‘One of Australias worst ever paedophiles’ pleads guilty on 307 counts

A former childcare worker in Australia has pleaded guilty to 307 sex offences committed over a period of 20 years.

Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, pleaded guilty on Monday to charges related to the abuse of children in his care. The charges included 28 counts of rape, 190 of indecent treatment, and 67 of creating child exploitation material.

The crimes were committed against 60 children, many of them under 12, at childcare centres in Australia and Italy between 2003 and 2022.

Griffith was arrested in August 2022 after investigators linked him to disturbing content found on the dark web. He was charged with over 1,400 crimes, including multiple counts of rape, after additional child abuse material was found on his electronic devices.

The number of charges was significantly reduced earlier this year and additional charges were dropped on Monday, leaving him facing 307 offences.

A parent of one of the victims recalled to the ABC the “horrific” moment they were told their daughter had been sexually abused. They initially thought that police were reaching out about a separate incident at the daycare centre, but they were instead asked to identify their child from a photo.

“We see people going in and I think this happened to my child in that room,” the victim’s mother said, referring to the daycare centre. “It’s a room of horrors.”

Her father said it was “hard to believe” how someone could “get away with something like that for so long”.

“As she grows up, we’ll deal with that as it comes but it’s going to be something we deal with through our lives now,” the child’s father said. “It was good that he pleaded guilty and we can move onto the next step now.”

Michael Fitzgerald of the New South Wales state police last year described it as “one of the most horrific cases of alleged child abuse our detectives have seen”.

Australian police believe that Griffith, who held the necessary childcare qualifications, recorded all his alleged offences using phones and cameras while at work.

There were no official reports against him before his arrest, police said. However, a childcare manager, Yolanda Borucki, had reported Griffith to Queensland Police months earlier after a staff member saw him kissing a girl, according to 9News.

Ms Borucki, who managed a childcare chain where Griffith was employed, helped file a report to Queensland Police. Despite this complaint, police cleared Griffith without searching his home or devices, allowing him to continue working in childcare, where he allegedly abused more children, the report claimed.

“We didn’t keep quiet, we [have] been very clear something is wrong but no one [has] done anything about it,” Ms Borucki was quoted as saying.

Griffith will be sentenced at a later date. He did not seek bail and was returned to custody after arraignment.

Last week, an Australian man who pretended to be a teenage YouTube celebrity to prey on children and young adults online was sentenced to 17 years in jail.

Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed, 29, from Perth had coerced 286 victims, including 180 children, from 20 countries into performing sexually explicit acts on camera or video, Australian police said.

Rasheed pleaded guilty to 119 charges last December and was first charged in 2021 when police reported that he had posed as a teenage social media celebrity to befriend girls in Australia and abroad.

If you are a child and you need help because something has happened to you, you can call the NSPCC free of charge on 0800 1111. You can also call the NSPCC if you are an adult and you are worried about a child, on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adults on 0808 801 0331.

Another child killed as wolf capture fails to stop pack’s rampage

A three-year-old child has become the latest victim of deadly wolf attacks in northern India despite authorities intensifying efforts to stop the rampaging pack.

At least eight children and a woman have been killed by a pack of three wolves in rural Uttar Pradesh in the last months, while over 50 people have survived attacks.

Forest officials in Bahraich district have caught one of the killer wolves, but the other two remain on the prowl.

The three-year-old girl was taken by one of the wolves from her home early on Monday, her mother told news agency ANI.

“She was bitten on both hands. We are poor people who work as labourers. There is no door to our home,” she said.

The wolf attacks have left more than 50,000 people across 30 villages petrified, prompting the deployment of 150 forest guards and over 200 security personnel.

Residents alleged that the forest department refused to act, and demanded video proof from the villagers who first raised the alarm over wolf sightings.

“We surrounded the wolf in a field and called the forest department, but they asked for a video,” an unnamed resident was quoted as saying by the news agency.

“By the time we take out our mobile, it disappears.”

India routinely reports leopard and tiger attacks, but wolf attacks are unusual.

Authorities in Bahraich have installed loudspeakers and floodlights to deter the animals from attacking people.

