TV Presenter to Be Caned for Molesting Colleague
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A former television presenter in Singapore was sentenced to 16 months jail and four strokes of the cane Tuesday for molesting a 30-year-old female colleague he took home from a party, according to court documents.
In a trial that attracted huge media coverage in the straight-laced city state, Vidya Shankar Aiyar, 37, who had worked for state-owned ChannelNews Asia television, was convicted last year on two charges of outrage of modesty.
District Judge Victor Yeo said it was a case of where a completely sober man took advantage of a drunken colleague at a housewarming party.
During the trial, the court heard the woman had left the party in a drunken state and Aiyar had offered to take her home. She woke up the next day naked in Aiyar's bed.
The court was told that Aiyar had helped her out of her clothes, including her underwear, and while she was getting dressed in the morning, had molested her.
Yeo described Aiyar as a "hunting wolf in sheep's clothing" at the end of the trial in December.
Each of two molest charges carried a penalty of up to two years in prison or a fine or caning, or two of the punishments.
Singapore, where prostitution is legal but oral sex is not, put a 27-year-old police sergeant in jail for two years for receiving oral sex in November last year.
The public generally supports Singapore's tough laws -- including the death penalty for drug smugglers, bans on pornography and curbs on political dissent -- as part of a social contract that in return has delivered years of economic prosperity.
TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
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AussieMark
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Soldier Keeps Bride Waiting for 24 Years
RABAT (Reuters) - After 24 years of engagement, a Moroccan soldier named Abderrahim has married his bride. But he had an excuse -- he was in jail deep in the Sahara desert.
"I was convinced she'd wait for me, I had blind confidence in her since the first day we met," Abderrahim told 2M state television, which did not disclose his last name.
Separatist guerrillas captured Abderrahim in 1979 during a war for control of the Western Sahara territory and freed him along with 300 of 900 remaining prisoners in November.
Abderrahim rushed home to wed his intended, Bahia, who knew he had been captured but had had no news of him for six years.
"I never thought I had lost my husband," she said. "I knew he'd come back one day. I never showed pain but hid it deep in my heart."
RABAT (Reuters) - After 24 years of engagement, a Moroccan soldier named Abderrahim has married his bride. But he had an excuse -- he was in jail deep in the Sahara desert.
"I was convinced she'd wait for me, I had blind confidence in her since the first day we met," Abderrahim told 2M state television, which did not disclose his last name.
Separatist guerrillas captured Abderrahim in 1979 during a war for control of the Western Sahara territory and freed him along with 300 of 900 remaining prisoners in November.
Abderrahim rushed home to wed his intended, Bahia, who knew he had been captured but had had no news of him for six years.
"I never thought I had lost my husband," she said. "I knew he'd come back one day. I never showed pain but hid it deep in my heart."
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Wild Boar Breaks Into Apartment, Hospitalizes Man
BERLIN (Reuters) - A wild boar searching for food broke into a Berlin apartment, hospitalizing a man by biting him in the leg before fleeing back into the woods, police said on Tuesday.
"The wild boar broke into the living room through a terrace door and hid under a table," a police spokesman said. "When the 54-year old resident tried to shoo the boar back out the door, it went wild," he said.
The injured man was treated in hospital for his leg wound and released on the same day. Police said the animal had not been captured.
Environmentalists say several thousand wild boars, which can reach sizes of 150 kg (330 lbs), inhabit the German capital and push further into the city when their food supplies are low.
BERLIN (Reuters) - A wild boar searching for food broke into a Berlin apartment, hospitalizing a man by biting him in the leg before fleeing back into the woods, police said on Tuesday.
"The wild boar broke into the living room through a terrace door and hid under a table," a police spokesman said. "When the 54-year old resident tried to shoo the boar back out the door, it went wild," he said.
The injured man was treated in hospital for his leg wound and released on the same day. Police said the animal had not been captured.
Environmentalists say several thousand wild boars, which can reach sizes of 150 kg (330 lbs), inhabit the German capital and push further into the city when their food supplies are low.
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Prostitutes Sue Pimps in Landmark Case
SEOUL (Reuters) - Nine former South Korean prostitutes have filed lawsuits against their pimps seeking damages in a landmark legal case, their lawyers said on Tuesday.
Seven of the women say they were lured into prostitution rings as minors under the age of 18 and never received promised up-front payments of as much as 10 million won ($8,400) in addition to room and board.
Prostitution is illegal in South Korea but flourishes in myriad forms -- in large brothel zones, barber shops, bathhouses and "ticket coffee shops" which send prostitutes bearing hot drinks on house calls.
Lawyers representing the nine said they were seeking punitive damages as a way to discourage prostitution involving minors.
