Hong Kong’s beloved female panda Ying Ying has given birth to twins, becoming the oldest first-time giant panda mother.

The glorious panda gave birth to the cubs on Thursday in Hong Kong’s Ocean Park, a day before she turned 19. Ying Ying was born in Wolong, China on August 16, 2006.

Her babies are a rarity because if she were a human, she would be 57 years old.

As per the caretakers, the baby pandas are very fragile and to stabilise, they require time and care. They also said that the cubs are under 24-hour intensive care.

“We are all looking forward to meeting the giant panda cubs. Please wait a few months patiently to make their debut and officially meet everyone!” Ocean Park Hong Kong stated as quoted by BBC.

The female panda has given birth to a male and a female cub. Of the two, the sister panda looks to be weaker than her brother because her body temperature is lower and her cries are weaker than the male baby panda. It also does not help that she weighs just 122g.

Giant pandas are reserved when it comes to mating but Ying Ying and the cubs’ father, Le Le, successfully mated at the Ocean Park in March. The pair have been at the park since 2007 when they were presented as a gift by Beijing to Hong Kong.

China has been working tirelessly to prevent the population decline of panda bears. The country’s efforts have led to panda being considered a vulnerable species but not on the verge of extinction. 

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg made headlines on Wednesday by sharing a photo of his wife, Priscilla Chan, beside a striking silver and blue statue sculpted in her likeness, BBC reported.

The sculpture is 7-feet tall (2. 1 meters) and was ordered by Zuckerberg remarking on the Roman culture of having sculptures of your wife.

The statue as designed by the New York-based artist Daniel Arsham, is located near what seems to be a suburban yard under a tree. As soon as it appeared online, people began drawing parallels between the speaker and characters from Avatar and joking about Zuckerberg and his ‘wife guy’ antics.

In the picture, Chan is drinking from the mug that has the shade of the light blue of the statue. She was also ecstatic, she commented on her husband’s Instagram with a photograph of a naked woman with her private part fully opened and captioned it ‘the more of me the better?’ with an emoticon.

This is because the sculpted silver garment seems to ripple at the back of the teal-coloured figure. As per the National Museums Liverpool, the primary purpose of the ancient Roman statues was to pay tribute to the dear ones, who had died, or to draw everyone’s attention to the vitally important kinsfolk and establish relationships. The couple, Zuckerberg and Chan, have been married since 2012, and have three daughters together.

10 sets of enrolled twins are set to start their primary school year in Inverclyde, United Kingdom this year.

This will be the fourth consecutive year that 10 or more sets of twins will start primary schooling in the region.

Nevertheless, the 20 children are scheduled to start their school year at various educational institutions in the local authority area on Friday, (August 16).

Interestingly, Inverclyde has been nicknamed “Twinverclyde” for the number of twin sets of children it produces every year.

The most twin sets that were enrolled for primary schools in the region was 19 in 2015.

Since 2013, 157 sets have begun schooling taking the average number of sets each year to 13.

“You know it’s back to school time when we start to see this year’s inductees to our ‘Twinverclyde’ Hall of Fame. It has become an annual tradition to get our new P1 twins together and it is great fun for them and their family and friends and they all look so resplendent in their uniforms,” stated Provost Drew McKenzie as quoted by Yahoo! News.

Last year, the twin sets count in Inverclyde reached 17, the second highest on record after the 19 pairs that came in 2015. 

California pulled out all the stops Thursday to welcome the arrival of two new giant pandas from China, the first to be sent by Beijing to the United States in 21 years.

The young bears were greeted by children in panda hats and dignitaries, as well as a show including traditional Chinese dances.

Yun Chuan and Xin Bao appeared, however, to be little moved by the performances and the symbolism of their arrival, at a time of gradually thawing US-China relations.

After traveling nearly 7,000 miles (11,000 kilometers) from the mountainous region of Sichuan, the two creatures are now the undisputed stars of the San Diego Zoo.

“My children only wanted to see two things in America: orcas and pandas,” Guillaume Courcoux, a Swiss tourist whose family was among the spectators Thursday, told AFP. “They were very impressed.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom celebrated the “panda mania” and declared August 8 “Panda Day” in the state.

“This is about something much deeper, much richer than just the two beautiful pandas we celebrate,” the Democrat said. “It’s about celebrating our common humanity. It’s about celebrating the things that bind us together.”

Until recently, the loan of the two pandas seemed an unlikely dream.

