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WEEKLY UPDATE
Internet pirates cause loss of millions of dollars
ATHENS: Athens police have said that they had arrested a Greek citizen who pirated and sold a computer software program, costing the multinational company that owned its copyright hundreds of million of dollars (euros).
A statement from police said he had been selling the program, over the Internet since 2002, charging buyers 900 dollars .
“The copyright of the program belongs to a multinational software development company. which as a result of the illegal distribution (of its software) has suffered a financial loss of around 360 million dollars,” it said.
The statement said British police had detained an accomplice in London.—AFP
Comic book launched
BANGKOK: A heart-warming comic book about a stray dog on the streets of Bangkok who won the heart of Thailand’s much-loved King Bhumibol Adulyadej hit the kingdom’s bookstores, said the publisher.
The king himself penned the original story of “Tongdaeng”, or “Copper” who was sent to the royal palace as a tiny puppy after the monarch took an interest in the treatment of street dogs in the Bangkok suburb of Wang Tonglarng.
In a country where the king enjoys a level of love and respect that his counterparts elsewhere can only dream about, Tongdaeng’s story has been widely interpreted not just a feel-good tale, but also as a a homily to Thais on how they should behave.
The story lauds Tong-daeng’s qualities of loyalty and humility, recounting how she behaves respectfully in front of the king and still shows gratitude to the older dog who adopted her when she arrived at the palace.
The first 100,000 “story of Tongdaeng” comic books went on sale nationwide on Friday last with a second run of 100,000 editions still on the printing press, said the publisher.—AFP
Wild elephants posing big challenge
GAUHATI: Scores of wild elephant herds have been wreaking havoc across Assam state, killing people, flattening houses, feasting on standing crops and guzzling up local rice beer, Pradyut Bordoloi, Assam state’s forest minister, said Saturday.
Bordoloi told The Associated Press that it has become common for wildlife officials to use firecrackers or bonfires to scare away large herds of elephants.
Wildlife authorities say wild elephants have killed at least 22 people so far this year in the state. A rapidly shrinking habitat is the main reason for elephants killing more than 600 people in the past 15 years.—APP
Flight in plane’s landing gear
BEIJING: A homeless teenager who hid in the landing gear of a passenger plane survived a 700-kilometre flight across southwestern China but his companion fell and probably died, state media reported.
The 14-year-old boy, who flew from Yunnan province’s capital city Kunming to Chongqing in the hour-long flight, was found by airport porters after the plane landed, Beijing Youth Daily reported.—AFP
Lightning kills six miners
LIMA, Peru: A lightning bolt struck a coal mining camp in central Peru and detonated a supply of explosives, killing six miners, authorities said on Friday.
“They were thrown several metres from the camp,” local official Elmer Melgarejo said from the Andean region of Huaylas, 500 km north of Lima. Eight other miners were badly injured in the accident, Melgarejo said. The camp was filled with explosives and other flammable materials used for light in the mine.—Reuters
Five days in the jungle
KUALA LUMPUR: Three Malaysian children survived five days lost in the jungle by consuming water and wild fruits, a report said.
More than 100 rescue workers were involved in the search in central Pahang state for six-year-old Saharuddin Saleh-uddin, his five-year-old brother Budin and three-year-old sister Mariam.
The three were found six kilometres from their house, weak and covered with bruises and insect bites, it said. They were sent to hospital for medical treatment.
“We just drank water from the puddles (on the jungle floor). We found some wild fruits in the jungle,” Saharuddin was quoted as saying.—APP
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