UNITED STATES
Illusionist rescues partner
Criss Angel’s rescue of an escape artist trapped in a water-filled box was no illusion. Angel and Spencer Horsman were rehearsing for the opening night of the illusionist’s show at a Connecticut casino when Horsman became trapped in the box dangling above the stage and Angel came to his aid. The Las Vegas Sun reports that Horsman is recovering from the Wednesday accident. Foxwoods Resort Casino president and CEO Felix Rappaport said in a statement that the show would go on. Rappaport said the opening night of The Supernaturalists was rescheduled from Thursday to Friday, because the safety of the cast and crew is the priority.
UNITED STATES
Mutt takes ugliest dog title
A 10-year-old mutt named Quasi Modo, whose spinal birth defects left him a bit hunchbacked, is the winner of this year’s World’s Ugliest Dog contest. The pit bull-Dutch shepherd mix and his owner took the US$1,500 prize on Friday night, besting 25 other dogs competing in the contest that applauds imperfection, organizers said. Quasi Modo was abandoned at an animal shelter before being adopted by a veterinarian in Loxahatchee, Florida, according to his biography posted on the contest’s Web site. “My appearance can be a little unsettling to some [I have had grown men jump on top of their cars to get away from me, because they thought I was a hyena or Tasmanian devil], but once they get to know me, I win them over with my bubbly personality,” his biography said. Two Chinese crested and Chihuahua mixes named Sweepee Rambo and Frodo took the second and third-place prizes respectively. An eight-year-old Chihuahua named Precious received the “spirit award,” honoring a dog and owner who have overcome obstacles and/or are providing service to the community. Precious, who is blind in one eye, is trained to monitor smells related to low blood sugar levels and alert her owner, a disabled veteran, of the problem, her biography said.
GERMANY
Artist defends gift horse
A German artist whose painting of a blue horse was presented as a gift to visiting British Queen Elizabeth II, prompting a quizzical reaction over its “strange color,” defended her work on Friday. Nicole Leidenfrost told German newspapers that her art was about “having fun” and insisted the 89-year-old queen had liked the rendering of her as a little girl being led on a pony by her father, King George VI. The modern artwork, based on a photograph, was presented to the queen, who is on a state visit to Germany with her husband, Prince Philip, by German President Joachim Gauck at the Bellevue Palace earlier in the week. “It’s a strange color for a horse,” the queen is seen saying in a brief video circulating on the Internet, before adding: “And that is supposed to be my father?” Leidenfrost shrugged off the reaction. “It’s about having fun! I don’t do deadly serious art,” she told the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, highlighting the symbolism of the horse’s “royal blue” hue. In an interview with Munich’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the artist said the queen had only briefly looked at the painting, but that it was visibly a “very cordial” situation. “She laughed and was pleased. And that was exactly my goal,” Leidenfrost said. German commentators on Friday also picked up on negative remarks in some British newspapers about the gift, with Berlin’s Tagesspiegel defending “artistic freedom.” And several could not resist adding: “Never look a gift horse in the mouth.”
CONFRONTATION: The water cannon attack was the second this month on the Philippine supply boat ‘Unaizah May 4,’ after an incident on March 5 The China Coast Guard yesterday morning blocked a Philippine supply vessel and damaged it with water cannons near a reef off the Southeast Asian country, the Philippines said. The Philippine military released video of what it said was a nearly hour-long attack off the Second Thomas Shoal (Renai Shoal, 仁愛暗沙) in the contested South China Sea, where Chinese ships have unleashed water cannons and collided with Philippine vessels in similar standoffs in the past few months. The China Coast Guard and other vessels “once again harassed, blocked, deployed water cannons, and executed dangerous maneuvers” against a routine rotation and resupply mission to
GLOBAL COMBAT AIR PROGRAM: The potential purchasers would be limited to the 15 nations with which Tokyo has signed defense partnership and equipment transfer deals Japan’s Cabinet yesterday approved a plan to sell future next-generation fighter jets that it is developing with the UK and Italy to other nations, in the latest move away from the country’s post-World War II pacifist principles. The contentious decision to allow international arms sales is expected to help secure Japan’s role in the joint fighter jet project, and is part of a move to build up the Japanese arms industry and bolster its role in global security. The Cabinet also endorsed a revision to Japan’s arms equipment and technology transfer guidelines to allow coproduced lethal weapons to be sold to nations
‘POLITICAL EARTHQUAKE’: Leo Varadkar said he was ‘no longer the best person’ to lead the nation and was stepping down for political, as well as personal, reasons Leo Varadkar on Wednesday announced that he was stepping down as Ireland’s prime minister and leader of the Fine Gael party in the governing coalition, citing “personal and political” reasons. Pundits called the surprise move, just 10 weeks before Ireland holds European Parliament and local elections, a “political earthquake.” A general election has to be held within a year. Irish Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin, leader of Fianna Fail, the main coalition partner, said Varadkar’s announcement was “unexpected,” but added that he expected the government to run its full term. An emotional Varadkar, who is in his second stint as prime minister and at
Thousands of devotees, some in a state of trance, gathered at a Buddhist temple on the outskirts of Bangkok renowned for sacred tattoos known as Sak Yant, paying their respects to a revered monk who mastered the practice and seeking purification. The gathering at Wat Bang Phra Buddhist temple is part of a Thai Wai Khru ritual in which devotees pay homage to Luang Phor Pern, the temple’s formal abbot, who died in 2002. He had a reputation for refining and popularizing the temple’s Sak Yant tattoo style. The idea that tattoos confer magical powers has existed in many parts of Asia