A German musician needed medical treatment after forgetting his violin worth around a million euros on a train, police said yesterday.
The 55-year-old left the instrument, made in Italy in 1748, on a regional train in Munich on Friday evening after arriving back at the southern city’s airport from a trip to Asia.
“He got off the train but he forgot to take the violin with him. Police launched a search and found it still on the train, still on the seat where he left it,” a spokesman said.
“He needed treatment from a doctor but it was nothing dramatic. He was just a bit nervous because he thought he had lost it.” (AFP)
Vodka for explosives
A Russian was arrested for possession of an arsenal of explosives in Russia which he said he traded for a bottle of vodka, regional police said yesterday.
Police found “132 bullets, almost 500 grammes of gunpowder, and 1.32 kilogrammes of TNT” while searching a suspect’s apartment in Baltiysk, police said.
The detainee said that he “acquired the weapons several years ago having exchanged them for a bottle of vodka” after gaining an interest in collecting weapons during his army service. (AFP)
Sheep, goats join anti-nuclear protest
Activists seeking to block a cargo of highly radioactive waste in Germany received reinforcements of bleating protesters yesterday in the shape of a large herd of sheep and goats.
According to a spokesman for activist group Citizens’ Initiative Luechow-Dannenberg, the roughly 1,500 demonstrators against the nuclear waste were joined yesterday afternoon by around 2,000 sheep and 50 goats.
Demonstrators were tight-lipped about who had driven the animals to the road but had previously vowed to erect “creative obstacles” to the cargo’s path. (AFP)
Kitesurfer swept nine storeys high
A 24-year-old kitesurfer crashed to his death when wind swept him up and hurled him over a nine-storey building at a seaside resort in France.
“He was overwhelmed by the force of the wind while he was kitesurfing” by a beach in Saint-Jean-de-Luz, a town on France’s Atlantic coast, an rescue official said. “He crashed into a nine-storey building and then went over it,” the official added.
“Afterwards he was carried even higher and then lost force in the sail and crashed down.” (AFP)
‘Scratch and sniff’ Cannabis cards
In a novel bid to combat illegal cannabis cultivation, Dutch authorities started handing out 30,000 cards with a marijuana odour yesterday to alert citizens to what their neighbours may be up to.
“Assist in combatting cannabis plantations!” reads the green scratch-card of about 20cm by 10cm being distributed to residents of the western cities of The Hague and Rotterdam.
Authorities believe there are some 40,000 illegal cannabis plantations in the Netherlands – hidden away in attics, apartments or warehouses. (AFP)
Classical music cuts crime
Classical music piped through speakers has dramatically reduced crime rates in the centre of New Zealand’s second largest city, retailers said yesterday.
They said the introduction of soothing music from composers such as Mozart had seen the number of anti-social incidents in Christchurch’s City Mall fall from 86 a week in 2008 to two a week this year.
Central City Business Association manager Paul Lonsdale said the music had helped residents and retailers reclaim the mall. He added the best anti-crime music blended into the background and had no noticeable beat. (AFP)
Taiwanese woman ‘marries’ herself
A Taiwanese woman has said she had “married” herself by throwing a wedding banquet. Thirty-year-old Chen Wei-yi, who has been an internet sensation since announcing her “wedding” plans last month, held the ceremony in a Taipei hotel on Saturday witnessed by 30 relatives and friends.
“Marrying myself is a way of showing that I am confident and upbeat and that I accept myself for who I am,” said Ms Chen. (AFP)