HANOI, Vietnam – Thousands of Vietnamese fishermen are giving a royal send-off to a 15-ton dead whale, gathering at a southern Vietnamese village to pay homage at a funeral for the creature they call “Your Excellency.”

Nearly 10,000 people have converged in Bac Lieu province to bid farewell to the 52 foot whale since he was dragged ashore Monday, said coast guard official Do Tien Ha.

They burned incense in his honor and planned to build a temple at the site of his burial, which was scheduled for Tuesday. Nearly 3,000 people will attend the whale’s last rites, to be held at the mouth of the Cai Cung River.

Source: AP News

A grief-stricken widow from central Quang Nam province slept on his wife’s grave for over a year before deciding that they would both be better off indoors and in the bed they shared when they were married.

But before that he dug a tunnel into her grave in order to avoid the rain and cold while he embarked on his nightly ritual of “sleeping with her”.

Neighbors and local authorities discovered what he was doing and persuaded him to discontinue the habit.

But within a year he was back at it again. This time he exhumed his wife’s body, covered it in plaster and clay and moved her back to his bedroom, where she has stayed for the past five years.

Le Van, 55, who lives at home with his three children and his wife’s corpse was described by one neighbor as “a normal and well-behaved man,” dressed the body in clothes and kept it in his bed since 2004.

Van told Lao Dong newspaper that for the first two after he brought his wife back home, his neighbors refused to visit him. But since then, most have grown more accustomed to the idea and are no longer afraid to pay the odd courtesy call.

His youngest son, a sixth-grader, usually hugs the corpse of his mother before retiring for the night.

“My wife’s body only passed away but her spirit still accompanies us,” Van said. “I have no fear when it comes to sleeping with her at all.”

But unfortunately for Van, a law passed last year states that all bodies must be either cremated or buried to be in compliance with sanitation laws.

The decree also bans burials in residential gardens unless an individual case is approved by the People’s Committee at the provincial level.

Authorities in Ha Lam Town said an inspection into the bizarre case will get underway soon.

Source

HONG KONG – A Vietnamese labourer Friday began a three-month jail sentence for pricking two women on the bottom in Hong Kong, claiming he did so because he could not resist their “big buttocks”.

Pham Van Diep, 43, used a toothpick and a piece of wire to prick the buttocks of two women, aged 20 and 38, on two separate occasions in September and October.

The attacks triggered fears of random syringe attacks similar to the mass incidents reported in Xinjiang, western China, in September.

Pham appeared in court Thursday for sentencing after earlier pleading guilty to two counts of assault.

The court was told he was arrested at his home shortly after the second incident Oct 5.

At the time, he told police he had pricked the women’s buttocks because he was drunk and could not resist them “as they were big”, said a report in the Hong Kong Standard newspaper.

But psychological reports presented to the court said Pham did not have a “big buttock” fetish and he had changed his story saying he had attacked the first victim because she was blocking his way.

In sentencing, magistrate Kwok Wai-kin said Pham could not use drunkenness as an excuse as he appeared to know what he was doing and had run away after the attack and hid the weapon.

Manny Pacquiao won the fight in the 12th round when the referee stopped the beating.

Manny Pacquiao knocked Miguel Cotto down twice in the first four rounds. Cotto didn’t go down again, but Pacquiao controlled the night Saturday to earn a TKO in the 12th

From the Associated Press:

Manny Pacquiao put on yet another dominating performance Saturday night, knocking down Miguel Cotto twice and turning his face into a bloody mess before finally stopping him 55 seconds into the 12th round.

Pacquiao used his blazing speed and power from both hands to win his seventh title in seven weight classes and cement his stature as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Cotto took such a beating that his face was a river of red from the fury of Pacquiao’s punches.

Pacquiao dropped Cotto with a right hand early in the third round, but he wasn’t badly hurt and came back to finish the round strong. But after Pacquiao put Cotto on the canvas with a big left hand as Cotto was advancing forward late in the fourth round, Cotto was never the same again.

Cotto fought gamely but in the later rounds he was just trying to survive as blood flowed down his face and Pacquiao kept coming after him relentlessly.

About Manny

Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao (pronounced /ˈpækjaʊ/, /pa’kjaw/ in Cebuano and Tagalog; born December 17, 1978), more commonly known as Manny Pacquiao, is a Filipino professional boxer. He is the former WBC lightweight world champion, WBC super featherweight world champion, IBF super bantamweight world champion, and WBC flyweight world champion.

He is currently the IBO and Ring Magazine light welterweight champion, and is rated by Ring Magazine as the #1 pound-for-pound boxer in the world. He has also held the Ring Magazine titles for featherweight and super featherweight divisions.

For his achievements, Pacquiao became the first Filipino and Asian boxer to win five world titles in five different weight divisions. In addition, he is the first boxer to win the lineal championship in four different weight classes.[3] Aside from being a boxer, Pacquiao has participated in politics, acting, filmmaking, and music recording.

Source: Wikipedia