■JAPAN
Teacher gives murder quiz
A primary school teacher has been reprimanded for giving his pupils a math problem in which he asked how long it would take to kill 18 children at a rate of three murders a day. The 45-year-old male teacher, whose name has been withheld, has apologized for giving the quiz to his pupils, aged seven and eight, at his public school in Okazaki, education officials said on Wednesday. “I did it carelessly. I deeply reflect on my conduct,” he was quoted as saying by the officials over the incident in May, which apparently led to a parent complaint to the school in July. The teacher reportedly asked the children: “There are 18 kids. If we kill three per day, how many days it will take?” The school board said it handed the teacher a “strict reprimand.”
■AUSTRALIA
Wife-killer gets life
A husband who had cared for his mentally ill wife for years was sentenced to life in prison on Wednesday after he fed her a fatal dose of medicine because she cut the wires on his stereo, reports said. Singapore-born Hung Kiat Tan, 58, pleaded guilty on Wednesday in a Brisbane court to murdering his 53-year-old wife, Siew Kee Ang, last year by feeding her a lethal amount of her medication, AAP news agency said. Crown prosecutor Sarah Farnden said Tan, who had been his schizophrenic wife’s full-time carer for five years, decided to kill the woman when he came home one day to find his stereo damaged. “This morning could be the last straw,” Tan wrote in his diary at the time. He then gave Siew 84 anti-psychotic tablets and walked to a nearby store to call an ambulance after a brief resuscitation attempt.
■AUSTRALIA
Police find drugs, crocodile
Police made an unusual discovery during a raid this week, netting a baby crocodile along with cash, weapons and millions of dollars worth of the party drug ice. Police said three men were arrested in a controlled operation in western Sydney on Tuesday, which then led to the discovery of the crocodile, which measured less than 1m long. “During the operation police seized a total of 5.7kg of methylamphetamine with a potential street value of A$2.85 million [US$2.7 million],” police said in a statement. A search of the men’s homes later uncovered more methylamphetamines, also known as ice, US$300,000 in cash, a Taser stun gun, a firearm and the snappier find of an infant crocodile. The reptile has been taken to a wildlife park, while one of the men, a 26-year-old, was charged with possession of protected fauna and drugs offenses.
■CHINA
Cobra scare hits town
Residents of a township in Chongqing have been running scared after more than 160 cobras escaped from an illegal breeding laboratory, state media said yesterday. Shijiao Township residents have found the deadly snakes in outdoor toilets, kitchens and on the streets since they escaped earlier this month, the Information Times said. “The other day, Zhang Erfen had just gone into the toilet when we heard a loud scream and she came running out while trying to hike up her pants” after coming face-to-face with a cobra, the paper quoted one villager as saying. A villager identified as Cai Yong has admitted to raising up to 1,900 cobras in an unlicensed breeding center in an abandoned schoolhouse. It was not clear if he had been arrested. Most of the 160 cobras have either been caught or killed by villagers, but “five or six” remain unaccounted for, the paper said. Local health authorities have sent doses of anti-venom to the township, reports said.
■ITALY
Sexual blackmail revealed
About one in 17 women have faced sexual blackmail at work in the nation, but the coercion is largely unreported because of fear, embarrassment or a lack of faith in authorities, a survey showed on Wednesday. Demands for sexual favors in return for gaining or retaining a job are experienced most frequently by female office workers, but also by women in a range of professions from doctors to archeologists, according to a report by Italian official statistics institute ISTAT. “Almost none of the victims reported the episode to authorities,” ISTAT said in the survey of about 24,000 women. Some of the most common reasons for not reporting the blackmail included a lack of faith that authorities would be able to act upon the complaint or because the victim turned to family members for help. Other reasons were fear of being judged or treated badly, embarrassment or guilt, fear of the consequences for oneself or one’s family or a sense that it only happened once so was not so serious. Almost 60 percent of the women who said they experienced sexual blackmail at work said they changed jobs or gave up their career as a result, the survey showed. The ISTAT report also found that overall, every second woman in Italy has faced some sort of sexual harassment or sexual blackmail in her life, including verbal or physical abuse and stalking.
