Global Oddities

NHS bosses have apologised to a patient in Manchester who was locked in an ambulance for five hours after the driver went home and forgot about him.
The man, 65, was stranded at Sharston ambulance station, Wythenshawe, after being collected by an ambulance from Manchester Royal Infirmary.
The alarm was raised when he failed to return to the care home where he lives.
The North West Ambulance Service said an inquiry had begun and a staff member “was suspended with immediate effect”.
The incident happened on Tuesday when the patient was collected from the hospital at 1915 GMT.
Instead of being returned to the care home, he was driven back to the ambulance station where he was left until 0100 GMT.

The ambulance service said it received a call from the care home at 2030 GMT and later sent other staff to the station to collect the patient’s paperwork to see where the man had been taken, when he was discovered.
A spokesman for the ambulance service said: “We are very sorry this incident took place.
“This has never happened before and it will never happen again.
“We have met with the patient and family to discuss the matter and will continue to liaise with them throughout this process.”
Police were informed at the time of the man’s disappearance, but no criminal investigation is understood to have been launched.
The patient was examined by paramedics after he was discovered and taken back to hospital for further medical checks.

Source: BBC news online, October 31, 2009

Hundreds of people have attended a wedding in central Somalia between a man who says he is 112 years old, and his teenage wife.
Ahmed Muhamed Dore – who already has 13 children by five wives – said he would like to have more with his new wife, Safia Abdulleh, who is 17 years old.
“Today God helped me realise my dream,” Mr Dore said, after the wedding in the region of Galguduud.
The bride’s family said she was “happy with her new husband”.
Mr Dore said he and his bride – who is young enough to be his great-great-grand-daughter – were from the same village in Somalia and that he had waited for her to grow up to propose.
“I didn’t force her, but used my experience to convince her of my love; and then we agreed to marry,” the groom said.
The BBC’s Mohammed Olad Hassan in Mogadishu says the marriage, in the town of Guriceel, is being described by Somali historians as the first of its kind in the Horn of Africa nation for more than a century.

Our reporter says reaction to news of the marriage has been mixed.
Some people said while it was allowed under Islamic law, they were concerned about the age gap, but others were happy that age was not a barrier to love.
Mr Dore told the BBC he was born in Dhusamareeb in central Somalia in 1897 – and has a traditional birth certificate, written on goat skin by his father.
Our correspondent says he has an interesting history – in 1941 he joined the British colonial forces as a soldier for 10 years and then served as a police officer after Somalia won independence in 1960.
Altogether, Mr Dore has 114 children and grandchildren. His oldest son is 80 years old and three of his wives have died.
He says he hopes his new bride will give him more children.
“It is a blessing to have someone you love to take care of you,” he said.

Souce: BBC news online, October 30, 2009

This is the chilling moment a Mafia boss is gunned down by a hitman outside a bar.
Mario Bacio Terracino is first felled by a gunshot to the arm.
His attacker then stands over him and finishes him off with a single shot to the back of the head before strolling away.
A four-picture combination taken from a footage of a security camera released by the Italian Police shows a man identified by Police as Mariano Bacioterracino, 53, shot dead outside a bar by an unidentified gunman in a typical Camorra murder in Naples
Police in Naples, where the local Mafia are known as the Camorra, released the CCTV footage to try to catch the hitman.
They believe the killing of Terracino, 53, was part of a feud with a rival gang over the control of lucrative drug trafficking network.
Terracino was also known to police as a bank robber and was accused of a £1.8 million heist committed in 1991, but was never convicted.
Chilling: The hitman smiles as he walks away calmy after executing his target
His trademark was said to be entering buildings from below through the sewer network.
Tarracino is seen smoking a cigarette outside a bar in the central Sanita neighborhood. The killer enters the bar, where there are at least six people, then emerges and shoots Tarracino at point blank range.
When Tarracino falls on the ground, the killer finishes him off with a bullet to the head.
A woman rubs off her scratch-and-win lottery card as Tarracino is killed yards from her (above and below)
None of the bystanders moves a finger, although it is hard to say if that is from genuine indifference or fear of retaliation.
A woman is seen rubbing off her scratch-and-win lottery card as Tarracino is killed in front of her. A cigarette-seller moves his stall a few meters down the road, while a man holding a toddler in his arms looks at the victim and walks away.
A woman counting change in her purse jumps in shock at the sound of the gunshot and turns to see the killer calmly walking away. He was even said to be smiling.
The bloody aftermath: An Italian Carabinieri police officer inspects a murder scene after Mariano Terrasino was shot dead
Today, police in Naples said: ‘We are taking the unusal step of releasing this graphic footage in an attempt to catch his killer.
‘His face although hidden is visible and someone out there must recognise him and we would appeal for them to come forward.’
So far this year, there have been more than 30 Camorra murders in Naples, many of which remain unsolved and many of them stem from feuds between rival clans.
In an attempt to control the extent of organised crime in the city the Italian government has flooded the area with troops, but with little effect.
One of the bloodiest hits was last September, when six Africans who tried to muscle into the drugs trade were shot dead outside a shop.
The Camorra is much more violent than the Sicilian Mafia and also has several branches in Britain. In 2006, Naples mobster Raffaele Caldarelli was arrested in Hackney, east London.

