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Cocaine smuggled in Virgin Mary statues
Fri Mar 31, 2:13 PM ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Two men suspected of helping smuggle cocaine to New York from Mexico inside statues of the Virgin Mary were arrested Thursday, U.S. authorities said.
Peter Matheis, 52, and Rafael Serrano, 36, both Mexican nationals, were indicted in New York and Houston respectively on money-laundering and narcotics charges along with six others arrested previously in the United States, the Drug Enforcement Administration said.
Five 3-foot-tall statues of the Virgin Mary, filled with 242 pounds of cocaine, were seized in a Brooklyn warehouse as part of the police operation.
The drug ring used the statues to smuggle cocaine worth millions of dollars, FBI agent John Gilbride said in a statement.
The DEA said the investigation was continuing in Mexico.
Lawyers for the defendants could not be immediately reached for comment.

Rural S. Korea sees bumper crop of foreign brides
Fri Mar 31, 9:49 AM ET

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean men in rural areas are having a tough time wooing local women with prospects of spending a lifetime with them on the farm and are increasingly turning to brokers to find foreign brides.
In 2005, more than one in three men in rural areas married a women from overseas, mostly from China or Vietnam, figures released this week by South Korea's National Statistical Office (NSO) showed.
"The rates of international marriages have increased because the values of Koreans have become more liberal," said Park Kyung-ae, an official with the NSO.
Several rural counties have launched programs to provide financial support for South Korean men to help them pay for mail-order brides.
They have also set up programs to help foreign spouses adjust to a new life in the country.
One of the biggest growth trends in almost completely homogeneous South Korea last year was finding a foreign spouse, with 14 percent of all weddings in 2005 being international marriages, the statistics office said.

5 Saudi women change sex
Mon Apr 3, 6:27 AM ET

RIYADH (Reuters) - Tired of being second to men in conservative Saudi Arabia, five women decided if you can't beat them, join them.
Al Watan newspaper said the five women have underwent sex change surgeries abroad over the past 12 months after they developed a "psychological complex" due to male domination.
Women in Saudi Arabia, which adopts an austere interpretation of Islam are not allowed to drive or even go to public places unaccompanied by a male relative.
The newspaper quoted a senior cleric as saying the authorities have to fill what he described as a legal vacuum by issuing laws against sex change operations.
An interior ministry official told the Watan such cases are examined by religious authorities, and sometimes by psychologists, but those who undergo sex change are never arrested.

Spider-hunting nudist ends with ring of fire
Mon Apr 3, 11:05 AM ET

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A red-faced Australian nudist who tried to set fire to what he thought was a deadly funnel web spider's nest ended up with badly burned buttocks, emergency officials said Monday.
The 56-year-old man was at a nudist colony near Bowral, about 60 miles southwest of Sydney, Sunday when he spotted what he believed to be a funnel web spider hole.
Ambulance workers, including a helicopter crew, were called to the scene after the man poured petrol down the hole and then lit a match in an attempt to kill the offending arachnid.
"The exploding gasoline fumes left the man with burns to 18 percent of his body, on the upper leg and buttocks," the NRMA Careflight helicopter rescue service said in a statement.
It said the man's lack of clothing probably contributed to the extent of his burns.
"The fate of the bunkered spider was unknown, although other guests at the resort thought it was probably a harmless trapdoor spider and not a deadly funnel web," the statement said.
NRMA Careflight said it was called to a property in the same area in January when another man kicked a spider that was crawling up the wall of a friend's cabin. The man broke his leg in two places, it said.

Lack of women turns tables on suitable boys
Mon Apr 3, 11:00 AM ET

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Long, twirling moustaches and bejewelled daggers are no longer enough for a man seeking to marry in India's desert state of Rajasthan, long considered a land of fearless warriors.
But if he is lucky enough to have a sister, he can relax, a newspaper report said Sunday.
A declining sex ratio in the state is prompting a girl's parents to spurn offers of marriage from men unless the potential groom's family also has a marriageable daughter for their son, the Sunday Express said.
"Around 30 percent of the marriages in the past year in Shekhawati region of Rajasthan were fixed on this swap system," local lawmaker Rajendra Chauhan said.
The sex ratio in many of Rajasthan's districts has dropped to 922 girls for every 1,000 boys, according to the last census. In one or two villages, it has plummeted to less than 500, the paper reported.
The joint engagement pact, called "aata-saata," or the "double-couple plan," has emerged as young women find themselves much in demand in a state where the traditional preference, as in much of India, has been for sons.
Heavily skewed sex ratios have emerged in several parts of India as couples use ultra-sound technology to achieve their desire for a baby son despite such tests being illegal.
A joint study carried out by researchers in India and Canada recently suggested that half-a-million unborn girls may be aborted in India every year.
But now the absence of girls is changing village dynamics, the newspaper said.
"There are no girls. If there is one in a house, the father is like a king. He can demand anything," said Prahland Singh, the head of Bhorki village in Rajasthan.
He said that around 30 families had carried out marriages under the swap system in the village of 3,000 people in the last two years.
The report said that dowry, where traditionally a bride's father had to bestow riches on a groom to secure a marriage, has completely disappeared from many parts of the state.
Rather the groom's families are now offering to bear the cost of finding a suitable bride for their sons.

Late Grateful Dead Leader's Toilet Stolen
Sun Apr 2, 7:39 AM ET

SONOMA, California - The long, strange trip continues for Jerry Garcia's toilet. Police say the Grateful Dead leader's commode was stolen recently from a driveway along with three other toilets and a bidet, The Press Democrat newspaper reported Saturday.
Garcia's salmon-colored toilet was the subject of a legal battle before it was finally moved to Sonoma, to await shipment to a Canadian casino.
It's unclear if the toilet was swiped by a wayward Deadhead or a thief remodeling a bathroom. Police have no suspects or leads.
Henry Koltys bought Garcia's Marin County home for $1.39 million in 1997 and removed the toilet and other items he planned to sell to raise money for a charity.
After Koltys sold the house to a friend of the band's, the new owner sued to block the auction. The dispute was resolved last year, and Koltys moved the items to his home in Sonoma, about 40 miles north of San Francisco.
Last month, Koltys sold the Grateful Dead singer's toilet for $2,550 to online casino Goldenpalace.com, which planned to use it as part of a traveling marketing exhibit. The casino is offering a $250 reward for its return.
Henry Koltys said Friday that the toilet once stood in the master bathroom of Garcia, who died in 1995 at age 53. "It would have been his personal head," he said.
The casino has made other unusual purchases in the last year — it paid $25,000 for actor William Shatner's kidney stones and $28,000 for a grilled cheese sandwich that reportedly had the image of the Virgin Mary on it, Koltys said.
Jonathon Lipsin, who worked for Garcia as a gardener and now owns a Northern California record store, said the toilet might appeal to dedicated Deadheads.
"It's a little gross," Lipsin said. "But I could see it at a rock 'n' roll museum, too."

