Mom dangles, drops son, 2, into cheetah pit at US zoo
Chicago: In a bizarre incident, a 2-year-old boy fell into a cheetah enclosure at a US zoo after his mother dangled him over the railing and he slipped out of her grasp. Cleveland Zoo officials said the cheetahs never approached the boy or his parents, who jumped in to rescue him. The toddler fell into the cheetah pit on Saturday after his mother identified as Michelle Schwab dangled him over the railing and he slipped out of her grasp, authorities said. Schwab was charged today with child endangering. The boy injured his leg, Fox News Cleveland reported. The TV station said the mother would be charged with the crime of child endangerment. The near tragedy at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Ohio horrified witnesses who heard screams after the boy slipped out of his mother’s grasp and fell 10 feet. “You just hear these screams, then all you could see is the adult that jumped in, got the child and then somebody pulled him out,” a witness was quoted as saying. “It was a heavier-set guy with the kid. They started screaming and that’s when they started blocking everybody off,” the witness said. The zoo’s executive director, Chris Kuhar, said the mother appeared to be at fault. “Unfortunately, we have a number of eyewitness accounts that point to the strong likelihood that the child was dangled over the railing,” Kuhar said. He said the cheetahs “made no attempt to interact” with the child or his parents at any time. A Cleveland Fire Department spokesman said the mother was holding another child when the boy fell. The zoo closed the cheetah exhibit for the remainder of the day and said it would press charges against the boy’s mother for endangering his welfare. (PTI)
US man shoots mother-in-law while trying to kill armadillo
Washington: In a freak incident, a US man trying to shoot an armadillo accidentally hit his mother-in-law after the bullet bounced off the creature’s armour. Larry McElroy was outside his home in Lee County, Georgia when he fired his 9 mm pistol at the armadillo over the weekend. The armadillo died from the shot, but the bullet ricocheted off the animal, hit a fence and went into the back door of his mother-in-law’s mobile home – a distance of about 100 yards. Then the bullet went through the recliner where the 74-year-old Carol Johnson was sitting and into her back, ‘WALB TV’ reported. Johnson was fortunately not severely injured. She was taken to a nearby hospital and is expected to recover. “Just the circumstances, just all the way around, the whole situation was unusual,” said investigator Bill Smith with the Lee county Sheriff’s Office. (PTI)
Pioneering USD 50 mn art collection up for auction in NY
New York: The art collection of pioneering gallerist Ileana Sonnabend and her daughter goes on auction in New York next month, valued at USD 50 million and featuring some of the finest 20th century artists. Auctioneers Christie’s said it had acquired the Sonnabend collection and the estate of her daughter Nina Sundell, which would be offered for sale as 88 lots on May 13-14. Born in Bucharest in 1914, Sonnabend and her first husband Leo Castelli moved first to Paris and then fled to New York to escape growing anti-Semitism and the outbreak of World War II. She immersed herself in the post-war cultural scene, befriending figures such as Willem de Kooning and Jackson Pollock. Together with second husband Michael Sonnabend, she moved back to Paris in the 1960s, where they set up the Galerie Sonnabend to introduce Europe to American abstract expressionist art. In 1970 they reversed the experience, moving back to New York and used their gallery to introduce American audiences to a new generation of European artists, fostering some of the most innovative, challenging and promising artists of the day. Her private collection, which has never before been on the market, includes works by US pop artists Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Johns and contemporary artist Jeff Koons, Christie’s said. “Many of Sonnabend’s exhibitions helped determine the course of art history in the late 20th Century,” said Laura Paulson, Christie’s chairman for post-war and contemporary art. “She discovered and promoted some of the most significant artists of her time,” Paulson said. Koons, whom Sonnabend championed in the 1980s, is today one of the world’s highest paid artists. “It wasn’t about money or the gallery,” Christie’s quoted him as saying of Sonnabend. “It was about the work.” (AFP)
Oxford becomes first British city to ban non-recyclable food containers
London: Oxford may be known the world over for its famous university — but it is not far behind in terms of action to safeguard the environment.This could be said of the British city as it is thought to have become the first city in the country to ban non-recyclable polystyrene foam food containers, beating New York City across the Atlantic, in enforcing the policy, The Independent reported on Tuesday.All street vendors in Oxford will be required to use recyclable or biodegradable food containers from now on, in a bid to reduce the amount of waste the city sends to landfill.The measure, which was voted through at a council meeting on Monday night, will apply from now on to burger vans, kebab vans, and to food sellers when they apply for new licences.Vendors will, however, be allowed to use up any existing non-recyclable stock, which means that Oxford’s streets are unlikely to look tidier overnight.The city is thought to be the first in the country to announce such a measure, according to the Oxford Mail newspaper — a month and a half before similar rules will come into effect in the biggest US city, New York.That high-profile ban came after around 70 smaller US cities had come to a similar conclusion on the apparent burden of styrofoam — a type of polystyrene foam — on the local environment, and led to speculation that British businesses would soon be required to follow suit.While it is yet to be seen how Oxford residents react to the council’s decision, it is fair to say that the measure has proved popular in New York, where around 28,500 tonnes of polystyrene was collected in 2014 alone.Even the New York State Restaurant Association was positive about the change, despite concerns voiced by some vendors that they would have to increase prices. The association said that it would help educate food retailers on how to comply with the law and find alternative products that were “better for the environment and cost-effective”. (IANS)
