A monk in Bhutan has become the first person jailed under the country’s draconian anti-smoking law after a court handed him a three-year prison sentence for smuggling tobacco worth $2.50.
Sonam Tshering was jailed for bringing in 48 packets of chewing tobacco from India without declaring them to customs in the Himalayan kingdom.
Bhutan banned the sale of cigarettes in 2005 and tightened up its law last year to combat smuggling, requiring consumers to provide valid customs receipts for any tobacco products.
A judgment from a district court in the capital Thimphu, posted on the website of opposition lawmaker Tshering Tobgay, said the monk had violated the Tobacco Control Act because he had not paid duty for the tobacco.
Bhutan is one of the most remote and reclusive places on Earth, sandwiched between India and China. It had no roads or currency until the 1960s, allowed television only in 1999 and still resists the temptation of allowing mass tourism. (AFP)
8 million faces
Artist Jason Polan won’t be running out of live models any time soon – in trying to draw every person in New York, he’s got at least eight million more to go.
The plan may sound crazy, but Mr Polan, 28, is serious.
Every day he’s out there with ink pen and sketch pad, posting the results on www.everypersoninnewyork.blogspot.com. Three years into the project, he’s up to about 14,000.
“I know I’m going to fail, I won’t draw everybody, but I enjoy trying,” he says. (AFP)
Prison break
A New Zealand prison suffered a reversal of the norm when it became the victim of a break-in.
Police said on Saturday that thieves had broken into the prison at New Plymouth, on the west coast of the North Island, just before midnight and stolen a large plasma television.
“If any members of the public saw anyone carrying a big TV at that time of night, or heard or saw anything in the area of the prison, let police know,” Sergeant Thomas McIntyre said.
The New Plymouth Prison is the oldest operating jail in New Zealand, having been in continuous use since the 1860s when it was converted from an army hospital.
The old jailhouse is surrounded by a large stone wall topped with razor wire, while a newer unit is surrounded by a fence topped with barbed wire. (AFP)
Dog eats toes
A dog ate three of his owner’s toes as the diabetic man slept, most likely out of an instinct to remove diseased flesh, according to animal experts.
James Little, 61, called the emergency services in Oregon, US, to say his dog had eaten the body parts while he slept.
He told reporters he was “doing fine” after treatment and had put the animal, a Shiba Inu, up for adoption. Experts say dogs will sometimes try to remove diseased flesh after being attracted to a festering wound. (PA)
Tartan skiers
Skiers and snowboarders in traditional Scottish dress failed to set a new record for the number of people on a piste in kilts.
Nearly 200 people donned tartan to try and break the world record on the slopes of Cairn Gorm Mountain.
A total of 180 people completed the 1.5 mile run from the top of Cairn Gorm, but it was not enough to beat last year’s record of 235 set on the same slope last year. (PA)
Mum impersonator
A woman suspected of pension fraud was arrested when she tried to open a bank account in her dead mother’s name while disguised as her mother.
Loewen Craft, 59, was wearing a grey wig and make-up to make her look older when she arrived at a credit union branch in Ferndale, Washington, US.
Police suspect she has fraudulently collected 145,000 dollars in pension benefits since her mother died in 2007. (PA)
Bird trapper
A Swedish man who admitted to trapping about 14,000 birds has been charged with animal cruelty and faces jail.
The man, identified only as a 39-year-old living in Hudiksvall in central Sweden, had over five years caught and released thousands of birds but also kept some in cages, said the head of Sweden’s ornithological association.
When officials arrived at his house, they found about 500 birds dead and alive, Swedish public radio (SR) reported.
“It was a shock every time we opened a door. It smelled like ammonia, a lot of faeces and feed together with dead birds that were rotting,” a county predator control specialist said.
The man has been charged with aggravated hunting violations and aggravated crimes against protected species and animal cruelty, which could land him between two and three years in jail. (AFP)