Moscow, a death trap for treesMOSCOW: In Moscow, a high crime city where 1,538 murders were registered last year, more than 250,000 trees perished too, the union of ecological organisations in the Russian capital has said. The biggest culprits, they said, were polluted air and the salt used to clear the streets of snow in winter, Itar-Tass news agency reported on Wednesday. According to Vladimir Chupurnov, in charge of Moscow's greenery, there were 32,527 dead trees in the city as of June 15, some 47 per cent of which have since been cut down. The rest would be felled by mid-July, he said.Chupurnov told Itar-Tass that new trees would be protected from salty soil by placing them in tile planters. Most of the city's air pollution comes from the estimated 1.1 million cars plying the roads in and around Moscow, whose population is about nine million.Baby sellerKENTUCKY: A 22-year-old father has been convicted of trying to sell his one-year-old daughter for $800. Billy Ray Baldwin will be sentenced later this month. The jury that convicted him on Tuesday recommended he get a year in prison. His wife, Christa, 17, had also been charged in the case but pleaded guilty in juvenile court in exchange for probation and community service. The Baldwins were arrested in March 1996 after baby sitters Dennie and Cheryl Halcomb said the Baldwins asked if they wanted to adopt their daughter Margie Kala for cash. But the Baldwins claimed they just wanted a loan and asked the Halcombs to take care of their daughter and a younger son, Billy Jr.Two in a pouchLEIPZIG: Veterinarians at the Leipzig zoo had their suspicions confirmed when two baby kangaroos peeked out of their mother's pouch for the first time. The vets said on Wednesday the bouncing babies are at least 30 days old, having crept as tiny, sightless infants into mom's pouch shortly after birth. As they grew, nourished from mother's milk, the pouch developed a characteristic bulge which clued the vets into what was going on. The doctors were only surprised when two little faces looked out, since kangaroos normally only bear one offspring at a time. The vets said they would monitor the twins to ensure their mother, named Ani, can supply enough milk for both.Hawaii highHONOLULU: Starting Wednesday, many of the benefits available to married people in Hawaii will also be offered to gay couples, siblings and roommates, under a first-in-the-nation law that was enacted to head off homosexual marriages. Gov. Ben Cayetano allowed the bill to take effect at midnight last night without his signature. The law would give any two adults who can't legally marry the right to share medical insurance and state pensions. They would also get inheritance rights, the right to joint property ownership and the right to sue for wrongful death. It's the broadest recognition of untraditional marriage ever. But this is not exactly what the gays asked for,'' said civil rights attorney Dan Foley.