Man Sentenced for Shooting at Toy Plane
Fri Mar 24, 7:31 PM ET

CHELSEA, Mich. - A man has been sentenced to six months' probation for shooting at his neighbor's radio-controlled model airplanes with a shotgun.
David Nuttle, 41, of Washtenaw County's Webster Township, pleaded guilty to one count of malicious destruction of property worth less than $200, a misdemeanor.
Judge Richard Conlin of 14-A District Court in Chelsea sentenced him Thursday to six months of probation and 50 hours of community service. Conlin also gave him a 20-day suspended jail sentence, deferred as long as Nuttle complies with the conditions of his probation, which includes no alcohol or drugs and no contact with the planes' owner.
Nuttle also must pay $154 restitution and $550 in fines and court fees.
Nuttle used a .410-gauge shotgun to shoot at the planes. He said his shots hit only one plane, causing two tiny holes in it. The plane he is paying for crashed when the child who was operating it lost control of it after being frightened by the shots, Nuttle said.
Nuttle told the judge he regretted his actions.
"I felt I was defending my family and my property from these airplanes, and I called police several times," he said. "But I made a bad decision that day and I realize that."
Nuttle told The Ann Arbor News after the hearing that the planes have been a nuisance to his family, scaring his children, spooking his chickens and causing his goats to faint from exhaustion.

Man Catches Train, Forgets Baby in Car
Fri Mar 24, 12:38 AM ET

By MICHAEL W. KAHN, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Commuters racing to catch the train typically forget things in the car — keys, wallets, briefcases. But a baby daughter?
That's what happened Thursday just north of Washington, police say.
"Dad forgot baby was in the car, parked the car, got on the Metro," said Lucille Baur, a spokeswoman for the Montgomery County, Md., Police Department.
"I don't know exactly when he got the memory flash, but he was in D.C. when it was the horrible defining moment, 'Oh my goodness, I think I've left my child back in my car,'" Baur said.
At that point, she said, Jonathan Sander got off the southbound train and onto a northbound one, returning to the Shady Grove Metrorail station about 12 miles north of Washington.
By that time, other commuters had noticed the 7 1/2-month-old girl in the back seat of the car, firefighters had opened the locked door and the child had been taken to a hospital as a precaution.
She was reunited there with her mother.
"Child Protective Services was comfortable with releasing the child back to the mom," said Baur. "We all believe that the child was not intentionally left in the car."
Sander, described as "terrified, embarrassed," was charged with leaving a child under 8 unattended in a car or building. He could face a fine of up to $500 and 30 days in jail.
A call to Sander's home was not returned.

Miami dancer sues show for dismissal over bra size
Tue Mar 21, 4:43 PM ET

MIAMI (Reuters) - A Miami-based dancer is suing the owners and producers of the Broadway musical "Movin' Out" for more than $100 million (57 million pounds) in damages on grounds that she was emotionally abused and fired after her breasts grew too large for her costumes.
Alice Alyse was a top dancer in the touring company of the show, which features Billy Joel's music and Twyla Tharp's choreography. Alyse says she was dismissed from the cast of the show last month after her breasts grew from cup size C to D while she was recovering from an injury.
Michael Hartman, a spokesman for the producers, said they had no comment. A spokesman for Joel, who is not a defendant in the case, could not be reached for immediate comment.
Alyse, who is in her 20s, said the change of cup size occurred naturally as her body matured. Ruling out any big weight gain, she said she kept fit while recovering from a toe injury suffered when she was dropped by a fellow dancer from six feet in the air.
"I was thin, I was a size zero, but my breasts had gotten bigger," Alyse told a news conference on Tuesday. "When I tried on my costumes they fit everywhere except in the breast area."
Her suit, which names Tharp among the defendants, lists a whole catalogue of charges including wrongful termination, breach of contract, defamation, sexual harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
It was filed on Monday in Miami-Dade Circuit Court. Alyse's lawyer, Larry Klayman, said the "main perpetrator" of the alleged abuse heaped on the young dancer was Eric Sprosty, a stage manager. Klayman said Sprosty flew into a rage after learning of Alyse's changing breast size.
"She was in fear of bodily injury," Klayman said.
He said the more than $100 million suit was "based on actual and compensatory damages" in the case, but he also said "Movin' Out" was "a very lucrative show" and a "cash cow for Broadway."
The show, which won Tonys awards for choreography
and orchestrations, ended its Broadway run in December after 1,300 performances.
"In the ballet world, obviously, people are small-breasted," Klayman said in answer to a question about the maturing shape of Alyse, who is a trained ballerina. "On Broadway, what happened should be an attribute."

Fishnet Hosiery Does in Robbery Suspect
AP - Tue Mar 21, 4:06 PM ET

MONTEREY, Calif. - A man's pantyhose led to his arrest, authorities said. An unshaven man wearing a black evening gown, fishnet stockings, calf-high boots and a black wig robbed a USA Gas station Monday morning, authorities alleged.
The armed man stuffed $290 in cash into an ensemble-matching black purse.
"I've been with the department for 22 years, and this is the first time I've heard of this happening anywhere here," police Lt. Phil Penko said.
About 35 minutes after the robbery, police Officer Chad Ventimiglia spotted a black Saab with fishnet pantyhose hanging from the front driver's side door, dragging on the ground, investigators said.
The car was pulled over and Michael Leslie Clouse, 26, was arrested and booked for investigation of armed robbery.
A plastic replica handgun allegedly was found inside his purse, Penko said.

