Woman’s corpse delivered via courier mail in Tokyo
Tokyo: The police in Tokyo are investigating a strange case of a disappeared woman whose corpse was delivered via courier mail billed on her name, local media reported Tuesday. According to the newspaper Asahi, Rika Okada, 29, was reported missing March 21 from the southern city of Osaka in Japan.
The body was discovered in a two-metre box at a storage locker in Hachioji city, 40 km west of Tokyo, the police sources said. The box, labelled “doll”, was billed in her name and was delivered across the distance of over 400 km. The bill for the locker, from where the body was recovered, was also paid using her credit card.
The investigators discovered a dozen stabs on her body but did not find defensive wounds on her hands or arms, according to sources quoted by Asahi.
The investigators are analysing the transactions made from her credit card, that had recently shelled out around $1,000.
The police sources have suggested that the card could have been used to buy a Shanghai-bound ticket May 3, amid local media reports of the victim’s card being used by another woman to leave the country.
Shortly before her disappearance, she had written on her Facebook page that she was going to meet an old friend whom she had not seen for many years. (IANS)
Bangladesh woman pours acid on stalker’s ardour
Dhaka: A woman has been arrested in Bangladesh after she threw acid on a man she alleged was stalking her for a long time.
Police said Khaedmul Islam, 28, a trader of agriculture products, was severely burnt when the woman threw acid at him around 11 p.m. Monday in a village in Baliadangi Upazila of Thakurgaon, bdnews24.com reported.
“Khadem stalked me for a long time and proposed sex despite my unwillingness. He wouldn’t stop despite my pleadings,” the arrested woman said.
The woman said she could not control herself when this began to cause problems in her family.
“I called him to my room last night… he thought I was finally agreeable, so he came over quickly. I closed the door and threw acid on him,” she said.
Neighbours, who heard him scream, came to his rescue and took him to the Upazila Health Complex, Ziaur Rahman Zia, a police officer, said.
“The acid has burned most of his body, including his male organs,” the police officer said. (IANS)
Robots to replace astronauts for space repair works
Toronto: Soon, spacewalks can be a thing of the past. While robots are replacing humans on earth in various walks of life, a Canadian robot is repairing and fixing cameras on the ”Canadarm2” and its mobile base at the International Space Station (ISS).
Dextre is currently in the middle of a week-long repair job to replace and fix cameras on the “Canadarm2” and would finish the job Thursday.
“`Dextre’, `Canadarm2′ and the base make up the space station’s robotic Mobile Servicing System, making this the first ever robot self-repair in space,” the Canadian Space Agency announced in a statement.
“Using the ‘Canadarm2’ and Dextre reduces the overall number of spacewalks, definitely,” Mathieu Caron, mission control supervisor at the Canadian Space Agency, was quoted as saying.
The robots are controlled from the Canadian Space Agency headquarters in Longueuil, Quebec, and NASA’s Mission Control Centre in Houston, Texas.
Spacewalks are very complex and use a lot of space station resources while robots never need to return to the inside of the space station, making them more flexible, the Canadian Space Agency said. (IANS)
World’s fattest man dies at 48
London: A Mexican once listed as the world’s heaviest man, who weighed a staggering 560 kg at one point, has died at the age of 48. Manuel Uribe, from Monterrey, was awarded the Guinness World Records title of heaviest man – living in January 2006, after making a television appeal for help with his condition. At that time Manuel weighed 560 kg.
After receiving medical assistance following his TV appearance, Manuel slowly started to lose weight and by 2007 was reported to have lessened to 381 kg. Nevertheless, he remained morbidly obese and was unable to stand up on his own, having been bed-ridden since 2002. His death was confirmed by an official of the health department of Nuevo Leon state, where the city of Monterrey is located, according to a Guinness statement.
The spokesperson went on to confirm that Manuel had been taken to hospital earlier this month because of an abnormal heartbeat. Doctors have yet to confirm the cause of death. Craig Glenday, Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief, said: “I had the pleasure of meeting with Manuel at his home in Monterrey when he first agreed to be weighed. Despite being bed-bound, he had a redoubtable spirit and vowed to do all he could to lose his world record status.
“He was very open and honest about his condition, and hoped that by bringing his story to the wider public, Guinness World Records could help him secure the medical attention he needed. “Although his record remained unchallenged, it was inspiring to see him succeeding in his subsequent weight-loss efforts and face his challenges with a smile. He’ll be a much-missed member of the Guinness World Records family,” Glenday said. (PTI)
Meet lawyer who has world’s most beautiful women as clients
New York: Attorney Tom Mullaney has a job he can certainly love as he represents some of the world’s most beautiful women in legal disputes.
The lawyer told the New York Post that since people tend to take advantage of models who are not all that aware of the financial affairs in this jet-set industry, it is his job to guide them on whether the contracts they have is good for them, or if it can be improved.
Mullaney has represented a dozen industry clients in the past eight years, and currently has European beauty Marina Asenova as his client, who praised the lawyer’s professionalism saying that he has good heart.
Former Manhattan federal judge Richard Holwell, who had worked with the lawyer 20 years ago, added that Mullaney has a persistent nature which comes in handy in this field. (ANI)
Man offers word ‘The’ for sale on eBay
MELBOURNE: An enterprising Australian man is selling the English word ‘The’ written on a piece of scrap paper on eBay and the bidding has already reached a whopping AUS$10,099. The man already has offers from 18 bidders who have made 44 bids — the highest till now being that of AUS$10,099 and there are still three days to go. In his post, the seller “sweatyman” said, “I am selling the word ‘The’.” Sweatyman lists the item as “a versatile word that can be used in literally thousands of sentences,” the ‘Metro’ reported. “Ideal for any situation, this fun-loving item fits perfectly in the palm of your hand, wallet, or purse,” he said. “Handwritten with blue ballpoint pen, on a torn piece of Reflex A4 paper, this versatile word can be used in literally thousands of sentences. “For example: ‘The dogs have escaped again’; ‘I will buy some meat from the local deli.’; ‘What’s the time?'” he wrote on eBay. The seven-day bidding began at 0.99 cents and the seller won’t accept returns for the item. (PTI)
Soon, an app to curb food waste
Washington: Giving a boost to the growing number of green gazettes, researchers have now developed an app that could help curb food waste which leads to not only loss of money but also natural resources. Named PareUp, the app is designed to bring those who wish to sell their extra food and those who wish to buy them to the negotiating table. The app will have an inventory of each of the participating store’s products and each day the retailers would be able update the inventory and report its excess items. Like an online clearinghouse, the app will enable consumers to log on and see what is discounted that day in their area. They can then travel to the store that is selling the produce at a discounted market rate and purchase it like they would do any other produce. PareUp, which would be free for everyone to download, was developed by a team of Margret Tung, Anuj Jhunjhunwala and Jason Chen. It is scheduled to be launched in New York soon, media reports said. (IANS)