A busy road in the Estonian capital Tallinn has been closed for April nights to keep thousands of frogs and toads travelling to their breeding grounds safe from cars.
Volunteers usually help carry frogs and toads over roads in the spring and say they have saved 97,000 of them in previous years, including 2,000 last year on the Tallinn road.
But with the coronavirus pandemic making such help impossible this year, road closures are the only lifeline for the amphibians.
“The frogs were here before the road,” said Kristel Saarm, an Estonian National Fund volunteer. “Now the ponds where they breed are on one side of the road and their wintering place is on the other. So they are forced to cross.”
As the warm surface of the road makes the amphibians sleepy and slow, up to 300 can get stuck at a time, leaving them vulnerable to cars.
Tallinn is considering building a tunnel under the road for the frogs and toads to cross or providing a pond on the side where they overwinter, said deputy head of Haabersti district Oleg Siljanov.
Thousands of Indian farmers, have vowed to continue their around-the-clock sit-in protest over three new agricultural laws that they say threaten their livelihoods.
For over four months now, Farmers from Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh states in the north and the desert state of Rajasthan have camped on major national highways
Rakesh Tikait, a prominent leader of one of the largest farmers’ unions says government has increasingly try to use the pandemic as a ruse to break the protest, but the farmers would not leave their protest sites.
Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomar has requested protesting farmer union leaders to call off their agitation to stave off any major outbreak of coronavirus cases at three main protest sites near Delhi.
But the Farmers say they have religiously followed coronavirus guidelines, and drawn up plans to stay put until at least November and December, or even beyond if government doesn’t listen to them.
But the Farmers are adamant saying if the government is keen to ensure that the agitation ends, it should concede our demands which is to repeal the laws.
Ramandeep Singh Mann, another prominent farmers’ leader from Punjab, said the ruling party marshalled large crowds at its political rallies during recent state assembly elections, and should also practise what it preaches.
An online sale of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) by the digital artist Pak fetched a total of $16.8 million at Sotheby’s, including an image of a single pixel which sold for $1.36 million, the auction house said on Wednesday.
A non-fungible token is a form of blockchain-based digital asset which has exploded in popularity in 2021, with prices soaring as collectors and enthusiasts rush to buy the items which only exist in digital form.
Last month, an NFT artwork sold for $69.3 million at Christie’s, in the first sale ever by a major auction house of a piece of art that does not exist in physical form.
The Sotheby’s sale, called “‘The Fungible’ Collection”, had a complex structure, including a series of digital cubes which collectors could buy for $500 to $1,500 each, receiving a number of NFTs based on how many cubes they own.
The NFTs in the collection are represented by animated images designed by Pak. They are three-dimensional white and grey shapes on a black background, apart from the pixel, which is just a grey square.
Most of performances of the past year have existed between the four corners of a laptop or a television screen. Live entertainment has been essentially nonexistent, arts organizations have taken pay cuts, venues are strapped for cash and some underfunded troupes may never recover. Yet somehow, despite the continued strain and strife, many dance companies have successfully adapted to the evolving digital stage — reimagining Nutcracker seasons, digitizing never-before-seen archival videos and launching their own streaming services.
These digital offerings are just a smattering of what’s available online for dance lovers over the next few weeks. Though mostly free, some streaming services require a subscription, but they all aim to re-create the magic of a dance performance across a digital stage.
The Duke of Edinburgh had four children, eight grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren at the time of his death.
Prince Philip’s long life is being celebrated by his family after he passed on April 9 at 99 years old.
Members of the British royal family took to social media on Wednesday and shared never-before-seen photos of the Duke of Edinburgh with his children and many great-grandchildren.
Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II had four children, eight grandchildren, and 10 great-grandchildren at the time of his death plus one on the way since Meghan Markle is expecting a daughter this summer.
The royal family’s official Twitter handle shared a photo taken in 2018 at Balmoral Castle in Scotland by Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge.
The image shows Prince Louis, who was just a few months old at the time, on the Queen’s lap, with siblings, Princess Charlotte and Prince George, posing next to him.
Meanwhile, Prince Philip is cradling Isla Phillips, who is holding her little cousin Lena Tindall and big sister Mia Tindall is next to them. Eldest great-grandchild Savannah Phillips is standing behind the couch.
Prince William and Middleton shared another image taken at Balmoral in 2015 which featured a toddler Prince George and a baby Princess Charlotte.
Prince Charles honored his late father with a black-and-white photo from 1966 of the pair playing polo and a second photo of Prince Philip with Charles and his wife Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, at Prince William and Kate’s wedding in 2011.
A second tweet from the royal family account also showed two new photos of Prince Harry with Prince Philip at a formal event and Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice with their grandfather.
Prince Philip’s funeral will take place Saturday at Windsor Castle, with attendance limited to 30 because of coronavirus restrictions.
Although it is a scaled-down service because of the pandemic, hundreds of servicemen and women from the Royal Navy, Royal Marines, Army and Royal Air Force will take part in the funeral procession, and Philip’s coffin will be borne to St. George’s Chapel at the castle on a specially adapted Land Rover, which he designed himself.
Serena Williams has signed a first-look TV deal with Amazon.
Williams will produce a docuseries about her “personal and professional life,” alongside other as yet unannounced projects.
“I have a lot of stories I’m eager to tell, including a continuation of my own, and I look forward to sharing those with the world,” Williams said.