Barefoot Dad Busts Teens After Chase
Fri Mar 17, 8:20 PM ET

EAGAN, Minn. - Gerry Rodgers wasn't going to let himself become a burglary victim. When he heard two teenagers trying to break down his inside garage door, he jumped into his truck — without a weapon, a cell phone, or even shoes — and chased them down. He eventually forced the teens to call 911 on themselves.
In the process, police say, he may have busted up a group linked to 10 daytime burglaries in Eagan and Apply Valley.
"I'm surprised at what a can of worms this opened," said Rodgers. "We've lived here for 34 years and never had a problem. I'm sure there are a few other homeowners who are happy these kids were caught too."
Rodgers, 53, was sleeping on a recent Thursday afternoon before his night shift when his 20-year-old son heard two kids pounding on the front door and ringing the bell. The son woke his dad and ignored the doorbell because he didn't know the teens.
Later, Rodgers heard the suspects trying to break down his inside garage door. When he yelled at them, the teens took off in their pickup truck — and Rodgers jumped into his truck and chased them onto Interstate 35E. He drove erratically and honked to catch the attention of other motorists. He said he just was trying to get a license plate number.
"As this is going on, people are calling police because it looks like a crazy road-rage thing," said Eagan police Detective Brian Gunderson.
When the teens stopped on the freeway's shoulder, Rodgers pulled in front of them. He said he was a police officer and ordered them out of their vehicle.
"So I get them out and there I am, standing in my bare feet wondering what I was going to do," he said.
He forced the teens to lie on the side of the road and demanded that one of them use his own cell phone to call 911. The youth complied and handed over the phone so Rodgers could talk to the dispatcher.
"I made them stay in front of the car, and I went to the back," Rodgers said. "Luckily the State Patrol and the Eagan police were there within two minutes."
The two teenagers, both 17-year-old males, were charged with multiple felony counts of first- and second-degree burglary, said Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom. Two other teens were being investigated.

Robbers Try to Rob Cashless Credit Union
Sat Mar 18, 5:30 AM ET

BENICIA, Calif. - Two armed men in ski masks slunk away from an attempted heist empty-handed after learning they had picked a cashless credit union, authorities said.
The unidentified men rushed into the First Pacific Credit Union in Benicia around noon Thursday with semiautomatic handguns drawn, Benicia police said.
But after ordering employees to lie down and hand over money, the suspects were told there was no cash to be had, police said.
The men were trying to rob a "cashless credit union" where the money is deposited into a vault inaccessible to most employees, said Benicia police Capt. Steve Mortensen.
The men fled the scene, and no one was injured. Police were looking into whether the men have attempted other heists around Benicia, about 35 miles northeast of San Francisco.
"I would say that apparently they weren't really prepared," Mortensen said.

Pregnant Teen Waitress Gets $1,000 Tip
Sat Mar 18, 5:22 AM ET

ROANOKE, Va. - The couple at one of waitress Amanda Newkirk's many tables seemed ordinary enough. The woman ordered a turkey burger, fries and two Coors Lights. The man had a bacon cheeseburger and sweet tea.
Their bill came to $26.35. They left Newkirk $1,000.
Newkirk, seven months pregnant and teary with excitement, read the handwritten note on the check: "Keep the change! Have a great day."
The 19-year-old thought it had to be a joke. But the manager at Ruby Tuesday confirmed the authenticity of the ten $100 bills with a counterfeit-detection pen.
Newkirk couldn't figure out why the couple had given her such a generous tip. She didn't think her service had been very good.
A couple days after the March 7 incident, Newkirk got her answer.
A 28-year-old widow who said she'd been going through a tough time called Newkirk's general manager and said she'd left the tip while at lunch with her fiance.
"It involved a lot more than good service at a great restaurant," said Erin Dogan of Roanoke County. "I didn't need it. It helped someone who ... needed it. God put us there together. God answered my questions."
Dogan, whose husband died last year, said she's a shopaholic and could have easily spent the money at a nearby mall. But she decided to put it to better use.
"It made me feel phenomenal," Dogan said. "It has changed my life."
Newkirk plans to use some of the money to help pay for medical bills related to her pregnancy. But aside from a few national radio and television appearances, life continues as normal for the teen.
"I'm not going to retire with a thousand dollars," she said with a laugh.

Moose Lands in Front Seat of Car
Sat Mar 18, 5:19 AM ET

LEOMINSTER, Mass. - A 500-pound moose crashed through the windshield of a car in Leominster and ended up sitting in the passenger seat with its head sticking through the glass.
Emergency personnel late Thursday had to cut the roof off the car to extricate the moose, which was later euthanized by state environmental police because of severe injuries, police Lt. Raymond Booth said.
The driver, Juleigh McDowell, 30, of Sterling, was able to get out of the car under her own power and escaped serious injury, police said.
Police in Leominster, a city of about 38,000 residents about 40 miles west of Boston, had received reports of a moose in the area earlier Thursday evening, Booth said.
McDowell was simply driving along Route 12 at about 11 p.m. Thursday when the moose crossed her path, he said.

Life is happy in tax-free North Korea
Mon Mar 20, 5:31 AM ET

SEOUL (Reuters) - Aid workers say North Korea is short of food, analysts say its economy is a mess and U.S. President George W. Bush says leader Kim Jong-il is a tyrant, but Pyongyang says life is wonderful -- and blissfully free of tax.
North Korea has one of the lowest per capita income figures in the world. Although it says it has free health care, it cannot supply enough electricity to keep its factories running or to light the country at night.
On Monday, North Korean official media sang the praises of living in the communist country.
"The people of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea enjoy a happy life, not knowing what the tax is like," the official KCNA news agency reported.
DPRK is short for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
North Korea said it got rid of taxes in 1974.
"The tax system has been in force in all the countries for thousands of years with the appearance of states. Its complete repeal in the DPRK was the first of its kind in human history," KCNA said.
North Korea has demanded what would be billions of dollars in economic assistance for dismantling its nuclear weapons programmes.
It receives significant humanitarian assistance from the South, which uses taxes from its citizens to help feed people in the North.

