Of Mice and Men was written by John Steinbeck in the 1930s about the sad conditions of the poor migrant farm workers who ate and slept at apartments made for them on farms.  This was called a “bunkhouse” in the book.  When they didn’t have an apartment at a farm, then they slept outside and quietly experienced the weather for better and worse. A way of seeing what they were was as performers who always played a bit part in the farm economy and died in a poverty that was all-encompassing personally, economically, and emotionally. Even when they were successful, they were tragic figures. And this was the setting for Lennie and George’s self-destructive experience.

German media are reporting that the ambassador from North Korea was caught fishing in a Berlin river without a license.

According to reports, Ri Si-hong was fishing on the banks of the Havel River when waterfront police asked to see his permit. The ambassador produced neither or a license nor a passport; he just smiled, said he was the ambassador from North Korea, and kept on fishing. The police took photographs and later confirmed he was indeed the ambassador.

Unlicensed fishing merits a 200 euro fine, but because the ambassador has diplomatic immunity, he will be punished.

Original/原稿:

「私は北朝鮮大使」ほほ笑んだまま無許可の釣り

　【ベルリン＝三好範英】ドイツのメディアは、北朝鮮の駐ベルリン大使が、ベルリン市内の川で無許可で釣りをしていたと伝えた。

　報道によると、北朝鮮のリ・シホン大使は１５日、ベルリン市内を流れるハーフェル川で釣りをしていたところを水上警察官に許可証の提示を求められた。大使は許可証やパスポートの提示をせず、自身が北朝鮮大使であると名乗り、ほほ笑んだまま釣りを続けた。水上警察官はその場で写真などと照合、北朝鮮大使であることを確認したという。

　ドイツで密漁の罰金は２００ユーロ（約２万円）だが、大使は外交官特権があるため、処罰されないという。

（2012年1月22日15時25分 読売新聞）

Spanair Grounded by Grave Financial Problems
The end of a dream for an airline under the Catalonian flag
Its search for investors failed
The Generalitat declined to use more public money to save the company
22,771 affected by cancellations of this weekend’s flights
El País: Spanair se queda en tierra por sus graves problemas financieros
Cristina Delgado reporting from Barcelona January 28, 2012

Spanair could not convince Qatar Airways to support it, so at ten o’clock last night, it ran its final flight. Finding a new investor was its final hope to escape its financial problems. The Qatari company did not have a clear view of the business, and according to the Generalitat [Legislature] of Catalonia, a joint proprietor with the City of Barcelona of the majority of company shares, it feared that the European Union would demand the return of all public funding injections in the future. The failed search for investors precipitated the most feared outcome yesterday: the administrative council of Spanair met at about six in the afternoon, and from then they began preparing the annulment of all company operations. Up to 22,771 people will be affected by flight cancellations this weekend alone – 212 flights for that time frame have been cancelled.

At eight in the evening, a flight arrived to Barcelona from Bilbao. When passengers deplaned, company workers informed them that their return tickets would be annulled. “They’ve told us they won’t fly anymore, but they haven’t explained anything,” complained Martina Jiménez. She was directed to company counters, where the scene began to heat up. The airport monitors began to take red tints.

There will be a creditors’ meeting, according to company sources. Company president Ferran Soriano did not want to go into details however; instead, he evaded the question in an exercise of calculated ambiguity. “I can’t clarify at this time because this is not the matter I’m worried about at the moment. I’m focusing on operations. The legal measures and techniques we take will be decided in the coming hours,” he explained at about ten o’clock at night. He left the company administrative council to attend to the media for a few minutes, then returned to the meeting. He did not clarify what will become of the company’s some 2500 employees, nor the hundreds of others whose businesses indirectly depend on Spanair.

Spanair, founded in 1986, passed in 2009 from the Scandinavian SAS investment group to Catalonian businesses. It closed 2010 with €607 million in invoices and losses of €115 million. It had already lost €186 million in 2009. “Given the lack of financial visibility over the coming months, the company has opted to cease operations of its flights as a measure of prudence and security, and it will take all the appropriate legal measures,” read its announcement yesterday.

AENA (Spanish Airports and Air Navigation) and the Ministry of Public Works and Transport have initiated a plan to hurriedly relocate affected passengers. The airline’s competitors, including Ryanair, Easyjet, and Vueling, have begun to organize with Ana Pastor’s department to take on the passengers Spanair cannot transport. The company had planned 91 flights for today alone; 8695 people will be grounded if other companies to not find room for them. Last year, Spanair transported the fifth most passengers of any Spanish airline, 12.5 million.

