Ireland: Clouds part in time for sun to light up Newgrange chamber
More than 200 people on hand for Winter Solstice sunrise at prehistoric tomb in Co Meath
Cloud cover over Newgrange in Co Meath cleared just in time for the sun to illuminate the ancient chamber on the Winter Solstice.
About 50 people were inside when the sunlight filled up the Neolithic tomb’s main passageway at about 8.50am yesterday, the shortest day of the year. ...
Irish Times
Newgrange entrance. (Shutterstock)
Panama: Stealing a cow more serious than rape – new law
A NEW LAW makes it “more serious to steal a cow than to rape someone” says Panama’s Citizen’s Alliance for Justice.
They were referring to a law that has increased the penalty for stealing cattle to eight years …
Panama Newsroom
Kenya: The evolution of Christmas celebrations in Kenya
...Perhaps due to Kenya’s young economy in the 1960s and 1970s, most people, including grown-ups, waited until Christmas to go on a shopping spree for new clothes.
This was also the only time some could afford “special diets” like chapati, rice and meat. …
Kenya Daily Nation
France: Why has the EU’s army never been deployed
As France urges the EU to create a fund to finance military operations of member states, FRANCE 24 takes a look at the pan-European army that was established nine years ago – but has yet to be deployed. ...
France 24
Switzerland: Nature ranks Geneva scientist among ’top ten’
Swiss astrophysicist Michel Mayor is listed among Nature magazine’s ten top scientists in the world who “mattered” for 2013.
An emeritus professor at the University of Geneva, Mayor, together with assistant Didier Queloz, discovered the first extrasolar planet (exoplanet) orbiting a sun-like star in 1995.
Since then around 1,050 exoplanets have been found, most of them are “super-earths” the size of Jupiter, but Mayor and his team at the Observatory of Geneva discovered one earlier this year that is close to earth’s density and size.
Although Kepler-78 is too hot to support life, its discovery demonstrated that it is possible to find planets like earth in a temperate zone around its star. ...
The Local
Swiss astrophysicist Michel Mayor. (Franck Schneider/Wikimedia Commons)
Kuwait: Need a Peacock for your garden?
A new business ... is opening up in Kuwait. The Kuwait Zoo will begin selling animals from its collections including peacocks, European and red deer, pygmy goats, parrots, ponies, wildebeest and others. Need a peacock for your garden or a pony for your children’s birthday parties? Head to the zoo starting from December 30 to pick out the perfect [pet] …
Kuwait Times
Peacock. (Shutterstock)
Malaysia: Highway turned into garbage dump
KUALA LUMPUR: Piles of rubbish were dumped indiscriminately on the side of the Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) highway near the Taman Beringin rubbish transfer station after the station’s main operator, Umpan Jaya Sdn Bhd, decided to stop operations abruptly. ...
The Star
*Image of a cow in Panama via Shutterstock
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