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From The Asian Reporter, V20, #22 (August 16, 2010), page 2.
Tokyo’s oldest man actually dead for years
TOKYO (AP) — A man listed as the oldest living male in Tokyo in fact died some 30 years ago, city officials said after his body was found mummified in his bed. Police visited the home of Sogen Kato at the request of ward officials updating their list of centenarians ahead of Respect for the Elderly Day in September. Kato was born July 22, 1899. Welfare officials have tried to meet Kato since earlier this year, but his family members repeatedly chased them away, saying Kato was well but didn’t want to see anyone, said Tomoko Iwamatsu, an official at Tokyo’s downtown Adachi Ward, where Kato lived. Officials grew suspicious and sought an investigation by police, who forced their way into the house. Police said the mummified body believed to be Kato was lying in his bed, wearing underwear and pajamas, covered with a blanket. His granddaughter told investigators Kato holed up in his room about 30 years ago after declaring he wanted to be a living Buddha, police and Tokyo officials said. They believe Kato died soon after that. Tokyo police were investigating possible crimes on suspicion Kato’s family received pension money intended for the man and his dead wife. "His family must have known he has been dead all these years and acted as if nothing happened," said Tokyo metropolitan welfare official Yutaka Muroi. "It’s so eerie."
Porn site airs at Indonesian parliament
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesian lawmakers and journalists got a shock when an online porn video blazed across dozens of computer monitors outside the parliament press room. Witnesses say it took security guards 10 minutes to shut down the computers. The touch-screen monitors are used by visitors to check the parliament agenda and other political activities. House Secretary-General Nining Indra said the unwanted interruption was probably caused by someone trying to access a porn site on the computer system. She said officials would use closed circuit TV footage to investigate. Indonesia is the world’s most populous Muslim nation. The incident occurred as authorities were trying to crack down on porn ahead of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, which began August 11.
Vietnam ambulances nabbed for trafficking timber
HANOI, Vietnam (AP) — Police in central Vietnam have seized two ambulances and arrested their drivers for trafficking 150 cubic feet of rare wood. The Vietnam News said authorities found the barian kingwood in a raid in the Central Highland province of Dak Nong. Police are continuing to investigate the case. Barian kingwood has a striking grain and is considered an endangered tree in Vietnam. Police were not available for comment.
South Korea police raid Google over Street View service
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean police investigators raided Google’s Seoul offices this month on suspicion the internet search company was illegally gathering personal information for its street mapping service. Police official Ahn Chang-soo said a cybercrime unit is investigating Google Korea for possibly violating South Korean communications and privacy laws with Street View, a map service that includes photographs of streets taken by Google cameras. Ahn said police confiscated computers and hard drives for analysis and that company officials will soon be summoned. The service has been controversial in Germany and other countries because of concerns the recording invades personal privacy.
Oh deer! Six animals escape from the Singapore zoo
SINGAPORE (AP) — Six sambar deer escaped from their enclosure at a Singapore zoo after a falling tree damaged the surrounding fence, the zoo said. Five of the six were recaptured while the remaining one was still wandering the Night Safari park, according to zoo officials. The zoo said it didn’t know when the enclosure’s fence was damaged. One of the recaptured deer managed to escape the zoo itself, officials said. The New Paper reported the deer wandered into an orchid garden, which the owner was tending at the time. "It was almost as tall as me and was sniffing around the orchids," said Mark Kaufmann, a 47-year-old artist. "It’s not every day you have a deer walking through your garden." Kaufmann called the zoo and the deer was caught, the paper said. Adult sambar deer are usually four to six feet tall and weigh 350 to 575 pounds. They are found in India, China, Australia, throughout Southeast Asia, and in the United States. Night Safari said the escape was the first since the nocturnal zoo opened in 1994. In 2008, three white Bengal tigers mauled a 32-year-old Malaysia cleaner to death at the adjacent Singapore Zoo after the man jumped into a moat surrounding the animals’ enclosure.
Rare Sumatran tiger kills Indonesian teenager
PEKANBARU, Indonesia (AP) — Conservationists said a rare Sumatran tiger has killed a teenager in western Indonesia. Ahmad Rafi was mauled while he and his parents were tapping rubber trees at their plantation in Rimbo Melintang, a village in Riau province. Hutomo, the head of a local conservation agency, said the 17-year-old boy’s mangled body was recovered and the tiger had been chased away by frightened villagers. Indonesia is home to about 250 Sumatran tigers. Their habitat is threatened by rampant deforestation. Tigers are also hunted for use of their body parts in traditional medicines, health tonics, decorations, and even for fashion. As their habitat diminishes, many of the endangered animals roam into villages or onto plantations in search of food, setting off conflicts with humans.
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