Tags:
Journalism of Courage
JERUSALEM: Israel’s Supreme Court has outlawed wrestling between humans and alligators as a spectator event. The High Court overturned last year’s ruling by a Tel Aviv Court that the show at the Hamat Gader Alligator Farm is no different than circus shows and need not be banned. Animal rights activists hailed the ruling as a victory. The three-judge panel was shown a video filmed at the alligator farm in northern Israel in which a man seized an alligator’s jaw, pulled it back and turned the animal on its back.
Justice Mishael Cheshin said on Sunday, “There is no justification for such treatment of the animal just for the amusement of spectators.”
Mcdonald’s banned
HAMILTON (BERMUDA): Bermuda is turning away some well-known foreigners to conserve its tourist appeal. The British colony’s Parliament has banned all foreign fast-food chains on the island, saying they would hurt the popular tourist destination’s “old world” charm. Maxwell Burgess, a Parliament member, said on Sunday that the ban is unconstitutional and raised the possibility of a lawsuit. The controversy has simmered for more than a year. A permit had been granted for the Mcdonald’s to a business group led by former premier Sir John Swan, then rejected by Parliament in a vote that crossed party lines.
Radiation in plane
LONDON: People on a recent KLM flight were exposed to nuclear radiation from a consignment of medical X-Ray equipment. The airline said on sunday that the dose was not excessive but the BBC quoted Dutch authorities as saying it broke safety regulations. The BBC World Service radio report quoted an unidentified Dutch Transport Ministry spokesman as saying an official investigation had found that the package of medical equipment on the plane had been inadequately wrapped, allowing radiation to escape.
Taiwan war games
TAIWAN: Showcasing its military might, Taiwan began two days of large-scale air and sea war games on Monday, one week before China regains sovereignty over Hong Kong, despite US pleas to postpone the exercise. Military leaders said the war games and the Hong Kong handover were not connected. President Lee Teng-Hui inspected patriot missiles, US-made F-16s and French Mirage fighters along with homemade fighter jets put on display at Taiwan Air Base in southern Taiwan. The exercises entail a live-fire practice of defending the island from invasion. It will also feature various warships, including the US and French-made missile frigates.
Missing adventurer
PERTH (AUSTRALIA): Police said here on Monday they no longer believe a camper missing in a remote part of western Australia was English adventurer Tom Fremantle, a descendant of Sir Charles Fremantle, after whom the state’s best known port is named. They said it now seemed likely the missing man was an Australian tourist from the State of Victoria. Fears that the man could be Fremantle, from Aylesbury, Buckingham Hire, were sparked during the weekend when rangers found a bicycle at an abandoned campsite in the far north-west of the State. Fremantle was known to have been in the area during his marathon bicycle trip from Swanbourne in England to Swanbourne, a seaside suburb in Perth, to raise money for charity.
