Thursday, November 21, 2013
ODDLY ENOUGH
Florida won’t repeat public python hunt next year
MIAMI
Florida won’t be repeating a public hunt meant to reduce the population of invasive Burmese pythons in the Everglades.
The state-sponsored Python Challenge attracted roughly 1,600 hunters in January and February and made headlines worldwide. It netted 68 of the snakes, the longest measuring more than 14 feet.
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission spokeswoman said Monday that the hunt met the agency’s primary goal of raising awareness about the python problem, and there will not be another hunt next year.
Instead, the state is beefing up established programs that train licensed hunters and people who regularly work in areas known to contain pythons to kill or report exotic snakes.
Researchers say the snakes, which aren’t native to Florida, are eating wildlife at an alarming rate and don’t have natural predators in the state.
Chinese man with fake US bank claim gets life in prison
BEIJING
A Chinese rice trader who shot to fame last year over a bogus claim that he had purchased a U.S. bank was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison on conviction of falsifying invoices to evade taxes.
An Intermediate Court in the eastern Chinese city of Wenzhou issued the verdict against Lin Chunping, saying he had evaded several millions of dollars in taxes through writing false invoices between September 2011 and May 2012.
Lin shot to fame in early 2012 when state media reported that he had taken over a Delaware-based bank for $60 million, and the unprecedented acquisition brought him praise and a political appointment to a municipal advising body.
Overseas acquisitions are a point of pride in China, showcasing its rising economic power. Lin’s supposed purchase of an American bank was particularly appealing because it signaled both Chinese triumph and U.S. decline.
The story attracted so much attention that Chinese journalists familiar with U.S. banking regulations checked into the legitimacy of Lin’s claims, and the bank turned out to be nonexistent. By June, Lin was arrested on suspicion of the tax fraud.
Associated Press