Man arrested after meth offer texted to officer

(it’s a helluva drug)

LEWISTON, Idaho — An Idaho man apparently trying to get the most bang for his drug-purchasing buck accidentally texted a narcotics detective while he searched for people to join him in a methamphetamine buy.

Police in Lewiston arrested 37-year-old Aaron D. Templeton Wednesday on suspicion of conspiracy to deliver methamphetamine.

Court records say one of the police detectives received a text Wednesday morning asking if he knew anyone looking for drugs. After determining it wasn't his co-workers playing a joke, the detective arranged to meet the man to deliver $150 that would be pooled with money from other buyers to enable a bulk purchase of meth.

Templeton was arrested when he arrived at the designated meeting place.

Police say it all started with a wrong number.

RI neighbors: Cussing cockatoo violates noise law

( really what else could you expect the thing has “cock” right in the name)

WARWICK, R.I. — A Rhode Island woman has been accused by her neighbors of violating an animal-noise ordinance by training her cockatoo to cuss.

The Providence Journal reports that Lynne Taylor is accused in Warwick municipal court of training the bird, Willy, to say expletives.

The bird allegedly aimed the invectives at the neighbors, who happen to be Taylor's ex-husband and his girlfriend.

A municipal judge on Thursday denied Taylor's request to dismiss the case.

The neighbors, Kathleen Melker and Craig Fontaine, say they have been subjected to repeated curses from the bird, at one point for 15 minutes at a time.

The animal noise ordinance imposes a small fine on any pet owner whose animal creates habitual noise.

A judge has issued restraining orders telling both women to have no contact.

French tycoon's threat shakes Socialist tax plan

(unsurprising, what with out of country investments, secret Swiss accounts and the plethora of legal loopholes available to the rich and powerful it’s astonishing Mr. Arnault pays any taxes at all. Can anybody really be surprised that he’s dodging the bullet here by fleeing to Belgium? Taxes are for peasants )

By THOMAS ADAMSON, APPARIS — Bernard Arnault — the richest man in Europe — has ignited an uproar in France over taxes, citizenship, patriotism and what policies the government needs to promote growth.

It's a pretty impressive achievement for one little statement.

Arnault — the CEO of French fashion giant LVMH, owner of houses like Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior — is the symbol of France's treasured luxury fashion industry.

So when the face of "Made in France" confirmed Sunday that he had applied for dual citizenship in Belgium it struck deep chord in France's national pride.

Despite his protests, many thought it was an attempt to dodge the new Socialist government's planned 75 percent tax on the country's wealthiest.

One French paper's front-page headline called him a "rich jerk" on Monday and French President Francois Hollande questioned Arnault's patriotism.

But beyond the name-calling, the debacle highlighted a very French contradiction: A country that prides itself on producing exorbitantly-priced luxury fashion has tax policies that target the very people rich enough to buy French goods.

Arnault is the world's fourth-richest man, whose personal fortune Forbes magazine estimates at $41 billion.

His application to Belgium comes as Hollande prepares to implement a 75 percent tax on those that earn more than (EURO)1 million ($1.28 million) a year — although it was hinted the plan could be watered down.

"If I was in his shoes I might also think that I don't have a choice and would leave," said 34-year-old Jean-Baptiste Lete, a Paris resident walking in the city Monday.

It wouldn't be the first time that Arnault dodged a Socialist named Francois. He emigrated to the U.S. in 1981 when President Francois Mitterrand swept to power — and returned when the country's tax policies became more conservative.

As a Belgian, Arnault would pay a maximum of 50 percent on his income. More appealingly, he could take advantage of the cherished tax-free status that Belgians hold in Monaco - provided he renounced his French nationality. French nationals living in Monaco are taxed in France.

Arnault vociferously denied that his decision had anything to do with tax evasion and said he will continue paying French taxes, but his comments convinced few.

"I can't believe it," businessman Bernard Tapie was quoted as saying in the Le Parisien paper. "When you're the citizen of a country, you need to know how to enjoy the good part but also accept the downsides. Symbolically, this is a catastrophe."

