UNITED STATES
Veteran held hostage
A New York man is accused of holding an 81-year-old Marine Corps veteran hostage in a motel for at least four years to steal his benefits checks. Perry Coniglio, 43, was arrested on Tuesday in his room adjoining the victim’s at a motel in Highlands, New York. The motel is next door to the Hudson Valley town’s police station. Police said Coniglio used brute force and intimidation to get the veteran, who received three checks every month, to cooperate with him. The victim has been taken to a hospital for evaluation. Coniglio was being held in jail on Thursday.
UNITED STATES
New York celebrates Mozart
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is celebrating Mozart with special performances at three subway stations. Yesterday’s performances were to start at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts’ annual Mostly Mozart Festival. Performances at Fulton Center could be viewed on Facebook Live via Lincoln Center’s Facebook page. The Mostly Mozart Festival is a series of concerts at the Lincoln Center and other New York City venues.
UNITED STATES
Medics charged over selfies
Authorities said two paramedics engaged in a “selfie war” by taking pictures with incapacitated patients. The Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office in Florida said in a news release that Kayla Renee Dubois, 24, was arrested on Thursday, and charged with two counts of interception and disclosure of oral communications. Authorities have issued arrest warrants for Christopher Wimmer, 33, on seven counts of the same charge. The release said Wimmer also faces a misdemeanor battery charge for holding open the eyelid of a sedated patient. It said the selfies included 41 patients, three of whom apparently agreed to the photographs.
UNITED STATES
Dark matter remains elusive
Scientists have come up empty-handed in their latest effort to find dark matter — stuff that is theorized to hold galaxies together. For three years scientists have been looking for dark matter nearly 1.6km underground in a former gold mine in South Dakota. They announced on Thursday that despite sensitive equipment working better than expected, they could not find the invisible particles that the Big Bang theory says makes up four-fifths of the universe’s matter. The US$10 million mine project, called the Large Underground Xenon experiment, was one of three places looking for dark matter, along with the International Space Station and Europe’s Large Hadron Collider.
HONG KONG
‘Triad boss’ arrested
An alleged triad boss known as “Shanghai Boy” has been arrested after arriving at Hong Kong International Airport from Thailand, months after he made headlines for being punched in the face at the territory’s most famous luxury hotel. Kwok Wing-hung (郭永鴻) was detained on Thursday night for “conspiracy to commit criminal intimidation, conspiracy to wound with intent and conspiracy to blackmail,” police said in a statement yesterday. Famed for his ever-present 1970s-style sunglasses and swept-forward bowl haircut, Kwok, 58, had dropped off the radar for seven months, local media said. He had been put on a police wanted list and was arrested at the airport by officers from the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau, the South China Morning Post reported.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
A plan by Switzerland’s right-wing People’s Party to cap the population at 10 million has the backing of almost half the country, according to a poll before an expected vote next year. The party, which has long campaigned against immigration, argues that too-fast population growth is overwhelming housing, transport and public services. The level of support comes despite the government urging voters to reject it, warning that strict curbs would damage the economy and prosperity, as Swiss companies depend on foreign workers. The poll by newspaper group Tamedia/20 Minuten and released yesterday showed that 48 percent of the population plan to vote
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
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