Tree-choppers have been raising hackles in Israel, an editorial in Haaretz (Jan 12) reveals. The cutting down of Palestinian olive trees by “thugs” from the settlements “is perceived by the public as an absolute evil, without extenuating circumstances”. More than 2,000 trees have been destroyed by settlers, but Haaretz is unconvinced that Palestinians will ever receive compensation.
They may be tiny people, but foetuses don’t count as passengers in car pool lanes, an American judge has ruled. Despite protestations that her unborn child qualified as a passenger in the car, Judge Dennis Freeman fined Candace Dickinson $367 (£209) for driving in the car pool lane, writes the Chicago Sun-Times (Jan 12). Judge Freeman said that an individual is someone who occupies a “separate and distinct” space.
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More problems in the natural world in Georgia, where a dead pigeon sparked panic in the town of Zugdidi. When a pigeon that was sitting on an electricity wire suddenly plummeted to its death, there were fears that it was infected with bird flu, The Moscow Times (Jan 12) reports. After an examination of the bird by veterinarians, local people conceded that it may have been electrocuted.
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In Australia, meanwhile, there are fears that shark studies are so poorly co-ordinated that there is “no way of knowing for certain where they swam or how many there were”, which could put swimmers at risk, says the Sydney Daily Telegraph (Jan 12). There are now calls for a surveillance helicopter that can keep a closer eye on shark movements.
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Tough love in Mayo, Thailand, means that men diagnosed as suffering from mental illness or prolonged drug abuse are chained to the walls of their treatment centre. But locals are not shocked by the “rehabilitation” treatment: “Suffering caused by being chained will make them stay away from drugs,” says the Bangkok Post (Jan 12).