Friday, March 2, 2012

Mid Day International News

Mid Day International News

Cash-strapped Spanish town authorises cannabis plantation

Posted:

Leaders of this northeastern town have given the green light to the establishment of a cannabis plantation to boost municipal revenues and create jobs as Spain faces economic crisis

The Rasquera city council voted in favour of leasing land to the Barcelona-based ABCDA group to plant marijuana, a project that will create 40 jobs and is projected to generate 1.33 million euros ($1.78 million) over the next two years.

The private consumption and cultivation of pot is legal in Spain, and although its use to alleviate the symptoms of different diseases - such as cancer - is very controversial, some patients with chronic pain resort to marijuana to mitigate their suffering.

After the vote Tuesday evening, Rasquera Mayor Bernat Pallisa said that the project is supported by a majority of the townspeople, adding that he felt like a "pioneer on the European level".

He also said he was "surprised" by the response to the project in Germany, Italy, Argentina and the US, from where the city government has received requests for more information, and a company has gotten in contact with him expressing interest in establishing a cottage in the town to house cancer, fibromyalgia and multiple sclerosis patients.

He announced that next week an assembly will be held in Rasquera where scientists, attorneys and physicians will explain the aspects of the project to the locals.

However, those opposed to the measure say that it "brushes the limit of illicit activities", and so they voted against the plantation and demanded "a binding referendum" on the matter.

Rasquera, a farming community governed by the leftist Catalan nationalist party ERC, has a population of about 900 and debt of 1.3 million euros.

The pot plantation project, which was suggested seven months ago by ABCDA, is seen by authorities as an opportunity to revitalize the battered local economy.

According to the contract between Rasquera and ABCDA, the association will contribute 30,000 euros upon the signing of the contract, 6,000 euros more within the next month and 650,000 euros per year for two years to be able to use the land that will be allocated to it.

That will enable the municipality to retire its debt in two years.

Spain finished out 2011 with a deficit equal to 8.51 percent of gross domestic product and an unemployment rate of 23.49 percent, which translates to more than 5.2 million people out of work.


Australian troops share 'sexist and racist' stuff on Facebook

Posted:

The Australian Defence Force is investigating claims that several serving troops have posted racist and sexist material on a closed Facebook page. ABC TV made had revealed that more than 1000 former and serving Royal Australian Regiment soldiers were a part of this Facebook group, which contains material including images that state 'This is a rag head free zone' and 'All women are filthy lying whores'.

Offensive comments about injured Muslims have also been made in the closed Facebook group by the troops. Army chief Lieutenant General David Morrison said in a statement that the issues raised were 'serious'. "Where they have been I intend to take action to deal with them to the extent that our policies and the laws allows," News.com.au quoted Lt Gen Morrison, as saying.

A former Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) cadet Naomi Brookes says such withering views are quite common within the Defence services and such things would be considered less grim as the time will move on. "I''ve heard it before. Comments like the ones on the Facebook groups aren''t all that unusual. And because they are not all that unusual as time goes on they seem less and less obscene. So it feeds back into itself," said Brookes.

Woman eats 4,000 washing-up sponges

Posted:

Dental nurse Kerry Trebilcock has eaten 4,000 washing-up sponges and more than 100 bars of soap due to a rare disorder. The 21-year-old loves nothing more than covering them in hot sauce,ketchup or mustard for added flavour and also dips them in tea or hot chocolate like biscuits.

Her disorder -- known as pica -- is so bad that she gets hungry while taking a shower, doing the washing-up or just walking down the cleaning aisle in supermarkets. The disorder causes victims to crave objects that are not food, mostly metal, coal, sand, chalk -- or even lightbulbs and furniture.

Kerry believes she got the bizarre disorder after being infected with hookworm while on holiday to Morocco in 2008. Her favourite bar of soap is organic lemon and lime. Kerry said, "I have been very particular about the type of sponges and soaps I eat. If I'd go out for the day I carry a small plastic bag of cut-up pieces of sponge with some tomato and BBQ sauce in Tupperware."

Speaking about the first time she ate a sponge Kerry said, "After one dinner, I still felt hungry. I sat down with a glass of water and chewed the sponge until it was gone.Finally my hunger was gone and my stomach felt satisfied." Kerry is determined to kick the disorder with the help of her doctor.


Pak moves Interpol for Musharraf's arrest

Posted:

Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has sent a formal request to Interpol to issue red warrants for the arrest of former president Pervez Musharraf (in pic), an accused and proclaimed offender in the Benazir Bhutto assassination case.



FIA's Special Prosecutor Mohammad Azhar Chaudhry said an officer of the Joint Investigation Team (JIT) of the BB assassination case had handed over an application to the Interpol representative for issuing red warrants for Gen Musharraf.

"After scrutinising the application, which is a formality, the Interpol representative would seek permission from the interior ministry before sending the application to his head office in France," he was quoted as saying. Once red warrants get issued, Musharraf will be arrested either at airports or at his residence anywhere in the world.


CNN founder spends each week with A different girl

Posted:

Ted Turner, the 73-yr-old billionaire, has revealed that he has four girlfriends and he spends one week with each of them a month

In a sit-down with The Hollywood Reporter, billionaire and CNN founder Ted Turner opens up about his life and his loves. Turner and his third wife Jane Fonda divorced in 2001, after 10 years of marriage, and the actress has been replaced in his personal life by a complicated arrangement involving a quartet of other women.



The media mogul said a week per month for each girlfriend was "pretty much the general rule." He only named one of the women, the novelist Elizabeth Dewberry. Until five years ago Dewberry was married to the Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler.

