Tax Deadbeats March to a Different Drummer
HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Tax defaulters in southern India are being forced to face the music after city authorities hired drummers to play non-stop outside their homes until they pay up.
After many residents ignored repeated demands to settle overdue property taxes. authorities in a city in Andhra Pradesh state have sent 20 groups of drummers to play outside offenders' houses for the past week.
"They put up a spectacle outside the houses of defaulters, draw them out and explain their dues to them and the need to clear it at the earliest," said T.S.R. Anjaneyulu, municipal commissioner of Rajahmundry city.
"They don't stop until people agree to clear the dues."
The city, owed a total of 50 million rupees ($1.15 million), had been at its wits' end after sops like waiving interest and penalties had failed to recover the arrears.
The new method seems to be working, though. One week of incessant drumming has cleared 18 percent of the backlog.
TWW'S CRAZY NEWS STORIES
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AussieMark
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AussieMark
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Smooth Talker Apologizes
OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian member of Parliament charged with improving ties with the United States apologized on Thursday for saying "let's embarrass the hell out of the Americans in front of other countries."
The gaffe by Marlene Jennings came exactly two weeks after Canada's Liberal government irritated Washington by refusing to join the U.S. missile defense system.
Jennings -- the parliamentary secretary for Canada-U.S. relations -- reports directly to Prime Minister Paul Martin, who came to power in December 2003 saying he wanted better relations with Washington.
"I would apologize to the members in this House that my comments were a little bit exaggerated. I apologize," she told the House of Commons elected chamber of Parliament.
Jennings, who is herself half-American, accused the United States on Tuesday of refusing to adhere to trade treaties it had signed with Canada. One way to strike back, she suggested, was to shame Washington internationally.
"Let's embarrass the hell out of the Americans in front of other countries that they are attempting to negotiate with on new binational trade agreements ... let's just do it on the public scene," she told a parliamentary committee.
The opposition Conservative party, which says the Liberals have a history of needlessly antagonizing Washington, demanded that Martin fire Jennings for making her remarks at a time when the United States is blocking imports of live Canadian cattle.
"The Liberals have once again shown their anti-American bias ... This strategy is like poking someone in the eye and then asking them for a favor," Conservative legislator Diane Finley told Parliament.
Last November Martin kicked MP Carolyn Parrish out of the Liberal caucus after she stomped on a George Bush doll on a satirical TV show.
OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian member of Parliament charged with improving ties with the United States apologized on Thursday for saying "let's embarrass the hell out of the Americans in front of other countries."
The gaffe by Marlene Jennings came exactly two weeks after Canada's Liberal government irritated Washington by refusing to join the U.S. missile defense system.
Jennings -- the parliamentary secretary for Canada-U.S. relations -- reports directly to Prime Minister Paul Martin, who came to power in December 2003 saying he wanted better relations with Washington.
"I would apologize to the members in this House that my comments were a little bit exaggerated. I apologize," she told the House of Commons elected chamber of Parliament.
Jennings, who is herself half-American, accused the United States on Tuesday of refusing to adhere to trade treaties it had signed with Canada. One way to strike back, she suggested, was to shame Washington internationally.
"Let's embarrass the hell out of the Americans in front of other countries that they are attempting to negotiate with on new binational trade agreements ... let's just do it on the public scene," she told a parliamentary committee.
The opposition Conservative party, which says the Liberals have a history of needlessly antagonizing Washington, demanded that Martin fire Jennings for making her remarks at a time when the United States is blocking imports of live Canadian cattle.
"The Liberals have once again shown their anti-American bias ... This strategy is like poking someone in the eye and then asking them for a favor," Conservative legislator Diane Finley told Parliament.
Last November Martin kicked MP Carolyn Parrish out of the Liberal caucus after she stomped on a George Bush doll on a satirical TV show.
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AussieMark
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Harvard in Lather Over Campus Maid Service
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - A Harvard University student's fledgling dorm-cleaning business faced the threat of a campus boycott on Thursday after the school's daily newspaper slammed it for dividing students along economic lines.
The Harvard Crimson newspaper urged students to shun Dormaid, a business launched by Harvard sophomore Michael Kopko that cleans up for messy students.
"By creating yet another differential between the haves and have-nots on campus, Dormaid threatens our student unity," the Crimson said in an editorial.
"We urge the student body to boycott Dormaid."
Like many elite American universities, Harvard comprises a mix of affluent students as well as those who are less well-off.
But Kopko, 20, said he could not understand the Crimson's reaction to his business, which he said was all about creating jobs and wealth at the Ivy League school.
"In a free economy it's all about choice, and the Crimson is trying to take choice away from people," the student entrepreneur told Reuters. "I think it's a very uneconomic and narrow view. It's essentially against creating wealth for society."
Kopko said since launching his dormitory-cleaning service last month in the Boston area, he has signed up 50 clients. He plans to expand the service to other parts of the country and is aiming for $200,000 in annual sales in a year's time.
