AUSTRALIA
Taunted shark hits back
A teenager who was taunting a shark with a dead fish ended up getting bitten on the heel, reports said yesterday. The 17-year-old was airlifted for surgery after being attacked by the 1m reef shark near the west coast city of Carnarvon late on Saturday, the Royal Flying Doctor Service said. Witnesses said the teen was dangling a fish he had caught to try and attract the reef shark in shallow water and was bitten after being knocked over by a wave. “[There were] heaps of people on the beach, heaps of kids in the water, so it was pretty silly really, feeding sharks when there were kids about,” one witness told ABC Radio. Reef sharks are not considered particularly aggressive, but have been known to attack if provoked.
UNITED KINGDOM
Thatcher bag to be auctioned
Former prime minister Margaret Thatcher’s famous handbag — the symbol of her authority during her time in power — is being auctioned for charity, the Sunday Times newspaper reported. “The handbag that terrorised ministers,” as the newspaper put it, is expected to fetch £100,000 (US$165,000) when it goes under the hammer at Christie’s on June 27. The black Asprey bag was the one Thatcher used most frequently on important occasions, such as summits with former US president Ronald Reagan and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during her 1979 to 1990 tenure as prime minister. The term “handbagging,” in reference to Thatcher’s assertive way of dealing with her Cabinet ministers or anyone else who crossed her path — first appeared in print in 1982. Cartoonists would often portray Thatcher clobbering people with it. The handbag will be part of a charity sale of items donated by celebrities.
UNITED KINGDOM
John Sullivan dies
John Sullivan, the creator of Only Fools and Horses, one of the country’s best-loved comedies, has died at the age of 64 after a short illness, the BBC announced on Saturday. A south London man, Sullivan was inspired by the sort of characters he grew up around to create the show about flashy market trader Derek “Del Boy” Trotter’s attempts to get rich alongside his dim-witted younger brother Rodney. The show ran for seven series from 1981 to 1991, with occasional Christmas specials until 2003. At their peak, more than a third of the country’s population would tune in. Some of Del Boy’s phrases, such as “Lovely jubbly,” are used endlessly around the world by people trying to sell things to British tourists.
ITALY
Roma camp in basilica
About 150 Roma whose camp was dismantled have taken refuge in one of Rome’s most ancient basilicas, engaging in a standoff with city officials trying to get them out. Only about 10 Roma had accepted an offer on Saturday by Rome’s City Hall of 500 euros (US$730) to families accepting to be repatriated, according to news reports. Many of the gypsies are Romanian nationals. The occupation of the St Paul’s Outside the Walls, one of Christianity’s most ancient churches, began on Friday. The ANSA news agency said that the 150-strong group, including children and babies, were allowed to spend the night in two rooms adjacent to the basilica’s cloister. On Saturday, some of those who had left to go to work or procure food were not allowed back in.
UNITED STATES
Bridge cyclists cry foul
Plans to put the brakes on bicyclists riding across the Golden Gate Bridge has cycling enthusiasts crying foul. Thousands of commuters, residents and tourists ride the bridge’s celebrated span each day. However, some officials who oversee San Francisco’s signature landmark think speed limits are necessary to lower the accident rate. An initial plan floated last week would hit riders with a US$100 fine if they don’t slow to 8kph near the bridge’s iron towers. However, after cyclists protested, the bridge’s board of directors decided to postpone a vote on the limits while authorities and riders debate the proposal. The proposed speed limit would be 16kph on most of the Golden Gate.
BRAZIL
Landslides kill at least 10
At least 10 people in Sao Paulo were killed by landslides and other accidents caused by heavy rains, emergency workers said on Saturday. Eight were killed in landslides that engulfed homes in the towns of Igrejinha and Novo Harmburgo in the southernmost state of Rio Grande do Sul, including three children who were asleep when a tide of mud hit their home. A man was electrocuted by power lines knocked down by the rainstorm in Sapucaia do Sul and a farmer was killed when a shed collapsed on him. Rescue workers were searching for two missing people believed to have been buried in Igrejinha and were evacuating areas at greatest risk of mudslides.
UNITED STATES
Rescuers reach tunnel
Rescue efforts in Mullan, Idaho, have reached a section of a collapsed tunnel where they had hoped to find a silver miner who has been missing underground for more than a week, a Hecla Mining Co official said on Saturday. However, crews using bore holes and probes found only sand and rubble where they had been searching for an open section of mine, spokeswoman Melanie Hennessey said. That could mean the entire 23m of tunnel where 53-year-old Larry Marek had been working has collapsed. “We would hope not, but that’s the indication,” Hennessey said.
UNITED STATES
FBI goes after imposter
Federal authorities allege a West Virginia man who applied for a job with an Akron, Ohio, company pretended to be a major general with the US Army and listed the Army chief of staff as a reference on his resume. A criminal complaint filed in federal court accuses Randall Keyser of Barboursville, West Virginia, of wire fraud. Court records show he was arrested on Thursday and has a detention hearing tomorrow. An FBI agent alleges in an affidavit that Keyser sought a six-figure job with an Ohio construction company last month. It says he told company officials he had supervised construction projects and answered directly to the US secretary of defense, but was planning to retire from the military.
CANADA
Police make huge drug bust
Montreal police have made one of their largest drug hauls ever, seizing 35kg of heroin with a street value of more than US$50 million, officials said on Friday. The drugs were stashed in a container shipped from Pakistan and were being smuggled into the country by a Turkish organized crime group, police said after the haul was discovered on April 15 in the port of Montreal. One person has been arrested and other arrests will likely follow after a joint investigation by Canadian police units and
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
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
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