
Flying duck caught in Swiss speed trap believed to be repeat offender
Police in the town of Köniz, near the capital, Bern, were astounded when they went through radar images snapped on 13 April to discover that a mallard was among those caught in the speed trap, the municipality said on its Facebook page at the weekend.
The duck was caught going 52km/h (32mph) in a 30-km/h zone, the post said.
The story, first reported by the Berner Zeitung newspaper on Monday, got even stranger.
It turned out that a similar-looking duck was captured flying in the same spot at exactly the same speed, on exactly the same date seven years earlier, the Facebook post said.
The municipality said it had considered whether the whole thing might not be a belated April Fool's joke or a 'fake' picture.
But the police inspectorate said it was impossible to doctor images or manipulate the radar system.
The computers are calibrated and tested each year by Switzerland's federal institute of metrology, and the photos taken are sealed, the municipality said.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Times
2 minutes ago
- Times
Not cool, man! French surfers face wave of ‘bourgeois' tourists
Surfing used to draw fans of the counterculture in search of a laid-back lifestyle marked by sun, sea and freedom. Now the best spots in France are attracting a new generation of 'bourgeois' surfers who would rather spend the night in luxury lodgings than in a cramped Volkswagen camper van. The trend is contributing to a surfing boom along the Atlantic coast, where tourism officials note a rise in house prices and hotel bookings, as well ass a boost for local economies. However, the influx of novice surfers from across Europe, including the UK, is also generating tension, insults, court cases and, in some instances, violence on the waves. Maya Sauer, a surfer from Munich, was participating in the German university championship at Seignosse, south of Bordeaux, in June when she was pushed off her board by a local, who was infuriated that she was riding what he considered to be his wave. In a social media post Sauer said the man was part of a 'big group of freesurfers [who] yelled at us, insulted us and got physically aggressive. 'I totally understand that it's frustrating when your home spot feels more crowded every year. But there's a line. And violence, especially against women, should never, ever be part of surfing.' Sud Ouest, the regional daily, said conflicts between locals and outsiders were becoming more frequent. 'Sometimes, it becomes a battle,' Olivier Tinot, an experienced surfer in Hossegor, a popular destination on the Atlantic, told the newspaper. Vadim Kamenka, another surfer, said: 'Even away from the shore there are several of us on the same wave sometimes, and that can provoke accidents.' He added that novices 'pinch the wave you have been waiting for for 20 minutes, they bang into you — and sometimes that can cause injuries.' Emergency services were called to deal with 363 surfing accidents in the southwest last year compared with 143 in 2010, according to the government. Le Monde said there was also mounting anger over the growth of surf camps organised by British, German, Dutch and Belgian tour operators. French instructors complain that they faced unfair competition from counterparts with less stringent qualifications running such camps. Officials said the participants made a row, too. 'These are big groups that occupy campsites and generate noise pollution,' said Aline Marchand, the mayor of Moliets-et-Maa, an Atlantic resort and a popular surf spot. 'They come with their instructors, their teams do not speak French [and] are not aware of health and safety rules.' France is home to something like 680,000 surfers — and the number is rising. Surf schools awarded 65,000 certificates to students last year, a 20 per cent increase on 2014. The number of instructors has increased by 31 per cent since 2021. Le Monde said the new generation of surfers had arrived after the pandemic and had transformed the sector. Many were upper-middle class families who turned up at the beaches in BMWs and Teslas. Officials said the newcomers tended to view surfing as the summer equivalent of a ski holiday. Christophe Guibert, a sociologist and tourism specialist at the University of Angers, told the newspaper: 'Twenty years ago, councils saw surfers as hippies on the margins of society. Today, tourist professionals love these rather bourgeois customers who come for a week, rent houses, pay for lessons and buy materiel.' It is not only families who head for the surf. The beaches also attract young Parisian professionals, who go for short stays while in theory working from home, according to officials. The surfing industry generates annual revenues of €2.1 billion according to the French Surfing Federation, and the boom is having widespread repercussions. In Hossegor, house prices have risen by 50 per cent in five years, while in the Landes département, home to a series of surf spots, hotel bookings are up by 20 per cent compared with a decade ago. Across the region, downmarket hostels once popular with 'cool' 20th-century surfers are being turned into hotels charging hundreds of euros a night for their 21st-century successors. Ludovic Falaix, a geography lecturer at Clermont Auvergne University, said surfing was contributing to the 'gentrification' of the coast. But he added that there was also conflict. In a study last year, he denounced the 'struggle of the beaches' as instructors vied for custom and fought for the best locations, not helped by local mayors adopting opaque procedures for authorising schools, with rich ones getting the right to operate in busy areas and their smaller counterparts banished to 'wild and unregulated beaches'.


