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Monday, March 08, 2010
Man in chicken suit shot in drive-by shooting
Robert Hatter may never want to step into another chicken costume again after what happened to him. He was helping promote a local hamburger restaurant - dressed in a chicken costume - when he became the victim of a drive-by shooting.
"I thought it'd be kind of neat to be in a cow outfit, but I'm too fat couldn't get in a cow outfit," Hatter quipped. "A chicken was just appropriate and I have a sign out side that says eat more beef!"
While he was outside of the Burger Barn on Central and Zoo strutting his stuff, a car pulled up beside him. A man leaned out and fired two shots. "As he faced me, he pulled his shirt up, then *pop* *pop* and kept going! They didn't even slow down."
Hatter was shot in the thigh by a pellet gun. "Apparently they didn't like chicken!" Hatter suffered minor injuries and was back at the Burger Barn less than three hours later. "Lucky is the wrong word. I'm very fortunate. Very fortunate." Police are still looking for the people responsible.
"I thought it'd be kind of neat to be in a cow outfit, but I'm too fat couldn't get in a cow outfit," Hatter quipped. "A chicken was just appropriate and I have a sign out side that says eat more beef!"
While he was outside of the Burger Barn on Central and Zoo strutting his stuff, a car pulled up beside him. A man leaned out and fired two shots. "As he faced me, he pulled his shirt up, then *pop* *pop* and kept going! They didn't even slow down."
Hatter was shot in the thigh by a pellet gun. "Apparently they didn't like chicken!" Hatter suffered minor injuries and was back at the Burger Barn less than three hours later. "Lucky is the wrong word. I'm very fortunate. Very fortunate." Police are still looking for the people responsible.
New Zealand prison staff find sausage stash
An attempt by an ex-inmate and his girlfriend to smuggle a stash of sausages and booze into Auckland's Paremoremo Prison was foiled by corrections staff on Tuesday. The pair had been trying to treat their mates inside the prison to a feast but are now facing charges for breaching the Corrections Act.
The ruse came undone after a staff member who lives nearby the prison noticed a car on a private road beside the prison's low-medium security unit drop off a passenger, Auckland prison manager Neil Beales said. "The staff member notified the prison immediately, at the same time as internal fence alarms in the unit were activated and staff saw a prisoner pick up a bag and run into his cell," Mr Beales said.
Prison staff caught the man outside the prison and handed him over to police. The man's girlfriend, who had been driving the car, was later arrested by police. Prison staff rushed to the prisoner's cell and discovered he had changed into a different outfit in an attempt to fool them, Mr Beales said.
"Two other prisoners was also in the cell and one was holding the bag which, surprisingly, contained sausages, other meat and alcohol. How the prisoners planned to cook the meat remains a mystery, but the barbeque was canned when the items were confiscated and the prisoners were told that they would be facing internal misconduct charges and security classification reviews."
The ruse came undone after a staff member who lives nearby the prison noticed a car on a private road beside the prison's low-medium security unit drop off a passenger, Auckland prison manager Neil Beales said. "The staff member notified the prison immediately, at the same time as internal fence alarms in the unit were activated and staff saw a prisoner pick up a bag and run into his cell," Mr Beales said.
Prison staff caught the man outside the prison and handed him over to police. The man's girlfriend, who had been driving the car, was later arrested by police. Prison staff rushed to the prisoner's cell and discovered he had changed into a different outfit in an attempt to fool them, Mr Beales said.
"Two other prisoners was also in the cell and one was holding the bag which, surprisingly, contained sausages, other meat and alcohol. How the prisoners planned to cook the meat remains a mystery, but the barbeque was canned when the items were confiscated and the prisoners were told that they would be facing internal misconduct charges and security classification reviews."
Row over graffiti artist's buttocks
A Mexican judge was sacked for attempting to spray paint the buttocks of a teenage graffiti artist as punishment for tagging on public buildings.
Fernando Perez Hurtado, a civilian judge from San Juan Del Rio, was dismissed for abusing his authority after he tried to impose the “humiliating” sentence on the 13 year-old, officials said.
