Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro appeared to make a mistake of Biblical proportions this week – when he muddled a well-known religious quote and said Christ multiplied loaves and ‘penises’.
Maduro made the unfortunate error during a speech on education at the
Miranda stadium, in the country’s capital, Caracas.
Referring to the iconic story of when Christ multiplied fish and loaves to feed the populace, Maduro said his government would help expand education in the country, ‘school by school, child by child, high school by high school, community by community — to embed ourselves in there.
‘To multiply ourselves like Christ multiplied the penises — sorry, the fish — and the bread.’
The Spanish word for ‘penises’ (penes) is just one letter away from the word for ‘fish’ (peces).
Maduro took over as interim president of Venezuela following the death of Hugo Chavez on March 5.
Despite only being in power for five months, Maduro has courted controversy on more than one occasion.
He has been blamed for a toilet paper shortage throughout the country, apparently slept in Chavez’s mausoleum, has made a number of anti-gay slurs and offered asylum to NSA leaker Edward Snowden.
Monthly Archives: August 2013
Terminally-ill Simpsons creator who has vowed to GIVE AWAY his fortune to charity before he dies tells how he has been inundated with time wasters
The producer of The Simpsons who revealed in July that he is dying of colon cancer has received countless offers from people interesting in his money.
Since word got out about Sam Simon’s cancer and his desire to give away his vast fortune he has heard from countless people online asking to help rid him of his sizable wealth.
‘Some people just want a million dollars. Or help with college tuition. And the rest have business propositions,’ he laughed. ‘Like that should be my legacy: to lose money on your movie or your moisturizer line.’
Simon created the hit cartoon alongside Matt Groening in 1991. He technically retired from The Simpsons in 1993, but still receives tens of millions in royalties every season.
In November Simon was diagnosed with advanced colon cancer after a year of inconclusive tests and mysterious discomfort.
Having defied that diagnosis’ original death sentence – he was given three to six months to live – Simon continues to push ahead with no whiff of ‘Why me?’
The 58-year-old fervent philanthropist is spending his final months funding projects that feed homeless people and save animals from being killed in animal shelters.
‘I’m supporting the charities that I supported during my lifetime,’ he states, ‘and I want to continue to do that.’
Although Simon remained the least-known of the three creators, by many accounts he was the most hands-on.
Among his charitable efforts, he established the Sam Simon Foundation, which rescues dogs from animal shelters and trains them to assist disabled veterans and the hard-of-hearing.
Simon’s largesse carries over to humans, too, including a Los Angeles food bank feeding 200 families each day in Simon style: with a vegan menu.
Portugal Asks for 2 More Planes to Fight Wildfires
Wildfires are scorching large areas of forest in Portugal and the country has asked other European nations to send two more water-dropping aircraft to help battle the blazes.
Jorge Dias, spokesman for Portugal’s National Civil Protection Authority, said Friday that France and Spain have each sent three Canadair planes designed for dropping water on wildfires, but more are needed.
Some 1,300 firefighters were fighting six major blazes in the north of Portugal amid continuing hot weather and high winds.
The two biggest wildfires were in dense, hilly woodland near Viseu, about 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of Lisbon, the capital.
More than 900 firefighters and 288 vehicles were deployed at those blazes.
“Peace in the region is one of the key issues of the young generation”, as was mentioned by Atom Mkhitaryan
The youth camp “Let’s Try!” collected 50 youngsters from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia on 25-30 August in Kobuleti, Georgia. The Project participants have been selected by the three coordinating organizations taking into account their motivation.
“If in Europe the international youth cooperation is developed enough, in the Caucasus countries we still have problems. The youth NGOs and clubs do not have relevant information about opportunities of youth projects or about the regional cooperation. Still public diplomacy mechanisms should be developed. Peace in the region is one of the key
issues of the young generation”, as was mentioned by Atom Mkhitaryan, the President of the Federation of Youth Clubs of Armenia (FYCA).
With the financial assistance of the US Embassy of Armenia and with the collaboration with Droni youth organization (Georgia) and Free Youth Association (Azerbaijan) FYCA supports active youth groups and initiatives, in particular the youngsters of the region who are considered to be public diplomats, with the aim of youth dialogue development and strengthening the trust in the region.
Youth has an important role in the peacebuilding process. The aim of the Project is to promote the development of youth projects and youth NGOs of Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia through non formal education and to involve them in the process of public diplomacy of the region.
