La Paz – A homeless man living on the streets of Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia fled police who were bringing him news of a $6-million inheritance, a radio report said on Thursday.

Tomas Martinez, 67, apparently thought the police were about to arrest him for his alcohol and drug habits, according to Panamericana radio.

The man had disappeared without a trace, causing Bolivian newspapers to speak of him on Thursday as a "new millionaire paradoxically not knowing his fortune".

The inheritance comes to Mr Martinez from his ex-wife, Ines Gajardo Olivares, who inherited it herself from family members. She evidently did not blame him for leaving her several years ago.

unwitting
without knowing

inherit
To receive money or property (called an inheritance) from someone who has died

heir
a person who receives an inheritance

without a trace
with no sign or evidence at all

paradoxically
seeming strange or impossible

evidently
apparently; seemingly

will (last will and testament)
a legal document which expresses what is to be done with a person’s money and property after that person dies

look expectantly
to have an eager look on your face as if something good is about to happen

weeds
useless plants

stagger
to move unsteadily as if about to fall

Scene 1

"Mrs Olivares? Mrs Olivares! Are you all right?"

Mrs Olivares lies on her deathbed. Next to her sits her lawyer. Mrs Olivares has just finished dictating her will to the lawyer.

Scene 2

"Excuse me, but isn't there more for me?"

The second lawyer sits at a desk with the will. Mrs. O’s son and daughter enter the room together with Mrs O’s maid. All are crying and looking very sad. The former husband is in a far corner of the room (i.e., on the street), drinking beer and injecting himself with drugs.

Oslo – A Norwegian man briefly became the richest person in the world after a mystery bank error dumped 9,999,999,973,885.24 Norwegian kroner (around US$1,122 billion or 44,880 billion baht) into his account.

The Norwegian daily Verdens Gang said Ole Andresen, 29, from Oslo noticed the astronomical sum when checking his account via the Internet and reported it to his bank, Den Norske Bank (DnB).

DnB, which said it had no explanation for the error, withdrew the fortune. The cash would far eclipse the wealth of the world’s richest man, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates. – Reuters

Panama City – Two women with .38-calibre pistols tried to make away with a stolen taxi on Monday but were caught because neither knew how to drive.

Sharon Morales and Giselle de Baroso hailed the taxi in the Santa Ana area and ordered Ernesto Galarraga, the driver, to take them to the suburbs.

But when the driver switched streets and headed towards the populous Baraza quarter, the two women handcuffed him and pushed him out of the taxi.

A frightened Mr Galarraga notified police, who captured the women as they fervently tried to drive the vehicle and make their getaway. – AFP

An Australian machinist who wanted time off work to look for another job placed a notice in a newspaper announcing his father’s death.

But the unusual quest for "bereavement leave" backfired when the father of 26-year-old Jason Miller complained to police that news of his death was false, the Sydney Daily Telegraph said yesterday.

The newspaper said Miller wanted time off from his job at Newcastle Lampworks. So he paid A$16.80 (410 baht) for a death notice in the Newcastle Herald saying his father, Paul, would be a "much missed, father, grandfather and friend".

The next day his father met a friend who had seen the notice, and the scheme was discovered. Miller faces up to three months in jail for the offence.

"I am alive and well but this thing has left me shaken," Miller’s father was quoted as saying.

The first run-through was not very encouraging. The students didn’t understand the story very well and they had no idea how to perform. Worse yet, I couldn’t understand a word they were saying. The intonation and stress were totally wrong.

As we practised over the next several weeks, I was amazed at the changes that took place. The students became real actors and many of them ended up sounding almost as if they were native speakers. Best of all, we all enjoyed the experience immensely and we were very proud of how enthusiastically the audience reacted to their performance.

One of the aspects of the experience that impressed me the most was how closely-knit a team we became – not just the actors, but all those involved in the production. As a director, I could not just dictate what the students were to do. We had to discuss each action and we often adopted ideas suggested by the students themselves.

This lesson can give you a small taste of my experience at Suan Dusit. Encourage you students to actively consider how the play should be carried out. And instead of having the class produce a single version of the play, it might be better to divide the class into two or three groups to produce competing versions. Chances are, they will be quite different.

Next week: Investing in the stock market