€115 Million in Losses:
2010 Invoices: €607.9 Million
Pre-Tax Balance: -€124.9M
Losses: €115.7M
Company Funds: -€168.2M
Airplane Fleet: 33 crafts (19 Airbus A320, 5 Airbus 321, 9 McDonell Douglas)
Passengers Transported in 2011: 12.5 million in Spain; of those, 4.3 million in Catalonia
Stockholders: IEASA (84.7%) and SAS (11.6%) investment groups; others (3.6%)

Collapsing Airline Spanair Obliges Boarded Passengers on Flight to Madrid to Deplane
The affected passengers protest the lack of information and alternatives to the suspension of flights
El País: La aerolínea obliga a desembarcar a los viajeros de un vuelo a Madrid
Anthony Coyle reporting from Barcelona January 28, 2012

“They told us that they had cancelled all operations, and we had to get off the plane.” Catalonian airline Spanair’s cease of operations hit Luis Miguel Casas while he was sitting on a 20:55 flight from Barcelona to Madrid. Like the rest of the affected, the only instruction he received from Spanair was to be directed to the company’s client service windows in Terminal 1 of El Prat.

Gabriel Aparicio was one of the first to go there. While there was still no line. The cease of operations did not even affect him. His flight to Denmark was already ruined because he had forgotten his National Identification Card. But after he was directed to the company window, he was informed that “the company is not flying to Copenhagen anymore.” They did not give him credit.

Half an hour later, as the line began to extend across the airport, Spanair distributed a note to affected passengers with an information number (902-131-415). It also told them an it had created a rest area with children’s and breast feeding rooms.

Luciano Días flew to Las Palmas in the Canary Islands today at eleven in the morning. “They’ve told me to sort it out for myself, more or less, because they didn’t know anything,” he said with indignation while he waited in line.

Martina Jiménez, from Bilbao, had been thinking she’d spend the weekend in Barcelona. As soon as she stepped off her plane, she was told that her Sunday return flight “wasn’t going to take off anymore,” in her words. “They didn’t let me know anything about what was happening, and they didn’t offer to return my money either.” She was lucky enough to recover the €80 she spent on the round trip, though.

Others had to fill out a claim form. This was the case for Josefina Domínguez: “They haven’t given me any options. They told me the system was blocked and nothing more.”

The players for L’Hospitalet’s water polo team did not have the option of waiting in El Prat. They had a game at one in the afternoon the next day in Las Palmas on the Canary Islands. “They’ve offered us a morning flight with Air Europe, but that won’t do because we won’t arrive in time.” The game, which had already been postponed, was cancelled.

While complaints were processed, the line of passengers – stuck to their mobile phones – was grouchy. There were tears as well. Others, like 29 children and two monitors who were returning from a ski trip at La Molina, took it with humor: “Do you guys have something to do tomorrow?” one shouted.

The cease of operations also obligated scheduled flights from Las Palmas at 21:55 and Valencia at 23:30.

Twitter Will Block Messages in Certain Countries if they Violate Norms or Beliefs
El País: Twitter bloqueará en algunos países los mensajes que violen normas o creencias
The company announces its social network has entered some countries with different ideas about the “countries” of freedom of expression and should be coherent with them.
El País staff report from Mexico City, January 27, 2012

Full liberty no longer fits inside a tweet.

A tweet is a message of 140 characters or less that can be written on Twitter if the user is a member of this social network, which counts for more than 100 million tweeters throughout the world.

But these 140 characters cannot include – or will no longer include – all the liberty in the world, because Twitter has just announced that as of now, it is willing to block messages that “authorized entities” of certain countries consider offensive or illegal.

Twitter has announced the new measure on its corporate blog. It is a short, generic message with a basic idea: “Almost every country in the world agrees that freedom of expression is a human right. Many countries also agree that freedom of expression carries with it responsibilities and has limits.”

The social network explains that it has expanded to many countries, some of which have different ideas about the “contours” of freedom of expression.

The company, in this public note, does not define very clearly what kind of content could be blocked, who qualify as “authorized entities” (an expression included in its usage policy), and finally, what requirements Twitter will establish for hypothetical petitions from these “entities”, be they governments or other organizations, to block messages in certain territories.