■CZECH REPUBLIC
Gadget exposes taxi cheats
Thousands of visitors have fond memories of medieval Prague, with one exception: getting ripped off by a taxi driver. However, a Czech firm, Et netera, said on Tuesday it had developed a weapon to eradicate the long-lasting problem, a mobile phone application using the global positioning system that measures the distance and calculates the proper fare. “Everyone will be able to verify right in the taxi whether the driver is trying to rob him,” the company said in a statement introducing the service, called “virtual meter.” Some dishonest drivers have been using “turbo” meters charging illegal higher fares, taking passengers via the longest possible routes, refusing to produce receipts and there has even been a case of a driver who had wired up the seats so he could deliver an electric shock to any troublesome passengers. Several years ago, the Prague mayor was himself overcharged during an inspection ride. Et netera said it was offering its system to the city, with the capability to directly report dishonest drivers to the regulator.
■TURKEY
Blast kills at least eight
At least eight people were killed and three wounded when an explosive device ripped apart their minibus in the southeast yesterday, local officials said. The blast occurred near the village of Gecitli in Hakkari Province near the borders with Iraq and Iran. Resul Kaya, mayor of the nearby town of Durankaya, said nine people died when the minibus hit a landmine. Security officials said it was a remote-controlled explosive device left in the road. Those officials earlier said that at least 10 people had died.
■UNITED KINGDOM
World War II ace passes on
John Freeborn, who has died aged 90, was a Spitfire ace who flew more hours in the Battle of Britain than any other pilot. On Aug. 11, 1940, 74 Squadron flew into battle four times in eight hours, destroying 23 enemy aircraft — three by John — and damaging 14 more. John’s accomplished flying and marksmanship made him not only an ace (a pilot with five confirmed kills), but an ace during the battle itself. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross twice.
■BAHAMAS
Leg pops out of shark mouth
A boater who disappeared off Jaws Beach — on an island where one of the Jaws movies was filmed — is likely the person whose remains were found in the belly of a shark, police say. Authorities used fingerprints to identify Judson Newton, although they are still waiting for DNA test results, Assistant Police Commissioner Hulan Hanna said late on Tuesday. It is unclear if the 43-year-old Newton was alive when he was eaten. Newton went on a boating trip with friends off Jaws Beach on New Providence Island on Aug. 29 and encountered engine trouble. Rescuers who responded to a call for help found three men aboard who said that Newton and a friend jumped into the water to try to swim back to shore. Officials launched a search for them, but neither was found. On Sept. 4, a local investment banker caught the 3.6m tiger shark while on a deep-sea fishing trip and he said a left leg popped out of its mouth as they hauled it in. When officers with the island’s defense force cut the shark open, they found the right leg, two severed arms and a severed torso.
■UNITED STATES
People ‘plug in’ during sex
Computer security firm PC Tools late on Wednesday released a study showing that nearly a quarter of US residents think it is fine to be “plugged in” to the Internet during sex. When it came to protection from computer viruses or other Internet-transmitted woes, people said they would rather change a diaper, be stuck in traffic, visit a dentist or get a colonoscopy than clean up viruses. “It is ... noteworthy how we entrust our computers and the Internet with our most intimate details — even if we don’t have the time or inclination to worry about computer maintenance or safety,” PC Tools vice president of marketing Stephanie Edwards said.
■UNITED STATES
Moses the camel unburied
It was an unusual call for firefighters in Oregon City, Oregon: A 680kg camel, named Moses, needed to be rescued. The call came in Tuesday night in Clackamas County after the Oregon City owners of the camel called firefighters to say that Moses had fallen into a sinkhole about 2m deep and was possibly injured. The owners — who have several camels and run a children’s ministry — had tried to get the camel out themselves but failed. Firefighters had to carefully shovel mud for several hours to free the animal. The rescuers were concerned Moses would break his legs if he’d try to free himself while still partially buried. However, Moses was patient, and eventually firefighters got him out. A veterinarian said the animal looked unhurt.
■UNITED STATES
Pot-giving mother jailed
A grand jury in Cincinatti, Ohio, has indicted a woman accused of providing marijuana to her two-year-old daughter and using her cellphone to record the child smoking the drug. Hamilton County Prosecutor Joseph Deters said on Wednesday that 21-year-old Jessica Gamble of Springfield Township in suburban Cincinnati was indicted on child endangering and other charges. The video shows the child handling and puffing on a marijuana cigarette. Investigators say Gamble gave the girl the marijuana at their home sometime last month and that a person they haven’t identified gave a copy of the video to the state family services agency. Gamble remains in jail. She could be sentenced to up to 11-and-a-half years in prison if convicted of all charges.
‘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