The Lighter Side
To the lighter side we go again, in order to remove us from all the stresses and strains of life.
Firstly we go to Helsinki were an eagle owl has been named resident of the year by a journalists association.
The large bird of prey, nicknamed Bubi, swooped over a football during the Finland and Belgium Euro 2008 qualifying match in June of this year, before landing on the goalpost. This caused the referee to hold up the game for six minutes. Finland ended up winning the match and adopted the owl as the team mascot.
Unfortunately he did not appear in any of Finland’s subsequent matches and as a result they did not qualify for the tournament.
Next we move to Yemen, where President Ali Abdullah Saleh has decided to cut down in his consumption of qat leaves, following medical tests in Germany.
The evergreen leaf contains cathin and cathinone, two chemical substances similar in effect to amphetamines, raising blood pressure and body temperature, as well as releasing adrenalin.
Saleh has even to stop attending the “maqil” a circle of friends that meet up to chew the qat, as such! In 1999, he initiated a failed campaign to stop civil servants, military and police from chewing the leaf.
Both men and women regularly chew the leaf despite average monthly salary of 120 dollars.
And finally Japan is preparing itself for an alien invasion.
Defence Minister Shigeru Ishiba stated he was looking into the possible reactions of the army in case of an alien attack.
“There are no grounds for us to deny that there are unidentified flying objects (UFOs) and some life-form that controls them,” Ishiba said stating that these were his own personal beliefs. “We should consider various possibilities,” he said. “There is no need at all to do this as the defence ministry, but I want to consider what to do by myself.”
Sunday, December 23rd, 2007 and is filed under Views on News.
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