UNITED KINGDOM
‘Adrian Mole’ author dies
Sue Townsend, the British author responsible for the multimillion-selling Adrian Mole series documenting the humdrum life of an awkward teenager, has died aged 68, her son told the BBC yesterday. According to the broadcaster, her son, Danny Townsend, confirmed that the novelist had died at home on Thursday after a short illness. After writing a series of well-received plays, Sue Townsend was catapulted to mainstream fame when she released The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13? in 1982. Within three years, the book had sold close to 2 million copies and was followed in 1984 by The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole, which helped her to become the nation’s top-selling author of the 1980s. The books are widely recognized as having captured the essence of the 1980s under the rule of then-prime minister Margaret Thatcher. Townsend left school at 15, but remained a voracious reader and wrote in secret for many years, while carrying out a series of jobs, including as a factory worker.
CHINA
Man attracts 460,000 bees
A Chinese beekeeper covered his semi-naked body in more than 460,000 bees for a publicity stunt aimed at selling more of his honey, he said on Thursday, using a technique known as “bee bearding.” She Ping (佘平), a 34-year-old honey merchant from Chongqing, covered himself in bees that collectively weighed more than 45kg in a display for a group of French photographers on Wednesday, he said. Bee bearding is a global pursuit, and Indian Vipin Seth holds the world record for wearing a mantle of bees weighing 61.4kg, according to Guinness World Records’ official video channel. Participants generally attract the bees by placing a queen bee in a small cage hanging from their body. “To be honest I felt very nervous, but I do it to promote my honey,” She said, adding: “I’m used to dealing with bees ... and started these activities when I was about 22. Of the people who do it naked, I’m probably the most awesome.”
UNITED KINGDOM
Former speaker cleared
A former deputy speaker of the House of Commons was cleared on Thursday of charges of sexually assaulting six young men and raping another. Nigel Evans, 56, said he had been dragged through “11 months of hell” by the case, and “nothing will ever be the same again.” The openly gay former Conservative lawmaker had been accused of using his “powerful” political influence to take advantage of the men in a trial that laid bare his drinking and clumsy flirting. A jury at Preston Crown Court found Evans not guilty on all counts, including one count of rape, five sexual assaults, one attempted sexual assault and two indecent assaults. The court heard he could make “cack-handed” passes, “almost like a drunken 14-year-old at a disco who could not chat you up with words.” One alleged victim dismissed an incident where Evans put his hand down his trousers as “crazy” and “just Nigel being drunken Nigel.”
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
ANTI-SEMITISM: Some newsletters promote hateful ideas such as white supremacy and Holocaust denial, with one describing Adolf Hitler as ‘one of the greatest men of all time’ The global publishing platform Substack is generating revenue from newsletters that promote virulent Nazi ideology, white supremacy and anti-Semitism, a Guardian investigation has found. The platform, which says it has about 50 million users worldwide, allows members of the public to self-publish articles and charge for premium content. Substack takes about 10 percent of the revenue the newsletters make. About 5 million people pay for access to newsletters on its platform. Among them are newsletters that openly promote racist ideology. One, called NatSocToday, which has 2,800 subscribers, charges US$80 for an annual subscription, although most of its posts are available
GLORY FACADE: Residents are fighting the church’s plan to build a large flight of steps and a square that would entail destroying up to two blocks of homes Barcelona’s eternally unfinished Basilica de la Sagrada Familia has grown to become the world’s tallest church, but a conflict with residents threatens to delay the finish date for the monument designed more than 140 years ago. Swathed in scaffolding on a platform 54m above the ground, an enormous stone slab is being prepared to complete the cross of the central Jesus Christ tower. A huge yellow crane is to bring it up to the summit, which will stand at 172.5m and has snatched the record as the world’s tallest church from Germany’s Ulm Minster. The basilica’s peak will deliberately fall short of the
Venezuelan Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado yesterday said that armed men “kidnapped” a close ally shortly after his release by authorities, following former Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro’s capture. The country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed later yesterday that former National Assembly vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa, 61, was again taken into custody and was to be put under house arrest, arguing that he violated the conditions of his release. Guanipa would be placed under house arrest “in order to safeguard the criminal process,” the office said in a statement. The conditions of Guanipa’s release have yet to be made public. Machado claimed that
RSS