Sat, Aug 13, 2011 page7

• World News Quick Take

  • Agencies
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  SOUTH KOREA

  No free lunch, Lee says

  There’s no such thing as a free lunch: That’s the message from President Lee Myung-bak to residents of the capital where the midday meal has become a hot political issue. Seoul residents will vote on Aug. 24 on whether to provide all children with a free lunch at school, in what on the surface appears to be minor affair, but has been front page news for months. Last December, emotions even spilled over at a city council meeting with politicians brawling over the affair. Lee has endorsed his ruling party’s stance that a free lunch is a cost the state cannot afford to bear — and points to the debt crisis in Europe as an example of the fiscal strain caused by excessive welfare spending. The two main political parties have clashed repeatedly over the issue, and the city’s conservative and ambitious mayor, Oh Se-hoon, has staked his political reputation on the vote.

  JAPAN

  Heatwave claims four lives

  A blistering summer heatwave has claimed four lives and seen 900 people hospitalized this week, media reports said yesterday, amid an energy--saving campaign due to the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The mercury has risen above 35oC for three days in a row in much of the country, where the thermostats of most air--conditioners have been turned down to reduce electricity consumption. More than two-thirds of the nation’s nuclear reactors are offline five months after the March 11 quake and tsunami. Four people died of heat stroke on Thursday, the Asahi Shimbun said. More than 900 people have been taken to hospital with heatstroke symptoms, including about 20 in serious condition, Kyodo news agency said.

  AUSTRALIA

  Lost languages to be revived

  The New South Wales State Library yesterday launched a “search-and-rescue” mission to revive lost indigenous languages, using the letters and diaries of early British settlers. When the British first arrived on the shores of what became Sydney Harbour in 1788, an estimated 250 local languages were spoken in the country, but many have been lost. With the support of mining giant Rio Tinto, the library will attempt to bring some back, acting chief executive Noelle Nelson said. “Fragments of these languages can be found among the letters, diaries and journals of British naval officers, surveyors and missionaries held in the State Library’s unrivalled collections,” Nelson said. The three-year “Rediscovering Indigenous Languages” project aims to identify as many word lists as possible in the library’s collections and make them available to the relevant indigenous communities.

  AUSTRALIA

  Animal skulls, skins seized

  Orangutan, lion and bear skulls were among hundreds of illegal wildlife products seized in a raid on a property in Sydney, the environment department said on Thursday. Investigators also discovered the skins of a lynx and an Alaskan wolf, as well as numerous other skulls and pieces of ivory, in the haul of almost 400 items. “Operation Bonaparte is one of the largest wildlife seizures in Australia, and follows detailed monitoring and investigative work by departmental officers,” department spokeswoman Deb Callister said. The raid at a house in the suburb of Parramatta on Wednesday also uncovered a variety of weapons, including two walking canes containing hidden swords, flick knives and cross bows. A 41-year-old man was charged with weapons offenses and is due to appear in court on Aug. 31. No charges have yet been laid over the wildlife stash.

  AUSTRIA

  Man fired over urine therapy

  A famed museum has fired an employee for washing his hands and face with his urine. Alfred Zoppelt said he was fired after 23 years of working as an attendant at the Belvedere, a castle in Vienna with a major art collection. He said his adherence to urine therapy was previously “never a problem.” Zoppelt, 57, said on Thursday his notice from Belvedere said he was fired because “you regularly rub urine into your skin, particularly the face and hands. With this, you soil your place of work ... and threaten the health of your co-workers.” Believers in urine therapy claim medical and cosmetic benefits.

  AUSTRIA

  Robber cries for money

  First he allegedly pulled a knife — and when that did not work, a would-be robber in Neunkirchen persuaded his victim to hand over money with a sob story. A police official, who requested anonymity, said by telephone on Thursday that a woman last month refused demands by a knife-wielding man to give him 400 euros (US$570) from an ATM — but she then handed over 90 euros out of pity after he put away his weapon, took off his mask and told her that he was homeless and broke. The woman’s husband, however, was not so understanding. The man was arrested on Tuesday after he alerted authorities.

  GERMANY

  Tarantula spooks police

  A tarantula gave officials at Berlin’s crowded Ostbahnhof station a scare when it crawled out of a bag left on a train, police said on Thursday. A police spokesman said a 20-year-old German man forgot the bag on a train from the airport after returning from a trip to Mali and Mozambique. When the man retrieved his bag from the lost and found department, he reached in to pull out some identification and a hairy, scary tarantula crawled out. The spokesman said the spider was poisonous. Police turned the tarantula over to a police animal care unit.

