German Vicar Distributes stuff Films by Mistake
BERLIN (Reuters) - A German vicar inadvertently supplied his parish with dozens of hard core stuff films in an unsuccessful bid to teach people about the life of Christ.
Frithjof Schwesig, vicar in the southwestern town of Lampoldshausen, had ordered 300 copies of a video film portraying the life of Christ as told by the gospel according to Luke.
"In a first batch 20 to 30 videos were distributed and we immediately got a reaction from five to seven people saying we must have given them the wrong film," he said.
"It was a real stuff film. Within an hour our staff had collected all the videos. Really, all were withdrawn."
Schwesig said there had been a mistake at the Munich video copying plant and his staff established in a viewing session that night that 200 of the videos were pornographic.
Undaunted, Schwesig said he was pressing ahead with the life of Christ video campaign.
"It's extremely successful," he said.
TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
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TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
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Beethoven Manuscript Sells for $2.1 Million
LONDON (Reuters) - A signed manuscript of one of Ludwig van Beethoven's string quartets fetched nearly 1.2 million pounds ($2.1 million) at auction on Friday.
The 31-page manuscript of Beethoven's Scherzo from his String Quartet Opus 127 in E flat major was bought by a private buyer for 1,181,600 pounds, Sotheby's auction house said in a statement.
"The result achieved by the Scherzo sold today confirms beyond all doubt the strength both of the market and of the demand for autograph works by this legendary composer," said Stephen Roe, head of Sotheby's European Book department.
Beethoven composed the Scherzo at the request of a Russian prince in 1824-5. The manuscript includes alterations and additions made by the composer himself.
Earlier this year, Sotheby's sold a manuscript of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for a world record 2.13 million pounds.
"In 2003, at auction, Beethoven has provided the two best selling items in the entire book and manuscript world," Roe said
LONDON (Reuters) - A signed manuscript of one of Ludwig van Beethoven's string quartets fetched nearly 1.2 million pounds ($2.1 million) at auction on Friday.
The 31-page manuscript of Beethoven's Scherzo from his String Quartet Opus 127 in E flat major was bought by a private buyer for 1,181,600 pounds, Sotheby's auction house said in a statement.
"The result achieved by the Scherzo sold today confirms beyond all doubt the strength both of the market and of the demand for autograph works by this legendary composer," said Stephen Roe, head of Sotheby's European Book department.
Beethoven composed the Scherzo at the request of a Russian prince in 1824-5. The manuscript includes alterations and additions made by the composer himself.
Earlier this year, Sotheby's sold a manuscript of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony for a world record 2.13 million pounds.
"In 2003, at auction, Beethoven has provided the two best selling items in the entire book and manuscript world," Roe said
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Flight-Suited 'Top Gun' Joins Dubya Doll Ranks
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A company that sells foot-tall "action figures" of President Bush has added a new "Top Gun" model sporting a fighter pilot's flight suit in time for Christmas.
The new doll comes with helmet and visor, goggles and oxygen tank, recalling the president's May 1 landing on the flight deck of a Navy aircraft carrier when he declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
Since then, 190 U.S. service personnel have been killed in action in Iraq.
Talkingpresidents.com has sold about 60,000 of its original, talking President Bush dolls -- clad in a conservative jacket and tie -- since the launch in December 2002, said co-owner John Warnock.
Phrases in the president's own voice, placed on the doll's sound chip, include, "Terrorism against our nation will not stand" and "Working to put food on your family" (sic). The dolls are assembled in China.
Warnock said, "I just thought it would be a fun, cool toy. The president has that neat Texas accent and he does mangle the language sometimes. It just made for an interesting toy."
Competition for Warnock has sprung up from the president's home state, Texas. Toypresidents.com of Houston began selling a talking, business suit-wearing Bush doll with "real presidential cowboy boots" in August, said company president Jesse Combs.
"We've sold about 10,000," said Combs. "Our product is all positive. It doesn't make fun of the president."
Talking Presidents, based in Irvine, California, also sells talking dolls of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former President Bill Clinton, former President George H. W. Bush, conservative political commentator Ann Coulter and comedian Dennis Miller.
"The Ann Coulter doll is our best seller this year," Warnock said.
Flight-Suited 'Top Gun' Joins Dubya Doll Ranks
Mon December 8, 2003 09:57 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A company that sells foot-tall "action figures" of President Bush has added a new "Top Gun" model sporting a fighter pilot's flight suit in time for Christmas.
The new doll comes with helmet and visor, goggles and oxygen tank, recalling the president's May 1 landing on the flight deck of a Navy aircraft carrier when he declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
Since then, 190 U.S. service personnel have been killed in action in Iraq.
Talkingpresidents.com has sold about 60,000 of its original, talking President Bush dolls -- clad in a conservative jacket and tie -- since the launch in December 2002, said co-owner John Warnock.
Phrases in the president's own voice, placed on the doll's sound chip, include, "Terrorism against our nation will not stand" and "Working to put food on your family" (sic). The dolls are assembled in China.
Warnock said, "I just thought it would be a fun, cool toy. The president has that neat Texas accent and he does mangle the language sometimes. It just made for an interesting toy."
Competition for Warnock has sprung up from the president's home state, Texas. Toypresidents.com of Houston began selling a talking, business suit-wearing Bush doll with "real presidential cowboy boots" in August, said company president Jesse Combs.
"We've sold about 10,000," said Combs. "Our product is all positive. It doesn't make fun of the president."
Talking Presidents, based in Irvine, California, also sells talking dolls of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former President Bill Clinton, former President George H. W. Bush, conservative political commentator Ann Coulter and comedian Dennis Miller.
"The Ann Coulter doll is our best seller this year," Warnock said.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A company that sells foot-tall "action figures" of President Bush has added a new "Top Gun" model sporting a fighter pilot's flight suit in time for Christmas.
The new doll comes with helmet and visor, goggles and oxygen tank, recalling the president's May 1 landing on the flight deck of a Navy aircraft carrier when he declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
Since then, 190 U.S. service personnel have been killed in action in Iraq.
Talkingpresidents.com has sold about 60,000 of its original, talking President Bush dolls -- clad in a conservative jacket and tie -- since the launch in December 2002, said co-owner John Warnock.
Phrases in the president's own voice, placed on the doll's sound chip, include, "Terrorism against our nation will not stand" and "Working to put food on your family" (sic). The dolls are assembled in China.
