Global Oddities

Aldi enjoying his cigarette

A two-year-old toddler in South Sumatra, Indonesia, has become addicted to cigarettes, smoking around forty a day.
The parents Aldi Rizal say their boy started smoking cigarettes at 18 months old when his father, Muhammad, introduced him to the habit. They say Rizal screams, slams his head against the floor and even gets sick with withdrawal if he does not get his cigarettes.
His father pays 50,000 rupiah (five U.S. dollars) every day for two packs of Marlboro cigarettes – Rizal’s favourite.
Yet Muhammad, 30, a fisherman, claims his son is in healthy condition, weighing 25 kilograms. Rizal is undergoing a rehabilitation program under the supervision of Indonesia’s National Child Protection Commission.
The commission also provides psychological treatment for the toddler. Footage of the child smoking that had been posted on the video sharing website, YouTube, drew world-wide attention to the incident.
Some cities in Indonesia, including Jakarta, have banned smoking in public places but the rules are widely flouted.
The industry minister said that between1960-2005, cigarette production jumped more than six-fold to 220 billion cigarettes.
Source: ITN news online, May 28, 2010

A woman left locked alone in a plane asleep for about four hours after landing at Philadelphia International Airport is suing United Airlines.

Ginger McGuire, 36, is suing for false imprisonment, infliction of emotional distress and negligence, her attorney Geoffrey Fieger told the U.S. newspaper Detroit Free Press.
McGuire fell asleep on a late-night United Express flight from Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia. She failed to wake up after the 50-passenger plane touched down at 12:27 a.m. local time and everyone else disembarked.
A cleaning crew eventually roused her, but she was kept locked in the plane until federal officers were satisfied that she was not a terrorist, said the newspaper.
“We are working closely with our partner Trans States Airlines to investigate the cause and remedy the situation with the customer,” United Airlines spokeswoman Sarah Massier told the paper.
No one at the UAL Corp unit was immediately available for comment. Fieger is a high-profile attorney whose clients have included euthanasia practitioner Jack Kevorkian, and a U.S. soldier who claims the producers of Oscar-winning war movie “The Hurt Locker” stole his story.
Source: Reuters, May 28, 2010

A court case over the question of whether people are allowed to hike naked is set to begin in Switzerland.
It is the first case since the eastern Swiss canton of Appenzell introduced a new public order law last year, which permits naked hikers to be fined.
The case centres on an appeal from a man who was fined for rambling while naked.
Canton Appenzell has become a popular destination for those who like to hike without clothes.
But the local population is deeply unhappy about it.
The hiker in question was fined after eyewitnesses complained that he had been hiking in full view of a communal barbecuing area. They also say he walked past a Christian care home, whose residents saw him.
Appenzell is traditionally a rather devout and conservative region of Switzerland. It only gave women the vote in 1990 and its growing reputation as a paradise for naked hikers is not popular with locals.
Authorities hope the new public order law would be a deterrent to naked ramblers.
But the problem is that Swiss federal law states that public nudity is not a crime, so the hiker is now appealing against his fine.
His appearance in court today – fully clothed this time, it’s expected – could be the start of a long and costly legal process, which may end up in Switzerland’s highest court.
Source: BBC news online, May 27, 2010

The chief rabbi of a West Bank settlement has prohibited women from standing in a local community election.
Rabbi Elyakim Levanon of the Elon Moreh settlement, near Nablus, said women lacked the authority to stand for the post of local secretary.
He wrote in a community newspaper that women must only be heard through their husbands.
No women have registered for the election due to be held later on Wednesday, Israeli media reported.
The rabbi made his comments in the community’s newspaper after an unidentified young woman wrote to him asking if she could run for the position of community secretary, the Israeli news website Ynet News said.
“I am a young woman and I think I have desire and energy to do things,” Ynet News quoted the woman as writing to Rabbi Levanon.
“It’s not right for men to be the only ones deciding how to run the community,” the letter reportedly said.
But in his weekly column, Rabbi Levanon wrote that, according to the teachings of influential rabbis, women were not allowed to apply for the position.
“The first problem is giving women authority, and being a secretary means having authority,” Rabbi Levanon wrote in the community’s newspaper.
“Within the family certain debates are held and when opinions are united the husband presents the family’s opinion.
“This is the proper way to prevent a situation in which the woman votes one way and her husband votes another,” he wrote.
He also said it was not appropriate for women to mix with men in late evening meetings of community leaders.
Women’s groups have condemned the comments.
“Such talk is scandalous enough to call the rabbi for a clarification. I expect leaders of the religious public in Israel to condemn the rabbi’s instruction,” Nurit Tzur of the Israel Women’s Lobby said.
Source: BBC news online, May 26, 2010

Almost a year after Michael Jackson’s death, the spirit of the King of Pop appears to live on in a 4-year-old Chinese boy, who is fast becoming an international dance sensation.

