A woman is arrested in South Korea for living with dead mother’s body for 2 years
SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023
An arrest warrant was issued for a 47-year-old woman in Incheon on Friday for failing to register her mother’s death for over two years, keeping her body in the house where they had lived together to collect her social security benefits.
Police are seeking charges of concealing and possessing a corpse, a crime in South Korea that can be punished by imprisonment of up to seven years. The warrant was issued by the Incheon District Court on Friday.
This comes as the welfare authorities grew suspicious “because the mother had no medical records over the past two years” while receiving pension benefits, a spokesperson of the National Pension Service said Sunday.
The authorities will also “work to get back the wrong pension payment possibly through asset seizures, depending on the police probe results,” the spokesperson added.
The woman is accused of keeping the skeletal remains of her mother covered with a blanket at her house in a low-rise apartment building in Incheon.
The mother is believed to have been dead for more than two years, based on the woman’s note indicating her mother died at the age of 76 in August 2020.
The daughter has since allegedly received up to 17 million won ($13,700) combined in the past two years and four months — about 600,000 won a month — from her mother’s pension.
The woman, who is unemployed, reportedly used the money to make ends meet, and failed to register her mother’s death for fear of falling into poverty.
She was discovered with her mother’s body after police forced their way into the house Wednesday.
The woman comes from a family of six siblings. The other siblings had broken off contact with their mother after their father died in 1995. The discovery came after the welfare authorities were unable to contact the dead mother for two years.
The welfare officials asked one of the siblings of the accused to check her mother’s eligibility as a recipient, and the sibling called the police in the middle of the process, according to the NPS.
The mother was one of some 67,000 people suspicious of wrongfully receiving pension payments, according to welfare officials.
An autopsy report ruled out foul play but added that it could not determine the cause of death of the mother.
China reports 59,938 Covid-19 related deaths at hospitals from Dec 8 to Jan 12
SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023
Chinese mainland reported 59,938 Covid-19-related deaths at hospitals from Dec 8 to Thursday, a health official said on Saturday.
Jiao Yahui, head of the National Health Commission’s medical administration bureau, said that 5,503 fatalities were caused by respiratory failure induced by the infection, and the other 54,435 cases had died with preexisting illnesses.
The average age of deaths during said period is 80.3, and over 90 % of them had suffered from chronic illnesses, she said.
“Winter is also the peak season for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases among the elderly. With the spread of the Covid-19 disease, the number of elderly deaths is relatively large and we are attaching greater significance to protecting elderly patients and saving their lives,” she said.
Jiao said that China has established a reporting platform aimed at collecting and analyzing Covid-19 related deaths in a scientific and fact-based manner. The platform was put into use on Dec 31.
In addition, medical institutions across the country were asked to gather and report information on deaths recorded between Dec 8 to 29.
She said it took some time for experts to analyze the massive amount of data so as to present a science-based and objective account of the Covid-19 death toll in the country.
China has been counting deaths with a positive Covid-19 nucleic acid test as Covid-19 related fatalities since the initial phase of the epidemic, Jiao said. The criteria, she said, are in alignment with standards adopted by the World Health Organization and most countries.
Japan Firm Uses Vending Machines to Promote Uptake of Whale Meat
SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023
Japan’s public and private sectors are promoting increased consumption of whale meat through such initiatives as vending machine “stores.”
Kyodo Senpaku Co., a Tokyo-based major whaling company, will open four unmanned vending machine stores selling whale meat and processed whale meat products in Tokyo and other locations by mid-February.
This year marks the fifth year since Japan withdrew from the International Whaling Commission, and the concerned entities aim to increase the uptake of whale-related foods as the first step in protecting the nation’s whaling culture.
For its part, the Fisheries Agency aims to expand the nation’s whale-catch quotas in around two years’ time.
Test-marketing
Four vending machines sit on the first floor of a building near Keikyu Kojiya Station in Ota Ward, Tokyo. Next to the vending machines, a sign reads “Kujira (whale) Store”.
