Domain Of Singapore Tutoring Experts

Better Believe It......Because They Actually Happen(ed) Collection 73
Chef's food decoration at Chinese pre-school poisons 233 children By Laura Bicker A photo provided by the kindergarten to parents show bright yellow corn rolls and stir-fried vegetables More than 200 children are being treated in hospital with lead poisoning in north-west China after school chefs used inedible paint to decorate their food. Eight people have been arrested after tests showed the food samples from a kindergarten in Tianshui City in Gansu province had lead levels that were 2,000 times over the national safety limit. In total, 233 children from Peixin Kindergarten had high levels of lead in their blood after eating steamed red date cake and sausage corn bun. The school principal asked the kitchen staff to buy the paint online, according to a police statement. But after the children fell ill, officers had to search for the supplies which had been hidden. The paint was clearly marked as inedible, the statement said. One parent told the BBC that he was worried about the long-term effects of lead poisoning on his son's liver and digestive system. Mr Liu took his child to hospital in Xi'an for testing last week after other parents raised the alarm. His son now needs 10 days of treatment and medication. Chinese state media aired footage which it said was from CCTV cameras in the kitchen which showed staff adding paint pigment to the food. Investigators found that the red date cake and the corn sausage rolls had lead levels of 1052mg/kg and 1340mg/kg respectively which both exceed the national food safety standard limit of 0.5mg/kg. The principal of the privately-run kindergarten and seven others, including its main investor, will now be investigated on suspicion of producing toxic and harmful food. Full story at BBC News (July 2025)
Teen Couple Charged With Murder Of Cyberjaya Student Found Dead In University Dorm Sri Darvien Mathavan and Thineswary Devendran, both 19, were charged in court today, 10 July, over the killing of Maniishapriet Kaur Akhara. By Sadho Ram Image via Mohd Fadli Hamzah/New Straits Times Two individuals have been charged with the murder of Maniishapriet Kaur Akhara at the Sepang Magistrate's Court today, 10 July The main accused, Sri Darvien Mathavan, 19, was charged under Section 302 of the Penal Code for the murder of the 20-year-old physiotherapy student, who was found bludgeoned to death on the morning of 24 June in her dormitory unit provided by the University of Cyberjaya. His co-accused and girlfriend, Thineswary Devendran, also 19, was charged under Section 109 of the Penal Code for abetting the murder, read together with Section 302. According to the charge sheet, Darvien, an odd-job worker, allegedly committed the offence between 9.11pm and 11.31pm on 23 June, while Thineswary, a university student, is accused of abetting him earlier that day at 12.30pm. Both incidents allegedly took place at Block A, Mutiara Ville, Cyberjaya, reported the New Straits Times. No pleas were recorded from either accused, as the case falls under the jurisdiction of the High Court Both accused appeared separately before Magistrate Khairatul Animahtul Abd Jalani. Darvien was dressed in a white T-shirt, while Thineswary was clad in black. The prosecution, led by deputy public prosecutor (DPP) Raja Zaizul Farida Raja Zaharudin, did not offer bail. Meanwhile, defence counsels M Manoharan, representing Darvien, and Mohamed Baharudeen Mohamed Ariff, representing Thineswary, requested that the case be expedited and transferred to the High Court without delay. Manoharan stressed the need to move the matter forward, while Baharudeen noted the case's viral nature and public interest. Full story at SAYS (July 2025)
Chinese University Expels Woman for ‘Improper Contact’ With a Foreigner The university published the student’s full name and said her behavior had “damaged national dignity.” The move prompted an online debate and accusations of sexism. Danylo Teslenko, who goes by the nickname Zeus, at a gaming event in Poland in 2019. Mr. Teslenko had shared videos of himself with a Chinese woman that led to her expulsion from university. Credit: Norbert Barczyk/PressFocus, via MB Media, via Getty Images By Vivian Wang A Chinese university said that it would expel a student because she had had “improper contact with a foreigner” and “damaged national dignity,” after videos circulated online that suggested she had been intimate with a Ukrainian video gamer. The announcement set off heated debate in China. Some commentators applauded the decision and said that Chinese people — particularly women — were too enamored of foreigners. But others said the expulsion smacked of sexism and paternalism, and compared it to examples of people accused of rape or sexual harassment on campus who had been punished more lightly. Many also criticized the university, Dalian Polytechnic University, in northeastern China, for publicly shaming the student by posting its expulsion notice on its website last week and identifying the student by her full name. “If there is anyone who truly undermined national dignity in this case, it was not the woman whose privacy rights were violated,” Zhao