What happens when an air-raid siren begins to wail at the Ramat Gan Safari Park in Israel? In a video taken by Michal Levi during the recent 11-day barrage of missiles launched at Israel from Gaza, five females from the zoo’s herd of Asian elephants are seen circling year-old male calf Pele (Hebrew for “Wonder”) to protect him. “This behavior is very moving for us to see, but it is quite typical of elephants,” a Safari spokesperson said. “Elephants are animals that live together in a protective family.” The Gaza Strip is about 58 miles (93 kilometers) from Ramat Gan.…
Author: zenger.news
During a brief period of elevated global temperatures 56 million years, some fish still flourished, according to researchers. “Despite extreme conditions, the Ras Gharib A fauna … shows that diverse fish communities thrived in the paleotropics during the PETM [Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum],” states an article in Geology, published on May 17. The paper states that the PETM was a short interval of highly elevated global temperatures some 56 million years ago. The period in which temperatures across the world rose is frequently described as the best ancient analog for present-day climate warming. Fish are among the organisms thought to be…
KOLKATA, India — Decimated houses, uprooted trees, seawater-filled extensive swathes of fertile agricultural land, and immeasurable ecological destruction — the Yaas cyclone left a long trail of devastation on India’s east coast on May 26. And, it is now headed towards the interior states, albeit in a weakened state. The cyclone and the subsequent strong wind and continuous rainfall severely hit the Indian eastern coastal states of West Bengal and Odisha. At least four people lost their lives. More than 300,000 homes were destroyed, and more than 10 million people were affected in the coastal areas of both states as sea…
MELBOURNE, Australia — A national blame game has erupted as Victoria seeks to deal with a fresh Covid-19 outbreak and other states respond with restrictions on travelers. The Melbourne outbreak is thought to have started with a case involving a Victorian man who contracted the virus while in a hotel quarantine in Adelaide. The cluster of cases has now grown to 15, with authorities naming dozens of exposure sites including the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where an infected person attended an Australian Football League match on May 23. Melbourne may soon enter another snap lockdown to bring the outbreak under control. “I cannot rule…
SYDNEY — Attorney-General Michaelia Cash has reaffirmed the Human Rights Commission‘s independence after a fellow Liberal frontbencher raised concerns about using the term “anti-racism”. Assistant Attorney-General Amanda Stoker rang commission president Rosalind Croucher last month to question an AU$140,000 ($108,399) tender aimed at boosting the Racism It Stops With Me campaign. Senator Stoker was concerned taxpayer money was being used to promote critical race theory, which has come under fire internationally from conservatives including former United States President Donald Trump. Under questioning from Labor’s Jenny McAllister, Senator Cash confirmed she spoke to her assistant minister after the issue emerged in the…
BRISBANE, Australia — The Queensland government will slam its border shut to Victoria after the state went into a seven-day lockdown due to a coronavirus outbreak. The lockdown will begin at 11.59pm on May 27 after the state recorded 11 new cases linked to the City of Whittlesea outbreak overnight taking the total cases to 26. Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk says anyone who has been in Victoria since May 11 will be ordered into hotel quarantine on arrival from 1am on May 28. “We’ve been through this before, and I know that people understand that we have to take these measures…
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia should use its status as a “middle space power” to encourage responsible behavior as the heavens become increasingly congested, contested, and competitive, a leading academic says. As the world’s major powers engage in a destabilizing space arms race, Australia needs to be careful not to accelerate a “global strategic race to the bottom,” according to Australian National University space law expert Cassandra Steer. “One of the greatest risks is the move by major powers over the last decade towards an explicit ambition to dominate space militarily,” Steer said in a policy options paper from the National Security College. “Language in military doctrine and…
SYDNEY — Australians are being urged to have a curry to help take the heat off the Himalayas as the region grapples with climate change and the coronavirus pandemic. The Australian Himalayan Foundation, on May 27 hosting Australia’s biggest curry night to help to fundraise to support its efforts in the Asian region. Dinners are being hosted in cities around Australia including Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Hobart. The fundraising event is being held in the lead-up to Himalaya Day, which marks the anniversary of when Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of…
CANBERRA, Australia — Federal Minister Christian Porter‘s lawyer did not give an accurate or full account of critical information discussed with a friend of the woman who had accused him of rape, the Federal Court was told. Michael Hodge QC in his closing address on May 27 said evidence Sue Chrysanthou SC gave about what was said in that November 2020 conference with Jo Dyer was inconsistent and did not make sense. This meeting is at the center of Dyer’s application to bench the defamation specialist from representing the former attorney-general in his case against the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and journalist Louise…
SYDNEY — New South Wales Labor leader Jodi McKay will need to keep looking over her shoulder, with Chris Minns quitting her front bench and paving the way for his third tilt at the top job. Minns resigned as Labor‘s transport spokesman on May 26, declaring his position “untenable” after a “dirt file” was allegedly circulated in a bid to ward off his threat to the leadership. A disastrous by-election result in the Upper Hunter on May 23 has increased the pressure on McKay’s position, which she has been facing for some time. Minns had not declared a challenge to McKay’s…