Town Auctioned on eBay Up for Sale Again
Sat Mar 18, 7:29 PM ET

BRIDGEVILLE, Calif. - The first town ever auctioned on eBay soon will be back up for sale on the online auction site.
Nearly two years after he bought the tiny town of Bridgeville, Orange County financial adviser Bruce Krall said Friday he plans to re-auction the Humboldt County hamlet on eBay next month.
"Due to family reasons, I'm pretty much tied to Southern California for the foreseeable future," Krall said. "We can't move up there. It only makes sense to pass it on to somebody else."
Krall said the auction will open April 4 with a minimum bid of $1.75 million — more than twice what he paid for the 83-acre property about 40 miles southwest of Eureka.
Bridgeville, a picturesque village with about 25 people on the Van Duzen River, sparked a bidding war in 2002 when it became the first town ever put up for sale on eBay.
The buyer, who won the auction with a $1.78 million bid, never came to see the property and the deal fell through. The property was eventually posted on traditional real estate listings, and Krall bought it for about $700,000 in May 2004.
Since then, Krall said he's invested "multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars" to restore old buildings, remove dilapidated structures and clean up mounds of garbage. He also found new tenants for the houses and received a conditional use permit for a riverfront resort.
"It's come full circle," Krall said. "Now it's been fixed up, and I think it's actually ready to be sold on eBay."

Kazakh burglars lock funeral worker in coffin
Reuters - Fri Mar 17, 3:12 AM ET

ALMATY (Reuters) - Burglars in Kazakhstan locked a funeral parlour employee in a coffin and kept him there unconscious while rummaging for cash in the shop.
Serik Sarsenbayev said he was on his own late at night when two masked burglars burst into the parlour and beat him until he fainted.
The thieves then nailed him into a wooden coffin and carried on their search for a money safe, he told Reuters by telephone from the steppe town of Temirtau.
He was later freed by the driver of the parlour's hearse.
The thieves made away with the equivalent of $23,000 (13,000 pounds) and remain at large, the daily Express K reported.

Elderly lovers stopped on dangerous Italy joy ride
Thu Mar 16, 1:42 PM ET

ROME (Reuters) - The zig-zagging car gave them away. When Italian police pulled over the vehicle, they found a completely naked 70-year-old woman who had been trying to have sex with the driver -- 11 years her junior.
After demanding the joy-riding couple get dressed, the police tested the semi-nude male motorist for drunk driving.
"He was three times over the legal (blood-alcohol) limit," said police commander Angelo D'Anardo in the city of Cologno al Serio, northeast of Milan.
"We assume they must have been drinking at lunch and then things got out of control."
Asked if the couple were married, D'Anardo said he wasn't sure -- but somehow doubted it.
"Married people wouldn't probably do anything like this."

Two Men Arrested After Mistaken 911 Call
AP - Thu Mar 16, 6:00 PM ET

ENID, Okla. - Two men were jailed on arson complaints after one of them hit the wrong button on a cell phone, giving 911 dispatchers an account of a plot to set a vehicle on fire.
Enid police Capt. Jim Nivison said from that call, 911 dispatchers and a shift supervisor listened for nearly four hours to the two Enid natives as they drove across town, first planning to steal an acquaintance's car, then deciding to build an incendiary device out of a light bulb to burn the car up.
"It's all on tape; we've got the whole thing," Nivison said. "They made some pretty dumb statements. One of the males said. 'It's gonna burn, will they be able to get fingerprints?' and 'I've got the lighter, Dude. Let's go.' "
Johnny Ray Miller, 48, was arrested on complaints of third-degree arson and transporting an incendiary device. Robert A. Patterson, 24, was arrested on complaints of third-degree arson and manufacturing an incendiary device. Both also were jailed on conspiracy complaints.

Haunted Welsh castle goes under the hammer for a snip
Wed Mar 8, 4:40 PM ET

LONDON (AFP) - A haunted Welsh castle dating from the Elizabethan age has been put up for auction at an opening price of 5,000 pounds sterling (7,300 euros, 8,800 dollars), local authorities said.
The ivy-covered ruin of Llantwit Major Castle, built in 1596 some 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Cardiff in south Wales, will go under the hammer on April 3.
The ruin is reputed to be haunted by a mysterious Dutchman, historian Elwyn Gibbs told the newspaper the Western Mail.
The castle had belonged to one family for a century until 1694, was abandoned at the beginning of the 18th century and thereafter fell into ruin, a spokesman for the Welsh administration explained.
The interior was demolished in 1834 and the building is roofless.
The castle is a registered historic monument and all renovation work on it must be approved by local authorities.

'Fake monks' blamed over Thailand protest
Wed Mar 8, 10:40 AM ET

BANGKOK (AFP) - Four Thai Buddhists filed a complaint with police, saying a sect that wants Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to resign has damaged the reputation of monks.
They called on police to act against the Santi Asoke sect using a law that prohibits the impersonation of monks -- a serious offence in mostly-Buddhist Thailand.
The sect has taken part in anti-Thaksin rallies in Bangkok.
"By joining political-related activities, the sect has caused Thai people to lose faith and hate monks," said one of the complainants, Sathien Wiphromma.
Similar to traditional Buddhist monks, Santi Asoke members have shaved heads but wear dark brown robes, not the saffron and golden orange worn by the mainstream.
Several Santi Asoke members were sentenced to five-and-a-half years for impersonating mainstream monks in 1989 but the punishment was suspended, according to the complaint.

Mystery of vanished "Buddha Boy" grips Nepal
Sun Mar 12, 2:34 AM ET

KATHMANDU (AFP) - The weekend disappearance of a Nepalese boy whom supporters hail as a reincarnation of the Buddha has sparked a nationwide search.
Supporters have showered 16-year old Ram Bahadur Bomjan with money and gifts for allegedly sitting in motionless meditation in the roots of a pipal tree without taking food or water, or using the toilet, since May 16 last year.
The youth, dubbed "Buddha Boy" by the media, left the site in southern Nepal because the thousands of devotees who flocked there had disturbed his meditation, media reported Sunday.
"He left as there was a lot of noise in the meditation area," his friend Prem Lama told the Kathmandu Post.
A search using plain-clothes police and civilians failed to find the boy, but he had been glimpsed in the jungle surrounding the meditation site at Bara district 250 kilometres (150 miles) south of Kathmandu, the Himalayan Times reported.
Inspector Kamal Acharya told AFP he was "90 percent sure" the boy disappeared voluntarily. "It does not seem likely that it was an abduction," said Acharya. a police inspector from Bara.
Police believed the youth had left the site with a close friend Sahila Tamang, who was also missing, Acharya said.
"The boy disappeared at around three in the morning Saturday while the people who guard the site were sleeping," Shankar Acharya, a journalist from Bara, told AFP.
The thousands of visitors who have flocked to see the boy were kept at least 15 metres (50 feet) away.
The boy's followers did not permit visitors to see him during the night, raising scepticism about claims that he had been surviving without food and water.
Ram's meditation spawned a mini-industry with the site jammed with food and souvenir vendors.
Rupees were stuffed in collection boxes around the site and a member of a committee looking after the site said foreign Buddhist groups had donated 40,000 dollars for its upkeep.
The boy had told supporters through a friend that he was not a reincarnation of Buddha but was an "austere sage."
Gautama Siddhartha, who later became known as Buddha or the Enlightened One, is believed to have been born in the same region near the border with India in around 500 BC.