The move was being called a public relations disaster that highlights the French economy's lack of competitiveness. The French are still reeling over British Prime Minister David Cameron's vow to "roll out the red carpet" for French firms if Hollande followed through on his plan to raise taxes for the wealthy.

Francois Fillon, France's former Conservative prime minister, directly blamed the Socialist government's tax policy.

"This will spread like wildfire. And all over the planet they'll say that France is the country that doesn't like success," he said.

Others placed the blame firmly on Arnault himself. The Liberation newspaper Monday featured a photo of a smug-looking and immaculately suited Arnault holding a suitcase alongside the headline: "Get lost, rich jerk."

On Monday, LVMH issued a statement saying that Arnault will sue the newspaper for "public insult."

Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici was worried about France's global image.

"He is at the helm of luxury houses whose brands are French symbols," the minister told BFM TV. "He didn't realize how it would be perceived, it was sort of irresponsible."

Some critics say the Socialists had it coming, reminding all that Hollande once famously said: "I dislike the rich."

On the other side of the border, the news was greeted with open arms.

"Welcome, Mr. Arnault" read Monday's editorial headline in the Belgian daily La Libre — which claims the billionaire has been living in a suburb of Brussels for several months already.

Mystery absence of China leader fuels rumor frenzy

(actually he’s a huge fan of Where’s Waldo and couldn’t resist trying his hand against the world class hide and go seek master. So kids go to your googlemaps and let’s play where’s Xi Jinping?  )

By CHRISTOPHER BODEEN, APBEIJING — Where is president-in-waiting Xi Jinping?

Is he nursing a bad back after pulling a muscle in a pick-up soccer game (or maybe in the swimming pool)? Has he been convalescing after narrowly escaping a revenge killing by supporters of ousted local Communist Party boss Bo Xilai? Was he in a car accident? Or is he just really busy getting ready to lead the world's No. 2 economy ahead of an expected leadership transition next month?

Chinese micro-bloggers and overseas websites have come up with all kinds of speculation as to why the current vice president has gone unseen for more than a week. During that span, Xi canceled meetings with visiting foreign dignitaries including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. On Monday, it was the Danish prime minister's turn.

Xi's whereabouts during this sudden absence from the spotlight may never be known. One thing, however, is certain: China may now be a linchpin of the global economy and a force in international diplomacy, but the lives of its leaders remain an utter mystery to its 1.3 billion people, its politics an unfathomable black hole.

So when the presumptive head of that opaque leadership disappears from public view, rumor mills naturally go into a frenzy.

"There is a longstanding practice of not reporting on illnesses or troubles within the elites," said Scott Kennedy, director of Indiana University's Research Center for Chinese Politics and Business in Beijing. "The sense is that giving out such information would only fuel further speculation."

Adding grist to the mill, a scheduled photo session with visiting Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt, which the media were asked to cover, was taken off the program. Thorning-Schmidt is also due to meet with Vice Premier Wang Qishan on Monday and Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday.

The Foreign Ministry claimed the Xi-Thorning-Schmidt meeting was never intended to take place.

"As I said last week, China's state councilors will meet the Danish prime minister," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said. When asked about the rumors of an injury, Hong said "we have told everybody everything," and refused to elaborate.

Most online speculation about the portly 59-year-old Xi has centered on a back problem, possibly incurred when he took a dip last week in the swimming pool inside the Zhongnanhai leadership compound. Another rumor has the back being hurt in a soccer game. It wasn't clear what the sources of the information were.

More dramatically, the U.S.-based website Boxun.com cited an unidentified source inside Zhongnanhai as saying Xi was injured in a staged traffic accident that was part of a revenge plot by Bo's supporters in the security forces. Another member of the all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee, He Guoqiang, was also injured in a similar incident, said the site, which acts as a clearinghouse for rumors and unsubstantiated reports. It has correctly predicted some recent political developments and been wildly off the mark on others.

As if to demonstrate the range and randomness of the speculation, Boxun later replaced the report with another saying Xi was merely preoccupied with preparations to take over as head of the ruling party.