"We are dealing with cases that ruin a young woman's whole life," Lee Sung-hwan, one of the lawyers, said by telephone.
Kang Ji-won, who heads the legal team, said seven of the women were seeking 100 million won ($84,000) each for emotional distress and back wages. The other two are seeking 50 million won each in wages withheld.
Promised advances to prostitutes are usually withheld by pimps as security, the lawyers said.
Prostitutes can find themselves in debt to pimps -- many of them in the pay of organized crime groups -- who deduct penalties from the advance if they fail to secure a set number of customers in a given period. Interest is charged when the penalties exceed the advance.
Police in recent years have broken up prostitution rings which keep women as virtual slaves until they earn enough to pay back advances, sometimes until they are too old for the trade.
"They think that one day they will get their money," said Lee Kyung-eun, a director at the Commission on Youth Protection, referring to the indentured women. "So they stay."
The cases are the first brought on behalf of prostitutes by Kang's team, set up in early 2003 with the help of the commission he once headed.
Lee Kyung-eun said the law in South Korea made it difficult for prostitutes to file suits, let alone win them. The law punishes prostitutes as well as pimps, she said.
In addition to the difficulty of collecting evidence in cases which took place years ago, women face possible counter-suits from accused pimps for fraud and defamation, she said.
An amended law on youth protection is set to take effect in March, and it is expected to make lawsuits against prostitution ring operators easier, the lawyers said.
SEOUL (Reuters) - Nine former South Korean prostitutes have filed lawsuits against their pimps seeking damages in a landmark legal case, their lawyers said on Tuesday.
Seven of the women say they were lured into prostitution rings as minors under the age of 18 and never received promised up-front payments of as much as 10 million won ($8,400) in addition to room and board.
Prostitution is illegal in South Korea but flourishes in myriad forms -- in large brothel zones, barber shops, bathhouses and "ticket coffee shops" which send prostitutes bearing hot drinks on house calls.
Lawyers representing the nine said they were seeking punitive damages as a way to discourage prostitution involving minors.
"We are dealing with cases that ruin a young woman's whole life," Lee Sung-hwan, one of the lawyers, said by telephone.
Kang Ji-won, who heads the legal team, said seven of the women were seeking 100 million won ($84,000) each for emotional distress and back wages. The other two are seeking 50 million won each in wages withheld.
Promised advances to prostitutes are usually withheld by pimps as security, the lawyers said.
Prostitutes can find themselves in debt to pimps -- many of them in the pay of organized crime groups -- who deduct penalties from the advance if they fail to secure a set number of customers in a given period. Interest is charged when the penalties exceed the advance.
Police in recent years have broken up prostitution rings which keep women as virtual slaves until they earn enough to pay back advances, sometimes until they are too old for the trade.
"They think that one day they will get their money," said Lee Kyung-eun, a director at the Commission on Youth Protection, referring to the indentured women. "So they stay."
The cases are the first brought on behalf of prostitutes by Kang's team, set up in early 2003 with the help of the commission he once headed.
Lee Kyung-eun said the law in South Korea made it difficult for prostitutes to file suits, let alone win them. The law punishes prostitutes as well as pimps, she said.
In addition to the difficulty of collecting evidence in cases which took place years ago, women face possible counter-suits from accused pimps for fraud and defamation, she said.
An amended law on youth protection is set to take effect in March, and it is expected to make lawsuits against prostitution ring operators easier, the lawyers said.
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Teenage Burglar Survives Times Square Plunge
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A teenage burglar escaped from the custody of security guards and then survived an eight-story drop out of a Times Square office building, police said.
The 19-year-old woman was caught trying to steal wallets from coat pockets in the offices of a private company on Broadway and 42nd Street on Monday afternoon.
While guards were waiting for police officers to arrive, she escaped, opened a 10th floor window and stepped onto a ledge overlooking busy 42nd Street.
Police said the woman "either fell or jumped" and landed on scaffolding on the second floor, breaking several bones.
The woman was arrested and charged with burglary. She was being treated in a hospital for critical injuries.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A teenage burglar escaped from the custody of security guards and then survived an eight-story drop out of a Times Square office building, police said.
The 19-year-old woman was caught trying to steal wallets from coat pockets in the offices of a private company on Broadway and 42nd Street on Monday afternoon.
While guards were waiting for police officers to arrive, she escaped, opened a 10th floor window and stepped onto a ledge overlooking busy 42nd Street.
Police said the woman "either fell or jumped" and landed on scaffolding on the second floor, breaking several bones.
The woman was arrested and charged with burglary. She was being treated in a hospital for critical injuries.
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Singapore Says May Loosen Law on Oral Sex
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore may decriminalize oral sex between men and women, a government minister said on Tuesday, but homosexual oral sex looks set to stay illegal.
