Oeno Island, or known as Holiday Island as well, is a coral atoll in the South Pacific Ocean, part of the British overseas territory of the Pitcairn Islands.

Located 143 km (89 mi) northwest of Pitcairn Island, it is around 5 km (3 mi) in diameter, the central lagoon included, with total area of 20 square km (8 square mi).

As Oeno Island may only be visited with the prior permission of the Commissioner for Pitcairn Islands in New Zealand, the islanders feel free to leave their possessions on the island, knowing they will not be taken or vandalized.

As the island is small and flat with great beaches and is surrounded by a circular reef, mostly serves as a paradise and holiday destination (so to speak) of the Pitcairners, with palm trees, lovely beaches, and a sheltered lagoon.

The Oeno Island first was seen in June 1819 by Captain James Henderson of the British East India Company, but the island gets its name of the American whaler ship on 26 January 1824, which was led by Captain George Worth.

The island is a very important area for the Murphy’s petrels, which is species of seabird and a member of the gadfly petrels.

Due to this reason, the island has been identified as an Important Bird Area.

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has inaugurated a multi-billion naira Galaxy Mall to mark the state’s annual economic summit, KADINVEST 7:0.

The shopping mall, which has Shoprite as the anchor tenant and is the biggest in the state, was built by a Chinese firm at the cost of N2bn.

El-Rufai, while speaking at 11,000m² Galaxy Mall, said it would boost the economic activities in the state, create jobs as well as improve social life.

The mall has spaces for cinema halls, restaurants and a variety of shops and spaces for commercial activities.

“This new Galaxy Mall will maximise retail marketing in Kaduna state. There will be cinemas, restaurants and shops, with Shoprite as the anchor tenant. Shoprite is expected to open before Christmas to give residents something to celebrate at Christmas,” the governor added.

Earlier in her remarks, Managing Director, Kaduna Market Development and Management Company, Tamar Nandul, said the mall was built under a public-private partnership arrangement, adding that the development partners, Amsalco Group, contributed N800m to the project.

She said, “Our development partner, Amsalco contributed N800m, while the Kaduna State Government contributed N1.5bn to the development of the project. Shoprite will serve as the anchor tenant, while there are open-plan 8,445 shops, 53 other shops and cinema halls with 341 sitting capacity.

“There are spaces for entertainment, sports, fashion and others. The Galaxy Mall will improve the internally-generated revenue, create employment opportunities for the residents and improve the socio-economic development of Kaduna City.”

Crowds can attend London’s new year fireworks on December 31 for the first time since 2019, after Covid-19 restricted the spectacle to television for two years.

More than 100,000 people will be able to watch the annual display in the British capital on the banks of the River Thames, with the first tickets going on sale next Friday.

Attendance at last year’s fireworks was cancelled as the Omicron variant prompted another wave of cases, while it was similarly axed the year before with the country in lockdown.

The events were broadcast on the BBC and its online iPlayer both years, and will be televised again this year with the crowds back.

The dramatic displays around the London Eye observation wheel on the south bank of the Thames typically draw huge crowds from Britain and around the world.

“I’m delighted that our fireworks are back and Londoners and visitors to our capital will again be able to join together on the banks of the Thames to welcome in the new year,” Mayor Sadiq Khan said.

“The celebrations are one of the biggest nights of the year for our capital’s hospitality industry and an unforgettable moment when the eyes of the world turn to our city.”

From tropical beaches to vibrant cultures, Indonesia’s Bali is known as one of the world’s most popular destinations for vacation — an experience some of the local operators are trying to enhance with the presence of animals exotic to the island’s fauna: camels.

On Kelan beach, located near Ngurah Rai International Airport, three camels called Bintang, Yulia, and Munaroh have been giving tourists rides by the beach, where sunset views and a glimpse of the fishermen’s lives become part of the experience.

