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quarta-feira, 14 de janeiro de 2009

Noticias de Portugal

Inov-Art e Inov Mundus

  • Estágios no estrangeiro reforçam inserção de jovens no mundo do trabalho

PM apresenta programas Inov-Art e Inov Mundus
O Primeiro-Ministro presidiu à apresentação dos programas Inov-Art e Inov Mundus, em Lisboa, em 9 de Janeiro. Estes programas destinam-se a «dar mais oportunidades aos jovens no domínio da cultura e para que afirmem internacionalmente o nome de Portugal», declarou José Sócrates, que recordou também que a primeira medida aprovada pelo Governo, em 2005, foi o programa de estágios profissionais Inov Jovem o qual, juntamente com outros criados posteriormente, já permitiu a colocação de milhares de jovens em estágios e empregos em empresas nacionais e estrangeiras. «Com estes dois programas damos um bom contributo para a melhoria da política externa, para a melhoria da política cultural e para que Portugal seja um país de oportunidades para os jovens», acrescentou. Mais...


  • Eliminada intervenção presencial dos cidadãos no recenseamento militar

Jovens em navio da Marinha no Dia de Defesa Nacional
O Conselho de Ministros de 8 de Janeiro aprovou um Decreto-Lei que simplifica, desmaterializa e desburocratiza o recenseamento militar. Após a eliminação da obrigatoriedade dos cidadãos se apresentarem ao recenseamento militar durante o mês de Janeiro, do ano em que completam 18 anos de idade, este diploma vem, agora, simplificar o processo, eliminando a intervenção do cidadão no momento do recenseamento, obtendo-se, simultaneamente, maior eficácia e redução de custos. A recolha de informação necessária ao recenseamento militar e à sua actualização, passa a processar-se entre os Ministérios da Justiça e da Defesa Nacional, poupando os cidadãos a uma deslocação presencial obrigatória. Esta alteração visa, ainda, universalizar o recenseamento militar, procedendo-se de forma gradual à extensão do dever de comparência ao Dia da Defesa Nacional às cidadãs portuguesas.


  • Combate ao cancro do colo do útero

Imagem de jovens em idade de vacinação contra o colo do útero
O Conselho de Ministros de 30 de Dezembro aprovou a aquisição de 400 000 vacinas destinadas a prevenir o cancro do colo do útero - responsável por 300 mortes anuais de mulheres em Portugal. A vacina contra o vírus do papiloma humano foi iniciada em 2008, tendo Portugal sido o segundo país europeu a incluir esta vacina no Plano Nacional de Vacinação. Em 2008 foram vacinadas as meninas que fizeram 12 anos, sendo o objectivo para 2009 vacinar todas as que completem 13 e 17 anos, de forma a cobrir toda a população feminina jovem - uma vez que a eficácia da vacina é reduzida a partir do início da vida sexual. A Ministra da Saúde, Ana Jorge, referiu que vai também «ser alargado a todo o País o programa de rastreio do cancro do colo do útero, que é a medida mais eficaz em relação aos grupos não abrangidos pela vacina».


  • Integração de todos os trabalhadores por conta de outrem na segurança social pública

Vieira da Silva, Ministro do Trabalho e da Solidariedade Social
O Conselho de Ministros de 23 de Dezembro aprovou, na generalidade para consultas, um Decreto-Lei que determina que os trabalhadores que venham a ser contratados pelas instituições bancárias serão abrangidos pelo regime geral de segurança social. Assim, no cumprimento da actual Lei de Bases da Segurança Social, o Governo, os sindicatos e os bancos, estabelecem que a antiga Caixa dos Bancários passa a garantir os seus serviços apenas aos actuais inscritos, que manterão todos os seus direitos. Põe-se também cobro à situação de existirem bancários inscritos na segurança social com protecção perante todas as eventualidades, enquanto outros eram apenas protegidos perante algumas, sendo as outras garantidas pelo empregador, o que criava desigualdades de tratamento entre trabalhadores e entre bancos. Com esta diploma completa-se a integração de todos os trabalhadores por conta de outrem no sistema público de segurança social.


  • Desigualdades diminuíram entre 2005 e 2007

PM e Governo na Assembleia da República
O Primeiro-Ministro afirmou que as desigualdades sociais diminuíram em Portugal entre 2005 e 2007, no debate quinzenal na Assembleia da República, a 17 de Dezembro. Nas respostas às perguntas dos deputados, subordinadas ao tema das políticas económicas e do emprego, José Sócrates referiu os dados do Instituto Nacional de Estatística (INE), que apontam para uma diminuição das desigualdades em 2007: em 2004 e 2005 «os 20% mais ricos ganhavam 6,9 vezes mais do que os 20% mais pobres», citou, acrescentando que em 2007, os 20% mais ricos ganhavam apenas 6,5 vezes mais do que os 20% mais pobres. «Há muita gente, que disse que as desigualdades estavam a aumentar, que tem de morder a língua», ironizou. O PM anunciou também o aumento do capital social da Caixa Geral de Depósitos em mil milhões de euros, uma vez que «nunca como agora o País precisou tanto do banco público».


  • Colocação de professores alargada de três para quatro anos

Imagem de professor
O Conselho de Ministros de 17 de Dezembro aprovou, na generalidade, um diploma que alarga de três para quatro anos o período de colocação dos professores e promove a sua integração, dos quadros de zona pedagógica, nos quadros de agrupamento de escolas ou escolas não agrupadas, mediante um concurso interno, visando o reforço da estabilidade do corpo docente. Aprovou também o regime transitório de avaliação dos docentes do pré-escolar, básico e secundário, para vigorar até ao final do 1.º ciclo de avaliação, em 31 de Dezembro de 2009, que corrige alguns pontos do modelo de avaliação, nomeadamente, a existência de avaliadores de áreas disciplinares diferentes dos avaliados, a burocracia dos procedimentos previstos e a sobrecarga de trabalho inerente ao processo de avaliação. Um terceiro decreto, regulamenta os termos e as condições da atribuição do suplemento remuneratório dos directores, subdirectores e adjuntos das escolas e agrupamentos, bem como de outros directores, no quadro do novo regime de autonomia, administração e gestão das escolas.



Nappies created for birds

bird nappy
Bird-brained idea? The FlightSuit

Do you like to give your parrot the freedom of the house but hate cleaning up when it gets caught short?

If so, put your pet in a nappy and let it fly by the seat of its pants.

