STATUS UPDATES
A week in which lawn bowling gets rowdy, a fake tiger fools a farmer and meditation gets a rethink
RUNNING One of the first women to publicly accuse Donald Trump of sexual misconduct. Rachel Crooks, who said in 2016 that the then-presidential candidate had kissed her against her will, is running for state representative in Ohio as a Democrat. The allegations date back 13 years. “I think my voice should have been heard (in 2016), and I’ll still fight for it to be heard now.”
BUSTED (1) The idea that meditation makes you a better person. Scientists at universities in Britain, the Netherlands and New Zealand reviewed 22 studies on various types of meditation, the Daily Telegraph reported. It initially appeared that meditation had a positive impact overall. But a methodological flaw revealed study biases and the new study found only something akin to a placebo effect. UNINVITED
Iranian athletes to a smartphone giveaway at the Pyeongchang Olympics. Iran summoned South Korea’s envoy after the Samsung snub, which was apparently linked to worries about violating U.S. sanctions, the Guardian reports. Iran’s foreign minister threatened to give up his own phone, and Iranian officials said the move violated the “spirit of the Olympic Games.”
ACCEPTED A plea by a Florida man who sells indoor-gardening equipment favoured by clandestine pot growers. Luis Hernandez-Gonzalez pleaded guilty to money laundering and structuring bank deposits to avoid reporting the true amounts to the feds, AP reports. But he will keep some of the $22 million (U.S.) in cash he stuffed in five-gallon buckets — reportedly $4 million.
HIDING A New Hampshire woman, who doesn’t want her name exposed. She also happens to be the winner of last month’s $560-million (U.S.) Powerball lottery. Lottery rules mean the world (including the jealous and unsavoury) would know who she is once she collects, the Washington Post reports. But “Jane Dough” is asking a judge to let her have her cash and be anonymous, too.
BUSTED (2) A tiger facsimile in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. After a farmer thought he saw a wild cat in his cow shed, he called the cops, the Daily Telegraph reported. After a standoff lasting 45 minutes, he drove toward it in his truck and realized it was a large stuffed animal. By that time police were on scene. “I feel a bit silly for calling the police but I thought it was a real emergency,” Bruce Grubb said.
DISINVITED Some patrons of the genteel sport of crown green bowling. Hooliganism, fuelled by booze, and even some invasions of the green have prompted a crackdown in one English county, the Guardian reports. The tough new rules come after a number of national matches have been marred (did we mention the profanity?) and, inevitably, fans have been compared to soccer hooligans.
REJECTED The official reasons Japan’s Princess Mako and Kei Komuro delayed their wedding by a year. Officially it had to do with timing and preparation. But the South China Morning Post reports that various accounts allege a dispute over debts owed by the mother of Komuro, a commoner. Media have also reported that his father’s death years ago was a suicide.