K9 Nose Work, which came from the world of elite detection dogs, is a registered training system that teaches dogs to use their sense of smell to locate scents as well as providing them with mental stimulation. Dogs are taught to locate sources of three scents and these can be hidden in almost any location indoors or outdoors. The training is notably inclusive: it can be practised by dogs of all types, ages and temperaments. In Sydney, most of the people who attend the classes are there for fun or to help dogs who are anxious, whereas other trained dogs are being prepared for scent work competitions.
Playwright Martin Sherman has said he believes ageism is rife in the theatre establishment after encountering difficulty in getting his latest work staged. His play Gently Down the Stream was originally rejected after nine months by London's Royal Court Theatre, and finally premiered in his late seventies at the Park Theatre. Sherman made his name with the landmark play Bent, which depicted the internment of homosexual men in concentration camps, but attracted little interest in Gently Down the Stream, despite its detailed exploration of the gay experience of the 20th century. Nonetheless, Sherman's epic one-woman play, Rose, is currently enjoying a West End revival at the Ambassadors Theatre, with Maureen Lipman in the major role.
A murder suspect with a cold case homicide charge will be released on bail with a 'GPS tracking device on his ankle' after concerns were raised that he could go back to the forest where the police believe the victim's body is buried. Steven Frederick Johnson faces charges for the alleged murder of father Christopher Jarvis. The victim was reportedly last seen leaving his family home before his burnt out car was later found in a popular beachside car park at Thunder Point. Johnson denies any involvement in the killing. The suspects Fenwick and Johnson were charged with murder 16 years after the alleged killing.
Researchers from Oxford University have shown that the Galleri blood test, produced by US company Grail, could speed up early detection of cancer and reduce waiting times. The test can detect up to 50 forms of cancer. The NHS trial recruited over 5000 people. 75% of those who tested positive were diagnosed with cancer. The specificity rate of the test varied, with 98.4% of results showing no cancerous symptoms but 33% of cancer cases not detected. Nonetheless, lead researcher Dr Brian Nicholson said the test’s accuracy was promising for confirming patients who needed evaluating for cancer before pursuing other diagnoses.
Australia’s Victorian bounty scheme that pays farmers over $100 for “wild dog” pelts has been criticised as researchers have revealed most of the dingoes are purebred and are considered an endangered species. Victoria’s $6.7m scheme, which pays landowners $120 for each “wild dog” body part, began in 2011 and ends in October each year. Scientists at NSW and Sydney Universities have undertaken comprehensive DNA testing on 307 wild animals from across Australia and found that about 90% of them were pure dingoes, not hybrids. Eligible applicants must submit an entire wild dog body part, including the tail.
Playwright Martin Sherman has said he believes ageism is rife in the theatre establishment after encountering difficulty in getting his latest work staged. His play Gently Down the Stream was originally rejected after nine months by London's Royal Court Theatre, and finally premiered in his late seventies at the Park Theatre. Sherman made his name with the landmark play Bent, which depicted the internment of homosexual men in concentration camps, but attracted little interest in Gently Down the Stream, despite its detailed exploration of the gay experience of the 20th century. Nonetheless, Sherman's epic one-woman play, Rose, is currently enjoying a West End revival at the Ambassadors Theatre, with Maureen Lipman in the major role.
Detectives from Germany’s Federal Crime Agency have searched a property in Frankfurt an der Oder in connection with the sabotage carried out on the Nord Stream pipeline last September. The apartment belongs to a woman formerly involved with a chief suspect believed to have been one of six crew members who chartered a yacht in Germany and then laid explosives on the pipeline. The woman has a child with the suspect, a Ukrainian soldier, and a DNA test will be conducted on the child. The woman has cooperated with police. The identity of the Ukrainian owner of the shell company believed to have been used to charter the yacht is known but has not been revealed.