Hong, a professor of law at Peking University in Beijing, wrote in an opinion column, “but the online spectators who frantically humiliated an ordinary woman under the banner of so-called justice, and the educational institution that used stale moral commandments.” The university said the student’s conduct, in an incident it said took place on Dec. 16, had “caused a negative impact.” It gave no details, but said the student was being punished in accordance with a university regulation about “civic morality.” That regulation reads: “Those who have improper contact with foreigners and damage the national dignity and the reputation of the school shall be given a demerit or above, depending on the circumstances.” Chinese social media users quickly linked the announcement to videos shared on that date by a Ukrainian professional video gamer, Danylo Teslenko, who goes by the nickname Zeus. Mr. Teslenko, who had been visiting Shanghai for an e-sports tournament, had posted videos of himself with a Chinese woman to his Telegram channel, where he currently has about 43,000 subscribers. Mr. Teslenko has since deleted the videos. Screenshots and recordings still circulating online show the two apparently in a hotel room, with the woman seemingly aware she is being filmed, but do not show any sexually explicit behavior. Full story at The New York Times (July 2025)
'Straight out of a drama': Valedictorian's mother caught breaking into school to steal exams A teacher, who faces arrest on charges including unlawful entry into a school building during the exam period, leaves the Andong Branch of the Daegu District Court on July 14 after attending a pretrial detention hearing. [YONHAP] A high school teacher and mother were arrested after breaking into a girls’ school in Andong, North Gyeongsang, to steal exams — a scheme authorities believe had been running for years and ultimately led to the expulsion of the mother’s daughter, who had been ranked first in her class. Around 1:20 a.m. on July 4, a 31-year-old teacher entered the school by scanning her fingerprint at the entrance. With her was a 48-year-old woman whose daughter is a third-year student at the school. The two headed to the third-floor faculty office where final exams were stored. Though the teacher had left the school in February 2024, her fingerprint data remained active in the school’s security system, allowing her to open the office door. As they attempted to steal the tests, the school’s security alarm went off. They fled the scene but were arrested the following day. Authorities believe the teacher was able to enter because her fingerprint data remained in the school’s security system. The suspect currently teaches at another high school in Gyeonggi. Investigators suspect she deliberately targeted surplus printed copies of the exam, being familiar with the building. Although she had correctly entered the passcode, a system error likely triggered the alarm, according to police. Without the malfunction, the pair may have succeeded in stealing the papers undetected. Security camera footage shows the two entering and leaving the faculty office within a span of two to three minutes, according to the Gyeongsangbuk-do Office of Education. Investigators suspect the mother had been receiving test papers from the teacher in exchange for money over a two-year period. She allegedly sent her 2 million won ($1,440) during each exam period, totaling around 20 million won. The two first met in 2020 when the teacher taught the woman’s older child. When her daughter entered high school in 2023, the teacher served as her homeroom teacher. She is also accused of having privately tutored the student, an act prohibited by Korean law, which police are also investigating. The school’s Academic Performance Committee on Monday decided to expel the student and invalidate all her previous test scores. The student had consistently ranked first in her class. Full story at Korea JoongAng Daily (July 2025)
Hong Kong opens criminal probe into AI-generated porn scandal at city's oldest university A male law student at the University of Hong Kong is accused of using photos of a dozen students and teachers to generate more than 700 sexually explicit images. The University of Hong Kong campus in 2022. Photo: Vernon Yuen / AP file By Mithil Aggarwal and Eve Qiao HONG KONG — Chinese authorities in Hong Kong have launched a criminal investigation after more than a dozen female students and teachers at the University of Hong Kong accused a male law student of using AI to generate deepfake porn images of them. The probe, announced Tuesday by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, came after an outcry from students at the university, the city's oldest, who said it hadn't done enough to protect them or punish the accused. "The images were organized into folders named after the victims, totaling 700+ images (including the original photos)," read a widely circulated letter that was posted Saturday on Instagram from an account run by three unnamed victims. The accused, referred to in the letter only as “a male law student,” took photos of the victims from social media and used AI software to generate pornographic images with their faces, according