Around the world briefs
By Associated Press
Stolen shoe mystery solved at Japanese kindergarten when security camera catches weasel in the act
TOKYO | Police thought a shoe thief was on the loose at a kindergarten in southwestern Japan, until a security camera caught the furry culprit in action.
A weasel with a tiny shoe in its mouth was spotted on the video footage after police installed three cameras in the school in the prefecture of Fukuoka.
“It’s great it turned out not to be a human being,” Deputy Police Chief Hiroaki Inada told The Associated Press Sunday. Teachers and parents had feared it could be a disturbed person with a shoe fetish.
Japanese customarily take their shoes off before entering homes. The vanished shoes were all slip-ons the children wore indoors, stored in cubbyholes near the door.
Weasels are known to stash items and people who keep weasels as pets give them toys so they can hide them.
The weasel scattered shoes around and took 15 of them before police were called. Six more were taken the following day. The weasel returned Nov. 11 to steal one more shoe. The camera footage of that theft was seen the next day.
The shoe-loving weasel only took the white indoor shoes made of canvas, likely because they’re light to carry.
“We were so relieved,” Gosho Kodomo-en kindergarten director Yoshihide Saito told Japanese broadcaster RKB Mainichi Broadcasting.
The children got a good laugh when they saw the weasel in the video.
Although the stolen shoes were never found, the remaining shoes are now safe at the kindergarten with nets installed over the cubbyholes.
The weasel, which is believed to be wild, is still on the loose.
Landmark fish and meat
markets in London to close,
ending 1,000 years of tradition
LONDON | Two of London’s most famous markets — one selling fish, the other meat — are set to close in the coming years, bringing an end to traditions stretching back to medieval times.
On Wednesday, the City of London Corporation, the governing body in the capital city’s historic hub, is set to present a bill to Parliament to bring an end to its responsibilities to operate the Billingsgate fish market and the Smithfield meat market, both of which have existed in some shape or form since the 11th century.
That comes a day after the corporation decided not to relocate the markets to a new development just east of London in Dagenham.
It abandoned the planned move because of the growing expense, both as a result of the recent bout of inflation and an increase in construction costs — at around $1.25 billion, as things stand.
Instead, under a new agreement with market traders, the corporation will provide financial compensation and advice. The traders have a bit of time to work out what to do, with operations continuing until at least 2028.
“This decision represents a positive new chapter for Smithfield and Billingsgate Markets in that it empowers Traders to build a sustainable future in premises that align with their long-term business goals,” said Chris Hayward, the policy chairman of the City of London Corporation. “By stepping back from direct market operations, we will help to create opportunities for these businesses to thrive independently.”
The traders will now work out how to relocate to wherever they wish to in London, potentially on their own or within groups.
No doubt, wherever they end up, their place of work will be shiny and new. But it will be lacking in tradition.
At Smithfield, the market traders typically begin work at 10 p.m., selling mainly to the restaurant trade, and finish up at about 6 a.m., just as the rest of the city is waking up. Pubs around the market traditionally had special licenses allowing them to open in the early hours of the morning to serve the traders.
Peter Ackroyd, who wrote the seminal “London: The Biography” in 2000, said the Billingsgate fish market has its roots in the early 11th century, before William the Conqueror turned up with his Norman troops in England to bring an end to Saxon times. Smithfield, built just beyond the old Roman wall, became the go-to place for the sale of horses, sheep and cattle later that century.
Ackroyd describes how, for hundreds of years, Smithfield and Billingsgate, as well as other markets selling flowers, fruit and vegetables, and poultry, were woven into the fabric of London life, though often known for drunkenness, general rowdiness and violence. The great British author Charles Dickens described Smithfield, for example, as a center of “filth and mire,” referencing the market in both “Oliver Twist” and “Great Expectations.”
With the advent of food standards and regular rebuilds, the markets are clearly not as squalid as they were in medieval times.
But another costly rebuilding was looming. Smithfield’s buildings date from Victorian times, with some modifications, and suffered a major fire in 1958, while Billingsgate has been at its current site in London Docklands since 1982, a district that was then derelict but is now home to the gleaming towers of the Canary Wharf financial district.
There are proposals to build 4,000 much-needed new houses at the Billingsgate site, while Smithfield is set to become a cultural center and will house the new London Museum.
Biggest November snowstorm in half century hits Seoul and grounds flights
SEOUL, South Korea | The biggest November snowstorm to hit South Korea’s capital in more than a half century blanketed the capital on Wednesday, grounding hundreds of flights, disrupting commuter traffic and leaving at least two dead.
South Korea’s weather agency said 7.8 to 10 inches of snow fell in northern areas of Seoul and nearby areas. The agency said it was the heaviest snowstorm Seoul has experienced in November in 52 years. A storm on Nov. 28, 1972, dumped 4.7 inches.
South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said one person died and four others were injured in a five-vehicle accident in the eastern town of Hongcheon.
In the town of Yangju, a tent-type garage collapsed and killed a person who was removing snow, according to South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety. The snow caused temporary power outages at about 230 homes in the city of Gwangju, near Seoul, according to the Gyeonggi provincial government.
The storm blanketed much of the country, with the central, eastern and southwestern regions recording about 10 to 28 centimeters (3.9 to 11 inches) of cover.
At least 317 flights were canceled or delayed at airports nationwide, while authorities ordered around 90 ferries to remain at port. They also shut down hundreds of hiking trails.
Icy road conditions slowed down the morning commute in Seoul and led to massive crowds at subways, causing delays. Emergency workers across the country responded to fallen trees, road signs and other safety risks.
Officials at the Safety Ministry said they couldn’t confirm any school closures as of Wednesday afternoon.
Visitors dressed in traditional hanbok garb were busy taking photographs at Seoul’s snow-covered medieval palaces while snowmen popped up in playgrounds and schoolyards across the country.
The weather agency said snow will continue in most parts of the country until noon Thursday.
The world’s oldest man has
died in England at 112
LONDON | For nearly nine months, John Alfred Tinniswood held the title of world’s oldest man, marking his 112th birthday during his reign.
His record-holding status ended Monday when Tinniswood died in a care home in northwest England near Liverpool, where he was born on Aug. 26, 1912, his family said in a statement.
Tinniswood attributed his longevity to “pure luck.”
“You either live long or you live short, and you can’t do much about it,” the retired accountant and great-grandfather told the Guinness World Records when he earned the title in April.
If there was any secret to it, though, he said moderation was key to a healthy life. He never smoked, rarely drank and followed no special diet, apart from having fish and chips every Friday.
“If you drink too much or you eat too much or you walk too much — if you do too much of anything — you’re going to suffer eventually,” Tinniswood said.
Tinniswood was born a few months after the sinking of the Titanic. He lived through two world wars and served in the British Army Pay Corps in World War II.
Tinniswood was 111 this spring when he claimed the record after Juan Vicente Pérez, of Venezuela, died at 114.
Guinness World Records did not name who would replace Tinniswood as the new record holder.
He is survived by his daughter Susan, four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. His wife of 44 years, Blodwen, died in 1986.
When Tinniswood turned 112 in August, he said he was taking it in stride — like everything else he did.
“I don’t feel that age, I don’t get excited over it,” he said. “That’s probably why I’ve reached it.”
The world’s oldest living woman, and oldest living person, is Japan’s 116-year-old Tomiko Itooka.
—From AP reports
