AUSTRALIA
‘Planker’ left in a coma
A man was in a coma yesterday after falling off a car reportedly while “planking” as three others were charged for taking part in the Internet craze on the roof of a moving vehicle. Simon Hallam, 20, may never recover from horrific head injuries after falling heavily onto the road from a fast-moving car as he attempt to “plank,” according to local reports. The “planking” craze involves someone lying flat on their stomach with their arms against their bodies in unusual and sometimes dangerous situations, with photos of their exploits posted on social media sites. Hallam’s father, Terry, told the Brisbane Courier-Mail that what happened to his son was a strong warning to others thinking about joining the craze. “The Internet and Facebook, they’re just dreadful things ... they encourage this sort of behavior among the young ones,” he said. Separately, Queensland police charged three men in their 20s with public nuisance for “planking” on the roof of a moving car. Toowoomba District Acting Inspector Jim Fenton said he was in disbelief. “We would question their level of intelligence and due regard to self-preservation,” he told reporters.
GERMANY
Students consider sex work
One in three university students in Berlin would consider sex work as a means to finance their education, a study by the Berlin Studies Center said on Wednesday. The figure in Berlin was higher than students surveyed in Paris (29.2 percent) and in Kiev (18.5 percent), the three cities included in the report. The study found about 4 percent of the 3,200 Berlin students surveyed said they had already done some form of sex work, which includes prostitution, erotic dancing and Internet shows. The results surprised the authors, who said they undertook the study because student prostitution had been often reported, but little was known about its relationship to education policy. “It’s possible that because educational reforms have increased student workloads, they have less time to earn money. Coupled with higher student fees, in this instance, [that] leads students into prostitution,” said Eva Blumenschein, one of the study’s authors and a 26-year-old student at Berlin’s Humboldt University.
SOUTH AFRICA
Crocodiles delay voters
A crocodile-infested river forced election officials to delay the opening of a polling station in Limpopo Province on Wednesday, the local elections chief said. Officials running the voting station for the country’s local elections had to wait for a special army vehicle to ferry them across the perilous Olifants River, delaying the poll opening by two hours, provincial election officer Nkaro Mateta said. “It is really quite dangerous. If you cross on foot then you will be attacked by crocodiles,” she said. Another station “on top of a mountain” also opened two hours late because a helicopter had to be used to take election staff there, she said.
SWITZERLAND
Suicidal patient shoots monk
Police say a suicidal hospital patient has mistakenly shot dead his roommate, an 87-year-old monk. Police in the eastern canton of St Gallen say the 80-year-old man was handling a gun on Monday when he triggered a shot that injured his fellow patient. The monk from a nearby Benedictine abbey died shortly afterwards. The incident happened at a hospital in Uznach, about 30km east of Zurich. Police spokesman Hans Peter Eugster was unable to say on Wednesday how the man managed to take a firearm into the hospital undetected or whether he would face charges.
UNITED STATES
Obama birth mug on sale
President Barack Obama has seen off the “birther” conspiracists who hyped rumors he was not American — now he is trying to rake in campaign cash from the row with a “Made in the USA” campaign mug. The white mug comes with a picture of the beaming president on the front and a reduced rendition of his birth certificate, released by the White House in a successful attempt to quell the controversy, on the back. “Last year, the President said, ‘I can’t spend all of my time with my birth certificate plastered on my forehead,’” Obama’s campaign manager Julianna Smoot told supporters in an e-mail. “This is about as close as we can get.” The limited edition mug to help supporters “stay caffeinated for campaign events (and everything else)” is available on Obama’s 2012 campaign Web site, for a US$15 donation.
UNITED STATES
Chatty woman kicked out
A young woman who insisted on noisily chatting on her cellphone throughout a marathon 15-hour train ride was forcibly removed by police following numerous passenger complaints. The woman was traveling on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, which runs between Los Angeles and Seattle, Washington, and was speaking loudly enough to annoy surrounding passengers, Amtrak spokesman Vernay Graham said. “I guess she got into some sort of confrontation with others passengers that were sitting around her,” said Graham, adding that the train had almost reached its destination when the conductor decided to call local police after the train pulled into the station at Salem, Oregon. “We consider them unruly passengers when we’ve asked them to stop doing some kind of behavior and they continue on,” Graham said.
ARGENTINA
Local hero to the rescue
“I revile injustice,” said Menganno (SuperSomebody), a local superhero who dons a blue mask, pads and shield in the hope people can change — for the better. Menganno really is a hero to the people he helps; he patrols the streets of Lanus, a town on the southern fringe of metro Buenos Aires, on a motorbike offering help to anyone in need. “I am a real superhero: flesh and bones. My goal is for all of us to be better people and to care more about each other. That is what I am fighting for,” he said in an interview. He does not seek glory, which is why he chose the name Menganno — the Spanish-language equivalent of “Tom, Dick and Harry.” He admits his wife and two sons know about his unusual pastime, and apparently are helping him keep his identity under wraps. On a typical day, he tools around on his bike assisting locals, delivers shoes to the needy and chatting with adoring kids.
BRAZIL
Valentim is world’s oldest
Maria Gomes Valentim, a great-great grandmother, is the world’s oldest living person at the age of 114 and 313 days, Guinness World Records said on Wednesday. Valentim is the first Brazilian to hold the title after her claim was authenticated by the world records authority. Previous titleholder, Besse Cooper from Monroe, Georgia, is 48 days younger and is now the “Oldest Living North American.” Valentim was born in 1896, when Queen Victoria was still on the throne of England, in the town of Carangola, where she still lives. She was widowed in 1946 after a 33-year marriage and has five great-great grandchildren. According to the Guinness World Records Web site, she attributes her longevity to a healthy diet that includes a roll of bread every morning with coffee and fruit — and the occasional glass of wine.
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