Wang Yiming, who is known as Xiao Bao or “little treasure,” has already been making waves across the world with his dance moves, appearing on U.S. television show “Ellen” and performing at the World Expo 2010, which opened in Shanghai this month.

A favorite of Chinese media, Xiao Bao draws curious crowds whenever he breaks into a dance routine, which his mother Bian Aiqing says happens almost every time he hears music.

“When he was young, we just started playing music to him and he started moving around like this. But we didn’t think that he had such a strong feeling for music,” Bian said.

“When he was just a couple of months old we would let him listen to music and he would immediately stop crying and calm down,” she told Reuters Television.

Xiao Bao was born prematurely, and doctors suggested moving his limbs to music would help build his weak muscles, but his parents were surprised by how quickly and passionately he took to the rhythm.

Dancing since he was two years old, he has now mastered the moonwalk and other signature Jackson moves, performing them to hits such as “Beat It,” “Billie Jean” and “Dangerous.”

“Even before I was born I would listen to music and dance in my mum’s stomach,” Xiao Bao said.

Before long, his passion turned into an obsession — the family spends up to 20,000 yuan ($3,000) a month on dance training with a professional and outfits including tailor-made suits, hats and shirts.

Xiao Bao is serious about his dancing career and says he would not mind becoming famous one day. But his parents say that no matter how talented their son is, his schooling will be their priority.

Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009 from cardiac arrest at the age of 50 shocked fans around the world and sparked a new wave of interest in his music, while a documentary film featuring the singer, “This Is It,” became a blockbuster hit.

The King of Pop remains hugely popular in China, with Chinese developers drawing up plans last year to build a scaled-down version of Neverland Ranch on an island off Shanghai

Source: Reuters, May 24, 2010

A Chinese college professor has been jailed for running a sex club, whose members were the first to be convicted of “group licentiousness” in 20 years, media reported on Friday.

Ma Yaohai, a 53-year-old computer science professor, was jailed for three and a half years after pleading not guilty to holding orgies and said he would appeal against his sentence, the official China News Service said.
“What we did, we did for our own happiness,” Ma told media at a news conference in April at his home, where 14 of his 18 orgies, or “swinging games” as he called them, were held.
“People chose to do it of their own free will and they knew they could stop at any time,” he said at the time. “We disturbed no one.
“Marriage is like water. You have to drink it. Swinging is like a cup of wine. You can drink it if you like. If you don’t like it, don’t drink it.”
Eighteen people charged with taking part in the orgies were jailed for up to two and half years.
“Ma received a more severe punishment because he did not admit the malicious and illegal nature of his conduct,” the court in eastern Nanjing said.
Ma started his online group in 2007. Participants included office workers, taxi drivers and sales clerks. They were arrested after five were caught having a “party” in a hotel room last August.
Ma’s case has sparked debate on whether group licentiousness should be scratched from the law books.
“If no one is being harmed, people’s privacy should be protected,” one sociologist was quoted as saying.
Others felt Ma’s conduct was outrageous.
“Law is based on respect for traditional customs and civilized ethics,” said a columnist named Zhi Feng on Xinhuanet.com. “They confounded right and wrong and poisoned the social atmosphere. How dare you say they did no harm to others?”
Source: Reuters, May 21, 2010

Off they go to jail

An Islamic court sentenced a senior Malaysian politician to a month in prison on Wednesday for taking a second wife without the permission of his first wife.

