
South Korea: Teacher and parent arrested for attempted exam paper theft
Authorities say the teacher had privately tutored the child of the arrested father - which teachers actively employed by schools in South Korea are not allowed to do.The student had "consistently maintained top grades", according to public broadcaster KBS, but it is unclear if their academic record is related to previous cases of exam-paper theft.Police also suspect that money had changed hands between the father and teacher, and that this was not their first intrusion attempt, KBS reported.This incident is the latest in a series of exam-related scandals in South Korea, a country notorious for its hyper-competitive education system.In June, police announced they were investigating the leak of answers to a nationwide English exam via an online chatroom. In February, 249 people were detained - dozens of school teachers among them - for selling mock questions for the high-stakes Suneung exam to private academies. And in late 2023, dozens of students sued the government after teachers accidentally cut their test short by 90 seconds.South Korea consistently ranks among industrialised countries with the highest levels of stress for young people aged 11 to 15.
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The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Devil's Den ‘killer' Andrew James McGann ‘would tickle pupils' and even ‘told girl ‘I wish you could be my girlfriend''
THE former teacher accused of killing a couple in front of their children allegedly tickled pupils and is said to have put a little girl on his lap. Suspect Andrew James McGann, 28, spent the last few years moving from school to school after disturbing allegations about his creepy behaviour emerged. 3 3 3 McGann was set to start teaching third grade next week, but is now behind bars after allegedly murdering Clinton Brink and his wife, Cristen Brink, while their two daughters, 7 and 9, ran to safety. After a five-day manhunt, McGann was arrested mid-haircut at a salon on Thursday and admitted to cops that he killed the Brinks in Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas on Saturday, police said. McGann now faces charges of two counts of capital murder and could face the death penalty for the crime. One distressed parent at his former Texas school told the New York Post that McGann once asked a little girl to be his "girlfriend" after putting her on his lap. The dad, whose son was occasionally in his class, fumed: "This monster was around our children. 'Mr. McGann was giving a lot of special treatment to girls in particular. "He was giving them candy, bringing them Sonic drinks, playing tag with them, tickling them, just really suspect behaviour." The school in question, Lewisville ISD, said that McGann was placed on administrative leave after "concerns related to classroom management, professional judgment, and student favouritism'. But the investigation found no evidence against the suspected killer while he was employed between 2022 to 2023, after which he resigned. Devil dentist spent days slowly killing wife with poisoned protein shakes - before giving her deadly cyanide in hospital McGann, who had just moved from Oklahoma to the Washington County area in northwest Arkansas to start a new teaching role, was arrested on Wednesday inside Lupita's Beauty Salon in Springdale. Clinton was stabbed first, then Cristen got her daughters to safety before she came back to help her husband and was also stabbed to death, Arkansas State Police said at a press conference on Thursday. Chilling audio revealed the moment that police found the parents' bodies after the girls fled to a nearby visitor center for help. DNA taken from McGann matched DNA from the horrific scene in the park, police said. Cops believe McGann, who had no criminal history, acted alone and that it was a random attack because he didn't know the Brinks. Investigators are still trying to determine a motive. TEACHING HISTORY McGann had recently moved to the area as he was hired as a "teacher candidate" for the upcoming school year, Springdale Public Schools said in a statement to The U.S. Sun. "This individual has not at any time come into contact with Springdale students or the families we serve," SPS said. While he hadn't yet met his potential Arkansas students, McGann had previously got in trouble for inappropriate contact during his first year teaching. After graduating from Oklahoma State University with a degree in elementary education in May 2022, he moved to northwestern Texas to teach fourth-grade math at Donald Elementary in Flower Mound. "The individual was placed on administrative leave in the spring of 2023 following concerns related to classroom management, professional judgment, and student favoritism," the school district, Lewisville ISD, said in a statement shared with The U.S. Sun. "An internal investigation found no evidence of inappropriate behavior with students. The teacher resigned from the district in May 2023." 'PRETTY DISINTERESTED' Sierra Marcum, a mom of one of McGann's former students at Donald Elementary, said the teacher was the "most standoffish teacher she had ever met," according to the Associated Press. 'Pretty cold. You could ask him a question, and he would give you a one-word response,' Marcum told the outlet. 'Overall, just pretty disinterested in his students.' Marcum claimed that her son noticed inappropriate behaviour from him towards little girls in his class, but the school district didn't comment on the allegation. After leaving Texas, McGann went back to the state of Oklahoma, where he worked as a fifth-grade science and social studies teacher for Broken Arrow Public Schools during the 2023-2024 school year. "As with all employees hired by the district, he was subjected to and passed the legally required background checks prior to being hired," Broken Arrow Public Schools said in a statement to The U.S. Sun. The district said he told them he left the position to work out of state, but instead took a job at a small nearby district in the Tulsa area. However, he stayed in Oklahoma and taught at Sand Springs Public Schools, near Tulsa, from summer 2024 until May of this year. He passed all background checks for the job, the district said in a statement. He resigned to take a job in another state. McGann had not yet started his job in Arkansas at Springdale Public Schools, the district confirmed. On Wednesday evening, he was arrested while getting a haircut at Lupita's Beauty Salon and Barber Shop, which is just about a 30-minute drive from where he allegedly slaughtered the Brinks. Surveillance footage from the salon showed cops taking the barber cape off McGann before putting him in handcuffs.