Until now, when Twitter censured a message, it could no longer be seen anywhere in the world. Now it has refined its process, so it can vet messages in only the countries that ask for vetting, leaving them visible to the rest of the world. For the moment, the measure has not been put into practice. The business has announced that when it vets a message, it will inform the affected user, and those who cannot access the content will be informed of the blockage and the reason for it.

The only example the social network gives of a censurable message is pro-Nazi content in countries where the National Socialists ruled, like France or Germany, which now have laws prohibiting this kind of message.

In its user policy, Twitter specifies that it is trying to respect “local laws”, but it does not let users know what local laws will prevail over users’ freedom of expression.

Scientific Research on Bigfoot Begins in Earnest
Yomiuri Shimbun: 未確認大型類人猿「ビッグフット」、真剣に研究
Tetsurō Yamada reporting from Washington, DC January 24, 2012

“Bigfoot”, a large humanoid ape species said to reside in the northern U.S. whose existence has never been confirmed, has become a subject of scientific research: Idaho State University has debuted the first online scientific journal about it and other such hominoids.

Bigfoot is thought to be bigger than a gorilla and to walk on two feet. There have been reports of footprints and sightings in the North Pacific United States for years on end. However, many of these calls have been pranks or cases of mistaken identity, so the scientific world has long ignored the subject, putting the species in the same category as UFOs and ghosts.

Recently, however, there have been discoveries of prints from huge feet that slipped on the earth, complete prints with ridges akin to fingerprints, prints from not yet fully developed skeletons, and prints with evidence of wounds. A group of researchers is researching the possibility that Bigfoots exist, stand more than 2 meters tall, and are the descendants of the Gigantopithecus, a 3m tall giant hominoid ape that went extinct about 100,000 years ago and which may have crossed the Bering Strait while it was still above land and dispersed throughout northern North America. This would make it a cousin of Asia’s “Snow Man” (or Yeti).

The e-journal is called the The Relict Hominoid Inquiry and like other journals prints articles by professional researchers. The first edition includes folklore and pictographs of the Mayak Datat, or “Hairy Man”, which once lived in California.

Original/原稿:

未確認大型類人猿「ビッグフット」、真剣に研究

長さが平均約４０センチあるビッグフットの足跡の標本（米アイダホ州立大、ジェフリー・メルドラム准教授所蔵）＝山田哲朗撮影　【ワシントン＝山田哲朗】北米にいるとされる未知の大型類人猿「ビッグフット」を科学的に研究しようと、米アイダホ州立大が今月、世界初の専門の電子版学術誌を開設した。

　ビッグフットは、ゴリラを大きくしたような体格で二足歩行し、北米の太平洋側を中心に目撃や足跡の報告が絶えない。しかし、いたずらや見間違いも多く、科学界では長く、未確認飛行物体（ＵＦＯ）や幽霊などと同様のたわごととして無視されてきた。

　ただ、足跡の中には、地面をけって滑った跡、足紋が全面に残るもの、骨格の発育不全、切り傷が治ったような跡などが見つかっている。一部の研究者は、ビッグフットは身長２メートル以上で夜行性で、約１０万年前に絶滅した身長３メートルの巨大類人猿ギガントピテクスの生き残りが、当時陸続きだったベーリング海峡をわたって北米に分布を広げたのではないかなどと真剣に議論している。アジアの「雪男」（イエティ）などは近縁種とみられる。

　サイトは「残存ヒト上科の調査」と題され、一般的な学術誌と同じく専門家が投稿を審査する。第１号の論文は、カリフォルニア州のアメリカ先住民の「毛むくじゃらの男」に関する伝承や絵について報告した。

（2012年1月24日15時12分 読売新聞）

A set of legislative amendments that would be necessary for Japan to join the The Hague Convention of 25 October 1980 on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction, which sets international standards for the custody of children from failed international marriages, was released by the Parliamentary Deliberative Counsel (an advisory organization) on the 23rd.

The proposed legal plan establishes the process and guidelines for a non-Japanese person to request the return of a child his former spouse brought back to Japan with her. If the Japanese parent rejects a family court order for the child’s return, the court could empower an executive officer to seize the child and return her to the other country, according to the third item regarding refusal.

The Deliberative Counsel will report to the Justice Department in early February. The executive branch plans aims to bring the new set of bills to the floor of Parliament in mid-March.