Warnock said, "I just thought it would be a fun, cool toy. The president has that neat Texas accent and he does mangle the language sometimes. It just made for an interesting toy."
Competition for Warnock has sprung up from the president's home state, Texas. Toypresidents.com of Houston began selling a talking, business suit-wearing Bush doll with "real presidential cowboy boots" in August, said company president Jesse Combs.
"We've sold about 10,000," said Combs. "Our product is all positive. It doesn't make fun of the president."
Talking Presidents, based in Irvine, California, also sells talking dolls of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former President Bill Clinton, former President George H. W. Bush, conservative political commentator Ann Coulter and comedian Dennis Miller.
"The Ann Coulter doll is our best seller this year," Warnock said.
Flight-Suited 'Top Gun' Joins Dubya Doll Ranks
Mon December 8, 2003 09:57 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A company that sells foot-tall "action figures" of President Bush has added a new "Top Gun" model sporting a fighter pilot's flight suit in time for Christmas.
The new doll comes with helmet and visor, goggles and oxygen tank, recalling the president's May 1 landing on the flight deck of a Navy aircraft carrier when he declared an end to major combat operations in Iraq.
Since then, 190 U.S. service personnel have been killed in action in Iraq.
Talkingpresidents.com has sold about 60,000 of its original, talking President Bush dolls -- clad in a conservative jacket and tie -- since the launch in December 2002, said co-owner John Warnock.
Phrases in the president's own voice, placed on the doll's sound chip, include, "Terrorism against our nation will not stand" and "Working to put food on your family" (sic). The dolls are assembled in China.
Warnock said, "I just thought it would be a fun, cool toy. The president has that neat Texas accent and he does mangle the language sometimes. It just made for an interesting toy."
Competition for Warnock has sprung up from the president's home state, Texas. Toypresidents.com of Houston began selling a talking, business suit-wearing Bush doll with "real presidential cowboy boots" in August, said company president Jesse Combs.
"We've sold about 10,000," said Combs. "Our product is all positive. It doesn't make fun of the president."
Talking Presidents, based in Irvine, California, also sells talking dolls of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, former President Bill Clinton, former President George H. W. Bush, conservative political commentator Ann Coulter and comedian Dennis Miller.
"The Ann Coulter doll is our best seller this year," Warnock said.
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Painting Found in Attic Fetches $1 Million
BOSTON (Reuters) - A landscape painting by nineteenth century American romantic painter Martin Johnson Heade was sold at auction for just over $1 million on Sunday after being stashed away in an attic for over 60 years.
The 12-inch by 26-inch (30 cm by 66 cm) river scene, which art historians did not even know existed, was discovered in a home near Boston by antiques experts Leigh and Leslie Keno as they filmed an episode of the new PBS television series Find!
Even a raging New England snowstorm did not adversely affect the price. "Because of the miracles of modern technology, there were people bidding on the telephone and the price kept rising," Leigh Keno said.
The painting had been estimated to be worth at least $500,000 and was sold to a New York-based art dealer who attended the auction in Amesbury, Massachusetts, in person and paid $1,006,250.
Heade, who died in 1904, is now described by art experts as one of the best American romantic painters, but was not considered a major artist during his lifetime and some of his works served more utilitarian than decorative purposes.
One piece, bought by the Museum of Fine Art in Houston for $1.25 million in 1999, had long been used to cover a hole in the wall of a house in Indiana.
BOSTON (Reuters) - A landscape painting by nineteenth century American romantic painter Martin Johnson Heade was sold at auction for just over $1 million on Sunday after being stashed away in an attic for over 60 years.
The 12-inch by 26-inch (30 cm by 66 cm) river scene, which art historians did not even know existed, was discovered in a home near Boston by antiques experts Leigh and Leslie Keno as they filmed an episode of the new PBS television series Find!
Even a raging New England snowstorm did not adversely affect the price. "Because of the miracles of modern technology, there were people bidding on the telephone and the price kept rising," Leigh Keno said.
The painting had been estimated to be worth at least $500,000 and was sold to a New York-based art dealer who attended the auction in Amesbury, Massachusetts, in person and paid $1,006,250.
Heade, who died in 1904, is now described by art experts as one of the best American romantic painters, but was not considered a major artist during his lifetime and some of his works served more utilitarian than decorative purposes.
One piece, bought by the Museum of Fine Art in Houston for $1.25 million in 1999, had long been used to cover a hole in the wall of a house in Indiana.
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Cops Nab Serial Burglar Who Targeted City Halls
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Police have nabbed a serial burglar who frustrated Texas detectives, including the famed Texas Rangers, with a year-long series of break-ins that netted him tens of thousands of dollars -- straight from city government coffers.
Police said John David Woods' string of 34 burglaries ended on Thursday when a city worker in Cedar Park, Texas, spotted him cleaning out cash and checks from city offices.
Woods, 33, confessed to the 33 previous burglaries across the state, Cedar Park Police Sgt. Deborah Dugger said.
The Texas Rangers issued a statewide bulletin in September seeking information about the burglaries and warning city governments to be on guard.
Woods had targeted city offices that had large amounts of cash, usually payments for water or other utility bills, police said.
He was being held on $10,000 bond and was charged with burglary of a building, which carries a penalty of up to two years in prison. Police said they expect other charges from the earlier burglaries to be filed later.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Police have nabbed a serial burglar who frustrated Texas detectives, including the famed Texas Rangers, with a year-long series of break-ins that netted him tens of thousands of dollars -- straight from city government coffers.
Police said John David Woods' string of 34 burglaries ended on Thursday when a city worker in Cedar Park, Texas, spotted him cleaning out cash and checks from city offices.
Woods, 33, confessed to the 33 previous burglaries across the state, Cedar Park Police Sgt. Deborah Dugger said.
The Texas Rangers issued a statewide bulletin in September seeking information about the burglaries and warning city governments to be on guard.
Woods had targeted city offices that had large amounts of cash, usually payments for water or other utility bills, police said.
He was being held on $10,000 bond and was charged with burglary of a building, which carries a penalty of up to two years in prison. Police said they expect other charges from the earlier burglaries to be filed later.