With fierce trade competition, and disagreements over Taiwan and human rights, tensions between China and the United States have been rising for several years – to the point that Beijing’s traditional “panda diplomacy” seemed to have frozen.

In recent years, pandas at zoos in Washington DC, Atlanta and Memphis were all returned to Beijing, after loan agreements were not renewed.

However, at a key summit between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping in November, the latter announced that Beijing would continue the program in the United States.

China’s loaning of pandas around the world is both a diplomatic symbol and a way to help the survival of a vulnerable species.

In addition to San Diego, pandas are expected to return to zoos in Washington and San Francisco by 2025.

‘Our shared future’

China first offered its pandas to the United States in 1972 under US President Richard Nixon.

Since then, the country has used its loan of the black-and-white bears to send diplomatic messages.

For instance, after President Barack Obama met with the Dalai Lama in 2010, who is seen as a rebel by Beijing, China recalled two of its pandas.

The San Diego Zoo has enjoyed a decades-long partnership with Chinese authorities, having received two pandas in 1996 that gave birth to six cubs in captivity.

All of the pandas were returned to China in 2019, in line with earlier agreements.

The return of the pandas is not only a boon for the zoo, where their presence attracts thousands of visitors a year, but also supports the propagation of the species, which is notoriously difficult in the wild.

Zoo officials described four-year-old Yun Chuan as a “mild-mannered, gentle and lovable” male, who was named after his grandmother, Bai Yun, one of the initial two pandas loaned to San Diego.

The other panda, three-year-old female Xin Bao, is a “gentle and witty introvert,” zoo officials said. Her name means a “new treasure of prosperity and abundance.”

“We hope she will bring you good luck to California, to San Diego,” China’s ambassador to the United States Xie Feng said.

Remains of a small 17th-century pirate ship have been discovered in deep waters between Spain and Morocco by wreck-hunters.

The ship, known as a Barbary corsair, lies in the Strait of Gibraltar at a depth of 830 meters (2,700 feet). The ship itself is about 14 meters long (45 feet). 

Maritime archaeologist Sean Kingsley, the editor-in-chief of the Wreckwatch magazine and the researcher on the rediscovery of the Barbary corsair told LiveScience that the shipwreck is “the first Algiers corsair found in the Barbary heartland.” 

The revelation of the Corsair wreck is only being publicised now through an article issued by the Stemm in Wreckwatch after thorough research and confirming its authenticity. 

Interestingly, the Barbary corsair pirates for the most part were Muslims, who began piracy out of Algiers in the 15th century. The concerned region was part of the Ottoman Empire. 

The western coastline of North Africa, from modern-day Morocco to Libya was known as the Barbary Coast and the pirates who sailed on the routes were a threat to the people for more than 200 years. 

They indulged in slave raids and attacked ships crossing their paths on the Mediterranean and Atlantic coasts of Europe. 

The people caught were sold into the North African slave trade and the horrendous trade continued in some Muslim countries until the early 20th century as per LiveScience. 

However, in the 19th century, the Barbary corsairs pirates were defeated in the Barbary Wars by the United States, Sweden and Norman Kingdom of Sicily in southern Italy. 

LONDON: Three British military horses ran loose through the streets of central London after breaking free from their handlers on Monday.

This was the second such incident that has happened in the past three months, reported UPI.

During exercises on Monday morning when the lead horse was spooked by a passing bus, three horses escaped from their handlers from the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, the Ministry of Defence confirmed.

The horses were quickly rounded up by army and Metropolitan Police personnel and they were returned to their Hyde Park Barracks, the officials said.

Moreover, one of the horses was treated for a minor injury, however, no human injuries were reported.

This incident took place after four military horses escaped on April 24. After being spooked by noise from a construction site, they ran loose through the city.

Additionally, officials said none of the horses in the most recent incident were involved in the earlier escape.

Eight Dutch engineering enthusiasts teamed up together to build the world’s longest bicycle, which measures at a surprising 180 feet, 11 inches and surpasses the earlier record set in 2020 by Australian Bernie Ryan for a bicycle of 155 feet, 8 inches.

Though this brand-new record-shattering bicycle will not be very useful for daily use in cities, it is still ridable, reported Guinness World Records.

Ivan Schalk, a 39-year-old, led the team and had been planning to do this since he was a child.

He said: “I’ve been thinking about the idea for years. I once received a Guinness World Records book in which I came across this record.”

