NEPAL
Man bites snake to death
A man who was bitten by a cobra bit it back and killed the reptile in a tit-for-tat attack, the Annapurna Post reported yesterday. The daily said Mohamed Salmo Miya chased the snake, which bit him in his rice paddy on Tuesday, caught it and bit it until it died. “I could have killed it with a stick, but bit it with my teeth instead because I was angry,” the 55-year-old Miya, who lives in a village about 200km southeast of Kathmandu, was quoted by the daily as saying.
TONGA
NZ officer beaten to death
A New Zealand policeman died yesterday from injuries sustained after being beaten in a police cell, with two local officers among those arrested over the death, officials said. Kali Fungavaka, who reportedly had won an award for bravery in 2006, had traveled to the Pacific nation for a funeral and was arrested for “minor drunkenness” on Saturday morning, local police said. Fungavaka was assaulted by another prisoner in the cell and suffered head injuries, with medics turning off life support late yesterday, they said, adding that investigations into his death were continuing.
SYRIA
Army storms Damascus
Government forces backed by tanks stormed Daraya, on the outskirts of Damascus, yesterday after 24 hours of artillery and helicopter bombardment to drive out rebels, opposition sources said. The bombardment killed at least 15 people and wounded 150 in Daraya, the sources said. Troops were conducting house-to-house raids in the conservative Sunni Muslim town and making their way to the town’s center, meeting light resistance from rebels who appear to have largely withdrawn from the area, activists in Damascus said. Other activists said the army was also shelling parts of the suburb from Qasioun, which overlooks Damascus, and from Republican Guard barracks situated near a hilltop presidential palace.
SOUTH AFRICA
Women need training: Zuma
President Jacob Zuma has provoked anger by claiming that it is “not right” for women to be single and that children are important to give them “extra training.” Zuma has a history of making controversial remarks about gender and sexuality. His latest gaffe came in a TV interview in which he discussed his daughter’s marriage. “Kids are important to a woman because they actually give an extra training to a woman, to be a mother,” he told SABC3. The comments, made during women’s month, have generated anger. Kubi Rama, chief of operations at the nongovernmental organization Gender Links, said: “It raises serious questions about his commitment to equality.”
ISRAEL
Donkeys outfitted with Wi-Fi
Call it back to the future: An attraction meant to immerse tourists in a biblical experience has outfitted its donkeys with wireless routers. At the historical park of Kfar Kedem, visitors dressed in biblical robes and headdresses ride donkeys through the rolling hills of the Galilee, learning how people lived in Old Testament times. However, they can also surf the Web while touring the land of the Bible on one of the oldest forms of transportation. The device slung around the donkey’s neck like a feedbag is actually a Wi-Fi router. Park manager Menachem Goldberg said on Wednesday he hoped the melding of old and new would connect the younger generation to ancient Galilee life — while allowing them to share, tweet and snap the experience instantly to friends.
PERU
Machu Picchu to get airport
President Ollanta Humala announced plans on Wednesday to build an international airport near the southern city of Cusco to boost tourism to the legendary Inca citadel of Machu Picchu. The current Cusco airport, long unable to handle major flights from abroad, only operates with limited daytime flights and is limited by its location in a city, surrounded by hills. Large aircraft cannot fly into the facility. Humala said the government will invest US$460 million in the project, not including compensation to the farming communities whose land will be seized.
UNITED STATES
Serial killer house on sale
The childhood home of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer is for sale in northern Ohio. The three-bedroom, 202m2 home on a private wooded lot in Bath, near Akron, was the site of Dahmer’s first murder, in 1978. He moved to Wisconsin in 1982 and went on to kill 16 more people before his crimes were discovered in 1991. The current owner is musician Chris Butler. The asking price is US$329,000. Butler believes the right buyer will be someone who appreciates the home’s 1950s vintage style. The ranch-style house was built in 1952, and a year later featured in the Beacon Journal for its modern style, open layout and floor-to-ceiling windows. Butler said he could not understand at first why the house had been on the market for six months at a price that seemed low for the neighborhood.
