headlined at her concerts -- have emerged from more than 20 different people.
The fans know what the fans like.
All 10,000 tickets for the digital diva's four shows in Tokyo -- two on Thursday and two on Friday -- sold out in hours despite the 6,300 yen ($76) ticket price.
Hatsune Miku was projected onto the stage at the shows while thousands of other fans packed into 24 cinemas to watch live.
"It was absolutely amazing, it's like my heart is still dancing. I don't think I'll be able to sleep," 21-year-old Yuya Ofuji said as she came out of a concert.
Another fan, Hazuki Koide, showed her dedication by dressing up as Hatsune Miku.
"I've liked her for a long time and wasn't able to come to the concert last year and watched it in a movie theatre. But this year I thought that I absolutely had to make it," Koide said.
The concert, billed as possibly Hatsune Miku's last, was also broadcast in cinemas in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
Some fans came from further afield to catch what could be their idol's last gig.
"We thought we really had to make a real effort to come because we wouldn't get a chance to see her in the future," said Daniel Noll who flew in from Australia.
It's not clear why organizers said these shows could be Hatsune Miku's last, but if they are, she'll be going out on a high. Some online polls have her down as the most-requested singer for the London Olympics opening ceremony.
Whatever her future, the virtual star has made a real difference to many fans, they say.
"She gave a lot of people that didn't have a voice, a voice to express their feelings and thoughts," Noll said.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)