Millionaire Hit with Record Speeding Fine
HELSINKI (Reuters) - One of Finland's richest men has been fined a record 170,000 euros ($217,000) for speeding through the center of the capital, police said on Tuesday.
Jussi Salonoja, 27, heir to his family's sausage business, was caught driving 50 miles per hour in a 25 mph zone last Thursday, the police said.
Finnish traffic fines vary according to the offender's income and, according to tax office data, Salonoja's 2002 earnings were close to seven million euros.
The final penalty could still change when the case is eventually heard by a Helsinki court, as was the case with Nokia executive Anssi Vanjoki, whose 116,000-euro speeding fine was slashed by 95 percent in 2002 due to a drop in income.
If Salonoja's penalty stands, it will beat a speeding fine of more than 80,000 euros paid by Internet millionaire Jaakko Rytsola in 2000, and the 35,000-euro fine imposed on Nokia President Pekka Ala-Pietila in 2001 for running a red light.
TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
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Three Wise Men May Have Been Neither Wise Nor Men
LONDON (Reuters) - The Three Wise Men who followed the star to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the baby Jesus may not have been all that wise -- or even men.
The traditional infant Nativity play scene could be in for a drastic rewrite after the Church of England indulged in some academic gender-swapping over the three Magi at its General Synod in London this week.
A committee revising the latest prayer book said the term "Magi" was a transliteration of the name used by officials at the Persian court, and that they could well have been women.
"Magi is a word which discloses nothing about numbers, wisdom or gender embodied in the term," a Synod spokesman said on Tuesday after the revision was agreed by the Church of England's parliament which meets twice a year.
In the authorized 17th century King James bible used by up to 70 million worshippers in Anglican churches around the world, the gift-bearing visitors are referred to as "The Three Wise Men."
Now they are to be called just "Magi" and no longer gender-specific in the Anglican prayer book.
"Changing 'Wise Men' to 'Magi' seems to be an entirely sensible move," the Synod spokesman said.
The revision committee said: "While it seems very unlikely that these Persian court officials were female, the possibility that one or more of the Magi were female cannot be excluded completely."
There is no theological dispute about the gifts they brought -- gold, frankincense and myrrh -- but the prayer has been changed to use the word Magi on the grounds that "the visitors were not necessarily wise and not necessarily men."
Synod officials denied that the Church of England, a pillar of the Establishment in Britain, was being seized by an attack of political correctness and pandering to feminists.
The decision was greeted by mocking newspaper headlines like "The Three Fairly Sagacious Persons" and "Is it unwise to call the Magi men?"
On Tuesday, the Synod will be turning its attention to "Gender Neutral Titles."
Anglicans are debating whether words like "Chairman" can be replaced at committee meetings by more neutral words like "Chair."
LONDON (Reuters) - The Three Wise Men who followed the star to Bethlehem bearing gifts for the baby Jesus may not have been all that wise -- or even men.
The traditional infant Nativity play scene could be in for a drastic rewrite after the Church of England indulged in some academic gender-swapping over the three Magi at its General Synod in London this week.
A committee revising the latest prayer book said the term "Magi" was a transliteration of the name used by officials at the Persian court, and that they could well have been women.
"Magi is a word which discloses nothing about numbers, wisdom or gender embodied in the term," a Synod spokesman said on Tuesday after the revision was agreed by the Church of England's parliament which meets twice a year.
In the authorized 17th century King James bible used by up to 70 million worshippers in Anglican churches around the world, the gift-bearing visitors are referred to as "The Three Wise Men."
Now they are to be called just "Magi" and no longer gender-specific in the Anglican prayer book.
"Changing 'Wise Men' to 'Magi' seems to be an entirely sensible move," the Synod spokesman said.
The revision committee said: "While it seems very unlikely that these Persian court officials were female, the possibility that one or more of the Magi were female cannot be excluded completely."
There is no theological dispute about the gifts they brought -- gold, frankincense and myrrh -- but the prayer has been changed to use the word Magi on the grounds that "the visitors were not necessarily wise and not necessarily men."
Synod officials denied that the Church of England, a pillar of the Establishment in Britain, was being seized by an attack of political correctness and pandering to feminists.
The decision was greeted by mocking newspaper headlines like "The Three Fairly Sagacious Persons" and "Is it unwise to call the Magi men?"
On Tuesday, the Synod will be turning its attention to "Gender Neutral Titles."
Anglicans are debating whether words like "Chairman" can be replaced at committee meetings by more neutral words like "Chair."
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Mob Charged with Making Mint on Phone Sex Bills
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mobsters ripped off users of telephone sex lines and dating services to the tune of $200 million in what U.S. officials said was a new method by organized crime families to make money illegally.
Indictments announced by the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn on Tuesday said Gambino crime family members advertised "free" samples of phone sex, horoscope or dating services but once customers made the call, a $40 monthly fee would be automatically added to their telephone bills.
The enterprise stretching from New York to Kansas -- a departure from traditional Mafia schemes such as loan-sharking and betting -- made between $50,000 and $600,000 every day from 1997 to 2001, according to the indictment.
Ten mobsters and their associates were charged with the billing fraud known as "telephone cramming," including reputed Gambino member Richard Martino, 44, and his brother Daniel, 53, an assistant professor of chemistry at a suburban New York college.
The fees were often disguised as a charge for "voice mail." But when one company, Southwestern Bell, would no longer process the charges, Richard Martino and an advertising executive Norman Chanes, 57, set up their own billing company, the indictment said.
The defendants were charged with racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, money laundering and other charges, U.S. prosecutors and the FBI said.
Several of the same men were charged last year with running an Internet pornography scheme. Tuesday's indictment added to those charge and seeks the forfeiture of $430 million -- $200 million from the phone billing scheme and $230 million from the Internet case.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Mobsters ripped off users of telephone sex lines and dating services to the tune of $200 million in what U.S. officials said was a new method by organized crime families to make money illegally.
