UPI NewsTrack Quirks in the News

Security guard frisks prime minister

SYDNEY, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- The prime minister of New Zealand says she was pulled from an airport line-up and frisked by an unwitting security guard.

Despite the protests of a New Zealand security agent and a senior adviser, Helen Clark was given a full body scan at Sydney's international airport in Australia Oct. 28, the Times of London reported Tuesday.

The incident only came to light in a radio interview Monday, the newspaper said.

The scan continued even after customs officers were told who she was.

Her adviser, Mike Munro, said the security officials did not at first recognize Clark, who was on her way to a meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

After the search Clark continued on her journey without filing a complaint.

Joe Hockey, the Australian Tourism Minister, described the incident as "an embarrassing error."

Lies abound in sex practices study

LONDON, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A survey of sexual attitudes and practices in Britain published Tuesday shows one in five would not divulge they had a sexually transmitted disease.

The worldwide Internet survey of 150,000 people was conducted by condom company Durex, and the British summary was reported in the Daily Mirror.

Other findings show nearly half said they would keep quiet if they had cheated on a partner and 53 percent said AIDS would not stop them sleeping around.

Thirty-four percent of Britons admitted having unprotected sex with a new partner in the last year compared to 65 percent in the Czech Republic and 19 percent in Italy.

Nine out of 10 Malaysians would not tell a lover if they had a sexually transmitted disease, compared with 55 percent worldwide.

Durex spokeswoman Catherine Gort said it is alarming that despite rising sexually transmitted infection rates worldwide, "people still take chances with their sexual health."

Turkeys in the wild are hard to find

MIAMI, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- Unlike the farm-raised turkey encountered on your dinner plate Thanksgiving Day, wild turkeys are extremely elusive.

Scientists at the University of Florida say they are so wily, they're not only hard to hunt, they're hard to count.

Mel Sunquist, an associate professor of wildlife ecology and conservation at the university, and a handful of undergraduate students are spending the holiday season on a high-tech turkey hunt.

Sunquist said Tuesday it's part of a multi-year study that will help wildlife officials develop a system for counting the wary birds.

The turkey counters set up large nets connected to three small gunpowder-fired rockets.

Cracked corn is put on the ground as bait and a counter hides in a nearby blind. As the birds are captured, they are tagged and then released to be photographed.

A ratio of marked to unmarked birds is created, and with the help of a computer program an estimate can be made.