Careful chewing: Another needle found in airplane food
OTTAWA: Police and Air Canada are investigating after a passenger on a domestic flight found a needle in a catered sandwich, the airline said Wednesday. “A passenger indicated that he found what appeared to be a sewing needle in a sandwich prepared in advance for the flight,” airline spokesman John Reber said. The July 30 flight from Victoria, British Columbia was headed to Toronto. It follows a similar incident a few weeks ago when half a dozen needles ended up in turkey sandwiches on four Delta Air Lines flights from Amsterdam to the United States. Both Dutch police and the American FBI launched probes after six needles were discovered in six different sandwiches on four separate US-bound flights departing from Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. Delta Air Lines and the sandwich maker at Schiphol airport, Gate Gourmet, said they were working with the authorities to probe the scandal, which caused no serious injuries but sparked alarm amongst airline travelers.
Eiffel Tower decor to go under hammer
PARIS: Fancy a piece of the Eiffel Tower for the dining room? Furniture once used in the Paris landmark’s high-end eatery the Jules Verne will go under the hammer in September, auctioneers said on Wednesday. The Jules Verne’s modernist black-and-white decor hosted fine diners from around the world on the second floor of the landmark tourist site from 1983 to 2007, when the restaurant was taken over by top chef Alain Ducasse. The sale on September 27 at Paris’s Drouot-Montmartre auction house will feature black-and-white porcelain crockery, wheeled steel-frame chairs and a black lacquered grand piano among its dozens of lots. Design buffs will also have a chance to bid for the complete former furnishings of the Eiffel Tower’s brasserie, Altitude 95, named for its height above sea level.
Carla Bruni statue in Paris kept out of sight
PARIS: A controversial statue of Carla Bruni depicted as a worker has been erected in a Paris suburb but fans of France’s former first lady will struggle to catch a glimpse of a work that has embarrassed almost everyone connected with it. The bronze was the brainchild of Jacques Martin, the mayor of Nogent-sur-Marne and a close political ally of Bruni’s husband, former president Nicolas Sarkozy. Martin came up with the scheme to use a likeness of Bruni to represent the mostly Italian immigrant women who used to work at a feather factory in the town — an idea branded “grotesque” by the Socialist opposition on the town council. Opposition to the two-meter high statue hardened when it emerged in February that it was going to cost 82,000 euros ($100,000). The ensuing outcry forced Martin to abandon his plan to cover half the cost from the public purse and his office confirmed yesterday that the statue had been completed with private funding and put up in a private residence.
NJ man finds pythons in yard twice in four days
WEST MILFORD, New Jersey: Summer vacation has been anything but routine for a New York City social studies teacher who lives in northern New Jersey. James Geist has spotted pythons twice within days in his West Milford yard. Geist was reading on his deck when he thought he saw a branch move on July 23. He soon realized it was a snake. Police arrived with two snake handlers who told Geist the branch was a 15-foot albino python. Geist tells The Record newspaper the snake was huge, thick and docile. Four days later, Geist saw another snake. This time it was a 10-foot python. Animal control believes the tropical snakes were released by someone who had moved from the neighborhood.
Teddy bears drop in, bring down 2 Belarus generals
MINSK: It’s probably the first time in history that teddy bears have defeated generals. Belarus’ authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko has sacked two of the nation’s top defense officials after two Swedish advertising agency employees piloted a light plane into the country’s heavily guarded airspace, dropping 879 teddy bears decked out in parachutes and slogans supporting human rights. Officials in the ex-Soviet state denied the July 4 incident until Lukashenko called a meeting last week to scold authorities for allowing such a “provocation.” The Belarusian ruler nicknamed “Europe’s last dictator” on Tuesday fired the nation’s air defense chief and the head of the Border Guards service and reprimanded several other top security officials, his office said Wednesday. Thomas Mazetti and Hannah Frey, the two Swedes behind the stunt, said they wanted to show support for Belarusian human rights activists and embarrass the country’s military, a pillar of Lukashenko’s power. “Hopefully, we’ve made people more aware in the world and that there will be more people supporting Belarusian people,” Frey said.