Forest officials have placed urine-soaked stuffed toys near traps to draw the wolves away from residential areas. They have also burned elephant dung and urine to create an illusion of the presence of elephants as wolves avoid places where big animals dwell.

It is common in summers for villagers in India to sleep on mats or woven-rope beds outside their homes, where it is cooler, leaving them vulnerable to animal attacks.

The first wolf attack was reported on 17 July, when a one-year-old was killed. Many people have since reported wolves entering their homes at night and attempting to snatch away the sleeping inhabitants, mostly children.

“At 4 in the morning an animal attacked me. He attacked my neck with its jaws. It was bigger than a jackal,” one survivor told the Times of India.

“If I had not caught his mouth, he would have killed me.”

Forest officials said on Sunday they had located the two killer wolves still on the loose with the help of drones. “Both wolves have been traced in this area. We will capture them today or tomorrow,” said forest officer Abhishek Singh.

Bahraich district magistrate Monika Rani asked residents to be alert and sleep indoors. “We are trying our best to catch the remaining wolves as soon as possible,” she told reporters.

Wildlife experts say wolves avoid human habitats but become man-eaters when they develop a taste for human flesh due to the lack of food following floods or other natural disasters.

Two die as teenager jumping from shopping centre roof hits pedestrian

Two people died in Japan on Saturday after a high school student fell from the rooftop of a shopping centre and landed on a pedestrian below.

The incident occurred at around 6pm near Yokohama station. Police received calls that two females were lying injured at a shopping centre in the Nishi ward, the Japan Times reported.

Security footage showed the teenager falling from the rooftop garden of the shopping mall and hitting a woman walking with friends below.

They were taken to hospital, where they were both pronounced dead. An initial investigation suggested that the student’s death was suicide, although the motive was unclear.

Police identified the dead as a 17-year-old student from Chiba prefecture and a 32-year-old corporate worker from Yokohama, but did not give their names.

Japan sees more suicides by minors on 1 September than on any other day in the calendar year, BBC News reported. At least 513 children took their lives on this day in 2023, data released by the health ministry in March showed, while there were 514 in 2022.

Officials have connected the phenomenon to the impending start of the new academic year, with “school problems” recorded as being associated with 261 cases last year, followed by “health problems” with 147 cases, and “family problems” with 116 cases.

Japan’s government and media organisations have been working to raise awareness about the challenges that students face, particularly at the start of the new school term.

Students who have a hard time returning to school are known as “futoko” or “those who don’t go to school”, usually due to family circumstances, personal issues with friends, and bullying, according to a survey by the education ministry.

Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK, has mounted a campaign on Twitter called “On the Night of 31 August” to help address the issue.

Note: If you are experiencing feelings of distress and isolation, or are struggling to cope, The Samaritans offers support. You can speak to someone for free over the phone, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.

If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). The Helpline is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.

Boy who broke 3,500-year-old artefact welcomed back to museum

A four-year-old boy who accidentally smashed a Bronze Age jar into pieces was welcomed back along with his family to the Hecht Museum in Israel.

The child and his family were visiting the museum at the University of Haifa earlier this month when the boy “pulled the jar slightly” out of curiosity, causing the 3,500-year-old jar to fall and shatter.

The artefact, from between 2200BC and 1500BC, had been displayed near the entrance without a protective barrier.

The museum, instead of taking action against Ariel Geller, said it was inviting the boy and his family for a guided tour to “sweeten” their previously bitter experience.

During their visit last Friday, the boy gifted the museum a clay vase of his own and was met with forgiving staff and curators.

“It was just a distraction of a second,” Anna Geller, a mother of three from the northern Israeli town of Nahariya, told the Associated Press. “And the next thing I know, it’s a very big boom boom behind me.”

The child’s father, Alex Geller, said he was “in shock” to see his son next to the broken artefact and at first thought it couldn’t be his child who caused such damage.

The child said he “just wanted to see what was inside”, his mother said.

Mr Geller went over to the security guards to let them know what had happened in the hope that it was a model and not a real artefact. The father even offered to pay for the damage.

“But they called and said it was insured, and after they checked the cameras and saw it wasn’t vandalism they invited us back for a make-up visit,” he said.

