New Zealand: Breeding breakthrough for kiwis
For the first time in 50 years the pitter-patter of tiny kiwi feet could soon be heard in the Marunui Conservation Reserve, situated near the Brynderwyn Hills.
Only six months after 14 kiwi were released in the 423ha block of privately-owned native forest between Mangawhai and the Brynderwyn Hills, two male birds are sitting on eggs expected to hatch in November or December.
The 14 Northland brown kiwi relocated to the reserve in April were raised on Motuora Island as part of the BNZ Operation Nest Egg scheme.
The New Zealand Herald
South Africa: Mandela film to be screened in US schools
Johannesburg—The film based on the life of former president Nelson Mandela, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, will be introduced to American classrooms, the Nelson Mandela Foundation said on Tuesday.
“There are no words to describe how meaningful it is to us to know that thousands of miles away school children are learning the history of our country and the father of our democracy,” CEO Sello Hatang said in a statement.
“It is an honour to be a part of this project and to provide US students with access to resources and materials from our archives and work that enable the continuation of a living legacy and learning.”
news24
Kuwait: Kuwait denies taking Security Council seat
MANAMA: Kuwaiti diplomats have denied media reports that Kuwait would supplant Saudi Arabia at the United Nations Security Council. Riyadh last week said that it rejected its rotating Security Council seat hours after winning it, saying that the council was incapable of ending wars and resolving conflicts in the Middle East. Reports said that Kuwait was next on the list of Asian countries to take the two-year membership on Jan 1. However, Kuwaiti daily Al Kuwaitya yesterday reported that “diplomatic sources denied the claims that Kuwait had accepted to take the Security Council seat.” The daily did not identify the sources.
Kuwait Times
Spain: Spain ponders time zone switch
Spanish lawmakers want to shift the country back a time zone and impose more healthy, family-friendly working hours: a tricky job in a land known for siestas and late-night partying.
A typical Spaniard’s working day? “Start at 9:00 am, stop at 2:00 pm to eat until four or five, then start again and work until about 8:00 pm,” says Nuria Chinchilla, a specialist in work and family life at Spain’s IESE Business School.
“No one expects you home before 9:00 pm.” Some warn this lifestyle—which dates from around the 1940s when poor Spaniards would work two jobs to make ends meet—is harming their personal lives now. It leads to a lower quality of life, less time spent with the family and lower birth rates, more accidents at work and more school drop-outs because children go to bed too late, the economist says.
The Local
U.K: Tesco says almost 30,000 tonnes of food ‘wasted’
Supermarket giant Tesco has revealed it threw away almost 30,000 tonnes of food in the first six months of the year.
Publishing its food waste figures for the first time, it also said that 68% of salad to be sold in bags was thrown out - 35% of it by customers.
And it found that 40% of apples were wasted, as were just under half of bakery items.
The retailer is introducing measures to reduce wastage including developing promotions for smaller bags of salad.
The supermarket tracked 25 best-selling products and combined information with data from the Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap) to give an overall food waste “footprint” for each item.
BBC
India: Bihar midday meal tragedy: Principal charged
PATNA: A charge sheet was filed on Monday against a Bihar school principal and her husband for the deaths of 23 children who ate contaminated midday meal, police said.
The charge sheet was filed in the court of chief judicial magistrate in Saran district.
“A 346 page charge sheet was filed against school principal Meena Devi and her husband Arjun Rai,” police official Raj Kaushal said.
Both Meena Devi and Rai are in jail.
“It was stated in the charge sheet that Rai purchased pesticide from a sugar factory and he kept the pesticide in the room where items for cooking mid day meal were stored. The food was cooked with pesticide,” Kaushal said.
The Times of India
Switzerland: Man held for smuggling parrot eggs in underwear
Swiss customs authorities have arrested a bird specialist who smuggled the eggs of protected parrots in his underwear and travelled the globe trading in rare species.
The federal customs administration said in a statement issued on Thursday that the man, whom it did not identify, was thought to have trafficked over 150 eggs from endangered parrots that are protected by international law, as well as rare pheasant species.
The suspect, a Swiss citizen who was also a legal bird trader, was busted at Zurich airport in 2010 with 25 eggs hidden in his underwear as he returned from Brazil.
The customs service explained that it was only revealing details of the case now because of the secrecy surrounding the probe.
The Local