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Killer Saved from Sword by Victim's Family
RIYADH (Reuters) - A convicted Saudi Arabian murderer was spared execution after tribal sheikhs persuaded his victim's father to accept five million riyals ($1.33 million) in return for his life, Saudi newspapers reported on Friday.
Al-Watan newspaper said 22-year-old Saeed bin Manea al-Harith killed Abdallah bin Jakhdab al-Kawal after an argument at work last year.
Thousands of men from the convicted murderer's tribe besieged the Kawal family house in South Dhahran in southern Saudi Arabia at dawn on Thursday to try to save him from his punishment.
After several hours of talks Kawal's father, overruling the wishes of his wife, agreed to spare the killer. He originally demanded 10 million riyals compensation, along with 10 cars and 10 daggers, the paper said.
Under Islamic laws, relatives of a murder victim can accept "blood money" instead of the execution of the offender.
Saudi Arabia, which implements strict Islamic sharia law, executes convicted murderers, rapists and drug traffickers -- usually in a public beheading by sword.
RIYADH (Reuters) - A convicted Saudi Arabian murderer was spared execution after tribal sheikhs persuaded his victim's father to accept five million riyals ($1.33 million) in return for his life, Saudi newspapers reported on Friday.
Al-Watan newspaper said 22-year-old Saeed bin Manea al-Harith killed Abdallah bin Jakhdab al-Kawal after an argument at work last year.
Thousands of men from the convicted murderer's tribe besieged the Kawal family house in South Dhahran in southern Saudi Arabia at dawn on Thursday to try to save him from his punishment.
After several hours of talks Kawal's father, overruling the wishes of his wife, agreed to spare the killer. He originally demanded 10 million riyals compensation, along with 10 cars and 10 daggers, the paper said.
Under Islamic laws, relatives of a murder victim can accept "blood money" instead of the execution of the offender.
Saudi Arabia, which implements strict Islamic sharia law, executes convicted murderers, rapists and drug traffickers -- usually in a public beheading by sword.
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Louis XVII to Have Royal Burial, 209 Years Late
PARIS (Reuters) - More than 200 years after the death of Louis XVII, son of France's Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, the French culture ministry has given permission for his heart to be buried in the royal crypt.
The ministry approved the symbolic burial after geneticists who had compared the DNA of different members of the royal family decided in 2000 that it was indeed Louis who had died in prison in 1795.
The then dauphin, or heir to the throne, was seven when he was jailed in 1792 along with the rest of the royal family in the turbulent period after the French Revolution, and died of tuberculosis in 1795.
His parents died on the guillotine in 1793.
His death was long a subject of dispute. The "lost dauphin" legend says he was taken from prison and replaced by another boy, and that it was the substitute who died there.
Because of lingering uncertainty Louis' heart, stone-hard and held in an urn, was later placed in the chapel near the royal crypt of the Saint Denis Basilica, near Paris, the burial place of his parents and other members of the royal family.
"Given all the historical and scientific studies, the ministry of culture believes there's mounting evidence that the heart is that of Louis XVII," a ministry spokesman told Reuters Sunday. "That has led to its approval to transfer the heart to the royal crypt."
The French daily Le Figaro reported Saturday that the ministry had approved the re-burial of the heart at the request of the Society of the Bourbon House, which represents descendants of the royal family. France is now a republic.
The paper said the Society would hold the burial ceremony next June 8, the anniversary of Louis' death.
The ministry could not confirm the date but said the French state would not pay for the burial.
PARIS (Reuters) - More than 200 years after the death of Louis XVII, son of France's Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, the French culture ministry has given permission for his heart to be buried in the royal crypt.
The ministry approved the symbolic burial after geneticists who had compared the DNA of different members of the royal family decided in 2000 that it was indeed Louis who had died in prison in 1795.
The then dauphin, or heir to the throne, was seven when he was jailed in 1792 along with the rest of the royal family in the turbulent period after the French Revolution, and died of tuberculosis in 1795.
His parents died on the guillotine in 1793.
His death was long a subject of dispute. The "lost dauphin" legend says he was taken from prison and replaced by another boy, and that it was the substitute who died there.
Because of lingering uncertainty Louis' heart, stone-hard and held in an urn, was later placed in the chapel near the royal crypt of the Saint Denis Basilica, near Paris, the burial place of his parents and other members of the royal family.
"Given all the historical and scientific studies, the ministry of culture believes there's mounting evidence that the heart is that of Louis XVII," a ministry spokesman told Reuters Sunday. "That has led to its approval to transfer the heart to the royal crypt."
The French daily Le Figaro reported Saturday that the ministry had approved the re-burial of the heart at the request of the Society of the Bourbon House, which represents descendants of the royal family. France is now a republic.
The paper said the Society would hold the burial ceremony next June 8, the anniversary of Louis' death.
The ministry could not confirm the date but said the French state would not pay for the burial.
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French Win Compensation for Scratch Card Misprints
NANCY, France (Reuters) - Games company Francaise des Jeux said on Friday it would compensate a handful of people who mistakenly thought they had won the jackpot because of printing errors on a batch of Black Jack scratch cards.
Eight people in the Lorraine region of eastern France will be awarded between 2,000 and 40,000 euros ($2,410 to $48,240) for having had their dreams of wealth raised -- and dashed.
The company devised a way to calculate how much distress the players had suffered linked to the amount they thought they had won, and how long they were under the illusion.
The misunderstandings arose because one digit was missing on each defective scratch card, indicating in some cases that a key number was a winning "1" instead of, for example, "19" or "14."
Francaise des Jeux initially refused to pay the distraught players anything, but a lawyer hired by the victims ordered the firm to pay compensation or end up in court.
NANCY, France (Reuters) - Games company Francaise des Jeux said on Friday it would compensate a handful of people who mistakenly thought they had won the jackpot because of printing errors on a batch of Black Jack scratch cards.
Eight people in the Lorraine region of eastern France will be awarded between 2,000 and 40,000 euros ($2,410 to $48,240) for having had their dreams of wealth raised -- and dashed.
The company devised a way to calculate how much distress the players had suffered linked to the amount they thought they had won, and how long they were under the illusion.
The misunderstandings arose because one digit was missing on each defective scratch card, indicating in some cases that a key number was a winning "1" instead of, for example, "19" or "14."
Francaise des Jeux initially refused to pay the distraught players anything, but a lawyer hired by the victims ordered the firm to pay compensation or end up in court.
