World Watch
Tokyo, Japan
An endangered lemur is being sent from Japan to the Channel Islands in the hope that she will find a mate. Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo is sending Ala, a female aye-aye lemur, on an “extended romantic vacation” to the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust. Zoologists are hoping she will “enjoy a fling” with a male aye-aye during her time at the facility.
Vladimir Region, Russia
Russian families are able to “borrow a babushka” as part of a charity service aimed at increasing pensioners’ quality of life. The “granny for an hour” charity project means that families with small children can borrow an older person to “render help and assistance” several times a week. Around 35 elderly volunteers have already signed up, and there are plans to expand the scheme into Moscow.
South Korea
More than 44,000 mobile phones are being distributed to South Korea’s military personnel — but they can only receive calls. The phones are being given to members of all four branches of Korea’s armed forces to make it easier for them to stay in touch with friends and family while in their barracks. The one-way phones will only be allowed during free time in the evening and before a 10pm curfew.
Iran
A judge has started sentencing criminals to buy and read books instead of handing down prison terms. Judge Qasem Naqizadeh is using the alternative to avoid the “irreversible physical and psychological impact on convicts and their families” that a prison term might bring. Individuals must write a summary of the books, which is returned to the judge.
Berlin, Germany
The giant head of a statue of Russian revolutionary Vladimir Lenin has been unearthed, 24 years after it was buried in a German forest. Workers dug up the granite structure from woodland outside Berlin, following a campaign by historians. The head was once part of a 19m monument to the leader, which towered over the east of the city.
Madrid, Spain
A Spanish pensioner has placed a newspaper advertisement offering 5000 euros to any employer who would hire his 39-year-old son, a “desperate” unemployed father of one. Concerns about Spanish unemployment, the second highest in Europe at 22.4 percent, are at the centre of the campaign for a general election to be held in December.
Michigan, United States
A trailer hauling thousands of pounds of hamburger crashed and caught fire on a western Michigan highway causing an extensive backup amid the smell of burning meat. The driver told police “he was reaching for something behind his feet and was distracted” before the refrigerator truck crossed the median strip, turned onto its side and burst into flame. Crews were on the scene for nearly five hours cleaning up.
Turkey
An internationally acclaimed Turkish journalist has published a column full of gibberish in mockery of a criminal case against him. Prosecutors accuse Yavuz Baydar of insulting President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in two columns. He denies that his columns amounted to insults. Baydar’s is the latest in a string of newspaper protests by opposition media in Turkey.
Grapevine
“As a big developing country, China is confronted with multiple complex security threats … the PLA also carries out military operations other than war, including domestic emergency rescue and disaster relief, international peacekeeping and international rescue … China also has to cope with threats of regional terrorism, separatism and extremism activities. So, China needs to maintain a certain scale of troops, which is completely for a purpose of defence.”
Senior Colonel Yang Yujun
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) will reduce its forces by some 300,000 troops, President Xi Jinping announced, though with more than two million service members, the country will still field the world’s largest military. Xi announced the cuts as evidence of China’s commitment to world peace; however, a closer look suggests the move is another expected step in a military modernisation programme that has spanned three decades.
“Things can and they will change. I say thank you in advance to us all working together to achieve great victories, not just electorally for Labour, but emotionally for the whole of our society to show we don’t have to be unequal, it doesn’t have to be unfair, poverty isn’t inevitable.”
In a major upset that could make the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union more likely, the country’s Labour Party has elected leftist Jeremy Corbyn as its leader. Corbyn won nearly 60 percent of the vote in a four-person field despite opposition from some of the party’s most senior figures. Corbyn was not initially favoured to win, but he struck a chord with many Labour supporters by offering wealth taxes and nuclear disarmament.
“They came because they were promised things, and a better life. But they don’t live better here, and it’s very expensive. They don’t want money, they don’t want anything from this country. They want to go back. They are appealing to the United Nations, or any country in the world, to get them out of here.”
Ali Jalil Ahmad — Uruguay’s Islamic Center
Five Syrian families that were given asylum in Uruguay in 2014 are demanding they be taken somewhere else, complaining of conditions that “don’t allow them to live”. The families have been living in Uruguay for almost a year. But, the families gathered at Independence Square in Montevideo, just outside the presidential offices, holding bags with all their belongings.
“This step became necessary. The great willingness to help that Germany has shown in recent weeks — by full-time employees and especially by the many thousands of volunteers — must not be overstrained.”
The German government has announced that it would implement temporary border checks after being overwhelmed by waves of migrants and refugees entering the country. Berlin announced that the measures would be taken first on the southern frontier with Austria, where migrant and refugee arrivals have soared since Angela Merkel effectively opened Germany’s borders. Germany said it has taken in at least 50,000 migrants and refugees in the last week alone.
Facts & Figures
0.0001 seconds: The Earth’s revolution increases by this much annually.
Your birthday: You share it with at least nine million other people in the world.
20 million tons: The weight of the average iceberg.
28 miles per hour: The speed at which the initial spurt travels when a man ejaculates.
“Arachibutyrophobia”: The fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth.
178: The average number of sesame seeds on each McDonald’s BigMac bun.
500,000: The number of detectable earthquakes in the world each year.
11: The age of the youngest pope.