The FlightSuit allows birds to 'enjoy more out-of-cage time without the mess, inconvenience, and embarrassment of soiling your clothing or furnishings', according to US makers Flight-Quarters.

The unusual underwear comes in 14 sizes to suit the smallest parrotlet to the largest macaw.

But some bird lovers are furious that 'highly intelligent' parrots could be made to wear 'undignified' nappies, according to one website.

Cops held over brothel brawl

Prison Bars

If you're an elite police officer, it's probably not a good idea to get arrested for having a fight in a brothel.

But that's what happened to three top Frankfurt police officerscops, who have been detained by police and are under investigation for assault following a brawl in a brothel, according to a Frankfurt police spokesman.

Confirming a report in Bild newspaper, the spokesman said the three officers of the elite SEK anti-terrorism unit had been transferred to another department pending the outcome of the investigation by the state prosecutors' office.

The three off-duty officers, aged 30, 32 and 35, were in a red-light district of Germany's financial capital after an office party.

They got into a dispute with the brothel's bouncers that turned violent. Police arriving detained their colleagues.

Man trades daughter for beer, meat and cash

Booze
Beer: do not trade your daughter's hand in marriage for it

A man has been arrested in California for arranging for his 14-year-old daughter to marry a neighbor in exchange for $16,000, 100 cases of beer and several cases of meat.

Police in Greenfield, a farming community on California's central coast, said they learned of the deal after Marcelino de Jesus Martinez, 36, asked them for help getting back his daughter after payment wasn't made.

Martinez was arrested on Sunday. He faces felony charges of procuring a child under age 16 for lewd and lascivious acts, statutory rape and cruelty to a child by endangering health.

Police also arrested the intended groom, 18-year-old Margarito de Jesus Galindo, on suspicion of statutory rape, but prosecutors have not yet decided whether to charge him.

Martinez is a member of an indigenous Mexican Trique community. Greenfield police Chief Joe Grebmeier said the case highlights an issue confronting local authorities in that arranged marriages with girls as young as 12 are not uncommon among the Trique.

He hesitated to say that the girl was being sold into marriage, as the money was intended as a dowry and the beer and meat were for the wedding.

But he added that the arrangement violates California law, where the age of consent for marriage is 18, or 16 with parental approval.

'This is not a traditional trafficking case because there is no force or coercion in this,' Grebmeier said. 'We're aware of the cultural issues here, but state law trumps cultural sensitivity.'

Grebmeier is planning to meet with leaders in the Trique community to talk about how some cultural practices might conflict with California law.

'Initially, when everyone was talking to us, we learned a lot because they had no realization that it's against the law - an arranged marriage for money with a minor,' Grebmeier said.

Members of the indigenous community protested the news reports and public discussion of the case, saying they were painted in a very negative light.

'No one put a 'for sale' sign on this girl, and that's how it sounds,' said Rufino Dominguez, head of the Greenfield office of the Binational Center for the Development of the Indigenous Communities.

He added that the community did not normally approve of money being offered as a part of the marriage deal.

Police learned of the deal in mid-December, when Martinez reported his daughter as a runaway.

Further investigation found the girl had not fled but moved in with Galindo as part of the marriage arrangement. Grebmeier said the girl was a willing party to the deal.

Martinez would face at least a year in prison if convicted.

terça-feira, 13 de janeiro de 2009

New Zealand baby named Zealand-New

Newborn baby child
A baby: there's a reason we don't call them things like Congo Of Republic Democratic or Ireland Northern And Britain Great Of Kingdom United

A baby girl born in New Zealand is the latest child to be lumbered with a name that will haunt her in later life, after her parents decided to call her Zealand-New.

The girl's name was the suggestion of her grandmother, Sharron Te Moni, who explained: 'I was fiddling around and it was something different to say it back to front.'

Zealand-New – or, to give her her full name, is Zealand-New Sharron Phyllis Atareta Davoren – was born in the Bay of Plenty area on New Zealand's North Island.

The girl's mother, Tomicina Davoren, admitted: 'It is unusual to name your child that. You hear New Zealand every day, but not as someone's name.'

Zealand-New joins Davoren's three other children, who are named Rlexuz Toara Chantz Te Moni, Mikaere Morgan Te Moni and Korizma-Lake Vonnita Manaaki Te Moni, according to the Bay Of Plenty Times.

107-year-old woman finally ready for marriage

Wedding

A 107-year-old Chinese woman who was afraid to marry when she was young has decided that now is the time to look for her first husband.

She sasy that she hopes to find a fellow centenarian, so they will have something to talk about, a Chinese newspaper reported.

Wang Guiying is worried she is becoming a burden to her aging nieces and nephews since she broke her leg when she was 102 and had to stop doing household chores

I'm already 107 and I still haven't got married,' the Chongqing Commercial Times quoted her saying. 'What will happen if I don't hurry up and find a husband?'

Born the child of a salt merchant in southern Guizhou province, Wang was always fearful of getting married after seeing how badly her uncles treated their wives.

'All the married people around there lived like that. Getting married was too frightening,' she said of an era when Chinese women had few rights and low social standing.

Many also had their feet bound in an excruciating process aimed at making them look more dainty and marriageable.

After Wang's father, mother and older sister died, she still shied away from marriage. Instead she moved to the countryside and survived as a farmer until she was 74 years old, the report said.

Her nephew in the booming city of Chongqing then took Wang in, but she is worried he and her other nephews and nieces are too old to take care of her now. Even the youngest is 60.

'My nephews and nieces are getting older and their children are already tied up with their own families and I am becoming more and more of a burden,' she said.

Local officials have said they are happy to help Wang search for a 100-year old groom, and suggested her family get in touch with old people's homes to find candidates, the paper said.

segunda-feira, 12 de janeiro de 2009

Robber waits in queue to hold up bank

Dollars

A robber may have tipped off his intentions when he stood in a queue at a bank wearing a ski mask before staging a holdup.

Police in the US state of Ohio said Feliks Goldshtein of Highland Heights was arrested following a brief car chase.

Police say the teller asked the man to take off the mask before being served.

The man displayed what turned out to be a toy gun and demanded money from the teller. He made off with an undisclosed amount.

Police Captain Rick Myers said it's unusual for a masked robber to wait in a queue at a bank.

The 24-year-old man has been charged with aggravated robbery and failure to comply with a police order.