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Plastic Christmas Tree Shakes Texas Politics
DALLAS (Reuters) - The speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is under fire and having his Lone Star State pride questioned, all because he decorated the House floor with a giant made-in-China plastic Christmas tree.
The state's tree growers are up in arms and crying 'Bah Humbug' over the 15-foot polyvinyl chloride tree that Speaker Tom Craddick, a Republican from the west Texas town of Midland, had installed on the House floor.
They have supplied the State House with free trees and are ready to bring in a Texas-grown tree to replace the plastic model.
"I think people can deduce for themselves about what it means to have a plastic Christmas tree from China in the Texas State House," said Lanny Dreesen, a spokesman for the Texas Christmas Tree Growers Association.
Texas Christmas tree growers produce about 150,000 trees a year and Dreesen said the trees are crops that are grown for the sole purpose of being harvested for the holidays. There has been a real Texas tree on the House floor for over 20 years.
The Christmas tree in question is a top-of-the-line plastic model that came with 3,500 lights and a retail price of $3,400. It looks like an Oregon fir and was donated to Nadine Craddick, the speaker's wife, by a store in Austin.
"It is a beautiful tree. It is well decorated and it is really hard to tell the difference," said Bob Richter, spokesman for the House speaker.
Maintenance crews at the House are happy about the plastic model because they do not have to clean up pine needles or fend off the occasional bug.
"It is like a dirty little secret. A lot of people are using artificial trees now," Richter said.
DALLAS (Reuters) - The speaker of the Texas House of Representatives is under fire and having his Lone Star State pride questioned, all because he decorated the House floor with a giant made-in-China plastic Christmas tree.
The state's tree growers are up in arms and crying 'Bah Humbug' over the 15-foot polyvinyl chloride tree that Speaker Tom Craddick, a Republican from the west Texas town of Midland, had installed on the House floor.
They have supplied the State House with free trees and are ready to bring in a Texas-grown tree to replace the plastic model.
"I think people can deduce for themselves about what it means to have a plastic Christmas tree from China in the Texas State House," said Lanny Dreesen, a spokesman for the Texas Christmas Tree Growers Association.
Texas Christmas tree growers produce about 150,000 trees a year and Dreesen said the trees are crops that are grown for the sole purpose of being harvested for the holidays. There has been a real Texas tree on the House floor for over 20 years.
The Christmas tree in question is a top-of-the-line plastic model that came with 3,500 lights and a retail price of $3,400. It looks like an Oregon fir and was donated to Nadine Craddick, the speaker's wife, by a store in Austin.
"It is a beautiful tree. It is well decorated and it is really hard to tell the difference," said Bob Richter, spokesman for the House speaker.
Maintenance crews at the House are happy about the plastic model because they do not have to clean up pine needles or fend off the occasional bug.
"It is like a dirty little secret. A lot of people are using artificial trees now," Richter said.
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Asia's 'Evel Knievel' Dies in Shanghai - Xinhua
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Taiwan entertainer Ko Shou-liang, Asia's Evel Knievel nicknamed "Xiao Hei" by audiences in mainland China and Hong Kong, died Tuesday in Shanghai, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Police were investigating the precise cause of death, but Xinhua quoted city police spokeswoman Fang Dinghua as saying Ko, 50, may have died after an all-night drinking binge in Shanghai.
Ko, famed for leaping the country's mighty Yellow River on a motorcycle in the 1990s, died of an "alcohol-induced asthma attack" after attending three banquets, Xinhua quoted Fang as saying. Police were not immediately available for comment.
News of his death was broadcast across TV stations in Taiwan, while rumors circulated that his death was caused by a car stunt during filming, state and Taiwan media reported.
Ko, known as Orr Sau Leung in Hong Kong, gained fame in the 1980s as a stunt-man in a number of big-budget films, some of which starred Jackie Chan. He also acted, directed and sang.
Local newspapers reported he had been due to perform stunts in Shanghai.
The original Evel Knievel was born in Montana in 1938 and famous for his motorcycle stunts.
SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Taiwan entertainer Ko Shou-liang, Asia's Evel Knievel nicknamed "Xiao Hei" by audiences in mainland China and Hong Kong, died Tuesday in Shanghai, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Police were investigating the precise cause of death, but Xinhua quoted city police spokeswoman Fang Dinghua as saying Ko, 50, may have died after an all-night drinking binge in Shanghai.
Ko, famed for leaping the country's mighty Yellow River on a motorcycle in the 1990s, died of an "alcohol-induced asthma attack" after attending three banquets, Xinhua quoted Fang as saying. Police were not immediately available for comment.
News of his death was broadcast across TV stations in Taiwan, while rumors circulated that his death was caused by a car stunt during filming, state and Taiwan media reported.
Ko, known as Orr Sau Leung in Hong Kong, gained fame in the 1980s as a stunt-man in a number of big-budget films, some of which starred Jackie Chan. He also acted, directed and sang.
Local newspapers reported he had been due to perform stunts in Shanghai.
The original Evel Knievel was born in Montana in 1938 and famous for his motorcycle stunts.
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California Thief Steals Playboy Nude Watercolor
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A thief, apparently enamored with a saucy Vargas pin-up of a female nude that appeared in Playboy Magazine, stole the painting in broad daylight, officials said on Monday.
The thief walked into a gallery in the town of Larkspur, north of San Francisco, on Sunday afternoon and set his eyes on a January 1960 painting by pin-up artist Alberto Vargas. He grabbed the watercolor from an easel and then escaped even though the gallery owner chased him down the street.
Larkspur police said the painting had a value of $125,000 but was selling for $75,000 because of depressed prices in the art market.
Beloved by generations of men, Vargas paintings can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, said Theron Kabrich, owner of the San Francisco Art Exchange, which specializes in the artist.
"It's Americana, it's emblematic, iconic. The notoriety of the work has a big draw for a lot of people," he said.
The theft comes as Playboy Magazine is celebrating its 50th anniversary in its January issue. The magazine ran about 150 Vargas's paintings over 18 years starting in 1960.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A thief, apparently enamored with a saucy Vargas pin-up of a female nude that appeared in Playboy Magazine, stole the painting in broad daylight, officials said on Monday.
The thief walked into a gallery in the town of Larkspur, north of San Francisco, on Sunday afternoon and set his eyes on a January 1960 painting by pin-up artist Alberto Vargas. He grabbed the watercolor from an easel and then escaped even though the gallery owner chased him down the street.
