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food / travel

Streaking To New Heights: Machu Picchu, Nude Backpackers Edition

So serene...
So serene...

Proud of its more than 4,000-year history and heritage, Peru is starting to take exception to certain tourist pranks at venerable sites — most notably, the new fad of posing nude atop Machu Picchu, and sharing the photos online.

The cases of in-the-buff visitors at the 15th Century Inca citadel, a UNESCO World Heritage site, has been happening "with increasing" frequency since 2013, local police have reported. At least 12 tourists have been held since December and had their cameras or smartphones confiscated before they could share their lewdness on the Internet, according to El Espectador, citing EFE and agency reports.

The most recent detentions were of an Australian and Canadian caught flashing last week. An Israeli tourist was quoted as telling the BBC last year that yes, he did run naked through the citadel but "when there was nobody around and knowing this is a sacred site for the Peruvians, and above all, he did it with a lot of respect."

Peru's Deputy-Heritage Minister Luis Jaime Castillo called such antics "crimes against culture." Peruvian sociologist Liuba Koban cautioned that such reactions were excessive, reminding authorities protagonists were often from countries where nudity was nothing deplorable.

Pictures have been posted on the Desnudos en Monumentos account on Facebook, and the antics have been fuelling nudist trends in other neighboring conservative countries.

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Economy

Lex Tusk? How Poland’s Controversial "Russian Influence" Law Will Subvert Democracy

The new “lex Tusk” includes language about companies and their management. But is this likely to be a fair investigation into breaking sanctions on Russia, or a political witch-hunt in the business sphere?

Photo of President of the Republic of Poland Andrzej Duda

Polish President Andrzej Duda

Piotr Miaczynski, Leszek Kostrzewski

-Analysis-

WARSAW — Poland’s new Commission for investigating Russian influence, which President Andrzej Duda signed into law on Monday, will be able to summon representatives of any company for inquiry. It has sparked a major controversy in Polish politics, as political opponents of the government warn that the Commission has been given near absolute power to investigate and punish any citizen, business or organization.

And opposition politicians are expected to be high on the list of would-be suspects, starting with Donald Tusk, who is challenging the ruling PiS government to return to the presidency next fall. For that reason, it has been sardonically dubbed: Lex Tusk.

University of Warsaw law professor Michal Romanowski notes that the interests of any firm can be considered favorable to Russia. “These are instruments which the likes of Putin and Orban would not be ashamed of," Romanowski said.

The law on the Commission for examining Russian influences has "atomic" prerogatives sewn into it. Nine members of the Commission with the rank of secretary of state will be able to summon virtually anyone, with the powers of severe punishment.

Under the new law, these Commissioners will become arbiters of nearly absolute power, and will be able to use the resources of nearly any organ of the state, including the secret services, in order to demand access to every available document. They will be able to prosecute people for acts which were not prohibited at the time they were committed.

Their prerogatives are broader than that of the President or the Prime Minister, wider than those of any court. And there is virtually no oversight over their actions.

Nobody can feel safe. This includes companies, their management, lawyers, journalists, and trade unionists.

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