According to Atom Mkhitaryan the Project “Let’s Try” has put forward the idea of ensuring an atmosphere of dialogue in the Caucasus through youth non formal meetings. In three countries youth initiative groups will be created where active youngsters of 18-25 will be involved. In the meantime the Project organizers will promote the youngsters be more active using all the opportunities of the mass media, as well as it is anticipated that a regional youth network will be created.
During the youth summer camp “Let’s Try” the youngsters got acquainted with mechanisms of human rights, communication, the role of the mass media and the development of the public opinion. The Project participants watched the movie “Youth – A Step Forward” produced by FYCA during the camp. Also they took photos with the topic of peace in Batumi and Kobuleti which at the end of the Project were exhibited near one of the seashores of Kobuleti where a number of people were found. The camp was concluded with a flashmob with the theme “Youth for Peace” organized by joint efforts of youngsters.
Astghik Avetisyan, Kobuleti
President Serzh Sargsyan will conduct a working visit to the Russian Federation
In the framework of his working visit to the Russian Federation, President Serzh Sargsyan on September 3, in Moscow will meet with the RF President Vladimir Putin.
During the negotiations, the two Presidents will exchange views on the main topics of the bilateral agenda, including those related to the cooperation in the political, trade, economic, energy, and humanitarian areas.
The parties are also to discuss issues pertinent to the integration process on the CIS territory and preservation of security and stability in the South Caucasus.
World’s loneliest man looking for love: Desperate bachelor wanders the streets for 12 years wearing a sandwich board asking wealthy women to marry him
Lonely bachelors looking for love often turn to dating websites in the search for a partner.
But Robert Darling has taken things that little bit further – by wandering the streets of New York for twelve years with a sandwich board asking women to marry him.
The unemployed 58-year-old – who admits he is a ‘great conversationalist’ – says he wants a wealthy lady to take care of him.
The New Jersey,resident spends two hours traveling to Manhattan twice a week on his quest for a soulmate.
His billboard declares he is open to offers and includes his phone number and email address.
Plagued with an unsuccessful love life for forty years, he resorted to extreme measures to find a suitor.
Mr Darling said he has never had a serious relationship and his dating history is sparse.
He said: ‘Give up? Never! I’m just warming up. It’s just a matter of time. I’m very patient and I know great success is just around the corner.’
Hong Kong phooey! Region’s smog is so bad, desperate tourism chiefs set up posters of sunny skyline so holidaymakers can take some nice photos
The air pollution in Hong Kong has gotten so bad that tourism officials have put up a banner displaying what the skyline looks like on a clear day.
This week, Hong Kong’s Air Pollution Index’ reached ‘Very High’ in Central and Western District, Causeway Bay and Mongkok, with ‘very high’ levels of toxic ozone and nitrogen dioxide recorded at roadside monitoring stations.
Smog is a big problem in China were it was recently reported life expectancy has been by five-and-a-half years for those living in its polluted north.
Researchers estimate that the half-billion people who lived there in the 1990s will live an average of 5 and a half years less than their southern counterparts because they breathed dirtier air from coal burning.
China itself made the comparison possible: for decades, a now-discontinued government policy provided free coal for heating, but only in the colder north.
Earlier this year, air quality in Beijing reached ‘worst on record’ following a sand storm which led to pollution in the city rising to 30 to 45 times above recommended safety levels.
Mugabe orders 300 giraffes, zebras and other animals to be shipped to national zoo to impress visitors during UN tourism summit
Hundreds of safari animals have been transported across Zimbabwe to a poaching-prone nature reserve ahead of a UN meeting to make the area appear populated.
The decision to move the animals from a private conservancy in southeastern Zimbabwe to Victoria falls is to ‘repopulate’ the preserve before the United Nations world tourism body’s meeting for the benefit of visiting delegates.
151 wildebeests, 100 impalas, 60 zebras, 25 eland and ten giraffes have been transported for over 400 miles, the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force of independent environmentalists said.
The animals have been released in the five sq mile ZambeziNational Park overlooking the ZambeziRiver and the Victoria Falls.
The decision to hold the six-day summit at Victoria Falls, on the border between Zimbabwe and Zambia, was met with raised eyebrows, as President Mugabe’s recent election victory was marred with accusations of vote rigging.