Muslims are allowed to take up to four wives in Malaysia and the multiple marriage has become more popular with a “polygamy club” being set up, although it remains a minority practice in this mainly Muslim country in Southeast Asia.
But the man must ask the permission of his current wife before taking another, and she must agree before the second marriage is considered legal.
Bung Mokhtar, 51, is deputy president of the parliamentarians’ club of the National Front coalition that has ruled Malaysia for 52 years. He was also fined 1,000 ringgit ($310.8) in addition to the jail sentence.
“The accused had bad intentions and had toyed with the marriage solemnization process and the rules of polygamy according to shariah law,” Judge Wan Mahyuddin Wan Muhammad said, according to news portal Malaysiakin (www.malaysiakini.com).
Bung was charged along with his second wife, actress “Zizie” Izette Abdul Samad, aged 31, who was also fined.
Malaysia runs a dual legal system with secular courts running alongside shariah courts for the majority Muslim population dealing with breaches of Islamic laws.
The Islamic courts shot to prominence when a woman was sentenced to caning for drinking beer last year, although the sentence was later commuted.
Bung’s lawyers have asked for a lesser sentence of just a fine, as it was his first offence.
Groups such as Sisters in Islam, a Malaysian advocacy organization that aims to promote the rights of women, have condemned polygamy and there were protests against the practice outside the courtroom.
Source: Reuters, May 19, 2010

A mother appeared in court today charged with murdering her 11-year-old son at an airport hotel.
Yvonne Freaney, of Penarth, South Wales, was arrested after her son Glen was found dead at the Sky Plaza Hotel near Cardiff Airport on Saturday.
Freaney spoke only to confirm her name, age and address when she appeared at Barry Magistrates’ Court this afternoon.
Magistrate Mike Wilson remanded Freaney, 48, in custody. She will appear at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday morning.
South Wales Police said they were called to the hotel where Glen and his mother lived on Saturday by friends and family who were concerned about the boy’s safety.
A force spokesman said police attended within three minutes, adding: “Sadly, when officers arrived at their hotel room, the victim was dead.”
The last confirmed sighting of Glen alive was on Thursday and police believe he probably died on Thursday or Friday last week.
Detective Chief Inspector Richard Jones of South Wales Police Major Crime Team said: “This is a tragic murder of a young boy and I can confirm that it is domestic related.
“I would also like to reassure the public that we are not looking to trace any other person in connection with this incident.”
Source: ITN news online, May 17, 2010

Japan has hosted the world’s first wedding to be conducted by a robot.

The automated creature, known as the I-Fairy, oversaw the wedding of Tomohiro Shibata and Satoko Inoue in the capital, Tokyo.

The couple decided to use the robot as they are both connected with Japan’s thriving robotics industry.

Since robots had brought them together in the first place, they said, having one officiate at their wedding was a natural choice.

During the ceremony, I-Fairy – which has flashing eyes and plastic pigtails – instructed the groom to lift the bride’s veil for the kiss.

The wedding took part in a rooftop restaurant in the Japanese capital.

Source: BBC news online, May 16, 2010

Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) has been ordered to pay out almost £19,000 after a cockroach was found eating a chip in one of the busiest branches in Britain. Skip related content
The insect was seen on a food dispensing counter near takeaway boxes and tongs used to serve chicken by an environmental health officer in a restaurant in London’s West End.

City of Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard that, during an inspection at the Leicester Square branch, the officer also saw a mouse, flies and dried chicken blood on the floor. The Westminster City Council inspector also said there was no hand wash in dispensers in the food preparation area.

“There was no soap in the ground-floor food preparation room so, on the day of the inspection at least, it was not possible for food preparation staff to wash their hands properly,” said Michael Goodwin, prosecuting.

The fast food giant admitted breaching five hygiene rules after the inspection in August 2008. Mr Goodwin said that, four months prior to the inspection, the branch received a “specific warning” from the council voicing concerns about hygiene practices. David Whiting, mitigating, said the company took the inspection “very seriously”.

“KFC accepts the condition that has been described to you,” he said. “They fell below their own high standards and below legal standards.”

Mr Whiting said that, since the inspection, the outside contractor employed to deal with pest control problems has had its hire agreement with KFC terminated across the UK. Mr Whiting added that, on the day of inspection, an employee had simply forgotten to refill the soap in the dispensers in the preparation room and there were still places where hands could be washed.

The Coventry Street outlet, which employs 65 people and operates from 10am to 3am, has since undergone a £600,000 refurbishment.

At a hearing in April, the firm, based in Woking, Surrey, pleaded guilty to failure to keep the premises clean, not keeping the building maintained and in good repair and not having adequate procedures in place to prevent pest control. It also admitted failure to ensure that the layout, design and construction permitted good food hygiene practices

Source: Press Association, May 10, 2010