JAPAN
Break-in addict arrested
Police yesterday said that they had arrested a man who reportedly admitted to breaking into more than 1,000 homes in an unconventional way of relieving stress. Police took the 37-year-old into custody on Monday on suspicion of trespassing on a property in Dazaifu, a police spokesman told reporters. “Breaking into other people’s homes is a hobby of mine, and I have done it more than 1,000 times,” the Mainichi Shimbun quoted the unnamed man as saying. “I get so thrilled that my palms sweat when wondering if someone will discover me or not, and it relieves some stress,” he told police, according to the newspaper.
Photo: AP
AUSTRALIA
Police officer found guilty
A police officer who shocked a 95-year-old nursing home resident with a Taser was found guilty of manslaughter in court yesterday. A jury found Kristian White guilty in the trial in Sydney after 20 hours of deliberation. White, who is on bail, could get up to 25 years in prison when he is sentenced. Clare Nowland, a great-grandmother who had dementia and used a walker, was refusing to put down the steak knife she was holding when the officer discharged his Taser at her in May last year. Nowland fell backward after White shocked her and died a week later in hospital. Police said at the time that Nowland sustained her fatal injuries from striking her head on the floor, rather than directly from the device’s debilitating electric shock.
Photo: AFP
PHILIPPINES
Complaint filed against VP
Police yesterday said that they had filed a complaint against Vice President Sara Duterte and several of her security detail over an incident at the lower house of Congress. The complaint is for direct assault, disobedience and grave coercion during an incident at the lower chamber and a hospital, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said in a statement. Duterte has been the subject of a heated congressional inquiry into the spending of her office as vice president and education secretary, during which she has clashed with lawmakers. “The PNP remains steadfast in its commitment to uphold justice and ensure that all individuals are held accountable under the law, regardless of their position,” police chief Rommel Francisco Marbil said. Duterte has been furious over the detention at the complex of the lower house of her aide, who is also facing a House inquiry. The aide was later transferred to a government hospital for medical attention. On Saturday, Duterte said she had contracted an assassin to kill President Ferdinand Marcos Jr, his wife and the speaker of the House, if she herself were killed. Law officials on Tuesday summoned Duterte for questioning over the statements. She said her words had been twisted to create a false narrative that Marcos’ life was under active threat, calling her remarks a “conditional act of revenge.”
UNITED STATES
Trump names trade envoy
President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Jamieson Greer his trade envoy, a key figure in implementing the incoming administration’s economic agenda, particularly a plan to use tariffs to raise revenue and help bring in more manufacturing. Trump also picked Kevin Hassett as his top economic adviser. “Jamieson played a key role during my First Term in imposing Tariffs on China and others to combat unfair Trade practices,” Trump said of Greer. Later, Trump named health economist Jay Bhattacharya to lead the National Institutes of Health, the nation’s leading medical research agency.
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
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
‘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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