The UN World Tourism Organization announced on Sunday that it has chosen Zimbabwe to lead its Commission for Africa, the continent-wide group for tourism development for the next two years.
The U.N. World Tourism Organization, meanwhile, advised participants at Victoria Falls that no conference documentation will be distributed on paper to save trees ‘in compliance with the United Nations system’s environmental protection policy.’
The six-day general assembly was formally opened by the two countries’ presidents, Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe and Michael Sata of Zambia.
The two host nations automatically take over the presidency of the U.N. tourism organization during the summit, which is expected to be attended by about 1,200 delegates from governments and tourism enterprises worldwide.
Very chilly for Chile! The world’s driest hot desert is hit by SNOW – and now there are fears it could FLOOD
It is known as the driest place in the world where some weather stations have never recorded any rain.
So visitors to Chile’s Atacama desert could be forgiven for being just a little surprised to find snow there in recent days.
Residents of San Pedro de Atacama, around 750 miles from the capital Santiago, say the downfall was the heaviest in three decades for the area, described as the driest hot desert on Earth.
Now there are fears the melting ice and accompanying rainfall could cause some rivers to flood as has previously happened.
The national tourism office says the road to the city was blocked temporarily because of the unusual weather, it was reported by Sky News.
Officials expect more rain in the coming days, but have not ordered any evacuation.
The Atacama desert, which spans from Chile to Peru, is made up mostly of salt lakes, sand and felsic lava and receives an average rainfall of just 15mm (0.59 in) per year.
A few areas get as little as 1mm and some weather stations have never had any at all.
At night, temperatures can drop to as low as −25C in the zone of Ollague, while during the day it can reach between 25-30C in the shade.
The picture Vladimir Putin wants to ban: Police seize painting of Russian president in women’s underwear from St Petersburg gallery claiming it is ‘illegal’
Police have seized a painting of Russia’s president Vladamir Putin wearing women’s underwear from a gallery, saying the satirical display had broken the law.
The painting entitled ‘Travesty’ by Konstantin Altunin, shows President Putin wearing a tight-fitting slip and brushing the hair of Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, who is wearing knickers and a bra.
Police swooped on the Muzei Vlasti (Museum of Authorities) in St. Petersburg on the night of August 26 confiscating several art installations, including ‘Travesty’ which are to be checked for extremist propaganda.
A picture of the leader of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill I, with his torso covered in tattoos, and two others poking fun at lawmakers who have backed legislation banning so-called gay propaganda, were also confiscated, gallery staff said.
The police service said it had taken paintings from the gallery – based in two rooms of a flat – late on Monday after receiving reports they were illegal.
It gave no further detail but Russia does have a law against insulting authorities – an offence that carries a maximum one-year prison term.
Gallery owner Alexander Donskoy said the officers had also shut down his establishment and gave him no explanation for the removal of paintings from the exhibition, titled ‘Leaders’.
Melbourne makes it three years in a row as world’s most liveable city
Melbourne made it three years in a row as the world’s most livable city, according to the 2013 Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Global Livability Survey.
The top cities and indeed much of the rankings remained similar to last year, with Australian and New Zealand cities landing five of the top 10 spots. Canadian cities made up another three of the top 10 positions.
Vienna came a close second while Canadian cities Vancouver and Toronto stayed at third and fourth; Calgary tied with Adelaide for fifth place.
The top spots are mostly “mid-sized cities in wealthier countries with a relatively low population density,” said the EIU.
At the bottom of the list, due to ongoing civil conflict in Syria is Damascus — dropping 10 rankings.
A total of 140 cities were surveyed under five categories: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Scores in each category and sub-category are compiled and weighted to give a total out of 100. 100 is considered ideal and 1 intolerable.
The report noted a few major changes. Madrid dropped five spots to 44th due to “unrest and protests,” but remains in the top tier of livability. The Slovakian capital of Bratislava moved into the top tier (a score of 80 or above), now at 63rd place in the ranking.
Tehran, Douala (Cameroon), Tripoli, Karachi, Algiers, Harare, Lagos, Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea), Dhaka (Bangladesh) and Damascus (are at the bottom of the list with conflict responsible for many of the lowest scores, the report stated.
