Sat, Jan 11, 2014 page7

• World News Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  INDONESIA

  Baby turtles rescued

  Officials said yesterday (Friday) they have rescued more than 8,000 baby pig-nosed turtles hidden in suitcases and thought to be destined for China and Singapore. A total of 2,968 were discovered in four suitcases at the airport serving the capital, Jakarta, after arriving from the remote eastern Papua region, quarantine official Zaenal Abidi said. “The suitcases were full of plastic boxes holding 15 to 20 turtles each. Sadly, 14 of them were dead on arrival,” he said. All the turtles would be returned to their natural habitat in Papua, Abidi said. He added that police knew who had checked in the luggage, but their whereabouts were now unknown.

  AUSTRALIA

  Cockroach dies in man’s ear

  A man endured a painful hospital visit after a large cockroach burrowed into his ear and his efforts to suck it out with a vacuum cleaner failed. Darwin-based Hendrik Helmer’s ordeal began in the early hours of Wednesday morning when he was woken by a sharp pain in his right ear, the Australian Broadcasting Corp said. “I was hoping it was not a poisonous spider... I was hoping it didn’t bite me,” he said, adding that as the pain got worse he tried to suck the insect out with a vacuum cleaner before squirting water in his ear. “Whatever was in my ear didn’t like it at all,” he told the broadcaster yesterday. With the pain becoming excruciating, his housemate rushed him to hospital where a doctor put oil down the ear canal. This only forced the 2cm cockroach to crawl in deeper, before it eventually began to die. “Near the 10 minute mark ... somewhere about there, he started to stop burrowing, but he was still in the throes of death-twitching,” Helmer said. At that point the doctor put forceps into his ear and pulled out the cockroach. “They said they had never pulled an insect this large out of someone’s ear,” Helmer said. Helmer told ABC he would not be taking any added precautions when sleeping, although friends of his said they were so perturbed by his experience that they had begun going to bed with headphones on.

  DENMARK

  Cinnamon rolls under fire

  Easy on the cinnamon! That advice from the food authority has rankled pastry chefs whose cinnamon rolls were found to violate the EU’s spice rules. The Danish Veterinary and Food Administration recently discovered that cinnamon rolls and twists contained more coumarin — a chemical compound in the most common variety of cinnamon — than EU rules allow. Excessive intake of coumarin can cause liver damage. The agency asked bakers to reduce the amount of cinnamon they sprinkle in the dough for their sweet treats. Bakers protested, saying the EU limit is too strict. They said bakers in Sweden got around the EU rules by labeling their cinnamon rolls as “traditional and seasonal bakery.” Officials will meet next month with the bakers’ association to discuss potential solutions.

  CANADA

  Legalize marijuana: mayor

  Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is challenging the federal government to decriminalize marijuana. The mayor was asked about the issue on Thursday on the Washington-based radio show The Sports Junkies before making football predictions. Ford, who previously has said he has smoked “a lot” of marijuana, says decriminalization likely will not happen in Canada as long as the conservatives are in power. He questioned that policy, saying, “Why wouldn’t they at least decriminalize it and try to get revenue from it?” Ford was arrested in Florida in 1999 for marijuana possession and driving under the influence of alcohol. He pleaded no contest to the drink driving charge, and the marijuana charge was dropped. Ford has rebuffed intense pressure to resign over his admitted crack use and other erratic behavior.

  ARGENTINA

  Lightning kills tourists

  Three tourists were killed by lightning and 22 others injured after a storm battered a seaside town, officials said on Thursday. Most people on the beach in Villa Gesell, in Buenos Aires Province, had already left by the time the storm erupted, local officials said. The people killed, aged 17, 19 and 21, and those injured had been seeking shelter under awnings when the storm began. After the lightning struck, several victims were ferried away from the scene on sun loungers. One witness described seeing a “fireball” and hearing a “terrible noise” when the bolt hit. The vendor at a nearby spa, Osvaldo Garcia, told local television he saw the people who manage the beach awnings fly three or four meters and a man “burned to death while traveling in a quad” vehicle. The injured included six children and 16 adults. Two women were seriously injured and were hospitalized in critical condition.

  FRANCE

  President in affair: report

  French magazine Closer said yesterday that President Francois Hollande was having an affair with actress Julie Gayet, backing its claim with photographs after months of swirling rumors. Closer’s edition yesterday carried a seven-page report on the 59-year-old president’s alleged infidelity under the headline “Francois Hollande and Julie Gayet — the president’s secret love.” The weekly tabloid’s actions earned a rapid rebuke from the president, who said he was considering legal action over what he called an “attack” on his right to privacy. Closer, echoing reports published on various Web sites in recent days, said Hollande routinely drives through Paris on his scooter to spend the night with his 41-year-old mistress. Closer said the pictures raised security concerns by showing that the head of state is accompanied by only one bodyguard when he treks halfway across Paris to Gayet’s flat.

  BOSNIA

  Drive to honor shoe shiner

  Thousands of Bosnians have signed a petition urging authorities to erect a monument to Sarajevo’s last shoe shiner, who died at 83 after charming generations. As if waiting to be cleaned, a pair of old shoes stood on Thursday in front of the wooden chair on which Husein Hasani — known as Uncle Misho — usually sat. Citizens laid flowers and lit candles around a portrait of him on the chair. Many passers-by stopped and prayed. Even during Bosnia’s bloody 1992 to 1995 war that killed more than 100,000 people, Uncle Misho offered his services on the main street while dodging sniper fire. Sarajevo Mayor Ivo Komsic said Uncle Misho was a city symbol and his death on Monday has left the Bosnian capital “emptier.” The petition got about 5,000 signatures in one day.
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