The move follows a highly publicized case of a 27-year-old policeman jailed for two years in November for receiving consensual oral sex from a 15-year-old girl.
That case provoked rare public criticism of Singapore's government. Protests over the law filled newspaper forum pages and buzzed in Internet chat rooms.
In an earlier case detailed in the Straits Times a wife tried to punish her unfaithful husband by performing oral sex on him and then reporting him to the police.
In parliament Junior Home Affairs Minister Ho Peng Kee said the law could be revised in two to three months.
"One option being considered is to decriminalize consensual oral sex between a male and female so long as it is done in private and both of them are above 16 years of age," Ho said.
But a lingering ban on homosexual fellatio could stoke controversy at time when Singapore is emerging as an Asian gay entertainment hub following the opening of a number of gay-friendly cafes and clubs.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong made a low-key acknowledgement last year that gays now worked in the public service.
Critics have pointed out the irony of the law in a country where prostitution remains legal. Ho said the law was mostly used to prosecute cases involving minors, or mentally and physically handicapped people.
Singapore is relaxing other laws such as rules on bungee-jumping, bar-top dancing and chewing gum in a bid to shake off its stuffy image and lure foreign professionals.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore may decriminalize oral sex between men and women, a government minister said on Tuesday, but homosexual oral sex looks set to stay illegal.
The move follows a highly publicized case of a 27-year-old policeman jailed for two years in November for receiving consensual oral sex from a 15-year-old girl.
That case provoked rare public criticism of Singapore's government. Protests over the law filled newspaper forum pages and buzzed in Internet chat rooms.
In an earlier case detailed in the Straits Times a wife tried to punish her unfaithful husband by performing oral sex on him and then reporting him to the police.
In parliament Junior Home Affairs Minister Ho Peng Kee said the law could be revised in two to three months.
"One option being considered is to decriminalize consensual oral sex between a male and female so long as it is done in private and both of them are above 16 years of age," Ho said.
But a lingering ban on homosexual fellatio could stoke controversy at time when Singapore is emerging as an Asian gay entertainment hub following the opening of a number of gay-friendly cafes and clubs.
Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong made a low-key acknowledgement last year that gays now worked in the public service.
Critics have pointed out the irony of the law in a country where prostitution remains legal. Ho said the law was mostly used to prosecute cases involving minors, or mentally and physically handicapped people.
Singapore is relaxing other laws such as rules on bungee-jumping, bar-top dancing and chewing gum in a bid to shake off its stuffy image and lure foreign professionals.
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Haircut Lands Drunk Thief in Hot Water
BERLIN (Reuters) - An attempt by a German thief to change his appearance after a robbery backfired Monday when a hairdresser tipped off the police.
German police said in a statement Tuesday they had detained a man and his 23-year-old female accomplice on suspicion of robbing a store in the Berlin suburb of Spandau and attacking the 59-year-old shop assistant.
"Afterwards they both fled with their loot to a nearby hairdressers. The extremely drunk 24-year-old man cut his own hair there, boasted about his crime and then left the hairdressers together with his accomplice," the statement said.
An employee at the hairdressers called the police who detained the couple nearby. During a search of the pair, who police said were drug addicts, officers found on the woman a bank card that was stolen during an earlier break-in.
BERLIN (Reuters) - An attempt by a German thief to change his appearance after a robbery backfired Monday when a hairdresser tipped off the police.
German police said in a statement Tuesday they had detained a man and his 23-year-old female accomplice on suspicion of robbing a store in the Berlin suburb of Spandau and attacking the 59-year-old shop assistant.
"Afterwards they both fled with their loot to a nearby hairdressers. The extremely drunk 24-year-old man cut his own hair there, boasted about his crime and then left the hairdressers together with his accomplice," the statement said.
An employee at the hairdressers called the police who detained the couple nearby. During a search of the pair, who police said were drug addicts, officers found on the woman a bank card that was stolen during an earlier break-in.
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AussieMark
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Bill Seeks Feng Shui-Compliant Buildings
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California lawmaker thinks buildings in the state should be more light and airy to allow for positive energy flow -- and maybe have more mirrors.
San Francisco Democrat Leland Yee, assistant speaker pro tempore of the State Assembly, said on Friday that he has introduced a resolution urging the state architect and California cities to adopt design standards that allow for the use of feng shui principles.
Feng shui, which translates as "Wind" and "Water," is the Chinese art of geomancy and dates back at least 4,000 years.
The goal is to encourage the flow of "chi," or positive energy, and create living spaces that are in harmony with the environment and promote happiness, health and prosperity.
Many feng shui guidelines are based on common sense, such as placing beds and desks facing doorways, using wall colors to stimulate certain moods and eliminating clutter. Others include using mirrors to create a sense of light and space in rooms and installing fountains to charge the air with more negative ions and help reduce pollutants like dust, pollen and smoke.