Busty TV presenter fined over phone violence

Adela Romania
Presenter Adela Lupse goes bonkers during the television programme

A TV station has been fined £1,000 after the presenter on a live phone in quiz show threw a fit after no viewers called in.

Busty presenter Adela Lupse started screaming at the camera, smashed the phone on the ground and then jumped up and down on it before grinding the phone under her foot.

WATCH THE VIDEO BELOW

At the same time she screamed repeatedly at the camera "I want the phone to ring now. Now. Call me now."

Angry TV bosses fired her after the outburst on Romanian TV station National TV.

But Lupse, who has been the show's presenter for three years, said: "Maybe I was a bit over the top but I wanted to get people to call - there is a lot of pressure to get people to call in with the correct answer. It was a bad day."

But Romanian TV watchdog the National Audiovisual Council of Romania failed to see the funny side and fined the station £1,089 for the outburst that showed "unjustified violence".

It also ruled that the show be slapped with an X rating and only broadcast after 10pm when children are in bed.

WATCH THE VIDEO HERE:


sexta-feira, 9 de janeiro de 2009

Squirrel-flavoured crisps go on sale in UK

Squirrel

Crisps that taste of chilli and chocolate, onion bhaji and even Cajun squirrel will be unleashed on the public today as part of a Walkers competition to find a new flavour.

Walkers launched its Do Us A Flavour campaign last July, challenging members of the public to think up a unique flavour of crisp.

Fish and chips, crispy duck and hoi sin, and builder's breakfast have also made the finals of the public search.

Chef Heston Blumenthal and a judging panel picked the top six entries from more than one million, and Walkers turned the ideas into reality.

The crisps can be bought from all supermarkets from today until May, either individually or in a special multipack containing all six flavours.

Blumenthal said: "The complexities of flavour fascinate me and to watch the British public get so excited about taste has been absolutely inspiring.

"We've had an incredible response and sifting through the entries has been quite incredible. I can't wait to see which on the public choose as their winner!"

Votes cast on the Walkers website between now and May 1 will decide which flavour stays permanently on sale, and the creator will win £50,000, on top of the £10,000 that each finalist has already received.

One per cent of profits from all future sales will also be handed to the winner. The crisp manufacturer revealed that, if sales should reach that of its BBQ flavour for example, the winner would receive around £57,000 a year.

Chilli and chocolate is the brainchild of Catherine Veitch, from High Wycombe, who entered the competition with her friend Sian Smith from Oxfordshire.

The pair, who work in educational publishing, took more than 500 pictures as part of their entry Ms Veitch said: "Chilli and chocolate might sound like a crazy idea for a crisp, but the combination is actually scrumptious. Spicy heat with a cocoa kick!"

Fish and chips creator Jane Hallam, 45, does not eat fish because she is a strict vegetarian, but can eat her own crisps because they do not contain any fish.

The social worker, who lives in Sheffield, chose fish and chips because it is a popular comfort food. She submitted a picture of a queue of people outside a fish and chip shop in Whitby as part of her entry.

She said: "Fish and chips is one of the most famous national dishes, so I felt sure that it would be something that could be enjoyed by everyone."

Onion bhaji is 53-year-old Carole Wood's entry, and the civil servant from Durham said she fancies her chances of winning.

The mother-of-two chose the unusual flavour because it is a family favourite and she has kept the Walkers steak and onion pack that prompted her entry as a good luck token.

Mrs Wood said: "Onion bhaji has a delicious, mildly spicy taste and will taste great as a crisp."

Crispy duck and hoi sin sauce is the invention of Vicky Howard, from Northwich in Cheshire.

The 21-year-old, who draws maps for a living, made a crisp packet to accompany her entry by scanning a packet into her computer and replacing the traditional image with one of a duck made from crisps.

She said: "Crispy duck and hoi sin has been a long-time coming - it's a favourite Chinese dish, so hopefully it will be everyone's favourite crisp too."

Builder's breakfast is the brainchild of Emma Rushin from Belper in Derbyshire. The 27-year-old midwife, who has two children, combined bacon, buttered toast, eggs and tomato sauce to create her flavour.

She said "The combination is mouth-watering and I know it will be a hit with the British public." Meanwhile Cajun squirrel is the wacky flavour created by Martyn Wright, 26, the only man to have made the final six.

The online marketer, who lives in Hednesford, Staffordshire, was inspired to enter when he saw squirrel on a restaurant menu and he believes the public will be so intrigued that they will have to buy a pack.

He said: "This gentle Cajun flavouring will be delicious for the public and although the idea might sound bizarre, it really works. No squirrels were harmed in the making of these crisps!"

Six-year-old expelled for bringing a gun to school

Gun
The gun was the cause of the sagging pants

A six-year-old who was sent to the principal's office for sagging pants was found to be carrying a loaded gun and quickly expelled.

The school administrator was pulling the boy's pants up when he found a pistol in his pocket.

The boy said he found the gun in his father's car and wanted to show it off to his friends.

They boy's father, 34 year old Michael Lewis, was arrested possession of a firearm by a felon and having stolen property after finding that the .45 caliber gun had been stolen

The school said it had a "zero tolerance policy" on weapons but didn't release a baggy pants statement.

quinta-feira, 8 de janeiro de 2009

Arrested woman fakes giving birth

Pregnant woman
You must be at least this pregnant to fake labour pains

A woman in America has discovered the hard way that faking going into labour doesn't help you escape arrest for shoplifting.

The woman was arrested in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, after police were called to a mall over a report of a woman stealing a keychain. They also found pain medication without a prescription in her purse, and so also arrested her on drug charges.

But while being arrested, the woman complained of birth pains and said she was going into labour. She was taken to a local hospital by ambulance.

But when doctors examined her at the hospital, they found that she wasn't going into labour at all. In fact, in what might have a been a slight flaw in her otherwise perfect scheme, it turned out she wasn't even pregnant.

Not only did she remain under arrest, but she's now facing a bill for the ambulance ride and hospital visit.

6-year-old crashes car trying to get to school

Car crash
What a car crash might look like

A 6-year-old Virginia boy who missed his school bus proved unexpectedly keen on getting to school - so much so that he took the family car and tried to drive to school.

Unsurprisingly, he crashed it.

State police say the boy suffered only minor injuries, and authorities drove him to school after he was evaluated at a local hospital. Sgt. Tom Cunningham says the boy arrived shortly after lunch.

The crash happened around 7:40 a.m. Monday on Route 360 in Virginia, about 60 miles east of the state capital Richmond.