This year, China has seen an unusual amount of political intrigue, with the spectacular downfall of Politburo member Bo exposing divisions within the leadership and prompting rumors of nefarious activity ranging from the wiretapping of top leaders to an attempted coup.

The sudden transfer of a key secretary to President Hu Jintao earlier this month also spawned conjecture about a Ferrari crash involving the aide's son and an ensuing attempted cover-up.

Rumors about Xi were churned further by Russian President Vladimir Putin's cryptic remark over the weekend that the start of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum leaders' meeting in Vladivostok had been delayed because Hu needed to attend to an important but unspecified domestic issue.

The tension and uncertainty are heightened by the timing ahead of a generational shift to a new leadership that is to be headed by Xi. Still, in keeping with the China government's proclivity for secrecy, the logistics of the transition remain unknown.

Xi is expected to first assume Hu's mantle as Communist leader at a party congress held once every five years. Yet the dates for the meeting, expected in the second half of October, have yet to be announced, prompting talk that at least some of the seats on the nine-member Standing Committee remain up for grabs.

Recent economic and diplomatic challenges have also added to the sense of insecurity.

While China avoided the worst of the global economic slowdown, export growth and domestic demand have both fallen sharply in recent months, prompting forecasters to slash their estimates for economic growth needed to create jobs and fill government coffers.

Meanwhile, Beijing has been deeply unnerved by Washington's new emphasis on military and political ties to China's neighbors in the western Pacific and finds itself enmeshed again in a nagging dispute with Japan over uninhabited islands in the East China Sea.

Wang Xiangwei, editor-in-chief of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post and a longtime state media insider, wrote Monday in his newspaper that Chinese leaders' meetings are planned well in advance and cancelations are extremely rare.

"Baring Xi himself offering a very unlikely explanation today about his canceled meetings last week, the outside world may never know the exact reason, and the rumors are unlikely to fade away," Wang wrote.

Though absent in person, Xi did pop up Monday on the front page of the party academy's official newspaper Study Times alongside a transcript of the speech he delivered nine days earlier.

In the text, he enjoins newly enrolled cadres to use their time on the leafy campus in the northern Beijing suburbs to think critically about major national issues and not spend it "expanding personal contacts and inviting guests to dinner."

16 bodies found in truck in southern Mexico

(only 16? Not bad for Mexico City.)

MEXICO CITY — Officials in southern Mexico say they have discovered 16 bodies left in a truck in a region plagued by drug violence.

The Guerrero state Attorney General's Office says the bodies were found in Coyuca de Catalan. That city is close to the border with Michoacan state and is about 170 miles (280 kilometers) southwest of Mexico City.

The region is a battleground between drug gangs including La Familia Michoacana and the breakaway Knights Templar.

Officials have not yet identified the victims or described a motive for the slayings.

Finns open 'pop-down' restaurant in limestone mine

(oh those wacky Finns)

By MATTI HUUHTANEN, APLOHJA, Finland — An award-winning chef has opened a new restaurant in Finland that turns the idea of "pop-up" eateries upside down: it's located 80 meters (260 feet) underground.

Discerning food lovers are being served salted salmon, veal tenderloin, snails cooked in Pernod and apple crumble in the "pop-down" restaurant in a limestone mine in the small, southern town of Lohja (LOU-ya), 60 kilometers (40 miles) west of Helsinki.

A four-course evening meal costs (EURO)128 ($160), including drinks and transportation from Helsinki to the mine and back.

In major cities around the world "pop-up" restaurants — temporary eateries often located in underused kitchens — are allowing young chefs with experience to experiment without risk of bankruptcy.

But Finnish chef Timo Linnamaki said the idea of preparing food down a mine was all part of being close to the earth.

"`Pop-down' is such a unique idea that I just had to do it," Linnamaki said Monday, a few hours before the first guests arrived. "It's great working down here because you are totally cut off from the world, so nothing distracts from the cooking."

Eerie blue lights cut deep shadows into the ceiling of the large, dim, underground cavern, a former smithy where drills were hammered to dig into the bowels of the Earth.

