SOUTH KOREA
Escaped wolf closes schools
A wolf that escaped from a zoo remained at large yesterday, authorities said, prompting a local school to close over safety concerns as the search continued. The male wolf — born in 2024 and weighing about 30kg — escaped from a zoo at a theme park in Daejeon on Wednesday, triggering a wide search in surrounding areas. It remained at large yesterday, with a nearby school closing for safety, authorities said. The wolf dug into the ground and damaged the zoo’s installed fence before escaping, a Daejeon Fire Headquarters official said. More than 300 people — including firefighters, police officers and soldiers — were taking part in the search operation, the official said.
Photo: EPA
UNITED STATES
Army vet charged with leak
A an army veteran was on Wednesday charged with providing classified information to a journalist for a book that alleged drug trafficking, murder and corruption at a military base where she had worked, the Department of Justice said. Courtney Williams, 40, was indicted by a federal grand jury on charges related to “her alleged transmission of classified national defense information to individuals not authorized to receive it, including a journalist,” the justice department said in a statement. Prosecutors allege that between 2022 and last year, Williams repeatedly communicated by phone and text message with a journalist who was seeking information for an article and book about the unit. While court filings did not identify the reporter, journalist Seth Harp wrote a book published last year titled The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces. An accompanying article named Williams as a source and attributed specific statements to her.
AUSTRALIA
Home built on wrong plot
A couple has moved house, literally, after realizing it was placed on the wrong plot of land. Melanie and David Moor said they set up their home to “relax” at a 2.5-hectare block two hours’ drive west of Melbourne. They put up the prefabricated house in March 2024, with plumbing and electricity. Five months later, “we got the call from the council to say that we had to stop works because it was on the wrong block — and we actually owned the block next door,” Melanie Moor said yesterday. “It’s just been a nightmare.” The couple said the plot’s boundaries were unclear, and they had relied on the local council and the real-estate agent for the right advice. The couple on Thursday last week moved their house about 100m by truck to the right plot. They are living in a caravan while the home is secured to the correct site. Under an agreement with the owners of the plot where the house was originally put, the couple said they have until May 2 to restore that land to its original state. “It was a relief seeing the truck take the house across the property,” Melanie Moor said.
AUSTRALIA
‘Ketamine Queen’ sentenced
A drug dealer dubbed the “Ketamine Queen” was on Wednesday sentenced to 15 years in prison in connection with Friends star Matthew Perry’s 2023 death, including her role in supplying the dose of the powerful anesthetic that killed the actor. Jasveen Sangha, who admitted to running a “stash house” for illegal narcotics out of her home in the North Hollywood area of Los Angeles, pleaded guilty in September to five felony drug counts stemming from Perry’s death at age 54.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Indonesian police have arrested 13 people after shocking images of alleged abuse against small children at a daycare center went viral, sparking outrage across the nation, officials said on Monday. Police on Friday last week raided Little Aresha, a daycare center in Yogyakarta on Java island, following a report from a former employee. CCTV footage circulating on social media showed children, most younger than two, lying on the floor wearing only diapers, their hands and feet bound with rags. The police have confirmed that the footage is authentic. Police said they also found 20 children crammed into a room just 3m by 3m. “So
From post offices and parks to stations and even the summit of Mount Fuji, Japan’s vending machines are ubiquitous, but with the rapid pace of inflation cooling demand for their drinks, operators are being forced to rethink the business. Last month beverage giant DyDo Group Holdings announced it would remove about 20,000 vending machines — about 7 percent of their stock nationwide — by January next year, to “reconstruct a profitable network.” Pokka Sapporo Food & Beverage, based in Nagoya, also said last month it would sell its 40,000-machine operation to Osaka-based Lifedrink Co. “The strength of the vending machine
A highway bomb attack in a restive region of southwestern Colombia on Saturday killed 14 people and injured at least 38, the latest spate of violence ahead of next month’s presidential election. Authorities blamed the attack in the Cauca department — a conflict-ridden, coca-growing region — on dissidents of the now-disbanded FARC guerrilla army, who have been sowing violence across the country. “Those who carried out this attack ... are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro said on social media. “I want our very best soldiers to confront them,” he added. The leftist leader blamed the bombing
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