Top 10 most livable cities (unchanged in 2013 from 2012):
1. Melbourne, Australia, 97.5
2. Vienna, Austria, 97.4
3. Vancouver, Canada, 97.3
4. Toronto, Canada, 97.2
=5. Calgary, Canada, 96.6
=5. Adelaide, Australia, 96.6
7. Sydney, Australia, 96.1
8. Helsinki, Finland, 96.0
9. Perth, Australia, 95.9
10. Auckland, New Zealand, 95.7
Madonna Ranked by Forbes as World’s Highest-Earning Celebrity
Anchored on the immense success of her top-grossing tour, iconic diva Madonna tops Forbes’ highest-earning celebrities list, with $125 million in estimate earnings for the period from June 2012 to June 2013. The 55-year-old Material Girl bested other A-listers in the roster like filmmaker Steven Spielberg and TV personality Simon Cowell. Despite the lackluster sales performance of her album “MDNA”, the $305 million that its supporting world tour brought in was enough to boost Madonna’s earnings ahead of the pack. Adding to her total are profits from merchandise and other business ventures like her fragrance and clothing line. Spielberg took the runner-up spot, earning $25 million less than the pop diva, mainly from the box-office success of his latest film, the award-winning “Lincoln”, plus the royalties he earns from his extensive library of films. Just $5 million short of his $100 million total are Cowell, “Fifty Shades of Grey” author E.L. James, and radio show host & “America’s Got Talent” judge Howard Stern who are tied for the third place. Lady GaGa, who’s known for emulating the Queen of Pop, placed tenth on the list with $80 million, because of her “Born This Way Ball” tour getting cut short by her hip injury and subsequent surgery.
Libya to Try Gadhafi’s Son Next Month
Libya to Try Gadhafi’s Son Next Month
Libya’s prosecutor general says late dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s son and his spy chief have been charged with murder in relation to Libya’s 2011 civil war.
Abdel-Qader Radwan said Tuesday that the trial will start on Sept. 19 in the capital on alleged crimes committed during Gadhafi’s 42-year rule and during the eight-month civil war that deposed him. The defendants are former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi and Seif al-Islam Gadhafi, the only son of the former dictator who is in custody.
A militia is holding Seif al-Islam in the Libyan town of Zintan. International Criminal Court judges had ruled that Libya cannot give Seif al-Islam a fair trial and asked authorities to hand him over to The Hague.
Mudslides kill 13 after Fernand hits Mexico
Mudslides killed at least 13 people after Fernand slammed into the east of coast of Mexico, state media reported Monday.
Fernand was a tropical storm when it made landfall late Sunday, bringing heavy rains. The storm quickly fizzled into a tropical depression and had dissipated by Monday afternoon, forecasters said.
But even as it weakened, authorities in the state of Veracruz on the Gulf of Mexico said the storm brought heavy rains that caused deadly mudslide in several locations.
All of the deaths were caused by mudslides that buried homes, Veracruz Gov. Javier Duarte said, according to Mexico’s state-run Notimex news agency.
The storm was expected to dump between 4 and 8 inches of rain over the states of Veracruz, Hidalgo, northern Puebla, southern Tamaulipas and eastern San Luis Potosi, with more than 15 inches of rain in some places.
Forecasters warned that more life-threatening mudslides were possible.
Keep your eyes up, Mr Mayor! The moment a Canadian journalist took off her top while interviewing local government leader
A Canadian radio host and newspaper columnist took off her top during an interview with her local mayor this week and continued asking him questions bare-chested.
Lori Welbourne, who hosts the radio show On The Rocks and writes a column for the Province newspaper, was talking to Walter Gray, mayor of Kelowna in
British Columbia, about whether it was legal in the town for women to bare their breasts in public.
‘What if I went walking down the street topless?’ she asked in the recorded interview.
But before Gray could answer her question, Welbourne handed him her microphone and undid the strap on her dress, exposing her breasts.
‘What are you doing,’ he asked, to which she replied, ‘it’s really hot in here.’
After regaining his composure, Gray explained that while someone may be tempted to call the police there is little authorities could do because it is in fact entirely legal for a woman to be topless anywhere a man can be.
Public toplessness is not illegal anywhere in Canada unless it’s deemed to be indecent.
Groups of women turned out shirtless in cities including New York on August 25 to celebrate a women’s right to bare her breasts in public. The annual event was started in 2007.
World’s first pocket calculator goes up for auction: ‘Exceptionally rare’ 17th century machine made of wood could fetch £100,000
An ‘exceptionally rare’ pocket-sized calculator from the 17th Century is expected to attract £100,000 at auction.
