Omicron anagram leads to ‘Christmas hoax’ claim

Matt Hancock says new rise is ‘concerning’, but is a harmless quirk of the testing system to blame?

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 1 December 2021

Conspiracy theorists have claimed that Omicron is an anagram for “no Crimbo”, presenting it as proof that the new variant is a hoax designed by the authorities to spoil Christmas. The missing “b” is said to come from B.1.1.529, the name scientists first gave to the variant. Others have noted that Omicron is in fact an anagram for “moronic”.

Lost turtle found on Welsh beach

A family has discovered the world’s rarest turtle, 4,700 miles from its home on a Welsh beach. Ash and Samantha James were walking along Talacre beach in Clwyd when they spotted the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle – usually found in the Gulf of Mexico – on the sand. The couple and their nine-year-old son reported their find, which they nicknamed Raphael, to a charity. The turtle will spend the next few months recovering in a zoo before being returned to the Gulf of Mexico.

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Seagulls are smart creatures when it comes to finding food, The Times reported. Researchers in Canada have discovered that the birds are capable of solving puzzles when they are hungry, rather than relying entirely on the smash-and-grab raids that have upset some in costal towns. A quarter of 104 ring-billed gulls from four colonies in Newfoundland were able to acquire food by succeeding at cognitive tests.

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