Indictments announced by the U.S. attorney in Brooklyn on Tuesday said Gambino crime family members advertised "free" samples of phone sex, horoscope or dating services but once customers made the call, a $40 monthly fee would be automatically added to their telephone bills.
The enterprise stretching from New York to Kansas -- a departure from traditional Mafia schemes such as loan-sharking and betting -- made between $50,000 and $600,000 every day from 1997 to 2001, according to the indictment.
Ten mobsters and their associates were charged with the billing fraud known as "telephone cramming," including reputed Gambino member Richard Martino, 44, and his brother Daniel, 53, an assistant professor of chemistry at a suburban New York college.
The fees were often disguised as a charge for "voice mail." But when one company, Southwestern Bell, would no longer process the charges, Richard Martino and an advertising executive Norman Chanes, 57, set up their own billing company, the indictment said.
The defendants were charged with racketeering, racketeering conspiracy, money laundering and other charges, U.S. prosecutors and the FBI said.
Several of the same men were charged last year with running an Internet pornography scheme. Tuesday's indictment added to those charge and seeks the forfeiture of $430 million -- $200 million from the phone billing scheme and $230 million from the Internet case.
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Rio to Fight Sex Tourism as Carnival Nears
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Bare-breasted, hip-thrusting Carnival beauties may stoke lust in some tourists but Rio de Janeiro authorities hope to temper their ardor with reminders that not all sex in the city is legal.
Concerned about Rio's image as a major sex tourism destination and the crime that surrounds prostitution, city prosecutors are launching a campaign against sexual exploitation and the use of minors in the sex trade.
The drive, which involves a police crack-down on pimps and brothels as well as a public awareness campaign, coincides with Rio's world-famous Carnival jamboree that kicks off on Feb 20.
One of its focal points is tourism.
"Sex tourism is no good for the city," Ana Lucia Melo, prosecutor in a special unit combating the sex trade and child prostitution, told Reuters.
Young people wearing T-shirts saying "Sexual exploitation is a crime" will distribute pamphlets to tourists across the city explaining that having sex with a person under 14 could land them in jail for up to 10 years.
"We will make contact with all the tourists coming to Rio, in the airports, in the seaport, in hotels and even during Carnival processions in the street," she said.
The city is already swarming with tourists and loud rehearsals for colorful samba parades have begun.
It is not illegal in Brazil to offer sexual services or to use them but exploiting other people or running a brothel is an offense with jail terms of one to five years.
Melo said police will regularly raid areas in the city center, along Copacabana beach and in the Barra de Tijuca neighborhood that are notorious for prostitution. Seven under-age prostitutes, including three transvestites, were detained in one such raid earlier this week on Copacabana.
"This operation does not end with Carnival. It will go on with the aim of reducing prostitution and punishing those who cash in on the miserable situations that make many women sell their bodies," she said.
A special U.N. envoy said in November the problem of child prostitution and sexual exploitation in Brazil was worse than in most other countries because of poverty, crime and tourism.
Non-governmental organizations estimate the number of child prostitutes in Brazil at between 100,000 and 500,000, out of a total population of 175 million.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (Reuters) - Bare-breasted, hip-thrusting Carnival beauties may stoke lust in some tourists but Rio de Janeiro authorities hope to temper their ardor with reminders that not all sex in the city is legal.
Concerned about Rio's image as a major sex tourism destination and the crime that surrounds prostitution, city prosecutors are launching a campaign against sexual exploitation and the use of minors in the sex trade.
The drive, which involves a police crack-down on pimps and brothels as well as a public awareness campaign, coincides with Rio's world-famous Carnival jamboree that kicks off on Feb 20.
One of its focal points is tourism.
"Sex tourism is no good for the city," Ana Lucia Melo, prosecutor in a special unit combating the sex trade and child prostitution, told Reuters.
Young people wearing T-shirts saying "Sexual exploitation is a crime" will distribute pamphlets to tourists across the city explaining that having sex with a person under 14 could land them in jail for up to 10 years.
"We will make contact with all the tourists coming to Rio, in the airports, in the seaport, in hotels and even during Carnival processions in the street," she said.
The city is already swarming with tourists and loud rehearsals for colorful samba parades have begun.
It is not illegal in Brazil to offer sexual services or to use them but exploiting other people or running a brothel is an offense with jail terms of one to five years.
Melo said police will regularly raid areas in the city center, along Copacabana beach and in the Barra de Tijuca neighborhood that are notorious for prostitution. Seven under-age prostitutes, including three transvestites, were detained in one such raid earlier this week on Copacabana.
"This operation does not end with Carnival. It will go on with the aim of reducing prostitution and punishing those who cash in on the miserable situations that make many women sell their bodies," she said.
A special U.N. envoy said in November the problem of child prostitution and sexual exploitation in Brazil was worse than in most other countries because of poverty, crime and tourism.
Non-governmental organizations estimate the number of child prostitutes in Brazil at between 100,000 and 500,000, out of a total population of 175 million.
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CIA Web Site Notice Seeks Iraq WMD Information
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA, under fire over its intelligence about Iraq's arms programs, has posted a notice on its Web site offering rewards for information on the elusive weapons.
The "Iraqi Rewards Program" notice dated Tuesday seeks "specific and verifiable information" on the location of stocks of "recently made" chemical or biological weapons, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles or their components.
U.S. intelligence agencies have been criticized for prewar estimates that said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction but none have been found since the U.S.-led invasion last year.
David Kay, who led the U.S. hunt for banned weapons in Iraq until stepping down last month, has said he did not believe that large stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons existed when the United States invaded.
The unspecified rewards were also offered for locating chemical or biological laboratories and factories, development, production and test sites and places where such materials were "secretly disposed."
The notice on http://www.cia.gov says: "The presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq puts at risk the health and safety of all Iraqis. The U.S. Government offers rewards to Iraqis who give specific and verifiable information that helps Iraqis rid their country of these dangerous materials and devices."
