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American Influencer Apologizes for Snatching Australian Baby Wombat

FILE - Otto, a Tasmanian wombat, waddles around the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo's newest exhibit in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
FILE - Otto, a Tasmanian wombat, waddles around the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo's newest exhibit in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
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American Influencer Apologizes for Snatching Australian Baby Wombat

FILE - Otto, a Tasmanian wombat, waddles around the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo's newest exhibit in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)
FILE - Otto, a Tasmanian wombat, waddles around the Albuquerque BioPark Zoo's newest exhibit in Albuquerque, N.M., on Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010. (AP Photo/Susan Montoya Bryan)

An American influencer who sparked outrage after posting a video of her snatching a baby wombat from its mother while in Australia apologized on Saturday, saying she had acted out of concern for the young animal’s welfare.
Australian authorities had threatened Sam Jones with deportation after she posted a video on her Instagram account of her running with a wombat joey in her hands from its mother on a roadside at night, The Associated Press reported.
“I ran, not to rip the joey away from its mother, but from fear she might attack me,” Jones, who also uses the name Samantha Strable, posted on social media.
“The snap judgement I made in these moments was never from a place of harm or stealing a joey,” she added.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the video of the young wombat being grabbed was “just an outrage.”
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said his department was investigating whether Jones had breached the terms of her visa before she left the country on Friday.
“There’s never been a better day to be a baby wombat in Australia,” Burke said after she left Australia voluntarily.
Burke said he did not expect Jones would apply for an Australian visa again.
The animal appears to be a common wombat, also known as a bare-nosed wombat. It is a protected marsupial found only in Australia.
Montana-based Jones claimed she became “extremely concerned” when she found the two wombats on a road not moving.
“As wombats are so often hit on Australian roads, I stopped to ensure they got off the road safely and didn’t get hit,” Jones said.
“However, as is seen from the video, when I walked up to them, the joey did not move or run off. I was concerned it may have been sick or injured, and made a snap judgement to pick up the joey and see if that was the case,” she added.
An unidentified man laughs as he films Jones saying: “I caught a baby wombat.” They both note the mother’s sounds of aggression.
Animal welfare experts said Jones could have harmed the joey by dangling it by its two forelegs.
Jones said she returned the joey to its mother and ensured they both left the road.
“I have done a great deal of reflection on this situation and have realized that I did not handle this situation as best as I should have,” she said.
“I have learned from this situation, and am truly sorry for the distress I have caused,” she added.

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Varieties

Tunisia Says 2026 Summer Hottest on Record

Tourists pose for a picture in downtown Tunis, Tunisia, August 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Tourists pose for a picture in downtown Tunis, Tunisia, August 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
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Tunisia Says 2026 Summer Hottest on Record

Tourists pose for a picture in downtown Tunis, Tunisia, August 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi
Tourists pose for a picture in downtown Tunis, Tunisia, August 4, 2017. REUTERS/Zoubeir Souissi

Tunisia's summer this year was its hottest on record, the country's weather authority said Tuesday, following multiple heatwaves, water shortages and power cuts.

"The summer of 2026 was ranked the hottest in Tunisia since 1950," the year temperature records began, the National Meteorological Institute said.

The average temperature was about 2.9 degrees Celsius higher than the previous record, it added.

Although accustomed to scorching heat, Tunisia experienced a particularly gruelling summer this year, with July and August marked by "intense and prolonged heatwaves", the authority said.

Scientists attribute these episodes to climate change.

This summer also saw persistently high nighttime temperatures, the agency added.

The highest temperature was recorded in the central city of Kairouan, which reached 49.7 degrees Celsius in mid-July.

Temperatures also reached 49.2 degrees Celsius in Beja in the northwest, and in the south they reached 48.4 degrees Celsius in Tozeur.

Authorities have yet to provide figures on the health impact of the heatwaves, but a group representing young Tunisian doctors reported numerous deaths it said were caused by the heat.