Police said the teenager, who has not been named, was caught last week “tagging” on walls of public buildings and homes throughout the suburbs of the town, located in the state of Queretaro, about 160 miles northwest of Mexico City.
After he was arrested and charged, he faced court where the judge imposed the bizarre punishment instead of forcing his parents to pay a fine to pay for any future clean-up, it was claimed.
Despite protests from parents and other court officials, the judge ordered the young artist to pull down his trousers before attempting to paint his buttocks with the same spray paint the teenager had used during his crimes.
The judge, who is facing a three year ban from public office and a fine, was prevented from the touching the child after concerned officials stepped in. The town’s mayor Gustavo Nieto later confirmed he had fired the judge, whose job it was to impose penalties for petty crime, after he had “humiliated” the teenager.
Fernando Perez Hurtado, a civilian judge from San Juan Del Rio, was dismissed for abusing his authority after he tried to impose the “humiliating” sentence on the 13 year-old, officials said.
Police said the teenager, who has not been named, was caught last week “tagging” on walls of public buildings and homes throughout the suburbs of the town, located in the state of Queretaro, about 160 miles northwest of Mexico City.
After he was arrested and charged, he faced court where the judge imposed the bizarre punishment instead of forcing his parents to pay a fine to pay for any future clean-up, it was claimed.
Despite protests from parents and other court officials, the judge ordered the young artist to pull down his trousers before attempting to paint his buttocks with the same spray paint the teenager had used during his crimes.
The judge, who is facing a three year ban from public office and a fine, was prevented from the touching the child after concerned officials stepped in. The town’s mayor Gustavo Nieto later confirmed he had fired the judge, whose job it was to impose penalties for petty crime, after he had “humiliated” the teenager.
Virgin Mary painting 'weeping oil' in Paris suburb
Hundreds of people have been flocking to a house in a Paris suburb over recent weeks to see an icon of the Virgin Mary "shed tears of oil", according to the owner.
Esat Altindagoglu said the tears began flowing from the icon hanging in the hallway of his house in Garges-les-Gonesse on February 12 and that some 50 people have been showing up at his door daily since word spread of the "miracle".
"It's a small miracle," he said on Sunday. "This is a message sent by the Virgin and her son."
Esat's wife Sevim, also a fervent believer, said she was praying before the icon when "I noticed that she was crying. I said to myself' this is not normal'."
Visitors who come from as far away as Belgium and Germany often bring a small wad of cotton to collect some of the oil from the icon that they believe holds healing powers.
A woman came in mid-February and explained that she was unable to have a child. She took a bit of oil with a hankerchief and placed it on her belly. Two days ago she called me and said that she could now have child," said Sevim.
Esat Altindagoglu said the tears began flowing from the icon hanging in the hallway of his house in Garges-les-Gonesse on February 12 and that some 50 people have been showing up at his door daily since word spread of the "miracle".
"It's a small miracle," he said on Sunday. "This is a message sent by the Virgin and her son."
Esat's wife Sevim, also a fervent believer, said she was praying before the icon when "I noticed that she was crying. I said to myself' this is not normal'."
Visitors who come from as far away as Belgium and Germany often bring a small wad of cotton to collect some of the oil from the icon that they believe holds healing powers.
A woman came in mid-February and explained that she was unable to have a child. She took a bit of oil with a hankerchief and placed it on her belly. Two days ago she called me and said that she could now have child," said Sevim.
Turkish court sentences pop star to write out lines
A Turkish pop star has been sentenced to write out Turkey's lengthy national anthem along with a five page critique of it after a court found her guilty of casting ethnic slurs at a concert.
Seven businessmen from the primarily Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, in the impoverished southeast which has been troubled for years by separatist violence, took pop star Demet Akalin to court over comments she said were an attempt to liven up her audience.
"What? Are you all from Diyarbakir? Did you come from the mountains? I don't understand where you people can be from all of you sitting there staring like morons," she allegedly said at a concert in the Aegean resort city of Bodrum in 2008.
A court found her guilty of breaking a law banning public insults based on regional differences, social class or sexuality.
But media said on Sunday that Akalin liked the idea and that she had memorised the national anthem since her school years.
"There's a lot I want to write about, because I love every corner of my country," she said.