Williams’ docuseries doesn’t yet have a name, but it will cover her “personal and professional life.” Williams will executive produce the series alongside her tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou, Stuart Cabb, and Tony Pastor. The show will be produced by Plum Pictures and Goalhanger Films as well as Amazon Studios.
Serena has transformed her sport and become one of the most inspiring athletes, entrepreneurs and women of her generation, admired not only for her unmatched prowess on the court but for her dedication to advocacy as well.
A Turkish court has released journalist and novelist Ahmet Altan after more than four years in prison on charges of involvement in a failed 2016 coup attempt that he had always denied.
The Court of Cassation ruling came a day after the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) accused Turkey of violating civil rights and demanded the 71-year-old’s freedom.
It also ordered Turkey to immediately release him and pay him 16,000 euros in damages for violating his rights to freedom of expression.
The award-winning novelist and newspaper editor was jailed after writing politically-sensitive pieces critical of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and in support of Kurdish rights.
Altan was arrested during sweeping purges that followed the coup attempt and was accused of backing the uprising by disseminating subliminal messages to the public.
Tweeting on social media, the European Parliament’s Turkey rapporteur Nacho Sanchez Amor expressed happiness to hear that Turkey’s Court of Cassation had ordered the release of the novelist after more than 4.5 years in jail.
EU leader’s highlighted Turkey’s deteriorating human rights record during a summit in Ankara last week although Turkish officials argue that the courts are independent and not swayed by politics or Erdogan’s whims.
President Erdogan is mounting a charm offensive to try mend deteriotating relations with the European Union and building a new rapport with the US administration of President Joe Biden.
Western observers have been watching Altan’s case and some other renowned prisoners for signs of Turkey’s diplomatic intentions and future political course.
Myanmar’s military reportedly opened fire on healthcare workers who were protesting on Thursday, killing at least one bystander and with demonstrators fleeing for safety.
The incident in Myanmar’s second largest city of Mandalay, saw a demonstration by medical workers turn violent when soldiers opened fire on them.
Eyewitnesses said the Sule mosque compound was being targeted because people in there were hiding protesters. Also, a doctor who treated the wounded said a 30-year-old man who lived in the compound was shot dead, and at least two others injured.
The country has been in chaos since the military seized power from civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, provoking a massive uprising which the military leaders have been trying to quell with lethal force.
But the protests have continued unabated with demonstrators continued moving to the streets this week, refusing to celebrate the Myanmar New Year holiday of Thingyan.
Myanmar’s healthcare workers have been at the forefront of a nationwide civil disobedience movement, refusing to return to work under a military regime.
Civil servants from other sectors have followed suit, bringing the operation of the country’s banks, schools, railway operations, and businesses to a halt.
In forceful efforts to force people back to work, the state-run media on Thursday reported that at least 20 doctors participating in the movement would be charged for attempting to deteriorate peace and stability.
According to a local monitoring group, over 700 civilians have been killed in anti-coup unrest and more than 3,000 have been detained so far.
The French embassy in Pakistan on has urged French nationals and companies to temporarily leave the country, after violent anti-France protests took over large parts of the country this week.
In an e-mail addressed to French citizens, the Embassy said there have been serious threats to French interests in Pakistan and that departures will be carried out by existing commercial airlines.
The move came a day after the Pakistani interior ministry said it would outlaw the Tehrik-i-Labaik Pakistan which is a hardline Islamist group responsible for recent anti-French protests across the country.
The TLP has been demanding that the Pakistani government expel the French ambassador and endorse a boycott of French products due to Charlie Hebdo’s republishing of the Prophet Mohamed cartoons last year.
Clashes erupted on Tuesday between TLP supporters and police officers after the group’s leader, Saad Rizvi, was detained hours after encouraging thousands of his supporters to take to the streets in cities across Pakistan.
There have been Anti-French sentiment in Pakistan for months since the government of President Emmanuel Macron expressed support for Charlie Hebdo’s right to republish the cartoons, considered blasphemous by many Muslims.
Blasphemy is a hugely sensitive issue in Pakistan, with laws which allow for the death penalty for anyone deemed to have insulted Islam or Islamic figures.
Haiti’s President Jovenel Moise has announced the resignation of his government and the appointment of a new prime minister, in a move he says is aimed at tackling insecurity in the country.
Tweeting on social Media, Moise said the resignation of the government, which he accepts, will make it possible to continue discussions and reach consensus needed for the political and institutional stability of the country.
There has been a surge in Kidnappings for ransom in recent months in Port-au-Prince and other provinces, which analysts say is a reflection of the growing influence of armed gangs in the Caribbean nation.
Sunday of 10 people in Croix-des-Bouquets, a town northeast of the capital Port-au-Prince were abducted, including seven Catholic clergy – five of them Haitian, as well as two French citizens, a priest and a nun.
The incident, amongst a rise in gang violence and political instability have led to protests in Port-au-Prince with many blaming the government for a seeming lack of action.
On Monday Haiti’s Catholic Church accused the government of failing to address the reportedly rampant Gang violence and political stand-off saying the country was making a descent into hell.
Also a week ago, hundreds of women protesters rallied in the city against the growing power of gangs, which has led to a spike in kidnappings for ransom.
France has opened an investigation into the kidnapping and the case has been entrusted to the Central Office for the Fight against Organised Crime which has jurisdiction over crimes committed against French citizens abroad.
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