If both parents of a child under age 16 from a failed international marriage are from countries that participate in the Hague Convention, then if one parent takes that child to a foreign country without the other parent’s permission, the other parent has the legal authority to force the child’s speedy return to his country of residence.

Japan is the only G8 country that does not participate in the convention. Last November, Prime Minister Noda told President Obama in person that he would propose the necessary laws to change this during the coming parliamentary session.

The Hague Convention Process for Returning a Child from a Failed International Marriage
[This is what would happen if a Japanese parent took a child back to Japan. The left column shows the parent in the foreign country, and the right column shows the participating agencies in Japan.]
1. Parent from Foreign Country A requests assistance from Japanese Foreign Affairs Department’s central office
2. The Foreign Affairs Department confirms the child’s residency and tries to help reconcile the situation.
3. The parent files for a request for the child’s return with a Japanese family court. He can also do this directly, skipping steps 1 and 2.
4. The family court orders the Japanese parent to return the child.
5. The child is returned.

[Translator's Note: The article doesn't mention that the convention allows a family court to refuse to order the child's return if doing so would endanger the child's welfare.]

Original/原稿:
国際結婚破綻時の子供の扱い、日本でもルール

国際結婚が破綻した際の子供の扱いを定めた「ハーグ条約」に関して、法制審議会（法相の諮問機関）の部会は２３日、同条約の加盟に必要な国内法の要綱案を発表した。

日本人の親が日本に連れ帰った子供について、外国人の親が返還を求めた場合の返還手続きやルールなどを定めている。家庭裁判所が返還命令を出し、日本人の親が拒否すれば、最終的に裁判所の執行官が子の引き渡しを強制執行できるとしている。〈拒否の条件列挙３面〉

法制審は２月上旬に要綱を法相に答申する。政府は３月中にも関連法案を通常国会に提出する方針だ。

ハーグ条約は、国際結婚の破綻後にどちらかの親が１６歳未満の子供を一方的に国外に連れ去った時、加盟国同士であれば、子供を速やかに元の居住国に戻し、その国の裁判で親権などを決めることを定めている。

同条約に加盟していないのは、主要国（Ｇ８）では日本だけ。野田首相は昨年１１月の日米首脳会談で、関連法案を次期通常国会に提出する方針をオバマ大統領に伝えていた。

（2012年1月24日00時04分 読売新聞）

This graph shows the path the students and teachers took to high ground following the tsunami. They moved west, directly approaching a river and dike. There was a mountain south of their school.

10 Months After 84 Died or Disappeared at Ōgawa Elementary Following Tōhoku Earthquake, School Takes Responsibility for Emergency Response Failure, Apologizes
Yomiuri Shimbun: ８４人が死亡・不明の大川小、責任認め謝罪
January 23, 2012

After holding another investigation into the response to the Great Tōhoku Earthquake at Ōgawa Elementary School (Ishinomaki City, Miyagi Prefecture), where 74 children and 10 staff went dead or missing after March 11′s earthquake and tsunami, the Ishinomaki Board of Education held its first meeting with parents on the issue in 7 months yesterday, and for the first time, it acknowledged problems with its disaster response instructions and apologized.

The roiling discontent of parents who lost their children for the school’s failure to take responsibility and insufficient explanation of what happened lead the municipal board of education to declare at a press conference after its last meeting with the parents that it would gather those with knowledge of the events and conduct another investigation.

This was the third meeting between parents and the board; the other two were in April and June. Today’s conference was held at another elementary school, and about 80 parents and guardians participated. This was the first of the conferences to be open to the press.

The chief of municipal education, Naohiko Sakai, apologized to parents in his opening statement: “We sincerely regret that children suffered at a school we managed. We should have done the utmost to ensure their safety, and we should have taught crisis response measures in the event of a tsunami.” Ōgawa Principal Teruyuki Kashiwaba then apologized as well: “This was the consequence of my incompetence as principal. We had not prepared a manual, and we did not teach our staff crisis response measures. No matter how much I apologize, I cannot be forgiven, but I will continue to apologize from the bottom of my heart.”