The vending machines have been selling whale meat and related processed goods since late December. The products include frozen items such as red whale meat, which can be used for sashimi and rare steaks; skin; bacon; and sets of canned, cooked whale, including Yamatoni simmered meat.
“My father ate a dish of Tatsuta-age [a kind of fried whale meat] with a nostalgic look on his face, and my eldest son in high school is a fan of shoyu-flavoured whale steak,” said Miki Yamanaka, a 43-year-old Ota Ward housewife who visited the store on Jan. 6. “I’m back again today to buy more.”
Though the prices may strike some as high — ranging from ¥1,000 to ¥3,000 for single items — the store has seen a steady stream of customers. “We’ve been surprised by the brisk sales, which have outstripped our expectations,” said 38-year-old Kozue Mihira, chief of Kyodo Senpaku’s sales section. “We want to support people who say, ‘I want to eat [whale meat], but I don’t know where to find it.’”
The company plans to launch two additional unmanned stores in Tokyo and Yokohama’s Motomachi district by the end of January and one in Osaka’s Umeda district by the middle of February.
It also plans to sell “onomi” sashimi — a highly prized fat-rich section taken from near the tail fin.
The firm will monitor sales with an eye on increasing the number of stores to about 100 nationwide over the next five years.
IWC secession
Whale meat is deemed nutritious as it contains large amounts of protein and iron. Whale meat played an important role in Japanese households following the end of World War II, when many people struggled with food shortages.
According to Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry statistics, Japan consumed 233,000 tons of whale meat in fiscal 1962, eclipsing the figures for beef (157,000) and chicken (155,000).
However, the whale population began to decline drastically due to overhunting. In the 1980s, the IWC, which controls whale stocks as a marine resource, declared a moratorium on commercial whaling.
Japanese dietary habits subsequently changed, and the eating of whale meat quickly faded.
In the 2000s, anti-whaling organizations carried out fierce protests and took obstructive action against whaling ships. “Even now, some retailers remain hesitant about selling whale meat over fears of possible trouble,” a whaling industry official said.
In 2019, Japan withdrew from the IWC and resumed commercial whaling inside Japanese territorial waters and exclusive economic zone (EEZ). However, the government specifies catch quotas to prevent adverse effects on stocks.
This year, for example, the quota is set at a total of 379 whales across three species, including Bryde’s whale. Catches are thus lower than those seen from 1987 to 2019, when the nation conducted whaling for scientific research mainly in the Antarctic Sea. Since Japan withdrew from the IWC, domestic whale meat consumption has been relatively low at 1,000 tons to 2,000 tons per year.
A Kyodo Senpaku official expressed a growing sense of urgency, saying, “Unless domestic consumption increases, the traditional whaling industry won’t survive and [elements of] Japan’s unique dietary culture will be lost.”
Icelandic imports
Despite the drop in whale meat consumption in Japanese homes, public and private entities have continued efforts to advance its uptake. For example, they have introduced whale meat into school lunches, promoted whale meat recipes and launched a website to showcase eateries that serve whale foods.
The unmanned stores are aimed at increasing opportunities for consumers to purchase whale meat, while the longer-term goal is to increase sales at supermarket stores and other outlets, too.
Kyodo Senpaku conducts sales campaigns primarily featuring raw whale meat for sashimi. Starting in February, the company plans to annually import nearly 3,000 tons of fin whale meat from Iceland in northern Europe.
Last October, the Japanese government attended the IWC’s general meeting held in Slovenia as an observer. A senior official of the Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry said, “There was no sign of compromise between countries opposing whaling and those who support it.” In light of this, the government will not be rejoining the IWC for the time being.
As commercial whaling is likely to continue in the nation’s territorial waters and EEZ, the Fisheries Agency plans to set new catch quotas. From 2024, it will expand its list of three legally catchable species to include larger whale types and is presently conducting research to that end.
Thousands of Israelis rally against Netanyahu legal reforms
SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023
Tens of thousands of Israelis demonstrated in three major cities on Saturday against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s judicial reform plans, with organisers accusing him of undermining democratic rule weeks after his reelection.
