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World News Quick Take

■ AUSTRALIA
Woman earns master's at 94
A 94-year-old great-great-grandmother who left school at 12 could be the world's oldest university master's graduate, her supervisor said yesterday as he urged her to continue her studies to a doctorate. University of Adelaide graduate Phyllis Turner was awarded a master's degree in medical science this week at a ceremony, surrounded by generations of offspring. Turner quit school to help her mother look after her siblings after the family was abandoned by their father. After raising seven children and two stepchildren, she completed her school education at nights because "I love study," she told Adelaide's SA-FM radio station this week.

■ AUSTRALIA
Military moving kangaroos
Following public outrage at plans to shoot thousands of kangaroos on its bases, the military now plans to move them in air-conditioned comfort at a cost of over A$3,600 (US$3,000) a head. Local newspapers said the 3,200 eastern gray kangaroos would be trucked to a village more than an hour away from Canberra after protests over plans to employ professional hunters to shoot them. The Defense Department said in May the kangaroos were causing serious erosion because of overgrazing on two drought-ravaged military bases and endangering a local lizard species and the gold sun moth. Police later ordered a halt to the plan, saying bullets could ricochet and hit protesters who planned to trespass on defense land to save the animals.

■ CHINA
Tidal wave kills four
A rising wave in a river known for its strong tides engulfed more than 30 swimmers and visitors walking along a levee, Xinhua news agency reported yesterday. At least four are known to have died. Seven of the 33 people who were swept away on Thursday remained missing, including a nine-year-old child, while the rest were rescue, Xinhua said. Authorities have recovered the bodies of two men and two women, it said. The Qiantang River in Zhejiang Province has long attracted tourists for its waves, which could rise up to 3.5m.

■ JAPAN
Briton wins barista contest
While some people enjoy their morning coffee with a cigarette or cookies, James Hoffman, crowned world barista champion in Tokyo on Thursday, proved that blending them all together makes the best espresso. The contest drew top baristas from 45 countries. Hoffman's signature drink combines biscotti foam, milk chocolate and a tobacco-infused cream. "I wanted to use ingredients that have an association with copious pleasure," the Briton said after winning the annual contest. Conditions were tough at the barista contest because Tokyo's humid summer heat can affect the coffee grind.

■ UNITED KINGDOM
Glasgow suspect dies
An Indian-born aerospace engineer who authorities say drove a burning Jeep Cherokee into a terminal at Glasgow Airport in a botched terrorism attack died on Thursday night in a hospital in Scotland, the police said. The man, Kafeel Ahmed, 28, sustained severe burns over 90 percent of his body and had remained in critical condition since the failed attack on June 30. The Jeep was loaded with gasoline and burst into flames as it hit the airline terminal. Ahmed had remained too ill to be interviewed by the police. He was never expected to survive, doctors said.

■ ITALY
Mom cuts off allowance
A Sicilian mother took away her 61-year-old son's house keys, cut off his allowance and hauled him to the police station because he stayed out late. Tired of her son's misbehavior, the Caltagirone pensioner turned to the police to "convince this blockhead" to behave properly, La Sicilia reported on Thursday. The son told the newspaper that his mother did not give him a big enough weekly allowance and did not know how to cook. "He doesn't tell me where he's going in the evenings," the woman said. Police helped the duo make up and return home together, with the son's daily allowance restored.

■ FINLAND
Squirrel is a regular thief
A squirrel with a sweet tooth heads to a grocery shop at least twice a day to steal "Kinder Surprise" chocolate-shelled eggs. "I named it the Kinder-squirrel, after the treats. It always goes after them, other sweets do not seem to interest it as much," the manager of the store in Jyvaskyla, said. The confectionary, which is intended for children, has a toy inside. "It removes the foil carefully, eats the chocolate and leaves the store with the toy," Irene Lindroos said. However, the bushy-tailed thief does not clean up after itself, but leaves the wrappers behind, she said.

■ SIERRA LEONE
Ferry disaster kills scores
At least 58 people are dead and 148 are missing after a coastal ferry capsized overnight in rough seas off the northern town of Kasirie, a port official said yesterday. "According to the report we received, 50 people perished, two were rescued while 148 others remain unaccounted for," the official said. The official said the Amunafa was heading from Freetown to Rokumi village when it ran into a storm. The boat met "hostile weather near a coastal village called Bailor at 10pm resulting in the catastrophe," Alex Koroma, a station manager for Radio Kolenten said by telephone from the region bordering Guinea.

■ DR CONGO
Train accident kills 100
About a hundred people died in a train accident on Wednesday night in which seven cars flipped off the rails, officials said. Rescue workers had pulled at least 70 bodies out of the wreckage by late Thursday, but others were still trapped under the rail cars. The train's locomotive stopped responding to controls as it traveled between the cities of Ilebo and Kananga, leaving the conductor without a way to brake, said Medard Ilunga, head of the state railway agency. Seven cars overturned in the accident just before midnight. Ilunga added that the conductor was able to detach the locomotive to go for help after the accident.

■ FUERTO RICO
Agents arrest fake doctors
Federal agents swept across Puerto Rico early on Thursday with arrest warrants for at least 88 doctors they say obtained their credentials through fraud, a high-ranking official said. Television stations broadcast images of some of the arrests -- including that of Pablo Valentin, executive director of the island's medical licensing board. The arrests are related to an investigation by the Puerto Rico legislature into allegations that the licensing board altered the results of low-scoring tests and awarded licenses to candidates who did not qualify.

■ MEXICO
Woman kept corpse a year
A woman in Mexico City kept the body of her dead husband by her bedside for a year until neighbors, disturbed by the smell, called the police. Police broke down Mercedes Velarde's door on Tuesday and found the putrefied body of her husband Edmundo on the floor of her bedroom. Authorities said on Wednesday they were investigating Velarde's claim her husband died of natural causes. They believe the man, in his early 60s, had mental problems that may have been linked to his death. Local media reported that Velarde's son regularly helped remove worms infesting his father's body. Police could not confirm the reports.

■ MEXICO
Bomb explodes in Oaxaca
A small leftist guerrilla group claimed responsibility for a homemade bomb that exploded outside a Sears store and another left outside a bank in the troubled southern city of Oaxaca, saying the action was intended "to hit the interests of Mexican and foreign oligarchy," said the People's Revolutionary Army (EPR). The bomb caused no injuries, but damaged an entrance to the Sears store. The group is demanding the release of to two men it claims were arrested in May by security forces. The government denies holding the men.

■ UNITED STATES
Police car awaits repairs
A plywood sign in front of a Louisiana police department reads, "Village of Hessmer: the only police car is broken. If you need assistance contact the mayor and council." Police Chief Mack Villemarette says he has struggled to get help from the city council or mayor after one of the force's two cars was wrecked in May. The other broke down on Sunday. Insurance paid about US$10,000 to fix or replace the wrecked car, but nothing has been done, he said. And with the second car out of service, the police cannot work. Still, he says about the sign, "It's not a protest." It was simply time people realized what is happening in this village of 650, Villemarette told the Alexandria Daily Town Talk newspaper on Wednesday.

■ UNITED STATES
Dung depot owner charged
A Florida man stockpiled 15,300m3 of horse manure on his property and was charged with running an illegal composting operation, environmental regulators said on Wednesday. Neighbors complained about the odor wafting from Walter Duque's property in the rural community of Loxahatchee, where several hectares were covered with manure piles up to 4.5m high, the state Department of Environmental Protection said. Investigators suspect Duque had been accepting dump truck loads of horse manure from nearby equestrian communities in Palm Beach County, agency spokesman Stephen Webster said.


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