Police say that after missing the bus, the boy - who hasn't been named - took the keys to his family's 2005 Ford Taurus while his mother was asleep, and drove 10 miles toward school.

He ran off the road several times before finally hitting an embankment and utility pole about a mile and a half from school. So he almost made it.

Police say he wasn't wearing a safety belt.

quarta-feira, 7 de janeiro de 2009

Did you pack this yourself, sir?

Luggage featuring embossed images of a gun, knife or axe is likely to spark alerts at airports, security experts warned yesterday.

Gun suitcase

The cases, sold online for up to £98, were described as bringing 'a touch of black humour and novelty to an object which is usually rather boring' by retailer kidslovedesign.com.

But aviation security expert Bruce Schneier warned: 'They're not in good taste... It's a funny joke, but remember that there are no jokes when it comes to airport security.'

Wackiest home insurance claims revealed

Gun
A man accidentally shot his TV set while cleaning an antique gun.

Well, it's one way to turn off your TV... permanently. A man accidentally shot his set while cleaning an antique gun.

The case tops the list of wackiest home insurance claims received by Lloyds TSB last year.

Other quirky cases include the shameless policyholder who claimed for a new bed because he had worn out his old one by having too much sex.

One claimant whose home was burgled supplied the receipts for a collection of sex toys that had gone missing.

Another claimed for loss of his glasses – after a magpie flew in through the bedroom window and pinched them from a bedside cabinet.

And there were many claims for damage to electronics such as players and mobiles from people who admitted putting them in the dishwasher to clean.

Others had been operating their device in the bath and then wondered why it wouldn't work after falling in.

Phil Loney, of Lloyds, said: 'I never cease to be intrigued by the variety of claims we receive. It's impossible to predict what's around the corner.'

The burglars who only ate stale sarnies

Sandwich
The burglars who only ate stale sarnies

Three 'buttie burglars' have paid a high price for grabbing out-of-date sandwiches for a free feast.

The trio – who worked in a nearby electrical store – believed they had permission to take the snacks from the shopping centre café after it closed.

But when the food – worth a total of £26 – went missing, the police were called in, CCTV film studied and the three culprits charged with burglary.

The theft happened at the Middleton Grange mall in Hartlepool.

The café had no shopfront and its counter was accessible to the three, who worked late at BrightHouse electrics.

The trio admitted taking the items in November but believed they had the 'right to do so', Clare Donaldson, prosecuting, told Hartlepool magistrates court.

Mitigating, Dave Smith said colleagues at BrightHouse had told the three it was all right to take out-of-date stock from the café.

'While burglary is a big word and is not a pleasant word to hear or read on somebody's record, this is about as bottom end as a burglary can be without falling off the scale,' he said.

Alex Bell, 35, Emma Berry, 18, both of Hartlepool, and Jeffrey Marchant, 39, of Middlesbrough, admitted burglary and were given 12-month conditional discharges and ordered to pay £8.66 compensation and £90 costs each.

All had no previous convictions. Marchant may now have to quit his role as a school governor, the court heard.

Burglar stole 'Jungle Jane' blow up dolls for alleyway sex session

sex doll

A burglar broke into three adult shops, had sex with blow up dolls named "Jungle Jane" and then dumped his plastic conquests in a nearby alley.

"It's totally bizarre. It's a real concern that someone like that is out on the street," said one of the owners of the adult sex shops in Cairns in northern Queensland state.

"He has been taking the dolls out the back and blowing them up and using the dolls and leaving them in the alley," the owner, who gave the name of Vogue, told the Cairns Post newspaper.

Police told the Cairns Post that scientific officers had taken DNA samples, fingerprints and pictures of the crime scene.

Schoolboy defeats hedgehog ban

Hedgehog
A hedgehog: no longer banned in Lawrence

A schoolboy in Kansas has emerged victorious in his battle to change the law of his city - so that could have a pet hedgehog.

11-year-old Judson King triumphed after campaigning against local laws that banned the animals from the city of Lawrence.

Inspired by a love of Sonic the Hedgehog, and determined to own a real-life version, King spent three years researching how to change the law before presenting his case to city commissioners.

The commissioners were impressed by his prepared speech, and the dossier he had prepared with information about hedgehogs.

And, despite some initial concerns that hedgehogs - which are not native to North America - might harbour foot-and-mouth disease, the commissioners could find no reason to continue banning hedgehogs from the city limits.

'I think he ought to run for City Commission in April,' said impressed City Commissioner Sue Hack said after King's presentation.

At the same meeting, a proposed ban on chickens in the city was turned down.

Preliminary approval for lifting the hedgehog ban was given on December 2, and the prohibition was officially lifted on December 30. By that time, Judson had already reaped the reward for his efforts - he was given a hedgehog called Little Luke for Christmas.

Doctors get to bottom of hairspray X -Ray

It's a medical mystery that surgeons never got to the bottom of in a hospital casualty room - how a woman patient ended up with a can of hairspray up her backside.

Mirela Gradinaru, 37, turned up at the clinic in Arad, western Romania, in agony begging doctors to help her.

hairspray x ray
Doctors had to remove the giant can of hairspray

But she refused to say just how the can came to be there even after a successful, delicate operation to remove the aerosol.

Doctor Mirandolina Prisca explained: "We had X-rays done to localise the object and then we carried out the operation. The patient was fine after it."

"This was a massive can of hairspray"

"She was very embarrassed. She was clearly in a lot of pain, however it got there.

"This was not just a little can of deodorant, this was a massive can of hairspray," said one hospital worker.

terça-feira, 6 de janeiro de 2009

Wheelchair criminal flees on foot

Wheelchair

Police say a woman who begged from a wheelchair was caught running from a crime scene on foot in Monterrey, Mexico.

Police spokeswoman Sidlayin Robles says 30-year-old Ana Victoria Perez fled on foot after she and her husband allegedly threw a stone through the front window of a furniture store.

Perez was a regular fixture along a main Monterrey road, asking for change from motorists as she sat in a wheelchair pushed by her husband.

Robles said Monday that the couple apparently planned to rob the furniture store but were scared off by a security guard. They have been charged with vandalism.

Police arrested the couple when they returned for the wheelchair.

Bush shoe-chucking becomes an art form

An art gallery in America joined the hot trend of throwing shoes at George Bush, as they opened a new exhibit with a paint-splattered fundraiser that featured a 'shoe throw' at an image of the departing President.