People can respond on electronic forms in English or Arabic. The CIA said they were secure and would protect the information and identity of the sender.
A CIA spokesman said the notice was just one more avenue to get information out about existing U.S. government rewards for information dealing with Iraq.
"Our Web site gets an enormous amount of hits from all over the world," the spokesman said. "It's just trying to get the word as broadly publicized as possible."
Rewards were also offered for former leaders of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime, including $10 million for information leading to the capture of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam's former lieutenant who is the highest-ranking official on the Pentagon's top 55 most-wanted list still not found.
The CIA asked for information about imminent attacks by "insurgents or terrorists" and about individuals or groups obtaining explosives and other weapons to use against coalition and Iraqi security forces, schools, businesses and civilians.
Information was also sought about any travel agencies, nongovernmental organizations and front companies involved in providing documents and helping "terrorists" travel to Iraq.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA, under fire over its intelligence about Iraq's arms programs, has posted a notice on its Web site offering rewards for information on the elusive weapons.
The "Iraqi Rewards Program" notice dated Tuesday seeks "specific and verifiable information" on the location of stocks of "recently made" chemical or biological weapons, missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles or their components.
U.S. intelligence agencies have been criticized for prewar estimates that said Iraq had weapons of mass destruction but none have been found since the U.S.-led invasion last year.
David Kay, who led the U.S. hunt for banned weapons in Iraq until stepping down last month, has said he did not believe that large stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons existed when the United States invaded.
The unspecified rewards were also offered for locating chemical or biological laboratories and factories, development, production and test sites and places where such materials were "secretly disposed."
The notice on http://www.cia.gov says: "The presence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq puts at risk the health and safety of all Iraqis. The U.S. Government offers rewards to Iraqis who give specific and verifiable information that helps Iraqis rid their country of these dangerous materials and devices."
People can respond on electronic forms in English or Arabic. The CIA said they were secure and would protect the information and identity of the sender.
A CIA spokesman said the notice was just one more avenue to get information out about existing U.S. government rewards for information dealing with Iraq.
"Our Web site gets an enormous amount of hits from all over the world," the spokesman said. "It's just trying to get the word as broadly publicized as possible."
Rewards were also offered for former leaders of Saddam Hussein's Baathist regime, including $10 million for information leading to the capture of Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, Saddam's former lieutenant who is the highest-ranking official on the Pentagon's top 55 most-wanted list still not found.
The CIA asked for information about imminent attacks by "insurgents or terrorists" and about individuals or groups obtaining explosives and other weapons to use against coalition and Iraqi security forces, schools, businesses and civilians.
Information was also sought about any travel agencies, nongovernmental organizations and front companies involved in providing documents and helping "terrorists" travel to Iraq.
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Inmates Crucified to Demand Faster Justice
LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Two prisoners had themselves crucified by fellow inmates at a jail in southeast Bolivia on Wednesday while others sewed their lips together in protests to demand swifter justice and benefits for prisoners.
Television footage showed the two prisoners -- who survived -- fastened to rudimentary wooden crosses, nails driven through the bloody palms of their hands.
Five others had been buried up to their heads in the yard of Palmasola prison, in the southern city of Santa Cruz.
"This is totally out of our control," said Prison System Director Tomas Molina, appealing to prisoners not to endanger their own lives.
Several prisoners were on hunger strike at a jail in capital La Paz, while others were tied to crosses in mock crucifixions -- opting against the realism of nails.
Protests have escalated throughout Bolivia's prison system over the past 10 days to demand Congress pass laws granting prisoner benefits including reducing jail sentences for good behavior.
LA PAZ, Bolivia (Reuters) - Two prisoners had themselves crucified by fellow inmates at a jail in southeast Bolivia on Wednesday while others sewed their lips together in protests to demand swifter justice and benefits for prisoners.
Television footage showed the two prisoners -- who survived -- fastened to rudimentary wooden crosses, nails driven through the bloody palms of their hands.
Five others had been buried up to their heads in the yard of Palmasola prison, in the southern city of Santa Cruz.
"This is totally out of our control," said Prison System Director Tomas Molina, appealing to prisoners not to endanger their own lives.
Several prisoners were on hunger strike at a jail in capital La Paz, while others were tied to crosses in mock crucifixions -- opting against the realism of nails.
Protests have escalated throughout Bolivia's prison system over the past 10 days to demand Congress pass laws granting prisoner benefits including reducing jail sentences for good behavior.
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Couple Spends Wedding Night in Police Cell
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - An Ethiopian bride and groom spent their wedding night in a police cell after his suggestion that they pawn their rings to pay for taxis triggered a brawl among outraged relatives, police said Thursday.
The groom suggested to his bride that since he was short of money they should sell their wedding rings to cover the cost of taking guests to and from the wedding service in Gondar region.
The bride became furious at the suggestion and called off the ceremony. Police intervened after the situation deteriorated into a melee and took both bride and groom into custody.
Police said the groom complained he was short of money because he had paid around $150 as a dowry, a large amount by Ethiopian standards. The bride was released from jail the next day, but the groom was kept in detention for few days for his own protection, police added.
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - An Ethiopian bride and groom spent their wedding night in a police cell after his suggestion that they pawn their rings to pay for taxis triggered a brawl among outraged relatives, police said Thursday.
The groom suggested to his bride that since he was short of money they should sell their wedding rings to cover the cost of taking guests to and from the wedding service in Gondar region.
The bride became furious at the suggestion and called off the ceremony. Police intervened after the situation deteriorated into a melee and took both bride and groom into custody.
Police said the groom complained he was short of money because he had paid around $150 as a dowry, a large amount by Ethiopian standards. The bride was released from jail the next day, but the groom was kept in detention for few days for his own protection, police added.
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City to Ban Motorbikes to Combat Crime
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is to ban motorcycles from the sprawling southern city of Guangzhou to cut the accident rate and reduce robberies, the China Daily said on Thursday.