Original/原稿:
８４人が死亡・不明の大川小、責任認め謝罪

記者会見で頭を下げる（手前から）柏葉校長、境教育長ら（２２日午後、宮城県石巻市で）＝前田尚紀撮影

　東日本大震災で児童７４人と教職員１０人が死亡・不明になった宮城県石巻市立大川小学校の避難対応を再調査していた同市教委は２２日、約７か月ぶりとなる保護者説明会を開き、学校側の避難誘導に問題があったことを初めて認め、保護者らに謝罪した。

　我が子を失った親からは学校側の責任を問う声や説明不足に対する不満が噴出していたが、市教委は説明会後の記者会見で「有識者を交えた検証を検討したい」と述べた。

　説明会は昨年４、６月に続き３回目。この日は同市内の別の小学校で行われ、保護者ら約８０人が参加。初めて報道陣にも公開された。

　冒頭で境直彦・市教育長が「最も安全であるべき学校管理下で児童が被災し、津波に対する危機意識を高めておくべきだったと悔やまれる」などと謝罪。大川小の柏葉照幸校長も「校長としての至らなさに原因がある。マニュアル不備や職員の危機意識を高めてこなかったことなど、いくら謝罪しても決して許されるものではない。心から謝罪を続けていく」と述べた。

（2012年1月23日07時16分 読売新聞）

The probability of a Magnitude 7 earthquake directly under Tokyo within the next four years is 70%, according to calculations by the Tokyo University Earthquake Research Team.

The Great Tōhoku Earthquake awakened tectonic activity beneath the metropolis, the group noted. In comparison to the government’s earthquake research commission’s evaluation that an earthquake in Southern Kantō, the area which includes the capital, within the next 30 years was 70%, this prediction is much more worrying.

The capital has been a much more active earthquake zone since the Great Tōhoku Earthquake last March 11. According to the Weather Bureau, from that date to the end of December, there were 1.48 Magnitude 3-6 earthquakes per day in greater Tokyo, a rate about 5 times higher than the earthquake frequency before that date.

Tokyo University team member Dr. Naoshi Hirata and company are keeping an eye on this activity. The team based their calculation on the empirical rule that an earthquake of a given magnitude is one tenth as frequent as an earthquake one order of magnitude weaker and ten times more frequent than an earthquake one order of magnitude stronger.

Ｍ７級首都直下地震、４年内７０％…東大地震研

　マグニチュード（Ｍ）７級の首都直下地震が今後４年以内に約７０％の確率で発生するという試算を、東京大学地震研究所の研究チームがまとめた。

　東日本大震災によって首都圏で地震活動が活発になっている状況を踏まえて算出した。首都直下を含む南関東の地震の発生確率を「３０年以内に７０％程度」としている政府の地震調査研究推進本部の評価に比べ、切迫性の高い予測だ。

　昨年３月１１日の東日本大震災をきっかけに、首都圏では地震活動が活発化。気象庁の観測によると１２月までにＭ３～６の地震が平均で１日当たり１・４８回発生しており、震災前の約５倍に上っている。

　同研究所の平田直(なおし)教授らは、この地震活動に着目。マグニチュードが１上がるごとに、地震の発生頻度が１０分の１になるという地震学の経験則を活用し、今後起こりうるＭ７の発生確率を計算した。

（2012年1月23日03時04分 読売新聞）

All ten second graders on Obihiro (Hokkaido) High School’s cheerleading team quit on January 5 because of their male coach’s inappropriate behavior, it was learned on the 16th.

The school said it did not know about the case because the supervisor was not present.

According to the prefectural education department, last December 27, a parent from the school called the prefectural government to complain that the school’s assistant principal, a male and the coach of the team, was making inappropriate advances toward a member of the team, such as calling out “Let’s get married!” to her, giving her a necklace, grabbing her hand, and touching her body. The program is very strong; it has participated in the Japan Cup two years running.

The department called the coach twice to ask him about the matter. He said “it’s true that things like that happened,” and his explanation was that “in every case, it was part of a communication strategy to encourage the students, but they took it the wrong way.” The department said “the school has now heard the details of the matter, and we have told them to respond to it appropriately.”

114 Students Died Playing Judo From 1983-2010
Yomiuri Shimbun: 中高生１１４人、柔道で死亡していた…名大調査
January 17, 2012

Fatal accidents at school judo practices are continuing. A typical accident: a student without proper training is on the receiving end of a throw; he suffers a blow to the head; finally, he does not receive proper emergency medical care.