"The concept of feng shui is a simple one: to improve your life by improving your relationship to the environment around you," said Yee, who is also a child psychologist.
Yee said he also introduced the resolution after hearing about builders whose feng shui designs were rejected due to restrictive local ordinances.
Recently, some San Francisco real estate agents turned to feng shui as a marketing tool to help sell million-dollar-plus homes that moved more slowly after the dot-com bust.
"It's not about superstition or religion," Yee said. "It's not esoteric."
He also defended his resolution in the face of criticism that it is a frivolous measure at a time when California is facing a $14 billion budget deficit and high unemployment.
"We are hard at work on our budget. We are hard at work on worker's (compensation reform)," he said. "There are also important issues like individuals' culture and individuals' way of life, and we should be supportive of that."
The resolution, which is non-binding, must pass a committee before it can be considered by the full Assembly.
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A California lawmaker thinks buildings in the state should be more light and airy to allow for positive energy flow -- and maybe have more mirrors.
San Francisco Democrat Leland Yee, assistant speaker pro tempore of the State Assembly, said on Friday that he has introduced a resolution urging the state architect and California cities to adopt design standards that allow for the use of feng shui principles.
Feng shui, which translates as "Wind" and "Water," is the Chinese art of geomancy and dates back at least 4,000 years.
The goal is to encourage the flow of "chi," or positive energy, and create living spaces that are in harmony with the environment and promote happiness, health and prosperity.
Many feng shui guidelines are based on common sense, such as placing beds and desks facing doorways, using wall colors to stimulate certain moods and eliminating clutter. Others include using mirrors to create a sense of light and space in rooms and installing fountains to charge the air with more negative ions and help reduce pollutants like dust, pollen and smoke.
"The concept of feng shui is a simple one: to improve your life by improving your relationship to the environment around you," said Yee, who is also a child psychologist.
Yee said he also introduced the resolution after hearing about builders whose feng shui designs were rejected due to restrictive local ordinances.
Recently, some San Francisco real estate agents turned to feng shui as a marketing tool to help sell million-dollar-plus homes that moved more slowly after the dot-com bust.
"It's not about superstition or religion," Yee said. "It's not esoteric."
He also defended his resolution in the face of criticism that it is a frivolous measure at a time when California is facing a $14 billion budget deficit and high unemployment.
"We are hard at work on our budget. We are hard at work on worker's (compensation reform)," he said. "There are also important issues like individuals' culture and individuals' way of life, and we should be supportive of that."
The resolution, which is non-binding, must pass a committee before it can be considered by the full Assembly.
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AussieMark
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Anonymous Sender Returns Long-Lost Wallet
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A wallet lost in southern Sweden more than 40 years ago has been returned to its owner -- with her cash still in it.
Gulli Wihlborg was 18 when she dropped it while cycling in the town of Trelleborg in the summer of 1963.
The wallet contained 45.54 crowns -- a sum she said was half her monthly rent at the time -- receipts and photographs. Its equivalent in today's money is about 412 crowns ($56).
It arrived in the mail at her home of 25 years in the nearby city of Malmo with a handwritten note, saying:
"Dear Gulli, never give up hope. Here is the wallet you dropped on Ostersjogatan (a street) many years ago. Greetings from Trelleborg."
"I find it quite fantastic," she told regional newspaper Trelleborgs Allehanda.
The sender remained unknown. ($1=7.404 Swedish Crown)
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - A wallet lost in southern Sweden more than 40 years ago has been returned to its owner -- with her cash still in it.
Gulli Wihlborg was 18 when she dropped it while cycling in the town of Trelleborg in the summer of 1963.
The wallet contained 45.54 crowns -- a sum she said was half her monthly rent at the time -- receipts and photographs. Its equivalent in today's money is about 412 crowns ($56).
It arrived in the mail at her home of 25 years in the nearby city of Malmo with a handwritten note, saying:
"Dear Gulli, never give up hope. Here is the wallet you dropped on Ostersjogatan (a street) many years ago. Greetings from Trelleborg."
"I find it quite fantastic," she told regional newspaper Trelleborgs Allehanda.
The sender remained unknown. ($1=7.404 Swedish Crown)
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Jackson Comes Undone at Super Bowl; MTV Says Sorry
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Move over Madonna and Britney -- their onstage kiss may be upstaged by singer Janet Jackson's bodice-ripping at a Super Bowl performance.
Jackson turned heads Sunday night during a half-time appearance with Justin Timberlake during the Carolina Panthers-New England Patriots game, bumping and grinding through a duet. Just as the song came to its close, Timberlake reached for Jackson and tore part of her black leather bustier, revealing one breast.