The ban will be in effect by 2007, with the first restrictions taking effect within three months.
Motorcycles would be progressively phased out from May 1, when they would be prohibited from some major roads and downtown areas during non-rush hour periods.
"This is only a beginning," the newspaper said, quoting Cui Renquan, deputy secretary-general of the Guangzhou municipal government. A total ban would be in place by January 2007.
"The ban must be enforced," it quoted the deputy director-general of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, Liang Xingxia, as saying, as nearly half the road accidents and half the robberies in the city involved motorcycles.
The newspaper did not give accident or crime statistics but said Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, was home to 313,700 registered motorcycles, many bought by commuters trying to beat the city's horrendous traffic jams.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China is to ban motorcycles from the sprawling southern city of Guangzhou to cut the accident rate and reduce robberies, the China Daily said on Thursday.
The ban will be in effect by 2007, with the first restrictions taking effect within three months.
Motorcycles would be progressively phased out from May 1, when they would be prohibited from some major roads and downtown areas during non-rush hour periods.
"This is only a beginning," the newspaper said, quoting Cui Renquan, deputy secretary-general of the Guangzhou municipal government. A total ban would be in place by January 2007.
"The ban must be enforced," it quoted the deputy director-general of the Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, Liang Xingxia, as saying, as nearly half the road accidents and half the robberies in the city involved motorcycles.
The newspaper did not give accident or crime statistics but said Guangzhou, formerly known as Canton, was home to 313,700 registered motorcycles, many bought by commuters trying to beat the city's horrendous traffic jams.
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It Shouldn't Be Hard to Spot Her
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian woman who had her breasts enlarged with the biggest silicone implants available is being hunted by police after she skipped out on the 7,500 euro ($9,500) plastic surgery bill.
Police say they have few leads as the woman used a false name but are relying on a photograph and her unusually large bra size to find her, a newspaper reported Thursday.
The woman did a runner from the exclusive private hospital in Rome a day after the two-hour operation which doubled her bust size, her plastic surgeon Jamal Salhi told the Corriere della Sera Thursday.
"Unfortunately this kind of fraud isn't that unusual," Salhi lamented.
ROME (Reuters) - An Italian woman who had her breasts enlarged with the biggest silicone implants available is being hunted by police after she skipped out on the 7,500 euro ($9,500) plastic surgery bill.
Police say they have few leads as the woman used a false name but are relying on a photograph and her unusually large bra size to find her, a newspaper reported Thursday.
The woman did a runner from the exclusive private hospital in Rome a day after the two-hour operation which doubled her bust size, her plastic surgeon Jamal Salhi told the Corriere della Sera Thursday.
"Unfortunately this kind of fraud isn't that unusual," Salhi lamented.
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Bummer...
ATHENS (Reuters) - An angry husband who came across a video of his wife having sex with her lover on the Internet called the police who arrested a man suspected of filming a string of people without their consent, police said Thursday.
The 25-year-old cheating wife had been secretly filmed and the video was posted on the net when the man stumbled across it. "The husband saw his wife and immediately called a prosecutor to get his wife's clip off the net," a police source said.
After checking the suspect's computers, officers discovered hundreds of erotic clips filmed without consent which were posted on a free access site. The suspect was charged with violating a "sensitive personal information" act.
ATHENS (Reuters) - An angry husband who came across a video of his wife having sex with her lover on the Internet called the police who arrested a man suspected of filming a string of people without their consent, police said Thursday.
The 25-year-old cheating wife had been secretly filmed and the video was posted on the net when the man stumbled across it. "The husband saw his wife and immediately called a prosecutor to get his wife's clip off the net," a police source said.
After checking the suspect's computers, officers discovered hundreds of erotic clips filmed without consent which were posted on a free access site. The suspect was charged with violating a "sensitive personal information" act.
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Motorcyclist Hit by Small Fortune
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Relatives of a kidnap victim in Taiwan struck a passing motorcyclist with more than $600,000 in cash when they tossed the ransom money to the kidnappers from a highway overpass.
The $600,000 ransom, packed into two nylon bags, landed on 57-year-old Lu Fang-nan when he rode under the overpass just as a relative of the victim delivered the money according to kidnappers' instructions, local media said on Thursday.
"What does this have to do with me? Why did I get hit? I'm certainly unlucky enough," the mass-circulation United Daily News quoted Lu as saying.
Lu, who later sought medical attention for swelling and bruising of his left leg, said he rode off not realizing he had been toppled off his motorcycle by a small fortune.
Newspapers said police were closing in on several suspects in the kidnapping of an electronic components merchant, who was returned unharmed to his family.
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Relatives of a kidnap victim in Taiwan struck a passing motorcyclist with more than $600,000 in cash when they tossed the ransom money to the kidnappers from a highway overpass.
The $600,000 ransom, packed into two nylon bags, landed on 57-year-old Lu Fang-nan when he rode under the overpass just as a relative of the victim delivered the money according to kidnappers' instructions, local media said on Thursday.
"What does this have to do with me? Why did I get hit? I'm certainly unlucky enough," the mass-circulation United Daily News quoted Lu as saying.
Lu, who later sought medical attention for swelling and bruising of his left leg, said he rode off not realizing he had been toppled off his motorcycle by a small fortune.
Newspapers said police were closing in on several suspects in the kidnapping of an electronic components merchant, who was returned unharmed to his family.
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U.S.-Born Panda Returns to China Looking for Love
BEIJING (Reuters) - She'll have to give up American cookies and get used to much cooler weather, but life in China could be worse on the eve of Valentine's Day because Hua Mei already has three prospective suitors.
Hua Mei, a giant panda born at sunny California's San Diego Zoo, arrived at her ancestral home in the chill and fog of southwestern China's mountains late Friday to become the first panda born abroad to return to the panda homeland.
