Snowy Owl spotted in Central Park

 

On January 27, a crowd gathered in New York’s Central Park to see a rare spectacle: a snowy owl that made a pit stop at the North Meadow baseball and softball diamonds.

Reports of the Central Park owl began to spread on Wednesday morning, and the birder who runs the Twitter account Manhattan Bird Alert amplified the message to over 38,000 followers just after 10:30 am. That’s when crowds converged. Luckily for the owl, the baseball fields it picked that day had been fenced off to let grass regrow, which kept onlookers at a respectful distance. Urban Park Rangers managed the crowd, and just one photographer crossed a line in pursuit of a birds-eye view.

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/snowy-owl-stops-central-park-first-time-1890-180976882/

NASA's Day of Remembrance

  

Acting NASA Administrator Steve Jurczyk places a wreath at the Space Shuttle Challenger Memorial during a ceremony that was part of NASA's Day of Remembrance, Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021, at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va. Wreaths were laid in memory of those men and women who lost their lives in the quest for space exploration.  

Image Credit: NASA/Bill Ingallsnt

Updated: Jan 29, 2021

Ciudad Real, Spain

 

Health workers say goodbye to Mateo, an 11-year-old discharged from hospital after 11 days in the ICU due to Covid-19

Photograph: Sescam/EP

New Zealand most effective at handling coronavirus

 

The Lowy Institute has looked at which countries and what types of Governments responded best and found that New Zealand has handled the coronavirus pandemic more effectively than any other country in the world, followed by Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand. Australia comes in as number 8.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01...-coronavirus-response-than-australia/13102988

 

 

Water diviner says he can find gold

 Bob Biggs claims he has the ability to divine for gold, water and other minerals.(ABC Goldfields: Jarrod Lucas)

Bob Biggs has had a nose for gold since he was a teenager when he worked underground on Western Australia's historic Gwalia mine before it closed in 1963. Now 84, the retired boilermaker and pastoralist is one of only a handful of water diviners remaining in WA. But Mr Biggs, who now lives in Mundijong in Perth's outer suburbs, is also a self-described gold diviner. He readily admits that "99 out of 100" people are sceptics who brush off the bush art as a parlour trick…..

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-29/water-diviner-bob-biggs-says-he-can-divine-for-gold/13084288

Oxford vaccine ineffective in people over 65

 

French president Emmanual Macron has astonishingly claimed the AstraZeneca vaccine is 'almost ineffective' on people who are over 65 years of age. Speaking to reporters only hours before the European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the vaccine for adults of all ages, Macron said there was 'very little information' available for the vaccine developed by the British-Swedish company and Oxford University.

'What I can tell you officially today is that the early results we have are not encouraging for 60 to 65-year-old people concerning AstraZeneca,' he said…….

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/ar...ective-65s.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline

Cecil Mabb pleads guilty to child abduction

 

A 41-year-old man from Tasmania's west coast has pleaded guilty to assaulting and abducting a primary-school-aged child in the state's north west at the weekend.  The girl was left injured after the incident at the Montagu Campground, near Smithton on Sunday night.

An an air and ground search began on Monday for Rosebery man Cecil Maurice Mabb in relation to the incident.  Drones and the rescue helicopter spent hours looking for Mabb and his white Mazda ute.

He was eventually found late in the afternoon in bushland near Marrawah and has been since remanded in police custody.

Appearing in the Burnie Magistrates Court via video link on Friday, Mabb pleaded guilty to one charge of abducting a young person and one charge of assault.

 

Vaccination progress around the world

 

Scott Johnson hate crime solved after 32 years

Scott Johnson's body was found at cliffs below North Head .(Supplied: Johnson Family)

The American brother of Scott Johnson, who died near Sydney's North Head more than 30 years ago, doubled the police reward for new information about the death, with a total of $2 million. 

It worked, police arrested the man responsible. 

Detective Chief Inspector Peter Yeomans said a key informant led police to their suspect. He said without that person's evidence, the case, which is one of Sydney's most long-standing murder mysteries, "couldn't have been solved"...........