Stage lights at Houston's Reliant Stadium immediately went black, leaving millions of football fans watching the CBS network broadcast wondering whether the peek-a-boo act was intentional.
"I'm sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl," Timberlake said. "It was not intentional and is regrettable."
Music television channel MTV, which produced the half-time entertainment for the National Football League's championship game, apologized for the undressing.
"The tearing of Janet Jackson's costume was unrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional and was inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance," MTV said in a statement.
But some viewers may not be convinced that the two singers were not raising the threshold on shocking behavior, mindful of how pop icon Madonna and Britney Spears grabbed headlines with a kiss during the MTV Music Video Awards in August.
"Shocking as it was, it was not a mistake. It's really sad. How are we going to up the ante next?" said Barbara Lippert, advertising critic at trade report AdWeek.
The NFL was also not impressed.
"We were extremely disappointed by elements of the MTV-produced halftime show," said NFL Executive Vice President Joe Browne.
"They were totally inconsistent with assurances our office was given about the content of the show," he added. "It's unlikely that MTV will produce another Super Bowl halftime."
In another public display, a streaker held up the game for several minutes prior to the second-half kickoff as he paraded around the field and then took off in an attempt to elude security.
He was ultimately knocked down by New England Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham and hauled off the field by a group of security personnel. The incident was kept off the air.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Move over Madonna and Britney -- their onstage kiss may be upstaged by singer Janet Jackson's bodice-ripping at a Super Bowl performance.
Jackson turned heads Sunday night during a half-time appearance with Justin Timberlake during the Carolina Panthers-New England Patriots game, bumping and grinding through a duet. Just as the song came to its close, Timberlake reached for Jackson and tore part of her black leather bustier, revealing one breast.
Stage lights at Houston's Reliant Stadium immediately went black, leaving millions of football fans watching the CBS network broadcast wondering whether the peek-a-boo act was intentional.
"I'm sorry if anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl," Timberlake said. "It was not intentional and is regrettable."
Music television channel MTV, which produced the half-time entertainment for the National Football League's championship game, apologized for the undressing.
"The tearing of Janet Jackson's costume was unrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional and was inconsistent with assurances we had about the content of the performance," MTV said in a statement.
But some viewers may not be convinced that the two singers were not raising the threshold on shocking behavior, mindful of how pop icon Madonna and Britney Spears grabbed headlines with a kiss during the MTV Music Video Awards in August.
"Shocking as it was, it was not a mistake. It's really sad. How are we going to up the ante next?" said Barbara Lippert, advertising critic at trade report AdWeek.
The NFL was also not impressed.
"We were extremely disappointed by elements of the MTV-produced halftime show," said NFL Executive Vice President Joe Browne.
"They were totally inconsistent with assurances our office was given about the content of the show," he added. "It's unlikely that MTV will produce another Super Bowl halftime."
In another public display, a streaker held up the game for several minutes prior to the second-half kickoff as he paraded around the field and then took off in an attempt to elude security.
He was ultimately knocked down by New England Patriots linebacker Matt Chatham and hauled off the field by a group of security personnel. The incident was kept off the air.
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Pony-Tail a Winning Fashion Statement
LONDON (Reuters) - Pony-tails appear to be a guarantee of success for sportsmen at the moment with flame-haired Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez leading the way.
Jimenez, who won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Bangkok on Sunday hours after pony-tailed tennis player Roger Federer stormed to victory at the Australian Open in Melbourne, believes fashion individuality is important in the sporting arena.
"Two years ago, I decided to let my hair grow and I try to be a little different on the tour," the 40-year-old Jimenez told reporters at the Alpine Golf and Sports Club course after clinching his eighth European Tour title.
"It's a kind of fashion statement in a place (a sport) where everyone has the same haircut and the same everything.
"I did have a skin problem in the past and originally I grew my hair long to cover my ears after surgery."
Jimenez, who held off the last-day challenge of Denmark's Thomas Bjorn with a closing round of four-under-par 68 in Bangkok, became the second successive pony-tailed winner on the 2004 European Tour.
Germany's Marcel Siem, with his blond locks drawn back, claimed his maiden professional title at the Dunhill Championship in Johannesburg one week earlier.
LONDON (Reuters) - Pony-tails appear to be a guarantee of success for sportsmen at the moment with flame-haired Spaniard Miguel Angel Jimenez leading the way.
Jimenez, who won the Johnnie Walker Classic in Bangkok on Sunday hours after pony-tailed tennis player Roger Federer stormed to victory at the Australian Open in Melbourne, believes fashion individuality is important in the sporting arena.
"Two years ago, I decided to let my hair grow and I try to be a little different on the tour," the 40-year-old Jimenez told reporters at the Alpine Golf and Sports Club course after clinching his eighth European Tour title.