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (Reuters) - A Harvard University student's fledgling dorm-cleaning business faced the threat of a campus boycott on Thursday after the school's daily newspaper slammed it for dividing students along economic lines.
The Harvard Crimson newspaper urged students to shun Dormaid, a business launched by Harvard sophomore Michael Kopko that cleans up for messy students.
"By creating yet another differential between the haves and have-nots on campus, Dormaid threatens our student unity," the Crimson said in an editorial.
"We urge the student body to boycott Dormaid."
Like many elite American universities, Harvard comprises a mix of affluent students as well as those who are less well-off.
But Kopko, 20, said he could not understand the Crimson's reaction to his business, which he said was all about creating jobs and wealth at the Ivy League school.
"In a free economy it's all about choice, and the Crimson is trying to take choice away from people," the student entrepreneur told Reuters. "I think it's a very uneconomic and narrow view. It's essentially against creating wealth for society."
Kopko said since launching his dormitory-cleaning service last month in the Boston area, he has signed up 50 clients. He plans to expand the service to other parts of the country and is aiming for $200,000 in annual sales in a year's time.
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AussieMark
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Look Who's Talking at the Drive-Through
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp. wants to outsource your neighborhood drive-through. The world's largest fast-food chain said on Thursday it is looking into using remote call centers to take customer orders in an effort to improve service at its drive-throughs.
"If you're in L.A.... and you hear a person with a North Dakota accent taking your order, you'll know what we're up to," McDonald's Chief Executive Jim Skinner told analysts at the Bear Stearns Retail, Restaurants & Apparel Conference in New York. Call center professionals with "very strong communication skills" could help boost order accuracy and ultimately speed up the time it takes customers to get in and out of the drive-throughs, the company said.
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - McDonald's Corp. wants to outsource your neighborhood drive-through. The world's largest fast-food chain said on Thursday it is looking into using remote call centers to take customer orders in an effort to improve service at its drive-throughs.
"If you're in L.A.... and you hear a person with a North Dakota accent taking your order, you'll know what we're up to," McDonald's Chief Executive Jim Skinner told analysts at the Bear Stearns Retail, Restaurants & Apparel Conference in New York. Call center professionals with "very strong communication skills" could help boost order accuracy and ultimately speed up the time it takes customers to get in and out of the drive-throughs, the company said.
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AussieMark
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Home State of Rainy Seattle Declares Drought
SEATTLE (Reuters) - With snowpacks at a quarter of normal levels and sunny, warm days well ahead of the summer months, the home state of the "rainy city" of Seattle declared a drought emergency on Thursday.
Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire authorized the statewide drought emergency, the first since 2001, after unusually low winter snowfalls in the Cascades left rivers on both sides of the mountain range flowing at record-low levels.
Gregoire said in a statement it was "very likely that all areas of our state will experience at least some level of drought this year."
She also told the state's National Guard to get ready to fight wildfires, and will ask the legislature to approve an additional $8.2 million to deal with the drought.
Officials from the state's Department of Ecology said this year's drought could be worst since 1977, the driest year on record.
Similar conditions were affecting other northwestern states, including Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
Although Seattle is known as the "rainy city" with its image of gray skies and Gore-tex wearers, official records put the city's annual average rainfall at 37 inches, below New York City's 47 inches (1,200 mm), according to official records.
SEATTLE (Reuters) - With snowpacks at a quarter of normal levels and sunny, warm days well ahead of the summer months, the home state of the "rainy city" of Seattle declared a drought emergency on Thursday.
Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire authorized the statewide drought emergency, the first since 2001, after unusually low winter snowfalls in the Cascades left rivers on both sides of the mountain range flowing at record-low levels.
Gregoire said in a statement it was "very likely that all areas of our state will experience at least some level of drought this year."
She also told the state's National Guard to get ready to fight wildfires, and will ask the legislature to approve an additional $8.2 million to deal with the drought.
Officials from the state's Department of Ecology said this year's drought could be worst since 1977, the driest year on record.
Similar conditions were affecting other northwestern states, including Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
Although Seattle is known as the "rainy city" with its image of gray skies and Gore-tex wearers, official records put the city's annual average rainfall at 37 inches, below New York City's 47 inches (1,200 mm), according to official records.
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rainstorm
tropicalweatherwatcher wrote:Smooth Talker Apologizes
OTTAWA (Reuters) - A Canadian member of Parliament charged with improving ties with the United States apologized on Thursday for saying "let's embarrass the hell out of the Americans in front of other countries."
The gaffe by Marlene Jennings came exactly two weeks after Canada's Liberal government irritated Washington by refusing to join the U.S. missile defense system.
Jennings -- the parliamentary secretary for Canada-U.S. relations -- reports directly to Prime Minister Paul Martin, who came to power in December 2003 saying he wanted better relations with Washington.
