Japan men sickened after eating poisonous puffer fish
Tokyo: Five Japanese men became sick after eating poisonous puffer fish, an official said today, the latest victims of a delicacy seen as sophisticated by fans and crazy by others. The men, all in their 40s and 50s, dined at a restaurant in western Wakayama city on Friday night, the city’s health official said.
They were taken ill early the next day, experiencing breathing difficulties and vomiting, the official said. “They consumed a dinner that included liver, which is regarded as toxic material,” she told AFP, reading from a statement. The city shut down the establishment for five days from Sunday, she said. Calls to the restaurant went unanswered. The restaurant served the banned, poisonous parts after requests from the diners, the official said. The livers, ovaries and skin, among other parts, of the puffer fish — also known as the blowfish or “fugu” in Japanese — contain toxins powerful enough to kill an adult, in the worst case scenario. Aficionados say the tingle that the organs leave on your lips — caused by the potent neurotoxin they contain — is part of the appeal. Every year, several people in Japan are hospitalised after eating fugu. In order to get a licence for serving the fish, restaurant chefs must train for years to pass a stringent exam, which includes paper and practical tests on how to distinguish poisonous parts from others. Strict regulations are often credited with the low level of fatalities. (AFP)
Clean your own loos: troubled North Devon council tells people
London: A cash-strapped council in the UK has asked residents to clean their own public toilets. North Devon Council wants parish councils and community groups to clean them in return for a grant. The authority says its 27 facilities cost 320,000 pounds a year and wants to find a “more economical way of providing the service”. Mayor of Ilfracombe George Squires warned the move could be a “slippery slope” towards closing public toilets. The Liberal Democrat-Independent controlled authority, which has a budget of 11.7 million pounds, is making savings of 1.5 million pounds a year over the next two years amid cuts in government funding. Councillor Rodney Cann said that with 50 toilet blocks in north Devon, the area was “particularly well provided for”. Of those toilets, 12 were already maintained by communities but the council wanted to offload the rest to community cleaning. “We are just looking at a more economical way of providing the service,” he was quoted as saying by the BBC. Squires said Ilfracombe was “particularly blessed with volunteers” but he added: “I am not sure if looking after loos will be top of the list for all of them.” Eric Couling, chairman of Lee Residents Association which maintains the loos in the seaside village, called for rebates in return for the extra work. “We have been looking after these toilets since 2004,” he said. “The average council tax here is well in excess of 2,000 pounds and there are 112 properties in the village. That is an awful lot of money going into the coffers of North Devon District Council.” Councillors agreed to “review public conveniences to identify options on a site-by-site basis” for a report later this year. (PTI)
Space tourist Sarah Brightman to wear velvet-blue spacesuit
Moscow: British singer Sarah Brightman will fly to the International Space Station (ISS) dressed in a velvet-blue space suit bearing the Union Jack.The details of the costume of the next space tourist were disclosed by Alexander Yarov, director general of the Kentavr-Nauka company which for the past 40 years has been the main designer of “space” clothes for Russian cosmonauts,
“During a short space flight, Sarah Brightman intends to wear a spacious polo-style shirt, a light suit, a ‘Kentavr’ space suit intended to minimise the pressure of space load during the flight and a ‘Bracelet’ elastic belt,” Yarov told TASS news agency on Monday.Russian cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, chief pilot of the Soyuz TMA-18M spaceship, which will take Brightman into space in September, has chosen the colours for the clothes for the space crew. Volkov decided on the velvet-blue shades for the space clothes which will differ in the emblems of the space crew’s national flags only, Yarov said. “It will be a flag of the United Kingdom for Brightman and a Danish state flag for astronaut of the European Space Agency, Andreas Mogensen,” he added.Sarah Brightman is going to fly into space on September 1. If her space endeavour is successful, she will be the eighth space tourist in history. The singer has already paid $52 million for her space flight. Incidentally, the British singer has announced that she is going to sing on board the ISS to the accompaniment of an orchestra which will perform on Earth. (IANS)
Video shows Los Angeles police fatally shooting man
Los Angeles: Los Angeles police has fatally shot a man in an incident that was caught on video and circulated widely online, with the department saying officers resorted to deadly force after the man had reached for one of their guns. The graphic footage, which appeared on Facebook, shows a violent altercation between a man and several officers in LA’s “Skid Row,” an area near downtown where many homeless people live. The video appears to show the man flailing at officers as they try to subdue him. A voice yelling “Drop the gun!” can be heard before several shots ring out and several onlookers cry out in alarm. The Los Angeles Police Department said three police officers — a sergeant and two officers — fired at the man yesterday after he reached for an officer’s firearm during the altercation. Police had been called to the scene over a reported robbery and were attempting to detain the suspect, who engaged in a fight, Commander Andrew Smith, LAPD spokesman, told AFP.
During the struggle, police also used a Taser, he said. The man, whom US media initially reported to be living in one of the area’s many tents, was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, Smith said, adding that he could not confirm whether the individual was homeless. Skid Row is a run-down area that houses many hostels and services for the region’s homeless people, some of whom pitch tents on the sidewalks. Witnesses said the man had been fighting with someone in his tent before the police arrived, the Los Angeles Times reported. Investigations into the deadly incident will be conducted by an independent inspector general, the district attorney and the LAPD Force Investigation Division, Smith said. He added that some of the officers are believed to have been wearing body cameras. Two officers sustained minor injuries, and those who fired on the man have been removed from the field and assigned home for the time being, Smith added. It was not yet known how many times the man was shot or how many officers were at the scene, the spokesman said. He added that the coroner would release the individual’s identity after his next of kin are notified. The video comes against a backdrop of highly publicised police shootings of black men that sparked weeks of protests late last year. (AFP)
World’s first all-electric communications satellites launched
Washington: US-based Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX) has successfully launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the world’s first all-electric communications satellites into orbit.
Blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in California on March 1, the rocket carried two satellites, built by Boeing, for French satellite provider Eutelsat and Asia Broadcast Satellite (ABS).
The satellites will rely entirely on energy-efficient electric ion engines to maintain their orbit for up to two decades.The satellites are outfitted with all-electric engines rather than conventional rocket thrusters to reach and maintain orbit, Forbes reported.This reduces the weight of the satellites to the point where both could be launched at once.The downside is that it will take the satellites months to reach geostationary orbit.SpaceX is scheduled to launch at least two more Falcon 9 rockets this year. The next launch is scheduled for March 21 when a Falcon 9 will deliver a communications satellite into orbit for Thales Alenia Space and the government of Turkmenistan. (IANS)