Male drivers waste six million hours a year
Tue Mar 14, 6:42 AM ET

LONDON (AFP) - British male drivers waste nearly six million hours a year lost on the road because they are reluctant to ask for directions.
Men who are lost wait an average of 20 minutes before giving up and asking for directions, while women only wait 10 minutes before seeking help, according to a survey from Royal Automobile Club Direct Insurance.
Men even endure a "nagging period" of around 10 minutes from their partner before throwing in the towel and stopping to ask the way, the poll showed.
Based on responses from 2,000 adults, the survey also revealed:
--Some 64 percent of couples admitted to having arguments over getting lost on the road.
-- Only 27 percent of couples plan their journeys before setting off.
-- Just 36 percent of couples rely on landmarks and road signs to find their destination
-- One in four couples still scribble down basic directions on a bit of scrap paper.
RAC Direct Insurance product manager Craig Martin said awareness of the problem could improve driving standards.
"The anxiety, increased stress levels and road rage that can be caused by getting lost are unnecessary distractions on today's busy roads when motorists need to be alert and able to concentrate," Martin said.
"These problems can easily be avoided just by motorists taking a bit more time to plan their journeys," he added.
Martin said new technology installed in cars, including satellite navigation systems, were now being used by about one in five drivers.

Spanish doctors cut 60-kilo tumour from woman
Thu Mar 16, 11:43 AM ET

MADRID (AFP) - Spanish doctors have removed a giant tumour weighing 60 kilograms (132 pounds) from a female patient at a hospital in the northern city of Cruces.
Surgeons had to remove a portion of the women's abdomen and perform reconstructive surgery in removing the tumour, the health officials in the northern region of Vizcaya said Thursday.
The patient, said to be clinically obese, was not identified.
Although weighing as much as a normal adult woman by itself, the tumour was less than half the size of the largest ever recorded to be removed intact.
In 1991, a surgeon at California's Stanford University Medical Center removed a multicystic ovarian mass weighing 302 pounds (138 kilograms), which Guinness World Records holds to be the biggest ever.
The woman survived and, according to Guinness World Records, she "left the operating theater on one stretcher and the cyst left on another."

Dead Greek Orthodox monk baffles scientists 15 years after burial
Mon Mar 13, 1:03 PM ET

ATHENS (AFP) - Medical experts in the town of Lamia, central Greece, are puzzling over the body of a Greek Orthodox monk that was allegedly found intact 15 years after his burial.
"I believe this to be a sign from God," Bishop Nikolaos of the local prefecture of Fthiotida told a press conference in Lamia. "Even the monk's soft parts are intact," he added accoridng to the semi-state Athens News Agency (ANA).
The story of the deceased monk, Vissarionas Korkoliakos, has raised a media stir following his recent exhumation at Agathonos monastery.
Four local doctors summoned by Church authorities were unable to explain the alleged phenomenon. A fifth expert, an Athens coroner, wrote in his report that he has never seen such a case in his entire career, ANA said.
The church had also requested an opinion from head Athens coroner Philippos Koutsaftis, who declined to examine the body as the monk's death was not crime-related.
Hundreds of faithful are already flocking to the site where the monk's body was disinterred, ANA reported, but the local church is currently advising self-restraint.
"We do not intend to declare (this man) a saint, or to summon people to pray before him," Bishop Nicholaos said.
The monk's body will be placed in isolation in the monastery chapel "to let God speak through the passage of time," the bishop said.

Man Sues Himself for Vehicle Damage
Wed Mar 15, 7:16 PM ET

LODI, Calif. - When a dump truck backed into Curtis Gokey's car, he decided to sue the city for damages. Only thing is, he was the one driving the dump truck.
But that minor detail didn't stop Gokey, a Lodi city employee, from filing a $3,600 claim for the December accident, even after admitting the crash was his fault.
After the city denied that claim because Gokey was, in essence, suing himself, he and his wife, Rhonda, decided to file a new claim under her name.
City Attorney Steve Schwabauer said this one also lacks merit because Rhonda Gokey can't sue her own husband.
"You can sue your spouse for divorce, but you can't sue your spouse for negligence," Schwabauer said. "They're a married couple under California law. They're one entity. It's damage to community property."
But Rhonda Gokey insisted she has "the right to sue the city because a city's vehicle damaged my private vehicle."
In fact, her claim, currently pending at Lodi City Hall, is for an even larger amount — $4,800.
"I'm not as nice as my husband is," she said.

LA couple gets prison for robbing 5-year-old girl
Wed Mar 15, 7:56 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles man and woman were each sentenced to two years in prison on Wednesday for stealing a gold chain from around the neck of a 5-year-old girl in January.
Julio Cesar Beltran, 18, and Patricia Serrano, 31, each pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree robbery and were given two year sentences by a Los Angeles judge, prosecutor June Chung said.
A videotape captured Beltran leaping from a car being driven by Serrano and grabbing two chains on the girl's neck as she stood in front of a meat market, Chung said.
Serrano ripped one of the chains off the girl, giving her an 8-inch (20-cm) cut, she said, and the couple admitted to police that they later pawned the necklace for drug money.
"It's very shocking to have a 5-year-old robbery victim," Chung said, adding that when the robbery was first reported "people were calling in from around the country offering to buy her a new necklace."
Chung said the girl still has a slight scar on the back of her neck but was otherwise doing well.

Police: Car Prowler Brings Son to Work
Wed Mar 15, 7:16 PM ET

ISSAQUAH, Wash. - There are many bring-a-child-to-work days, but none like what police in this Seattle suburb say they encountered early Monday — a 10-year-old boy watching his father and two other men burglarize motor vehicles.
Police said they were summoned about 3 a.m. by a resident who reported seeing three men breaking into cars at the Emerald Hills apartment complex.
Officers found three men in the parking lot as well as two vehicles that had been reported stolen, one containing items that were found to have been reported stolen in previous car prowls. Many of the items were returned to their owners, police said.
Three men were arrested — a 30-year-old from Marysville, a 25-year-old from Everett and a 19-year-old from Marysville.
Police did not say which was the father of the boy but added that he knew what his father and the others were doing. He was returned to his mother and police said they were contacting state Child Protective Services, which could investigate further.

