Offbeat

Honest homeless returns 7,000 euro

Homeless Austrian man Hermann Schleichert had 80 cents (one dollar) and an empty packet of cigarettes in his pocket on a cold Boxing Day evening when he found 7,000 euros on the pavement.
But instead of seeing the cash as a late Christmas present, the 48-year-old, who was staying in a Vienna homeless shelter and hostel for recovering alcoholics, took his find to the police, he told the Kurier daily on Sunday.
“I picked up the envelope and saw there was a bundle of cash inside. All 500-euro notes!,” he said. “Not even for a second did I think about keeping the money. That would have been theft.”
The real owner of the money later reported his loss to police and got his cash back – but is yet to thank Schleichert, Kurier added.

Taiwanese ‘election syndrome’

Taiwanese psychiatrists have been kept busy treating cases of so-called “election syndrome”, with anxiety attacks and other disorders up 30 percent in some hospitals, according to reports Sunday.
Patients included those who were nerve-wracked ahead of Saturday’s presidential vote and depressed afterwards, while there were also increases in mood swings, depression and insomnia, according to the United Daily News.
Politically over-zealous family members who started arguments with relatives or dragged their unwilling kin to election rallies ratcheted up the stress levels, the newspaper said.
And there were also more cases of sore throats, muscle strains and dodgy backs, which were put down to sustained screaming, and long bouts of standing and flag waving at campaign rallies.
Incumbent Ma Ying-jeou was cheered by huge crowds as he won a comfortable reelection victory, while many supporters of his main challenger Tsai Ing-wen were left in tears as she conceded defeat.
“The regrettable has happened. There is win and there is loss in an election, and we urge supporters not to be overly emotional,” said former vice president Annette Lu, a heavyweight in Tsai’s camp.