A student found cheating during an exam in Saudi Arabia later opened fire on the car of the teacher who caught him out. The student, who was later arrested, fired four bullets at the teacher as he was driving home, although none of the shots penetrated the car's bodywork, Saudi's Al Hayat newspaper said. There were no details of what disciplinary measures the teacher had taken against the student, but over the past month several students caught cheating in exams were prevented from completing the test.
A month after opening, the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest tower, closed its 124th floor observation deck because of a power glitch that reportedly left 15 people stuck in a lift between floors. Hundreds of ticket holders hoping to enjoy the view from the 828-metre tower's viewing platform have since been turned away. It was not clear when At The Top would reopen, although some reports suggested it could be tomorrow.
For years it has been the source of jokes, derision and a huge loss of dignity for those forced to wear one - but now, Britain's traditional open-back hospital gown is about to undergo a modesty makeover by a top designer. Ben de Lisi, better known for dressing actresses such as Kate Winslet, said he had convinced the health department to allow him to create a more modest, but still functional, gown. The hospital "dress" will go on trial at London's King's College Hospital next month.
Dubai Police revealed how they had raided a flat where untrained surgeons were carrying out sensitive cosmetic operations such as facelifts, lip and cheek enlargements and Botox injections. Beds were used as operating tables, tools were mixed in with kitchen utensil and staff were found to be reusing plastic gloves. The owner of a nearby beauty clinic, believed to be acting as a front for the bogus surgery, was arrested and fined US$5,400 (Dh19,800).
Thousands of people protested in Sri Lanka against the arrest and possible court martial of a former army chief, Gen Sarath Fonseka, who led a successful military campaign against Tamil Tiger rebels but lost a heated presidential poll last month to the incumbent, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Opposition parties said they feared the general might be killed while in detention to prevent him testifying before an international court on the state's alleged war crimes during its 26-year conflict with Tamil rebels.
Iran continued to taunt the West with claims that it had enriched nuclear fuel to 20 per cent, enough to allow a research reactor to make medical isotopes for cancer patients but not enough to make a nuclear warhead. It also claimed to have the capacity to make an atomic bomb if it wanted to. The US pressed the UN Security Council to quickly approve a resolution sanctioning Iran, while it also slapped its own sanctions on an engineering firm said to be linked to the Revolutionary Guards. In Tehran, tens of thousands of people massed to mark the 31st anniversary of the revolution, the day the US-backed Shah was toppled. Opposition protests were quickly quelled by police.
Heavy winds and rain set off a series of avalanches along a mountainous pass in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 170 people and burying hundreds more in their cars. About two dozen avalanches swamped a 14.5 kilometre stretch of the Salang Pass, a key road about 3,800 metres high that connects the Afghan capital with the north. Some of the victims were found frozen to death inside their vehicles. Hundreds of police, along with 100 local volunteers, were involved in the frantic effort to dig out survivors.
It was another bad week for the car industry. Fresh from a global recall of eight million cars, Toyota, the world's biggest motor company, said it would recall all of its eco-friendly hybrids due to a breaking system problem. There were also concerns about the steering on Toyota's top-selling Corolla. The hybrid recall, covering both the Prius and Lexus models, amounts to about half a million cars. Another Japanese carmaker, Honda, recalled close to 950,000 Accords and Civic cars because of problems with the air bag.
It's a bus, it's a boat ... no it's the amfibus, a vehicle that can travel on both land and water. Stagecoach, one of the world's biggest coach and rail companies, began a trial of the bus on the River Clyde in Scotland this week ahead of an eventual commercial launch. The bus, which can seat up to 50 people, has both wheels and a hull so it can float on the river and travel on roads at speeds up to 60mph. It has been proposed as a replacement for a ferry service that will shut down next month.
Michael Jackson's doctor pleaded not guilty to causing the death of his popstar client seven months ago. Answering to charges of involuntary manslaughter in a Los Angeles courtroom, as hundreds of Jackson supporters massed outside, Dr Conrad Murray rejected accusations that he was negligent in administering sedatives to the musician. A coroner confirmed Jackson's death was a homicide and that he died from "acute propofol intoxication", a reference to the drug the star took to help him sleep. Dr Murray was released on US$75,000 bail. If convicted he could face up to four years in jail.
A former veteran of the Iraq war was arrested for holding his four-year-old daughter's head under water because she could not recite the alphabet. The 27-year-old US army sergeant admitted to police that he had dunked the girl's face in hot water three or four times. "She said the letters after that," Joshua Tabor is quoted as saying in a police report. The assault has drawn comparisons with the US torture practice of waterboarding.
The New York Police Department released new photographs of the devastated World Trade Center on the morning of September 11, 2001. An NYPD detective, Greg Semendinger, was flying in a police helicopter when he took the photos, which show the smouldering remains of the twin towers and billows of smoke rising up into the sky. The photos were released after the TV news channel, ABC News, filed a Freedom of Information Act request in 2009 with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the federal agency that investigated the collapse of the twin towers.
A court in Hong Kong overturned the verdict against an American woman convicted four years ago of drugging her investment banker husband, bashing him to death with a metal ornament and then rolling his body up in an expensive carpet and stashing it in a storage locker. The court ordered a new trial on grounds that there were material errors in the first one. The trial of Nancy Kissel captivated the former British colony with its lurid details of sex, drugs and the decadent lives of the city's expatriates. It was dubbed the "Milkshake Murder" because Kissel was said to have laced a strawberry milkshake with a sedative before clubbing her husband to death. Kissel has always maintained that she attacked her husband in self defence.
cbiggs@thenational.ae