University Official Allegedly Bites Man
Wed Mar 15, 6:11 PM ET

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - Police charged a university official after he allegedly bit a man in the calf when the man stopped to help him after a car accident.
Robert E. Mays, 64, an associate dean at the University of Southern Indiana, was charged with battery and operating a motor vehicle while intoxicated. He was released from Vanderburgh County jail on a $100 bond.
A telephone message seeking comment was left Wednesday at his home in Evansville.
Mays was driving on U.S. 41 in northern Evansville Tuesday night when he hit a vehicle in front of him, according to police reports. No one was injured in the wreck.
A passer-by who stopped to check on Mays tried to stop him from returning to his car. Mays then bent down and bit the man's calf, leaving a bruise and teeth marks, police said.
Police said Mays refused to take a breath test.
The university was not aware of the arrest and was not sure if Mays would be disciplined, said spokeswoman Sherrianne Standley. He has been at the school since 1973.

You got change for a Grover Cleveland, pal?
Tue Mar 14, 5:35 PM ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The counterfeit money looked good, but there was one flaw. There's no such thing as a one billion dollar bill.
U.S. Customs agents in California said on Tuesday they had found 250 bogus billion dollar bills while investigating a man charged with currency smuggling.
Tekle Zigetta, 45, pleaded guilty to three federal counts of trying to bring cash, phony bills and a fake $100,000 gold certificate into the United States in January.
Further investigation led agents to a West Hollywood apartment where they found the stash of yellowing and wrinkled one billion dollar bills with an issue date of 1934 and bearing a picture of President Grover Cleveland.
"You would think the $1 billion denomination would be a giveaway that these notes are fake, but some people are still taken in," said James Todak, a secret services agent involved in the probe.

Police: Man Pulls Gun After Oatmeal Prank
Tue Mar 14, 5:35 PM ET

LA CROSSE, Wis. - A 20-year-old man who awoke after a party to find himself covered in syrup and dry oatmeal is the one facing a criminal charge after authorities say he turned a gun on the man who admitted pulling the prank.
Witnesses told police they were just trying to "get even" with Travis Maassen for pranks he had pulled in the past few days, according to a criminal complaint.
But Maassen "freaked out," emerging from a bedroom Friday with a .22 caliber bolt-action rifle the complaint said. One man tackled Maassen after having the gun pointed at his head, the complaint said.
Maassen was charged with second-degree recklessly endangering safety while armed. He's on probation for carrying a concealed .25 caliber handgun, the complaint said.
La Crosse County Circuit Judge Ramona Gonzalez ordered Maassen held on a $5,000 cash bond Monday.

Now THERE'S a couple that knows how to fight!
Tue Mar 14, 9:36 AM ET

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican couple were recovering separately after a marital spat got out of control and saw them firing guns, throwing knives and hurling homemade bombs, Mexican daily Milenio said on Monday.
In scenes taken straight out of hit romantic comedy "Mr. and Mrs. Smith," starring Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Juan Espinosa and Irma Contreras fought until their house blew up in a homemade gasoline bomb explosion, Milenio said.
Police called to the home in the indigenous Mayan Indian town of Oxkutzcab in the southeastern state of Yucatan arrested Espinosa. Contreras was taken to hospital with third-degree burns.
A local police official confirmed the report but declined to provide further information.
In the violence-filled movie about the fictional Smiths, Pitt and Jolie play married assassins ordered to kill each other.
Espinosa told reporters he was glad his wife had suffered burns, while Contreras said she was only sorry she had not "hacked off his manhood" during the fight.

Teacher Fired After Allegedly Biting Pupil
Tue Mar 14, 11:25 PM ET

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - School officials on Tuesday fired a middle school teacher charged with biting a student who would not spit out a piece of candy.
Caroline Kolb has pleaded not guilty to an aggravated assault charge for allegedly biting 14-year-old Garrick Hudson on the back during a classroom scuffle Jan. 11.
School officials conducted a probe and fired Kolb for insubordination and conduct unbecoming a teacher, The Courier-Journal reported, citing a copy of her termination letter.
Administrators had previously warned Kolb to avoid being physically confrontational with students, according to the letter.
A call Tuesday to Kolb's attorney was not immediately returned.
The student's mother said Kolb told her son to stand in the hallway after he disobeyed her order to spit out the candy. When the boy tried to retrieve his books, they got into the scuffle.
According to court records, the boy was treated for a bite wound.

Robber sends letter of apology... gets nabbed
 Mon Mar 13, 8:35 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - A letter of apology sent to a robbery victim spelled arrest for a Japanese man after police investigating the case identified him from the handwriting.
NHK television said the man had pushed his way into the house of a 78-year-old woman in the town of Misato, western Japan, and stole 15,000 yen ($125) after threatening her with a knife.
He later wrote the victim a letter saying he was sorry and returning the cash.
The handwriting "and other things" led police to the man, a 51-year-old construction worker who lives near the victim, NHK said. The man, who has confessed, is heavily in debt, it said.
NHK did not say how the handwriting was linked to the man.
A local police official declined to give details, saying an investigation was still under way.

Woman Finds Crocodile in Swimming Pool
Mon Mar 13, 7:11 AM ET

SYDNEY, Australia - A woman found a small crocodile in her backyard swimming pool in Sydney, a zoo spokeswoman said Monday, just weeks after another crocodile was found in a nearby pond.
The latest uninvited croc to turn up in northern Sydney was a 21-inch freshwater crocodile, a different species to the two-foot saltwater croc found on Feb. 23, said Australian Reptile Park spokeswoman Mary Rayner.
"A woman called saying she had a freshwater crocodile in her backyard swimming pool," Rayner said. "She actually caught it. It was extremely angry and she bound the snout."
It was not clear how the freshwater crocodile got into the swimming pool — the species, which can grow up to 10 feet in length, is not found in the wild anywhere near Sydney.
The crocodile was taken to the reptile park, which is also home to the saltwater crocodile discovered last month.
"I think we are (going to be) running out of displays if this keeps on happening," Rayner said.

