A garden gnome giving the Nazi salute has landed a German artist in trouble with the authorities in Nuremberg.Prosecutors are investigating whether the gnome, which went on show in one of the city's galleries, breaks the strict law banning Nazi symbols and gestures. The Bavarian city is particularly sensitive about the Nazi era because Adolf Hitler used it for big rallies and leading Nazis went on trial there. The artist, Ottmar Hoerl, says his gnomes poke fun at the Nazis. "I'm astonished that a single garden gnome, in what is for me an obscure gallery in Nuremberg, has unleashed such a public discussion because of an anonymous denunciation by someone," Mr Hoerl said.
A garden gnome giving the Nazi salute has landed a German artist in trouble with the authorities in Nuremberg.
Prosecutors are investigating whether the gnome, which went on show in one of the city's galleries, breaks the strict law banning Nazi symbols and gestures.
The Bavarian city is particularly sensitive about the Nazi era because Adolf Hitler used it for big rallies and leading Nazis went on trial there.
The artist, Ottmar Hoerl, says his gnomes poke fun at the Nazis.
"I'm astonished that a single garden gnome, in what is for me an obscure gallery in Nuremberg, has unleashed such a public discussion because of an anonymous denunciation by someone," Mr Hoerl said.
CAIRO, Jul 16 (IPS) - Egyptian courts have handed down unprecedented numbers of death sentences in recent months, most of them for violent crime. "Two hundred and thirty death sentences in six months", read the Jun. 24 headline of independent daily Al- Dustour. "Fifty in the last week alone".The most high-profile case has been that of Hisham Talaat Mustafa, a high- ranking member of the ruling National Democratic Party, convicted of conspiring in the murder of Lebanese pop singer Suzanne Tamim a year ago in Dubai. On Jun. 25 Mustafa and an accomplice were sentenced to death. The verdict was quickly approved by the Grand Mufti, Ali Gomaa. Under Egyptian law all capital sentences must be approved by the Grand Mufti, a state-appointed religious authority. On Jun. 13, 24 men were sentenced to death after clashes in a land dispute in the Delta governorate Wadi Natroun last year led to the death of 11 people. On Jun. 17, a metal worker found guilty of murdering two female university students on the outskirts of Cairo last year was given the capital sentence. The following day, another six people were given the death penalty for the murder of two colleagues in the urban governorate Giza. And on Jun. 21, 11 Bedouin people in the Sinai Peninsula were sentenced to death for killing the head of a rival clan. Again, on Jun. 30, seven defendants received the death penalty for the killing of 13 people in clashes in a land dispute in the Delta city Benha.
French police say a woman has died after being hit by a Tour de France official on a motorcycle who was helping to supervise the race.The woman was struck Saturday as she tried to cross the road in Alsace in eastern France during the 14th stage of the Tour, a 199km route from Colmar to Besancon.Commander Christophe Blanc told France Info radio that the motorcycle driver could not avoid hitting the woman. The driver fell off his bike, which then hit and injured two other people. Their lives are not in danger.
French police say a woman has died after being hit by a Tour de France official on a motorcycle who was helping to supervise the race.
The woman was struck Saturday as she tried to cross the road in Alsace in eastern France during the 14th stage of the Tour, a 199km route from Colmar to Besancon.
Commander Christophe Blanc told France Info radio that the motorcycle driver could not avoid hitting the woman. The driver fell off his bike, which then hit and injured two other people. Their lives are not in danger.
On Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that U.S. and Mexican agents nabbed Robert Wainwright living the high life south of the border. Wainwright, arrested in Zamora this week, was wanted for allegedly dumping steel mill waste in an Indiana wetland while working as a manager for Sterling Material Services in Lake County. Based on the EPA's Wanted poster, Wainwright is a portly 66-year-old with a scar above his left eye. A convicted child molester who was also found guilty of firearms violations in 2007, Wainwright fled the country while the Northern Indiana Environmental Crimes Task Force was investigating his alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
On Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that U.S. and Mexican agents nabbed Robert Wainwright living the high life south of the border. Wainwright, arrested in Zamora this week, was wanted for allegedly dumping steel mill waste in an Indiana wetland while working as a manager for Sterling Material Services in Lake County.
Based on the EPA's Wanted poster, Wainwright is a portly 66-year-old with a scar above his left eye. A convicted child molester who was also found guilty of firearms violations in 2007, Wainwright fled the country while the Northern Indiana Environmental Crimes Task Force was investigating his alleged violations of the Clean Water Act.
Cash machines offer an ever-growing menu of services beyond merely dispensing money. For tampering criminals, this now includes a squirt of pepper spray in the face .The extreme measure is the latest in South Africa's escalating war against armed robbers who target banks and cash delivery vans. The number of cash machines blown up with explosives has risen from 54 in 2006 to 387 in 2007 and nearly 500 last year.The technology uses cameras to detect people tampering with the card slots. Another machine then ejects pepper spray to stun the culprit while police response teams race to the scene.But the mechanism backfired in one incident last week when pepper spray was inadvertently inhaled by three technicians who required treatment from paramedics.
Cash machines offer an ever-growing menu of services beyond merely dispensing money. For tampering criminals, this now includes a squirt of pepper spray in the face .
The extreme measure is the latest in South Africa's escalating war against armed robbers who target banks and cash delivery vans. The number of cash machines blown up with explosives has risen from 54 in 2006 to 387 in 2007 and nearly 500 last year.
The technology uses cameras to detect people tampering with the card slots. Another machine then ejects pepper spray to stun the culprit while police response teams race to the scene.
But the mechanism backfired in one incident last week when pepper spray was inadvertently inhaled by three technicians who required treatment from paramedics.
His father was a policeman who could never have afforded the fees. But for a young David Lyscom, winning a scholarship to a private school was the key that unlocked the door to his future success On leaving Latymer school in London, he joined the Foreign Office, rose to become an ambassador and put his own children through Marlborough public school - and now champions the system as the new head of the Independent Schools Council (ISC). "If I hadn't had it, I would not be where I am today," he says. "It opened doors that I don't think would have been opened otherwise."
His father was a policeman who could never have afforded the fees. But for a young David Lyscom, winning a scholarship to a private school was the key that unlocked the door to his future success
On leaving Latymer school in London, he joined the Foreign Office, rose to become an ambassador and put his own children through Marlborough public school - and now champions the system as the new head of the Independent Schools Council (ISC).
"If I hadn't had it, I would not be where I am today," he says. "It opened doors that I don't think would have been opened otherwise."
