GERMANY
Penguin survives lion’s den
A resourceful baby penguin took advantage of the wintry weather to give her minders the slip and embark on a tour of Muenster zoo before waddling into the lions’ den. A visitor spotted the African penguin, born in September, taking a stroll in the lion enclosure, but fortuntely the lions were asleep inside rather than braving the icy weather, the zoo said on its Web site. It took keepers a day to get the penguin out of the den, luring her out with a trail of herrings, the statement said. The escape gave the penguin, up until then only known as No. 459, a name. Her minder now calls her Leona, the zoo said.
UNITED STATES
Profanity tickets no more
Pennsylvania State police have agreed to stop issuing disorderly conduct citations to people who use profane language, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said.
The ACLU sued the police in May on behalf of a woman ticketed for yelling “asshole” at a motorcyclist who swerved close to her. The civil liberties group said such profanity is protected speech under the Constitution. Under the settlement, police officers will be no longer able to ticket people who use profane words or gestures, even if they are directed at the officers. The suit stemmed from an incident in which a Luzerne County woman reported the motorcycle incident and was cited for using the profanity. The motorcyclist was also ticketed, the ACLU said.
UNITED STATES
Kidney sisters to be released
Two imprisoned sisters who have pledged to share a kidney are to be freed today as part of a deal to suspend their life sentences for armed robbery. Jamie and Gladys Scott are set to be released from a state prison just east of Jackson, and plan to head to Pensacola, Florida, where their mother and children live, Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said. Gladys Scott’s release order requires her to donate a kidney to her sister, who is suffering from kidney failure and requires dialysis. The Scotts were convicted in 1994 of leading two men into an ambush in central Mississippi the year before. Governor Haley Barbour agreed to the release because of Jamie Scott’s medical condition, but 38-year-old Gladys Scott’s release order says one of the conditions she must meet is to donate the kidney within one year.
UNITED STATES
Pet trust law to be signed
Pet lovers in Massachusetts are optimistic the governor will sign a law this week that will allow them to designate in a will who should care for a pet after the owner’s death. Governor Deval Patrick has until tomorrow to sign the pet trust legislation. Massachusetts lags behind many states in enacting a law governing pet care after an owner’s death. The bill, introduced in January last year, makes a pet owner’s decision about who will care for their pet an enforceable mandate. Currently, if money is left to a specified caretaker and they do not use it for the pet, there is no legal recourse. Leaving money and instructions behind for pet care is not just a sentimental gesture by animal lovers who consider pets family, Holmquist said. It also relieves the financial burden on towns that are often left to foot the bill for food and shelter when pets are abandoned. Donna Turley, a Boston-based attorney who helped draft the legislation, said the Massachusetts bill also allows people who are no longer able to care for pets but still living to set up trusts. The bill also permits court intervention if the amount of money left for pet care is excessive.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
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
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was