The Independent
5 minutes ago
- The Independent
Man arrested in terrifying dawn raid after sharing Facebook posts backing Palestine Action
A man who shared posts on his Facebook page backing Palestine Action has told how he was hauled from his bed by police and arrested on suspicion of breaking terror laws in a terrifying dawn raid. Mat Cobb, 52, a part-time cleaner, is now facing potentially life-changing terror charges as he became the latest member of the public to fall foul of the controversial decision to ban the direct-action group. He told The Independent the arrest at his home in Hinckley, Leicestershire, has 'totally blown my mind' after he was handcuffed and hauled to a police station on Wednesday morning. Mr Cobb, who has 2,200 followers on his Facebook page, said he has never attended a demonstration or been a member of Palestine Action – now a proscribed terrorist organisation. His arrest comes after more than 500 peaceful protesters were arrested at a demonstration in Parliament Square earlier this month for holding placards supporting the group. Shami Chakrabarti, a former shadow attorney general and civil liberties campaigner, said Mr Cobb's arrest jeopardises public trust in policing and demonstrates the danger of the ongoing ban, which is being challenged in the High Court. It means showing support for the group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The Labour peer added: 'Dawn bedroom raids [like this] highlight the dangers of the ongoing proscription of Palestinian Action. 'Public trust and policing by consent are in jeopardy while we wait for higher courts to rule on the legality of the ban. 'Whatever advice informed the original proscription, the Home Secretary would be wise urgently to review it in the light of subsequent events.' She previously warned the ban risked becoming a 'mistake of poll tax proportions' – a reference to Margaret Thatcher's unpopular policy that triggered civil disobedience and riots. Mr Cobb said two police officers had attended his address a week earlier, but he was away on holiday. They told his housemate there was nothing to worry about. He was still in bed when they returned at 7am on Wednesday. When his housemate answered the door, they barged inside and burst into his bedroom, where he was arrested and handcuffed. Officers also seized his mobile phone. 'I heard my housemate answer the door then some shouting, then running up the stairs and my housemate shouting 'I'm sorry Mat', then they came in my room and told me I was under arrest and to put my hands where they can see them,' he said. 'Then they put me in handcuffs.' He was taken to a police station in Leicester where he was put in a holding cell before he was searched, photographed, swabbed for DNA and had his fingerprints taken. In police interview he was shown a series of Facebook posts by officers, who said he was under investigation for supporting a proscribed terrorist organisation. He was released under investigation at around 1pm, after almost six hours in custody. Mr Cobb described the decision to ban the group a 'terrifying development' which he hopes will be overturned when leader Huda Ammori brings a judicial review this Autumn. 'This is a matter of human rights – not just the right to free speech but the rights of Palestinians as they are being murdered,' he said. 'For the government to respond to this protest by banning the group that's protesting is a terrifying development.' He told The Independent: 'If they are going to proscribe non-violent people for protesting against mass murder – they are tyrants.' Ms Cooper has continued to defend proscribing the direct-action group, repeating claims that an assessment found evidence of 'ideas for further attacks' which cannot be reported due to ongoing legal proceedings. 'Many people may not yet know the reality of this organisation, but the assessments are very clear - this is not a non-violent organisation,' she said. 'UK national security and public safety must always be our top priority.' A Leicestershire Police spokesperson said: 'On Wednesday 20 August, police in Leicestershire made a pre-planned arrest in Hinckley as part on an ongoing investigation. 'Officers attended an address in Canning Street and a 51-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of support for a proscribed organisation, under section 12 (1A) of the Terrorism Act 2000. 'He has been released under investigation while police continue to carry out enquiries.'


The Independent
32 minutes ago
- The Independent
Man charged with murder after ice cream seller stabbed to death
A man has been charged with murder after an ice cream seller was stabbed to death in north-west London. Shazad Khan, 41, was pronounced dead at the scene after officers responded to reports of an altercation in Monks Park in Wembley at 6.10pm on Tuesday. Zaher Zaarour, 26, of Brent in north-west London, has been charged with murder and possession of a bladed article, the Metropolitan Police announced on Thursday. He is due to appear at Willesden Magistrates' Court on Friday. A 31-year-old woman was arrested at the scene on suspicion of conspiracy to murder – but has been bailed pending further inquiries, the force said. Detective Chief Inspector Paul Waller said: 'I would like to thank the community for their help and support during this investigation. 'Residents can expect to see an increase of officers in the local area over the next coming days as the investigation continues.' Local residents told the PA news agency that Mr Khan was well known in the area for selling ice creams in a van. Asim Mahmood Butt, 39, who lives in nearby Tokyngton Avenue, said he was childhood friends with the victim. Speaking at the scene on Wednesday, he said: 'I got a call from one of my cousins. 'This guy, we know him – he's a famous ice cream guy. He got stabbed yesterday. 'I came here and his body was still here, and police had cordoned off the area. 'I know his brothers as well – they're all local. We all used to play cricket and football here in Monks Park. 'He started (selling) ice cream about a year ago.' Mr Butt said Mr Khan was married and had a young daughter. The ice cream van, which had been parked on the road at the time of the incident, was well known locally for having a large teddy bear, the witness added.