"It's a kind of fashion statement in a place (a sport) where everyone has the same haircut and the same everything.
"I did have a skin problem in the past and originally I grew my hair long to cover my ears after surgery."
Jimenez, who held off the last-day challenge of Denmark's Thomas Bjorn with a closing round of four-under-par 68 in Bangkok, became the second successive pony-tailed winner on the 2004 European Tour.
Germany's Marcel Siem, with his blond locks drawn back, claimed his maiden professional title at the Dunhill Championship in Johannesburg one week earlier.
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Divers Set to Salvage German WWII Ship
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (Reuters) - The scuttled Nazi battleship "Admiral Graf Spee" has withstood the silt and currents at the mouth of the River Plate for more than 60 years while waiting for someone to salvage it.
Most of the Graf Spee survivors have died and only octogenarians in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo can recall watching one of the first naval clashes of World War II unfold on their sleepy shores.
But the legend of the pride of the Nazi fleet continues to inspire younger generations, and this week a team of divers will begin raising pieces of the pocket battleship -- a smaller, lighter version of a conventional warship -- out of the River Plate estuary in a project expected to take years.
"It was a masterpiece in its time," said Mensun Bound, a marine archeologist from Oxford University weaned on tales of the Battle of the River Plate.
"And it doesn't have a dark history. Its captain was a man of great dignity and honor. It was a battle in which both sides came out with their honor intact."
Under the command of Capt. Hans Langsdorff, the Graf Spee sank nine commercial vessels in the Atlantic in late 1939 but always gave the crews time to evacuate the ships.
The British navy dispatched three ships -- HMS Exeter, HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax -- to the Uruguayan coast and on Dec. 13, 1939, they sighted and attacked the Graf Spee.
Langsdorff took his badly damaged ship to port in Montevideo, where he was allowed to bury 36 dead sailors. His loyalty to Nazi leaders was questioned when he gave the old German naval salute at the funeral instead of the Nazi salute.
Neutral Uruguay, under intense diplomatic pressure from Britain, then ordered the Graf Spee out to sea after 72 hours.
"I went down to the port the morning they left," said Maria Eleonor Ramis, 83, one of the estimated 750,000 people who watched events on the shore that day. "It was very sad because the sailors were all so young, 18 and 19 years old."
'THE WHOLE WORLD WAS WATCHING'
Believing he would be met by a beefed-up British fleet, Langsdorff evacuated his men to ships headed to Argentina, then sank the Graf Spee with explosives to stop it from falling into enemy hands.
"It was an event that the whole world was watching," said Cristina Maldonado, a historian at Montevideo's Naval Museum.
Two days after scuttling his ship, Langsdorff took his own life in Buenos Aires.
Survivors who stayed in Uruguay and Argentina often spoke of recovering the Graf Spee, located 4 miles off the coast in waters no deeper than 36 feet.
In 1997, Bound and Uruguayan partner Hector Bado found the ship was in much better condition than expected as they extracted one of the guns.
On Thursday, they will attempt to raise the range finder, a component 34 feet wide and 20 feet tall that held the first radar antenna installed in a warship.
The team will study how to lighten the Graf Spee until they can raise the ship's hull, which is in two pieces, one 490 feet long, the other 98 feet long.
The divers declined to discuss the cost of the project, but they say they are working to bring on salvaging experts from Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands and perhaps Germany. The ship will remain in Uruguay.
"It will be rebuilt on land and will be the best ship museum in the world," said Bado. "This is the last salvageable German battleship in the world and it has an amazing story."
MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay (Reuters) - The scuttled Nazi battleship "Admiral Graf Spee" has withstood the silt and currents at the mouth of the River Plate for more than 60 years while waiting for someone to salvage it.
Most of the Graf Spee survivors have died and only octogenarians in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo can recall watching one of the first naval clashes of World War II unfold on their sleepy shores.
But the legend of the pride of the Nazi fleet continues to inspire younger generations, and this week a team of divers will begin raising pieces of the pocket battleship -- a smaller, lighter version of a conventional warship -- out of the River Plate estuary in a project expected to take years.
"It was a masterpiece in its time," said Mensun Bound, a marine archeologist from Oxford University weaned on tales of the Battle of the River Plate.
"And it doesn't have a dark history. Its captain was a man of great dignity and honor. It was a battle in which both sides came out with their honor intact."
Under the command of Capt. Hans Langsdorff, the Graf Spee sank nine commercial vessels in the Atlantic in late 1939 but always gave the crews time to evacuate the ships.
The British navy dispatched three ships -- HMS Exeter, HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax -- to the Uruguayan coast and on Dec. 13, 1939, they sighted and attacked the Graf Spee.
