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The week that was: A Nobel winner got a bike-rack spot and a cobra quashed cricket practice
HONOURED: A Nobel Prize winner in chemistry — with a bike-rack slot. The University of Missouri is honouring George Smith, 77, with a reserved spot on campus, on a standard bike rack with a special sign. The faculty member is not a “bike enthusiast” but says he’s a poor driver and bikes the short distance to work.
DISHONOURED: The grandfather of a high school student in Davis, Calif. She allegedly baked his ashes into sugar cookies that she shared with classmates. Some, but not all, were aware, officials say, of the ingredients. Police have been pondering what laws cover baking human remains into food.
LURKING: A cobra close to a Sri Lankan cricket pitch where England was practising. The venomous snake, estimated at about a metre, was between a pavilion and the nets area in the town of Kandy, the Daily Telegraph reports. Grounds crew cornered the reptile and dropped it in a sack.
LEAVING: The new boss of USA Gymnastics. The latest scandal to hit the agency was a month-old tweet seeming to criticize Nike for its Colin Kaepernick ads. Mary Bono, 56, had tweeted a picture of herself colouring in the Nike logo. Outrage and a resignation followed.
LIED: A Frenchwoman, about being one of the victims of the 2015 Paris attacks — and that’s landed her in jail. Alexandra Damien must serve six months for fraud and perjury. She pocketed about $30,000 Canadian from funds set up to help the victims, and claimed therapy sessions as well.
MISLED: An L.A. city councillor’s supporters, critics say, when he announced he would step down. Mitchell Englander said he’d leave to join a sports/ entertainment company. But he had staged an $800/person fundraiser the previous night, the Los Angeles Times reported. He offered refunds and charity.
OUSTED: A minister in the Indian government, accused by more than a dozen women of sexual harassment and assault. Mobashar Jawed Akbar, minister of state for external affairs, resigned after allegations from journalists who had worked for him when he was a newspaper editor. It was the first highprofile departure in India’s recently launched #MeToo era.
WELCOMED: Ten members of the sovereigntist party Québec solidaire, to the provincial legislature. But in an untraditional manner: they refused to publicly swear allegiance to the Queen. Instead their obligatory oath was done in private. Leader Manon Massé called the royal pledge an “unpleasant ritual.”