■ Hong Kong
Men cleared over gay sex
Two men allegedly caught having sex in a car have been acquitted after a court ruled that the offence discriminated against homosexuals. The men -- Yau Yuk-lung, 19, and Lee Kam-chuen, 30, -- were arrested after allegedly being caught in April 2004. They were charged with an offence of having gay sex in public, but a court Friday acquitted them on the grounds that the offence "singled out male homosexuals." Magistrate John Glass ruled that a charge of outraging public decency adequately covered all forms of sex in public, and that there was no need for a separate charge on gay sex.
■ China
Miners' bodies recovered
Rescuers have found the bodies of 39 coal miners in a flooded mine in central China and were searching for three others who were still missing the official Xinhua News Agency said yesterday. The privately owned mine in Xin'an County, Henan Province, flooded on Dec. 2 when a nearby river broke its banks and flowed into the mine. Ten mine managers have been detained and will face "stern punishment" for the accident. A total of 76 miners were working underground at the time of the disaster of whom 34 escaped. Divers went into the mine's flooded shafts in the hope of finding survivors in possible air pockets. But no one has been found alive since the day of the flood.
■ Singapore
Maid jailed for ear attack
An Indonesian maid was given two years and nine months' jail for pulling off the ear of an elderly woman in her care. The 21-year-old maid attacked 67-year-old diabetic Chua Ah Lek when she saw her snacking on mooncakes. The maid, named Sarmini, had been told to keep Chua away from sweet food. She panicked, throwing the severed ear into the waste bin and applying ointment to Chua. The ear could not be reattached as the crime was not discovered by the maid's employer until more than four hours later.
■ Thailand
Cobra suspect surrenders
A man suspected of killing his wife with a cobra to cash in on her eight million baht (US$200,000) life insurance policy has turned himself in to authorities. Accompanied by his lawyer, Nired Ngamdee, 49, denied police charges that he had arranged for a cobra to bite his wife, Monrey Feungfoo, 51, in November, and then given her painkillers instead of rushing her to hospital for treatment. Shortly after her death, Nirid tried to collect on an insurance policy he had taken out on his wife a month before her encounter with the snake. His insurance company refused to pay, finding the circumstances somewhat suspicious, and asked police to investigate.
■ Hong Kong
Unkind cutter in detention
A 16-year-old boy has been sent to a detention center after admitting to attempting to circumcise an 11- year-old boy with scissors in a public toilet. The teenager presented the boy with a St. John Ambulance Brigade badge and examined his genitals in a shopping center toilet in June. He persuaded the boy that he had a foreskin contraction, which if untreated would lead to urethritis and cancer. He then took him into a cubicle, gave him some tissue to chew on to ease the pain and tried to snip off the foreskin, using scissors taken from the victim's schoolbag. The 11-year-old has since made a full recovery and has suffered no permanent damage.
■ United States
`Sex attack' writer caught
A fugitive fashion writer wanted for questioning in relation to a bizarre Halloween sexual attack on a woman in her New York apartment by a man posing as a firefighter was captured at the University of Memphis, police said. Peter Braunstein, 42, stabbed himself repeatedly in the neck with a knife after he was confronted on Friday by campus officers, city police said. He was in critical condition in the prison ward of Regional Medical Center in Memphis, said Memphis police Sergeant Vincent Higgins. New York police had been hunting since early November for the journalist.
■ United States
School agent dies after fight
A school safety agent suffered a fatal heart attack after police said she was struck by a 12-year-old girl. Police said the girl was waiting in line at a middle school in New York on Friday when Vivian Samuels, 56, asked her to leave. The principal wanted the girl removed because of an incident earlier in the day. Police said a fight broke out and the girl hit Samuels. Moments later, police said, Samuels passed out and had a heart attack. She was taken to hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The girl was being questioned by investigators late on Friday, and charges were pending.
■ United states
Failing kid kills dad
A 15-year-old boy allegedly killed his father, then set their home on fire because he was afraid his father would find out he was failing some classes, prosecutors said. Ryan Watts was charged on Friday with murdering his father, John Bruner. Watts was arrested on Wednesday after an autopsy determined that Bruner died from multiple gunshot wounds and not from the fire, Santa Clara police said. Watts said he shot his father in the head on Monday, then burned the body because it was too heavy to carry to the backyard, where he had planned to bury it. Watts hid the gun and the called the emergency services to report the fire. If convicted, Watts faces life in prison.
■ United States
Home fined over pregnancy
State officials have fined a suburban Chicago nursing home US$10,000 for failing to conduct an investigation into how a severely disabled, brain-damaged woman became pregnant. Officials also said on Friday that staff at the Alden Village Health Facility in Bloomingdale, Illinois, categorized the woman's symptoms as constipation despite staff reports that said the woman had signs of being pregnant. Her mother is raising the baby girl, who was born healthy. A former nurse's aide was charged in November with four counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault after authorities found that his DNA matched the baby's.
■ United States
Joking passenger arrested
About 130 passengers were evacuated from a jet after flight attendants overheard a passenger joking about a bomb, authorities said. Flight 2074 to Las Vegas departed five hours late after sniffer dogs searched the plane at Bob Hope Airport and found nothing, spokeswoman Beth Harbin said. A passenger was arrested for investigation of making false bomb threats, Burbank Airport Police Sergeant Ernest Siy said. The man was held at city jail, Siy added. "It appears to not have been a serious threat," said Harbin. The Southwest flight was preparing to take off at 3pm when it halted on the taxiway. "Anything in this day and age, after 9/11, you just don't laugh it off anymore." Victor Gill, an airport spokesman said.
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
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
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
A prominent Christian leader has allegedly been stabbed at the altar during a Mass yesterday in southwest Sydney. Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was saying Mass at Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley just after 7pm when a man approached him at the altar and allegedly stabbed toward his head multiple times. A live stream of the Mass shows the congregation swarm forward toward Emmanuel before it was cut off. The church leader gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, amassing a large online following, Officers attached to Fairfield City police area command attended a location on Welcome Street, Wakeley following reports a number