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Japanese police have arrested a man masquerading as a doctor, for allegedly drugging and raping more than 100 women during fake medical studies.
The Japan Times reported that scores of women volunteered for his “clinical research measuring blood pressure during sleep” over two years to November 2013.
Show all 9 1 /9In pictures: Top 10 safest cities In pictures: Top 10 safest cities 1. Tokyo This safe-haven of a city is famous for its teen fashion tribes, dressed in day-glo and Manga-inspired outfits, and colourful “matsuri” festivals. Stroll around one of the fish markets and sample the local sushi, or visit the world’s oldest temple, Senso-ji, all in the knowledge that your wallet is (almost definitely) safe.
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In pictures: Top 10 safest cities 2. Singapore One of just three city-states in the world, along with Monaco and Vatican City, Singapore boasts very low crime rates: in 2012 there were 80 days straight without a single robbery reported. This proud nation prints the entire national anthem on the back of its $1,000 notes, and is home to the first “Hug Me” Coca-Cola machine, which dispenses bottles of pop when hugged. Wow.
In pictures: Top 10 safest cities 3. Osaka The second Japanese city in the top ten safest list, Osaka enjoys a similar atmosphere of calm to its more famous older sister, Tokyo. It is home to Universal Studios Japan and an entire Manga shopping district, “Den Den Town”.
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In pictures: Top 10 safest cities 4. Stockholm The safest European city is also one of the richest, among the top 10 regions in the continent by GDP per capita. It also hosts the annual Nobel Prize for literature, medicine, physics, chemistry and economics, but contrary to the city’s harmonious atmosphere, the Peace Prize is the only Nobel awarded elsewhere, in Norway’s Oslo.
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In pictures: Top 10 safest cities 5. Amsterdam A famously liberal attitude towards drugs and the sex trade obviously hasn’t had a detrimental impact on Amsterdam’s safety: it’s in the top five safest cities in the world. Just watch you don’t fall into a canal after indulging in one too many “brownies”…
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In pictures: Top 10 safest cities 6. Sydney Ironically where Britain once sent its criminals, people now leave in their droves to live in safe Sydney, famous for offering a healthy, outdoor lifestyle and home to a certain opera house. Perhaps all that sunshine has something to do with it?
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In pictures: Top 10 safest cities 7. Zurich This city has a relatively small population, and has infamously low tax rates, which might go some way to explain its place in the top safest cities in the world. It’s also often named as the place offering the best quality of life. Lucky old Zurich.
In pictures: Top 10 safest cities 9. Melbourne The second Australian city in the top ten for safety, Melbourne is rated the highest in “liveability” in the whole world. In the same survey last year it scored perfect rating for healthcare, education and infrastructure.
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In pictures: Top 10 safest cities 10. New York Perhaps one of the more surprising on the safety list is The Big Apple, which actually scores pretty badly in terms of “liveability”. Contrary to its violent reputation, at least in Brooklyn and the Bronx, violent crime has been dropping since 1990, and last year saw the lowest number of homicides since records began in 1963.
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Detectives in Chiba, east of Tokyo, believe Hideyuki Noguchi, 54, arranged to meet the women in hotels and spas, before drugging them with sedatives.
Detectives said once the women were unconscious, he raped them and filmed each assault.
Japanese broadcasters claimed Noguchi then posted footage of the attacks online or sold it to producers of porn films, allegedly netting more than ¥10 million ($85,000).
He is not believed to have any medical training or expertise.
Chiba police have confirmed at least 39 victims, aged from their teens to their 40s, in Tokyo, Chiba, Osaka, Tochigi and Shizuoka.
However the Japan Times said detectives believed the total number of Noguchi’s victims to be well over 100.
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