After her two-day journey from America to Sichuan province, caretakers at the Wolong Nature Reserve said they had switched on the heating and set out a pile of the freshest home-grown bamboo to welcome her back to the motherland.
The four-and-a-half-year-old, the first U.S.-born endangered panda to live more than a few hours and whose name means China-America, faces a period of adjustment.
She will be quarantined for about a month, switch to Chinese biscuits and bamboo from U.S. varieties and adapt to temperatures as low as minus three Celsius (27 Fahrenheit), about 10 degrees lower than the coldest in San Diego.
Then, if all goes as planned, it's time to have some fun.
"We have chosen three male pandas," said Wei Rongping, assistant to the director of Wolong's Panda and Research Center. "We hope one or two could become her boyfriend later."
She should get along just fine in Wolong's White Dragon Valley, a mountainous area 100 km (60 miles) from the provincial capital, Chengdu, Wei told Reuters.
"The panda is a species that can easily adjust to a new environment," he said. "It prefers cold climates to warm ones.
"Still, we built a new dormitory for her with a heating system, because Sichuan is colder than San Diego."
For a month Hua Mei will live alone in the stilted wooden hut, heated to five degrees Celsius (41 Fahrenheit), with a fenced-off yard of her own.
"The door to the outside is open," said Wei. "She can decide for herself whether to go out."
During the long flight over, she was still eating fortified biscuits from the United States, but her Chinese keepers will begin gradually to alter her diet right away.
"We will offer her a small quantity of Chinese bamboo, Chinese-made biscuits and Chinese fruits today," said Wei.
Only 1,000 giant pandas survive around the Sichuan basin while about 140 live in captivity around the world.
Hua Mei returned under the rules of China's loan program, which requires cubs of panda pairs born abroad to be repatriated within three years.
Her father, Shi Shi, returned last January and Hua Mei was to follow on his heels, but the deadly SARS outbreak delayed her voyage, the official Xinhua news agency said.
It was unknown if she would ever be reunited with her father.
"He is in the Guangzhou Zoo now. He is very old," said Wei.
But Shi Shi's 85-kg (200-lb) daughter has reached the prime age to reproduce, although pandas are notoriously hard to breed in captivity. They come on heat only once a year for a couple of days and can be highly selective about their mates.
"We chose the males according to their genes," said Wei. "We want to avoid inbreeding."
BEIJING (Reuters) - She'll have to give up American cookies and get used to much cooler weather, but life in China could be worse on the eve of Valentine's Day because Hua Mei already has three prospective suitors.
Hua Mei, a giant panda born at sunny California's San Diego Zoo, arrived at her ancestral home in the chill and fog of southwestern China's mountains late Friday to become the first panda born abroad to return to the panda homeland.
After her two-day journey from America to Sichuan province, caretakers at the Wolong Nature Reserve said they had switched on the heating and set out a pile of the freshest home-grown bamboo to welcome her back to the motherland.
The four-and-a-half-year-old, the first U.S.-born endangered panda to live more than a few hours and whose name means China-America, faces a period of adjustment.
She will be quarantined for about a month, switch to Chinese biscuits and bamboo from U.S. varieties and adapt to temperatures as low as minus three Celsius (27 Fahrenheit), about 10 degrees lower than the coldest in San Diego.
Then, if all goes as planned, it's time to have some fun.
"We have chosen three male pandas," said Wei Rongping, assistant to the director of Wolong's Panda and Research Center. "We hope one or two could become her boyfriend later."
She should get along just fine in Wolong's White Dragon Valley, a mountainous area 100 km (60 miles) from the provincial capital, Chengdu, Wei told Reuters.
"The panda is a species that can easily adjust to a new environment," he said. "It prefers cold climates to warm ones.
"Still, we built a new dormitory for her with a heating system, because Sichuan is colder than San Diego."
For a month Hua Mei will live alone in the stilted wooden hut, heated to five degrees Celsius (41 Fahrenheit), with a fenced-off yard of her own.
"The door to the outside is open," said Wei. "She can decide for herself whether to go out."
During the long flight over, she was still eating fortified biscuits from the United States, but her Chinese keepers will begin gradually to alter her diet right away.
"We will offer her a small quantity of Chinese bamboo, Chinese-made biscuits and Chinese fruits today," said Wei.
Only 1,000 giant pandas survive around the Sichuan basin while about 140 live in captivity around the world.
Hua Mei returned under the rules of China's loan program, which requires cubs of panda pairs born abroad to be repatriated within three years.
Her father, Shi Shi, returned last January and Hua Mei was to follow on his heels, but the deadly SARS outbreak delayed her voyage, the official Xinhua news agency said.
It was unknown if she would ever be reunited with her father.
"He is in the Guangzhou Zoo now. He is very old," said Wei.
But Shi Shi's 85-kg (200-lb) daughter has reached the prime age to reproduce, although pandas are notoriously hard to breed in captivity. They come on heat only once a year for a couple of days and can be highly selective about their mates.
"We chose the males according to their genes," said Wei. "We want to avoid inbreeding."
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AussieMark
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Harvard University Approves Student Sex Magazine
BOSTON (Reuters) - Harvard University's newest magazine may be called the "H Bomb" but its topic is more anatomical than atomic.
The sex magazine will debut this spring, complete with nude photographs and erotic articles, and is the brainchild of two female undergraduates who say the journal will be a literary and art magazine about sex.
"It will provide comfortable, relaxed discussion that doesn't hold back and puts a lighter spin on something that shouldn't be a restricted or delicate topic at Harvard," the students wrote in an e-mail responding to questions.
Harvard's Committee on College Life approved the magazine, arguing that no matter how uncomfortable the explicit pictures may make some people, the students have a right to free speech. Lawyers at the 368-year-old Ivy League university agreed.
BOSTON (Reuters) - Harvard University's newest magazine may be called the "H Bomb" but its topic is more anatomical than atomic.
The sex magazine will debut this spring, complete with nude photographs and erotic articles, and is the brainchild of two female undergraduates who say the journal will be a literary and art magazine about sex.