UNITED STATES
Columbus made personal
A Japanese artist is inviting the public to have an intimate view of explorer Christopher Columbus high above a busy intersection in Manhattan. Tatzu Nishi is constructing a living room around the statue, which is perched on a six-story column in Columbus Circle, where five busy streets intersect. “Discovering Columbus” will run from Sept. 20 to Nov. 18. Visitors will climb stairs to reach the living room — complete with couch, coffee table and lamps — where they will have a bird’s-eye view of the city and Central Park. However, some Italian-Americans say his new project makes a mockery of Columbus. “Encasing this majestic statue in a cocoon of conceptual art demeans the community and trivializes history,” said Rosario Iaconis, chairman of the Italic Institute of America, an education think tank.
FRANCE
Prisoners grow cannabis
Warders in a French jail where prisoners are allowed to grow their own produce have been left red-faced after the discovery of cannabis plants among the flowers and vegetables. The plants, which had reached a height of around 80cm before being spotted at the weekend, were found in vegetable patches located in the exercise courtyard of the Saint-Martin-de-Re prison in the west of France, regional official of the prison officers’ union Christophe Beaulieu told reporters.
UNITED STATES
Forbes lists powerful women
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton are the world’s most powerful women, according to Forbes magazine’s annual survey. Following the two stateswomen was Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. Newcomers to the list included singer Jennifer Lopez, former US Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, Meg Whitman of Hewlett-Packard Co and Marissa Mayer of Yahoo Inc. Lady Gaga was ranked at 14 and aged 26 is the youngest. The oldest, Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II, 86, was placed as No. 26.
China’s military news agency yesterday warned that Japanese militarism is infiltrating society through series such as Pokemon and Detective Conan, after recent controversies involving events at sensitive sites. In recent days, anime conventions throughout China have reportedly banned participants from dressing as characters from Pokemon or Detective Conan and prohibited sales of related products. China Military Online yesterday posted an article titled “Their schemes — beware the infiltration of Japanese militarism in culture and sports.” The article referenced recent controversies around the popular anime series Pokemon, Detective Conan and My Hero Academia, saying that “the evil influence of Japanese militarism lives on in
DIPLOMATIC THAW: The Canadian prime minister’s China visit and improved Beijing-Ottawa ties raised lawyer Zhang Dongshuo’s hopes for a positive outcome in the retrial China has overturned the death sentence of Canadian Robert Schellenberg, a Canadian official said on Friday, in a possible sign of a diplomatic thaw as Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney seeks to boost trade ties with Beijing. Schellenberg’s lawyer, Zhang Dongshuo (張東碩), yesterday confirmed China’s Supreme People’s Court struck down the sentence. Schellenberg was detained on drug charges in 2014 before China-Canada ties nosedived following the 2018 arrest in Vancouver of Huawei chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou (孟晚舟). That arrest infuriated Beijing, which detained two Canadians — Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig — on espionage charges that Ottawa condemned as retaliatory. In January
A sign hanging from a rusty ice-green shipping container installed by Thai forces on what they say is the border with Cambodia reads: “Cambodian citizens are strictly prohibited from entering this area.” On opposite sides of the makeshift barricade, fronted by coils of barbed wire, Cambodians lamented their lost homes and livelihoods as Thailand’s military showed off its gains. Thai forces took control of several patches of disputed land along the border during fighting last year, which could amount to several square kilometers in total. Cambodian Kim Ren said her house in Chouk Chey used to stand on what is now the Thai
NEW RULES: There would be fewer school days, four-day workweeks, and a reduction in transportation services as the country battles a crisis exacerbated by US pressure The Cuban government on Friday announced emergency measures to address a crippling energy crisis worsened by US sanctions, including the adoption of a four-day work week for state-owned companies and fuel sale restrictions. Cuban Deputy Prime Minister Oscar Perez-Oliva Fraga blamed Washington for the crisis, telling Cuban television the government would “implement a series of decisions, first and foremost to guarantee the vitality of our country and essential services, without giving up on development.” “Fuel will be used to protect essential services for the population and indispensable economic activities,” he said. Among the new measures are the reduction of the working week in
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