■ New Zealand
Thieves steal tiki penis
Masked thieves armed with a chisel stole the penis of a wooden Maori figurine, or tiki, at the entrance of a public library in northern New Zealand, police said. Security cameras captured pictures of three masked men using the chisel to remove the tiki's penis early on Sunday morning. The figurine is one of two indigenous Maori designs that stand on pou or posts astride the entrance to the library in Whangarei. Carver Kerry Strongman said the theft had damaged the "mana" or pride of the city. Police said they were at a loss to explain the theft, particularly as a nearby statue of Tangaroa, the Maori god of the sea, was better endowed. Strongman said he would begin work immediately on a carving that would restore the tiki to its original state.
■ Singapore
Britons accused of ATM theft
Three 21-year-old Britons were to appeal in court yesterday on charges of theft and computer misuse for allegedly using dozens of counterfeit ATM cards to make withdrawals from cash machines, police said. The three men, who were not identified, were arrested on Wednesday evening while using an ATM machine. A search of the men yielded 35 cloned ATM cards, many with the PIN numbers attached, police said in a statement. The statement said the ATM cards were cloned with data stolen from European bank accounts.
■ South Korea
Killer sentenced to death
A serial killer who murdered 13 people and injured 20 in 25 separate attacks has been sentenced to death. A Seoul district court said it passed the highest possible sentence because Chung Nam-kyu showed no remorse for his crimes and there was a danger he would repeat them, the JoonAng Daily reported yesterday. "The accused prepared for his crimes with gloves and masks and tried to commit the perfect crimes. ... The motives were not financial or based on individual grudges but were done for his own satisfaction," the judgment said. Chung was quoted as saying after the sentence that his life had been "a mess."
■ South Korea
North has nuke tunnel: paper
North Korea has built an underground tunnel for possible use in a nuclear test, a South Korean newspaper reported yesterday, amid concerns that the communist nation may be planning such a move. A 700m deep shaft has been built with a horizontal tunnel running nearby at Mount Mantap in North Hamkyong province on the North's northeast coast, the English-language JoongAng Daily reported, citing Chung Hyung-keun, a lawmaker from the opposition Grand National Party. Chung obtained the information from the National Intelligence Service, the South's spy agency, according to the report.
■ China
Tiananmen prisoner released
A Chinese factory worker has been released after serving 17 years in jail for setting fire to a military vehicle during the Tiananmen Square democracy protests, he said on Thursday. Zhang Maosheng was 21 years old in 1989 when he was sentenced to death with a two-year reprieve on charges of counterrevolutionary arson. His sentence was commuted to life in prison and then reduced several times for good behavior. Reached at his mother's Beijing home, Zhang, now 38, confirmed that he was released on Sept. 13 after 17 years and three months in jail. He declined to speak further, saying that the conditions of his parole forbid him from talking to the media.
■ United Kindom
Longevity preferred to sex
A large number of Britons would be prepared to give up sex if it meant they would live to be 100, according to a survey yesterday. The Mori research found that 40 percent would pass on the passion for longevity, although far more women (48 percent) were willing to make the sacrifice than men (31 percent). However nearly all (94 percent) would not give up their friends or family in order to reach their century while a half thought scientists should keep trying to prolong people's lifespans. Private health care provider BUPA commissioned the survey as part of a debate on the aging population.
■ Canada
Package still a mystery
An investigation into the origins of a suspicious package found on an Air India flight this week has stumped police, now forced to enlist help from British and Indian authorities, officials said on Thursday. Air India Flight 188 was ordered back to the Toronto airport late on Monday after a passenger found the package in the aircraft's bathroom about an hour after takeoff, police said. "We're still trying to determine how the package got onboard with all the security measures in place," Constable Jennifer Bryer said. "And, we're contacting other agencies in Britain and India to assist in the investigation."
■ United States
Town set to disappear
Within days, the tiny town of Elkport will be wiped off the map. It is rare that a 150-year-old community disappears, but the heavy rains that caused Elk Creek to swell and breach its dike in May 2004 were anything but ordinary. Within hours, the northeast Iowa town was consumed by floodwaters that left homes under as much as 4.6m of water, prompting a disaster declaration by President George W. Bush. The northeast Iowa town has been deserted ever since. Despite efforts to mow lawns, keep weeds down and fly the American flag at the community center, Elkport has the feel of a ghost town. Workers prepared structures for demolition this week.
■ Canada
Blueberry patch pinched
Thieves stole an entire blueberry patch, or 20,000 bushes worth about C$75,000 (US$65,000), amid skyrocketing berry prices, police said on Thursday. The bandits struck overnight earlier this week and left a "large mess in the field," Constable Casey Vinet of the Abbotsford police in British Columbia province said on Thursday. The farmer had the blueberry bushes delivered and intended to have them planted, but when his laborers showed up, the plants were gone, he said. "I've been here 13 years and it's the first time I've ever heard of blueberries being stolen," Vinet said. "Sometimes folks are caught stealing a few stalks of corn for personal use, but never an entire field."
■ South Africa
Unions back Zuma
The main labor federation demanded yesterday that Jacob Zuma be reinstated as the country's deputy president after a judge threw out a graft case against the veteran leader. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU), a key ally of the ruling African National Congress party, also said all charges against the former leader, who was sacked last year, should be scrapped "once and for all." "The COSATU ... has reiterated its earlier demand for all charges to be permanently dropped," spokesman Patrick Craven said.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in