Scores of prisoners and their guards set off yesterday on a unique Tour de France cycling race for convicts, aimed at preparing them for life on the outside.
The prisoner cyclists have to stay in a pack and no "breakaways" are allowed during the 15 stages of the inaugural race that covers 2,300 kilometres from Villeneuve d'Ascq in northern France to Paris on June 18.
Twenty-three inmates and 57 staff went under the starter's gun, of whom 18 - including just six prisoners - will complete the full course. A total of 196 inmates and 300 staff will take part throughout the event's various stages.
As in the real Tour de France, which starts next month, the cyclists will be escorted by a "caravan" of technical support vehicles, medical teams, and gendarmes on motorbikes and in cars.
"The aim is to show that sport is a teaching tool," said Jean-Paul Chapu, the director of a jail in the northern town of Loos who initiated the project. (AFP)
Rescued from shark-infested waters
Three lucky backpackers were plucked from shark and crocodile infested waters off the coast of Darwin by rescuers who stumbled on the stricken trio after their boat sank.
The tourists were three kilometres off the coast last Tuesday when their small boat capsized in choppy seas during a fishing trip. But they were saved by chance when a customs boat searching for a missing vessel happened to spot their heads bobbing in the water just 30 minutes after the accident.
"It's very unlikely they would have been found any other way, so those three people, they've just won lotto," said Ian Badham from the aerial rescue service Careflight.
Darwin harbourmaster Captain Bruce Wilson said the trio were in danger from the deadly creatures that frequent Darwin's harbour.
"Whether you freeze or get chomped by a croc, I don't know which one you'd prefer". (AFP)
Royal family stung by beehives' theft
Thieves have stolen hundreds of thousands of bees along with their hives destined for the royal family, police said yesterday.
About 11 hives, estimated to be worth about £5,000 and containing up to 500,000 bees, many destined for the Balmoral royal estate in Scotland to make honey for Prince Charles's Duchy Originals luxury food label, were taken in the raid last month.
Royal beekeeper Murray McGregor in West Lothian, Scotland said. "We are very vulnerable to it because the hives are left unattended."
The bee thefts come on the heels of reports earlier this week that rustlers had stolen cattle from the queen's Sandringham estate.
"We will send other hives in their place," Mr McGregor added. (Reuters)
Cabbies strike over disabled rivals
Taxi drivers in a central Chinese city went on strike yesterday to protest against illegal competition from physically disabled people who were using their vehicles as cabs, state media reported.
China has been hit by a wave of taxi strikes over the past year with drivers complaining about unlicensed competition, fuel prices and rising rental fees as the economy comes under strain from the global financial crisis.
The latest strike, involving hundreds of taxi drivers in Chenzhou city in Hunan province, fell exactly 20 years after the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, but there was no indication that the cabbies intended any link to the sensitive anniversary.
About 180 physically disabled people have used their vehicles to carry passengers for profit in Chenzhou, where there are nearly 1,000 licensed taxis. (Reuters)
Treasure hunters to return loot
The Spanish government has welcomed a Florida court decision ordering US treasure hunters to return to Spain over 500,000 silver and gold coins raised from the seabed. Tampa-based Odyssey Marine Exploration found the 17-tonne haul, which some experts valued at $500 million, two years ago in a location it never disclosed.
Spain said the coins came from the Nuestra Senora de las Mercedes, a warship carrying treasure back from Peru when it was sunk by British gunboats off the Spanish coast in 1804. Spain quickly claimed the loot as its own because the ship belongs to Spain, but not before the Odyssey flew the treasure from the British colony of Gibraltar to Florida.
Odyssey said it planned to file a written objection to the ruling which says the firm must return the loot within 10 days. (Reuters)