US special forces in Afghanistan are known for taking out militants in stealthy night raids but commanders now want them to learn how to butcher meat and cook “authentic” meals for village elders.
The military is planning a three-day “abattoir training” course for the highly-trained troops, who will be taught how to slaughter, cure and cook meat in line with Afghan customs, according to US Special Operations Command (SOCOM).
The command issued a request last week for private contractors to organise classes for 132 students on “how to use local Afghan cooking materials and prepare an authentic Afghan meal cooked in the style and presentation that would be expected by local village elders.” (AFP)
Live mannequins
Live mannequins modelling this season’s bikinis in the windows of the Coin department store in Milan – much to the disapproval of Italy’s labour unions – are a harmless business ploy, the shop said yesterday.
“We have been accused of commercialising the human body,” Stefano Beraldo, the head of Coin, told journalists. “But we’ve not invented anything, it’s done all over the world. It’s just business,” he added.
Italy’s main trade union, the left-wing CGIL, had complained about the use of live models in shop windows, stepping in to “protect workers’ decorum and customers’ intelligence.” But the models, posing in their swimming costumes on a fake beach, defended their right to be there and held up signs saying: “Even being a model is work.” (AFP)
Kids on eBay
An Australian mother who listed her children for sale on the internet had her joke backfire when authorities were called in to investigate, police said on Sunday.
Officials in the southern city of Geelong were notified last week that a woman was attempting to sell her children, a boy and girl both aged under 10, on the auction site eBay.
Photos of the children were included in the sales pitch.
“Police tracked down the woman, who said it was a joke,” police said in a statement.
Child welfare officers and police conducted a joint investigation and police said no charges would be laid. (AFP)
Police prank
Two men who wanted to stage photos of an arrest locked themselves inside a Pennsylvania constable’s van and ended up getting arrested for real.
Ryan Letchford, 21, and 22-year-old Jeffrey Olson were arrested early on Saturday when a friend called emergency services to report they were trapped, Radnor police told the Philadelphia Daily News.
The men, from Marlton, New Jersey, left a party and allegedly got into the van so they could take photos of themselves pretending to be arrested. Both have been charged with theft, public drunkenness and criminal mischief and are on bail. (PA)
Xbox rebuke’
A 13-year-old boy dialled 999 after his parents told him off for playing on his Xbox console at 11 p.m., police said yesterday. It was one of thousands of hoax, silent or frivolous calls Durham Police deal with every year.
The force released a transcript of a call-handler ringing back the household to ask if there was a real emergency. The apologetic father replied: “It was my son. He rang 999 because we were telling him off for being naughty. He’s 13. I took him off his Xbox, it was 11 o’clock and it was time for him to go to bed.”
The handler replied: “That sounds about right. As long as he’s OK and you don’t need the police.” (PA)
Church trial
A church service in Ohio has included a mock retrial of Casey Anthony, the Florida woman found not guilty of killing her two-year-old daughter.
The exercise at the In Touch With Christ Christian Centre in Cleveland was led by the Rev Una Keenon, a retired municipal court judge.
She asked the 12 church members who acted as jurors to consider whether it would be right to send Ms Anthony to death row if she did not kill her child. The church jury was hung, with eight voting guilty and four voting not guilty. (PA)
Court date
A mother of four accused of biting off her boyfriend’s testicles will face trial in October.
Maria Topp, 43, is alleged to have attacked Martin Douglas at his Newcastle flat at 4 a.m. on February 18. He required emergency hospital treatment for his injuries.
Ms Topp, of Aycliffe Place, Wrekenton, Gateshead, has denied grievous bodily harm. She was granted conditional bail . (PA)
Icy challenge
Winter Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams is facing another chilly challenge – taking part in a reality television show in the Arctic Circle.
Williams, who won gold in the women’s skeleton at the Vancouver Winter Olympics last year, will take part in the second series of ITV1’s 71 Degrees North later this year.
She will join nine other celebrities including former Spandau Ballet star Martin Kemp in the show, which will see them deal with icy conditions as they journey across Scandinavia in freezing temperatures. (PA)
Lifesaving lawsuit
A convicted murderer is suing the US state of Colorado for saving his life after his heart stopped beating.
Daniel Self claims he suffers from sleep apnoea and had ordered prison guards not to resuscitate him if he stopped breathing. The 54-year-old claims in a lawsuit that officials were deliberately indifferent to his right to refuse medical treatment when he stopped breathing in 2009. Mr Self told the Denver Post that death would be a welcome relief after he was convicted in 2003 of killing 24-year-old Leah Gee, who was pregnant. He claims she shot herself. (PA)