anna maria: June 2020

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

New PoliValve Heart Valve

The PoliValve is durable and would not require patients to take blood-thinning drugs, its creators say. An artificial heart valve has passed safety checks needed to enter human trials, raising hopes that it could transform open heart surgery for millions of patients each year. The existing options for patients are biological valves made from pig or cow tissue that last only 10 to 15 years, or mechanical valves that last longer but require patients to take blood-thinning tablets for the rest of their lives. The PoliValve, developed by scientists at the universities of Bristol and Cambridge, could last for up to 25 years according to results published in the journal Biomaterials Science. The way the blood flows through it should also reduce the risk of blood clots when compared with mechanical valves.

Caravan sales up 30%

The remains of a caravan that jack-knifed on the Bruce Highway near Nambour on Sunday, June 28.(ABC Supplied: Clayton's Towing) ……."They're not always new to it — we've had experienced caravanners or people who have driven B-doubles their whole life, then jumped in a caravan and rolled over." According to Mr Clayton, issues with speed and load are the most common causes of crashes, which often start with a "swaying vehicle" and end with a rollover…… https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/qld-highway-caravan-crash-sparks-safety-warning/12402706

NSW Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane

NSW Labor MP Shaoquett Moselmane received free accommodation, transport and gifts from the Chinese government during numerous trips to China over the past decade, and on one occasion received a free mobile phone from telecommunications company Huawei. The revelations jar with remarks made by Mr Moselmane on Monday that he had never been the recipient of a Chinese-government sponsored trip.

Senior Constable Karl Gunderson

Senior Constable Karl Gunderson has returned to his father's community on the Tiwi Islands, 80 kilometres north of Darwin.(ABC News: Ian Redfearn) But it was his last posting, a two-year stint as a detective in the remote town of Tennant Creek in Central Australia, that almost broke him…. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-30/tiwi-police-officer-reflects-on-life-in-the-force/12403102

Angela Merkel and President Macron Meeting

German Chancellor Merkel And French President Macron Meet In Meseberg During The Coronavirus Pandemic GRANSEE, GERMANY - JUNE 29: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron sit in the garden as they meet in the grounds of Schloss Meseberg on June 29, 2020 in Gransee, Germany. The German Chancellor and French President will meet to discuss European Union funding during the Coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Maja Hitij - Pool / Getty Images)

Sydney, Australia

Sydney, Australia A mural of the Australian rules footballer Adam Goodes, one of the country’s highest-profile Indigenous sportsmen Photograph: Peter Parks/AFP/Getty

Deir al-Hassi, Hemen

Deir al-Hassi, Yemen Seven-month-old Issa Ibrahim Nasser is measured at a clinic. At seven months old, Issa weighs only 3kg. Like him, hundreds of children suffer from acute severe malnutrition because of poverty and grinding conflict Photograph: Issa Al-Rajhi/AP

St Louis couple point guns on protesters

St.Louis, US A couple draws their firearms on protestors as they enter their neighbourhood during a protest against St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson Photograph: Lawrence Bryant/Reuters

Ukraine Famine 1932

Corpse of a starved man in the street Kharkiv, Ukraine. Result of Soviet Famine under Joseph Stalin, 1932.

Frillback Pigeons

Frillback pigeons are one of the most coveted breeds among pigeon fanciers, prized both for its relatively calm temperament and for their unique frills or curls.

Woman forced to get intrauterine contraceptive device

Alif Baqytali plays on a tricycle at his home in Shonzhy, Kazakhstan on Saturday, June 13, 2020. Baqytali's mother, Gulnar Omirzakh, a Chinese-born ethnic Kazakh, says she was forced to get an intrauterine contraceptive device, and that authorities threatened to detain her if she didn't pay a large fine for giving birth to Alif, her third child. (AP Photo/Mukhit Toktassyn)