Larkspur police said the painting had a value of $125,000 but was selling for $75,000 because of depressed prices in the art market.
Beloved by generations of men, Vargas paintings can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars, said Theron Kabrich, owner of the San Francisco Art Exchange, which specializes in the artist.
"It's Americana, it's emblematic, iconic. The notoriety of the work has a big draw for a lot of people," he said.
The theft comes as Playboy Magazine is celebrating its 50th anniversary in its January issue. The magazine ran about 150 Vargas's paintings over 18 years starting in 1960.
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Who Invented the Airplane? a Brazilian, of Course
PETROPOLIS, Brazil (Reuters) - As Americans prepare to celebrate the centennial of the Wright brother's first flight, a whole country is cringing at what it believes to be a historical injustice against one of its most beloved heroes.
Ask anyone in Brazil who invented the airplane and they will say Alberto Santos-Dumont, a 5-foot-4-inch (1.6 meter) bon vivant who was as known for his aerial prowess as he was for his dandyish dress and high society life in Belle Epoque Paris.
As Paul Hoffman recounts in his Santos-Dumont biography "Wings of Madness," the eccentric Brazilian was the first and only person to own a personal flying machine that could take him just about anywhere he wanted to go.
"He would keep his dirigible tied to a gas lamp post in front of his Paris apartment at the Champs-Elysees and every night he would fly to Maxim's for dinner. During the day he'd fly to go shopping, he'd fly to visit friends," Hoffman told Reuters.
An idealist who believed flight was spiritually soothing, Santos-Dumont financed his lavish lifestyle and aerial experiments in Paris with the inheritance his coffee-farming father had advanced him as a young man. Always impeccably dressed, he regularly took a gourmet lunch with him on his ballooning expeditions.
But it was on Nov. 12, 1906, when Santos-Dumont flew a kite-like contraption with boxy wings called the 14-Bis some 722 feet on the outskirts of Paris. It being the first public flight in the world, he was hailed as the inventor of the airplane all over Europe.
It was only later that the secretive Orville and Wilbur Wright proved they had beaten Santos-Dumont at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, three years earlier on Dec. 17.
But to bring up the Wright brothers with a Brazilian is bound to elicit an avalanche of arguments -- some more reasonable than others -- as to why their compatriot's flight didn't count.
"It's one of the biggest frauds in history," scoffs Wagner Diogo, a taxi driver in Rio de Janeiro, of the Wright's inaugural flight. "No one saw it, and they used a catapult to launch" the airplane.
Apparently, the debate comes down to how you define the first flight of an airplane.
Henrique Lins de Barros, a Brazilian physicist and Santos-Dumont expert, argues that the Wright brothers' flight did not fulfill the conditions that had been set up at the time to distinguish a true flight from a prolonged hop.
But Santos-Dumont's flight did meet the criteria, which in essence meant he took off unassisted, publicly flew a predetermined length in front of experts and then landed safely.
"If we understand what the criteria was at the end of the 19th century, the Wright brothers simply do not fill any of the prerequisites," says Lins de Barros.
Brazilians also claim that the Wrights in 1903 launched their Flyer with a catapult or at an incline, thereby disqualifying it from being a true airplane because it did not take off on its own.
Even Santos-Dumont experts like Lins de Barros concede this is wrong. But he claims that the strong, steady winds at Kitty Hawk were crucial for the Flyer's take-off, disqualifying the flight because there is no proof it could lift off on its own.
Peter Jakab, chairman of the aeronautics division at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington and a Wright brothers expert, says such claims are preposterous.
By the time Santos-Dumont got around to his maiden flight the Wright brothers had already flown numerous times, including one in which they flew 24 miles in 40 minutes.
"Even in 1903 the airplane sustained itself in the air for nearly a minute. If it's not sustaining itself under its own power it's not going to stay up that long," Jakab says.
Even in France -- never a country too eager to agree with the U.S. point of view -- the Wrights are considered to have flown before Santos-Dumont, says Claude Carlier, the director of the French Center for the History of Aeronautics and Space.
"There's a strong nationalist issue at play here," says Marcos Villares, Santos-Dumont's great grandnephew. "Flight was a very important step in human history, in the history of technology. Every country wants to claim priority."
But that is not to say that Santos-Dumont does not deserve recognition for his other contributions.
By rounding the Eiffel Tower in a motorized dirigible in 1901, he helped prove that air travel could be controlled and a practical means of transportation.
"Just to show that the flying machine was practical is an incredible achievement," says Hoffman, his biographer.
At his summer home in the Brazilian mountain town of Petropolis, tour guides perpetuate myths about Santos-Dumont -- such as how he invented the wristwatch.
Santos-Dumont experts deny that assertion, although they concede he was probably the first male civilian to use a watch after asking his friend Louis Cartier to make him a timepiece he could use while flying. Previously, only royalty and soldiers had used watches.
To this day, you can still buy the Santos-model Cartier watch for only a couple thousand dollars.
PETROPOLIS, Brazil (Reuters) - As Americans prepare to celebrate the centennial of the Wright brother's first flight, a whole country is cringing at what it believes to be a historical injustice against one of its most beloved heroes.
Ask anyone in Brazil who invented the airplane and they will say Alberto Santos-Dumont, a 5-foot-4-inch (1.6 meter) bon vivant who was as known for his aerial prowess as he was for his dandyish dress and high society life in Belle Epoque Paris.
As Paul Hoffman recounts in his Santos-Dumont biography "Wings of Madness," the eccentric Brazilian was the first and only person to own a personal flying machine that could take him just about anywhere he wanted to go.
"He would keep his dirigible tied to a gas lamp post in front of his Paris apartment at the Champs-Elysees and every night he would fly to Maxim's for dinner. During the day he'd fly to go shopping, he'd fly to visit friends," Hoffman told Reuters.
An idealist who believed flight was spiritually soothing, Santos-Dumont financed his lavish lifestyle and aerial experiments in Paris with the inheritance his coffee-farming father had advanced him as a young man. Always impeccably dressed, he regularly took a gourmet lunch with him on his ballooning expeditions.
But it was on Nov. 12, 1906, when Santos-Dumont flew a kite-like contraption with boxy wings called the 14-Bis some 722 feet on the outskirts of Paris. It being the first public flight in the world, he was hailed as the inventor of the airplane all over Europe.
