In the news
Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York signed into law legislation that allows people to be buried in the state with the cremated remains of a pet, saying many people consider their pets family members and laws barring joint burials are “unnecessary.”
Atsuo Utano, spokesman for the Central Japan Railway Co., said the crew of a high-speed train tried to find the owner of a 12-inch rat snake that a passenger spotted curled around a seat’s armrest but ended up making an unscheduled stop to take the snake off the train.
Aaron King, owner of SkyLane Bowling in Garrettsville, Ohio, said an unidentified woman won the Queen of Hearts drawing’s $3 million-plus pot that had built up from $5-a-chance guesses about which slot on a board of cards holds the namesake card and that had attracted a crowd of 5,000.
Jose Rodriguez was charged with assault with a deadly weapon, police said, when he stabbed a man after the two got into an argument outside a pizza restaurant in Washington, D.C., after Rodriguez cut in line ahead of other customers.
King Salman of Saudi Arabia issued a royal decree slashing the salaries of senior officials by 20 percent, as well as imposing caps on benefits for other top officials and overtime for public-sector workers as lower oil prices continue to pinch the kingdom’s economy.
Joshua Killets, 28, of Juno Beach, Fla., was sentenced to 50 months in prison for vandalizing a mosque in North Palm Beach after he was arrested when someone reported he was bragging about smashing windows and tearing down shutters, police said.
Mariusz Mrozek, a spokesman for police in Warsaw, Poland, said a Russian citizen was detained after security officers said he was caught illegally flying a drone over buildings housing the offices of the country’s prime minister, the president and the defense ministry.
Michael Thalmann and his wife, Jennifer, turned themselves in and pleaded innocent to charges they punished their two adopted children by paddling, withholding food and locking them in dog crates while the family lived in Newington, Conn, authorities said.
Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed legislation making it legal for a bystander to break a locked vehicle’s window without fear of prosecution to free an animal trapped in a hot car if it appears to be in peril and law enforcement is not arriving fast enough.