"I would apologize to the members in this House that my comments were a little bit exaggerated. I apologize," she told the House of Commons elected chamber of Parliament.
Jennings, who is herself half-American, accused the United States on Tuesday of refusing to adhere to trade treaties it had signed with Canada. One way to strike back, she suggested, was to shame Washington internationally.
"Let's embarrass the hell out of the Americans in front of other countries that they are attempting to negotiate with on new binational trade agreements ... let's just do it on the public scene," she told a parliamentary committee.
The opposition Conservative party, which says the Liberals have a history of needlessly antagonizing Washington, demanded that Martin fire Jennings for making her remarks at a time when the United States is blocking imports of live Canadian cattle.
"The Liberals have once again shown their anti-American bias ... This strategy is like poking someone in the eye and then asking them for a favor," Conservative legislator Diane Finley told Parliament.
Last November Martin kicked MP Carolyn Parrish out of the Liberal caucus after she stomped on a George Bush doll on a satirical TV show.
canada hates the united states. not sure why
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TexasStooge
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tropicalweatherwatcher wrote:Home State of Rainy Seattle Declares Drought
SEATTLE (Reuters) - With snowpacks at a quarter of normal levels and sunny, warm days well ahead of the summer months, the home state of the "rainy city" of Seattle declared a drought emergency on Thursday.
Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire authorized the statewide drought emergency, the first since 2001, after unusually low winter snowfalls in the Cascades left rivers on both sides of the mountain range flowing at record-low levels.
Gregoire said in a statement it was "very likely that all areas of our state will experience at least some level of drought this year."
She also told the state's National Guard to get ready to fight wildfires, and will ask the legislature to approve an additional $8.2 million to deal with the drought.
Officials from the state's Department of Ecology said this year's drought could be worst since 1977, the driest year on record.
Similar conditions were affecting other northwestern states, including Idaho, Montana and Oregon.
Although Seattle is known as the "rainy city" with its image of gray skies and Gore-tex wearers, official records put the city's annual average rainfall at 37 inches, below New York City's 47 inches (1,200 mm), according to official records.
OK, I must be dreaming...
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TexasStooge
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tropicalweatherwatcher wrote:Tax Deadbeats March to a Different Drummer
HYDERABAD, India (Reuters) - Tax defaulters in southern India are being forced to face the music after city authorities hired drummers to play non-stop outside their homes until they pay up.
After many residents ignored repeated demands to settle overdue property taxes. authorities in a city in Andhra Pradesh state have sent 20 groups of drummers to play outside offenders' houses for the past week.
"They put up a spectacle outside the houses of defaulters, draw them out and explain their dues to them and the need to clear it at the earliest," said T.S.R. Anjaneyulu, municipal commissioner of Rajahmundry city.
"They don't stop until people agree to clear the dues."
The city, owed a total of 50 million rupees ($1.15 million), had been at its wits' end after sops like waiving interest and penalties had failed to recover the arrears.
The new method seems to be working, though. One week of incessant drumming has cleared 18 percent of the backlog.
And I thought the IRS knocking on other resident's doors were annoying.
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AussieMark
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Mussolini's Granddaughter on Hunger Strike
ROME (Reuters) - The granddaughter of Italian wartime dictator Benito Mussolini went on hunger strike on Monday after being barred from next month's regional elections over signature forgeries.
Alessandra Mussolini, founder of the far-right Social Alternative movement, is appealing the ban in a Rome court.
More than 800 signatures on her petition to stand in the election for president of Lazio region have been declared false. The list allegedly includes names of the dead and others whose existence was dubious, such as people who gave their birth date as Feb. 31.
Mussolini abandoned the right-wing National Alliance party after its leader, and current foreign minister, Gianfranco Fini paid a visit to Israel and publicly condemned her grandfather. Fini's gesture symbolically cut the party's ties to fascism.
Mussolini, a former aspiring actress and model who defends her grandfather, accused the sitting president of the Lazio region, Francesco Storace of the National Alliance, of engineering the forgery scandal.
To draw attention to her case, Mussolini stopped eating, although she admitted she was unprepared for the ordeal which lay ahead. "I had stomach pain yesterday, so I didn't really eat enough beforehand," she told Reuters. "I'm anxious, nervous over this scandal."
Mussolini said she would stay on hunger strike until a decision is made on her appeal, expected later this week.
"SHE'S OUT"
Storace shrugged off accusations that he was behind her disqualification. "Who's she against on this hunger-strike? Those who figured out the tricks and irregularities," Storace said in an interview with left-leaning newspaper la Repubblica.
"She has to get in her head that she's out. Not because of me, but because of her supporters who bend the rules."
Opinion polls published last week showed that Mussolini could draw 6 percent of the vote, splitting the right-wing electorate and handing victory to center-left TV journalist Antonio Marrazzo.
"This is scandalous ... If other politicians are excluded like this in the future, you can imagine what could happen -- a coup," Mussolini said.
