A French chateau where Africa’s most ruthless dictator, Jean-Bedel Bokassa, lived after French paratroopers ousted him was auctioned off Thursday for 915,000 euros (US$1.2 million, NT$.34.8million).
An individual bought the residence of Bokassa, the late self-proclaimed emperor of Central Africa, for “his own and his family’s personal use,” the buyer’s lawyer said, declining to give the man’s identity.
Bokassa, who died in 1996, moved to Haudricourt chateau overlooking the river Seine near Paris in 1983, after four years in exile in Ivory Coast following his overthrow by French troops in 1979.
PHOTO: AFP 照片:法新社
The 550 m2 (6,000 ft2) residence, which comes with a gardener’s lodge, a tree-lined park and a double garage, was ordered by a court to be sold.
Bokassa’s son Georges, who was present at the sale, had earlier called on French President Nicolas Sarkozy to intervene to prevent what he called the plundering of his family’s heritage.
Bokassa, who came to power in 1965, was accused of having his political rivals killed and then cooked and served to visiting foreign dignitaries or fed to lions and crocodiles in his private zoo.
He was tried and sentenced to death in 1987 for atrocities committed under his rule but the current president of the Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, who seized power in a coup in 2003, formally rehabilitated him earlier this month.
(AFP)
非洲最殘忍獨裁者,讓-貝德爾‧博卡薩,在法國傘兵將他驅逐後曾住過的法國城堡,於週四以九十一萬五千歐元(約一百二十萬美元,合新台幣三千四百八十萬元)拍賣。
買方的律師表示,購買這座已故自封中非皇帝博卡薩住所的人,「是給自己與家庭使用」。律師拒絕透露買者的身分。
一九九六年去世的博卡薩,於一九七九年遭法國部隊驅逐後,在象牙海岸流亡四年,在一九八三年搬進巴黎近郊,俯瞰塞納河的這座奧德里庫爾城堡。
這座五百五十平方公尺(六千平方英呎)的豪宅,有個園丁小屋,還有綠樹成排的花園以及雙車庫,遭法院判決拍賣。
出席拍賣會場的博卡薩兒子喬治,先前呼籲法國總統尼古拉‧薩科茲介入,防止他所謂的家族遺產遭到掠奪。
於一九六五年掌權的博卡薩遭控殺害政敵,並烹煮給來訪外賓,或拿去餵食他私家動物園的獅子與鱷魚。
一九八七年,他以任內所犯的暴行罪名被判死刑,但是二零零三年以政變取得政權的現任中非總統弗朗索瓦‧博齊澤於本月稍早將他平反。
(法新社/翻譯:吳岱璟)
The strongest earthquake to hit Taiwan in 25 years killed at least 16 people and damaged dozens of buildings, but the destruction was largely contained thanks to decades of preparedness work. Taiwan sits on the “Ring of Fire,” an arc of intense seismic activity along the Pacific Rim, and — much like neighboring Japan — has a long history of catastrophic quakes. How does April 3 compare with other recent quakes? The April 3 earthquake, which measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale, was felt across Taiwan. It was the most severe since a 7.6 magnitude quake in 1999 killed
A: Artificial intelligence technology has been causing controversy lately: a student was caught cheating with AI to win the grand prize in an art contest. B: That’s so absurd. Does this mean that AI paints better than humans? A: Maybe. Luckily, the student was later disqualified. B: And more absurdly, it’s becoming more and more popular to use AI technology to “resurrect” people. A: Yeah, some netizens even posted videos featuring the late singer CoCo Lee, who was “resurrected” by them with AI software. A: 人工智慧的爭議不斷,有學生違規使用AI參加美術展,甚至贏得首獎。 B: 真誇張,這是不是代表AI比人類還強大? A: 或許吧,幸好得獎資格被取消。 B: 還有更誇張的︰讓死者重現的「AI復活」技術越來越熱門。 A: 對啊,還有網友製作已故歌后李玟「復活」的影片呢! (By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times/台北時報張聖恩)
Around the time of the Dragon Boat Festival in June, the streets of Taiwan are filled with the delightful aroma of zongzi, a traditional snack made of sticky rice wrapped in leaves. The leaves are folded into a cone and then filled with sticky rice and other ingredients such as braised pork belly, peanuts and salted duck egg yolks. The filled leaves are then tightly tied with kitchen twine and ready for cooking. 每到六月端午時節,街頭巷尾就會飄出粽子的香氣。粽子是將糯米包進粽葉的傳統美食,先將粽葉折成圓錐狀塞入糯米,以及紅燒肉、花生、鹹鴨蛋黃等配料,用棉線綁緊後即可烹煮。 Dragon Boat Festival (n. phr.) 端午節 aroma
Everyone has seen a piece of fruit turn brown after being cut. Have you ever wondered why that happens? It is a common phenomenon that occurs due to a chemical reaction called enzymatic browning. The appearance, flavor and nutritional value of the fruit are all affected by this reaction. Some fruits, such as apples, pears, bananas, avocados and peaches, are more prone to enzymatic browning than others. These fruits contain high levels of an enzyme called polyphenol oxidase, or PPO for short. __1__ This causes a chain of chemical reactions that ultimately transforms the phenolic compounds into