Spies like us... birds' Odd News Briefs
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A summary of this week’s odd REUTERS news briefs.
Turkey frees bird accused of spying for Israel
ISTANBUL - Turkish authorities detained a bird on suspicion it was spying for Israel, but freed it after X-rays showed it was not embedded with surveillance equipment, newspapers said on Friday. The kestrel aroused suspicion because of a metal ring on its foot carrying the words "24311 Tel Avivunia Israel", prompting residents in the village of Altinayva to hand it over to the local governor.
TV goes to the dogs with first channel for canines
NEW YORK - Lonely, bored dogs left at home all day while their owners are at work could soon be getting some digital company - a TV channel with programming just for pooches. DOGTV, a 24/7 channel designed specifically for man's best friend, will air nationally next month on the U.S. satellite operator DirecTV, with hopes of attracting dogs in some of the 46 million U.S. households that have at least one.
DOGTV's subscription-based channel organizes programing into 3 to 6 minutes of relaxing, stimulating and behavior-improving segments that work collaboratively to provide just the right balance for the daily routines of our beloved “stay-at-home” dogs, says their website.
Rescued Florida sea turtle headed for Las Vegas casino "retirement"
MIAMI - An ailing 320-pound, green sea turtle, believed to be about 50 years old, was packed in a customized FedEx crate to be shipped to Las Vegas Thursday to give it a better home at a luxury casino. The turtle, named OD, after a dive charter boat that rescued it in 2008, has been cared for at the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital for almost five years. It cannot be released due to an irreparable collapsed lung that left it floating on its side.
60 tons of Eiffel Tower trinkets seized in Paris
PARIS - Paris police seized 60 tons of miniature Eiffel Towers that black-market vendors were hoping to sell to tourists. Paris is one of the world's top destinations, visited by about 29 million tourists a year, but with the holidaymakers comes an influx of bootleg souvenirs, from replica towers to fake Hermes scarves.
Being rude to French president no longer an automatic fine
PARIS - Being rude to the French president is no longer an offense after parliament agreed on Thursday to amend legislation dating back to 1881 in favour of freedom of speech. Whereas before any rude remark risked an automatic fine for "offending the head of state," the president is now reduced to the same category as ministers and parliamentarians and would need to have a judge prove there had been slander or defamation.
New Jersey hospitals brace for baby boom from Superstorm Sandy
PHILADELPHIA - When Superstorm Sandy doused the lights along coastal New Jersey nine months ago, it laid the groundwork for a summertime baby boom that has hospitals jumping. "It was a crazy time," said Dr. Steven Morgan, who practices obstetrics and gynecology at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune. "A lot of people were home, a lot of people didn't have TV, and obviously a lot of reproduction was happening."