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01...ot-guilty-to-murdering-scott-johnson/13097664

Apple posts record profit as Chinese sales soar

 

People try out the iPhone 12 at an Apple store in Shanghai © AFP via Getty Images

Apple reported its highest-ever net profit in the holiday quarter as revenues swelled way beyond forecasts to $111.4bn on the back of a 57 per cent rise in sales in Greater China. Apple’s net profits rose 29 per cent to $28.8bn, against forecasts it would rise 6.3 per cent, while earnings per share jumped 35 per cent to $1.68. Forecasters expected revenues of about $102bn.

https://www.ft.com/content/39157bd8-12ac-4b54-b4e3-8d6432d8abf6

Apple is reportedly moving iPad production out of China for the first time ever because of Trump's trade war. Major Apple supplier Foxconn is moving some production of the iPad and Macbook from China to Vietnam, a source told Reuters. ... This will be the first time the iPad has been manufactured outside of China. (November 26 2020)

 

Netflix’s ‘Three-Body Problem’ project in China

Netflix announced its Three-Body Problem plans in September to great fanfare, especially due to the involvement of Game of Thrones creators Weiff and Benioff.

……………….“Liu Cixin’s trilogy is the most ambitious science-fiction series we’ve read,” wrote Benioff and Weiss in a statement. “We look forward to spending the next years of our lives bringing this to life for audiences around the world.”

But U.S. senators soon raised questions about Netflix’s decision to partner with Liu, and asked Netflix in a letter to “seriously reconsider” going through with the project because doing so would provide tacit support to China's alleged human rights violations……….

https://fortune.com/2021/01/27/netflix-three-body-problem-death-poisoning-china/?utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social&xid=soc_socialflow_twitter_FORTUNE&utm_campaign=fortunemagazine

Emotet botnet taken down by international police swoop

 

Police have seized thousands of computers running one of the most dangerous hacking networks worldwide.

 

Dmitry Smilyanets, from Recorded Future, said: "Even if the creator and his support and operators are not arrested, they likely will not try to rebuild.

"They have enough cash to retire in peace - or start a new criminal adventure.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-55826258?xtor=AL-72-%5Bpartner%5D-%5Bbbc.news.twitter%5D-%5Bheadline%5D-%5Bnews%5D-%5Bbizdev%5D-%5Bisapi%5D&at_medium=custom7&at_custom2=twitter&at_custom3=%40BBCWorld&at_campaign=64&at_custom4=553536F0-60C9-11EB-AB66-FCDD4744363C&at_custom1=%5Bpost+type%5D

Baby boom 9 months after lockdown

 

Cowaramup's Kerri and Allan Coremans' newborn Winston was born on Christmas Day.(ABC South West: Georgia Loney)

The regional city of Busselton, nearly three hours south of Perth, is experiencing what locals are jokingly calling a COVID baby boom — nine months after WA's lockdown.  Births at Busselton Hospital in November and December 2020, nearly doubled compared to the same period the previous year, with 74 babies born.

Google’s News Showcase

 

Sydney:  Google is reviving plans to launch its own news website in Australia within weeks, according to a local media outlet contracted to provide articles for the venture, as the search giant fights world-first proposed laws on content payments.

The launch of the News Showcase product as early as next month is Google's latest tactic in a high-profile campaign against the Australian government's planned legislation to make the company pay local news providers for content that appears in its search engine.

"Right now, no website or search engine pays to connect people to other sites through links," Silva said in the undated post. "This law would change that, making Google pay to provide links for the first time in our history."

https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/google-revives-australia-news-platform-launch-amid-content-payment-fight-2358705

 

Auschwitz liberated

 

Today in 1945, the Auschwitz death camp was discovered and liberated by the Red Army.

 

Teen charged with murder after couple struck by stolen car

                                     Matthew Field and a pregnant Katherine Leadbetter 

A 17-year-old boy is remanded in custody by the Children's Court after being charged with two counts of murder when two pedestrians who were walking their dogs were hit and killed by a car in Alexandra Hills, east of Brisbane.

Police said the boy had stolen a 4WD about an hour before the crash from a home in nearby Cleveland east of Brisbane.