Olli-Pekka Jantti, a computer retailer from Helsinki, said his meal there was superb.

"The food was absolutely delicious," Jantti said, after supping on starters of vendace _a small local fresh-water fish — snails and berries.

"What I liked was that the theme of the evening was the earth, and being so deep down you really felt you were somewhere very different, very strange."

The 115-year-old mine goes down to a depth of 380 meters (1,250 feet) where limestone is still mined, mainly for the chemical industry.

Linnamaki, whose restaurant Muru — "crumb" in Finnish — won this year's gourmet title in Finland only two years after it opened, says the experience of working down in the gloomy depths has inspired him to search for new challenges.

"Certainly it's the weirdest place I have cooked," he said. "It could be difficult to find something on par."

The 64-seat restaurant, with long, shiny wooden tables lit by candles, is expecting brisk business. Linnamaki said it is fully booked until the experiment ends on Sept. 29.

"We'll be underground Monday to Saturday. On Sundays, we pop up to sleep," he said.

Japan to buy disputed islands, angering China

(so Japan’s plan is to pay itself for these islands money perhaps better spent trying to pay off China. None the less gotta respect the pure cajones here. “see it’s ours we bought it legit!” I think in the interest of compromise they should give these disputed islands to Korea. Then everybody wins.)

By ERIC TALMADGE, APTOKYO — Japan's government said Monday it has decided to purchase several disputed islands, prompting China to angrily warn of "serious consequences" if it proceeds with the plan.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said Japan will buy the three uninhabited islands in the East China Sea from a private Japanese family it recognizes as the owner. China and Taiwan also claim the islands, which are part of what Japan calls the Senkakus and China the Diaoyu group.

Fujimura said the decision to nationalize the islands reflects Japan's desire to create a "stable and secure" environment, not to anger China.

"We hope there will be no misunderstandings," he said.

China's Foreign Ministry responded swiftly, saying Beijing would not "sit back and watch its territorial sovereignty violated."

"China strongly urges Japan to immediately stop all action to undermine China's territorial sovereignty and return to a negotiated settlement to the dispute. If Japan insists on going its own way, it will bear all the serious consequences that follow," the ministry said in a statement.

It did not specify the possible consequences.

State-run China Central Television reported that Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi summoned the Japanese ambassador to protest the plan.

Fujimura said the decision to buy the islands was made at a meeting of Cabinet ministers who are involved in the purchase plans. The full Cabinet, led Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, is expected to approve the decision on Tuesday.

Supporters think having the government own the islands will strengthen Japan's claim and control over them and send a tougher message to China.

Under the nationalization plan, the islands are to be left as they are now. China does not recognize the Japanese family's deed to the islands as legitimate.

In April, the outspoken nationalist governor of Tokyo announced that he was hoping that his city would buy the islands and push for their development, a move that would have inflamed relations with China even more.

The dispute has long been a flashpoint in Japan-China relations, and has been heating up in recent months.

Earlier this month, the city of Tokyo sent a team of experts to waters around the islands to survey fishing grounds and possible sites for development, a move that was strongly criticized by China. Activists from Japan and Hong Kong briefly set foot on the islands last month, and hundreds of Chinese have held street protests in various cities in recent weeks.

The dispute over the islands boiled over into a major diplomatic tiff between the two neighbors after a Sept. 7, 2010, incident in which a Chinese fishing boat collided with Japanese coast guard ships near the islands. The fishing boat captain was arrested and later released.

___

Associated Press writer Louise Watt in Beijing contributed to this report.

India police fire at nuclear protesters, killing 1

(this is terrible on so many levels, people dying and protesting Nuclear power. When will people give Nukes the fair shake they deserve?  Sure it’s a Russian reactor so I can see why they might be a bit apprehensive, but nukes provide clean and efficient power which clearly India needs if one harkens back to the huge blackouts they had recently. Nuclear power is not some evil bogeyman waiting to leap out and mutate you into a sludge monster, it is the cleanest, safest most regulated power source in the world. That aside it is always tragic when reasonable discourse breaks down into violence and I sincerely hope that free speach will win the day.)