With the fakes disqualified, Mussolini did not have the necessary 3,500 signatures to stand in the April 3-4 vote. Among those on the list was famous Italian actress Ornella Muti, but she denied signing the petition. But Mussolini cried foul. "The signatures are good. They're like those from all the other parties. I've seen the others. They're all faked, false, strange, incomplete," she said.
"Now, why do they keep going after our lists and not the others?"
ROME (Reuters) - The granddaughter of Italian wartime dictator Benito Mussolini went on hunger strike on Monday after being barred from next month's regional elections over signature forgeries.
Alessandra Mussolini, founder of the far-right Social Alternative movement, is appealing the ban in a Rome court.
More than 800 signatures on her petition to stand in the election for president of Lazio region have been declared false. The list allegedly includes names of the dead and others whose existence was dubious, such as people who gave their birth date as Feb. 31.
Mussolini abandoned the right-wing National Alliance party after its leader, and current foreign minister, Gianfranco Fini paid a visit to Israel and publicly condemned her grandfather. Fini's gesture symbolically cut the party's ties to fascism.
Mussolini, a former aspiring actress and model who defends her grandfather, accused the sitting president of the Lazio region, Francesco Storace of the National Alliance, of engineering the forgery scandal.
To draw attention to her case, Mussolini stopped eating, although she admitted she was unprepared for the ordeal which lay ahead. "I had stomach pain yesterday, so I didn't really eat enough beforehand," she told Reuters. "I'm anxious, nervous over this scandal."
Mussolini said she would stay on hunger strike until a decision is made on her appeal, expected later this week.
"SHE'S OUT"
Storace shrugged off accusations that he was behind her disqualification. "Who's she against on this hunger-strike? Those who figured out the tricks and irregularities," Storace said in an interview with left-leaning newspaper la Repubblica.
"She has to get in her head that she's out. Not because of me, but because of her supporters who bend the rules."
Opinion polls published last week showed that Mussolini could draw 6 percent of the vote, splitting the right-wing electorate and handing victory to center-left TV journalist Antonio Marrazzo.
"This is scandalous ... If other politicians are excluded like this in the future, you can imagine what could happen -- a coup," Mussolini said.
With the fakes disqualified, Mussolini did not have the necessary 3,500 signatures to stand in the April 3-4 vote. Among those on the list was famous Italian actress Ornella Muti, but she denied signing the petition. But Mussolini cried foul. "The signatures are good. They're like those from all the other parties. I've seen the others. They're all faked, false, strange, incomplete," she said.
"Now, why do they keep going after our lists and not the others?"
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AussieMark
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Putting a Lid on Rampant Manhole Theft
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's capital is testing a new kind of manhole cover to put a lid on rampant theft, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
Missing manhole covers are a hazardous fact of life on the sidewalks and roads of Beijing where they are stolen to be sold as scrap for a couple of dollars each.
"The new manhole covers will be made of non-metal materials with no recycling value," Wang Xin, spokesman for the city's utilities management department, was quoted as saying.
Beijing has more than 600,000 manhole covers across the city owned by 18 companies. "Approximately 240,000 manhole and street- drain covers were stolen in Beijing in 2004," Xinhua said.
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's capital is testing a new kind of manhole cover to put a lid on rampant theft, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
Missing manhole covers are a hazardous fact of life on the sidewalks and roads of Beijing where they are stolen to be sold as scrap for a couple of dollars each.
"The new manhole covers will be made of non-metal materials with no recycling value," Wang Xin, spokesman for the city's utilities management department, was quoted as saying.
Beijing has more than 600,000 manhole covers across the city owned by 18 companies. "Approximately 240,000 manhole and street- drain covers were stolen in Beijing in 2004," Xinhua said.
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AussieMark
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Red Army on the March
BEIJING (Reuters) - Along with such weighty issues as an anti-secession law and a leadership transition, China's parliament also weighed the threat of invasion -- by red ants.
Hong Kong has been battling to stop the spread of the ants, whose fiery sting can be fatal to humans, since they were first found in the southern territory in January.
Then the insects were found to have moved north into the neighboring province of Guangdong.
"Prompt, effective measures should be taken to stop hazardous red fire ants from making inroads into north China where the national capital of Beijing is located," Xinhua news agency quoted a delegate to parliament as saying on Sunday.
Zhang Zhongning proposed thorough border checks to keep the ants from marching into the heart of Beijing.
"The fire ants can bring huge damage to cropland and electrical wires," said Zhang, a scientist from the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Agriculture Ministry lists fire ants as one of 85 destructive pests that have prompted import quarantine checks.
Zhang called for quarantine controls to be tightened to resist the invasion.
"The pests are likely to survive in south, east, central and southwestern China and some areas in North China," he said.