When they separated Butler wrote an e-mail to friends, in which he said: "She will not be Ted's only girlfriend. Ted is permanently and avowedly non-monogamous. But though he has several girlfriends, it is a very small number, and he does not take them up lightly."

Asked if the other three women were happy to share him, Turner replied, "Sort of." He still speaks to Fonda about once a month and, according to one friend, is "still in love with her." Turner said, "Jane said 'I want two homes, a winter home and a summer home. I don't want 10.' And she couldn't take the travel. Really, it's much harder for a woman than a man."

"What am I supposed to do, sit down and cry? I did for six months. And after that, you gotta go on." Turner also admitted he had considered suicide. He said, "I've thought about it and decided against it " in the past, not recently."

He also revealed he has not been into a shop to buy anything for five years. Turner said Rupert Murdoch should "resign or step down" if News Corp was found to have broken the law. He added: "When I was a publisher of CNN, I took responsibility for the actions of the network."


No lights, no toilets, no beds: Passengers say cruise was 'hell'

Posted:

Tourists disembarking from stricken Costa Allegra ship speak of the panic and confusion on board after being adrift at sea for three days

Tourists stranded on the Costa Allegra have spoken of the awful conditions on board as the stricken ship finally reached the Seychelles' yesterday. A fire on board the luxury liner left it adrift in the Indian Ocean without power for three days and needing to be towed to safety.




Dry land at last: The relieved passengers on board the Costa Allegra
after they reach Seychelles. Pics/AFP

The stranded passengers, were forced to stay out on deck as there was no lights, no air conditioning and toilets that wouldn't flush. They were also forced to survive on basic food rations. Tired and dishevelled, passengers on the Costa Allegra finally stepped on to dry land yesterday. Derek Adams, a passenger, said, "There was no power. The loos had packed up. They just filled up and were smelling more and more."

Some of the tourists will be staying on in the Seychelles at Costa Cruises' expense. British High Commissioner Matthew Forbes said, "I think everyone is alright now and looking forward to having a little comfort for a few days."

One passenger told how she had existed on white bread and salami morning, noon and evening. She said, "Believe me, I don't want to see another salami for a long time." She said passengers had been sunbathing on deck when suddenly there was "terrible black" smoke and passengers had got their lifejackets and assembled at their stations.

She went on: "Everything was off. There were no toilets, nothing. It was terrible. We got plenty of water and for three days I ate white bread with a slice of salami. We had it morning, noon and evening. That was it." osta Allegra's captain, Niccolo Alba, said the fire had been extinguished "in an hour" and he praised his crew. He said, "The Costa Allegra staff were great. The behaviour of all staff members was outstanding."


Tornadoes pound 7 states, killing 12

Posted:

Tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system roared through middle America yesterday, flattening entire blocks of homes in small-town Illinois and Kansas and killing at least 12 people.Six were killed in the southern Illinois town of Harrisburg.

Among the scores of injured neighbours who hobbled or were wheeled into the Harrisburg Medical Centre, four were dead. The Harrisburg twister was an E4, the second-strongest category. The National Weather Service's Rick Shanklin said it scoured a path about 180m wide, with winds of up to 275km/h, splintering buildings and tossing vehicles like toys.

One tornado damaged about 40 per cent of the small Kansas town of Harveyville, and officials said the town lost electricity. In Missouri, one person was killed in a caravan park in Buffalo. Two others were killed in the state's south. Three more fatalities were reported in Tennessee.

US Storm Prediction Centre forecaster Corey Mead said a broad front was hitting warm, humid air over much of the eastern half of the nation. At least 16 tornado sightings were reported from Nebraska and Kansas across southern Missouri to Illinois and Kentucky, according to the storm centre. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration documented the first February tornado in Nebraska history.


UK galleries raise Rs 353 cr for art masterpiece

Posted:

Two British galleries have raised �45 million (Rs 353 crore) for an important painting by Renaissance master Titian, dipping into their own coffers rather than asking the cash-strapped public to help.


For the people: The Diana and Callisto by Italian Renaissance master
by Titian which has been saved for the nation. Pic/Getty Images

The acquisition of Diana and Callisto by London's National Gallery and the National Galleries of Scotland in Edinburgh, follows a similar purchase in 2009 for the accompanying canvas Diana and Actaeon, which cost the galleries �50 million (Rs 390 crore). National Gallery director Nicholas Penny said the museums decided to use bequests left them to raise �25 million (Rs 196 crore) towards the second work.

"There was no special request for a government grant and there was no public appeal in these very difficult times," Penny said. "We have of course used these reserves before, but never on this scale, and no purchase ever made by the National Gallery has begun to approach the magnitude of this acquisition. The trustees believed no greater old master painting could possibly be secured."

The acquisition means that Titian's 16th century paintings Diana and Callisto and Diana and Actaeon can continue to hang together and be viewed by the general public.The purchase from the Duke of Sutherland also means that the loan of the Bridgewater Collection, billed as the greatest private collection of old master paintings in the world, will remain intact at the National Galleries of Scotland.

The two galleries said they were grateful to the Duke of Sutherland for agreeing to sell the second painting for �45 million, which they said was "significantly lower" than the market value. Penny said he anticipated being asked why a national gallery was spending such large sums to acquire works by a painter who was not British at a time when the economy was so weak.

"If you lined up (British artists) Reynolds and Gainsborough and Turner and Constable, not only would they feel that this was a very great day for Great Britain but they would also admit that they would not have been the artists they were had it not been for the example of Titian."


Posted by Harshad at 7:46 AM

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)