Bestriding a religious-nationalist coalition with a solid parliamentary majority, Netanyahu, now in his sixth term, wants to rein in the Supreme Court in what he has described as a restoration of the balance of the three branches of government.
Critics say the proposed reforms would cripple judicial independence, foster corruption, set back minority rights and deprive Israel’s court system of credibility that helps fend off war crimes allegations abroad. Among those opposed are the Supreme Court chief justice and the country’s attorney-general.
After President Isaac Herzog appealed to polarised politicians to “lower the temperatures” of the debates, organizers of the demonstrations – held under chilly winter rain – sought to strike a note of national unity.
Israeli media put the number in attendance at some 80,000, with thousands more at protests in Jerusalem and Haifa.
Footage showed a small number of Palestinian flags on display, in defiance of Netanyahu’s far-right allies. One of these, National Security Ministry Itamar Ben-Gvir, told Kan TV he wanted such flags removed but was awaiting the opinion of the attorney-general before ordering any crackdown by police.
The 73-year-old Netanyahu on Friday (January 13) signalled flexibility on the reform plan, saying it would be implemented “with careful consideration while hearing all of the positions”.
Polls have diverged on public views of the reforms. Channel 13 TV last week found 53% of Israelis were opposed to changing the court appointments’ structure while 35% were in support. But Channel 14 TV on Thursday found 61% in favour and 35% opposed.
Critics of the Supreme Court say it is overreaching and unrepresentative of the electorate. Its proponents call the court a means of bringing equilibrium to a fractious society.
Ticket for $1.35 billion Mega Millions jackpot sold in rural Maine town
SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2023
A single winning ticket for a Mega Millions lottery jackpot of at least $1.35 billion, the second-largest jackpot in US history, was sold in Maine, lottery organizers said on Saturday.
“Congratulations to the Maine State Lottery, which has just won its first-ever Mega Millions jackpot,” Ohio Lottery director Pat McDonald, lead director for the Mega Millions Consortium, said in a statement. “It’s the fourth billion-dollar jackpot in Mega Millions history.”
The winning ticket, which cost $2 and matched all six numbers, was bought at Hometown Gas & Grill convenience store in Lebanon, Maine. The ticket holder, yet to be identified, has the choice of a lump-sum payment of $723.5 million or an annual payout over 30 years.
Most winners go for the lump sum, which comes with a hefty tax bill, according to the Mega Millions website.
The winning numbers for the jackpot were 30, 43, 45, 46 and 61, plus the power ball 14.
Fred Cotreau, the owner of Hometown Gas & Grill, told Reuters when he got the phone call at 6 am he thought it was a scam, but soon realized it wasn’t.
“It’s been a really busy morning and we are anxiously awaiting to see hopefully it is somebody we know and we see often,” Cotreau said.
Half of the proceeds from the sale of each Mega Millions ticket remains in the state where the ticket was sold, where the money supports lottery beneficiaries, such as education or public employee pensions, and retailer commissions.
Cotreau stands to receive a substantial bonus for the ticket.
Ant farms turn from science project to new agri-business in Cambodia
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2023
Forest-dwelling weaver ants are a common species in Cambodia and are often employed as a tasty addition to many traditional dishes like some sour soups, or prahok. They are usually collected wild from the countryside, but one enterprising woman has discovered how to raise them commercially.
Khem Sreymom has used a Covid-19 induced redundancy to pivot her career, and now successfully raises the ants at her home in Trapeang Krasaing village, Trapeang Krasaing commune, Por Sen Chey district, Phnom Penh.
She sat down with The Post to share the tale of how she developed her groundbreaking skills.
Sreymom said she was born and raised in Sampov Poun commune of Kandal’s province’s Koh Thom district. She moved to Phnom Penh with her three sons, after her husband found work in the capital.
Originally, she found work at a garment factory in the same district as her home, but when the Covid-19 pandemic rolled through the region, the factory was shuttered.
After losing her job, she attempted to make a living selling traditional medicine, but the pandemic had reduced consumer spending to the point where demand was limited. As she watched her family’s financial well-being, she began to look for ideas for a new business.
