NEW ZEALAND
‘Grotesque’ plant flowers
A “grotesque” plant that mimics the smell of rotting flesh to attract flies has gone on display in Wellington’s Botanic Gardens. The Dracunculus vulgaris, commonly known as the voodoo lily, began flowering on Thursday and will emit a strong stench of putrid meat for about a week, botanic gardens general manager David Sole said. “It’s quite pretty when the flower begins to emerge, then becomes more grotesque,” he said. “A spadix [spike] about 700mm grows, it’s a deep wine violet and smells like carrion.” Sole said the plant, native to the Aegean, originally belonged to a member of the public, who donated it to the botanic garden because of the overpowering odor.
AUSTRALIA
Students in acid fight
A Chinese university student was in a critical condition in hospital on Friday after a fellow PhD student allegedly threw acid in his face and then hit him over the head with a hammer. Police said a 26-year-old man had been charged with attacking a 25-year-old fellow student at a chemistry research laboratory at the University of New South Wales in Sydney on Thursday. “It’s alleged one student threw a chemical, believed to be sulfuric acid, in another student’s face before hitting him on the head with a hammer during an altercation,” police said in a statement. Both men are Chinese nationals studying for their PhDs, the university said. The victim, named by media as Cheng Xiaoyu, was taken to Royal North Shore Hospital’s Burns Unit where he is in a critical condition in an induced coma. His alleged attacker, Zhang Rui, appeared in a Sydney court yesterday. Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge said that Zhang would be transferred to a mental health facility for evaluation before appearing in court again on Nov. 29.
INDIA
Militant suspects arrested
Police have arrested three Muslim militants suspected of planning terror attacks in New Delhi during a major Hindu festival season that starts later this month, a top police official said on Thursday. The three are alleged members of the Indian Mujahideen, an Islamic militant group, police Commissioner Neeraj Kumar said. The group has links to Pakistan’s Lashkar-e-Taiba, which has claimed responsibility for previous terrorist attacks in India. The three suspects were arrested in New Delhi over the past two weeks, Kumar said. He said they were responsible for several small explosions in the western city of Pune in August in which one person was injured. A Pune cafe popular with foreigners was also the target of a 2010 bombing that killed 17 people. Police recovered explosives, detonators, batteries and nails used in making bombs from the suspects, Kumar said.
CANADA
US pastor denied entry
Authorities have denied entry to US pastor Terry Jones, whose congregation held a Quran-burning ceremony in March last year that triggered deadly protests in Afghanistan, a spokeswoman said. Stephanie Sapp said her husband, Wayne Sapp, a fellow pastor along with Jones, were turned back at the Michigan-Ontario border on Thursday after being detained for several hours. Jones, who leads Florida’s tiny Dove World Outreach Center, and Wayne Sapp were scheduled to attend Freedom Showdown, an inter-faith debate on Thursday evening outside the Ontario Legislature. Stephanie Sapp said Jones was denied entry because of a fine he received in Germany almost 20 years ago for using the title “doctor” there. He had received an honorary doctorate in theology from a California university in 1993.
UNITED KINGDOM
Restaurant apologizes
A restaurant chain has apologized for accidentally serving alcohol to a toddler in Wales, calling it a case of human error. The BBC reported that two-year-old Sonny Rees was taken to a hospital emergency room after drinking whiskey at his second birthday party at a Frankie and Benny’s restaurant in Swansea. His mother said he was clearly intoxicated. Frankie and Benny’s said on Thursday it was extremely sorry for the incident and is looking into what systems need to be put in place to ensure that it does not happen again.
UNITED KINGDOM
Police arrest marines
Military police on Thursday arrested seven members of the elite Royal Marines on suspicion of murder in Afghanistan last year, the Ministry of Defence announced. The investigation will now be conducted by the Service Justice system, which handles offenses committed by British service personnel overseas, added the spokesman. “These arrests demonstrate the department and the Armed Forces’ determination to ensure UK personnel act in accordance with their Rules of Engagement and our standards,” the ministry statement said.
MEXICO
Late pizza deliverer killed
A furious client killed a pizza delivery man in Mexico for being 40 minutes late, authorities said on Thursday. The victim’s body, eyes blindfolded and hands bound, was found on Monday in the town of Tetla, 140km east of Mexico City, the public prosecutor’s office in Tlaxcala state said. The 22-year-old client, who hit the police officer who discovered the delivery man’s moped, admitted that he beat and locked up his victim for five hours with the help of his girlfriend. It was when the delivery man tried to make a run for it that the client allegedly riddled his body with stab wounds before dumping it in a vacant lot next door.
UNITED KINGDOM
Man jailed for insults
A man who wore a T-shirt that glorified killing police hours after the deaths of two officers has been sentenced to four months in jail. Barry Thew, 39, was arrested for wearing a shirt bearing handwritten messages saying “One less pig perfect justice” and “killacopforfun.com” in Radcliffe, near Manchester, on Sept. 18. His arrest came hours after two police officers in the northwest England city were killed in a gun and grenade attack that shocked the country. Thew was sentenced to four months in jail on Thursday after earlier pleading guilty to a public order offense. He received another four months for breaching the terms of an earlier suspended sentence.
Republican US lawmakers on Friday criticized US President Joe Biden’s administration after sanctioned Chinese telecoms equipment giant Huawei unveiled a laptop this week powered by an Intel artificial intelligence (AI) chip. The US placed Huawei on a trade restriction list in 2019 for contravening Iran sanctions, part of a broader effort to hobble Beijing’s technological advances. Placement on the list means the company’s suppliers have to seek a special, difficult-to-obtain license before shipping to it. One such license, issued by then-US president Donald Trump’s administration, has allowed Intel to ship central processors to Huawei for use in laptops since 2020. China hardliners
A top Vietnamese property tycoon was on Thursday sentenced to death in one of the biggest corruption cases in history, with an estimated US$27 billion in damages. A panel of three hand-picked jurors and two judges rejected all defense arguments by Truong My Lan, chair of major developer Van Thinh Phat, who was found guilty of swindling cash from Saigon Commercial Bank (SCB) over a decade. “The defendant’s actions ... eroded people’s trust in the leadership of the [Communist] Party and state,” read the verdict at the trial in Ho Chi Minh City. After the five-week trial, 85 others were also sentenced on
Conjoined twins Lori and George Schappell, who pursued separate careers, interests and relationships during lives that defied medical expectations, died this month in Pennsylvania, funeral home officials said. They were 62. The twins, listed by Guinness World Records as the oldest living conjoined twins, died on April 7 at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, obituaries posted by Leibensperger Funeral Homes of Hamburg said. The cause of death was not detailed. “When we were born, the doctors didn’t think we’d make 30, but we proved them wrong,” Lori said in an interview when they turned 50, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The
RAMPAGE: A Palestinian man was left dead after dozens of Israeli settlers searching for a missing 14-year-old boy stormed a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank US President Joe Biden on Friday said he expected Iran to attack Israel “sooner, rather than later” and warned Tehran not to proceed. Asked by reporters about his message to Iran, Biden simply said: “Don’t,” underscoring Washington’s commitment to defend Israel. “We are devoted to the defense of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel and Iran will not succeed,” he said. Biden said he would not divulge secure information, but said his expectation was that an attack could come “sooner, rather than later.” Israel braced on Friday for an attack by Iran or its proxies as warnings grew of