Illegal nun

Photo: AP

A 58-year-old Romanian citizen managed to work in Israel for more than a year without permission from local authorities or a residence permit. She took advantage of the fact that in Jerusalem there are several monasteries of Christian denominations, and the appearance of a woman in monastic robes is an ordinary occurrence on the streets of the city. In order not to attract the attention of the police, the woman appeared in public places during the day only in the guise of a nun. Having lived for 18 months in the Israeli capital, where, due to the high level of terrorist threat, the police regularly conduct thorough document checks, she was finally caught: the police officer on duty was surprised to discover that the lady had entered a residential building in a monastic robe, and in the evening she came out him in ordinary civilian dress. Currently, Israeli immigration authorities are conducting an investigation, trying to find out how the clever lady got into the country and what exactly she did after living illegally for a year and a half.

Food from NATO
The spouses of NATO diplomats in Brussels have published a cookbook. A collection of culinary recipes from national cuisines of different countries, published by the wives of ambassadors of 26 member countries of the alliance, is called “Top Secret Cooking Recipes - NATO Cookbook.” The book describes methods for preparing various kinds of culinary delights - from Italian spaghetti with lemon to Polish herring in sour cream. The cookery intends to use proceeds from the sale of the publication for charitable purposes.

Arrest for acting
When three armed masked men burst into a bank in the Serbian city of Novi Sad, one of the passers-by immediately called the police. About thirty armed police arrived at the scene. A cordon was formed around the bank, and the robbers were asked to surrender and leave the building with their hands up. The trio immediately complied with the police request. Coming out of the bank, the raiders showed the police pistols loaded with blank cartridges, and at the same time their official IDs: they all turned out to be actors of the National Serbian Theater in Novi Sad. While the police were handcuffing the artists, one of the bank managers came out of the building and explained that, by agreement with the credit institution, local television was filming a feature film in which there was a scene of the raid. With difficulty breaking through the cordon, the director, cameraman and other members of the film crew confirmed to the head of the operation that this was exactly the case. After removing the handcuffs from the crumpled artists and apologizing, the discouraged law enforcement officers went home.

Special attention chair

Photo: AP

A unique pedagogical experiment in the field of music education for the younger generation is being tested in a primary school in the Austrian city of Taur. Fourth grade students at this school are testing out new chairs designed to swing on. The design of the chairs was developed by music and singing teacher Andreas Prochazka, who believes that the furniture product created according to his design is an ideal tool for a child to concentrate on the subject being studied and feel the musical rhythm. “These are great chairs and they do a great job of keeping my class engaged,” says Mr. Prochaska. The innovative teacher claims that there are now no students falling asleep in his lessons, and regrets that the idea of a rocking chair did not come to his mind earlier. Now he intends to share his experience with other educational institutions in Austria and other European countries.

Magazine "Kommersant Money" No. 38 dated September 27, 2004, page 14

Illegal nun – Money – Kommersant