■ Australia
Bomb robot saves Tweety
A robot designed to disarm bombs was sent yesterday to rescue a pet bird from a Sydney apartment building crumbling because of a tunnel collapse. The cockatiel, Tweety, was stranded in an apartment directly above a gaping hole when a new tunnel partially collapsed earlier this week. Tweety's owner, Karen Bruce, was barred from entering the building to get her pet after she and about 60 other residents were awoken early on Wednesday and ordered to flee. When the robot emerged with Tweety yesterday, Bruce held the bird up triumphantly.
■ India
Copulating fossils found
Scientists say they have discovered two fossils fused together in sexual union for 65 million years. The findings were published in the October edition of the Indian journal Current Science, which said it was the first time that sexual copulation had been discovered in a fossil state. The fossils are tiny swarm cells, a stage of the fungus myxomycetes. The cells reproduce by "fusing," Ranjeet Kar of the Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany said. Finding the fossils in a fused position is evidence that the two cells were having sex, Kar said. The cells were found in a 9m-deep well in Madhya Pradesh state.
■ Japan
Asteroid landing delayed
The JAXA space agency canceled a rehearsal for a planned landing on an asteroid because of mechanical trouble with the space probe, officials said yesterday. The Hayabusa probe, launched in May 2003, is to make a brief landing to retrieve surface samples from the Itokawa asteroid after hovering around it for three months. The space agency, did not elaborate on the mechanical failure that scuttled the rehearsal. The asteroid, about 290 million kilometers away between Earth and Mars, is only 690m long and 300m wide. Officials have said Hayabusa is to be the world's first two-way trip to an asteroid.
■ Australia
Student-sex teacher jailed
A female teacher was jailed for five years yesterday for having sex with a 15-year-old student who had begun dating her daughter. The 36-year-old mother of four, Cindy Howell, from Melbourne, sobbed in court as she was sentenced, AAP reported. She had pleaded guilty to the charge of having a sexual relationship with the under-age boy over eight months last year. Howell was employed at a high school as a teacher and was assisting the boy with a reading difficulty. Their sexual relationship began after he started dating her daughter. Judge Jan Pannam said the case was "particularly disturbing" as Howell was in a position of trust when she engaged in the relationship.
■ Hong Kong
Bed hurling triggers arrest
A man was arrested for throwing parts of his bed out of the window of his 15th floor apartment, the South China Morning Post said yesterday. No one was injured by the falling wood that the 42-year-old man lobbed out of his window on Thursday morning, said a police spokeswoman. Police had to break into the man's apartment because he was emotional at the time of the arrest, she said, adding that he was admitted to a hospital for medical tests. A neighbor said the man had recently moved furniture and electrical appliances from his apartment to the garbage-collection area in the housing estate, the Post reported.
■ United States
Alleged spy ring busted
An engineer and TV director were indicted in Santa Ana, California, on charges of stealing secret documents on US Navy warship technology and trying to smuggle them to China. Chi Mak, a naturalized US citizen from China, was ordered held without bond after appearing on Monday in federal court. Mak was arrested along with his brother, Tai Wang Mak. Their wives were also arrested. Chi Mak allegedly took computer disks from defense contractor Power Paragon, where he was lead engineer on a sensitive research project involving propulsion systems for navy warships.
■ United States
Home HIV test debated
A government advisory panel is considering whether to allow the use of the first HIV test a person can take entirely at home, alone. The possible availability of the test, which relies on a swab on the inside of the mouth, has raised concerns about the potential psychological impact on people who learn they have the virus with no doctors or counselors present. The test, called OraQuick Advance, is already widely available in health clinics and doctor's offices, and the FDA is considering permitting it to be sold in drug stores.
■ United States
Man glued to toilet seat
A Boulder man who had a panic attack when he found he was glued to a toilet seat in a Home Depot restroom has sued the home improvement giant for negligence, saying staff ignored his plight. Retired electrical engineer Bob Dougherty, 57, said he was stuck in the stall with his pants down for about 20 minutes and that two years after the 2003 incident he was suffering from post-traumatic stress, which has triggered diabetes and heart complications. Dougherty said in a lawsuit filed last week that he explained his plight to an employee who came into the restroom but other Home Depot staffers thought it was a hoax and he had to wait until someone else came in again to summon help. Dougherty suspected the glue had been placed there as a prank by three teens seen earlier in the store.
■ Canada
Tibetan railroad protested
Demonstrators in Canada and several other countries protested on Thursday against Canadian firm Bombardier's construction of a railway line in Tibet. Some 30 protestors picketed in front of the airplane and train manufacturer's headquarters in Montreal. "We're opposed to a Canadian company participating in a project that the Dalai Lama himself called a cultural genocide," said Maude Cote of Students for a Free Tibet. Beijing chose Bombardier and its partners in May to deliver a contract worth US$323.5 million. Opponents claim the line will facilitate the influx of Chinese colonists into Tibet, threatening the survival of Tibetan culture.
■ United States
Muslims detained at prayer
Five Muslims who were detained after praying at a football game want to turn the incident into a tool to teach Americans about Islam. While at a New York Giants against New Orleans Saints game at Giants Stadium on Sept. 19, the New Jersey residents were removed from their seats and questioned by FBI agents after other fans saw them bow to the ground as part of the five-daily Muslim prayers. "As Muslims, we just have to pray when it's time to pray," Sami Shaban said. "We thought nothing of it. I pray in malls, I pray everywhere."
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
‘DELUSIONAL’: Targeting the families of Hamas’ leaders would not push the group to change its position or to give up its demands for Palestinians, Ismail Haniyeh said Israeli aircraft on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas’ top political leader in the Gaza Strip, striking high-stakes targets at a time when Israel is holding delicate ceasefire negotiations with the militant group. Hamas said four of the leader’s grandchildren were also killed. Ismail Haniyeh’s sons are among the highest-profile figures to be killed in the war so far. Israel said they were Hamas operatives, and Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder.” The deaths threatened to strain the internationally mediated ceasefire talks, which appeared to gain steam in recent days even as the sides remain far
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of