Having started the morning with two hours of crucial talks with US President Barack Obama, some might have expected Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin to have spent the rest of the day in the office.
But not so for the increasingly multi-tasking Russian strongman, who spent the afternoon in casual dress visiting a Moscow motorbike club known as the “Night Wolves,” television pictures showed.
Perhaps the transformation of Putin — whose varied activities over the last months have ranged from scolding oligarchs to singing Soviet-era songs at a school to touring a supermarket — should be no surprise by now.
But still, there was a world of difference between the besuited premier who met Obama for sensitive talks over a working breakfast and the black-clad bike enthusiast who surfaced later at the motorbike club.
Putin was received by a giant pony-tailed Russian biker named Alexander Zaldostanov, who answers to the name of “the surgeon” and is reportedly a legend in Russian biking circles.
The prime minister admitted a rare mishap when he said he recently got on a motorbike “but ended up doing a wheelie and going into another car. I let the clutch go too much.”
“I hope that doesn’t put you off, it would be a shame if you gave up the motorbike and left it in a garage,” boomed “the surgeon,” towering over the diminutive Putin but reassuring him that this was a common mistake.
The biking enthusiasts were about to set off for a major bike festival in the Ukrainian Black Sea region of Crimea that will be dedicated to Russia’s Crimea-based Black Sea fleet and the victory over Nazi Germany. (AFP)
俄羅斯總理弗拉基米爾．普廷一早與美國總統巴拉克．歐巴瑪關鍵會談了兩小時後，有些人可能以為普廷接下來的時間會留在辦公室裡。
但這位愈發多才多藝的俄國強人可沒有這樣安排，電視畫面顯示，他下午穿著休閒服出現在莫斯科的「夜狼」重機俱樂部。
也許普廷的轉變不足為奇，他過去幾個月來參與了各式各樣的活動，從打擊寡頭財閥、到學校高唱蘇聯時期歌謠，到超級市場巡視。
然而，這位早餐會上穿著西裝和歐巴瑪總統討論敏感議題的總理，稍晚竟搖身變成重機愛好者，穿著一襲黑色勁裝出現在重機俱樂部。
接待普廷的是一位綁著馬尾的高大俄國騎士，名叫亞歷山大．扎爾多斯坦諾夫，但大家都稱呼他「外科醫生」，據說他是俄國重機圈中的傳奇人物。
普廷自爆他最近騎車時發生了一場罕見的意外，「我前輪離地撞上另一輛車。我踩檔踩過頭了。」
外科醫生俯視著身材嬌小的普廷，用低沉的嗓音說：「我希望你不會因此打退堂鼓，如果你就此放棄、把摩托車停在車庫裡，就太可惜了。」他並保證這是個一般的意外。
這群重機愛好者正準備啟程前往烏克蘭黑海地區的克里米亞半島，參加一場大型摩托車慶典，這場慶典是要向駐紮在該地的俄國黑海艦隊，及其擊敗納粹德軍的勝利致意。（法新社╱翻譯：袁星塵）
Picture a 45-foot-long animal with a 5-foot-long skull and 3-foot-long arms. It may not seem strange until you realize that a human with those proportions would be 6 feet tall with 5-inch arms. Although the Tyrannosaurus rex went extinct 65 million years ago, the mystery of its unusual body __1__ has fascinated scientists for over a century. Barnum Brown, the paleontologist who first discovered T. rex fossils, initially found it hard to believe that the tiny arms belonged to such a __2__ creature. One of his colleagues speculated that the short forelimbs might have been used to hold the
A: Actually, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is particularly good for small people like you. B: Really? How so? A: According to Diana Wang, a US doctor of physical therapy, the BJJ’s purpose is to help smaller, weaker people defend themselves by using various techniques, such as leverage. B: That sounds interesting. What time does Dr Wang’s BJJ seminar begin tonight? A: The event is scheduled for 7:30pm at PMA Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in Taipei. Admission is free, but donations are welcome. A: 其實你的個子比較小，很適合練巴西柔術呢。 B: 真的嗎？為什麼？ A: 據美國理療醫師王幼瑞博士說，巴西柔術的概念是讓弱小的人，也能利用槓桿作用等技巧防身。 B: 真有趣，王醫師的巴柔研討會幾點開始？ A: 今晚7點半在「台北巴柔運動館」，免費入場自由樂捐唷！ （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
Photographer Franziska Stuenkel likes to take spontaneous urban shots, so she needs a nimble camera that is ready to go when inspiration strikes: her German-made Leica M11. “I have to be very quick and discreet,” said the Berlin-based artist who captures reflections of people walking past windows, their contours merging with the shapes behind the glass. Stuenkel’s compact Leica is the perfect camera for the job, the 51-year-old told AFP. Famous for its pocket-sized and retro-style devices, the Leica brand is celebrating a milestone as it marks 100 years since its first commercial camera was presented to the public. The
Dogs’ noses are incredibly keen. They can even detect changes in cortisol levels in human sweat and breath. Known as the “stress hormone,” cortisol increases when humans are under pressure. Recent research indicates that the smell of human stress can influence a dog’s behavior and emotions. In the study, human volunteers were exposed to the stressful tasks of preparing and delivering a speech on the spot and then solving math problems. __1__ Researchers collected sweat and breath samples from the volunteers on pieces of cloth during both their stressful and restful states. Meanwhile, other researchers worked with 18
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