The red fire ant, which originated in South America, has defied efforts to stamp it out in Australia and the United States.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Along with such weighty issues as an anti-secession law and a leadership transition, China's parliament also weighed the threat of invasion -- by red ants.
Hong Kong has been battling to stop the spread of the ants, whose fiery sting can be fatal to humans, since they were first found in the southern territory in January.
Then the insects were found to have moved north into the neighboring province of Guangdong.
"Prompt, effective measures should be taken to stop hazardous red fire ants from making inroads into north China where the national capital of Beijing is located," Xinhua news agency quoted a delegate to parliament as saying on Sunday.
Zhang Zhongning proposed thorough border checks to keep the ants from marching into the heart of Beijing.
"The fire ants can bring huge damage to cropland and electrical wires," said Zhang, a scientist from the Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The Agriculture Ministry lists fire ants as one of 85 destructive pests that have prompted import quarantine checks.
Zhang called for quarantine controls to be tightened to resist the invasion.
"The pests are likely to survive in south, east, central and southwestern China and some areas in North China," he said.
The red fire ant, which originated in South America, has defied efforts to stamp it out in Australia and the United States.
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AussieMark
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Paying by Fingerprint at the Supermarket
BERLIN (Reuters) - Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the check-out, saving the time spent scrabbling for coins or cards.
An Edeka store in the southwest German town of Ruelzheim has piloted the technology since November and now the company plans to equip its stores across the region.
"All customers need do is register once with their identity card and bank details, then they can shop straight away," said store manager Roland Fitterer.
The scanner compares the shopper's fingerprint with those stored in its database along with account details.
Edeka bosses said they were confident the system could not be abused.
BERLIN (Reuters) - Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the check-out, saving the time spent scrabbling for coins or cards.
An Edeka store in the southwest German town of Ruelzheim has piloted the technology since November and now the company plans to equip its stores across the region.
"All customers need do is register once with their identity card and bank details, then they can shop straight away," said store manager Roland Fitterer.
The scanner compares the shopper's fingerprint with those stored in its database along with account details.
Edeka bosses said they were confident the system could not be abused.
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rainstorm
tropicalweatherwatcher wrote:Putting a Lid on Rampant Manhole Theft
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's capital is testing a new kind of manhole cover to put a lid on rampant theft, Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
Missing manhole covers are a hazardous fact of life on the sidewalks and roads of Beijing where they are stolen to be sold as scrap for a couple of dollars each.
"The new manhole covers will be made of non-metal materials with no recycling value," Wang Xin, spokesman for the city's utilities management department, was quoted as saying.
Beijing has more than 600,000 manhole covers across the city owned by 18 companies. "Approximately 240,000 manhole and street- drain covers were stolen in Beijing in 2004," Xinhua said.
make exploding manhole covers
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TexasStooge
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tropicalweatherwatcher wrote:Paying by Fingerprint at the Supermarket
BERLIN (Reuters) - Customers of a German supermarket chain will soon be able to pay for their shopping by placing their finger on a scanner at the check-out, saving the time spent scrabbling for coins or cards.
An Edeka store in the southwest German town of Ruelzheim has piloted the technology since November and now the company plans to equip its stores across the region.
"All customers need do is register once with their identity card and bank details, then they can shop straight away," said store manager Roland Fitterer.
The scanner compares the shopper's fingerprint with those stored in its database along with account details.
Edeka bosses said they were confident the system could not be abused.
Wow! 21st Century Technology!
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AussieMark
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We Need a Gumshoe to Catch These Crooks
BERLIN (Reuters) - Thieves with a fondness for chewing gum broke into an isolated storage hall in the western German town of Steinfurt and made off with 200 fully loaded gum machines, police said Tuesday.
The machines and their contents were worth more than 10,000 euros ($13,400), police said.
"We don't have a clue," said one police spokesman. "We can only assume they used a large truck to get away with so many machines."
BERLIN (Reuters) - Thieves with a fondness for chewing gum broke into an isolated storage hall in the western German town of Steinfurt and made off with 200 fully loaded gum machines, police said Tuesday.
The machines and their contents were worth more than 10,000 euros ($13,400), police said.
"We don't have a clue," said one police spokesman. "We can only assume they used a large truck to get away with so many machines."
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AussieMark
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Malawi Leader's Ghost Fears Draw Scoffs, Sympathy
BLANTYRE March 14 (Reuters) - Malawians prayed for their president Monday after officials said he had left his 300-room mansion in the capital because of fears it was haunted.
Newspapers, however, slammed the spooky talk from the presidency and asked President Bingu wa Mutharika to get on with fighting poverty in the southern African state.
Officials in Mutharika's office said Sunday the 73-year-old president, a former economist with the World Bank, had decamped from the $100 million presidential State House in central Lilongwe because he feared it was haunted.
Monday, an official in Mutharika's office charged with overseeing religious affairs said exorcisms were being said on the mansion's grounds while prayer sessions were taking place in churches in Llilongwe and Blantyre, the commercial capital.
