SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — A South Korean man who blamed a live octopus for the death of his girlfriend has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her, according to a report. Yonhap news agency said police had initially concluded in 2010 that the man’s girlfriend suffocated while swallowing an entire octopus that stuck in her throat. It said prosecutors reopened the case five months later after her family found that the man had received $180,000 in insurance money for her death. Yonhap said a court in the city of Incheon convicted the 31-year-old man of smothering the woman to death. Live octopuses are a delicacy in South Korea and are usually eaten after being cut into pieces.

BEIJING (AP) — A Hong Kong newspaper says Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao’s family has denied a report that it has amassed assets worth $2.7 billion. The New York Times reported that most of the wealth was accumulated after Wen rose to high office in 2002. The South China Morning Post published a letter from lawyers of Wen’s family that said the "hidden riches" mentioned in the report do not exist. It said family members who are engaged in business have not conducted any illegal activities and do not hold any shares in any companies. The New York Times has said it stands by its story. The report is a blow to Wen’s reputation as a politician concerned with bettering the lives of ordinary Chinese.

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s economic growth slowed to a three-year low last quarter as private investment fell sharply, outweighing an increase in spending by the government and households. The Bank of Korea said Asia’s fourth-largest economy expanded 1.6 percent over a year earlier in the three months ended September 30. The economy inched up 0.2 percent from the previous quarter. The growth was the lowest since a one percent expansion in the third quarter of 2009 when South Korea’s economy started to recover from the global financial crisis. The central bank noted a decline in corporate investment, which wiped out a small increase in private consumption and an uptick in exports.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense is moving from Lexington, Kentucky to stand at stud in Japan. The Courier-Journal reports Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al Maktoum bought Street Sense from owner-breeder James Tafel in 2007. That purchase was part of a spree of purchases to boost Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley breeding operation in the United States. Street Sense has been at Darley in Lexington since he retired from racing after his three-year-old campaign. Street Sense remains the only Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner to also win the Derby. The announcement from Darley said that the operation has a number of mares in Japan and Street Sense will breed the majority of them in 2013

MANILA, The Philippines (AP) — Philippine customs officials say they have seized seven baby pythons that were being smuggled inside a shipment of toy cars from Indonesia. Customs commissioner Rozzano Rufino Biazon says the seven "ball" pythons seized at Manila’s airport were most likely going to be sold to exotic pet collectors. He says the pythons fetch up to $240 each at local markets. The ball pythons are named as such because they like to curl into a ball. Biazon says the shipment violates the Philippines’ customs code and wildlife protection act banning the entry of exotic species unless cleared by authorities after an environmental impact study.