Pakistan nabs 1,000 for kite flying
Mon Mar 13, 4:04 AM ET

LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) - Police in Pakistan's second city detained more than 1,000 people at the weekend for flying kites in defiance of a newly imposed ban on the popular traditional sport.
However, the vast majority of those detained in the city of Lahore during the annual kite-flying festival of Basant were released after brief appearances before magistrates and most were discharged, police spokesman Athar Ali Khan said.
The local government announced a ban on kite flying ahead of Sunday's festival to prevent deaths and injuries caused every year by metal and glass coated string that enthusiasts use to cut the string of rivals in aerial duels.
Kite flying is also opposed by Islamist groups and Mullahs who see it as a Hindu tradition and because gamblers often bet on the outcome of duels.
The provincial chief minister in Lahore had warned last week that offenders could be tried under anti-terrorism laws, but police said these were not invoked.
The kite-flying ban was largely ignored in Lahore despite a large police presence in the sprawling city to enforce it.
Police estimated about 500 people received minor injuries during the festival, some from sharp kite strings and others from stray bullets or pellets fired into the air to celebrate the festival.
There was one death -- of a young man shot dead by another in an altercation over a kite duel -- compared with 19 reported last year.
Every year, Pakistani media report dozens of deaths and injuries caused by kite flying, mainly of children and motorcyclists whose throats are sometimes cut by strings.
Lahore resident Khurram Ali said he was watching the kites on Sunday from his rooftop when the sharp string of a falling kite wrapped around his neck causing a cut that needed seven stitches.
One of those arrested on Sunday, Sadiq Shah, said he had only been watching the spectacle from his home.
"I was standing on the rooftop when police knocked the gate of our house. My mother opened it and they came upstairs and took me away."
He said he was released because there was no trace on his hands to show he had been flying kites -- often kite-flyers' fingers have cuts or other marks left by sharp strings.
(Additional reporting by Raja Asghar in ISLAMABAD)

Naked wedding photos a hit in once conservative China
Mon Mar 13, 2:54 AM ET

BEIJING (AFP) - Forget the Mao suits of a generation ago. Actually, forget about any clothes at all. Naked wedding photos are the hot new trend among young couples in once deeply conservative China.
Even in Anhui, a largely rural province in the east, many newly-weds are having their pictures taken in the nude, to the fury of their parents' generation, the Xin'an Evening News said.
"Some photo studios are just going too far. They allow young women to have their photos taken in bikinis or with nothing on at all," said an irate woman from the Anhui capital of Hefei. "I hope the authorities will do something."
She had just found out that her daughter had taken two sets of wedding photos, one to show the family, and another considerably more intimate one for her own private consumption.
Previous reports in the state media suggested nude wedding photos were a trend that began in the south of China that was gradually spreading to the rest of the country.
"Not a few young people think that the nude pics are a welcome renewal to the stale unchanging traditions of the wedding photo," the Xin Wenhua Bao newspaper reported in November last year.
This attitude is now prevalent even in northwest China's Xi'an, a proud ancient capital and home to the -- fully dressed -- terracotta soldiers.
The Xi'an Evening News did a random check of five photo studios, and found that all of them would be willing to take nude photos of soon-to-be-married couples, should they so wish.
"Most of the people who come here to have the bold, naked photos taken are young, trendy and unconventional," said a studio owner. "There are still lots of people who don't like it."
The China Radio International news website even carried an article on the trend showing some images of naked newlyweds.
One bride wore nothing but a veil and bouquet of flowers while another couple embraced in a provocative position, although the photos were carefully taken to avoid displaying full-frontal nudity.

Beer flows from house taps in Norway
Mon Mar 13, 5:01 AM ET

OSLO (Reuters) - A woman thought she was in heaven when beer instead of water flowed from the taps in her apartment in west Norway.
"I turned on the tap to clean some knives and forks and beer came out," Haldis Gundersen told Reuters from her home in Kristiansund, west Norway. "We thought we were in heaven."
Beer in Norway is among the most expensive in the world with a 0.4 litre (0.7 pint) costing about 50 crowns (4.3 pounds) in a bar.
Gundersen said she tried the beer but that it tasted a bit odd and was not fizzy.
It turned out that a worker in a bar two floors below had mixed up the pipes on Saturday evening, wrongly connecting a new barrel to a water pipe leading to Gundersen's flat. The bar got water in its beer taps.
"If it happens again I'm going to order Baileys (coffee liqueur)," she said.

Mass. Bottle Message Ends Up in Africa
Fri Mar 10, 4:13 PM ET

LYNN, Mass. - A message in a bottle launched in Massachusetts two years ago has traveled halfway around the world. In a letter postmarked from Morocco, 26-year-old Assila Ahmed wrote that he'd found a bottle thrown into the water by Genevive Hernandez of Lynn.
Hernandez, now a 13-year-old seventh grader, was among group of fifth-graders who on Nov. 20, 2003 put messages in bottles and cast them off from Lynn's shores that stormy day. Hernandez said she's amazed that her green Sprite bottle made it as far as it did since most of them either bounced right back to shore or ended up only as far as the Cape.
"I thought it wasn't going anywhere," said Hernandez. "Mine was stuck on the seaweed."
Students received replies from 14 people before Hernandez received hers. Most were from the Cape Cod area. One made it as far as England.
But Hernandez's bottle had, by far, the longest journey, traveling 3,500 miles.
In the letter to Hernandez, Ahmed said he found the bottle about 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 18, 2005. Hernandez' bright orange card wrapped in plastic bore the address the Brickett School in Lynn, where she attended classes two years ago.
The only request from the African man: a letter back from Hernandez.
Hernandez's teacher fifth-grade teacher at Brickett, Sheila Thomas, said he will get one.
Thomas recalled the stormy day the bottles were launched.
"The bottles kept coming back up on the rocks and I ended up getting down in the water and getting them back out," she said. "It was not an easy launch — I ended up soaking wet up to my knees."