It was only later that the secretive Orville and Wilbur Wright proved they had beaten Santos-Dumont at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, three years earlier on Dec. 17.
But to bring up the Wright brothers with a Brazilian is bound to elicit an avalanche of arguments -- some more reasonable than others -- as to why their compatriot's flight didn't count.
"It's one of the biggest frauds in history," scoffs Wagner Diogo, a taxi driver in Rio de Janeiro, of the Wright's inaugural flight. "No one saw it, and they used a catapult to launch" the airplane.
Apparently, the debate comes down to how you define the first flight of an airplane.
Henrique Lins de Barros, a Brazilian physicist and Santos-Dumont expert, argues that the Wright brothers' flight did not fulfill the conditions that had been set up at the time to distinguish a true flight from a prolonged hop.
But Santos-Dumont's flight did meet the criteria, which in essence meant he took off unassisted, publicly flew a predetermined length in front of experts and then landed safely.
"If we understand what the criteria was at the end of the 19th century, the Wright brothers simply do not fill any of the prerequisites," says Lins de Barros.
Brazilians also claim that the Wrights in 1903 launched their Flyer with a catapult or at an incline, thereby disqualifying it from being a true airplane because it did not take off on its own.
Even Santos-Dumont experts like Lins de Barros concede this is wrong. But he claims that the strong, steady winds at Kitty Hawk were crucial for the Flyer's take-off, disqualifying the flight because there is no proof it could lift off on its own.
Peter Jakab, chairman of the aeronautics division at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington and a Wright brothers expert, says such claims are preposterous.
By the time Santos-Dumont got around to his maiden flight the Wright brothers had already flown numerous times, including one in which they flew 24 miles in 40 minutes.
"Even in 1903 the airplane sustained itself in the air for nearly a minute. If it's not sustaining itself under its own power it's not going to stay up that long," Jakab says.
Even in France -- never a country too eager to agree with the U.S. point of view -- the Wrights are considered to have flown before Santos-Dumont, says Claude Carlier, the director of the French Center for the History of Aeronautics and Space.
"There's a strong nationalist issue at play here," says Marcos Villares, Santos-Dumont's great grandnephew. "Flight was a very important step in human history, in the history of technology. Every country wants to claim priority."
But that is not to say that Santos-Dumont does not deserve recognition for his other contributions.
By rounding the Eiffel Tower in a motorized dirigible in 1901, he helped prove that air travel could be controlled and a practical means of transportation.
"Just to show that the flying machine was practical is an incredible achievement," says Hoffman, his biographer.
At his summer home in the Brazilian mountain town of Petropolis, tour guides perpetuate myths about Santos-Dumont -- such as how he invented the wristwatch.
Santos-Dumont experts deny that assertion, although they concede he was probably the first male civilian to use a watch after asking his friend Louis Cartier to make him a timepiece he could use while flying. Previously, only royalty and soldiers had used watches.
To this day, you can still buy the Santos-model Cartier watch for only a couple thousand dollars.
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AussieMark
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TV Star Becomes Mom Thanks to Surrogate
TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese TV personality has become a mother, reportedly of twins, thanks to a surrogate in the United States, a case that could test Japan's nationality laws.
A month ago, Japan's Justice Ministry refused to allow the parents of twins born to a U.S. surrogate mother to register them as their own because the woman had not given birth to them.
TV personality Aki Mukai and her husband, former professional wrestler Nobuhiko Takada, became parents when a U.S. woman gave birth late in November, Takada's office said Tuesday.
The statement gave no further details, but Kyodo news agency said the babies were twin boys.
It was the third try at a surrogate birth through in-vitro fertilization for Mukai, 39, and her 41-year-old husband. They are expected to bring the babies to Japan in January.
Mukai was pregnant with the couple's first child in 2000 when it was discovered she had cervical cancer.
She was forced to terminate the pregnancy at four months and since then has made several attempts -- widely covered in women's magazines -- to have a child through a surrogate birth.
Since surrogate births arranged through a third party are banned in Japan, she did it in the United States.
Last month, the Justice Ministry refused to register twin boys born to a U.S. surrogate mother for a couple in their 50s.
It later said it would consider registering them as the offspring of the Japanese man and the U.S. surrogate mother on the basis of a California court ruling.
A Justice Ministry official said this would allow the children to be granted Japanese citizenship.
A government panel recently recommended that surrogate mothers, rather than the women who make a contract with them to give birth, be recognized as the legal parent.
TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese TV personality has become a mother, reportedly of twins, thanks to a surrogate in the United States, a case that could test Japan's nationality laws.
A month ago, Japan's Justice Ministry refused to allow the parents of twins born to a U.S. surrogate mother to register them as their own because the woman had not given birth to them.
TV personality Aki Mukai and her husband, former professional wrestler Nobuhiko Takada, became parents when a U.S. woman gave birth late in November, Takada's office said Tuesday.
The statement gave no further details, but Kyodo news agency said the babies were twin boys.
It was the third try at a surrogate birth through in-vitro fertilization for Mukai, 39, and her 41-year-old husband. They are expected to bring the babies to Japan in January.
Mukai was pregnant with the couple's first child in 2000 when it was discovered she had cervical cancer.
She was forced to terminate the pregnancy at four months and since then has made several attempts -- widely covered in women's magazines -- to have a child through a surrogate birth.
Since surrogate births arranged through a third party are banned in Japan, she did it in the United States.
Last month, the Justice Ministry refused to register twin boys born to a U.S. surrogate mother for a couple in their 50s.
It later said it would consider registering them as the offspring of the Japanese man and the U.S. surrogate mother on the basis of a California court ruling.
A Justice Ministry official said this would allow the children to be granted Japanese citizenship.
A government panel recently recommended that surrogate mothers, rather than the women who make a contract with them to give birth, be recognized as the legal parent.
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AussieMark
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- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
McDonalds Is Asked to Withdraw Fries Seasoning
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong government has asked global fast food chain McDonalds Corp to withdraw a seasoning for its french fried potatoes because it could contain a banned artificial sweetener, a spokeswoman said on Sunday.
The government said it had discovered that the label for the chain's Honey BBQ seasoning mix listed the artificial sweetener stevioside, which is banned in Hong Kong, as an ingredient.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute says on its Web site that the main chemical in stevioside can be converted in a laboratory into a substance that alters genes. Further study is needed to determine whether the sweetener can cause cancer, it says.