According to Nagoya University Associate Professor of Sociology of Education Ryō Uchida, in the 28 years from 1983-2010, 114 Japanese students (39 junior high schoolers and 75 high schoolers) died from judo accidents. Junior high schoolers and first year high schoolers together made up half the total; 14 students died during class time. In addition, accidents handicapped 275 students between 1983 to 2009, three tenths of them during class time.

Of every 100,000 students who participated in judo competitions from 2000-2009, 2.376 died, which is far higher than the second highest rate on the list, basketball’s (0.371 per 100,000). The majority of deaths were caused by impact to the head. “If the neck muscles are not yet developed, then performing free exercises, standing throws, and the like is dangerous,” Dr. Uchida warned.

“Junior High School Diary” to End 50-Year Run in March
Yomiuri Shimbun: 「中学生日記」３月で終了…１９６２年から放送

NHK Nagoya announced on the 18th that the March 16 episode of “Middle School Diary” will be the program’s last.

The show will be succeeded by a show about teens working to achieve their hopes and dreams called “Teens Project Fure☆Fure” [Fure has a double meaning of "proclamation/announcement" and "hooray!"] from April.

“Middle School Diary” portrayed the daily lives of Nagoya-area junior high schoolers. It debuted in 1962 as “Jirō the Middle School Student”. According to the station, interest in the program had waned for years, and its current viewership rating is only 1%.

High School Student Repeatedly Bullied into Giving Money to Former Classmate, Claims 3 Million Yen Extorted in All
Yomiuri Shimbun: 恐喝繰り返され…高校生「３００万取られた」
January 18, 2012

The Aichi Police Department arrested three minors on the 18th for continuing to threaten a 17-year old male high school student after they had already bullied him into giving them ¥900,000 (~$11,700) in cash.

The student said about ¥3 million (~$39,000) was extorted from him in all. The police are performing a corroborative investigation.

According to the police report, the youths who were arrested were a construction worker and a part-time worker in Seto and a part-time worker in Owariasahi. From late July to September 1, the construction worker extorted ¥600,000 from the student by telling him things like “a motorcycle gang is aiming for you. You should pay them money to protect yourself” and “my father had to pay ¥1 million to speak to the gangsters behind the motorcycle gang (on your behalf).” After that, the other two youths joined the plot; the police suspect them of extorting ¥900,000 from the victim in all.

The young man from Owariasahi is also charged with verbally assaulting the student and punching him in the face in a Seto public park on September 4, leaving him injured for two weeks.

Two of the youths have confessed to the charges: “We went after him because his family is rich. We used the money to go out and have fun.” The Owariasahi youth admitted punching the student but denied the money was extorted, saying it was merely the repayment of a loan.

Every time the student was threatened, he took money out of the family account and handed over the cash; eventually the family realized what was happening when they made withdrawals of their own. The construction worker was acquainted with the student because he attended and then dropped out of the same high school. The two other youths were his buddies.

Original/原稿::

チア部員に監督が不適切行為、高２全員が退部届

　北海道帯広市の帯広北高校チアリーディング部の男性監督が、女子部員に不適切な行為をしたとして、同部の２年生部員１０人全員が今月５日に退部届を出していたことが１６日、分かった。

　学校側は「担当者が不在で分からない」と説明している。

　道庁学事課によると、同校の保護者から昨年１２月２７日に道に電話があり、同校の教頭で男性監督が特定の部員を呼び出し「結婚しよう」などと発言したり、ネックレスなどを贈るなどの不適切な行為を続けているとの苦情があったとしている。また、監督はファミリーレストランで部員の手を握るなど、体を触る行為もあったという。同部は２０１０年から２年連続でジャパンカップ・日本選手権に出場するなど強豪校として知られる。

　同課が２度にわたって学校関係者に電話で事情を聞いたところ「それに近いことがあったのは事実」とした一方「いずれも生徒を励ますなどのコミュニケーションの一環で、受け止め方の違い」とも説明したという。同課では「学校側には事情を聞いて適切に対応するように話した」と説明している。

（2012年1月17日17時55分 読売新聞）

中高生１１４人、柔道で死亡していた…名大調査

　学校での柔道事故を巡っては、受け身の習得が不十分なまま投げ技練習に参加したり、頭を打った後に適切な救急措置を受けられなかったりした生徒が死亡するケースが後を絶たない。

