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Brazil's kidnap phone con

In Brazil, criminal gangs frequently phone victims with fake abduction claims about their loved ones and trick them into handing over cash. As the BBC's Gary Duffy reports from Sao Paulo, being on the receiving end can be a frightening experience.

Gary Duffy is just one of thousands targeted by the scam. When the call came it was a sudden intrusion on a quiet Sunday afternoon. At the other end of the line appeared to be a young man in a great deal of distress, crying desperately.
"Oh My God," he said repeatedly, "I've just been robbed... they have taken me." And then he called out: "My mother, my mother."
Suddenly an older man came on the line and almost casually explained they had meant to kidnap the son of a businessman but had taken this young man instead. He demanded to speak to the mother in the household.
It seemed a good moment to put the phone down.

The news in detail.....http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6961741.stm

Prisons can be heaven

It's Good to Be a British Prisoner: Faced with overcrowding, the government announced earlier this year that 25,500 inmates would be early-released, and since that would take away their "free" housing for the remainder of their sentences, awarded each released person "room and board" expenses to live on until their terms expired. [Daily Mail (London), 6-29-07]

Britain's Prison Service announced in May that inmate obesity was such a problem that it had hired "dozens" of fitness trainers to serve at 25 U.K. jails. Trainers will provide individualized exercise routines and "holistic, alternative therap(ies)," according to a report in The Sun. [The Sun (London), 5-30-07]

Alp host nude photoshoot

Can I call this mass stupidity? Or are they able to really fight for a cause they believe in?


Nearly 600 men and women volunteers have stripped naked to pose for US photographer Spencer Tunick on the slope of a melting Swiss glacier.
The photo shoot on the Aletsch glacier was commissioned by environmental group Greenpeace as part of a campaign to raise awareness about global warming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6952930.stm

NZ couple to name child Superman

A couple in New Zealand is planning to call their newborn son Superman after officials rejected their original choice of 4Real.
Pat and Sheena Wheaton have been frustrated by rules in New Zealand banning names that begin with a number.
Mum and Dad decided to call their son 4Real after seeing an ultrasound image of him. It was then they realised that their baby was "for real".
They are considering legal action to force officials to reverse the ruling.

Superman's parents say they will still refer to him as 4Real

A complete link http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6937327.stm