She watched many videos that suggested raising fish, frogs or even snakes might be the answer to her income woes, and considered them as options. Sreymom rightly deduced that she would not be the only one watching the videos, and there was bound to be an oversupply in the near future.
Khem Sreymom is feeding ants at her farm in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district on January 2. Hong Menea
Eventually, she stumbled on a video – in a foreign language – which described how to raise the ants for sale. Seeing a unique opportunity, she discussed the idea with her eldest son, who agreed to accompany her into the forest to find the first generation of her new project.
At first, they had a hard time and were only able to relocate two nests back to their home. From these two nests, they were able to successfully breed ten separate colonies, each accommodated in a repurposed plastic bottle.
“As they grew, I watched them closely, identifying the different challenges they faced between living in the forest and living in my ant farms,” she said.
She said the populations grew so quickly that she hired a blacksmith to build steel racks to maximise the storage of her individual farms.
At the same time, she began posting videos of her activities to Tik Tok, which led to many visitors, some of whom wanted to buy ant eggs from her.
This encouragement led to the growth of her operation, and her home now plays host to over 400 colonies of weaver ants.
Ant farms maintained by Khem Sreymom in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district. Hong Menea
She said the species usually thrive under very specific conditions. She has to ensure that the colonies are not exposed to direct sunlight or loud noises. In addition, strong winds prevent them from leaving their colony to forage.
“I have confirmed my findings by going online and reading about them. I have a good understanding of their habits and the environment I need to provide them with to make sure they are healthy,” she added.
She explained that weaver ants are a very clean species. For example, she sometimes feeds them raw chicken. They will take the meat into the nest for a few days, but once it spoils, worker ants will remove it and throw it away.
“They do the same thing when any of the ants die within the nest. The remains will be carried outside and disposed of,” she added.
She said that the ants appear to display surprising loyalty to their colony. If they are faced with an attack by an invasive species, the ants will sacrifice their lives to defend their home.
She generally feeds her ants a steady diet of dead crickets or chicken. When she can find them, she likes to feed them worms, as they are very high in protein.
In the forest, the ants drink nectar from flowers, but she is able to replicate this by making up sugar syrup for them. One and a half litres of sugary juice will feed up to 200 colonies for a day and a half.
The former garment worker said each type of ant has very specific riles in the reproductive cycle.
When an ant grows to adulthood, it may become a male or female, but they do not breed with each other. The male ants have black markings and wings, the queen is the only one in the nest that can lay eggs.
In addition to the above types, there are warrior ants, which are responsible for protecting the nest and finding food to supply the community. The others are nurses, and they have many roles, including moving eggs away from the sun and making sure they have enough oxygen.
Within each colony, the roles are very clearly defined. When a queen can no longer breed, she must leave the nest. If she refuses, the warrior ants will kill her.
She said she can harvest a new batch of ants every 15 or 20 days.
Hang Hoeung, director of the Phnom Penh Agricultural Extension Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, told The Post that the department has a lot of experience raising animals such as chickens, pigs and cows, but very little expertise with Sreymom’s tiny livestock.
“I will contact the ministry’s Department of Agriculture to find out if this has been done in any other provinces, or if any NGO has any experience raising them,” he said.
Thai Beauty Queen Astonishes Public with Evening Gown Made of Can-Pull Tabs
Anna Sueangam-iam, who won the Miss Universe Thailand pageant last year, made an appearance at the Miss Universe 2022 preliminary competition wearing a costume made of can pull tabs, which was inspired by her life as the daughter of garbage collectors.
‘Congress has to investigate’ – McCarthy on Biden classified documents
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2023
US Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday announced the appointment of a special counsel to investigate President Joe Biden’s handling of sensitive government documents – an inquiry that could cast a shadow over the Democrat’s expected to run for re-election in 2024.
The top US law enforcement official made the announcement hours after a White House lawyer on Thursday disclosed that Biden’s legal team had found a second set of classified papers from his time as vice president at a storage space at his Delaware home. The White House on Monday disclosed that classified documents from his vice presidential days were discovered in November at a think tank in Washington.
