NEW ZEALAND
PM plans summer wedding
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern plans to get married this summer, but did not disclose the date, media reported yesterday. Ardern told Coast Radio that she and her partner, television host Clarke Gayford, have “finally got a date” for the wedding, the New Zealand Herald reported. “That doesn’t mean we’ve told anyone yet, so I feel like we should probably put some invites out,” she was quoted as saying. Ardern, 40, got engaged to Gayford, 44, in April 2019 and they have a two-year-old daughter.
AUSTRALIA
Giant wood moth spotted
A giant moth with a wingspan measuring up to 25cm has been found at a Queensland school next to a rainforest. Builders found the giant wood moth, the heaviest moth in the world, while constructing new classrooms at Mount Cotton State School. Giant wood moths are found along the Queensland and New South Wales coast, the Queensland Museum said. The female moths can weigh up to 30g and have a wingspan of up to 25cm, while the male moths are half that size. They have a short life cycle, with adults living only a matter of days. They die after mating and laying eggs.
MALI
Nonuplets surprise doctors
A woman on Tuesday gave birth to nine babies — two more than the doctors had detected inside her womb — joining a small pantheon of mothers of nonuplets. The pregnancy of Halima Cisse, 25, has fascinated the West African nation and attracted the attention of its leaders. When doctors in March said that Cisse needed specialist care, authorities flew her to Morocco, where she gave birth. “The newborns [five girls and four boys] and the mother are all doing well,” Minister of Health and Social Development Fanta Siby said in a statement.
UNITED KINGDOM
Prize winners welcomed
Starting yesterday, prize winners in the arts and sciences are to have their applications to live and work in the kingdom fast-tracked, the Home Office said, pressing its post-Brexit pledge to attract only the “best and brightest.” A new system for work visas has been introduced based on points that are on a scale depending on, among other things, the type of job offer, qualifications and the ability to speak English. Winners of awards such as the Nobel Prize, Oscars and Golden Globes can live and work more easily under the Global Talent visa route, the ministry said.
BELGIUM
Farmer enlarges border
The boundary between France and Belgium is believed to have been inadvertently redrawn by a French farmer who found the 200-year-old border stone marking the divide in an inconvenient location for his tractor. An amateur historian taking a walk in a forest near Erquelinnes discovered two weeks ago that the stone dating back to 1819 had been moved 2.29m. While amused by the enlargement of his town, Erquelinnes Mayor David Lavaux told TV channel TF1 that it would be best not to “create a diplomatic incident.” “I was happy, my town was bigger — but the mayor of Bousignies sur Roc [France] did not agree. If [the farmer] shows goodwill, he won’t have a problem. We will settle this issue amicably,” Lavaux added, smiling. “We should be able to avoid a new border war,” Bousignies sur Roc Mayor Aurelie Welonek told daily La Voix du Nord.
SEEKING CHANGE: A hospital worker said she did not vote in previous elections, but ‘now I can see that maybe my vote can change the system and the country’ Voting closed yesterday across the Solomon Islands in the south Pacific nation’s first general election since the government switched diplomatic allegiance from Taiwan to Beijing and struck a secret security pact that has raised fears of the Chinese navy gaining a foothold in the region. The Solomon Islands’ closer relationship with China and a troubled domestic economy weighed on voters’ minds as they cast their ballots. As many as 420,000 registered voters had their say across 50 national seats. For the first time, the national vote also coincided with elections for eight of the 10 local governments. Esther Maeluma cast her vote in the
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
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