Seven businessmen from the primarily Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, in the impoverished southeast which has been troubled for years by separatist violence, took pop star Demet Akalin to court over comments she said were an attempt to liven up her audience.
"What? Are you all from Diyarbakir? Did you come from the mountains? I don't understand where you people can be from all of you sitting there staring like morons," she allegedly said at a concert in the Aegean resort city of Bodrum in 2008.
A court found her guilty of breaking a law banning public insults based on regional differences, social class or sexuality.
But media said on Sunday that Akalin liked the idea and that she had memorised the national anthem since her school years.
"There's a lot I want to write about, because I love every corner of my country," she said.
Washington DC to distribute female condoms
Washington DC will become the first city in the US to make female condoms available for free.
The contraceptives will be handed out in beauty salons, convenience stores and high schools in areas with high rates of HIV/Aids infection.
Male condoms have long been handed out but infection rates remain high among Washington's black residents.
Female condoms have been on sale since 1993 but take-up has been slow.
The contraceptives will be handed out in beauty salons, convenience stores and high schools in areas with high rates of HIV/Aids infection.
Male condoms have long been handed out but infection rates remain high among Washington's black residents.
Female condoms have been on sale since 1993 but take-up has been slow.
Row rages over iconic image of Che Guevara
It is the photograph that adorns student bedsits across the world. The famed black and white portrait of Ernesto "Che" Guevara perfectly captured his intense stare and brooding good looks, helping establish his myth. But exactly 50 years since Cuban photographer Alberto Díaz "Korda" Gutiérrez snapped the Marxist revolutionary, the image has become the subject of bitter legal battles.
Since Korda's death in 2001, his daughter, Diana Díaz, has pursued companies she accuses of breaching the photograph's copyright by using it in their advertising campaigns. Her father employed a similar tactic when he sued Smirnoff Vodka for the illegal use of the image in 2001, a case that re-established his copyright after 41 years.
Díaz's legal battles are not without controversy – or irony. For decades the Argentinian-born Guevara's adopted spiritual home of Cuba did not recognise copyright. It was only following the collapse of the former Soviet Union that Cuba joined the World Trade Organisation and legalised copyright.
Díaz, who lives in Cuba, says that to fund her legal battles she has had to sell licences to a range of "Che" products, including baseball caps, T-shirts and, of course, berets. Her control of the Che brand has led to reports of rows with her half-siblings who live in exile.
Since Korda's death in 2001, his daughter, Diana Díaz, has pursued companies she accuses of breaching the photograph's copyright by using it in their advertising campaigns. Her father employed a similar tactic when he sued Smirnoff Vodka for the illegal use of the image in 2001, a case that re-established his copyright after 41 years.
Díaz's legal battles are not without controversy – or irony. For decades the Argentinian-born Guevara's adopted spiritual home of Cuba did not recognise copyright. It was only following the collapse of the former Soviet Union that Cuba joined the World Trade Organisation and legalised copyright.
Díaz, who lives in Cuba, says that to fund her legal battles she has had to sell licences to a range of "Che" products, including baseball caps, T-shirts and, of course, berets. Her control of the Che brand has led to reports of rows with her half-siblings who live in exile.
Switzerland rejects move to provide lawyers for animals
Voters in Switzerland have rejected a proposal to introduce a nationwide system of state-funded lawyers to represent animals in court.
Animal rights groups had proposed the move, saying that without lawyers to argue the animals' case, many instances of cruelty were going unpunished.
But the measure was rejected by around 70% of voters in a referendum.
Opponents had argued that Switzerland did not need more legislation. The government had opposed the idea.
Voters were almost certainly swayed by worries about how much such a system might cost taxpayers, and by objections from Switzerland's farmers already struggling with reduced subsidies and falling milk prices.
Switzerland already has some of the strictest animal welfare legislation in the world. Pigs, budgies, goldfish and other social animals cannot be kept alone; horses and cows must have regular exercise outside in summer and winter; and dog owners have to take training courses to learn how to care for their pets.
Animal rights groups had proposed the move, saying that without lawyers to argue the animals' case, many instances of cruelty were going unpunished.
But the measure was rejected by around 70% of voters in a referendum.