to the letter. The images were discovered on his laptop reported to the university in February. They were not known to have been widely distributed. In March, the university interviewed some of the victims, and in April informed one of them that the accused student had written a 60-word "apology letter." While NBC News was unable to confirm the authenticity of that letter, and the account did not respond to a request for comment, the university said it was "aware of the social media posts concerning a student allegedly using AI tools to create indecent images." “The University has already issued him a warning letter and demanded him a formal apology to his affected peers,” the university said Saturday in a statement. Deepfake porn is a type of nonconsensual pornography that involves altering existing images or creating entirely new ones using readily available AI tools to make it appear that a person has participated in sexual acts. Regulations in Hong Kong around the technology are currently sparse. While it criminalizes “publication or threatened publication of intimate images without consent,” it does not explicitly outlaw their generation. Full story at NBC News (July 2025)
Columbia Sportswear sues Columbia University, alleging merchandise too similar and causes confusion Customers browsing the Columbia University bookstore which is on the school's campus in Manhattan, New York. Photo: Ted Shaffrey By Anne D'Innocenzio NEW YORK (AP) — Outerwear retailer Columbia Sportswear has sued Columbia University over alleged trademark infringement and a breach of contract, saying that the university’s merchandise looks too similar to its own offerings and can confuse shoppers. In a lawsuit filed July 23 in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Columbia Sportswear, whose roots date back to 1938, alleges that the Ivy League university intentionally violated an agreement the parties signed on June 13, 2023. That agreement dictated how the university could use the word “Columbia” on its own apparel and accessories. As part of the pact, the university could feature “Columbia” on its merchandise provided that the name included a recognizable school insignia or its mascot, the word “university,” the name of the academic department or the founding year of the university — 1754 — or a combination. Columbia Sportswear clothing is sold at more than 800 retail locations including more than 150 of its branded stores as well as its website and third-party marketplaces. But Columbia Sportswear alleges the university breached the agreement a little more than a year later, with the Portland, Oregon-based company noticing several garments without any of the school logos being sold at the Columbia University online store. Many of the garments feature a bright blue color that is “confusingly similar” to the blue color that has long been associated with Columbia Sportswear, the suit alleged. The lawsuit offered photos of some of the Columbia University items that say only Columbia. “The likelihood of deception, confusion, and mistake engendered by the university’s misappropriation and misuse of the Columbia name is causing irreparable harm to the brand and goodwill symbolized by Columbia Sportswear’s registered mark Columbia and the reputation for quality it embodies,” the lawsuit alleged. Full story at The Associated Press (August 2025)
How a teenage bullying incident spiralled into city-wide protests in China The attack left a girl of 14 with minor injuries, but why did it spark such furious protests in the city of Jiangyou? Huge protests in the Chinese city of Jiangyou were sparked this week after a video showing school girls bullying another teenager went viral. Concern over school bullying is a big issue in China. Photograph: YouTube By Amy Hawkins It started as an unpleasant, although not uncommon, teenage bullying incident. On 2 August, a video appeared online, showing a group of teenage girls kicking, slapping and mocking another girl, later revealed to be aged 14, in an abandoned building in Jiangyou, a small city of 730,000 in south-west China. According to the local police, the attack, which took place on 22 July, resulted in minor injuries to the girl’s scalp and knees. The video went viral in the local community, and soon morphed into a large-scale protest that overwhelmed the streets of Jiangyou, featuring violent clashes with the police and a concerted effort by the authorities to stop news of the event from spreading. So what was it about this incident that prompted hundreds, perhaps even 1,000, people to gather in the streets of Jiangyou on Monday evening? The answer may lie in a potent mixture of years of frustration at how bullying cases are handled in China, a lack of trust in local authorities, and the sometimes brutal police tactics used to suppress dissent and criticism. One video from the scene of the protest, verified by the Guardian, is illustrative. People can be heard chanting: “Give us back democracy, reject bullying, serve the people.” They also sing the Chinese national anthem. Kevin Slaten, who runs China Dissent Monitor, a project tracking unrest in China, said the call for democracy was more likely referring to local handling of the incident