Uyghur Muslims and other religions in China

……. It is not just Uyghur Muslims who are detained but people belonging to countless other religions, including The Church of Almighty God (CAG) Case studies of some of those targeted are cited in the annual report of The Church of Almighty God, which is the largest new Chinese Christian religious movement and also, allegedly, the most persecuted. The CAG, it is claimed, has been persecuted since it was banned in 1995 and more than 300,000 members of the Church have been detained in China. In the camps, various slogans are written on the walls outside of the classrooms, such as: “Make a habit of studying Mandarin” (intended for Uyghurs who normally do not speak Mandarin but only their own Uyghur language) and “Follow the guidance of Xi Jinping’s thought on socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era, and untiringly strive to achieve the dream of the people of China to bring about a great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.”……. https://intpolicydigest.org/2019/03/20/religious-minorities-in-china-falling-victim-to-re-education-camps/

Monday, June 29, 2020

PM threatens charity status

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has threatened the charity status and government funding of organisations that refuse to sign up to the child sexual abuse redress scheme by the Tuesday deadline. In a letter to 25 organisations named in the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse but yet to join the scheme, Mr Morrison and Social Services Minister Anne Ruston said the institutions' resistance was "reprehensible" and warned of heavy consequences. The religious, community and sporting organisations – which include the Jehovah's Witnesses and a number of Catholic groups – have been told they have until June 30 to provide a clear statement of intent to join the scheme by the end of the year. Mr Morrison and Senator Ruston said those that refused to commit would be "publicly identified and the government is considering other actions including the appropriateness of future funding and tax status"….. https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-threatens-charity-status-of-organisations-refusing-to-join-abuse-redress-scheme-20200628-p556z8.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1593385858

Peta Credlin apology

Sky News Australia have issued an apology and retracted an editorial by presenter Peta Credlin, after the former government advisor blamed Melbourne’s COVID-19 outbreak on the city’s South Sudanese migrant community.

Mississippi state flag

A man waves the current Mississippi state flag outside the Capitol, Saturday, June 27, 2020 Source: AP Spectators at the Mississippi Capitol broke into applause Saturday as lawmakers took a big step toward erasing the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag, a symbol that has come under intensifying criticism in recent weeks amid nationwide protests against racial injustice.

Great Grey Owl

Great Grey Owl. Amazing beauty and camouflage. Great shot by @alanmurphy

Mock headstones of people killed by Minneapolis police

Mock headstones were placed at this makeshift memorial in Minneapolis for people who have been killed by police. Photo: Joshua Rashaad McFadden

Austin, Texas

Pedro Vasquez helps board up the windows of a bar in Austin, Texas, on Friday after all bars were ordered to close amid rising cases of the coronavirus. Photograph: Tamir Kalifa/The New York Times

Colorado, US

People shut down I-225 in both directions as they demand justice for Elijah McClain. McClain was walking home when he was forcibly detained by three Aurora police officers and was injected with ketamine after officers requested assistance from Aurora fire rescue. McClain suffered a heart attack on the way to hospital that night and died six days later Photograph: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

Bakhchysarai, Crimea

A woman enjoys a walk through a lavender field on a warm summers day in the disputed region. Photograph: Alexey Pavlishak/Reuters

Corrientes province, Argentina

A red macaw one of five that were released into the Ibera National Park, near Ituzaingo as part of a project to reintroduce native species - The red macaw has been extinct in the province for the last 100 years. Photograph: Rewilding Argentina/AFP/Getty Images

Sunday, June 28, 2020

Dingo fences for Fraser Island

Four wire mesh fences are being built on Fraser Island beachfront camp sites to help stop dingo attacks. Years of people feeding dingoes on K'Gari — the Indigenous name for the Island — has taught them to associate food with humans, and some come into camps. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-28/fraser-island-camping-sites-fenced-for-the-first-time-dingoes/12379048

NSW buys outback station for national park

The acquisition of Narriearra Station by NSW National Parks will see a focus on protecting the Grey Grasswren bird (Supplied: Jeff Hardy) NSW buys outback station in state's largest single property purchase for a national park It's the vast embodiment of outback beauty and heartbreak — a sweeping western NSW cattle station that is, by turns, arid no-man's land and lush waterbird haven, home to ancient Indigenous artefacts, the ghostly trail of Burke and Wills and now the nation's newest national park….. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-27/narriearra-station-sold-to-become-national-park-in-nsw/12400344

Australian wool is mostly sent overseas for processing.

