A restaurant owner in Turkey was shot dead after he tried to prevent his customers from smoking to comply with a new law on the use of tobacco indoors, Hurriyet daily said yesterday.
A fight broke out after Hidir Karayigit, 46, ordered a group of customers to extinguish their cigarettes when they began smoking at his traditional restaurant that serves alcohol, in Saruhanli. One of the customers shot Mr Karayigit four times after he took away the group's cigarettes, said witness Hamza Havutcu, Mr Karayigit's business partner who was also shot and wounded.
Turkey's government on July 19 introduced a nationwide ban on indoor smoking, including bars and restaurants, despite the fact that half of Turks aged between the ages of 15 and 49 smoke; one of the highest rates in the world. (Reuters)
I want candy!
Russia will no longer include free cigarettes in its food rations for servicemen but will compensate by providing them with candy, a top general said yesterday.
"We are no longer buying cigarettes for the armed forces and are replacing them with caramel and sugar," Lieutenant-General Dmitry Bulgakov was quoted as saying. He specified however, that Russia was not banning smoking in the military.
Lieutenant-General Bulgakov added, "If you want to smoke, then smoke. If you don't want to smoke, eat candy."
Lieutenant-General Bulgakov also announced defence ministry plans to provide military officers who work indoors or in hot climates with new uniforms, including socks that let feet "breathe."
However, after being issued a complete uniform kit at the start of service, officers will afterwards have to purchase new uniform components themselves. (AFP)
Saudi scandal goes on air
A divorced Saudi man with four children has shocked Saudi Arabia with details of his sexual exploits on an Arabic TV show.
Mazen Abdul-Jawad, 32, has gone into hiding after appearing on Lebanese channel LBC where he spoke about how couples can spice up their sex lives.
On an episode of the salacious show "Ahmar Bilkhat al-Areed" (Wide Red Lines), Abdul-Jawad mentioned tricks for cruising women on the streets of Jeddah and demonstrated how he would cruise girls in his red convertible or in supermarkets, often making use of Bluetooth mobile phone technology.
"While I'm driving I turn my Bluetooth on. It has the description of my car and my mobile number... I get calls from girls... and in some cases I call back and she goes out with me," he says in the Youtube clips.
Newspapers and bloggers have said the young man should face legal action for spreading vice in what has been dubbed by media as the "frank with filth case". (Reuters)
German SPD drops limo minister
Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany's Social Democratic candidate for chancellor, has dropped Health Minister Ulla Schmidt from his campaign team after she provoked a furore by taking an official car to Spain.
Mr Steinmeier, whose SPD trails the conservatives in opinion polls ahead of the September election, said Ms Schmidt would remain off the campaign team until her use of the car - which was stolen while she was on holiday in Spain but later recovered - is cleared by the federal accounting office.
"We agreed that she will only return to the team if these accusations are completely cleared up," Mr Steinmeier told reporters at a meeting of SPD leaders in Potsdam.
The row over Ms Schmidt's use of the official car put both her and Mr Steinmeier in the awkward position of explaining the matter just as their party launched its campaign for the September 27 election. (Reuters)
Students nab cheats on civil service test
A group of Chinese primary school students who were tasked with supervising a civil service test proved their worth by catching 25 exam cheats, state media said yesterday.
The students in Gansu province uncovered the cheats while administering the test to 265 candidates for positions as judges, prosecutors and police officers, the Lanzhou Morning News said.
The students were brought in to supervise the test to ensure "openness and transparency," the paper said. Other supervisors included officials and middle-school teachers, but the pupils were solely responsible for catching the cheaters.
They "executed the rules impartially" and achieved "unexpected results" by catching the test-cheats on the spot. Those caught cheating were awarded scores of zero and expelled from testing.
"I did not think too much and only wanted to seriously complete the task handed down by the teachers and... be an honest girl," it quoted one of the young supervisors, a girl, as saying. (AFP)