South Korea: Solar panels for rent
Outlook positive for the burgeoning business but market expected to grow at slow pace.
Korean homeowners concerned about their rising monthly electricity costs may soon have a solution as the solar panel rental business for residential homes is expected to make its debut in April. Private energy companies and the state-run Korea Energy Management Corp. are currently in talks over profit sources, but the timeline seems to have been set. ... (Read more)
The Korea Herald
Norway: Expert calls for six-digit fines for elk deaths
One of Norway’s leading elk experts has called for six-digit fines to be imposed when motorists or trains kill the animals, arguing that is the only way to force rail and road organisations to take action. ...
“I think the only way to stop the collisions is to give the responsibility to someone, and it’s the roads and the trains that kill the elk,” he told The Local. ... (Read more)
The Local
Australia: New spin on zebra stripe origins
A weird zebra-stripe pattern discovered in Earth’s inner Van Allen radiation belt is generated by the planet’s rotation, according to new research. ...
It also overturns previously held views that they were caused by geomagnetic storms from the Sun. ... (Read more)
ABC
Italy: Sister Act: Italian nun wows in singing contest
A charismatic nun has wowed judges on an Italian reality TV show with her powerful rendition of Alicia Keys’ hit “No One”. Watch her heavenly performance below.
Sister Cristina, a 25-year-old nun from Sicily, southern Italy, was performing on the Italian musical talent show “The Voice” during a blind audition on Wednesday night where the show’s judges have their back turned to the stage for part of the song. ... (Watch and read more)
The Local
Denmark: The Little Mermaid to return to the big screen
Live-action version of classic tale on the way most probably with a Gothic slant.
Award-winning director Sofia Coppola is reportedly negotiating a deal to direct an upcoming live-action adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy-tale ‘The Little Mermaid’. ... (Read more)
The Copenhagen Post
Spain: Blind athlete saves blind dog from death
A blind but otherwise healthy Labrador dog who was about to be put down in Spain has found a most unlikely rescuer.
The owners of five-year-old Boludo decided to put him down when he lost his sight as a result of retinal problems.
But Martín Marín, a vet in the Spanish city of La Coruña, had other ideas. “He’s a good dog who doesn’t need more looking after than other (dogs),” Marín told Spain’s free 20 minutos newspaper. ... (Read more)
The Local
Bali: Community drive toward plastic-free Bali
Social initiatives by local and expatriate communities have emerged during the last several years with the common goal of removing plastic bags from Bali.
The latest initiative, Bye-Bye Plastic Bag, came from Melati and Isabel Wijsen, Indonesian-Dutch sisters aged 13 and 12 years old.
Fed up with seeing so much plastic waste around their beloved island, the Green School students were inspired to do something positive to change the situation. ... (Read more)
Bali Daily
*Image of raindeers via Shutterstock.