Police in the US have yet to identify any suspects or find the weapon used in the killing of the UK astrophysicist Matthew Willson, who was shot dead in January 2022 in Brookhaven, Georgia while sleeping beside his girlfriend Katherine Shepard. The single bullet that killed him travelled 200 metres from a park next to her apartment, through a 10-centimetre gap in the handrail of a stairwell walkway, piercing her bedroom wall and headboard before striking Willson in the head as he lay in bed beside her. Sixteen months after Willson’s death, no one has been held accountable for his murder despite contributions from his family and Atlanta Crime Stoppers, which is offering rewards to anyone who can provide information about his killers. The 28-year-old astrophysicist, who was described in an academic memorial as “a pioneer and explorer in the realm of imaging young planets”, had been preparing to publish his research on the development of software tools for the European Extremely Large Telescope when he died.
Wildfires are getting worse, and experts say the way we fight them needs to change
CBC
23-05-19 08:00
New fires have steadily persisted across the western regions of Canada this spring, igniting the threat of further extreme outbreaks across Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, and the Northwest Territories. According to officials, approximately 98 wildfires are burning through Alberta with 26 now classified as being out of control. The province has called in almost 1,000 out-of-province firefighters to help combat the blazes. University of Alberta wildfire expert Mike Flannigan has warned that wildland fires are becoming more prominent due to high temperatures and prolonged dry conditions that are promising to destabilize any new vegetation growth in the coming months. While the Canadian government has pledged $346m to train emergency service workers and to acquire new firefighting equipment, experts suggest that this isn't enough to combat the progression of high-intensity fires. To mitigate these risks, experts are urging clearings of dried grasses, brush, and organic matter with prescribed burns to reduce the severity of future wildfires.
John Edmunds, a former BBC newsreader, has died at 94. Edmunds was also a university academic and an expert on Shakespeare and French classical drama. He became a television newsreader at the BBC in the 1960s, having previously taught French at Battersea Grammar School. Edmunds was also one of the question masters on the BBC’s quiz show Top of the Form in the 1960s. He was head of drama at the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth from 1979 and a professor of drama at the University of the Americas and the University of California from 1985. Following his return to the UK, he acted in stage productions and wrote and read poetry.
Birmingham's South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) appears to be successfully helping talented cricketers to avoid "slipping through the county net", according to The Guardian's Ali Martin. A little over two years ago, the England and Wales Cricket Board revealed that players of south Asian descent made up 30% of recreational cricketers in England and Wales but just 4% of professionals. In this season's first-class cricket alone, the SACA has seen three graduates make their debuts in the County Championship, with seven having graduated and signed professional contracts to date.
Dr Stephen Phillips, an expert in koala ecology who has worked in the field for 40 years, has warned that koalas in Australia are at risk of extinction due to a combination of threats including fire frequency, intensity and the effects of climate change. Thousands of koalas were lost in the 2019 bushfires, and climate modellers predict it will happen again as the likelihood of an El Nino next year increases. A moratorium on logging into wildlife habitats is essential to save the remaining populations of koalas from extinction, according to Phillips. He also calls for the most aggressive and proactive measures for managing fires and the compartmentalising of areas of natural habitat so they cannot be lost.
Phillips is not confident that the current state of Australian politics will be helpful for koalas. Conservative governments tend to be better for the economy, whilst left-of-centre governments are better for the environment, according to him. However, he is cynical about the potential effectiveness of the current Threatened Species Action Plan. In the NSW mid north coast, koala habitats in the Pine Creek State Forest are under threat from logging. Phillips calls for action by identifying the remaining populations and processes affecting populations, and a prohibition of logging of key food tree species. The timber industry, Phillips warns, is demonstrably unsustainable and has been for decades.
This play is teaching kids about a Toronto race riot — right where it happened
CBC
23-05-21 08:00
A new production called "Christie Pits Riot" has been staged to coincide with the 90th anniversary of one of the largest race riots in Canada’s history. Exploding antisemitism and anti-immigrant sentiment in Depression-era Toronto parallelled the rise of Adolf Hitler. The new immersive, site-specific production helps the story to become more personal and emotional for those watching. It has left strong impressions on its audience, who hope to draw the general public to the show and perhaps tour it.
