Taiwan Tragedy

Taiwan's navy has appealed for help from local fisherman, offering a cash reward to anyone who finds a torpedo its sailors lost during a drill last week. The offer follows four days of futile searching in the area around the Tsoying base in southern Taiwan, the navy said in a statement on Tuesday.

Any fisherman who snares the German-built SUT torpedo will scoop 30,000 Taiwan dollars (£630).It is the second time submariners aboard the Dutch-made Hai Long, or "Sea Dragon" have lost a torpedo. In 2003 the missing weapon was washed ashore.

Taiwan relies heavily on foreign countries for its weapons, and Beijing annually condemns US sales of missiles and helicopters to Taipei. Under a 1979 Act of Congress, Washington is legally obliged to help Taiwan defend itself.

Taiwan has been ruled by its own government since the Chinese Communist Party took control of mainland China in 1949. Taipei says it needs the latest US military technology to counter the threat posed by the estimated 1000-1500 missiles aimed at the island by China.

Prominent Delay

The aging Frank Dryman, a notorious killer from Montana's past, had hidden in plain sight for so long that he forgot he was a wanted man.
In an exclusive jailhouse interview with The Associated Press, Dryman detailed how he invented a whole new life, with a new family, an Arizona wedding chapel business — and even volunteer work for local civic clubs.
"They just forgot about me," said Dryman, in his first interview since being caught and sent back to the prison he last left in the 1960s. "I was a prominent member of the community."
That is, until the grandson of the man he shot six times in the back came looking.
Dryman had been one step ahead of the law since 1951 when he avoided the hangman's noose, a relic of frontier justice still in use at the time.Less than 20 years later he was out on parole. Not content with that good fortune, he skipped out and evaded authorities for four decades. After a while he even forgot about hiding and signed up for V.A. benefits from his days in the Navy in 1948.
Now the 79-year-old Dryman is back behind bars, likely for what remains of his life. He was caught only after his long-ago victim's grandson got curious and started poking around.

Crushing Fall

In a truly bizarre turn of events, a Hong Kong-based widow from the Ma On Shan district ended up killing a passing pedestrian when she lost her footing and fell from outside her high-rise flat. The elderly and considerably larger woman, Lam, was picking up her washing when she slipped and plunged down from the 27th floor and landed on Chan Kwai-mui, a 51 year old cleaner, who was on her way from work. Kwai-mui was crushed to death under the weight of Lam.

It was a security guard who discovered the aftermath at the bottom of the block where both women were “in a heap”.

The Farm And The Furious

A Chinese farmer is fighting off property developers who want his land, firing rockets from a homemade cannon made out of a wheelbarrow and pipes, state media said on Tuesday. 

Yang Youde, who lives on the outskirts of the bustling city of Wuhan, in central Hubei province, said he had fended off two eviction attempts with his improvised weapon, which uses ammunition made from locally sold fireworks. 

"I shot only over their heads to frighten them," he told the China Daily of his attacks on demolition workers sent to move him off his land. "I didn't want to cause any injuries."The rockets, which can travel over 100 yards, exploded with a deafening bang, the official paper added. It did not say if anyone had been injured.

His approach is more aggressive than most, but Mr Yang's problem is a common one.

Anger over property confiscation is one of the leading causes of unrest in China, with many people forced to give up homes and land to make way for anything from roads to luxury villas.

Mr Yang said the local government had offered him 130,000 yuan (£13,000) for his fields, on which they want to erect "department buildings". He said the land is worth five times that amount.

Construction ditches have already been dug across the land of less obstinate neighbors.

A first eviction team attacked Mr Yang in February after his rockets ran out, but local police came to his rescue. In May he held off 100 people by firing from a makeshift watchtower.
The government is planning to reform property confiscation rules, but rights groups say the changes do not go far enough to address the potentially destabilizing issue.

Palmtree Save

A four-year-old boy had a lucky escape after falling from a 17th floor hotel balcony only to bounce off palm trees and land with minor injuries. Rescuers found Joey Williams still alive after he bounced off a cluster of palm trees and landed on a dirt surface near the hotel's swimming pool.

Less than four hours after the fall at his hotel in Miami, Florida, he was sitting up in bed eating chips and drinking.

Lt Ignatius Carroll, a spokesman for Miami Fire Rescue, said it was amazing the boy was still alive. "I've seen people die after falling 30 feet, but this boy fell up to 80ft," he said. "He looked to be in pretty good shape. He wasn't all banged up like we expected."
Joey was with his parents and grandparents at the Doubletree hotel in Miami when the incident occurred on Saturday.
His grandfather Jerry Unawich said the youngster had been chasing a balloon in the hotel room. When the balloon drifted out on the balcony his grandson chased after it and is believed to have climbed over the railing surrounding the balcony.
Williams landed by the hotel's pool on the 10th floor of the building in Miami, Florida.
"There are no broken bones and doctors told us everything is fine," said Unawich.