"Here are two people going about their business innocently walking their dogs on Australia Day.  They should be entitled to do that, and to have them ripped away from their family is a tragedy…….

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-27/alexandra-hills-couple-killed-stolen-car-brisbane-charge-murder/13093838

Chinese dogs take ID cards of the nose

Like human fingerprints, dogs noses are unique

A Chinese city is launching an identification system to keep track of stray dogs and prevent pet insurance fraud — by scanning canine noses.

Like the human fingerprint, a dog’s noseprint is unique and does not alter over time. The eastern city of Hangzhou is piloting a programme that uses noseprint recognition technology to register its pet dogs. There are an estimated 100,000 dogs in the city, many of them unregistered.

The authorities require owners to use a mobile payment app owned by Alibaba, a technology company based in the city, to upload a picture of the dog’s nose and receive a digital identity card. Once the dog is registered, officials can identify it by scanning the animal’s nose.  Source:  The Times

Australia Day January 26

1788 Captain Arthur Phillip and British colonists hoist the Union Flag at Sydney Cove, New South Wales, now celebrated as Australia Day

Grace Tame named 2021 Australian of the Year

 

The 26-year-old who helped lead the fight to overturn a law preventing sexual assault survivors from speaking out has been named the Australian of the Year for 2021

At 15, Grace Tame was groomed and raped by her 58-year-old teacher at a private girls' school in Hobart.  Her abuser was jailed for his crimes, but Ms Tame was not able to speak about her experience publicly under Tasmania's sexual assault victim gag laws, despite the perpetrator and media being free to do so…….

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-25/2021-australian-of-the-year-award-recipients-named/13089884

Twitter introduces 'Birdwatch'

 

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc said on Monday it launched a pilot program that has users flag tweets that they believe are misleading and write notes to provide context.

The project, called Birdwatch, is initially offered in the United States. Here's how it works:

Birdwatch allows people to identify information in Tweets they believe is misleading and write notes that provide informative context. We believe this approach has the potential to respond quickly when misleading information spreads, adding context that people trust and find valuable. Eventually we aim to make notes visible directly on Tweets for the global Twitter audience, when there is consensus from a broad and diverse set of contributors……………….

https://blog.twitter.com/en_us/topics/product/2021/introducing-birdwatch-a-community-based-approach-to-misinformation.html

 

VW woes continue

 

MADRID (Reuters) - A Spanish court has ordered German carmaker Volkswagen to pay 16.3 million euros ($19.8 million) in compensation to people in Spain who bought cars with emissions-cheating devices installed, consumer group OCU said on Monday.

The company will appeal the ruling, a spokesman said.

Volkswagen admitted in 2015 to using illegal software to cheat U.S. diesel engine tests, a scandal that has so far cost it more than $30 billion in vehicle refits, fines and provisions…….

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-volkswagen-emissions-spain-idUSKBN29U1XX?taid=600f23515a2f62000193170f&utm_campaign=trueAnthem:+Trending+Content&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=twitter

Malka Leifer finally extradited to Australia to face child sexual abuse charges

 

Former Melbourne school principal Malka Leifer has been extradited from Israel to face sexual abuse charges in Australia.

Ms Leifer was escorted out of Israel on Monday morning (today) local time, just before the international airport was shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.  Israeli media reported she would be flown to Germany and then to Australia, where she faces 74 charges in Melbourne.

Ms Leifer is accused of abusing three sisters during her time as headmistress of the Adass Israel School between 2001 and 2008…….

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-25/malka-leifer-extradited-to-australia-to-face-sex-abuse-charges/13090106

Dutch famine of 1944-45

 

Dutch children eating soup during the famine of 1944–45

A German blockade cut off food and fuel shipments from farm towns. Some 4.5 million were affected and survived thanks to soup kitchens. The famine was alleviated by the liberation of the provinces by the Allies in May 1945. Prior to that, bread baked from flour shipped in from Sweden, and the airlift of food by the Royal Air Force, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the United States Army Air Forces – under an agreement with the Germans that if the Germans did not shoot at the mercy flights, the Allies would not bomb the German positions – helped to mitigate the famine.