CHENNAI, India — State officials say Indian police have fired at protesters near a nuclear power plant being constructed in southern India, killing one person.

The Tamil Nadu state government says police fired Monday to disperse about 2,000 people who were demonstrating against the loading of nuclear fuel in the Russian-built reactor. It says the protesters threw stones and sticks at police near the Kudankulam Atomic Power Project, and five officers were injured.

Construction of the plant has been delayed by protests in the past year by residents and anti-nuclear groups concerned about safety following the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster in Japan last year.

The government says the plant, about 700 kilometers (440 miles) south of Chennai, the state capital, will meet safety standards.

Islamists conduct amputations in Mali

(ah the religion of peace dealing with legal problems in a calm and rational manner. Oops sorry that was a misprint, I meant HOLY SHIT!!!! What is this the Dark Ages? Maiming people to enforce “law” without benefit of trail? Due process? Has no one there ever heard of cruel and unusual punishment? Or rather heard of it and not said “wow! That’s brilliant! I wonder what other sadistic tortures I can find in this book!” religious law should never supplant secular law. The whole idea of Shariah law is ludicrous! And flies in the face of sensible jurisprudence.)

By BABA AHMED and RUKMINI CALLIMACHI, APBAMAKO, Mali — Islamic police said they used a stage in a public square to amputate the right hand and left foot of five accused thieves in a city of Mali on Monday, in the latest application of Sharia law in the country's north.

That region of Mali, an area the size of Texas or France, was overrun by rebels allied with al-Qaida five months ago.

Despite a loud outcry from the international community and protests from locals, the Islamists have applied an extreme interpretation of Islam, and have stoned to death an adulterous couple, cut off the hand of another thief and publicly whipped people accused of other transgressions.

Monday's amputations occurred in the northern city of Gao, said Aliou Hamahar Toure, its Islamic police commissioner.

He told The Associated Press by telephone that the five victims had held up passenger buses leaving the city, including those belonging to the popular fleet owned by Rimbo Transport. In accordance with Shariah law, they each their right hand and left foot cut off. They were then transferred to the Gao hospital, Toure said.

He claimed the accused thieves did not scream when their limbs were hacked off with a large knife. "They just said, `Allah Akbar! Allah Akbar! (`God is Great') until it was over. Then we took them to the hospital, where they are now receiving intensive care," said Toure.

Ibrahim Toure, a resident of Gao who is not related to the police commissioner, said he was passing by the square just after the amputations and saw children carrying buckets of water to wash away the blood.

"There was blood everywhere," said Toure, who described how the children also were trying to carry bags of sand in order to soak up the liquid.

The amputations took place in a public square in Gao known as Place de l'Independence, or Independence Place. The five victims were brought onto the stage, but unlike at past applications of Shariah law the Islamists had not publicly announced the punishment beforehand, and had blocked people from gathering to see it, said Toure.

Gao has seen some of the most intense protests against Islamic rule in the north of Mali, and the Islamists have been forced to backtrack on some of their proposed punishments.

Youth leader Ahmadou Ould Fneiny said that residents were shocked by Monday's amputations and are trying to decide what to do.

"People are disturbed by this. Yes, we have seen whippings in Gao before. And we have heard of amputations elsewhere. But an amputation here, we have never seen one until now," he said.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

Islamists in the northern Malian city of Gao said they had cut off the hands and feet of five suspected thieves, in the latest application of Shariah in the country's north, a region that was overrun by al-Qaida-linked rebels five months ago.

Aliou Toure, the Islamic police commissioner in Gao, told The Associated Press that the amputations took place Monday morning. He said the five men had held up passenger busses leaving the city. In accordance with Shariah, they each one had their right hand and left foot cut off. They were then transferred to the Gao hospital.

Ibrahim Toure, a resident of Gao, said he was passing by just after they had carried out the amputations, and saw children carrying buckets of water to wash off the blood.

____

Callimachi contributed from Dakar, Senegal.