Varieties

Six-year-old Chinese Girl Sets World Record with Rubik's Cube

Erno Rubik, the creator of the puzzle, solves a Rubik's cube as he poses during the world's largest Rubik's Cube championship in Aubervilliers, near Paris, France, July 15, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo
Erno Rubik, the creator of the puzzle, solves a Rubik's cube as he poses during the world's largest Rubik's Cube championship in Aubervilliers, near Paris, France, July 15, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo
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Six-year-old Chinese Girl Sets World Record with Rubik's Cube

Erno Rubik, the creator of the puzzle, solves a Rubik's cube as he poses during the world's largest Rubik's Cube championship in Aubervilliers, near Paris, France, July 15, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo
Erno Rubik, the creator of the puzzle, solves a Rubik's cube as he poses during the world's largest Rubik's Cube championship in Aubervilliers, near Paris, France, July 15, 2017. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe/File Photo

A six-year-old Chinese girl has set a new women's world record for solving a 3x3 Rubik's Cube in just over four seconds, state media reported.

Young speedcuber Lian Yunzhi broke the women's 3x3 average world record twice this month at two World Cube Association certified competitions in Wuhan and Guangzhou, according to state broadcaster CCTV on Monday.

She posted averages of 4.52 and 4.27 seconds, after solving the Rubik's Cube five times.

Lian, who is from Chengdu, is "the first female speedcuber to average under 4.5 seconds", CCTV added.

A video CCTV posted showed the small girl wearing a red gingham bow on her head as she deftly turned and twisted a Rubik's Cube.

After solving the puzzle she places the cube on the table, claps her hands and pumps a fist into the air.

Nicknamed "Zhizhi", Lian was first introduced to the Rubik's Cube after being enrolled into a class as a child -- one of various extracurriculars alongside dance and music lessons, her mother Lin Yangxi, told local media outlets.

Lin "gradually realized" that cubing was an "excellent activity for fostering a child's comprehensive abilities" and shifted her focus towards it, she told Chengdu's Red Star News, according to AFP.

Her daughter has now mastered over 1,300 Rubik's Cube solving algorithms, practicing daily for two to three hours, Lin said.

Photos from Red Star News showed Lian's trophies displayed on a shelf in her home.

"Solving a Rubik's Cube improves focus, memory, logical thinking, spatial awareness, and helps develop a healthy mindset toward winning and losing," Lin said.

"It's not just about blindly memorizing formulas, but using logical reasoning to find optimal solutions," she added.

Varieties

800,000 Bees stolen Across Australia in ‘Sophisticated’ Operation

The frames, brood and bees stolen from 41 hives. (Tom Bidner for ABC Network)
The frames, brood and bees stolen from 41 hives. (Tom Bidner for ABC Network)
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800,000 Bees stolen Across Australia in ‘Sophisticated’ Operation

The frames, brood and bees stolen from 41 hives. (Tom Bidner for ABC Network)
The frames, brood and bees stolen from 41 hives. (Tom Bidner for ABC Network)

An estimated 800,000 bees, worth tens of thousands of dollars, have been stolen from properties in far north Queensland.

The industry is already reeling from this month’s arrival of the varroa mite parasite, according to The Guardian.

Tom Bidner, an apiarist from the Atherton Tablelands, west of Cairns, said 44 colonies had been stolen from three different beekeepers.

“This isn’t over yet,” he said. “We’ve got so many colonies to get through. We’re still getting around and checking all our different sites.”

He estimated that each hive contained at least 20,000 bees, making it a total of more than 800,000.

The alleged thefts happened on multiple different properties in different areas and required a sophisticated operation and specialist equipment.

Rather than risking early detection by stealing an entire box, they took out what’s known as the brood box. That means the hive appears unchanged from afar.

“They’re rocking up with a truckload of gear, basically, and they’re transferring our frames into their boxes ... and putting our hives back together, so it doesn’t sort of alert any of the growers that it looks like someone’s been in and done such a thing,” Bidner said.

The thieves also didn’t take any honey, which was left on the hive.

He suspects that the culprits are probably people from within the industry.

The apiarists will lose not just the stolen insects but the value of the pollination contracts, which can run into the thousands of dollars, he said.

The grower will also lose out due to lower quality flowering.

Bidner said it was the biggest theft in memory, though far from the first.

It’s now the peak of the avocado season in far north Queensland, so hives are deployed at properties across the area on contracted pollination work for local growers. Others are just left on the side of the highway.

“Security wise, in the past, we’ve let the bees do the majority of the job ... from time to time, it definitely happens you’ll have someone try and come and tamper with a hive,” he said. “They usually get about 30 seconds into the job and they’re gone.”