“Tourists will see the fishermen’s fishing boats, how these people living on the shores earn their livelihoods through fishing,” Dewa Gde Yudistira, a veterinarian and co-owner of Bali Camel Adventure, said.

Yudistira, who started his camel rides in 2017, said tourists will also get to see the 122-meter-tall Garuda Wisnu Kencana statue from afar, or airplanes leaving or reaching the airport, as they ride on the camels.

“The sunset here is also one of the main attractions because there’s nothing like it,” Yudistira said. “It’s been gaining traction lately.”

Though the species is uncommon throughout the archipelago nation and, if at all, only seen at zoos, the animals’ upkeep is “not that difficult,” according to Yudistira. The camels, brought in from Australia, eat mainly grass and are sometimes treated to carrots, bananas and sweet potatoes.

The beachside camel rides have attracted visitors from all over Bali, Indonesian tourists from other parts of the country, and foreign visitors.

After two years of closures, the business and the whole hospitality sector in Bali are getting back on track.

More than 617,000 international visitors have entered Indonesia through Ngurah Rai as of July 2022, according to Ministry of Tourism data, compared with just 35 foreign tourists during the same period last year.

Thousands of people across Australia’s southeast were asked to evacuate their homes on Friday, including some in a western suburb of Melbourne, after two days of incessant rains triggered flash flooding and fast-moving waters burst river banks.

Large parts of Victoria state, southern New South Wales and the northern regions of the island state of Tasmania were pounded by an intense weather system with some taking more than a month’s worth of rain since late Wednesday, officials said.

“Our river systems… are reaching major flood levels at various times over today, through the weekend and through next week,” Victoria emergency services chief operations officer Tim Wiebusch told reporters.

Many rivers in Victoria, including the Maribyrnong in Melbourne’s west and the Goulburn further north, reached major flood levels, prompting the night-time evacuation of residents.

The Goulburn River at Seymour, about 100 km (62 miles) north of Melbourne, has peaked above the record 7.64 metres (25 ft) reached in May 1974, data showed. More than 200 flood rescues were conducted by emergency crews.

Upstream in Shepparton, rising flood waters are expected to surpass the 1974 peak by Tuesday and threaten over 4,000 properties.

“In terms of property damage, road, public infrastructure and the sheer volume of water, this is going to set new records,” Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said at a news conference.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the federal government stood ready to provide assistance to the flood-stricken states.

More than 5 billion mobile phones, out of the total estimated 16 billion phones possessed worldwide, will likely be discarded or stashed away in 2022, experts said, calling for more recycling of the often hazardous materials they contain.

Many disused phones would rise 50,000 kilometers (30,000 miles) if stacked flat on each other, more than 100 times higher than the International Space Station, the WEEE research consortium found.

Despite containing valuable gold, copper, silver, palladium and other recyclable components, almost all these unwanted devices will be hoarded, dumped or incinerated, causing significant health and environmental harm.

“Smartphones are one of the electronic products of highest concern for us,” said Pascal Leroy, Director General of the WEEE Forum, a not-for-profit association representing forty-six producer responsibility organizations.

“If we don’t recycle the rare materials they contain, we’ll have to mine them in countries like China or Congo,” Leroy said.

Defunct cell phones are just the tip of the 44.48 million-ton iceberg of global electronic waste generated annually that isn’t recycled, according to the 2020 global e-waste monitor.

Many of the five billion phones withdrawn from circulation will be hoarded rather than dumped in the trash, according to a survey in six European countries from June to September 2022.

This happens when households and businesses forget cell phones in drawers, closets, cupboards or garages rather than bringing them in for repair or recycling.

Up to 5 kilograms (8 pounds) of e-devices per person are currently hoarded in the average European family, the report found.

According to the new findings, 46% of the 8,775 households surveyed considered potential future use as the main reason for hoarding small electrical and electronic equipment.

Another 15% stockpile their gadgets with the intention of selling them or giving them away, while 13% keep them due to “sentimental value.”