Bush shoe throwing art
91-year-old Marjorie Mather reacts with joy after hitting a picture of President Bush with a paint-covered shoe

Eric Navickas, a City Councilor in Ashland, Oregon, who opened the MAda Shell Gallery by slathering a layer of red paint on the soles of sneakers, boots and sandals. People then took turns to fire the footwear at an 8-foot image of Bush.

Each shot cost $1 at Friday's opening, with the funds to go toward future gallery exhibits.

Godard said the exhibit is a 'statement of solidarity' with Muntadhar al-Zeidi, the Iraqi journalist who was arrested after hurling two shoes at Bush in protest during a Baghdad news conference last month.

One contributor was 91-year-old Marjorie Mather.

'Wow, I didn't know that was going to be so much fun,' she said after smacking a shoe into the picture of Bush.

Woman who set husband's testicles on fire charged with murder

Fire
Goodness, gracious

A woman has been charged with murder after allegedly setting her husband's genitals on fire because she thought he was having an affair.

Prosecutors told the Adelaide Magistrates Court on Monday that 44-year-old Rajini Narayan confessed to neighbors that she set her husband on fire on December 8, 2008, after she saw him hug another woman.

She was initially charged with endangering life and arson but the charges were upgraded to murder after her 47-year-old husband, Satish Narayan, died from his injuries last week.

Prosecutor Lucy Boord said Narayan told neighbors she was a "jealous wife" but she hadn't meant to kill him when she doused the sleeping man's genitals with an alcohol-based solvent and then set him on fire.

Boord quoted Narayan allegedly saying: "I just wanted to burn his penis so it belongs to me and no one else ... I didn't mean this to happen."

The husband jumped out of bed and knocked over the bottle of alcohol, causing the fire to spread and resulting in 1 million Australian dollars ($715 million) of damage to their town house and an adjacent property, the Adelaide Advertiser reported.

Narayan was remanded in custody for psychological assessment and will reappear in court Friday. She has been charged with murder, arson and three counts of endangering life, as the couple's three children were at home during the incident.

segunda-feira, 5 de janeiro de 2009

Balloon priest wins Darwin Award for stupidity

priest balloons

There he goes: Di Carli, the balloon priest

A daredevil Catholic priest who was killed after floating out to sea suspended by 1,000 helium-filled party balloons has been honoured for his idiocy.

Reverend Adelir Antonio di Carli had been trying to break a record for the longest time in-flight with party balloons when he disappeared.

Three months later his body was discovered off the south-eastern coast of Brazil.

But now he has won the 2008 Darwin Awards which commemorates people who die in a stupid fashion.

priest balloons
Di Carli: blowing in the wind

Rev di Carli planned to use the money raised in his attempt to break the 19-hour record to fund a "spiritual" rest-stop for truckers in Paranagua, home to Brazil's largest grain port.

Second place went to Italian Ivece Plattner, 68, who got trapped in between a level crossing in his beloved Porsche.

It took Plattner a while to realise he was stuck, according to witnesses. Finally, he jumped from the car and started to run - towards the oncoming train, waving his arms in an attempt to save his car.

The attempt was successful. The car received less damage than its owner.

Burglar scared off by man dressed as Thor

thor
Torvald Alexander, the Norse god of thunder!

A builder scared off a house-breaker by running at him dressed as the Norse god Thor.

The terrified intruder leapt from a first floor window to escape Torvald Alexander, who was dressed as the Norse god of thunder in a red cape and silver helmet and breastplate.

Mr Alexander had just returned from a New Year's Eve fancy dress party when he discovered the man in his home in Inverleith, Edinburgh.

He said he acted instinctively to chase the intruder away, and believed his costume may have added impact.

Mr Alexander, 39, said: "We were both startled but then the instant reaction was that I ran at him and he just jumped straight out of the window.

"I think I would be quite scared if someone looking almost like a gladiator ran at them.

"He might have thought the property was empty.

"He probably would not have expected to meet a strong builder, especially dressed in tinfoil and silver."

The house-breaker did not steal anything but left behind his shoes and the garden fork he used to break in.

He landed on a pitched roof outside the window which broke his fall, and made his escape. Mr Alexander, whose name has Norwegian roots, was inspired to dress as Thor by the Marvel comics series.

He made his costume himself, using large quantities of tinfoil.

The Norse believed that Thor rode through the heavens during thunderstorms on his chariot, which was pulled by two goats.

Lightning flashed whenever he threw his hammer Mjollnir, which magically returned to him. He was usually depicted as a big, powerful man with eyes of lightning and a red beard.

Mr Alexander, who runs building firm Alexander & Summers, said he will report the incident to police.

Lothian and Borders Police said they have not yet received a report.


sábado, 3 de janeiro de 2009

Thank you from Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales


Thank you from Wikipedia founder, Jimmy Wales

Jimmy Wales
Dear Reader,


Since July 1, more than 125,000 of you have donated $4 million. In addition, we've received major gifts and foundation support totaling $2 million. This combined revenue will cover our operating expenses for the current fiscal year, ending June 30, 2009.

Your donation makes you a key supporter of the free culture movement, and pays for:

  • Day-to-day operations: servers, hosting, bandwidth, our staff of just 23 people.
  • Continued development & improvements of open source software that powers all Wikimedia projects.
  • Outreach events like Wikipedia Academies: in-person workshops where you can learn more about how to use and edit Wikipedia.
  • Volunteer support: helping our international volunteer community to grow and to continue to do amazing work.

You can still get involved:

Any donations beyond our $6 million goal are put in a reserve fund, which will help us to offset operating costs beyond the current fiscal year. Your continued support will also serve as a much-needed financial safety net if economic conditions continue to worsen globally.

You have proven that Wikipedia matters to you, and that you support our mission: to bring free knowledge to the planet, free of charge and free of advertising. You've helped make and keep Wikipedia available for the whole world.

I deeply appreciate your support.

Thank you,

Jimmy Wales

Please Donate »

Learn More

terça-feira, 30 de dezembro de 2008

'Drug bust' beauty queen stripped of title

A Mexican beauty queen arrested in the company of heavily armed, suspected drug traffickers has been stripped of her Hispanic American beauty title, pageant organizers in Bolivia told local media on Saturday

Laura Zuniga, 23, and seven men were detained at a military checkpoint in central Mexico on Monday. Police found assault rifles and $55,000 in cash in the luxury vehicles they had been driving.