The jar was one of many artefacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers.

The museum believes there is a “special charm” in displaying artefacts without barriers or glass walls to make archaeological findings more accessible to the public, Dr Inbal Rivlin, its general manager, earlier told The Independent.

The museum said it would not involve the police as the displayed items were broken unintentionally.

“The jar was accidentally damaged by a young child visiting the museum, and the response will be accordingly,” Dr Rivlin said.

The jar predates the time of biblical kings David and Solomon and is characteristic of the Canaan region on the Mediterranean coast, the manager said. The “impressive find” was intended for the storage and transportation of mostly wine and olive oil.

Experts are using 3D technology and high-resolution videos to restore the jar, which could be back on display as soon as next week.

During Friday’s tour, Ariel had the opportunity to experience restoration work firsthand. “He assembled and restored a small broken jar using a special restoration kit prepared by the museum. In a similar manner to the repairs currently underway on the ancient jar, this is exactly what professionals do,” the museum said on Facebook.

Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple as the pieces were from a single, complete jar.

Mr Shafir told the news agency that artefacts should remain accessible to the public, even if accidents happen because touching one can inspire a deeper interest in history and archaeology.

“I like that people touch. Don’t break, but to touch things, it’s important,” he said.

Storm Yagi prompts flood warnings and shuts schools in Philippines

A tropical storm unleashed heavy rains across the northern Philippines over the weekend, triggering floods and landslides and prompting the closure of schools in the capital region.

Yagi, locally known as Enteng, was moving northwest with maximum sustained winds of 75km/h and gusts up to 90km/h, bringing dangerous weather conditions to the region.

In Naga city in Camarines Sur province, floods caused by the storm claimed at least one life and authorities were verifying if other reported deaths were weather-related.

The eastern city was hit hard, with floodwaters rising several feet and prompting the rescue of hundreds of residents. A nine-month-old girl was killed as the area was inundated, AFP news agency quoted officials as saying.

In the province of Northern Samar, the Philippine coast guard evacuated 40 people from two flood-stricken villages on Sunday, with the waters reaching waist-height.

The storm also disrupted operations at several ports, stranding 2,400 ferry passengers and cargo workers.

Nearly two dozen domestic flights were suspended as well.

Rains brought by the storm triggered landslides in the central city of Cebu, killing at least two people and damaging several houses.

The severe weather forced the closure of schools and government offices in Manila and the surrounding provinces of Bulacan and Quezon.

The Ipo Dam in Bulacan province, north of Manila, was close to overflowing. Authorities planned to release some of the water later on Monday, assuring that their action would not pose a risk to downstream villages.

Authorities were also monitoring the Marikina river in Manila, where water levels were rising and people in flood-prone areas were warned to prepare for possible evacuation.

Yagi was expected to make landfall in the northern Luzon region, possibly in Isabela or Cagayan, before moving towards southern China later in the week.

The Philippine weather bureau, Pagasa, warned of potential flash floods, landslides and coastal waves as the storm continued to affect the region.

Yagi arrived just days after heavy monsoon rains flooded parts of Manila and barely a month after typhoon Gaemi.

Gaemi didn’t make landfall in the Philippines but interacted with the southwest monsoon to cause heavy winds and torrential rainfall. At least 48 people were killed, with around 6.5 million affected by the severe conditions.

The Philippines experiences about 20 typhoons and storms a year. The archipelago’s location in the “Pacific Ring of Fire” makes it one of the world’s most disaster-prone countries, regularly facing devastating volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and cyclones.

Japan under flood alert after record rainfall even as Shanshan weakens

Tropical storm Shanshan continued to impact Japan, causing torrential rain, landslides and widespread flooding over the weekend.

The storm, which achieved windspeeds up to 252km/h before it made landfall on Thursday, left at least six people dead, 127 injured and one missing.

The Japan Meteorological Agency said Shanshan weakened into a tropical depression around noon on Sunday, but was still expected to bring more localised downpours, thunder, and strong winds to Tokai, Kinki and Kanto regions.

Atami city in central Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture experienced record rainfall of over 654mm in 72 hours, more than three times the average for the entire month of August. Heavy rainfall led to landslides and swollen rivers, putting many areas at risk.