Mayor Wants Nude Cycle Race Called Off
Reuters - Fri Mar 10, 2:02 PM ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - The mayor of a New Zealand town wants a nude cycling race to be called off — because the participants won't be wearing helmets.
John Hurley, mayor of the Tasman District on New Zealand's South Island, said police would look like "fools" if they allowed the race to go ahead for the third straight year, in spite of the objection of local residents.
Police said they had queried the legality of the race and found they can take no action.
"We have taken advice on the legality of their proposed action and have been advised that it falls short of an offense," Sergeant Arthur Clarence said Friday.
About 100 people are expected to take part in the "clothing optional" race Sunday around Golden Bay on the southern tip of New Zealand's South Island. The race aims to promote safe cycling and alternative energy.
Hurley said police should enforce laws which require all cyclists to wear safety helmets.
"They have ridden bikes in the past down the road with no crash helmets, no nothing on and people say that's a double standard," he said.

Man Says Stripper Delivered a Rob-O-Gram
Reuters - Fri Mar 10, 5:13 PM ET

ATASCADERO, Calif. (AP)- A retired salesman alleged a stripper and her friend beat and robbed him in his home. John Skinner, 54, said he was on his way to Bible study on Jan. 23 when exotic dancer Maureen Murphy, 25, knocked on his door and offered him a free strip-o-gram.
Murphy said a friend had already paid for the show, police said.
When Skinner agreed to let her perform, knife wielding Richard Adam, 23, allegedly forced his way inside and told Skinner he owed Murphy, owner of Bikini Assassins, and another woman money for earlier services.
Skinner said he owed Talbert money for sex one time but not for a previous time when he said she fell asleep before they could have sex.
Adam allegedly tied up Skinner and hit him in the face. Investigators said Murphy went upstairs to find valuables and returned with thong underwear and medication for erectile dysfunction.
The pair allegedly tried to take Skinner's car, but it was out of gas.
Prosecutors charged three people in the case.
Adam was charged with robbery, burglary and inflicting great bodily injury. Exotic dancer Leslie Talbert, 20, was charged with two counts of burglary and Murphy, 25, was charged with robbery, burglary, false imprisonment and battery. A preliminary hearing will be held March 23.

Dead man spends days unnoticed on highway
Thu Mar 9, 10:17 AM ET

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - An elderly man spent at least three days in his vehicle on the side of a busy Canadian highway before anyone - including police who checked the car's license plate - realized he was dead.
A passing motorist discovered the man's body after deciding to check the vintage-model car on the Trans-Canada Highway near Abbotsford, British Columbia, on Sunday to see if it was for sale.
The car's license number was checked by passing police on Friday and Saturday to make sure it was not stolen, but the officers apparently did not stop to inspect it because it was not impeding traffic.
Officials believe the 75-year-old man became ill and pulled off to the side of highway, which is used by hundreds of Vancouver-area motorists each day. They say he then probably slumped down in his seat and died.
"A lot of people drove past that vehicle. It's just unfortunate that it took the circumstances that it did to find the gentleman," said Constable Steve Hiscoe of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
The man's dog was also in the vehicle, but survived the ordeal unharmed.

Something they don't teach at driving school
Thu Mar 9, 10:17 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - North Wales police couldn't believe their eyes when a camera at a notorious accident spot caught a driver using both hands to put on her make-up.
Donna Maddock, 22, was filmed as she drove along the A499, one of Britain's most dangerous roads. She held a mirror in her left hand and an eye pencil in her right, leaving the steering wheel to itself.
Wednesday, she was fined 200 pounds ($350) with 55 pounds costs and had six penalty points added to her driving license after admitting careless driving at Pwllheli magistrates court.
"A car is a dangerous lump of metal in the wrong hands. You need to be in control at all times, and Miss Maddock's actions beggars belief," said Inspector Essi Ahari in a statement.
A police spokeswoman said the camera had been set up because of the large numbers of collisions and deaths on that stretch of road.
"It is to catch speeding drivers. But when officers saw the film of her applying her makeup it was also obvious that she was committing a careless act," she said.

Buddhist priest arrested for underage sex
Fri Mar 10, 9:35 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese Buddhist priest who was arrested on suspicion of having paid sex with a teenage girl said he was under stress and had given in to lust.
Itsushi Ehara, 73, chief priest at a temple in the western Japanese prefecture of Hiroshima and also head of a nursery school, paid the 15-year-old girl 80,000 yen ($675) to have sex in a hotel in downtown Tokyo, a police spokesman said on Friday.
"I could not resist my lust. A lot of stress built up from running the school," Ehara was quoted by Kyodo news agency as telling police.
Ehara, who is believed to have met the girl through a prostitute-dispatch service, is also suspected of having paid for sex with several other teenage girls over a period of two to three years, Kyodo quoted police as saying.
Japan has long had a relatively lax attitude toward sexual exploitation of young people. Teenage prostitution -- known as "compensated dating" -- was outlawed in 1999, but it still goes on, though less openly than before.

Prostitutes get own radio station
Fri Mar 10, 9:36 AM ET

SAO PAULO, Brazil (Reuters) - Prostitutes in the Brazilian city of Salvador are starting up their own radio station.
The Association of Prostitutes of Bahia state has won government permission for the project, enabling FM station Radio Zona to start broadcasting in the second half of the year, project coordinator Sandro Correia said on Thursday.
"We are not going to apologize for prostitution but we are going to struggle for the dignity of the profession," Correia told Reuters.
The aim was not to attract women to the business. The station will feature programs about the trade but will also discuss issues such as human rights, social questions, and sexual abuse, Correia said.
"The idea is that we have diverse programs that look at health issues, AIDS prevention, and racism, for example," he said.
Working girls and media professionals such as Correia will staff the station and will give prostitutes training in an alternative job. Funding will come from association funds, advertising and sponsorship.
Prostitution is widespread in Brazil, especially in Bahia state and other parts of the impoverished northeast.
International rights organizations have criticized the country as a destination for sex tourism and child prostitution.

The sun is going away, but don't panic...
Fri Mar 10, 9:36 AM ET

ABUJA (Reuters) - The Nigerian government, anxious to avoid a repeat of riots that marked a solar eclipse in 2001, warned citizens they may suffer "psychological discomfort" during a new eclipse this month but urged them not to panic.
Information Minister Frank Nweke said an eclipse five years ago caused riots in northern Borno state because people did not know why it happened.
"Some people even felt some evil people in their communities were responsible for the eclipse," he said in a statement on Thursday aimed at reassuring Nigerians that the eclipse is expected to darken parts of the country on March 29.
"The eclipse is not expected to have any real damaging effect, only social and psychological discomforts are envisaged," Nweke said.
He did not explain what the discomforts might be

 

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