The Arithmetical machine is one of the first mechanical calculating devices known to exist and is the first portable device.
The antique ‘pocket calculator’ will go under the hammer at Christie’s in October and is one of three examples of the design to have survived.
The wooden machine measures around 15cm in width and 32cm in length and dates from 1673.
It was crafted by René Grillet de Roven, who was a Parisian mechanician and watchmaker to His Royal Highness King Louis XIV.
James Hyslop, head of Travel, Science and Natural History at the auction house, said: ‘This pocket-sized calculator is one of the earliest surviving pieces in the history of the computer.’
The Arithmetical machine performs all the arithmetic operations including addition, subtraction, multiplication and division through the use of these rolling rotating Napier’s ‘bones’.
There are only three other known examples of this design, two of which are in the Musée des Arts et Métiers, Paris and the other in the collections of IBM in New York.
China’s Internet hit by biggest cyberattack in its history
Internet users in China were met with sluggish response times early Sunday as the country’s domain extension came under a “denial of service” attack.
The attack was the largest of its kind ever in China, according to the ChinaInternetNetworkInformationCenter, a state agency that manages the .cn country domain.
The double-barreled attacks took place at around 2 a.m. Sunday, and then again at 4 a.m. The second attack was “long-lasting and large-scale,” according to state media, which said that service was slowly being restored.
Official state media said the attack targeted websites with the .cn country domain, as well as the popular microblogging site Sina Weibo.
Denial of service attacks aren’t technically “hacks,” since they can be done without breaking into any systems. Typically, DoS attacks overwhelm a website’s servers by flooding them with requests. That makes websites unreachable or unresponsive.
It’s unclear whether the attack is related to political events in China, which appears to be in the midst of carrying out a crackdown on Internet dissent.
Write to the Pope and he may call you back: Pontiff has been telephoning people who send him letters
A word of warning to those who write personal notes to Pope Francis: He might just call you back.
Francis has already charmed the masses with his informal style, simplicity and sense of humour.
But a handful of strangers have gotten the treatment up close, receiving papal phone calls out of the blue after writing him or suffering some personal tragedy.
So the Catholic faithful are being warned: Be ready, especially if the landline rings.
The 76-year-old Francis has a fondness for making calls the old-fashioned way, using land lines and placing the calls himself, often surprising recipients by simply announcing: ‘It’s the pope.’
Francis has since called an Italian man whose brother was killed and a Colombian woman who works in Rome to thank her for a book.
The recipient of this week’s call, a 19-year-old student Stefano Cabizza, was quoted by Corriere as saying that Francis had told him to refer to him with the informal ‘tu,’ noting that ‘Even Jesus and the apostles used the “tu”.’
Mr Cabizza said he received the call after leaving a letter for Francis following his Mass at Castel Gandolfo on August 15.
He declined to say what he had written.
Official: Iran Arrests 10 Drug Traffickers
A senior Iranian official says police have arrested 10 drug traffickers and confiscated more than 7 tons of narcotics in a bust of an international smuggling network.
Gen. Ali Moayedi, head of Iran’s anti-narcotics police, was quoted Saturday by the semi-official Mehr news agency as saying that the international smuggling network was dismantled after six months of tracking the suspects in cooperation with police in the United Arab Emirates.
Iran lies on a major trafficking route between Afghanistan and Europe, as well as Persian Gulf states. Large drug seizures are common across the region.
Moayedi said Iran has confiscated more than 215 tons of drugs in the past five months alone.
Dozens killed in Bolivia prison fire, brawl
A prison brawl and fire left 29 inmates dead and dozens injured in eastern Bolivia, state media reported Friday.
The incident at Palmasola prison in Santa Cruz started with a battle between two groups.
A child was among the fatalities, state-run ABI news agency said. At least 50 people were injured.
Bolivia allows children to legally live with incarcerated parents.
President Evo Morales expressed sympathy and solidarity with victims and their families. He demanded an investigation into the incident, which authorities described as the deadliest prison violence in Bolivia.
State media reported that the fire started early Friday with a confrontation between two groups of inmates. One group attacked the other with sharp weapons and firearms, and set two liquid gas cylinders on fire, sparking an explosion.
At least 100 additional troops were dispatched to reinforce security inside the prison, according to state media.
The prison is a maximum security facility.
