“Tiger Woods” admired Mexican women and promoted a sex drug called “Tiagra” in a spoof news story in Mexico on Monday, the Day of the Innocents, an equivalent to April Fools’ Day in Latin America and Spain.
“Mexican women are the best,” said an alleged quote from Woods in Mexico’s La Reforma daily, which included a set up photograph with Woods purportedly admiring a Mexican waitress.
The parody at the expense of the world’s most famous athlete came as Mexican journalists twisted world news as well as stories closer to home, including a report on an alleged new vaccine for H1N1 made from tequila.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Although the roots of the Day of the Innocents are bloody — marking the murder of first-born children by the ruler Herod in ancient Judea — the customs practiced in modern times are light-hearted.
Across Latin America and Spain citizens watch out for absurd news and practical jokes from friends and even municipal governments.
A front-page banner in the Excelsior newspaper announced a change in this summer’s World Cup soccer tournament, moving a Mexico-France game from South Africa to a city in Mexico where Mexican soldiers beat the French in the 19th century.
On a continent dominated by the Catholic Church, another report claimed that institution had changed its position on divorce, and had even created an Internet site for express marriage annulments.
“In less than 10 clicks and five minutes, this message appears: ‘Marriage over. Hallelujah! Have a nice day,’” the Reforma report said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese