Etc...

Ahh, I don't care anymore

The year was 1979, and a hair stylist from Düsseldorf, Germany, decided to take spend his vacation in Africa. So he packed a suitcase and off he went. But when he returned, it was minus the luggage, which he reported missing. Now fast-forward to last week, and he learns from the local police that after all this time his suitcase has been found, and the clothes inside are still in good condition. Was he pleased? Not really, because the threads from the disco era are waaay out of fashion. But the police said his wife insisted he reclaim the case so she could see "what was in there."

Far more interested in the return of his case - and especially its contents - is a businessman from Bochum, Germany. He put it on the roof of his car one day last week to answer a phone call, then forgot what he'd done and drove off. Yes, the case fell to the road and opened, sending $100,000 cash blowing in the wind. At last report, only a third of it had been recovered.

Chechnya, where the Kremlin is battling what it terms an Islamic terrorist insurgency, led the world in deaths from exploding land mines last year, with casualties more than doubling from 2001, according to a report by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Worldwide, the Nobel Peace Prize-winning group said use of the devices has fallen dramatically, while spending on mine clearance is up - notably in Afghanistan (although it still placed second on the list). The 10 countries or regions with the highest number of land-mine deaths in 2002 and the statistics for each:

1. Chechnya 5,695
2. Afghanistan 1,286
3. Cambodia 834
4. Colombia 530
5. India 523
6. Iraq 457
7. Angola 287
8. Chad 200
9. Nepal 177
10. Vietnam 166 - Associated Press