Source: Mail (London) online, October 29, 2009

A two-headed snake has been discovered in a drawer full of rubbish in Illinois.
When Jerry Williamson’s wife first told him she had found the scary reptile he thought she was pulling his leg.

But to his surprise she was telling the truth.

Unfazed by the terrifying stigma attached to the two-headed Hydra of Greek mythology the couple decided to keep the reptile.

They were worried it would not be able to survive on its own.

They say it is a North American water snake and has just shed its skin.

The ‘Nerodia sipedon’, as it is also known, is a large non-venemous snake active during day and night.

Source: SKYnews online, October 28, 2009

American Andre Agassi has admitted in his new autobiography he lied to tennis authorities about his use of crystal methamphetamine to escape a ban.
Eight-time Grand Slam winner Agassi said he wanted to share “my bad decisions which, in a few instances, nearly ended in catastrophe”.
The 39-year-old, who retired in 2006, also stated it was “not easy being so candid” and “brutally honest”.
Agassi admitted he used the drug with ex-assistant “Slim” in 1997.
“I felt my story was one from which many people could learn,” he added in a video promoting the book.
The Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) said it could not comment because it withdrew its doping case against Agassi after he lied that the use of the drug was accidental.
In response, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) called on the association to “shed light” on the case.
Meanwhile, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said it was “surprised and disappointed” by Agassi’s remarks.
Writing about the first time he used crystal meth, Agassi said: “Vast sadness and regret” followed his taking of the drug.
“Slim dumps a small pile of powder on the coffee table,” writes Agassi in his book, which the Times is serialising.

“He cuts it, snorts it. He cuts it again. I snort some.
“Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head. I’ve never felt so alive, so hopeful – and I’ve never felt such energy.”
Crystal meth is classified in the UK as a class A drug – the category for those considered to be the most harmful and which attract the most serious punishments and fines.
It looks like small ice crystals and is a very powerful and addictive form of the stimulant speed, which can be eaten, inhaled through the nose or injected.
Agassi, who is widely considered to be among the greatest tennis players of all time, recounts in the book, which is called ‘Open’, being introduced to the drug in 1997 by his one-time assistant.
Agassi was enduring the worst year of his professional career in 1997 as he struggled with a wrist injury, and his world ranking slumped to a low of 141 in November of that year.
The 39-year-old revealed he failed a drugs test that year but escaped a ban by saying his use was accidental.

Souce: BBC online October 28, 2009

Customs officials in Norway have arrested a man who they say tried to smuggle 24 reptiles into the country by taping them to his body.
Fourteen royal pythons rolled up in socks were found taped to the man’s torso and 10 geckos held in small boxes were taped to his legs.
Officials were alerted to the illegal haul after a tarantula was found in the man’s luggage.
The 22-year-old was travelling to Kristiansand on a ferry from Denmark.
“He told us he was crazy about reptiles,” the head of the local customs office, Helge Breilid, told AFP news agency on Sunday.
The snakes, which are not endangered, are the smallest of the python family and are not venomous.

Source: BBC news online, October 27, 2009

Six Harvard University medical researchers were poisoned in August after drinking coffee that was laced with a chemical preservative, according to university officials.
In an internal memo first reported in the Boston Herald’s Sunday editions, the school said the coffee came from a machine near their lab that later tested positive for sodium azide, a common preservative used in labs.

Harvard Medical School, seen here in a 2002 photo, announced that six researchers on campus were poisoned by tainted coffee in August 2009. The university’s memo did not say whether officials believe the poisoning to be intentional.
The six reported symptoms after drinking the coffee Aug. 26, ranging from dizziness to ringing in the ears, and one passed out. They were treated at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and later released.
The memo, written by Daniel G. Ennis, executive dean for administration, and Richard M. Shea, associate dean for physical planning and facilities, does not say whether officials believe the poisoning was intentional.
“As always, we are mindful of the need to be diligent about laboratory safety and security and the importance of proper management of laboratory chemicals,” the memo states.
“We are in the process of installing additional security cameras throughout our buildings, and we are strengthening the security systems that manage access to the laboratories during both normal business hours and off hours,” it goes on to say.
The researchers, which include staff and students, all work in the Harvard Medical School’s pathology department in its new Boston research building. They were using mice to investigate how diseases interact with the immune system.
Harvard spokesman David Cameron on Sunday said university police are investigating along with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Boston Public Health Commission.
“Essentially, there is an ongoing investigation of what appears to be a single isolated event,” he said. “Because many details are unknown, (the medical school’s) leadership is taking additional precautionary measures to help ensure the well-being of the community.”
Cameron said as far as he knows the lab has not been a target of threats or animal-rights protests. He said the university delayed notifying the public about the incident because officials were unsure of what they were dealing with.
Once officials found out, they immediately began letting people know, he said.
“It wasn’t until fairly recently that they were able to be 100 percent sure that this is what it is,” he said.
Harvard police spokesman Steve Catalano would not say if authorities believe a crime was committed.

