Nearly 150 penguins will make a splash at London Zoo this summer when a new bird attraction opens.
Penguin Beach, England’s largest ever enclosure for the flightless birds, will open on May 27 and will allow the zoo to treble the number of penguins visitors can see.
The zoo previously housed 41 penguins.
Penguin Beach will be home to two different breeds of penguin – the South American Humboldt and the Antarctic Macaroni with its distinctive yellow spiky crest.
It will be four times bigger than the current pool and will include underwater viewing areas.
The zoo’s director general Ralph Armond said: “Penguins have a long history at ZSL London Zoo, having been here permanently for the last 150 years. (PA)
Russian astronomy
Does the sun revolve around the earth? About one third of Russians appear to believe so, according to a survey published yesterday.
Thirty-two per cent of Russians reject a sun-centred Solar system, four per cent more than in 2007, the Russian Centre of Public Opinion Research showed.
The survey also found 55 per cent of Russians believe that radioactivity is a human invention while twenty-nine per cent believe humans lived in the era of dinosaurs. Women are more likely than men to believe scientific superstitions, the survey found.
The survey was conducted last month, with a 3.4 per cent margin of error. (AFP)
Boxloads of cash
A South Korean police bomb squad yesterday evacuated a major Seoul department store after receiving reports of suspicious packages – but found only cash inside totalling one billion won ($900,000).
A storage company located inside the store had told police it feared the two boxes might contain explosives, after company officials failed to trace the owner of the items deposited last August. Police said about 20 officers including SWAT teams ordered store customers out while explosives experts opened the boxes to discover the cash. The owner of the boxes had paid a year’s rent in advance for storage and left a fake name, social security number and cellphone number. “The boxes will be taken care of by the storage company until the expiration date,” an investigator said AFP. (AFP)
Obama’s hair
First Lady Michelle Obama yesterday quashed rumours that her husband – whose hair on different occasions has appeared to have varying amounts of grey – has been dyeing his hair.
“He’s pretty grey,” said the first lady speaking on NBC television’s Today Show programme.
Mrs Obama said variations in lighting might explain why President Barack Obama’s hair seems almost completely black. (PA)
Monk beer ad
Catholic monks in Lithuania are up in arms over a beer advert depicting their brethren raising glasses, saying it tarnishes their image and could encourage a boozy lifestyle.
The Baltic state’s association of abbots said monks felt “insulted and trampled on” by a leading Lithuanian brewery’s use of the image of Franciscan friars to promote its ale.
“This affects and distorts the image of monks in Lithuania,” the association said , urging the company to pull the advert and warning of street rallies if it failed to act.
At a recent launch event for the beer – ironically made using an ancestral recipe dreamed up by German monks – participants were served by actors wearing monks’ habits.
The Church has clout in Lithuania, where more than 80 per cent of the 3.2-million-strong population is Roman Catholic. (AFP)
Armed veteran
German police were stunned on yesterday to find an arsenal of 362 weapons at the house of an 83-year-old man, including rifles and machine guns as well as armour-piercing bullets.
Authorities raided the man’s house in Beckingen in Germany after he had become increasingly threatening and aggressive to people around him. They also found four illegal knives, 100 belts of ammunition with thousands of bullets and other armour-piercing weapons. (AFP)
Vatican ban
The Vatican put its foot down yesterday over the idea of “confessing” by iPhone after news that US users can now download an application for the Apple gadget that helps the faithful gain absolution.
“It is essential to understand that the rites of penance require a personal dialogue between penitents and their confessor.”
It cannot be replaced by a computer application,” Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi told journalists. (AFP)