Armed gang steals toilet rolls in panic-buying Hong Kong
Hong Kong: A gang of knife-wielding men jumped a delivery driver in Hong Kong and stole hundreds of toilet rolls, police said Monday, in a city wracked by shortages caused by coronavirus panic-buying.
Toilet rolls have become hot property in the densely packed business hub, despite government assurances that supplies remain unaffected by the virus outbreak. Supermarkets have found themselves unable to restock quickly enough, leading to sometimes lengthy queues and shelves wiped clean within moments of opening. There has also been a run on staples such as rice and pasta, as well as hand sanitiser and other cleaning items. Police said a truck driver was held up early Monday by three men outside a supermarket in Mong Kok, a working-class district with a history of “triad” organised crime gangs.
“A delivery man was threatened by three knife-wielding men who took toilet paper worth more than HK$1,000 ($130),” a police spokesman told AFP. A police source told AFP the missing rolls were later recovered and two suspects were arrested on scene although it was not clear if they were directly involved in the armed robbery. Footage from Now TV showed police investigators standing around multiple crates of toilet roll outside a Wellcome supermarket. One of the crates was only half stacked.
Hong Kongers reacted with a mixture of bafflement and merriment to the heist. One woman passing by the scene of the crime who was interviewed by local TV station iCable quipped: “I’d steal face masks, but not toilet roll.” The city, which has 58 confirmed coronavirus cases, is currently experiencing a genuine shortage of face masks.
The hysteria that has swept through Hong Kong since the coronavirus outbreak exploded on mainland China is partly fuelled by the city’s tragic recent history of confronting a deadly disease. In 2003, some 299 Hong Kongers died of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), an outbreak that began on the mainland but was initially covered up by Beijing — action that left a lasting legacy of distrust towards the authorities on public health issues. Authorities have blamed online rumours for the panic-buying and say supplies of food and household goods remain stable. But the panic-buying has itself created shortages in one of the world’s most densely populated cities where supermarkets and pharmacies have limited floor space. Photos posted online have shown some people proudly stuffing their cramped city apartments with packets of hoarded toilet rolls.
On Sunday, the head of the city’s Consumer Council warned people not to stockpile toilet rolls in their flats as they were prone to mould in the notoriously humid climate. (AFP)
Spinning Top gains popularity among children in Japan
Tokyo [Japan]: Every year in Japan, the national championship is held for “Spinning Top” game called “Koma”. It is managed using string.
“This movement is called ‘cross attack’ in which the item must be caught as the hands move cross,” said a player.
Techniques of movement ‘Spinning Top’ have a unique name that players name as one pleases.
“Technical name is twitching and turning. “Spinning Top” moves to the left hand on the string. Then return and going around on the hand. If possible, I got it well,” said another player.
It is considered one of the oldest games for children in the world and in Japan, it is also very popular among young and old.
“The game requires moving hands and mental focus so I think it is useful for children,” the player added.
Fjita is director of spinning top challenge tournament. He teaches people the fun of “Spinning Top”.
Yoshihito Fujita, Japan Koma Museum, said: “Japanese “SpinningTops” is different from other “SpinningTops” in the world because its axis is longer and therefore rotates faster and longer and thanks to the long axis can also perform a lot of different movements. This museum has Spinning Tops from many countries around the world, they are usually considered traditional toys.”
“We have in the Museum of Koma about fifty thousand items and have collected it from all over the world. Spinning top is very cheap toy comparing with other toys, so it expended and played around the world. It has been popular for long time. People are usually interested in things that rotate. And recently many are learning about this easy toy but at the same time it is challenging. I hope to spread more the fun of this toy. There are many ways to play spinning top around the world and it always have the power of making people happy and smile,” said Fujita. (ANI)
Passenger plane weighing 5,73,794 kg lands sideways in London
London: A plane has pulled off an extraordinary landing at Heathrow Airport, after contending with powerful headwinds brought by Storm Dennis.
Footage shows the pilot’s skilful manoeuvre, as the Etihad Airbus A380 aircraft hovered sideways over the runway before successfully landing on Saturday, a report in British media said on Sunday.
The incident came as hundreds of flights into and out of the UK were grounded on Saturday because of Storm Dennis, with easyJet cancelling more than 230 flights
The storm, the second to hit the UK in as many weeks, has unleashed strong winds and heavy rain over the weekend. In some parts of the UK, more than a month’s rain has fallen in just two days, causing the Environment Agency (EA) to issue a record number of flood warnings and alerts for England.
John Curtin, the EA’s Flood and Coastal Risk Management Executive Director, said on Sunday that the 594 warnings and alerts in place were a record.
Parts of Wales saw more than a month’s rainfall in 48 hours from Friday to Sunday morning. (IANS)