Black Sea urchins have disappeared from the Gulf of Aqaba. Their loss could kill off an entire coral reef
CNN
23-06-02 11:31
An epidemic pathogen is killing black sea urchins in the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea, and spreading to waters off other countries including Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Greece and Turkey. The disappearance of these key creatures is affecting the ecosystem of coral reefs, which they keep in balance by eating algae that can suffocate coral growth. The rapid disappearance of the urchins has prompted concern that there is little time to act to save them. Experts are calling on international cooperation to fix the issue and repopulate the Gulf with sea urchins.
The TV series "Succession" has raised the bar for televised serials according to Ross Douthat in the New York Times. With a rare dramatic unity, the series' beginning and end feel connected while the finale brings each character's arc to a satisfactory endpoint. Although the show's judgement of the rich can be read in two ways, its main characters never feel anything other than competition or predation, limiting the story and characterisation.
The series, which recently finished, achieved this organic unity in the face of “operating in a collective-effort medium prone to both overextensions and untimely cancellations”. “Succession” has “declined to make its political elements central to the plot; the election that briefly loomed so large basically vanished from the final action”.
While Douthat points out that the show doesn’t allow its characters room to feel anything other than self-serving ambition, the character of Tom Wambsgans’s desire to be loved is beneath the characters of other famous TV dramas. This ultimately works as the tragedy of Tom’s character and downfall is more believable and rooted in a different outcome that viewers can relate to: rooting for the character to overcome and find happiness.
A Nebraska teenager who shot and killed his parents in the late 1950s before fleeing to Australia and living the rest of his life as a respected businessman and “family man” died without ever being caught. William Leslie Arnold, who was described as a model prisoner after pleading guilty to the killings which were allegedly sparked off by a dispute over using the family car, escaped from prison in 1967 and moved to Chicago where he established the identity of John Damon. According to US Marshals, within three months of the jailbreak, Arnold had married and after moving to New Zealand, moved to Australia in 1997 with his second wife where he worked as a salesman. He died in 2010 aged 67.
Despite the FBI’s continued interest in the case until the 1990s, it was eventually handed back to the Nebraska Department of Corrections who in turn gave it to the US Marshals Service. Officials investigating Arnold’s past discovered that everyone in his life had been completely unaware of his criminal activity. Arnold’s stepdaughters were quoted in The Omaha World-Herald as saying the revelation was “mind-blowing.” DNA tests proved his true identity. US Marshals’ Deputy Matt Westover said that though the case had been solved, “it’s still a mystery – you want to fill in the other details of the puzzle.”
In an unrelated case, Australia’s ABC News reported that a convicted fraudster and drug-runner, Markis Turner who successfully fled while on parole to England, had been living with his English wife and son in a Buckinghamshire village under a new identity. He was caught when a Facebook post created a UK-based profile under a different name asking for support in “crimes against the state.” Australian detectives flew to the UK and Turner was extradited to Melbourne where he is serving the remainder of his sentence.
US CIA director Bill Burns made a secret visit to China last month, signalling White House concerns about deteriorating relations between the two nations, according to the Financial Times’ Disrupted Times newsletter. Meanwhile, Russian state-backed energy company Gazprom has been discovered to have employed security guards to fight in Ukraine. In the US, a deal ending political standoffs over the US debt ceiling has been passed through the Senate with bipartisan support. The deal raises the US borrowing limit until 2025 and caps government spending for the next two years. It also boosts relief for investors and corporate America who had feared a repeat of the 2011 situation, which resulted in a credit rating downgrade and an equities sell-off. On business matters, Tesla is opening up its proprietary charging network to rival motor manufacturers, and AI is being used more increasingly for deal-making by investors.
A man who was once forced out of several communities in Texas after serving around 10 years for killing an eight-year-old girl in 1982 has been charged with murder in the deaths of two people, one in 2019 and one in May, and is being investigated in suspicion of being linked to up to 10 other unsolved cases. Raul Meza Jr pleaded with the public in 1993 after being driven out of six cities, saying “In my heart, I know that I will not willfully bring harm to anyone.” Court records show that investigators obtained DNA evidence linking Meza and Gloria Lofton, the woman he is accused of killing, in 2020.