Opponents had argued that Switzerland did not need more legislation. The government had opposed the idea.
Voters were almost certainly swayed by worries about how much such a system might cost taxpayers, and by objections from Switzerland's farmers already struggling with reduced subsidies and falling milk prices.
Switzerland already has some of the strictest animal welfare legislation in the world. Pigs, budgies, goldfish and other social animals cannot be kept alone; horses and cows must have regular exercise outside in summer and winter; and dog owners have to take training courses to learn how to care for their pets.
I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts
These two squirrels go to infinity and beyond to prove they are nuts about coconuts — diving head-first into the shells for a satisfying snack.
The peckish pair look more like starved spacemen tucking into the tropical treats in animal lover Jane Roberts' back garden in Fareham, Hants. Jane, 46, leaves out two coconuts a week for her furry friends.
She suspends them on pieces of string from her washing line and watches the crazy critters digging in. Jane said: "The first time I saw them feeding I nearly died laughing, they looked like a pair of astronauts.
"Even now I can't stop chuckling every time I see them. I make a large hole in the coconut so they can get to the flesh. They can't get enough of them."
The peckish pair look more like starved spacemen tucking into the tropical treats in animal lover Jane Roberts' back garden in Fareham, Hants. Jane, 46, leaves out two coconuts a week for her furry friends.
She suspends them on pieces of string from her washing line and watches the crazy critters digging in. Jane said: "The first time I saw them feeding I nearly died laughing, they looked like a pair of astronauts.
"Even now I can't stop chuckling every time I see them. I make a large hole in the coconut so they can get to the flesh. They can't get enough of them."
Wild monkeys ‘sent to British laboratories’
Wild monkeys are being illegally trapped and plundered from the forests of south‑east Asia for use in British research laboratory experiments, fear animal welfare campaigners.
Campaigners and MPs are calling on the Home Office to examine allegations that wild-caught macaques are being sourced from the jungles of Laos and Cambodia in breach of international conservation regulations.
Undercover investigators from the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) found “appalling” conditions at one primate centre in Laos where the “factory farming of macaques takes place on an industrial scale”.
They said monkeys were kept in rows of small chain-linked pens whose floors were made of either concrete or suspended wire.
And infants were taken from their mothers aged six months, they said, causing extreme distress to both. Non-human primates can only be imported into the UK for toxicology and medical research tests from companies approved by British inspectors.
The regulations are aimed at ensuring adequate conditions and preventing ruthless businessmen cashing in on the booming trade by trapping monkeys in the wild. However, the BUAV fears those rules are being broken.
Full story with news video here.
Campaigners and MPs are calling on the Home Office to examine allegations that wild-caught macaques are being sourced from the jungles of Laos and Cambodia in breach of international conservation regulations.
Undercover investigators from the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) found “appalling” conditions at one primate centre in Laos where the “factory farming of macaques takes place on an industrial scale”.
They said monkeys were kept in rows of small chain-linked pens whose floors were made of either concrete or suspended wire.
And infants were taken from their mothers aged six months, they said, causing extreme distress to both. Non-human primates can only be imported into the UK for toxicology and medical research tests from companies approved by British inspectors.
The regulations are aimed at ensuring adequate conditions and preventing ruthless businessmen cashing in on the booming trade by trapping monkeys in the wild. However, the BUAV fears those rules are being broken.
Full story with news video here.
Nun is left brothel by her mum
A nun who was abandoned as a baby discovered she had inherited a fortune and a brothel.
The 55-year-old - who cannot be identified - was traced to a convent near Glasgow after her mother passed away in Austria.
The mother - known only as Linda K - used to be a circus performer and handed her new-born baby over to an orphanage while on tour in Scotland.
Vienna historian Nicolas Forster, who found the daughter, said: "We were contacted when Linda K. died. We discovered she had some fortune, but no husband and apparently no relatives."
In later life, Linda had set up a brothel, the ownership of which then passed to her daughter, along with a large sum of money.
The nun has sold the business, donating the proceeds and cash to underprivileged children in India.
The 55-year-old - who cannot be identified - was traced to a convent near Glasgow after her mother passed away in Austria.