World’s largest solar farm to be built in Australia but we won’t get the power – it’s going to Singapore

 

The AUD$20 billion facility – the heart of an ambitious electricity network called the Australia–ASEAN Power Link – will be built at a remote cattle station in the Northern Territory, roughly halfway between Darwin and Alice Springs.

It involves the construction of the world’s longest submarine power cable, which will export electricity all the way from outback Australia to Singapore via a 4,500-kilometre (2,800 miles) high-voltage direct current (HVDC) network…..

https://www.sciencealert.com/world-...-internationally-from-australia-under-the-sea

An honours degree couldn’t land Max a job so he’s going back to Uni

 

UNSW engineering graduate Max Kaplan is planning to go back to university to get his master's degree.(ABC News: Justin Huntsdale)

Max Kaplan hadn't had any luck landing a job after completing his engineering degree at the University of New South Wales. Throughout 2020, he applied for several jobs a week, but to no avail.

"It was a little bit crushing at times when I was facing rejection after rejection," Mr Kaplan said. "You go through five years of uni, a year of work, and still can't find anything … it feels like you've wasted your time."

Despite graduating with honours from a university placed third in the nation for employment, he is now preparing to study a masters of mechatronic engineering at the University of Melbourne…….

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-25/postgraduate-enrolments-spike-during-pandemic/13057628

Robert Weber found

 

After days of searching their southern Queensland cattle property for missing man Robert Weber, local MP Tony Perrett and his wife Michelle found the 58-year-old this morning sitting under a tree.

He survived by eating wild mushrooms and drinking water from the dam.

He was last seen on January 6, the day his car got bogged.

Member for Gympie Tony Perrett (left) found Robert Weber by the side of a dam.(Supplied: Michelle Perrett)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-24/missing-man-robert-weber-found-after-two-weeks-by-gympie-dam/13087228

 

 

New Tree Kangaroo joey

 

TARONGA ZOO SYDNEY via REUTERS

Taronga Zoo in Sydney has welcomed a new Goodfellow's Tree Kangaroo joey.  The 28-week-old male joey, who is yet to be named, has only just begun to pop his head and shoulders out of his mum's pouch.

Goodfellow's tree-kangaroo also called the ornate tree-kangaroo, belongs to the family Macropodidae, which includes kangaroos, wallabies and their relatives, and the genus Dendrolagus, with eleven other species. The species is native to the rainforests of New Guinea, and the border of central Irian Jaya in Indonesia.

Australia Day Debate still rages

 

This year, coronavirus restrictions will limit crowds at events on January 26. (ABC News: Patrick Martin)

January 26 marks Australia Day or Invasion Day, typically seen as a celebration of the nation or a day of sorrow for the colonization of an ancient culture…..

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-01-24/australia-day-invasion-day-2021-capital-city-events-guide/13054922

 

Portugal’s top player pulls out of Australian Open

 

Portugal’s top player Joao Sousa says he will not be able to travel to Melbourne for the Australian Open despite returning a negative test for COVID-19.

The 31-year-old said he won’t be going because of the Australian government’s strict protocols on a mandatory 14-day quarantine period upon arrival.

Seventy-two players are currently confined to their rooms in Melbourne ahead of the February 8-21 event after positive cases were discovered on three flights ferrying them to Australia. 

Kathmandu, Nepal

 

A communist activist’s face is painted before a protest gainst the prime minister’s move to dissolve the House of Representatives.  Photo Narendra Shrestha/EPA

Jordan first country to vaccinate refugees

 

 

Jordan has become the first country in the world to administer the coronavirus vaccine to refugees, the United Nations has reported.

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, praised Jordanian authorities for including refugees in its national response plan and urged other countries to do the same. 

"Once again Jordan has shown exemplary leadership and solidarity in hosting refugees," Grandi said.

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/covid-19-jordan-first-country-world-vaccinate-refugees?fbclid=IwAR3qIBmwF32-Pqo-UhyawVInA0uJnG7_fpFnVAIvISB3DaXLqHS8hpbAdhE

Princess Muna with sons Abdullah and Faisal (left) in 1964

Princess Muna Al-Hussein  (born Toni Avril Gardiner; 25 April 1941) is the mother of King Abdullah II of Jordan.

