Bear attacks hit record high in Japan
Tokyo, Nov 2: The number of bear attacks in Japan between April and October this year has increased to 180, a record high since the statistics started in 2006, according to the Environment Ministry. According to the Ministry, the previous record high was 158 logged in fiscal 2020, rports Xinhua news agency. Five people have been killed in attacks by bears so far in fiscal 2023, which started in April, it added. The monthly number of people attacked by bears stood at 15 in August, soaring to 38 in September and 71 in October. The Tohoku region in northeastern Japan accounts for around 70 per cent of the total. Experts said that bears have appeared near human settlements more frequently this year partly because they cannot get enough food in the mountains due to poor harvest of nuts. (IANS)
Lunch host accused of killing three with poisonous mushrooms in Australia
CANBERRA, Nov 2: The host of a weekend family lunch at her Australian country home was charged Thursday with murdering her ex-husband’s parents and aunt with poisonous mushrooms and attempting to murder a fourth guest, police said. Police arrested Erin Patterson, 49, at her home in the Victoria state town of Leongatha, where her former husband’s parents, Gail and Don Patterson, both 70, Gail Patterson’s sister Heather Wilkinson, 66, and Wilkinson’s husband, Ian Wilkinson, 68, were invited for lunch on July 29. All four guests were hospitalised the next day, and only Ian Wilkinson survived. The Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported that Patterson wrote in a statement that she cooked a beef Wellington steak dish for the lunch using and used mushrooms bought from a major supermarket chain and dried mushrooms from an Asian grocery store. She wrote that she also ate the meal and later had stomach pains and diarrhea. Ian Wilkinson, a Baptist pastor, was released from a hospital in late September and police say he continues to recover. Murder in Victoria carries a potential maximum sentence of 25 years in prison. Patterson was expected to remain in police custody until she appears in a local court on Friday when she can potentially apply to be released on bail. (AP)
