Bullet train with snake on board makes emergency stop

A snake lays in a container
after it was caught in bullet train,
in Hamamatsu, central Japan.

An unlikely stowaway on a Japanese bullet train (shinkansen) forced the country's usually uber-punctual rail service to make an emergency stop Monday.

A female passenger glimpsed a brown snake wrapped around an armrest through the gap in the seats in front of her.

Saudi cuts ministers’ salaries by 20 per cent

Saudi Arabia's King Salman

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman on Monday cut cabinet ministers’ salaries by 20 percent and reduced other state officials’ benefits in a continuing austerity drive to cope with lower oil revenues.

The 160 members of the Shura Council, who include 30 women, will see a 15 percent drop in their annual allowances for housing, furniture and cars, a royal decree said.

Tottenham look for first Champions League win in Moscow

Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino said he hoped his side could overcome an avalanche of injuries to claim a first Champions League win this season against CSKA Moscow on Tuesday.

The Argentinian coach is already without England striker Harry Kane and will now also see Mousa Dembele, Eric Dier, Danny Rose and Moussa Sissoko sit out the clash in Russia.

Leicester face Champions League home bow

Four months on from their astonishing 5,000-1 Premier League triumph, the stardust returns to Leicester City’s King Power Stadium in Tuesday’s first ever Champions League home game against Porto.

Leicester have made a faltering start to their title defence and after Saturday’s 4-1 loss at Manchester United, they have now lost as many league games — three — as in the entirety of last season.

Police shoot fleeing robbers in Warri

The police in Delta State, on Monday, shot dead four suspected armed robbers around the Ajamimogha area of Warri, after he had dispossessed a man of N126,000.

The gunmen were allegedly shot dead after a Volkswagen car with a Lagos registration number, FKJ 385 CV, which they were escaping with, rammed into an electric pole around Ekpen Street, off Ajamimogha road.

That bottled water may quench your thirst or kill you (II)

In this second part of the report on Nigeria’s booming bottled water industry and the underground operators endangering the lives of consumers, experts fear the huge spending on packaged water may hit N35tn in the next 10 years. KUNLE FALAYI writes

With an annual spending of N2.9tn on bottled and sachet water by Nigerians, as reported last week, experts have said if no urgent solution is found to solve the current water crisis, the spending may  hit N35tn over the next 10 years.

Police arrest man for raping 15-year-old daughter

The Lagos State Police Command have arrested a man for allegedly raping his 15-year-old daughter and administering drugs on her to prevent pregnancy.

The spokesperson of the state Police Command, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the arrest on Saturday.