Daily Mail
16 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Terrified parents expose teacher's disturbing acts towards students before 'slaughtering parents in front of their children'
It was the fall semester of 2022 when 'Mr. McGann' began working as a fourth-grade teacher at Donald Elementary in Flower Mound, Texas. In less than a year, he had resigned, following complaints from parents which sparked an internal investigation.


The Independent
20 hours ago
- The Independent
US warns of corruption and reported bribery aimed at destabilizing Haiti as crisis deepens
U.S. officials announced Friday they are aware of 'reported bribery attempts' aimed at destabilizing Haiti, raising concerns that the troubled country could sink further into crisis. The announcements were made on X by the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. Officials did not provide details except to say that they commended members of Haiti's transitional presidential council 'for their rejection of corruption' and for collaborating with the current prime minister to 'work together' to stabilize the country. 'We will hold accountable anyone who attempts to undermine this collaboration,' the embassy wrote on X. The announcement comes as infighting threatens the stability of the council while gangs that control up to 90% of Haiti's capital continue to seize more territory in Port-au-Prince and in Haiti's central region. The council's voting members did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Neither did the U.S. Department of State nor the office of Haiti's prime minister. Some people on social media mocked the announcement as they accused some council members of being corrupt. In October last year, Haiti's anti-corruption unit accused three council members of bribery and corruption involving the government-owned National Bank of Credit. No one has been charged, and the council members remain in their positions. Haiti's political stability has been fragile ever since a powerful gang federation known as 'Viv Ansanm' launched attacks early last year on critical government infrastructure including police stations and the country's main international airport, forcing it to close for nearly three months. The attacks prevented then-Prime Minister Ariel Henry from returning to Haiti. He eventually resigned, unable to enter his homeland following an official visit to Kenya to talk about a U.N.-backed mission that police from the eastern African country are currently leading to try and quash gang violence. The council is under pressure to hold general elections by February 2026, with the previous ones held nearly a decade ago. No date has been set yet. The council was created in April 2024 as the international community scrambled to meet with Haitian officials to rebuild the country's government after Henry resigned. Political stability remains fragile, with three prime ministers having been appointed in the past year. Meanwhile, gang violence continues to surge in the aftermath of the July 2021 killing of President Jovenel Moïse. In a report released Friday, the United Nations Integrated Office in Haiti noted that at least 1,520 people were killed and more than 600 injured from April to the end of June. Nearly 80% of those incidents happened in Port-au-Prince, with nearly 20% reported in Haiti's central region. More than 60% of the killings and injuries occurred during operations by security forces against gangs, with another 12% blamed on self-defense groups. The report noted that Johnson André, best known as 'Izo' and considered Haiti's most powerful gang leader, was injured in drone strikes earlier this year, as was gang leader Renel Destina, who goes by 'Ti Lapli' and leads the Grand Ravine gang. From April to June, more than 400 homes and other buildings including schools and health centers 'were ransacked, burned or destroyed by gangs,' the report stated. Gang violence also has displaced more than 1.3 million people in recent years. ___ Associated Press writers Matthew Lee in Washington and Evens Sanon in Port-au-Prince, Haiti contributed.