Authorities issued landslide warnings for the Hamamatsu, Izu and Yokohama regions as well as parts of Tokyo, urging people to evacuate to local stadiums and community centres for safety.

In addition to the risk posed by the storm, the agency said that it was monitoring the development of a weather system near the Philippines which could potentially grow into a typhoon.

Storm Yagi, also known as Storm Enteng, prompted flood and landslide warnings in the Philippines over the weekend, with government work and schools in Manila reportedly suspended.

Shanshan disrupted daily life across Japan. The Tokaido Shinkansen partially resumed operations on Sunday evening, but services could be interrupted by heavy rain. In the southwestern regions of Kyushu and Shikoku, automakers like Toyota and Mazda shut down their factories and many flights were cancelled.

People in the affected regions were busy cleaning up their flooded homes, while keeping a close eye on further weather updates.

As Shanshan slowly moved north, it was expected to head out over the Sea of Japan by Monday. The lingering effects of the storm, however, would likely be felt across the country for many more days.

One dead and eight hurt after drunk man grabs wheel of public bus

At least one person was killed and eight injured after a drunk passenger grabbed the steering wheel of a public bus in India‘s financial capital.

Two pedestrians were among those hurt after the man forcibly turned the steering wheel of a bus during an altercation with the driver in Mumbai city on Sunday.

The driver lost control and the bus knocked down pedestrians, rammed into cars and motorcycles in the city’s Lalbaugh area, which was heavily crowded ahead of the Hindu festival of Ganesh Chaturthi.

One man, identified by police as 45-year-old Datta Murlidhar Shinde, has been taken into custody pending charges.

“When the bus arrived at the location, a drunk passenger pulled the bus driver from the steering wheel due to which the driver lost control,” said a spokesperson for Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport, a public utility.

A 27-year-old woman who suffered chest and abdomen injuries died on Monday, Mid-Day newspaper reported. Another woman is in a critical condition at the hospital, police said.

The driver and the conductor of the bus were also taken to the Kalachowki police station to give statements.

“One person identified as Datta Murlidhar Shinde who was under the influence of alcohol forcibly turned the steering wheel left due to which the bus hit two four-wheelers, a two-wheeler and two pedestrians,” a police officer was quoted as saying by The Indian Express.

“We have been recording the statements of witnesses and the injured bus driver,” senior inspector Sanjay Mohite said.

Deadly road accidents are common in India, often caused by reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and ageing vehicles. The country has one of the highest road death rates in the world, with over 110,000 people killed in road accidents every year.

Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki awarded ‘Asia’s Nobel Prize’

Japanese film director and Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki has been chosen for the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award, often referred to as Asia’s Nobel Prize.

The award recognises Mr Miyazaki’s work creating thought-provoking animated films that tackle complex issues like environmental protection and peace and make them accessible to children.

Mr Miyazaki won his second Oscar this year for The Boy and the Heron, judged the best animated film. He received his first Oscar in 2003 for Spirited Away. His notable works also include Princess Mononoke.

Studio Ghibli shared the news on X: “The foundation praised him, stating, ‘He has used art to help children understand complex issues, such as environmental protection and the promotion of peace’.”

Mr Miyazaki, 83, is one of four people to receive the Ramon Magsaysay Award for 2024, along with the Rural Doctors’ Movement of Thailand, recognised for its dedication to provide healthcare to the poor people of the Southeast Asian nation.

The award was established in 1957 in memory of former Philippines president Ramon Magsaysay.

Dr Nguyen Thi Ngoc Phuong, a Vietnamese doctor, was recognised for fighting for justice for victims of Agent Orange, a toxic defoliant used during the Vietnam War.

Former Buddhist monk Karma Phuntsho was chosen for his work balancing Bhutan’s rich past with its present challenges and opportunities through education, the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation, headquartered in Manila, said.

Another winner, Indonesian environmentalist Farwiza Farhan, led a campaign to save the Leuser Ecosystem, a vital forest in Sumatra which is home to many species threatened by deforestation and weak law enforcement.

The award ceremony will be held in Manila in November.