"We continue with prayers that not any harm, not any power, not any strategy designed from the pits of hell will be able to prosper against the president," the Rev. Malani Mtonga said.
Malawi's newspapers were less sympathetic, with one accusing Mutharika of "nascent paranoia" following a recent string of run-ins with his still-powerful predecessor Bakili Muluzi.
"The president does not have to let us make imaginary evils, when he knows pretty well that we have so many real ones to encounter, like how is he going to deliver on his (election) promises," the Daily Times said in an editorial.
Malawi's State House has had a checkered past since it was constructed in 1975 by former President-for-Life Hastings Banda.
Although he lavished a fortune on the Persian-style brick palace, Banda ultimately decided not to live there -- a move some of his former associates said was spurred by the discovery that it was constructed on an ancient burial site.
Muluzi, who unseated Banda in 1994, also shunned the ornate official residence which he said displayed "obscene opulence."
The building had since been used to house Malawi's parliament but Mutharika ousted the legislature late last year to move in himself saying he needed to be close to other arms of government -- a move widely criticized in a country which is one of the poorest in the world.
Mutharika has sought to downplay the ghost talk, telling reporters Sunday "I have not met any ghosts yet, I have never in my life been afraid of them."
BLANTYRE March 14 (Reuters) - Malawians prayed for their president Monday after officials said he had left his 300-room mansion in the capital because of fears it was haunted.
Newspapers, however, slammed the spooky talk from the presidency and asked President Bingu wa Mutharika to get on with fighting poverty in the southern African state.
Officials in Mutharika's office said Sunday the 73-year-old president, a former economist with the World Bank, had decamped from the $100 million presidential State House in central Lilongwe because he feared it was haunted.
Monday, an official in Mutharika's office charged with overseeing religious affairs said exorcisms were being said on the mansion's grounds while prayer sessions were taking place in churches in Llilongwe and Blantyre, the commercial capital.
"We continue with prayers that not any harm, not any power, not any strategy designed from the pits of hell will be able to prosper against the president," the Rev. Malani Mtonga said.
Malawi's newspapers were less sympathetic, with one accusing Mutharika of "nascent paranoia" following a recent string of run-ins with his still-powerful predecessor Bakili Muluzi.
"The president does not have to let us make imaginary evils, when he knows pretty well that we have so many real ones to encounter, like how is he going to deliver on his (election) promises," the Daily Times said in an editorial.
Malawi's State House has had a checkered past since it was constructed in 1975 by former President-for-Life Hastings Banda.
Although he lavished a fortune on the Persian-style brick palace, Banda ultimately decided not to live there -- a move some of his former associates said was spurred by the discovery that it was constructed on an ancient burial site.
Muluzi, who unseated Banda in 1994, also shunned the ornate official residence which he said displayed "obscene opulence."
The building had since been used to house Malawi's parliament but Mutharika ousted the legislature late last year to move in himself saying he needed to be close to other arms of government -- a move widely criticized in a country which is one of the poorest in the world.
Mutharika has sought to downplay the ghost talk, telling reporters Sunday "I have not met any ghosts yet, I have never in my life been afraid of them."
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AussieMark
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Santa Claus Sparks Debate in His Hometown
ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish mayor Monday defended a decision to remove a bronze statue of his town's most famous son, Saint Nicholas, and replace it with a brightly colored model of his modern incarnation, Santa Claus.
The move has been criticized in the Turkish press, which said it risked making Muslim Turkey -- an EU candidate -- look intolerant toward a Christian figure who, among other things, is also Russia's patron saint.
Hurriyet daily said the Russian embassy had made an official complaint, although this could not immediately be confirmed.
Saint Nicholas, a fourth century Christian bishop who lived and worked in what is now the southern Turkish town of Demre, is especially revered by Russia's Orthodox Church. A Russian artist donated the bronze statue of the saint to Demre five years ago.
Mayor Suleyman Topcu said he and the Demre council respected Saint Nicholas and had not acted out of ill will, but said the modern-day commercialized Santa Claus had wider popular appeal.
"The current statue is the best way to introduce Saint Nicholas because the whole world knows this image of him in his red clothes and hat, with his sack of presents and a bell in his hand," Topcu said in a statement faxed to Reuters.
He said the new statue would help draw more Turkish and foreign tourists to the town, near Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
Overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey does not celebrate Christmas, but like many other non-Christian countries has embraced the festival's commercial trappings, including Santa Claus.
The old statue of Saint Nicholas, with arms outstretched and one hand holding the Bible, has been re-housed in a local museum from its previous vantage point towering over a town square.
Topcu said visitors would be able to see him better there, and he would be shielded from the weather.
"If we harbored prejudices (against a Christian saint), the municipality would not have chosen Saint Nicholas as its emblem and we would not use this with pride," Topcu said.