Langsdorff took his badly damaged ship to port in Montevideo, where he was allowed to bury 36 dead sailors. His loyalty to Nazi leaders was questioned when he gave the old German naval salute at the funeral instead of the Nazi salute.
Neutral Uruguay, under intense diplomatic pressure from Britain, then ordered the Graf Spee out to sea after 72 hours.
"I went down to the port the morning they left," said Maria Eleonor Ramis, 83, one of the estimated 750,000 people who watched events on the shore that day. "It was very sad because the sailors were all so young, 18 and 19 years old."
'THE WHOLE WORLD WAS WATCHING'
Believing he would be met by a beefed-up British fleet, Langsdorff evacuated his men to ships headed to Argentina, then sank the Graf Spee with explosives to stop it from falling into enemy hands.
"It was an event that the whole world was watching," said Cristina Maldonado, a historian at Montevideo's Naval Museum.
Two days after scuttling his ship, Langsdorff took his own life in Buenos Aires.
Survivors who stayed in Uruguay and Argentina often spoke of recovering the Graf Spee, located 4 miles off the coast in waters no deeper than 36 feet.
In 1997, Bound and Uruguayan partner Hector Bado found the ship was in much better condition than expected as they extracted one of the guns.
On Thursday, they will attempt to raise the range finder, a component 34 feet wide and 20 feet tall that held the first radar antenna installed in a warship.
The team will study how to lighten the Graf Spee until they can raise the ship's hull, which is in two pieces, one 490 feet long, the other 98 feet long.
The divers declined to discuss the cost of the project, but they say they are working to bring on salvaging experts from Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands and perhaps Germany. The ship will remain in Uruguay.
"It will be rebuilt on land and will be the best ship museum in the world," said Bado. "This is the last salvageable German battleship in the world and it has an amazing story."
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AussieMark
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Web Site for Investors Needs Updating
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Talk about stale pricing!
Eliot Spitzer, the New York state attorney general leading an industrywide probe of improper trading in mutual funds, tells would-be investors on his office's Web site that stocks are still priced in fractions of eighths for amounts less than $1.
However, the New York Stock Exchange started quoting stock prices in decimals two years ago. According to Fundalarm.com, which brought the snafu to light, the error was presumably caused by the need to update the attorney general's Web site, http://www.oag.state.ny.us/investors/invest_4.html.
"When you're out fighting the bad guys, you don't always have time to do your own housekeeping," Fundalarm.com said.
A Spitzer spokesman said the error will be corrected.
Spitzer's probes into such improper trading as market timing has led to the ouster of several chief executives and hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.
Market timers prey on fund prices whose underlying assets -- stocks that trade abroad -- are stale and don't reflect recent market conditions.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Talk about stale pricing!
Eliot Spitzer, the New York state attorney general leading an industrywide probe of improper trading in mutual funds, tells would-be investors on his office's Web site that stocks are still priced in fractions of eighths for amounts less than $1.
However, the New York Stock Exchange started quoting stock prices in decimals two years ago. According to Fundalarm.com, which brought the snafu to light, the error was presumably caused by the need to update the attorney general's Web site, http://www.oag.state.ny.us/investors/invest_4.html.
"When you're out fighting the bad guys, you don't always have time to do your own housekeeping," Fundalarm.com said.
A Spitzer spokesman said the error will be corrected.
Spitzer's probes into such improper trading as market timing has led to the ouster of several chief executives and hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.
Market timers prey on fund prices whose underlying assets -- stocks that trade abroad -- are stale and don't reflect recent market conditions.
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AussieMark
- Category 5
- Posts: 5858
- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Athens: Look for Surprises But Nothing Like Janet
ATHENS (Reuters) - Athens Olympics organizers on Tuesday promised surprises during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Games but laughed off suggestions of a Janet Jackson-style Super Bowl incident.
Games chief Gianna Angelopoulos said details of the August 13 opening ceremony would be kept secret until the event but there would be no uncloaking like during the broadcast of the Super Bowl halftime show when pop diva Jackson's bodice was ripped to expose her right breast.
Asked if she had ordered extra scrutiny of plans for the opening ceremony in view of the Jackson controversy, Angelopoulos laughingly avoided the question but replied:
"Even if you insist, I won't disclose the secrets that we are preparing for the opening and closing ceremonies in Athens."
"I don't know if they had any high expectations during the Super Bowl but here (in Athens) I know they that there are high expectations and we will try not to disappoint them," she told Reuters Television in an interview."
During the break in last Sunday's National Football League's championship game, singer Justin Timberlake reached for Jackson as they sang a duet and tore off part of her black leather bustier, prompting widespread outrage.