"We are testing to see if it is a permitted sweetener or not. Legal action would be considered subject to the results of the test," a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong food and environmental hygiene department said.
McDonalds was not immediately available for comment but newspapers said that the company had since stopped using the powder.
In 2001 McDonalds apologized in a dispute over the use of beef extract in its french fries following legal action and protests from vegetarians.
HONG KONG (Reuters) - The Hong Kong government has asked global fast food chain McDonalds Corp to withdraw a seasoning for its french fried potatoes because it could contain a banned artificial sweetener, a spokeswoman said on Sunday.
The government said it had discovered that the label for the chain's Honey BBQ seasoning mix listed the artificial sweetener stevioside, which is banned in Hong Kong, as an ingredient.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute says on its Web site that the main chemical in stevioside can be converted in a laboratory into a substance that alters genes. Further study is needed to determine whether the sweetener can cause cancer, it says.
"We are testing to see if it is a permitted sweetener or not. Legal action would be considered subject to the results of the test," a spokeswoman for the Hong Kong food and environmental hygiene department said.
McDonalds was not immediately available for comment but newspapers said that the company had since stopped using the powder.
In 2001 McDonalds apologized in a dispute over the use of beef extract in its french fries following legal action and protests from vegetarians.
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AussieMark
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- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Tough Times for Santa in Snowless Lapland
ROVANIEMI, Finland (Reuters) - The sleigh's runners hit gravel as Rudolph the reindeer strains, struggling to pull his white-bearded master and precious load through the Lapland forest. Huff! This year, getting presents to children is tough.
There is hardly any snow these days around Santa's village in the town of Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle in Finland, where by tradition Santa descends from his mountain home to greet the children. The locals are worried.
Massive snowstorms have blanketed the northeastern United States, but with only days left until Christmas the townsfolk in Rovaniemi are talking about a repeat of what they call the snowless Black Christmas of 1986.
A Christmas without snow here would be disastrous, hitting a multi-million-dollar industry and disappointing around 70,000 people who come to Lapland to see Santa during his busy pre-Christmas weeks.
What began in the 1950s as a shack on the Arctic Circle outside Rovaniemi to mark a visit by Eleanor Roosevelt now lures tourists with Santa's office, a postal center, reindeer and dog-sledding, and a Santa shopping center.
"If I went to Hawaii and it rained I would be disappointed too but we are doing the best we can," said Rami Korhonen, whose company Lapland Safari takes people on husky and reindeer rides.
This winter his firm has been taking tourists for sleigh rides 300 km (185 miles) north of Rovaniemi, where there is at least a little snow cover, and has tried making snow with snow machines to keep visitors happy.
Even that has been problematic, because it hasn't been cold enough for the artificial snow to stick.
"Of course it is disappointing. We came here to see snow, but it's nature and there's nothing we can do about it, " said Janeth Hanna, a tourist from Northern Ireland, as she sat in a wooden sleigh with her eight-year-old son Timothy.
Lapland saw one of its hottest summers this year with temperatures as high as 30 Celsius. Its weather has become increasingly unpredictable, with 1999 the coldest winter in the last century when the mercury plummeted to -51 C.
This autumn, the first snow fell in Rovaniemi in October but later started to melt, and the meltdown continued through December.
"We can offer tourists other things like chilly winds, Northern Lights and a beautiful sunset at midday," said Leena Neitiniemi-Upola of the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
"Snow will surely come before Christmas and Santa should not panic," she added.
In the meantime Santa, who lives in the wilderness of Korvatunturi mountain in eastern Lapland, still commutes daily with his reindeer to Santa Claus Village where hundreds of children queue to sit on his expansive lap.
"I'm sure there will be a good one-and-a-half meters (five feet) of snow just in time for Christmas and no problem for me to get around," Santa told Reuters in his office, rocking in his old chair.
ROVANIEMI, Finland (Reuters) - The sleigh's runners hit gravel as Rudolph the reindeer strains, struggling to pull his white-bearded master and precious load through the Lapland forest. Huff! This year, getting presents to children is tough.
There is hardly any snow these days around Santa's village in the town of Rovaniemi on the Arctic Circle in Finland, where by tradition Santa descends from his mountain home to greet the children. The locals are worried.
Massive snowstorms have blanketed the northeastern United States, but with only days left until Christmas the townsfolk in Rovaniemi are talking about a repeat of what they call the snowless Black Christmas of 1986.
A Christmas without snow here would be disastrous, hitting a multi-million-dollar industry and disappointing around 70,000 people who come to Lapland to see Santa during his busy pre-Christmas weeks.
What began in the 1950s as a shack on the Arctic Circle outside Rovaniemi to mark a visit by Eleanor Roosevelt now lures tourists with Santa's office, a postal center, reindeer and dog-sledding, and a Santa shopping center.
"If I went to Hawaii and it rained I would be disappointed too but we are doing the best we can," said Rami Korhonen, whose company Lapland Safari takes people on husky and reindeer rides.
This winter his firm has been taking tourists for sleigh rides 300 km (185 miles) north of Rovaniemi, where there is at least a little snow cover, and has tried making snow with snow machines to keep visitors happy.
Even that has been problematic, because it hasn't been cold enough for the artificial snow to stick.
"Of course it is disappointing. We came here to see snow, but it's nature and there's nothing we can do about it, " said Janeth Hanna, a tourist from Northern Ireland, as she sat in a wooden sleigh with her eight-year-old son Timothy.
Lapland saw one of its hottest summers this year with temperatures as high as 30 Celsius. Its weather has become increasingly unpredictable, with 1999 the coldest winter in the last century when the mercury plummeted to -51 C.
This autumn, the first snow fell in Rovaniemi in October but later started to melt, and the meltdown continued through December.
"We can offer tourists other things like chilly winds, Northern Lights and a beautiful sunset at midday," said Leena Neitiniemi-Upola of the Finnish Meteorological Institute.
"Snow will surely come before Christmas and Santa should not panic," she added.
In the meantime Santa, who lives in the wilderness of Korvatunturi mountain in eastern Lapland, still commutes daily with his reindeer to Santa Claus Village where hundreds of children queue to sit on his expansive lap.