Denmark aims for zero asylum seeker applications

 

Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen 

Denmark, a country of 5.8 million inhabitants, makes no secret of its desire to discourage people from seeking refuge. 

Immigration Minister Mattias Tesfaye said yesterday the country's strict immigration policies were to be thanked for the low number of applications.  'Very many of those who come here have no need at all for protection,' he also claimed in the statement. 

After an assessment by the Danish Immigration Service, the government ruled that some migrants could be sent back to Damascus. They concluded the capital, and its surrounds, were no longer dangerous enough for asylum to be automatically granted. 

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9176397/Denmark-sets-target-ZERO-asylum-seeker-applications-protect-social-cohesion.html?ito=social-twitter_mailonline

 

 

 

 

Vietnamese people smugglers sentenced

 

Members of a people-smuggling network responsible for the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in a sealed container have been jailed for up to 27 years.

Ronan Hughes, 41, and Gheorge Nica, 43, “played leading roles” in the Essex gang and were sentenced to 20 years and 27 years respectively.

The gang, seven of whom were sentenced today, offered “VIP” services for up to £13,000 a head but packed too many migrants into a shipping container used to transport them from Belgium.

Passing sentence, the judge said that the victims died “excruciatingly slow” deaths in the container, which was designed for refrigeration. The victims were starved for oxygen and tried to smash and claw their way out.

Ultralow-temperaature freezers arrive in Tokyo

 

Brand new ultra-low temperature freezers are seen at a warehouse at Kanou Reiki, a freezer supplier, Friday 22 January 2021 in Sagamihara, west of Tokyo.  Some of Covid-19 vaccine must be kept at the ultra-cool temperature of around-70 degrees Celsius (94 degrees Fahrenheit).  Japan is accelerating preparations for vaccinations in hopes of starting them in late February but uncertainty is growing as the country faces vaccine-shy public, slow approval process and bureaucratic roadblocks, casting doubt if Tokyo Olympic this summer is possible.  (AP photo,/Eugene Hoshiko)

King of Thailand accused of profiting from pandemic

 

A company owned by King Vajiralongkorn has been given a state contract to produce 26 million doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine

WASON WANICHAKORN/AP

A Thai billionaire is facing 15 years in prison under a law against insulting the monarchy after he asked if the king was personally profiting from the pandemic.

The government is using the lèse-majesté law to prosecute Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, an opposition politician and businessman, after he raised questions about a state contract given to a company owned by King Vajiralongkorn to produce millions of doses of the Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine.

In a live broadcast on Facebook, Mr Thanathorn questioned the decision to buy 26 million doses. The vaccine will be manufactured by Siam Bioscience, one of many companies owned by the king, which makes him one of the richest monarchs.  Source:  The Times

 

 

 

 

Oval Office Refurb

 

 

The Oval Office was hastily rearranged to Joe Biden's tastes after former president Donald Trump departed.

(AP: Alex Brandon)

Google threatens to remove its search engine from Australia

 

Google is threatening to pull its search engine from an entire country — Australia — if a proposed law goes into effect that would force Google to pay news publishers for their content.

“If this version of the Code were to become law it would give us no real choice but to stop making Google Search available in Australia,” Google Australia and New Zealand VP Meg Silva told Australia’s Senate Economics Legislation Committee today.

“We have had to conclude after looking at the legislation in detail we do not see a way, with the financial and operational risks, that we could continue to offer a service in Australia,” she added, according to The Sydney Morning Herald…………………

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/google-threatens-to-remove-its-search-engine-from-australia-if-new-law-goes-into-effect/ar-BB1cYO5I

 

Ghana 'baby-harvesting syndicate' arrested

 

Members of an alleged "baby-harvesting" and child-trafficking syndicate have been arrested in Ghana.

It follows a sting operation where two babies were sold to investigators for about $5,000 (£3,600) and $4,800 each.

The 11 suspects include two doctors, four nurses, two mothers, two social welfare officers, and a traditional birth attendant.

They were allegedly operating at health facilities in the capital, Accra, and the neighbouring city of Tema.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-55751290