Zuniga was ordered jailed on Friday for a further 40 days while investigators probe possible ties to violent smuggling gangs.

Police say they suspect the dark-haired model, who won the Miss Sinaloa and Queen of Hispanic America pageants earlier this year, was the girlfriend of one of the men arrested. Investigators say he is linked to the Juarez cartel, which operates lucrative smuggling routes into the United States.

'Promociones Gloria, the company that created and is responsible for (the pageant) has dismissed Laura Zuniga as the official Hispanic America Queen 2008,' the organization said in a statement, according to La Paz daily La Razon.

She was to compete in the Miss International pageant next year.

Mexican President Felipe Calderon is battling powerful cartels in his country with soldiers and federal police.

segunda-feira, 29 de dezembro de 2008

'Human igloo' saves woman's life

A woman managed to survive for three days buried deep in snow - by acting like a giant human igloo.

Donna Molnar, 55, was last seen on Friday when she left her home west of Toronto in a snowstorm to get baking supplies.

Her van was found abandoned by the side of a windswept rural road late the next day.

Reverse Santa lives in attic, steals stuff

Christmas is traditionally a time when a strange man descends from the roof of your house and gives you stuff. But one family in America were suprised to discover that, instead, a strange man had spent several days living in their roof and stealing things from them.

The family, in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, did not realize they had an unexpected Christmas guest until the UnSanta - who had been in their attic for days - emerged wearing their clothes.

Stanley Carter surrendered Friday after police took a dog to search the home in Plains Township, a suburb of Wilkes-Barre about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Philadelphia. He was charged with several counts of burglary, theft, receiving stolen property and criminal trespass.

'When he came down from the attic, he was wearing my daughter's pants and my sweat shirt and sneakers,' homeowner Stacy Ferrance said. 'From what I gather, he was helping himself to my home, eating my food and stealing my clothes.'

Police said the 21-year-old Carter had been staying with his friends, who are Ferrance's neighbors in a duplex. But when they told him to leave, he apparently accessed the shared attic through a trap door in a bedroom ceiling.

We found a note labeled "Stanley's Christmas List" of all the items he had removed and donated to himself

The friends said Carter went missing on December 19 and they filed a missing person report a few days before Christmas.

Ferrance said she had heard noises but thought they were caused by her three children. She notified police on Christmas Day when cash, a laptop computer and an iPod disappeared, then called police again the next day when she found footprints in her bedroom closet, where the attic trap door is located.

In keeping with his role as a reverse Santa, Carter even kept a list of everything he took, said Plains Township police Officer Michael Smith.

'When we were going through the inventory of what he did take, we found a note labeled "Stanley's Christmas List" of all the items he had removed from the residence and donated to himself,' Smith said.

Carter was in jail Sunday at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility with a preliminary hearing set for January 5.

quarta-feira, 24 de dezembro de 2008

Crocodile found in a bath in London

A two-foot long crocodile has been found living in a bath in Peckham.

Pest controller Steve North discovered the killer beast while on a routine call advertising the local council's services.

A resident invited him in and sid he had a 'problem' in his bathroom and asked Steve to take a look at it.


Steve said: "I followed him in. What I didn't expect was to be eyeballed by a 2ft long crocodile, happily lounging in the bath."


The man, a tenant who was renting the flat, said he was looking after the crocodile for a friend.


A team of animal control experts had to be brought in to remove the crocodile and take it away.


terça-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2008

Driver banned for having world's most untidy car

Police have banned a woman driver's car from the road - for being too untidy.
The Vauxhall Astra was so full of junk, magazines, old clothes and even bits of furniture that they could barely see the driver at it roared down a motorway in Dusseldorf, Germany.


The driver - who has not been named by police - has been banned from taking the car on the road again until it has passed a tidiness test.


Police said the car was so full of junk the woman's face was pressed up against the windscreen as she drove.

"I'm sure this will make most people feel a lot better about leaving the odd sweet wrapper lying around in their car," joked one police source.

Lonely man jumps into Knut the bear's enclosure

Police in Germany say a lonely man jumped into the Berlin zoo enclosure of famed polar bear Knut to try and make friends with the 440lb predator. Fortunately, officials were able to keep him and the animal apart by distracting Knut with a leg of beef.

The 30-year-old man jumped over a fence into a water-filled ditch at the edge of the bear's enclosure on Monday morning. Police say zoo officials distracted 2-year-old Knut with the meat and lured him into his cage.


Officers led the man away unharmed. Police say he told them that he felt lonely and that Knut also appeared to be lonely - but he did not give the impression of being mentally disturbed.

Knut was hand-raised after his mother rejected him at birth. He rose to stardom early last year as a cute white ball of fluff, but has since grown rapidly into a hulking 440-pound predator.

He currently faces being made homeless, as he has outgrown his enclosure and Berlin zoo cannot afford to build him a new one in these tough economic times.

domingo, 21 de dezembro de 2008

McCanns make Christmas video plea

Kate and Gerry McCann have begged for help to ensure this is the last Christmas they spend without their missing daughter Madeleine.
The couple have released a new video featuring previously unseen footage of the little girl playing happily with her family before her disappearance.


The clips were mostly filmed around Christmas 2006, the last time the McCanns were together with all three of their children over the festive period.


Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3 last year as her parents dined with friends nearby

The new video shows her sitting on the stairs of the McCanns' home in Rothley, Leicestershire, flanked by her younger siblings, twins Sean and Amelie.

In the first recording of her speaking that has been made public, she encourages her brother and sister to copy her gestures, saying: "Clap your hands together and one, two, three."

Madeleine then holds up her new pair of shoes and says: "These are my shoes." Behind the camera Mr McCann asks her what colour they are, and she answers: "Pink."

The short film, which has Snow Patrol's hit song Chasing Cars as its soundtrack, also features a montage of clips of Madeleine.

Mr and Mrs McCann decided not to appear in the new video, but it includes a direct emotional appeal from them for assistance: "Christmas is a time for children. Please help bring our daughter back." And it closes with the words: "This will be our second Christmas without our daughter. Please help us make sure we don't have a third."

McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry do not wish to say anything further. They feel the video will speak for itself. This message is entirely focused on Madeleine, as it should be at this time of year. Kate and Gerry are still very much continuing a lot of hard work behind the scenes in the search for their daughter."