The mother - known only as Linda K - used to be a circus performer and handed her new-born baby over to an orphanage while on tour in Scotland.
Vienna historian Nicolas Forster, who found the daughter, said: "We were contacted when Linda K. died. We discovered she had some fortune, but no husband and apparently no relatives."
In later life, Linda had set up a brothel, the ownership of which then passed to her daughter, along with a large sum of money.
The nun has sold the business, donating the proceeds and cash to underprivileged children in India.
Mother branded as abuser for telling daughter of caesarean
Social workers have placed the five-year-old daughter of a professional couple on the child protection register for “emotional abuse” after the mother told the girl she was delivered by caesarean. Other allegations against the mother include cuddling her daughter for too long when dropping her off at nursery.
The intervention by Birmingham social services prompted the mother, Shahnaz Malik, to go into hiding with her daughter, Amaani, for two months, fearing the girl would be taken away.
An alert was put out to all British ports, and police conducted raids on a string of properties in the West Midlands. Two weeks ago police battered down the door of the family’s home in an apartment block in an attempt to find Amaani. She had been moved elsewhere by her mother, but her father, Vijay Bansal, 42, an IT consultant, was later arrested and held in a cell overnight for “obstructing” the search.
Officers also seized Malik’s car, took toothbrushes from the bathroom to analyse for DNA and raided the homes of relatives in the middle of the night, looking for the mother and girl.
“This whole case is madness as there is no reason for the state to be involved in this little girl’s life in this way,” said John Hemming, a Birmingham MP who campaigns against abuses by the family courts.
“The problem is that the system is using massive aggression to deal with the mother’s refusal to respond to a set of frankly silly concerns.”
The intervention by Birmingham social services prompted the mother, Shahnaz Malik, to go into hiding with her daughter, Amaani, for two months, fearing the girl would be taken away.
An alert was put out to all British ports, and police conducted raids on a string of properties in the West Midlands. Two weeks ago police battered down the door of the family’s home in an apartment block in an attempt to find Amaani. She had been moved elsewhere by her mother, but her father, Vijay Bansal, 42, an IT consultant, was later arrested and held in a cell overnight for “obstructing” the search.
Officers also seized Malik’s car, took toothbrushes from the bathroom to analyse for DNA and raided the homes of relatives in the middle of the night, looking for the mother and girl.
“This whole case is madness as there is no reason for the state to be involved in this little girl’s life in this way,” said John Hemming, a Birmingham MP who campaigns against abuses by the family courts.
“The problem is that the system is using massive aggression to deal with the mother’s refusal to respond to a set of frankly silly concerns.”
Window cleaner killed himself with giant pencil
A window cleaner died after stabbing himself in the groin repeatedly with a jumbo souvenir pencil, an inquest heard. Jeffrey Burton’s family and friends were baffled by his bizarre death, which was recorded as an open verdict because there was no evidence he was trying to commit suicide.
Mr Burton, 57, was found by police in a blood-soaked room in his house in St Leonards, East Sussex, on September 27. Worried neighbours raised the alarm after they were unable to get hold of him.
When police broke into his house they found Mr Burton lying on his back, wearing only his underpants. The room was splattered with blood and music was still playing on his stereo. The giant blood-covered pencil was beside him. He had a deep gash in his upper thigh.
East Sussex coroner Alan Craze told the Hastings inquest: “It’s a mystery to me. If you were choosing to take your own life, that’s not the way you would do it. It seems to me that it can’t have been a single stab wound. He seems to have worked on it. The pencil was blunt.”
Mr Burton, 57, was found by police in a blood-soaked room in his house in St Leonards, East Sussex, on September 27. Worried neighbours raised the alarm after they were unable to get hold of him.
When police broke into his house they found Mr Burton lying on his back, wearing only his underpants. The room was splattered with blood and music was still playing on his stereo. The giant blood-covered pencil was beside him. He had a deep gash in his upper thigh.
East Sussex coroner Alan Craze told the Hastings inquest: “It’s a mystery to me. If you were choosing to take your own life, that’s not the way you would do it. It seems to me that it can’t have been a single stab wound. He seems to have worked on it. The pencil was blunt.”
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