"It will provide comfortable, relaxed discussion that doesn't hold back and puts a lighter spin on something that shouldn't be a restricted or delicate topic at Harvard," the students wrote in an e-mail responding to questions.
Harvard's Committee on College Life approved the magazine, arguing that no matter how uncomfortable the explicit pictures may make some people, the students have a right to free speech. Lawyers at the 368-year-old Ivy League university agreed.
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AussieMark
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- Location: near Sydney, Australia
Hostile People May Be 'Born to Smoke', Study Finds
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People with hostile or aggressive personality traits may have genetic tendencies that make them "born to smoke," U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Brain imaging studies suggest that the same genetic variations that give people hostile personality traits may also make them more likely to become addicted to nicotine, the team at the University of California Irvine reported.
"We call this brain response a 'born to smoke' pattern," Dr. Steven Potkin, a professor of psychiatry and a brain imaging specialist who led the study, said in a statement.
Potkin's team was following up on evidence suggesting that people with hostile personality traits are more likely to become addicted to cigarettes and have trouble kicking the habit.
Writing in the journal Cognitive Brain Research, Potkin and colleagues said they tested volunteers by giving them standard psychiatric personality exams and separating them into two groups -- those with higher tendencies to anger, aggression and anxiety, and those with low-hostility traits.
Both groups included smokers and nonsmokers.
They were given nicotine patches to wear and their brains were imaged using positron emission tomography, or PET scans.
The scans showed no metabolic changes in the brain cells of the low-hostility volunteers but the response of the "hostile" personalities was clear, Potkin said.
And the hostile smokers needed a higher dose of nicotine to get the same response that nonsmokers had to the nicotine patch -- suggesting they had become habituated to nicotine.
"Based on these dramatic brain responses to nicotine, if you have hostile, aggressive personality traits, in all likelihood you have a predisposition to cigarette addiction without ever having even touched a cigarette," Potkin said.
"In turn, this might also help explain why other people have no compelling drive to smoke or can quit smoking with relative ease," he added.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - People with hostile or aggressive personality traits may have genetic tendencies that make them "born to smoke," U.S. researchers reported on Thursday.
Brain imaging studies suggest that the same genetic variations that give people hostile personality traits may also make them more likely to become addicted to nicotine, the team at the University of California Irvine reported.
"We call this brain response a 'born to smoke' pattern," Dr. Steven Potkin, a professor of psychiatry and a brain imaging specialist who led the study, said in a statement.
Potkin's team was following up on evidence suggesting that people with hostile personality traits are more likely to become addicted to cigarettes and have trouble kicking the habit.
Writing in the journal Cognitive Brain Research, Potkin and colleagues said they tested volunteers by giving them standard psychiatric personality exams and separating them into two groups -- those with higher tendencies to anger, aggression and anxiety, and those with low-hostility traits.
Both groups included smokers and nonsmokers.
They were given nicotine patches to wear and their brains were imaged using positron emission tomography, or PET scans.
The scans showed no metabolic changes in the brain cells of the low-hostility volunteers but the response of the "hostile" personalities was clear, Potkin said.
And the hostile smokers needed a higher dose of nicotine to get the same response that nonsmokers had to the nicotine patch -- suggesting they had become habituated to nicotine.
"Based on these dramatic brain responses to nicotine, if you have hostile, aggressive personality traits, in all likelihood you have a predisposition to cigarette addiction without ever having even touched a cigarette," Potkin said.
"In turn, this might also help explain why other people have no compelling drive to smoke or can quit smoking with relative ease," he added.
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AussieMark
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Controversial Exhibition Focuses on Pain
LONDON (Reuters) - "Are you looking for Pain?" asked the woman at the entrance to Britain's Science Museum. "Follow me."
It was not an odd pick-up line. It was an invitation to the museum's controversial new exhibition -- "Pain-passion, compassion, sensibility" -- featuring instruments of torture and self abuse as well as of pain relief.
Critics have rounded on the exhibition as being ghoulish and gratuitous, less to do with science than generating income -- although there is no entry charge.
But it does accept that it will generate controversy and recommends that children under 12 should stay away.
"This is the illumination of pain. It is a part of everyday life and as such an important part of our science and society," said Tim Boon, head of collections at the museum.
Thumbscrews, metal masks, a boot to hold boiling oil, a neck compressor, a Spanish knuckle duster and a Chinese chair with blades for the buttocks, back, arms and feet illustrate the torture side of the exhibition.
Iron flails and a penitents' belt of interlocking spikes show the darker side of religious purification through self-inflicted pain.
There is also a silent movie of a German amputation operation in 1900 and a gruesome array of medical knives, saws and forceps showing the more invasive side of surgery that inflicted pain while trying to cure its cause.
"There is a very wide range of exhibits to illustrate pain in all its aspects," Boon told Reuters at a preview before Friday's opening.
"Some people choose pain, others inflict it while others still find salvation in pain. It is a part of everyday life. But it is also still a mystery," he added.
The other side of the exhibition that runs to June 20, is a room full of drugs and instruments to alleviate pain, in celebration of the Victorian breakthrough on analgesics.
Less explicably, there is also the costume worn by 22-year old matador Manuel Granero when he was gored to death by a bull in Madrid in 1922.
Adorning the walls are engravings and paintings of people being flayed alive, executed, operated on and giving birth.
"We are portraying pain, not judging it. Our target audience is independent adults," Boon said.
LONDON (Reuters) - "Are you looking for Pain?" asked the woman at the entrance to Britain's Science Museum. "Follow me."
It was not an odd pick-up line. It was an invitation to the museum's controversial new exhibition -- "Pain-passion, compassion, sensibility" -- featuring instruments of torture and self abuse as well as of pain relief.
Critics have rounded on the exhibition as being ghoulish and gratuitous, less to do with science than generating income -- although there is no entry charge.
But it does accept that it will generate controversy and recommends that children under 12 should stay away.
