Afghan couple given 100 lashes for pre-marital sex
Kabul: An Afghan man and his girlfriend were each given 100 lashes in public for having sex outside of marriage, officials in the eastern Afghan province of Kapisa told EFE news agency. Dozens of people witnessed the punishment of the couple, aged 19 and 21, according to Governor of Kohistan region, Mohamed Osman Haqyar Ahmadi. They were arrested a month ago and sentenced after a lengthy trial, he said Tuesday.
“The punishment was applied to both in accordance with the rules of Islamic Sharia law, because they are of legal age to be punished,” Ahmadi said.
He stressed that both the guilty parties accepted the sentence imposed on them and declined to file an appeal. After submitting to their court-ordered punishment, they got married to legalise their relationship.
The Afghan constitution includes provisions for the strict interpretation of Islamic law, which allows for the prosecution and sentencing of persons having relations outside of marriage.
Lashings and public executions were common punishments in Afghanistan under the hardcore fundamentalist Taliban regime, which was ousted during the US invasion of 2001. (IANS)
Australian man fined for driving plane down main street
Melbourne: A man who drove his wingless, propeller-driven plane down the main street of a West Australian town to the local pub some days back has been fined.
Anthony Whiteway said he was feeling “a little parched” as he drove his newly purchased two-seater aircraft home and decided to stop off for a drink at the Purple Pub in the small mining town of Newman in the northwest of the country.
Police responding to reports of a plane in the pub car park found Whiteway’s wingless aircraft with the ignition still on and an exposed fuel line hung from the side of the plane leading to a jerry can in the cabin.
Whiteway said he stopped for a glass of lemonade and a toilet break.
“I went to the toilet and when I came out all hell had broken loose,” Xinhua quoted Whiteway as saying.
“A friend at the bar said a very angry police officer had come in and said, ‘Righto you mob, who owns the plane parked out the front?’.” Whiteway, 37, pleaded guilty Tuesday to committing an act likely to endangering the life, health and safety of a person. He was fined $4,250 plus court and towage costs. Police said they were angry that Whiteway, who did not hold a pilot’s licence, had so recklessly put so many lives in danger.
Mark Garner of Newman police said the plane not having a steering wheel made the situation extremely unsafe.
“All he needed was one gust of wind… because without the wings, it’s not stable,” he said.
“The danger obviously taxiing a prop plane down Newman Drive, bearing in mind that kids have just come out of school. “It’s a busy Friday afternoon. I know it’s Newman, but we do get a fair bit of traffic.” Outside court, Whiteway said he was still keen to restore the plane but would choose alternate transport to get to the pub in future. “I don’t think I’ll be taking it to the pub again, no,” he said. (IANS)
A TV channel for dogs in Germany
Berlin: German TV broadcaster Deutsche Telekom has announced the launch of a channel designed especially for dogs.
DogTV is a pioneering venture inspired by the success of the formula in the US where a similar channel was introduced two years ago.
The company explained in a statement Tuesday that DogTV started to broadcast Sunday in Germany. Up to seven million dogs will be able to watch programmes developed according to the best scientific research and analysis on how animals behave in front of television sets.
Nicholas Dodman, professor of veterinary medicine at Tufts University, clarified that the channel’s purpose was not to get animals addicted to the idiot box but an alternative to the monotony dogs undergo when they were left alone at home.
According to the studies that the channel deems reliable, 60 to 70 percent of people who own dogs leave them in front of the television when they leave their houses.
Dogs watching DogTV react more when perceiving movement; therefore, programmes on the new channel will focus mainly on kinetics. The channel offers stimulating, relaxing and educational programsme; for example, a ball appears in motion or dogs appear running through a field, while a soft, single-instrument melody plays in the background. Although dogs are not able to perceive colours like humans, they do have a tendency to react to movement in a similar way, and the new generation of LCD television sets allow dogs a quality visual experience. DogTV was launched in California in 2012, and currently has around one million subscribers, according to the channel’s data. The channel can also be seen in Japan, South Korea and Israel as a subscription service. DogTV is expected to reach Britain, Ireland and France in the near future. (IANS)
New Zealand researchers identify ancient whale species
Wellington: New Zealand researchers Wednesday said they have identified a previously unknown whale group that lived 27 million to 25 million years ago.
The finding by University of Otago palaeontologists was based on fragments of two fossilised skulls found in a rock formation in the north of the South Island’s Otago region, preserved from a time when the continent of Zealandia was mostly under water.
Researcher Robert Boessenecker and professor Ewan Fordyce named the new genus tohoraata, which translates as “dawn whale” in Maori. The new genus belonged to the toothless filter-feeding family eomysticetidae, and it was the first time members of the family had been identified in the Southern Hemisphere. It vaguely resembled a minke whale, but was more slender and serpent-like, with a skull about 2 metres long and a total length of eight metres. “This new species differs from modern baleen whales in having a smaller brain case and a skull that is generally much more primitive, with substantially larger attachments for jaw muscles,” Xinhua quoted Boessenecker as saying in a statement Eomysticetids were the earliest toothless baleen-bearing cetaceans, and in many characteristics were intermediate between toothed baleen whales and modern baleen whales, he said. “They are the first baleen whales to have been completely toothless, and are, therefore, the earliest known cetaceans to have wholly relied upon filter feeding,” he said. (IANS)
World’s ‘hottest female jailbird’ says sorry for crimes
London: A woman, considered to be the world’s hottest criminal, has plead guilty and apologized for her actions. 21-year-old Stephanie Beaudoin, had caused an online stir when she her seductive selfies hit the news, right after she with more than 100 offences related to 42 burglaries in October, the Daily Star reported.
But now, according to the reports, the bad beauty, who could face a prison sentence, has pleaded guilty to 30 charges related to burglaries and gun offences, telling the court that she regrets her actions and was ready to deal with the consequences and move forward.
The good-looking nursing student, who had gained millions of fans when her bikini-clad selfies and seductive Facebook shots hit the web, and many had declared her the world’s “hottest” or “sexiest” criminal. Beaudoin is due to return for sentencing on December 9, 2014. (ANI)
Chilean engineers create bicycle that’s ‘impossible’ to steal
London: A new ‘unstealable’ bicycle has been created by 3 Chilean engineers, which can be robbed only if a person breaks it. According to the Mirror, designers of the bike Juan Jose Monsalve, Andres and Cristobal, said that they came up with the unique idea, called the Yerka Project, because as students, they themselves had been victims bicycle theft and wanted to do something to reduce the crime. The bike’s bottom bar on the frame can be split into two and wrapped around a secure pole with the removable seat connecting and locking the two bars together. The engineers claimed that the technology prevents the two-wheeler, which looked like any average urban bike, from being stolen if it was properly locked, unless someone broke the frame. Though the bike has received some criticisms, like the thieves may just steal away the parts if not the whole thing, Monsalve said that it meant they were doing something that people were interested in, adding that they intended to improve with every critic. (ANI)