World news in brief
Species of iridescent snake discovered in Vietnam
A team of scientists researching biodiversity in the forests of Vietnam have found a species of snake almost by accident. Last year, the team of US and Vietnamese scientists were on their way to a survey site when the scientists spotted a snake on the road and stopped to investigate it. The creature had dark iridescent scales, which shifted almost like a hologram from electric blue to acid green in the light, and they were laid out in an unusual pattern.
Instead of the scales lying one across the other as is usual among snakes, the ridged scales lay in what is known as a “keeled” pattern, and gives rise to the nickname “odd-scaled snakes”. Until this snake was found, keeled scales had only been recorded in 13 species, six of which were from Vietnam. “In 22 years of surveying reptiles in Vietnam, I have collected only six odd-scaled snakes,” said Truong Nguyen, vice
director of the Institute for Ecology and Biological Resources at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, according to a blog post on the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s website. The research team named the new species Achalinus zugorum in honour of the Smithsonian’s retired curator of reptiles and amphibians, George Zug, and his wife, Patricia.
Denmark says sorry to children taken in social experiment
The Danish government has apologised to 22 children taken from their homes in Greenland as part of a social experiment aimed at fostering closer cultural links between the two countries. The group, who were moved to Denmark in 1951, were promised a better life and were to be educated as “little Danes” before returning to Greenland.
The government hoped they would form an elite section of society who could provide better ties between Copenhagen and Greenland’s capital, Nuuk. Sixteen members of the group did return to Greenland, which was a Danish colony until 1953, but they were put in an orphanage. Many never saw their families again and only six are alive today.
A report into the social experiment looked at who was selected for the project and why, and the consequences of the move for those affected. In a statement, Mette Frederiksen, the Danish prime minister, said: “I have been following the case for many years, and I am still deeply touched by the human tragedies it contains.”
France unveils proposed law on Islamist extremism
A controversial draft bill aimed at reinforcing secular values and fighting radical Islamism has been unveiled in France. The proposed legislation was put before ministers yesterday, before details of it were outlined, including greater restrictions on homeschooling.
The prime minister defended the proposals, which have sparked controversy in some circles, in a newspaper interview. “We are facing an enemy that attacks our values, that even attacks out citizens through terrorist acts,” Jean Castex told Le Monde, evoking the beheading of Samuel Paty and an attack on a Nice church that killed three people last month.
The draft law contains a host of measures aimed at tackling radicalism and protecting what the government has called “republican values”. It contains strengthened checks on associations, including their activities and how they are using money granted to them, and encourages mosques to register as places of worship, so as to better identify them.
UAE says Chinese vaccine 86% effective
The United Arab Emirates said yesterday that a Chinese coronavirus vaccine tested in the federation of sheikhdoms is 86 per cent effective, in a statement that provided few details but marked the first public release of information on the efficacy of the shot. The UAE, home to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, conducted a trial beginning in September of the vaccine by Chinese state-owned pharmaceutical giant Sinopharm involving 31,000 volunteers from 125 nations. Volunteers between 18 and 60 years old received two doses of the vaccine over 28 days.
The UAE’s Health and Prevention Ministry announced the results via a statement on the state-run WAM news agency. “The analysis shows no serious safety concerns,” the statement said, without detailing whether any participant suffered side effects. It wasn’t immediately clear if the announced results included
only those taking part in the testing in the UAE or if they also include results from China and elsewhere. The statement described the vaccine as receiving “official registration” without elaborating on what that meant.