"This is the illumination of pain. It is a part of everyday life and as such an important part of our science and society," said Tim Boon, head of collections at the museum.
Thumbscrews, metal masks, a boot to hold boiling oil, a neck compressor, a Spanish knuckle duster and a Chinese chair with blades for the buttocks, back, arms and feet illustrate the torture side of the exhibition.
Iron flails and a penitents' belt of interlocking spikes show the darker side of religious purification through self-inflicted pain.
There is also a silent movie of a German amputation operation in 1900 and a gruesome array of medical knives, saws and forceps showing the more invasive side of surgery that inflicted pain while trying to cure its cause.
"There is a very wide range of exhibits to illustrate pain in all its aspects," Boon told Reuters at a preview before Friday's opening.
"Some people choose pain, others inflict it while others still find salvation in pain. It is a part of everyday life. But it is also still a mystery," he added.
The other side of the exhibition that runs to June 20, is a room full of drugs and instruments to alleviate pain, in celebration of the Victorian breakthrough on analgesics.
Less explicably, there is also the costume worn by 22-year old matador Manuel Granero when he was gored to death by a bull in Madrid in 1922.
Adorning the walls are engravings and paintings of people being flayed alive, executed, operated on and giving birth.
"We are portraying pain, not judging it. Our target audience is independent adults," Boon said.
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AussieMark
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Comedian's View of the U.S. Election Campaign
WASHINGT0N (Reuters) - With the U.S. presidential election campaign under way, late night comedy television show hosts are taking a humorous look at the candidates.
Here are some lines broadcast on Thursday:
NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno":
"I was watching TV last night. I saw an interesting documentary on the Ninja, the Japanese soldier. According to legend the Ninjas were warriors who could make themselves invisible whenever there was a war. Kind of like Bush and the National Guard."
"The White House has now released military documents that they say prove George Bush met his requirements for the National Guard. Big deal, we've got documents that prove Al Gore won the election."
CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman":
"There was an embarrassing moment in the White House earlier today. They were looking around while searching for George Bush's military records. They actually found some old Al Gore ballots."
"President Bush says that he can't find any of his National Guard records from the 70s. Oh sure, but he's got no problem finding photos of John Kerry with Jane Fonda from the 70s."
Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart":
"The White House released documents it claims validates the president's (National Guard) service ... When deciphered the documents showed that in a one-year period, 1972 and 1973, Bush received credit for nine days of active National Guard service. The traditional term of service then and now for the National Guard is one weekend a month and two full weeks a year, meaning that Bush's nine-day stint qualifies him only for the National Guard's National Guard. That's the National Guard's National Guard, an Army of None."
WASHINGT0N (Reuters) - With the U.S. presidential election campaign under way, late night comedy television show hosts are taking a humorous look at the candidates.
Here are some lines broadcast on Thursday:
NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno":
"I was watching TV last night. I saw an interesting documentary on the Ninja, the Japanese soldier. According to legend the Ninjas were warriors who could make themselves invisible whenever there was a war. Kind of like Bush and the National Guard."
"The White House has now released military documents that they say prove George Bush met his requirements for the National Guard. Big deal, we've got documents that prove Al Gore won the election."
CBS' "The Late Show with David Letterman":
"There was an embarrassing moment in the White House earlier today. They were looking around while searching for George Bush's military records. They actually found some old Al Gore ballots."
"President Bush says that he can't find any of his National Guard records from the 70s. Oh sure, but he's got no problem finding photos of John Kerry with Jane Fonda from the 70s."
Comedy Central's "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart":
"The White House released documents it claims validates the president's (National Guard) service ... When deciphered the documents showed that in a one-year period, 1972 and 1973, Bush received credit for nine days of active National Guard service. The traditional term of service then and now for the National Guard is one weekend a month and two full weeks a year, meaning that Bush's nine-day stint qualifies him only for the National Guard's National Guard. That's the National Guard's National Guard, an Army of None."
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AussieMark
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Karaoke's Cinematic Offspring, Movieoke, Hits Town
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Frustrated actors have a new outlet for their creative urges that until now was only available to their singing cousins -- Movieoke, Karaoke's cinematic sibling.
The brainchild of film-fanatic Anastasia Fite, Movieoke is just what it sounds like: a chance for those brave enough to take over from Robert De Niro in his "You talkin' to me?" monologue in "Taxi Driver," or to strut their stuff alongside Ben Stiller in "Zoolander."
The weekly affair takes place in the Den of Cin, a basement space below an East Village pizza parlor and video store that offers a huge selection of films to act along with.
Guests select a specific scene from a movie that is then projected onto a big screen, while a monitor in front of them shows the scene along with subtitled dialogue.
The result is either a skillful rendering of the original lines or, more often than not, some sort of goof up that draws laughter from the audience.
So far, the Movieoke night has mostly drawn mid-20s movie buffs eager to relive scenes from their childhood favorites such as '80s classics "Breakfast Club" and "Heathers."
But you don't have to be a connoisseur, or in your 20s, to love Movieoke, though having a few beers upon arrival might help loosen things up.
"As long as you're not afraid to make a fool of yourself, it becomes a really communal experience," said Fite, who invented Movieoke last October and gives patrons their first beer free.
Not surprisingly given her passion for films, the Movieoke queen hails from Los Angeles. An energetic participant herself, Fite says she got the idea after making a short film about a girl who talked only in movie dialogue.
Matt Dujnic, a regular who played several roles throughout the evening, was clearly enthralled by the whole thing.
"It appeals to the aspiring never-to-be an actor in me," said Dujnic.
A small, but enthusiastic crowd attended Wednesday's session. First-timer Jon Ratner seemed completely at ease as he played pretty much every character in a scene from Eddie Murphy's "Coming to America."
"I've seen that movie more than I've seen myself in the mirror," he joked.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Frustrated actors have a new outlet for their creative urges that until now was only available to their singing cousins -- Movieoke, Karaoke's cinematic sibling.