rather than nationwide regime change. A screenshot from social media footage of the protests shows at least two people being forcibly pulled aside by a group of uniformed and plain clothes police outside the city hall in Jiangyou. Photograph: X.com Other footage shows violent clashes between police and protesters. In one confrontation, a man stands between an elderly woman who is arguing with several police officers. “What are you going to do? Are you going to drag the old person away?” he shouts. Several uniformed police and riot officers then grab him, holding him in a headlock, before dragging him away by his arms and legs. Another video shows a riot officer hitting someone who is pinned to the ground. The Jiangyou police department did not answer the phone when called by the Guardian. Full story at The Guardian (August 2025)
Thousands Ask Harvard Not to ‘Give in’ and Pay Fine to Trump In a petition, alumni, faculty and members of the public asked Harvard to stand up to the White House. The school has signaled a willingness to pay $500 million to restore research funds. Many at the university had praised the school for suing the Trump administration in the spring over funding cuts and pushing back against other demands. Credit: Sophie Park for The New York Times By Vimal Patel A coalition of groups at Harvard urged the university to reject striking a deal with the Trump administration that would relinquish “the university’s autonomy in unconstitutional or unlawful ways.” The letter, signed by more than 14,000 Harvard alumni, students, faculty and members of the public, comes as the school is at the negotiating table with the Trump administration. The university is trying to restore the billions of dollars in research funds that the Trump administration has frozen and put an end to attacks on several other fronts. “A settlement with the Trump administration will have a chilling effect on the Harvard community and on all of higher education,” stated the letter, sent by Crimson Courage, a new alumni group that formed to defend academic freedom. It was addressed to Alan M. Garber, the university’s president, and the board that governs the university. The government has targeted top universities, claiming that they have failed to protect Jewish students from antisemitism and allowed diversity programming to flourish. It has cut off or frozen research money, forcing universities to negotiate to turn the funding tap back on. Several universities recently struck agreements with the Trump administration that could inform the terms of the negotiations. Columbia University signed a deal that included more than $200 million in payment to the government in exchange for the restoration of more than $400 million in grants that were terminated or frozen by the Trump administration. Brown University agreed to pay $50 million to state work-force development programs along with other demands to restore frozen funding. The University of Pennsylvania also recently struck a deal that limits how transgender athletes can participate in sports. The letter on Thursday urged Harvard to reject that trend. “Columbia and Brown’s settlements represent a dangerous capitulation that risks eroding the foundation of American higher education,” the letter stated. “They must not become a precedent guiding Harvard or other higher educational institutions nationwide.” It added: “Do not give in.” Harvard did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Full story at The New York Times (August 2025)
Council rapped after school bullying 'whitewash' claim By Andrew Picken Getty Images A Scottish council has been censured by the UK's information watchdog after records about a bullying incident were modified weeks after it took place. East Dunbartonshire Council previously paid damages to a parent who claimed the narrative of his daughter's bullying was being "whitewashed" in favour of her school. The council told him the incident was properly logged at the time and it was not possible to modify records retrospectively, but later admitted this was not the case. The Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) has ruled the backdating of these records did not comply with data protection laws. East Dunbartonshire Council said it has taken action to address the issues raised. The row centres on a nationwide education IT system called Seemis which is used for recording pupil data and tracking bullying complaints. Concerns have previously been raised about how Seemis is accessed and used by staff amid fears bullying in schools is under-recorded. A petition calling for measures to stop teachers altering Seemis records has also been lodged with the Scottish Parliament by public sector governance campaign group Accountability Scotland. A spokesman for the group said: "It is clearly in the public interest that school records are accurate just like other public systems of records such as the NHS or police. "This ICO decision is excellent news as there really needs to be sufficient safeguards in Seemis to stop history being re-written. "This is a Scotland-wide issue. If teachers take advantage of deficiencies in the system it means parents are not getting the full story." Full story at BBC News (August 2025)