DAVID ADAMS provides a round-up of some stories on the odder side of life…
An inflatable decoy of a military vehicle is displayed during a media presentation in Decin, Czech Republic, on 6th March, 2023. PICTURE: Reuters/Eva Korinkova
• Losing a tank or valued US-made high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) can hurt an army less if the weapon is a cheap inflatable decoy placed on the frontlines to deceive the enemy. With the war in Ukraine boosting the need for heavy military vehicles, guns and planes, it has also been a boon to Inflactech Decoys, a Czech maker of fake army equipment. The company has added HIMARS to its fleet of over 30 types of inflatable real-size decoys it sells to customers worldwide, Chief Executive Vojtech Fresser said this week. Inflatech would not confirm Ukraine is among the destinations, but Fresser said he would expect them to find their way there. “I can imagine that if we want to support a partner country which is in trouble, we will send them Inflatech inflatable decoys and they are already there or certainly will be,” he said. The decoys are made out of synthetic silk and, apart from misleading the adversary visually, have a thermal footprint and appear on radars to fool enemy reconnaissance.They pack into sacks that two to four soldiers can carry, and can be inflated within 10 minutes. The HIMARS inflatable top, without the heat generator and compressor equipment, weighs 43 kilofeams, Fresser told reporters at the company’s factory in the northern Czech city of Decin. The decoys cost from $US10,000 to $US100,000. “If you lead the enemy to destroy my piece of equipment by something that is four, or maybe 20 times more expensive, then you are winning economically,” Fresser said. Inflatech has seen its business boom over the past year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, raising production to dozens of decoys per month, and sees big growth this year – in tens and maybe over 100 per cent, Fresser said. – JAN LOPATKA/Reuters
Donald Tusk, leader of opposition Civic Platform (PO) party, speaks during a rally in support of Poland’s membership in the European Union in Warsaw, Poland, on 10th October, 2021. PICTURE: Reuters/Kacper Pempel/File photo
• Polish voters were given food for thought on Friday, as politicians from the two main parties traded accusations that the other side planned to push meat-loving citizens into eating worms ahead of elections this autumn. Lawmakers from the ruling nationalists Law and Justice (PiS) claim that opposition party Civic Platform (PO) plans to limit the consumption of meat and replace it with insects, an accusation PO rejects. “For the upcoming elections, PO politicians should write on each poster ‘Instead of chicken eat a worm’, because this is their real election programme,” PiS lawmaker Bartosz Kownacki told reporters. State-run broadcaster TVP Info accompanied Kownacki’s press conference with a news ticker reading “The opposition’s proposals for Poles: worms instead of meat”. TVP Info has been regularly criticised by the opposition as being a mouthpiece for government propaganda. The subject of eating worms has featured heavily on TVP Info since the C40 Cities initiative, which recommends measures such as eating less meat and using cars less to combat climate change, said Warsaw would feature in a project to demonstrate “the role of cities in responding to the climate, energy and cost of living crises”. The mayor of Warsaw is leading opposition politician Rafal Trzaskowski. However, PO politicians and city hall officials say this does not mean proposals to force people to lower meat consumption and eat worms are under consideration. PO leader Donald Tusk hit back at the PiS allegations on Friday, labelling the government a “promoter of worm soup”. Tusk was referring to media reports that the National Centre for Research and Development had provided 6.5 million zlotys ($US1.47 million) in funding to a project called “SmartFood” which included the rearing of edible insects. “It is a bit humiliating for everyone that the media and politicians have been wondering for several days whether Mayor Trzaskowski really wants to force Poles to eat worms, not meat,” Tusk told reporters. Poland’s Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy has said that “SmartFood” is not a government programme and is mainly funded by Norway, state-run news agency PAP reported. – ALAN CHARLISH and ANNA WLODARCZAK-SEMCZUK/Reuters
The new-born puppies. PICTURE: Video screenshot/Reuters TV
• A spot of light amid the ongoing tragedy in Turkey this week when the owner of Sila, a two-and-a-half-year-old Doberman, saw not one but four dogs emerge from the rubble of a building in the southern province of Hatay, 28 days after earthquakes devastated the region. Kadir Keyifli said he had asked local rescue teams for help getting his dog out of the rubble but nobody had been able to enter the wreckage. Meyako, a regional animal rescue team, came to his aid on Monday. After hours of work, they managed to reach the basement where Sila was trapped – and saw that she had not only survived for nearly a month but also gave birth to three puppies. “What did you drink here? What did you eat? Did you give birth to three of them?” one rescue worker asks in a video of the moment they reached Sila. The workers were seen going through a narrow opening among the rubble then breaking open a hole in a door to access the room in the basement, which appeared to have sustained little damage. “My dogs are coming out after one month. Thank God,” exclaims Keyifli in the video shared by Meyako. Keyifli said Sila survived and gave birth thanks to a large bag of dog food that was left in the basement. Sila and her pups were taken to the nearby city of Adana for treatment. Rescuers noted the mother looked skinny, but apart from that was walking unaided. – DENIZ UYAR/Reuters