Source: AP October 26, 2009

An 88-year-old woman in Colorado Springs who walked laps around a nursing home in memory of her deceased husband has hit a major milestone: 10,000 miles.
Martha Michel walks laps daily around the lake at Namaste Alzheimer Center. Michel started walking the lake with her husband, former Colorado College Professor Dr. Lester Michel, who was a patient at the center. After Lester Michel’s death in 1998, Martha Michel kept up the walking in his memory.
She told The Gazette that the last time her husband spoke to her was by the lake.
“He was pretty far along with the Alzheimer’s,” Michale said. “His arms just hung down and his face was just expressionless. We stopped over on the other side and he said to me, ‘I want to hold you.’ And I picked up his arms and put them around me.”
The two were married 56 years and enjoyed hiking Colorado peaks until Lester Michel got too sick. Martha Michel keeps meticulous records of her walks around the lake, and on Saturday, she hit 10,000 miles. That’s about the same as walking across the United States three times.
“It just seemed like a good go after I had 9,000 [miles]. I thought, ‘Good grief maybe I can make 10,000,’” Michel told ColoradoConnection.com.
Five laps around the lake at the nursing home is a mile long. Michel has five children, 18 grandchildren and 15 great-grandchildren.

Source: Associated Press, October 25, 2009

A former police officer who slept with a pole dancer while on duty has been jailed for four years.
Kenny Lewis, 26, then of Avon and Somerset police, engaged in sex acts with four women during his employment, and even used handcuffs with the dancer.
He pleaded guilty to eight charges of misconduct in public office at Exeter Crown Court, including misusing police files.
Lewis, of Nailsea, near Bristol, was found not guilty of three charges of rape and one charge of sexual misconduct.
Lewis, who resigned as a police constable in December, had used the police national computer (PNC) to access confidential files to track down vulnerable woman, the court was told. Judge Graham Cottle said Lewis had exploited his position of authority for his own gratification.
Earlier in the trial William Mousley, prosecuting, told the court that Lewis’s “modus operandi” was to introduce himself to women who had been involved in a crime as a witness, victim or perpetrator.
“He would use that contact as an excuse for visiting them or phoning them, often under the guise of carrying out further inquiries, it was not their welfare he was interested in; it was his own pleasure,” he said. “It was his status as a police officer that facilitated this, he wore a uniform, carried handcuffs and used a police vehicle and police computers.”
Giving evidence in the trial, the pole dancer claimed she came to the attention of Lewis after she witnessed a car accident four years ago. Another woman first came into contact with Lewis after she was arrested and he drove her to the police station in 2007.
Det Chief Supt Louisa Rolfe said after the case: “Kenny Lewis abused his position of trust and authority, using his access to privileged information to identify and target potentially vulnerable women. Although acquitted on three charges of rape and one of misconduct Lewis admitted eight other charges.
“Avon and Somerset police commend these women for having the courage and determination to come forward and assist in the investigation which has been a difficult one for all involved. As a police service everything we do is aimed at making our communities feel safe and be safe. Kenny Lewis has personally let down former colleagues working towards that aim.”
Source: Press Association, October 23, 2009

Bulgarian police have arrested a couple suspected of trafficking pregnant women into Greece, where they gave birth and sold their babies for adoption.

About 10 women were involved and each child was sold for up to $12,000 (£7,200), police said in a statement.

The mothers were mostly Roma women who received about two-thirds of the payment, the statement said.

A series of child-trafficking rings have been uncovered by police in Bulgaria in recent years.

The Bulgarian couple, who are married, provided financial support for the pregnant women in Greek hospitals and hired local lawyers to organise the adoptions, police said.

Once the babies were born, fictitious names were made up for the fathers to get round international adoption laws.

Bulgarian police arrested the man as he was crossing the Greek border on Sunday, and his wife was arrested on Wednesday in the town of Nova Zagora, southern Bulgaria, officials said.

Tchavdar Bojourski, police chief in the southern region of Sliven, was quoted by the Bulgarian news agency Focus as saying that lawyers and judges were involved in the smuggling ring.

Source: BBC news online, October 21, 2009