AUSTRALIA
‘Charlatan’ gets jail term
A man who pretended to be a gynecologist and fertility specialist for a decade was yesterday labeled a “base charlatan” by a Melbourne judge and jailed for more than nine years for assault and fraud. Raffaele di Paolo, 61, performed treatments on 30 women and some men, including conducting insemination procedures and removing semen from testicles with a needle, despite having no professional qualifications, prosecutors said. He was in April convicted of more than 50 offenses at Melbourne clinics from 2005 to 2015. Judge Bill Stuart said at the sentencing hearing that Di Paolo was a “base charlatan” who carried out a “long-term and determined fraud.” “You encouraged false hope, wrongfully touched them and penetrated their bodies, took large sums of their money, scarring them, some perhaps for life,” the Age newspaper quoted Stuart as saying. Stuart sentenced Di Paolo to nine years and six months behind bars. The prosecution had said there was no evidence Di Paolo committed the offenses for sexual gratification.
JAPAN
About 210,000 evacuated
Hundreds of thousands of people were yesterday evacuated from their homes as torrential rain flooded rivers and set off landslides, killing at least four people. The Japan Meteorological Agency issued its strongest possible warning about the “historic” rainfall and said that more was set to batter already saturated areas through tomorrow. One part of Honshu had been hit with twice the total amount of rain for a normal July by yesterday morning. At least four people have been killed, one when he was sucked into a drainage pipe and an older woman died after being blown over by powerful wind. About 210,000 people were ordered from their homes due to the danger of further landslides and flooding, nearly half of them in a wide area surrounding Kyoto, the agency said, adding that nearly 2 million more were advised to leave as of yesterday afternoon.
UNITED STATES
Library chides secret censor
A library in Berkley, Michigan, has decried an unidentified censor who concealed DVDs of movies from the racy Fifty Shades series. The library is now openly displaying the R-rated movies, accompanied by a sign that says hiding movies “is not how libraries work.” Librarian Lauren Arnsman told the Detroit Free Press that the three movies had mysteriously disappeared since last year, forcing the library to spend more than US$100 to replace them. Most were found hidden in the building. They have now been placed on a table, along with the movies Jerusalem and Eyes Wide Shut, which had also disappeared. The library did not know who was hiding the DVDs. The Fifty Shades books? They were still on the shelf.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
EUROPEAN FUTURE? Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama says only he could secure EU membership, but challenges remain in dealing with corruption and a brain drain Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama seeks to win an unprecedented fourth term, pledging to finally take the country into the EU and turn it into a hot tourist destination with some help from the Trump family. The artist-turned-politician has been pitching Albania as a trendy coastal destination, which has helped to drive up tourism arrivals to a record 11 million last year. US President Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, also joined in the rush, pledging to invest US$1.4 billion to turn a largely deserted island into a luxurious getaway. Rama is expected to win another term after yesterday’s vote. The vote would
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
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