Related Links
Find Madeleine


NEW VIDEO

sexta-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2008

Dogless shepherd uses wolf poster to control his flock of sheep

He could be forgiven for looking just a bit sheepish, but this shepherd has learned how to control his flock using just a poster of a wolf.
Farmer Du Hebing couldn't afford another dog after his old one died and had a brainwave after visiting a local wildlife park.


"They had a flock of rare sheep and as a joke one of the keepers had put a picture of a wolf in the enclosure.

"But I noticed that the sheep never went near it," he explained.

Now Du has got his neighbours wondering what he flock he's up to every time he moves his sheep.

"People laugh and point but it works - and the poster eats a lot less than any sheepdog," he said.

quinta-feira, 18 de dezembro de 2008

Santa gets a parking ticket

Father Christmas's job is hard enough – what with flying around the world in one night, climbing down chimneys and placating recalcitrant reindeer – without adding traffic wardens to his problems.
Unfortunately for Santa, however, a traffic warden in New York just got herself added to his naughty list, after she gave him a parking ticket while he was handing out toys to children.


Santa – in this case going under his everyday name of Chip Cafiero – was sitting in a horse drawn carriage instead of the traditional sleigh when the incident occurred. The problem was not so much the carriage, but the even less traditional double-parked SUV sat alongside him to protect the horse from traffic.


Cafiero, who was dressed as Santa at the time, says that he tried to tell the traffic warden that the SUV wasn't blocking traffic.

Regrettably, it appears that he tried to communicate this by shouting 'Ho! Ho! Ho!' at her.

'This grinch just went ahead and fined me,' said Cafiero, a 60-year-old retired schoolteacher.

He now says that he will challenge the $115 ticket (£74) he was given.

Martin Golden, a local politician, described the parking ticket 'ridiculous.' Police declined to comment.

Welsh rugby team 'could kill the Pope'

The Pope and his medical team will be on tenterhooks for the last fortnight of this year – that is, if superstition is anything to go by.

That's because the Welsh Six Nations victory this year gives Pope Benedict a 45 per cent chance of dying by the end of 2008, tongue-in-cheek research suggests.

'Every time Wales win the rugby grand slam, a Pope dies – except for 1978, when Wales were really good and two died,' said Dr Gareth Payne from the Univers­ity Hospital of – where else – Wales.


Dr Payne added the Vatican medical team 'cannot fully relax until the new year arrives'.

Since 1883, eight pontiffs have died – five in grand slam years, where the winners beat all other competing nations in a tournament.
There were three deaths when Wales completed the sweep and two more when it won the tournament but not the grand slam.

'The special theory of papal rugby is nothing more than an urban myth,' added Dr Payne, whose study is published in the British Medical Journal.

'This comes as something of a relief, as we're at a loss to see how events could be linked.'

1,500 parakeets found in tiny apartment

Animal welfare officials in Berlin have rescued 1,500 parakeets - from a two-room apartment.

City veterinarian Margit Platzer said the birds were flying freely around the apartment, which was 'littered with feces, feathers and leftover food.'

Platzer said it took her team more than seven hours on Tuesday to catch all the birds with nets.

The birds were taken Wednesday to animal shelters in Berlin and elsewhere, because there was not enough room for them at facilities in the capital.

Local media reported, without citing sources, that the owner gradually bought and bred the birds until his apartment was full, and that neighbors had complained about the noise and smell.

The retired man, who was not identified, could face charges for endangering the animals' safety and health.

Korean politicians in massive brawl

Free trade agreements may not immediately strike you as a political issue likely to inflame the passions and provoke an enormous brawl - but that's what happened today in the South Korean parliament.

As the ruling Grand National Party tried to bring in bill apporoving a free trade pact with the United States, opposition party members tried to get into the committee room where the bill was being introduced. Naturally, the ruling party barricaded the doors to the room with furniture.

It all kicked off from there, with opposition members fighting with security guards before taking a sledgehammer to the door, and ruling party members turning fire extinguishers on them to drive them back.

We can't help but feel that the British parliament would be a lot more interesting if, just occasionally, Gordon Brown gave David Cameron a fire extinguisher to the face because he didn't like the tone of his voice at Prime Minister's questions.

Man offers daughter to Bush shoe-thrower

The daughter, Amal Saad Gumaa, said she agreed with the idea. 'This is something that would honour me. I would like to live in Iraq, especially if I were attached to this hero,' she told Reuters by telephone.

Her father, Saad Gumaa, said he had called Dergham, Zaidi's brother, to tell him of the offer. 'I find nothing more valuable than my daughter to offer to him, and I am prepared to provide her with everything needed for marriage,' he added.

Zaidi's gesture has struck a chord across the Arab world, where President Bush is widely despised for invading Iraq in 2003 and for his support for Israel.

Amal is a student in the media faculty at Minya University in central Egypt.

Zaidi's response to the proposal was not immediately clear.

quarta-feira, 17 de dezembro de 2008

Smoking bidets to be repaired

A Japanese toilet-maker has pledged to repair nearly 82,000 electric bidets after several units overheated and emitted smoke.

Inax, Japan's second largest toilet-maker, made the announcement Tuesday after receiving six reports that covers on toilets with electric bidets - sprays fitted at the back of the toilets - melted and began smoking, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

No injuries were reported from the faulty DV-200 series, manufactured between March 2004 and June 2005, the ministry said in a statement, which urged owners to immediately pull the plug on the toilets.


Trickles of water leaked from the bidet pump, rusted the motors, and caused the malfunctions, the ministry said.

Inax apologised for the problem and offered free inspection and repairs for the 81,724 electric bidet toilets affected.

The company last month issued similar warnings to hundreds of thousands of people who purchased older-model toilets.

High-tech toilets fitted with warm water sprays and dryers are standard in Japanese homes. Luxury models come with an automatic lid, a massaging spray and a bowl deodoriser.

3 tonnes of cocaine found in bird poo bags

Five drug traffickers have been arrested in Peru for trying to smuggle cocaine inside 400 bags of bird poo.

They hoped the stink of 17 tonnes of guano would throw sniffer dogs off the scent of 2.8tonnes of cocaine, bound for Europe.

Turkmenistan will no longer sing about mad dictator

In bad news for crazed dictators everywhere, all references to Saparmurat Niyazov, the late autocratic leader of Turkmenistan, have been dropped from the Central Asian state's national anthem.

The parliament adopted a law changing the anthem on Monday, but the new text has yet to be published in the official press and state television broadcasts still open and close with the old version.