Garland said Robert Hur, a former US attorney in Maryland, would serve as special counsel.
Special counsels are sometimes appointed to investigate politically sensitive cases and they carry out their responsibilities with a degree of independence from the Justice Department leadership including Garland, who was appointed by Biden. Special counsels sometimes, but not always, pursue criminal charges.
Garland in November named a special counsel, Jack Smith, to oversee Justice Department investigations related to Donald Trump including the Republican former president’s handling of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Trump, defeated by Biden in 2020, in November announced a 2024 run for the presidency.
Biden, 80, is expected to formally launch a re-election campaign in the coming months. The disclosures about the documents already have caused him political worries.
The president told reporters on Thursday that he will get a chance to speak on “all of this soon,” before reading from a prepared statement that echoed the information.
Recently elected Republican Speaker of the US House of Representatives Kevin McCarthy said on Thursday that Congress should investigate revelations that President Joe Biden kept classified documents at his private residence.
McCarthy told reporters that the discoveries demonstrated the Biden administration’s hypocrisy with regard to similar revelations about former President Donald Trump.
“Another faux pas by the Biden administration, but treating law differently based upon your political beliefs,” McCarthy said.
“I think Congress has to investigate this,” he added.
A single document was found in a room adjacent to the garage in Wilmington and no documents were found in the Bidens’ Rehoboth Beach home, Biden’s attorney said in a statement. The administration is “fully cooperating” to ensure that the records are handled properly, Sauber said.
There are differences between the revelation that Biden’s legal team found classified documents in his properties and the ongoing Justice Department investigation into former President Donald Trump’s refusal to hand over classified documents taken from the White House.
Trump kept thousands of government records, a few hundred of which were marked as classified, inside his personal residence in Florida for more than a year after departing the White House, and did not return them immediately or willingly despite numerous requests by the National Archives.
When he finally handed over 15 boxes of records in January 2022, the Archives discovered more than 100 were marked as classified. It referred the matter to the Justice Department in the spring and a special counsel has been named to oversee the investigation.
Take a peek at hundreds of thousands of baby turtles hatching!
FRIDAY, JANUARY 13, 2023
The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) released video footage showing hundreds of thousands of baby giant South American river turtles, recently emerging from nesting beaches along the Guaporé/Inténez River along the border of Brazil and Bolivia.
The annual nesting and hatching of Latin America’s largest freshwater turtle species along sandbars in this region of the western Amazon Basin are considered the largest single aggregation of turtles on the planet.
Beginning in late September, an estimated 80,000 adult female turtles gather on these local nesting beaches to dig nests and lay eggs.
The footage, taken by WCS’s conservation partner Ecovale, shows beaches swarming with baby turtles as they emerge from the sand and then congregate along sand banks before eventually dispersing into the river.
The turtles began hatching in mid-December and continued into early January.
The Giant South American river turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in Latin America, reaching three and a half feet (1.07 meters) and 200 pounds (90 kg).
The turtles play an important ecological role by dispersing seeds that eventually help regenerate vegetation along river corridors.
In addition, they make a significant contribution of biomass to the food web of the river.
WCS is combining the efforts of its country programs in Bolivia and Brazil to develop a coordinated multi-national push to conserve this key population of the great South American river turtle, which used to number in the millions, but the population has been declining due to historical over-harvest for oil, meat, and trade.
“Safeguarding this population of giant South American river turtles takes a community approach,” said German Forero-Medina, Scientific Director with WCS Colombia. “WCS proudly works with local partners with a direct stake in ensuring that this species is part of their natural heritage.”
Collaborators are protecting the eggs from poachers, conducting a census of the nesting females, and collecting other data which will help inform a conservation plan for the species, which includes establishing a protected area to permanently safeguard nesting and hatching turtles.
Khem Sreymom is feeding ants at her farm in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district on January 2. Hong Menea
Ant farms maintained by Khem Sreymom in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district. Hong Menea
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