"I'm sure there will be a good one-and-a-half meters (five feet) of snow just in time for Christmas and no problem for me to get around," Santa told Reuters in his office, rocking in his old chair.
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AussieMark
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U.S. 'Reefer Refugee' Loses Asylum Claim in Canada
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A Canadian immigration panel refused political asylum on Monday to a marijuana advocate who says he fled the United States to escape persecution in the "War on Drugs."
Steve Kubby, an unsuccessful California gubernatorial candidate, had argued he was a political target of the police because of his outspoken views in favor of medical marijuana and against U.S. anti-drug laws.
"What Mr Kubby alleges does not amount to persecution," Immigration and Refugee Board member Paulah Dauns wrote in dismissing Kubby's application -- along with those of his wife and two young children.
Kubby, 56, is among a handful of "reefer refugees" who have moved to Canada in recent years to escape U.S. drug laws -- a movement they liken to the draft dodgers who fled the United States in opposition to the Vietnam War.
Canada allows the medical use of marijuana and has even supplied government-grown pot for people with illnesses such as AIDS, cancer or multiple sclerosis.
Kubby began smoking pot in the 1980s to offset the effects of cancer and was active in the campaign that led to California's Proposition 215 in 1996, making marijuana legal for treating some sick people.
He was the Libertarian Party's gubernatorial candidate in California in 1998.
Kubby was convicted on drug procession charges in Placer County, California, in 2001, but moved to Canada before serving his sentence of house arrest. He now lives in Sechelt, British Columbia, north of Vancouver.
Kubby argued in his refugee hearing that his need for marijuana was the same as a diabetic who requires insulin to stay alive. He claimed his life would be threatened if he was returned to the United States and denied the drug.
Dauns ruled it appeared pot was helping Kubby cope with his cancer symptoms, but it was unclear if it was actually keeping him alive. She noted that he would have access to the drug under the California law he helped pass.
"He argues that a medical marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has demonstrated is that in fact, they are," Dauns wrote in her nearly 60-page decision.
Dauns noted that the U.S. federal government has opposed state medical marijuana laws, but Kubby had failed to show the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency had any special interest in prosecuting him.
Marijuana is a touchy issue in U.S.-Canada relations, with White House drug czar John Walters warning that Ottawa's plan to decriminalize procession of small amounts of pot could lead to tighter security on the border.
Marijuana growing is estimated by police and advocates to be worth more than C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) annually in British Columbia, with most of the potent "B.C. Bud" eventually sold in the United States.
($1=$1.30 Canadian)
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A Canadian immigration panel refused political asylum on Monday to a marijuana advocate who says he fled the United States to escape persecution in the "War on Drugs."
Steve Kubby, an unsuccessful California gubernatorial candidate, had argued he was a political target of the police because of his outspoken views in favor of medical marijuana and against U.S. anti-drug laws.
"What Mr Kubby alleges does not amount to persecution," Immigration and Refugee Board member Paulah Dauns wrote in dismissing Kubby's application -- along with those of his wife and two young children.
Kubby, 56, is among a handful of "reefer refugees" who have moved to Canada in recent years to escape U.S. drug laws -- a movement they liken to the draft dodgers who fled the United States in opposition to the Vietnam War.
Canada allows the medical use of marijuana and has even supplied government-grown pot for people with illnesses such as AIDS, cancer or multiple sclerosis.
Kubby began smoking pot in the 1980s to offset the effects of cancer and was active in the campaign that led to California's Proposition 215 in 1996, making marijuana legal for treating some sick people.
He was the Libertarian Party's gubernatorial candidate in California in 1998.
Kubby was convicted on drug procession charges in Placer County, California, in 2001, but moved to Canada before serving his sentence of house arrest. He now lives in Sechelt, British Columbia, north of Vancouver.
Kubby argued in his refugee hearing that his need for marijuana was the same as a diabetic who requires insulin to stay alive. He claimed his life would be threatened if he was returned to the United States and denied the drug.
Dauns ruled it appeared pot was helping Kubby cope with his cancer symptoms, but it was unclear if it was actually keeping him alive. She noted that he would have access to the drug under the California law he helped pass.
"He argues that a medical marijuana patient should be protected from persecution. What he has demonstrated is that in fact, they are," Dauns wrote in her nearly 60-page decision.
Dauns noted that the U.S. federal government has opposed state medical marijuana laws, but Kubby had failed to show the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency had any special interest in prosecuting him.
Marijuana is a touchy issue in U.S.-Canada relations, with White House drug czar John Walters warning that Ottawa's plan to decriminalize procession of small amounts of pot could lead to tighter security on the border.
Marijuana growing is estimated by police and advocates to be worth more than C$2 billion ($1.5 billion) annually in British Columbia, with most of the potent "B.C. Bud" eventually sold in the United States.
($1=$1.30 Canadian)
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AussieMark
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Two One-Legged Inmates Skip Jail
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Two one-legged inmates were among 26 prisoners who scaled walls to break out of an overcrowded jail in the Brazilian city of Niteroi, authorities said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman with the Rio de Janeiro state Security Secretariat said police only managed to recapture 10 of the 26 inmates, including one of the disabled prisoners, in the center of the city, which lies just across the bay from Rio de Janeiro.
In Monday's jailbreak, the inmates sawed metal bars on the windows of two cells in the police detention center, used a rope to get to the ground and then jumped a backyard wall. They exchanged pistol fire with one police officer and then fled.
Police said they were investigating whether the runaways had any help from the guards.
It was the eighth escape from the jail this year. The detention center, built for 150 prisoners, houses about 260 and is due to be shut down in January.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Two one-legged inmates were among 26 prisoners who scaled walls to break out of an overcrowded jail in the Brazilian city of Niteroi, authorities said Tuesday.
A spokeswoman with the Rio de Janeiro state Security Secretariat said police only managed to recapture 10 of the 26 inmates, including one of the disabled prisoners, in the center of the city, which lies just across the bay from Rio de Janeiro.
In Monday's jailbreak, the inmates sawed metal bars on the windows of two cells in the police detention center, used a rope to get to the ground and then jumped a backyard wall. They exchanged pistol fire with one police officer and then fled.
Police said they were investigating whether the runaways had any help from the guards.
It was the eighth escape from the jail this year. The detention center, built for 150 prisoners, houses about 260 and is due to be shut down in January.
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