UNITED STATES
Concrete owl recovering
An owl found partially encased in concrete after it got inside a cement mixer in southwestern Utah is expected to fly free again after it was painstakingly cleaned by animal sanctuary workers who described the bird as a “fighter.” The great horned owl was found at the Black Desert Resort and arrived at the Best Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab earlier this month with its face, chest and right wing covered in dried concrete. After making sure the bird could breathe, workers spent days cracking apart the concrete using forceps and cleaning its feathers using toothbrushes, dish soap and their fingers. Two weeks later, it was able to fly again and is continuing its recovery in an aviary. “He’s a youngster, which may be why he ended up in a concrete mixer,” Bart Richwalski of the animal sanctuary said.
Photo: Best Friends Animal Sanctuary via AP
LEBANON
Israeli strike kills 13
An Israeli strike on the southern city of Sidon killed 13 people and wounded several others, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. The Israeli military said it struck militants who it said were operating in a training compound in the crowded Ain al-Hilweh Palestinian refugee camp near Sidon. Hamas condemned the strike in a statement, saying it targeted an open sports field used by residents of the camp, adding that there were no military establishments in refugee camps in Lebanon.
NEW ZEALAND
Puberty drugs to be banned
The government yesterday said it was banning new prescriptions of puberty blocking drugs for young transgender people, in a move that critics warned could worsen the mental health of those affected. Doctors would no longer be able to prescribe gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogues for gender dysphoria or incongruence to those seeking treatment and not already on the drugs, Minister of Health Simeon Brown said. The decision resulted from a health ministry finding of a lack of “high-quality evidence that demonstrates the benefits or risks,” he added in a statement. The ban takes effect from Dec. 19. The ban would have a devastating impact on the lives and well-being of transgender and gender diverse young people in New Zealand, Professional Association for Transgender Health Aotearoa vice president Elizabeth McElrea said in a statement. “The ban will lead to worsening mental health, increased suicidality and dysphoria for gender diverse children and young people.”
JAPAN
Nuclear plant to be turned on
The government is set to approve the restart of the world’s biggest nuclear plant this week, local media reported yesterday. The resource-poor country pulled the plug on nuclear power after the 2011 Fukushima disaster, but it wants to revive atomic energy and reduce its dependence on imported fossil fuels. The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear plant is expected to get approval from the Niigata Prefecture governor to resume operations, according to Kyodo News and the Nikkei business daily, citing unnamed sources.
MALAYSIA
Utility loses US$1bn to crypto
National utility firm Tenaga Nasional Bhd lost US$1.1 billion of power to illegal cryptocurrency mining since 2020 in thefts the Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation said posed a “serious threat to the national energy supply system.” Tenaga also uncovered 13,827 premises that were suspected of being illegal cryptocurrency mining hubs, the ministry said in a parliamentary reply filed on Tuesday.
South Korea’s air force yesterday apologized for a 2021 midair collision involving two fighter jets, a day after auditors said the pilots were taking selfies and filming during the flight and held them responsible for the accident. “We sincerely apologize to the public for the concern caused by the accident that occurred in 2021,” an air force spokesman told a news conference, adding that one of the pilots involved had been suspended from flying duties, received severe disciplinary action and has since left the military. The apology followed a report released on Wednesday by the South Korean Board of Audit and Inspection,
Young Chinese, many who fear age discrimination in their workplace after turning 35, are increasingly starting “one-person companies” that have artificial intelligence (AI) do most of the work. Smaller start-ups are already in vogue in Silicon Valley and elsewhere, with rapidly advancing AI tools seen as a welcome teammate even as they threaten layoffs at existing firms. More young people in China are subscribing to the model, as cities pledge millions of dollars in funding and rent subsidies for such ventures, in alignment with Beijing’s political goal of “technological self-reliance.” “The one-person company is a product of the AI era,” said Karen Dai
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
‘TROUBLING’: The firing of Phelan, who was an adviser to a nonprofit that supported the defense of Taiwan, was another example of ‘dysfunction’ under Trump, a US senator said US Secretary of the Navy John Phelan has been fired, a US official and a person familiar with the matter said on Wednesday, in another wartime shakeup at the Pentagon coming just weeks after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ousted the Army’s top general. The Pentagon announced his departure in a brief statement, saying he was leaving the administration “effective immediately,” but it did not provide a reason or say whether it was his decision to go. The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Phelan was dismissed in part because he was moving too slowly to implement reforms to
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