Scientists from China and the UK have uncovered a previously unknown species of sea scorpion in southern China. In the Ordovician period, more than 445 million years ago, the creatures dominated the sea and were feared predators. However, the new specimen measured just 15cm in length, you could hold it the palm of your hand and is one of the smallest of its kind ever discovered. The animal is also a rarity, as only a dozen species from the Ordovician have ever been found. The discovery reveals how diverse these extinct top predators really were.
Joy Haizelden, who was abandoned as a child in China after being diagnosed with the spine defect spina bifida, is preparing to represent Great Britain in wheelchair basketball at the World Championship in Dubai. Haizelden was taken in by adoptive parents and moved to Southampton, before becoming involved in the sport at 13. Aged 15, she was the youngest member of the GB team at the 2014 World Championships and still a teenager when she competed for Paralympics GB at the Rio Games in 2016. Haizelden, 24, now wants to encourage greater representation of wheelchair basketball in the media and schools.
The prevailing culture of subservience and powerlessness in British businesses benefits only shareholders according to doctoral student Daniel Chandler. Chandler claims that workplace democracy benefits both companies and employees at all levels and proposes that UK businesses allocate half their board seats to worker reps, something already established in Germany and France. Anti-establishment sentiments could be ameliorated by empowering workers, said Chandler. He recommends laws to limit the size of cooperative organisations to ensure worker investment remains and calls for a debate about power in UK companies. Chandler's ideas have been endorsed by figures such as economists Thomas Piketty, Amartya Sen, and Sir Angus Deaton.
James Crawford “Jim” Biggs, who died at the age of 91, pioneered medicine in Australia, undertaking the country’s first successful adult bone marrow transplant. The medical breakthrough was one of hundreds of innovative treatments provided by Dr Biggs, who was a mentor to scores of junior doctors over a 30-year career that led to him overseeing more than 2,500 bone marrow transplants. Born to a wealthy family and inspired by his father’s medical profession, in which he worked as a pioneering doctor in his own right, Dr Biggs followed an extroverted and adventurous path, becoming the first captain of his school, its first cricket and rugby captain and its first doctor. Despite personal tragedy in his personal life, Dr Biggs remained committed to charity work, leading the Australian Foundation for the Peoples of the South Pacific for two decades, which later became Action on Poverty, and he devoted energy to taking on grass roots projects throughout the Pacific and Asia. Dr Biggs was awarded an Order of Australia in 1999.
Dr Anthony Pun dedicated his life to bridging communities and preventing racism in Australia, where everyday incidents of racism are still too common. Even though Pun was better known for his work as chief research scientist at St Vincent’s Hospital, his advocacy and passion of striving for better made him a national figure in Australia. Pun's work focused on supporting ethnic harmony and the Chinese diaspora, calling on prime ministers to intervene during the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown. Pun passed away last month aged 77 years old.
Bryan Kohberger, a criminology PhD student accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in November 2022, will appear in court on Monday for his arraignment. Kohberger is expected to enter a plea on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. Following a six-week investigation, Kohberger was arrested on 30 December after his DNA was found on a knife sheath left behind at the crime scene. A white Hyundai Elantra, matching his, was also captured on surveillance footage driving away from the area at the time of the murders.
In a recent report released by NBC Dateline, Kohberger was believed to have broken into the home of a female student and then installed security cameras to spy on her in the weeks before he allegedly killed the four students. Kohberger had allegedly befriended the woman after moving to Pullman, Washington State, to begin a graduate program in criminal justice at Washington State University. He installed a video security system inside her home to allow him to spy on her, as he knew her wifi password and was able to tap into the cameras. NBC Dateline also reported that Kohberger’s sister feared he was involved in the students’ murders because of reasons including his behaviour and the fact that she saw spots of blood on his clothing.
Kohberger became a suspect in the case after six weeks of near-silence from law enforcement in Idaho and Pennsylvania. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at Kohberger’s apartment, where they seized various items, including cell phone records and a disposable glove, stained with blood, according to sources.
Almost 50 million square feet of vacant office space is available in Canadian central business districts, according to Karen Chapple, director of the School of Cities at the University of Toronto, citing data provided by the Canadian Chamber of Commerce's Business Data Lab. The figure includes close to 40% that have emerged since the pandemic began. The situation presents an opportunity to reuse some of the buildings for community, learning or start-up hubs, reflecting changing mobility patterns, said Chapple. New office space should cater to diverse needs in order to bring life back to urban centres, Chapple argued.