A man who was driven out of six Texas cities after being released from prison for killing an eight-year-old girl in 1982 has been charged with murder more than three decades later. Investigators have obtained DNA evidence linking 62-year-old Raul Meza to the killing of Gloria Lofton in 2019 and his roommate in May. Austin police are also investigating whether he was involved in up to 10 other unsolved cases. Meza was released from prison after serving 11 years, despite public anger. His early release led to pickets driving him out of multiple communities, including protests at his family’s house.
More than 400 participants in trials of early cancer detection technology Galleri have received letters in error saying they may have cancer. US biotech firm Grail is developing the test, which aims to screen for over 50 types of cancer using a single blood sample. Insurers who are trialling Galleri, including MassMutual and Principal, said they had paused their programmes as a result of the mistake. The test has been hailed as “revolutionary” by health professionals, but experts have urged caution until its technology is proven in large scale trials. Grail has been marketing the test to employers and insurers.
The AFL has seen an average of 12.2 goals per game so far this season, the most since 2017, according to Champion Data. This comes as the AFL has attempted to open up scoring, encouraging teams to attack more through the corridor using its standing-the-mark rule, as well as implementing four field umpires. Additionally, teams have averaged only 18.6 free kicks against this season, attributed to the move to four field umpires, though there has been an increase in ball-ups and the most around-the-ground stoppages since 2019. Meanwhile, clubs are split on whether they should be able to publicly name their 23rd man in a match, classed as the all-purpose substitute, so as to avoid their absence being counted as an “out”. Recruiters say Lion’s Will Ashcroft, North Melbourne’s George Wardlaw and Harry Sheezel, Greater Western Sydney’s Finn Callaghan, and Gold Coast’s Bailey Humphrey are among the league’s bright young players with potential.
The Australian newspaper recommends three exotic African safari trips, including tracking a black leopard in Kenya, watching the drama of wildlife in Botswana’s Okavango Delta, and tracking chimpanzees in Uganda’s Kibale National Park. The safaris offer unique glimpses of little-seen wildlife and promote conservation to protect endangered species from hunters’ snares. Tourism is a critical asset in this and helps support local communities while educating visitors about the importance of protecting the environment.
The General Service Administration's (GSA) Pollinator Initiative is assessing and promoting the health of bees and other pollinators as part of a commitment to promoting sustainability. The project measures the effects of the bees on plant life in the area and identifies beneficial flora. The project is assessing the impact of the bees at eight sites and aims to promote climate-resistant infrastructure. Bees contribute an estimated $25bn to the US economy annually. Half of all honeybee hives are killed off by diseases, agricultural chemicals and habitat loss. The project will gather location-based data to help facilities managers develop better protection for pollinators and habitat management.
Professor Harald zur Hausen, who died aged 87, was a virologist who discovered the link between the human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer almost 50 years ago. His discovery eventually led to a preventive vaccine expected to save millions of lives, and he was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for his work in 2008. Initially, his discovery was dismissed by his scientific peers. He studied how the Epstein-Barr virus was implicated in the development of nasopharyngeal carcinoma while at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, wanting to leave an indelible legacy of the relationship between infections and cancer.
With the US Congress having agreed on a bipartisan debt limit package which both sides tried to claim as a victory, Dana Milbank discusses the dynamics of the negotiation, and the implications it has for the broader workings of US politics. The vote in the House was notable, as a supermajority of the fractured House Republican conference voted in favour of the package, whilst the hard left and hard right were on the sidelines in dissent. Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy blamed each other's side for the crisis whilst their negotiators were given the authority to deal with each other in good faith. Republicans had created the crisis by using the danger of default and the subsequent damage that could have been done to the economy to demand what they could not have gotten otherwise: concession from the Democrats. Although this compromise speaks towards bipartisanship in American politics Milbank remains sceptical.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has promised to spare no effort in response to the horror train crash that killed almost 300 people and injured over 1k others in Odisha. The crash, which involved two trains and a freight train, is India's worst rail disaster in over two decades. Conflicting reports indicate signal failure may have been the cause. Despite the Indian Government spending billions to modernise its rail network, many accidents continue to occur, often due to human error or outdated signalling equipment.