ATHENS (Reuters) - Athens Olympics organizers on Tuesday promised surprises during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Games but laughed off suggestions of a Janet Jackson-style Super Bowl incident.
Games chief Gianna Angelopoulos said details of the August 13 opening ceremony would be kept secret until the event but there would be no uncloaking like during the broadcast of the Super Bowl halftime show when pop diva Jackson's bodice was ripped to expose her right breast.
Asked if she had ordered extra scrutiny of plans for the opening ceremony in view of the Jackson controversy, Angelopoulos laughingly avoided the question but replied:
"Even if you insist, I won't disclose the secrets that we are preparing for the opening and closing ceremonies in Athens."
"I don't know if they had any high expectations during the Super Bowl but here (in Athens) I know they that there are high expectations and we will try not to disappoint them," she told Reuters Television in an interview."
During the break in last Sunday's National Football League's championship game, singer Justin Timberlake reached for Jackson as they sang a duet and tore off part of her black leather bustier, prompting widespread outrage.
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AussieMark
- Category 5
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- Joined: Tue Sep 02, 2003 6:36 pm
- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Saddam's Last Refuge to Be Sealed, Not Destroyed
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's last hiding place will not be destroyed but instead will be sealed up to prevent the narrow dirt hole from becoming a tourist attraction, the U.S. Army said Tuesday.
The U.S. 4th Infantry Division (ID), which captured Saddam in Dawr village on Dec. 13, earlier this month asked the Army for permission to destroy the hole and a nearby mud hut where the fallen Iraqi leader spent his final days on the run.
Commanders in Baghdad this week turned down the division's request, a spokeswoman for the 4th ID said. "They said we are not going to destroy it, but rather cover it in case we need to have access to it in the future," Maj. Josslyn Aberle told Reuters.
"It's going to be covered and it is going to take some work to get into it."
Division engineers Monday were ordered to draw up a plan to seal the hole, most likely with concrete, she said. There is no definite timetable for sealing it shut.
The hole, which was until recently a de rigueur stop for soldiers and visiting VIPs, is no longer open for visits, Aberle said. Officers in the 4th ID said they had asked for permission to destroy the hole to keep it from becoming a shrine to Saddam or a tourist attraction.
The Army had been guarding the hole until two weeks ago, when security at the site was turned over to the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps.
About 600 4th ID soldiers and U.S. special forces captured a bearded and bedraggled Saddam inside the 5-foot-long hole, which had only a strip light and ventilation fan inside. It is barely large enough for an average-sized male to crouch inside the entrance.
Nearby was a small mud hut where Saddam was staying, in which soldiers found two beds, a refrigerator containing lemonade and hot dogs, ointment and an open box of Belgian chocolates.
A wealthy Iraqi arrested earlier provided information that led to the capture of Saddam.
The hole is on a farm beside the Tigris River about nine miles south of Saddam's hometown and power base in Tikrit, which is now where the 4th ID makes its home.
TIKRIT, Iraq (Reuters) - Saddam Hussein's last hiding place will not be destroyed but instead will be sealed up to prevent the narrow dirt hole from becoming a tourist attraction, the U.S. Army said Tuesday.
The U.S. 4th Infantry Division (ID), which captured Saddam in Dawr village on Dec. 13, earlier this month asked the Army for permission to destroy the hole and a nearby mud hut where the fallen Iraqi leader spent his final days on the run.
Commanders in Baghdad this week turned down the division's request, a spokeswoman for the 4th ID said. "They said we are not going to destroy it, but rather cover it in case we need to have access to it in the future," Maj. Josslyn Aberle told Reuters.
"It's going to be covered and it is going to take some work to get into it."
Division engineers Monday were ordered to draw up a plan to seal the hole, most likely with concrete, she said. There is no definite timetable for sealing it shut.
The hole, which was until recently a de rigueur stop for soldiers and visiting VIPs, is no longer open for visits, Aberle said. Officers in the 4th ID said they had asked for permission to destroy the hole to keep it from becoming a shrine to Saddam or a tourist attraction.
The Army had been guarding the hole until two weeks ago, when security at the site was turned over to the Iraqi Civil Defense Corps.
About 600 4th ID soldiers and U.S. special forces captured a bearded and bedraggled Saddam inside the 5-foot-long hole, which had only a strip light and ventilation fan inside. It is barely large enough for an average-sized male to crouch inside the entrance.
Nearby was a small mud hut where Saddam was staying, in which soldiers found two beds, a refrigerator containing lemonade and hot dogs, ointment and an open box of Belgian chocolates.
A wealthy Iraqi arrested earlier provided information that led to the capture of Saddam.
The hole is on a farm beside the Tigris River about nine miles south of Saddam's hometown and power base in Tikrit, which is now where the 4th ID makes its home.
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