In the revised anthem, all three references to 'Turkmenbashi' - Niyazov's self-bestowed title, meaning 'the head of all Turkmens' - have been replaced with 'the people', according to a text of the revised anthem obtained by Reuters.


Where the first line of the chorus of the previous version said 'The great creation of Turkmenbashi' the new version says 'The great creation of (my) people'.


The change is part of President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov's campaign to expunge the legacy of Niyazov's 21-year ironfisted rule during which he surrounded himself with an elaborate personality cult.

Berdymukhamedov already has reversed other policies of Niyazov, who died in 2006, such as renaming months after his relatives, banning opera and closing hospitals everywhere except in the capital Ashgabat.


terça-feira, 16 de dezembro de 2008

President Bush Gets The Boot

Wild video out of Iraq, where an irate local journalist (?) tossed both of his shoes at President Bush during a press conference. Each shoe-missile missed its mark and the guy was immediately pounced on. Who knows what set the guy off? Maybe he was ticked that he didn’t get a pair of Nikes for Christmas. Whatever the case, it’s a shoe-in for Video of the Day. Check it out.

Couple served court notice via Facebook

You've been "superpoked" - and served. A court in Australia has approved the use of Facebook, a popular social networking Web site, to notify a couple that they lost their home after defaulting on a loan.

The Australian Capital Territory Supreme Court last Friday approved lawyer Mark McCormack's application to use Facebook to serve the legally binding documents after several failed attempts to contact the couple at the house and by e-mail.

Australian courts have given permission in the past for people to be served via e-mail and text messages when it was not possible to serve them in person.


McCormack, a lawyer for the lender the couple borrowed from, said that by the time he got the documents approved by the court late Tuesday for transmission, Facebook profiles for the couple had disappeared from public view.

The page was apparently either closed or secured for privacy, following publicity about the court order.

"It's somewhat novel, however we do see it as a valid method of bringing the matter to the attention of the defendant," McCormack said.

Despite the setback, McCormack said the Facebook attempt would help his client's case that all reasonable steps had been taken to serve the couple. A court is expected to settle the matter as early as next week.

Facebook has become a wildly popular online hangout, attracting more than 140 million users worldwide since it launched in 2004.

Facebook friends can "poke" or "superpoke" each other - terms for giving someone a playful nudge.

Lawyer and computer forensic expert Seamus Byrne said he was aware of only one similar case in Australia.

A Queensland state District Court judge ruled in April against documents being served by Facebook because the option of contacting a person via a post office box had not yet been exhausted.

In the latest ruling, Master David Harper insisted that the documents be attached to a private e-mail sent via Facebook that could not be seen by others visiting the pages.

McCormack said he and a colleague found the woman's Facebook page using personal details that she had given the lender including her birth date and e-mail address.

The man was listed on her page as a friend. Prior to Tuesday, neither had imposed security options that deny strangers access to their pages.

McCormack said he did not bother searching for the couple through any other social networking sites.

"It's one of those occasions where you feel most at home with what you know and I myself have a Facebook account," McCormack said.

Drug dealer steals fridge full of urine

A drug dealer stole a fridge full of his urine samples from a probation office after learning his samples had tested positive.

Devin Anthony Perry, 26, broke into the office in Gainesville, US, by shooting through a window.

Taking the locked refrigerator with him he reportedly picked up shards of window glass that had his blood on it and set the shrubbery beneath the window on fire, according to The Gainesville Times.


Police tracked Perry to his house and found the glass shards in a runnish bin, but the refrigerator has still not been found.

segunda-feira, 15 de dezembro de 2008

Robbers thwarted by pizza throw

Police say a pizza delivery man fought back with the one weapon he had handy when a gun was pulled on him in a stickup: he threw a large pepperoni pizza at his assailants.

Delivery man Eric Lopez Devictoria, 40, flung the steaming pizza at the gunman, buying time as he ran for safety, police told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper.

At least one shot was fired as Devictoria fled, but the deliveryman wasn't hurt and was able to quickly call police, authorities in Miramar, Florida said.


Three teenage suspects were nabbed soon after Wednesday's run-in, police said. They were charged with armed robbery.

French Banksy makes budding snapper a star

His face is on walls, doors and, er, skips across the world but if he walked past you in the street you probably wouldn't recognise him.


Amateur photographer Jon Cartwright has become a global phenomenon after a self-portrait he posted on the web inspired France's answer to Banksy.

Before he could say 'internet stardom', the 33-year-old's picture app­eared on the streets of New York, London, Paris and Sao Paulo.

'I'd be lying if I pret­ended I didn't get a big kick out of it,' said Mr Cartwright, a web manager from Southwark, south-east London.

'His work is inc­redible. It's quite nice to be involved.'
His rise to fame began in February when he posted on website Flickr a photo he took of himself smoking a cigarette.




He then received a message from a Paris-based artist who calls himself C215.

'This is a great picture of you. I will provide you soon or later a surprise,' he wrote cryptically.

Mr Cartwright soon found his face appearing all over the world, his photo forming the base for a stencil.

'A picture I took as a lighting experiment more than anything else has taken on a life of its own,' he said.

Despite the partnership, the budding male model has never met C215, whose real name is Christian Guemy.

The best they have done is exchange e-mails in a bizarre cross-Channel rel­ationship.

'It shows how the internet allows people to collaborate in strange ways,' added Mr Cartwright.

Council tells mayor to go to bed

A city council in California has imposed a curfew on its own mayor, after they got fed up with her working late at the City Hall.

Mayor Blanca Figueroa regularly works until the small hours of the morning. Members of the council, who say they have safety concerns about her night-owl ways, have now banned her from staying at the office after 11pm.

The mayor is less than happy about this, calling the curfew 'petty'.



The mayor of the town, 14 miles east of Los Angeles, insists that she needs to work into the night because her days are taken up by meetings, and she has an overflowing inbox of correspondence from residents.

Ghost arrests burglar

A burglar who broke into a house in Malaysia claims he was held captive by a 'supernatural figure' for three days without food and water, according to news reports.

Police official Abdul Marlik Hakim Johar told The Star newspaper the house's owners found the 36-year-old man fatigued and dehydrated when they returned from vacation Thursday.

He says they called an ambulance to take him to a hospital.


The man told police that every time he tried to escape, a 'supernatural figure' shoved him to the ground.

Abdul Marlik could not immediately be reached and other police officials declined to comment.