(ABC: Brett Worthington) The nation's farm lobby has called for governments to revive domestic manufacturing and processing amid concerns the agriculture industry relies too heavily on countries like China………… https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-28/farmers-push-for-wool-processing-manufacturing-in-australia/12391394

Melania Trump

Melania Trump, 50, pictured in the Oval Office at the White House on February 12 this year, as her husband hosted a meeting with the president of Ecuador, Lenin Moreno JIM LO SCALZO/GETTY IMAGES

Bavaria, Munich

Sun on the Isar 27 June 2020, Bavaria, Munich: Many people enjoy the beautiful and sunny weather on the banks of the Isar. Photo: Sven Hoppe/dpa (Photo by Sven Hoppe/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Canary Wharf, London

A man dives into the water near Canary Wharf, London. VICTORIA JONES / PA WIRE

Statue removed in South Corolina

A statue of John C Calhoun, a former US Vice President and advocate of slavery, is removed from Marion Square in Charleston, South Carolina. SEAN RAYFORD

Victory Day, Russia

KIRILL YASKO / HOST PHOTO AGENCY VIA GETTY IMAGES Servicemen take part in a Victory Day military parade marking the 75th anniversary of the end of World War Two, in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia. The event was postponed from its original date of 9 May because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Fort Apache Indian Reservation

Thursday, June 25, 2020, a sign alerts motorists that visitors are not allowed on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in eastern Arizona. The reservation, home to the White Mountain Apache Tribe, will be under lockdown this weekend to help slow the spread of the coronavirus. (C.M. Clay/White Mountain Apache Tribe via AP) (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

Saturday, June 27, 2020

Vincent van Gogh, 1886

A rare photograph of Vincent van Gogh taken in 1886.

Source: Reddit

Last wish at Dutch Zoo

Giraffe saying hello to terminally ill patient during “last wish” event in a Dutch zoo.

Most trafficked animal in the world

A Chinese pangolin at Save Vietnam’s Wildlife rescue centre in Cuc Phuong national park. The pangolin is the only scaly mammal and also the most trafficked animal in the world

Photograph: Linh Pham/Getty Images

Glasgow, Scotland

Armed police officers leave the Park Inn hotel in West George Street, where a man has been shot by an armed officer. A knifeman stabbed three people to death in the stairwell of the Park Inn Hotel. The Scottish Police Federation (SPF) said an officer was stabbed during the major incident.

Photograph: Andrew Milligan/PA

Milan, Italy

Police officers on scooters patrol the city’s main square

Photograph: Matteo Corner/EPA

First Master's Degree in Ninja Studies ever

Iga, Japan

Genichi Mitsuhashi has become the first student ever to graduate from a Japanese university with a master’s degree in ninja studies

Photograph: Courtesy of Genichi Mitsuhashi/AFP/Getty Images

Disposable cardboard beds in New Delhi

A volunteer walks past disposable beds made out of cardboard at the campus of Radha Soami Satsang Beas, a spiritual organization, where a coronavirus disease care center has been constructed for the patients, in New Delhi, India.

Burning pile of seized drugs, Myanmar

A police officer walks in front of a burning pile of seized illegal drugs during a destruction ceremony to mark the United Nations' International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Yangon, Myanmar.

News Corp printing presses roll one last time as more than 100 newspapers go online

Vicki Atkinson says she still finds joy in helping to deliver the news.

(ABC Capricornia: Erin Semmler)

She said there would be more than a few tears when the final editions of the Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, Gladstone Observer, Mackay Mercury, Bundaberg News Mail were printed at the site tonight.

"It is a sad day. It's basically the end of a regional newspaper that is the hub of a community that people are angry and upset over."

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-06-26/news-corp-printing-press-staff-mark-final-print-run-newspapers/12379718

Giant Australian Wombat

The giant wombats were thought to have roamed the rainforests of central Australia 25 million years ago

Hong Kong, China

Nicolas Chow, the head of Sotheby’s Asia, holds the Harry Garner reticulated vase produced in the mid-1700s for the Qianlong emperor. It is expected to fetch at least $9m at auction

Photograph: Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images