Officials in Demre declined to comment on Hurriyet's report that Topcu had offered to restore the statue in its original place if Russia agreed to erect a statue to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, revered founder of the modern Turkish republic.
The legend of Santa Claus, or Noel Baba in Turkish, is said to have started in Demre when Bishop Nicholas gave anonymous gifts to village girls who lacked dowries by dropping bags of coins down their chimneys, thus giving them the chance to marry.
He became the patron saint of Russia, sailors and children.
ANKARA (Reuters) - A Turkish mayor Monday defended a decision to remove a bronze statue of his town's most famous son, Saint Nicholas, and replace it with a brightly colored model of his modern incarnation, Santa Claus.
The move has been criticized in the Turkish press, which said it risked making Muslim Turkey -- an EU candidate -- look intolerant toward a Christian figure who, among other things, is also Russia's patron saint.
Hurriyet daily said the Russian embassy had made an official complaint, although this could not immediately be confirmed.
Saint Nicholas, a fourth century Christian bishop who lived and worked in what is now the southern Turkish town of Demre, is especially revered by Russia's Orthodox Church. A Russian artist donated the bronze statue of the saint to Demre five years ago.
Mayor Suleyman Topcu said he and the Demre council respected Saint Nicholas and had not acted out of ill will, but said the modern-day commercialized Santa Claus had wider popular appeal.
"The current statue is the best way to introduce Saint Nicholas because the whole world knows this image of him in his red clothes and hat, with his sack of presents and a bell in his hand," Topcu said in a statement faxed to Reuters.
He said the new statue would help draw more Turkish and foreign tourists to the town, near Turkey's Mediterranean coast.
Overwhelmingly Muslim Turkey does not celebrate Christmas, but like many other non-Christian countries has embraced the festival's commercial trappings, including Santa Claus.
The old statue of Saint Nicholas, with arms outstretched and one hand holding the Bible, has been re-housed in a local museum from its previous vantage point towering over a town square.
Topcu said visitors would be able to see him better there, and he would be shielded from the weather.
"If we harbored prejudices (against a Christian saint), the municipality would not have chosen Saint Nicholas as its emblem and we would not use this with pride," Topcu said.
Officials in Demre declined to comment on Hurriyet's report that Topcu had offered to restore the statue in its original place if Russia agreed to erect a statue to Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, revered founder of the modern Turkish republic.
The legend of Santa Claus, or Noel Baba in Turkish, is said to have started in Demre when Bishop Nicholas gave anonymous gifts to village girls who lacked dowries by dropping bags of coins down their chimneys, thus giving them the chance to marry.
He became the patron saint of Russia, sailors and children.
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AussieMark
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Snow Festival Postponed After Heat Wave
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - While most of Europe has shivered through an unusually cold March, a snow festival in Arctic Greenland has been postponed indefinitely because of a "heat wave."
The 11th annual international Snow Sculpture Festival in Nuuk was scheduled for March 18-21, when the average temperature in Greenland's capital would usually be well below freezing.
"The snow has been melting because of the mild weather and last week we had several days of rain," Nuuk Tourism manager Flemming Nicolaisen said.
The festival is a popular attraction and more than 20 teams had been scheduled to take part. Nicolaisen said the artists needed plenty of fine new snow to sculpt.
Greenland's climate is usually harsh and about 80 percent of the semi-autonomous Danish province is covered by ice, but February brought record-high temperatures above 15 degrees centigrade.
The Danish Meteorological Institute blamed the weather on the Foehn, a warm, dry wind.
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - While most of Europe has shivered through an unusually cold March, a snow festival in Arctic Greenland has been postponed indefinitely because of a "heat wave."
The 11th annual international Snow Sculpture Festival in Nuuk was scheduled for March 18-21, when the average temperature in Greenland's capital would usually be well below freezing.
"The snow has been melting because of the mild weather and last week we had several days of rain," Nuuk Tourism manager Flemming Nicolaisen said.
The festival is a popular attraction and more than 20 teams had been scheduled to take part. Nicolaisen said the artists needed plenty of fine new snow to sculpt.
Greenland's climate is usually harsh and about 80 percent of the semi-autonomous Danish province is covered by ice, but February brought record-high temperatures above 15 degrees centigrade.
The Danish Meteorological Institute blamed the weather on the Foehn, a warm, dry wind.
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AussieMark
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Journalists Held in Presidential Ghost Report
BLANTYRE (Reuters) - Malawi police detained two journalists and one government official Tuesday over reports saying President Bingu wa Mutharika had left his mansion in the capital because of fears it was haunted.
Mabvuto Banda of the influential daily Nation newspaper, who also works for Reuters, and Raphael Tenthani of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were taken in separately during dawn raids at their Blantyre homes, Nation Editor Alfred Mtonga told Reuters.
Local sources said that Horace Nyaka, an aide to Vice President Cassim Chilumpha, was also arrested in connection with the reports, which police described as falsehoods.