The brainchild of film-fanatic Anastasia Fite, Movieoke is just what it sounds like: a chance for those brave enough to take over from Robert De Niro in his "You talkin' to me?" monologue in "Taxi Driver," or to strut their stuff alongside Ben Stiller in "Zoolander."
The weekly affair takes place in the Den of Cin, a basement space below an East Village pizza parlor and video store that offers a huge selection of films to act along with.
Guests select a specific scene from a movie that is then projected onto a big screen, while a monitor in front of them shows the scene along with subtitled dialogue.
The result is either a skillful rendering of the original lines or, more often than not, some sort of goof up that draws laughter from the audience.
So far, the Movieoke night has mostly drawn mid-20s movie buffs eager to relive scenes from their childhood favorites such as '80s classics "Breakfast Club" and "Heathers."
But you don't have to be a connoisseur, or in your 20s, to love Movieoke, though having a few beers upon arrival might help loosen things up.
"As long as you're not afraid to make a fool of yourself, it becomes a really communal experience," said Fite, who invented Movieoke last October and gives patrons their first beer free.
Not surprisingly given her passion for films, the Movieoke queen hails from Los Angeles. An energetic participant herself, Fite says she got the idea after making a short film about a girl who talked only in movie dialogue.
Matt Dujnic, a regular who played several roles throughout the evening, was clearly enthralled by the whole thing.
"It appeals to the aspiring never-to-be an actor in me," said Dujnic.
A small, but enthusiastic crowd attended Wednesday's session. First-timer Jon Ratner seemed completely at ease as he played pretty much every character in a scene from Eddie Murphy's "Coming to America."
"I've seen that movie more than I've seen myself in the mirror," he joked.
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AussieMark
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Teachers Treated After Eating Doped Cake
BERLIN (Reuters) - Teachers in a German school were treated in hospital after gobbling up an anonymously donated chocolate cake, unaware it was laced with hashish, authorities said on Thursday.
Some 10 teachers from the school in the northern town of Lueneburg were treated for nausea and dizziness after sharing a cake left at the door to their staff room, a police spokesman said.
"They thought it was food poisoning, but the doctors quickly recognized the problem," the spokesman said. "They showed all the classic signs of people under the influence of drugs."
The spokesman said the teachers had not suspected anything because it was customary for them to buy cakes from the schoolchildren as part of a fund-raising project.
Blood tests and a sample of an uneaten slice of cake revealed it had been doctored with hashish. The teachers were later discharged and police said they had not yet identified who was responsible for the prank.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Teachers in a German school were treated in hospital after gobbling up an anonymously donated chocolate cake, unaware it was laced with hashish, authorities said on Thursday.
Some 10 teachers from the school in the northern town of Lueneburg were treated for nausea and dizziness after sharing a cake left at the door to their staff room, a police spokesman said.
"They thought it was food poisoning, but the doctors quickly recognized the problem," the spokesman said. "They showed all the classic signs of people under the influence of drugs."
The spokesman said the teachers had not suspected anything because it was customary for them to buy cakes from the schoolchildren as part of a fund-raising project.
Blood tests and a sample of an uneaten slice of cake revealed it had been doctored with hashish. The teachers were later discharged and police said they had not yet identified who was responsible for the prank.
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AussieMark
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Doctors, Priests Form Exorcism Commission
ROME (Reuters) - Faced with growing demand for exorcisms, Catholic Church leaders in the Italian city of Genoa have created a taskforce of doctors and priests to determine when the devil is at work and when psychiatric help is needed.
The team of three priests, one psychiatrist, one psychologist and one neurologist -- dubbed the "anti-Satan pool" by Italian media -- will work on a case-by-case basis, a local church official said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
"They'll meet on a regular basis to determine when there has been a case of demonic possession and call for an exorcist, or problems better cared for by a psychologist," said the official, who asked not to be named.
For Catholics, exorcism is the casting out of what is believed to be an evil spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands.
One of the church's leading exorcists praised the initiative, saying medical experts are needed to rule out mental problems before spiritual work can begin.
"I never accept anyone who arrives without a medical certificate," Father Gabriele Amorth told Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The Genoa taskforce was created by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
The official Catholic exorcism starts with prayers, the blessing and sprinkling of holy water, the laying of hands on the possessed, and the making of the sign of the cross.
It ends with the priest commanding the devil to leave the possessed person.
While the church does not often talk openly about exorcisms, Bertone said the need for them is there.
"It has become difficult to talk about Satan, but the signs of the devil are palpable," he told Corriere della Sera in comments published Thursday.
ROME (Reuters) - Faced with growing demand for exorcisms, Catholic Church leaders in the Italian city of Genoa have created a taskforce of doctors and priests to determine when the devil is at work and when psychiatric help is needed.
The team of three priests, one psychiatrist, one psychologist and one neurologist -- dubbed the "anti-Satan pool" by Italian media -- will work on a case-by-case basis, a local church official said in a telephone interview on Thursday.
"They'll meet on a regular basis to determine when there has been a case of demonic possession and call for an exorcist, or problems better cared for by a psychologist," said the official, who asked not to be named.
For Catholics, exorcism is the casting out of what is believed to be an evil spirit through prayer and the laying on of hands.
One of the church's leading exorcists praised the initiative, saying medical experts are needed to rule out mental problems before spiritual work can begin.
"I never accept anyone who arrives without a medical certificate," Father Gabriele Amorth told Corriere della Sera newspaper.
The Genoa taskforce was created by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.
The official Catholic exorcism starts with prayers, the blessing and sprinkling of holy water, the laying of hands on the possessed, and the making of the sign of the cross.
It ends with the priest commanding the devil to leave the possessed person.
While the church does not often talk openly about exorcisms, Bertone said the need for them is there.
"It has become difficult to talk about Satan, but the signs of the devil are palpable," he told Corriere della Sera in comments published Thursday.
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