Notably, over the past 60 years, this record has been broken numerous times, as per the reference book. In the form of a bicycle built in Cologne, Germany, measuring 8m (26ft 3in), it was first set in 1965.

People from various countries; including New Zealand, Italy, Belgium, Australia, and two teams from the Netherlands make up the list of the past record holders.

Ivan embarked on this project in 2018 to fill his spare time with a history of building carnival floats.

He sought out team members at the local carnival in his home village of Prinsenbeek as he needed help to build the giant bicycle.

“Prinsenbeek is known for its volunteers and high technical employability,” he said, adding: “You can hang out in front of the TV, but we’re not like that here in Prinsenbeek. We have the technical knowledge and want to apply this knowledge to the maximum.”

A team of archaeologists from the University of Michigan’s Notion Archaeological Project discovered a hoard of gold coins from the Persian Empire in western Turkey, announced the researchers on Friday.

Additionally, the gold coins found are very unique, depicting a kneeling archer, a design reminiscent of those used in the Persian Empire, CBS News reported.

These coins were used from the late 6th century BC until Alexander the Great’s conquest of the Persian Empire in 330 BC.

Speaking to CBS News, Christopher Ratté, director of the project, said that the stash of coins and some artifacts were found in a small pot that was buried under a large house situated in the heart of the ancient Greek city of Notion.

“Presumably, it was stored there for safekeeping and for some reason never recovered,” said Ratté.

According to sources, the discovery was made in 2023; however, it was made public last week after seeking permission from the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Moreover, the former curator of coins, Andrew Meadows, believes that this discovery carries a lot of importance.

“This is a spectacular find … of the highest importance,” he said. 

Ratté added that they have also discovered coins from the 5th century BC, which will help them learn more about the details and history of these coins.

“This hoard will provide a firm date that can serve as an anchor to help fix the chronology of the (entire sequence of coins).” 

The researchers reported that the coins were likely hidden due to a conflict in Notion — a region known for military activity. It appears that the owners might have unintentionally left them behind.

“No one ever buries a hoard of coins, especially precious metal coins, without intending to retrieve it,” said Ratté. “So only the gravest misfortune can explain the preservation of such a treasure.”

A Canadian couple Justin Stevenson and Danielle witnessed a strange light pulsating above the Winnipeg River in the province of Manitoba, Canada while driving on a road near the river.

They sighted the lights last month when the couple was prompted to stop driving in order to observe the lights which they thought were UFOs, reported Metro UK.

The event was captured on camera with Justin being overheard stating: “I think we’re seeing some aliens, for real.”

The light was joined by another bright set of objects, giving it a look of a fire. Justin was also heard saying that the strange anomaly “looks like flares” prompting his partner to question if flares last that long. However, as the video comes to an end, the couple are left with no answers.

The lights, being suspected as UFOs by the couple and oftentimes by other witnesses, are a strange thing and capable of forming an illusion for the observer.

Additionally, April 2024 saw a man witnessing a streak of green light which lasted for mere seconds and then the next month, people were stunned to see a strange neon blue cloud which later turned out to be nothing but a normal cloud in front of the Fore River Bridge in Quincy, Massachusetts

These events occur when particles in the atmosphere refract or bend light and dust gasses and particles can trick one’s mind and force them to believe that what they are perceiving is a UFO and not a mere natural phenomenon.

A dinosaur belonging to the family of hadrosaur that lived over 82 million years ago has been found in Mississippi, United States by paleontologists.

Hadrosaur are a family of duck-billed, herbivorous dinosaurs and includes at least 61 identified species out of hundreds more which once roamed the Earth.

Portions of the spinal vertebrae, forearm, feet and pelvic bones of this specimen have been unearthed by the researchers. However, from its location near Booneville in northeast Mississippi, extracting the rest of the fossil has proven challenging.

“This thing sat for a while because we didn’t have anybody to work on it,” said James Starnes, an official with the state’s geology office, reported Earth.

The specific species of this hadrosaur fossil remained unidentified for nearly two decades. As of now, a 3D method of forensic analysis called geometric morphometrics is being used by the researchers to solve the mystery before the fossil is fully unearthed.

The hadrosaur’s remains are being analysed by Derek Hoffman, a geology graduate student at the University of Southern Mississippi (USM), with this method.

“What geometric morphometrics does is it takes a shape-analysis approach,” he explained.

Key features or “landmarks” for a given bone sample are determined by this method. Moreover, via complex statistical models to identify differences and similarities with known bones, it also compares their distances and ratios.