　名古屋大の内田良准教授（教育社会学）によると、柔道事故で死亡した中学、高校生は１９８３～２０１０年度の２８年間に全国で１１４人（中学３９人、高校７５人）。中高ともに１年生が半数以上を占め、計１４人が授業中の死亡例。また、後遺症が残る障害事故も８３～２００９年度で２７５件あり、３割は授業中だった。

　中学の部活動における競技別の年間死者数（２０００～０９年度の平均、１０万人当たり）を見ると、柔道が２・３７６人で、２番目のバスケットボール（０・３７１人）に比べても圧倒的に多い状況だった。死亡原因の大半は頭部外傷で、内田准教授は「首の筋力などが未発達なうちに、安易に立ち技や乱取りを行わせるのは危険」と警鐘を鳴らす。

（2012年1月17日18時08分 読売新聞）

「中学生日記」３月で終了…１９６２年から放送

　ＮＨＫ名古屋放送局は１８日、同局制作のテレビ番組「中学生日記」を３月１６日の放送で終了する、と発表した。

　後継番組として４月から、夢や目標に向けて努力する１０代を取り上げる「ティーンズプロジェクト　フレ☆フレ」を放映する。

　名古屋近郊の中学生が出演して、中学生の日常を描いてきた同番組は、１９６２年に放送を始めた「中学生次郎」を７２年に改名して全国放送されてきた。同放送局によると、ここ数年は中学生の番組への関心が薄れ、視聴率は１％ほどだったという。

（2012年1月18日19時35分 読売新聞）

恐喝繰り返され…高校生「３００万取られた」

　愛知県警は１８日、同県瀬戸市の高校２年の男子生徒（１７）から現金９０万円を脅し取ったとして、いずれも１７歳の３少年を恐喝の疑いで逮捕した。

　男子生徒は「３００万円ぐらい脅し取られた」と話しているといい、県警で裏付け捜査を進めている。

　発表によると、逮捕したのは同市の建築作業員、同市のアルバイト、同県尾張旭市のアルバイトの３少年。建築作業員は昨年７月下旬から９月１日にかけ、男子生徒に「暴走族に狙われているぞ。金を払った方が身のためだ」「俺の父親が暴走族の後ろ盾の暴力団と話をつけるのに１００万円かかった」などと言って計６０万円を支払わせ、その後、２人も加わり、３人で総額９０万円を脅し取った疑い。

　さらに尾張旭市の少年については、瀬戸市内の公園で９月４日頃、男子生徒に言いがかりをつけて顔を殴り、左目に２週間のけがを負わせたとして傷害容疑でも逮捕した。

　建築作業員ら２人は容疑を認め、「家庭が裕福なので狙った。金は遊興費に使った」と供述、尾張旭市の少年は殴ったことは認めたが、恐喝容疑は「貸した金を返してもらっただけ」と否認しているという。

　男子生徒は脅されるたび、家族名義の口座から現金を引き出して手渡していたといい、家族が引き出しに気づき、発覚した。建築作業員は男子生徒と同じ高校を中退しており、面識があったという。他の２人は作業員の遊び仲間だった。

（2012年1月18日21時15分 読売新聞）

Female Prodigy Who Astonished Bill Gates Dies at 14
El País: Fallece una niña prodigio paquistaní que asombró a Bill Gates
Efe Staff Report from Islamabad, January 15, 2012

A Pakistani female prodigy who astonished Bill Gates with her premature computing abilities passed away last night after passing more than three weeks in a coma, according to local television stations Geo and Express.

Arifa Karim Randhawa, who leaped to fame at age 9 when she became the youngest person to obtain a professional certificate from Microsoft, died last night in a medical center in the eastern city of Lahore.

The minor, who according to hospital sources was 14 years old, suffered a heart attack December 22 after an epileptic attack. The doctors’ prognoses were very pessimistic after that, but her parents held out hope she would survive.

“We are weeping over her loss, but she was a very strong girl. She was a gift from God, and now she has returned to Him,” an uncle of the prodigious girl said to Express.

The computing expert will be buried today close to the city of Faisalabad in the eastern province of Punjab, her native land.

After Arifa received her professional diploma from Microsoft, an astonished Bill Gates invited her to visit company headquarters and take a photograph with him.

This minor from a humble family, who made her father buy her a computer when she was only 5 years old, was an inspiration for Pakistan, a country with serious political, economic, and security problems; her case inspired a wave of sympathy from her countrymen.