■BRAZIL
Norwegian tourist shot
Three Norwegian tourists came under fire and one was shot after the satellite navigation system in their car guided them into one of Rio de Janeiro’s most dangerous slums. Trygve Killingtveit, 24, was shot in the shoulder by suspected drug traffickers. The tourists were returning from a beach resort when they got lost, newspapers reported. They told police their Global Positioning System (GPS) system led them into the Mare slum, where their car came under fire. Killingtveit drove the car to safety despite being wounded.
■UNITED STATES
Iraqi dog policy upsets NGO
An animal rights group is urging Iraqi authorities to find better ways to eliminate stray dogs after 200 were killed in Baghdad this week with poisoned meat and rifles. The methods were “neither humane nor have been found to provide long-term solutions,” Humane Society International said in a letter on Wednesday. “We are willing to help the city of Baghdad initiate [alternative] programs,” it said in the letter to Baghdad Provincial Governor Hussein al-Tahan and other officials. Baghdad is culling stray dogs after a spate of fatal attacks on residents. The NGO suggests neutering, dog registration and euthanasia to deal with the problem.
■UNITED STATES
Hitler bookmark recovered
Police recovered a stolen bookmark reportedly once given to German leader Adolf Hitler by his mistress Eva Braun, authorities said on Wednesday. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said officers arrested Christian Popescu, 37, in Bellevue, Washington, on Tuesday as he attempted to sell the 18-carat gold bookmark to undercover agents. The bookmark was reportedly given to Hitler by Braun in 1943 to console him after Germany lost the Battle of Stalingrad, ICE said. It was among several items that were to be auctioned in Spain in 2002 but were stolen.
■ITALY
Mafia firing range found
One of the many mysteries that surrounds the Sicilian Cosa Nostra mafia is where its killers acquire their lethal dexterity. Part of the answer has emerged in Palermo’s notorious Zona Espansione Nord (ZEN) housing projects. Ten meters below ground police have found a firing range. Police chief Sara Fascina said it also seemed to have been used for hiding fugitives. The officers found the shooting range by chance. While searching the apartment of a suspected drug dealer, officers saw a large bunch of keys. They found a shed in the courtyard with an entrance opened by remote control, leading to some 100m of passageways, the firing range and a furnished refuge for fugitives.
■UNITED KINGDOM
Alas, Yorick’s skull no joke
A Polish pianist made a stage debut 26 years after his death. Andre Tchaikowsky’s skull featured in Hamlet by the Royal Shakespeare Company between July and this month, the company said on Wednesday. Director Greg Doran said he did not disclose the skull’s use earlier because he feared the news could overshadow the play. “I thought it would ... be all about David [Tennant] acting with a real skull,” Doran told the Daily Telegraph. It was the first time the skull was used in a performance. Tchaikowsky donated his skull in his will to the Royal Shakespeare Company. He was a fan of William Shakespeare’s plays and had finished orchestrating all but 24 bars of his operatic adaptation of The Merchant of Venice when he died of stomach cancer on June 26, 1982.
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