  FRANCE

  Farmer attacks ads via ads

  An organic farmer has forked out 3,000 euros for a series of billboard advertisements that denounce the evils of advertising. Twenty-five of the giant ads went up this week across the southwestern town of Agen showing a human brain stuffed with advertising images and carrying the slogan “Advertising is manipulating you — React!” Pierre Kung, 56, said his aim was “simply to get people to ask themselves questions, because we’ve been brainwashed into thinking that happiness lies in consuming ever more.” Kung said he sympathized with, but was not a member of an “anti-advertising” militant group in Paris who attack billboards and other advertising they say blight the landscape and render the population consumerist sheep.

  ITALY

  Fake gladiators arrested

  Police have arrested 20 gladiator impersonators in an undercover sting aimed at ending a violent racket operating around Rome’s most famous tourist sites, local reports said on Thursday. Police disguised as gladiators, dustbin men and members of the public raided the gang made up of seven families working with five tourist agencies. The modern gladiators are accused of attacking and intimidating competitors for a lucrative business in which gladiators collect up to 10 euros for having their picture taken alongside tourists in front of attractions. The police officers disguised as gladiators were beaten up by the alleged criminal gladiators before other undercover officers swooped in.

  UNITED STATES

  Script proves explosive

  A writer desperate to get a movie script read suffered the ultimate rejection on Thursday when police blew up a briefcase he said contained the screenplay after an agent refused to read it. The bizarre story was set in Beverly Hills, where a man visited the office of a literary agent and left behind a briefcase that he said contained a computer, police sergeant Brad Cornelius said. The man left instructions for it to be delivered to someone at the business, Cornelius said. A security guard took the case into an alley, and a bomb squad was sent to investigate the suspicious package. Officials sealed off one square block and evacuated dozens of people from a handful of businesses on nearby Rodeo Drive and Santa Monica Boulevard before blowing open the briefcase, which contained no explosives. Police detained the man suspected of leaving the briefcase and were questioning him, Cornelius said.

  UNITED STATES

  Stewart’s victims win case

  Three people whose fingers were snipped off or injured by Martha Stewart patio chairs have won settlements against her company and Kmart, which sold the furniture, their attorney said on Thursday. Des Moines attorney Guy Cook declined to say how much the three — a young girl in Kentucky, a college student in Illinois and a retiree in New York state — were awarded at the settlement conference in Chicago on Monday. Their lawsuits claimed that the lounge chairs’ legs are defective and snap forward, “serving as a guillotine” for fingers and hands caught between the legs and the chair. The chairs were designed and branded by Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and sold as part of patio furniture sets at Kmart stores.

  UNITED STATES

  Actress sues billionaire ex

  The former girlfriend of billionaire financier George Soros has accused him of reneging on a promise to buy her an apartment in New York City and has filed a US$50 million lawsuit. Adriana Ferreyr filed the suit in Manhattan court on Wednesday. The 28-year-old Brazilian soap opera star alleges that the 80-year-old Soros gave the US$1.9 million apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan to a new girlfriend. Soros’ lawyer William Zabel tells the New York Post the lawsuit is frivolous, without merit and an attempt to extract money from his client. Ferreyr’s lawyer Robert Hantman says it will be up to the court to decide.

  CANADA

  Workers lose jobs, win lotto

  A group of Canadian technology workers won a C$7 million (US$7.1 million) lottery this week on the same day they lost their jobs at an Ottawa manufacturing plant. The 18 workers won the Lotto 6/49 prize on Wednesday, the same day their company, Smart Technologies, announced massive layoffs, starting in September, a company official said. The Calgary-based company said it is shifting its manufacturing to Mexico. Ten of the 18 who will share in the lottery prize lost their jobs.

  BRAZIL

  Geese guard prison grounds

  An overcrowded prison in northeastern Brazil has added a new layer of security against escapes: two geese. Sobral prison warden Wellington Picanco tells the G1 news Web site the geese make a lot of noise when they sense “strange movements.” He says the geese roaming the prison grounds also will help alert guards to the outbreak of violence among rival gangs at the overcrowded facility.
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