NEW ZEALAND
USB returned minus seal poo
The owner of a USB stick that was found in the frozen feces of a rare leopard seal in New Zealand has been tracked down and revealed to be a seal enthusiast who had helped collect the sample 12 months earlier. Last week, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) put out a call for the owner of a functional USB stick that they had recovered from the scat of a leopard seal. That person was Amanda Nally, the only sea lion volunteer on the south coast, who spotted the announcement on the news. “NIWA are convinced that a bird ate my USB stick and the leopard seal then ate the bird, because he had a lot of feathers in the scat. And then, bizarrely, I came along and said: ‘Oh there’s a sample — we should send to NIWA,’” Nally said. A NIWA spokesperson confirmed the theory.
CHINA
Uighurs’ kin seek video proof
Ethnic Uighurs have launched a global campaign to press authorities for video proof that their missing relatives are alive, turning the tables on Beijing’s use of video to counter claims that a renowned Uighur had died in custody. The social media campaign was launched on Tuesday under #MeTooUyghur after the government released a video showing a man who identified himself as Uighur poet and musician Abdurehim Heyit, and saying he was alive and well. The video was made public after Turkey claimed that Heyit had died in a prison in a statement in which Ankara condemned the country for herding vast numbers of Muslim minority Uighurs into “re-education” camps in the remote Xinjiang region. “Chinese authorities showed video as proof Mr Heyit is still alive. Now, we want to know, where are millions of Uyghurs?” said advocate Murat Harri Uyghur, who created the hashtag.
HAITI
Convicts escape prison
All 78 detainees at the prison in Aquin, a city of about 100,000 on the south coast of the country’s Tiburon Peninsula, escaped at about noon on Tuesday, a national police spokesman said. The exact circumstances of the prison break are unclear, but witnesses said it took place during a demonstration against President Jovenel Moise in front of the police station adjoining the penitentiary.
UNITED STATES
Penguins mark Valentine’s
In what has become an annual Valentine’s Day tradition, biologists on Tuesday handed out red felt hearts to African penguins at the California Academy of Sciences. The birds grabbed the hearts in their beaks and waddled around their rocky enclosure toward their nests. It is often the male penguin who retrieves the heart and carries it back to his mate, spokeswoman Kelly Mendez said. The penguins use the felt for material in their nests, which helps reinforce the couples’ bond.
UNITED STATES
Snow hits Hawaiian peak
There is snow in Hawaii, on the highest peak of the island of Maui, but visitors have to enjoy it from down below as the summit area of Haleakala National Park is closed because of “extreme winter conditions.” Snow, ice, fallen trees and rocks are making the area dangerous, park officials said on Tuesday, adding that people are encouraged to view the snowcapped mountain from afar. Snowfall lower down at a Maui park caused a traffic jam over the weekend from people wanting to see the unusual weather.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
HYPOCRISY? The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs yesterday asked whether Biden was talking about China or the US when he used the word ‘xenophobic’ US President Joe Biden on Wednesday called for a hike in steel tariffs on China, accusing Beijing of cheating as he spoke at a campaign event in Pennsylvania. Biden accused China of xenophobia, too, in a speech to union members in Pittsburgh. “They’re not competing, they’re cheating. They’re cheating and we’ve seen the damage here in America,” Biden said. Chinese steel companies “don’t need to worry about making a profit because the Chinese government is subsidizing them so heavily,” he said. Biden said he had called for the US Trade Representative to triple the tariff rates for Chinese steel and aluminum if Beijing was