"It is an attempt at intimidation," Mtonga said.
Lawyer Titus Mvalo said police had taken the journalists 400 km north to the capital Lilongwe but had not laid formal charges. They have 48 hours to do so under the law.
"My priority is to get my client Mabvuto out on bail but I do not expect him to be freed before Thursday morning when the police's 48-hour detention window ends," Mvalo told Reuters.
Several dozen journalists marched in Lilongwe Tuesday to demand the journalists' release, witnesses there said.
Malawi newspapers and radio stations carried the story on the ghosts Sunday, quoting a senior presidency official, and newspapers Monday urged Mutharika to focus on priorities such as fighting poverty in the southern African state.
Mutharika, a former economist with the World Bank, reacted angrily to the stories, telling reporters at the weekend that he had not met any ghosts in the palace and was in any case not afraid of them.
The massive presidential State House in Lilongwe had been the focus of an earlier dispute in Mutharika's administration after the 73-year-old president reversed earlier policy and began to use it as his residence -- displacing the country's parliament, which had been borrowing the building.
BLANTYRE (Reuters) - Malawi police detained two journalists and one government official Tuesday over reports saying President Bingu wa Mutharika had left his mansion in the capital because of fears it was haunted.
Mabvuto Banda of the influential daily Nation newspaper, who also works for Reuters, and Raphael Tenthani of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) were taken in separately during dawn raids at their Blantyre homes, Nation Editor Alfred Mtonga told Reuters.
Local sources said that Horace Nyaka, an aide to Vice President Cassim Chilumpha, was also arrested in connection with the reports, which police described as falsehoods.
"It is an attempt at intimidation," Mtonga said.
Lawyer Titus Mvalo said police had taken the journalists 400 km north to the capital Lilongwe but had not laid formal charges. They have 48 hours to do so under the law.
"My priority is to get my client Mabvuto out on bail but I do not expect him to be freed before Thursday morning when the police's 48-hour detention window ends," Mvalo told Reuters.
Several dozen journalists marched in Lilongwe Tuesday to demand the journalists' release, witnesses there said.
Malawi newspapers and radio stations carried the story on the ghosts Sunday, quoting a senior presidency official, and newspapers Monday urged Mutharika to focus on priorities such as fighting poverty in the southern African state.
Mutharika, a former economist with the World Bank, reacted angrily to the stories, telling reporters at the weekend that he had not met any ghosts in the palace and was in any case not afraid of them.
The massive presidential State House in Lilongwe had been the focus of an earlier dispute in Mutharika's administration after the 73-year-old president reversed earlier policy and began to use it as his residence -- displacing the country's parliament, which had been borrowing the building.
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AussieMark
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Young Chinese Flirt with Sex Before Marriage
BEIJING (Reuters) - Young Chinese are becoming more relaxed about infidelity, pre-marital sex and divorce, "acts that have been frowned on for thousands of years," Xinhua news agency said Monday.
A third of the more than 1,000 people aged 23 to 26 polled in eight major Chinese cities said they accepted sexual practices that were taboo in China until recent decades.
"The survey found that 33 percent of the respondents said they could tolerate extra-marital affairs, and 34.8 percent said pre-marital sex was good for marital life," Xinhua said.
Attitudes about sex have relaxed since Communist China began Western-style market reforms in 1978, unleashing a boom in dating and adultery which the Communist Party has blamed on liberal, bourgeois mores imported from the West.
One third of respondents said marriage did not have to last a lifetime, symbolic of the rapid rise of divorce in China.
More than 1.6 million couples across China divorced in 2004, Xinhua said based on government statistics. China is the world's most populous country with 1.3 billion people.
It is not a trend encouraged by authorities and older generations.
"Sociologists have urged civil affairs departments to launch campaigns to educate young people to take a serious attitude toward marriage," Xinhua said.
BEIJING (Reuters) - Young Chinese are becoming more relaxed about infidelity, pre-marital sex and divorce, "acts that have been frowned on for thousands of years," Xinhua news agency said Monday.
A third of the more than 1,000 people aged 23 to 26 polled in eight major Chinese cities said they accepted sexual practices that were taboo in China until recent decades.
"The survey found that 33 percent of the respondents said they could tolerate extra-marital affairs, and 34.8 percent said pre-marital sex was good for marital life," Xinhua said.
Attitudes about sex have relaxed since Communist China began Western-style market reforms in 1978, unleashing a boom in dating and adultery which the Communist Party has blamed on liberal, bourgeois mores imported from the West.
One third of respondents said marriage did not have to last a lifetime, symbolic of the rapid rise of divorce in China.
More than 1.6 million couples across China divorced in 2004, Xinhua said based on government statistics. China is the world's most populous country with 1.3 billion people.
It is not a trend encouraged by authorities and older generations.
"Sociologists have urged civil affairs departments to launch campaigns to educate young people to take a serious attitude toward marriage," Xinhua said.
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