Russia's president? Ask Paul!
Source: Agencies |
July 17, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
A RUSSIAN newspaper said yesterday it had managed to get Paul, the German octopus which accurately predicted World Cup results, to forecast who will be Russia's next president.
But Komsomolskaya Pravda said the result of Paul's prediction for the 2012 presidential election has been sealed until election year.
The paper said one of its reporters approached Paul, who lives at the Sea Life attraction in the German city of Oberhausen, and put two sheets of paper with the names of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev in front of the soothsaying invertebrate, which pointed to one of the names with a tentacle.
Since Medvedev replaced Putin as president in 2008, with the latter taking over the Cabinet, it has been unclear who is the top decision maker in a country with a tradition of strong, individual rulers.
A poll conducted by Russia's Levada-Center shows that 76 percent of respondents believe Putin is the country's most influential person, while 67 percent see Medvedev as leader.
Both politicians at some point said they were considering running for president in 2012. In April, Medvedev said they would decide together who is going to run. Putin said in June they would talk about it closer to the election date.
Octopus Paul became famous for accurately predicting the outcome of Germany's World Cup campaign and the World Cup final between Spain and The Netherlands.
Paul's aquarium in Germany yesterday gave a resounding "nein" to a bid to move the celebrity mollusk to Spain.
Paul is so popular in Spain that a northwestern Spanish town tried to borrow him. Officials in O Caraballino, population 14,000, declared that the octopus was their "honorary friend" and wanted Paul's presence to promote a seafood festival, the Faro de Vigo newspaper said.
A businessman from the town also offered 30,000 euros (US$40,000) to buy Paul, but the newspaper said Sea Life declined.
In response to hundreds of requests to bring Paul to Spain, Madrid Zoo this week asked Sea Life if it would be willing to make a deal to bring him in as a tribute to the Spanish football team's victory.
But Sea Life spokeswoman Kerstin Kuehn said there was no way it would happen.
But Komsomolskaya Pravda said the result of Paul's prediction for the 2012 presidential election has been sealed until election year.
The paper said one of its reporters approached Paul, who lives at the Sea Life attraction in the German city of Oberhausen, and put two sheets of paper with the names of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and President Dmitry Medvedev in front of the soothsaying invertebrate, which pointed to one of the names with a tentacle.
Since Medvedev replaced Putin as president in 2008, with the latter taking over the Cabinet, it has been unclear who is the top decision maker in a country with a tradition of strong, individual rulers.
A poll conducted by Russia's Levada-Center shows that 76 percent of respondents believe Putin is the country's most influential person, while 67 percent see Medvedev as leader.
Both politicians at some point said they were considering running for president in 2012. In April, Medvedev said they would decide together who is going to run. Putin said in June they would talk about it closer to the election date.
Octopus Paul became famous for accurately predicting the outcome of Germany's World Cup campaign and the World Cup final between Spain and The Netherlands.
Paul's aquarium in Germany yesterday gave a resounding "nein" to a bid to move the celebrity mollusk to Spain.
Paul is so popular in Spain that a northwestern Spanish town tried to borrow him. Officials in O Caraballino, population 14,000, declared that the octopus was their "honorary friend" and wanted Paul's presence to promote a seafood festival, the Faro de Vigo newspaper said.
A businessman from the town also offered 30,000 euros (US$40,000) to buy Paul, but the newspaper said Sea Life declined.
In response to hundreds of requests to bring Paul to Spain, Madrid Zoo this week asked Sea Life if it would be willing to make a deal to bring him in as a tribute to the Spanish football team's victory.
But Sea Life spokeswoman Kerstin Kuehn said there was no way it would happen.
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