Authorities in New Zealand tried using songs by Barry Manilow and James Blunt to disperse protesters, reported Sky News. “Freedom convoy” demonstrators set up a camp on the grounds of the country’s parliament to protest against vaccine mandates. But when officials used a sound system to blast out songs by Manilow and Blunt on a loop, the protesters simply responded by dancing.
You’re more likely to get a date than meet an alien
Researchers have applied the Drake equation – a formula used to assess the chances of finding alien life in our Milky Way – to the mathematics of dating. They found that if you are an averagely-attractive Birmingham resident and happy to settle for a man with most of his own teeth aged 30-50, then the chance of you finding love is almost five times as likely as the chance of advanced alien civilisations existing within 1,000 light-years of Earth. “The Drake equation is just a way of narrowing things down,” a researcher told The Times.
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China ‘will attack New York in 2049’
A time-traveller “from the year 2104” has claimed the US will face an unexpected attack by a Chinese Air Force pilot in just 27 years. The TikTok user, named Matthew Smith, claims to be visiting 2022 from more than 80 years into the future, said the Daily Star. In a new video, Smith claimed that in 2049, “a member of China’s Air Force disobeyed orders and stole a powerful aircraft and bombed NYC”.
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Grok in the crosshairs as EU launches deepfake porn probeIN THE SPOTLIGHT The European Union has officially begun investigating Elon Musk’s proprietary AI, as regulators zero in on Grok’s porn problem and its impact continent-wide
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‘But being a “hot” country does not make you a good country’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
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Why have homicide rates reportedly plummeted in the last year?Today’s Big Question There could be more to the story than politics
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Israel retrieves final hostage’s body from GazaSpeed Read The 24-year-old police officer was killed during the initial Hamas attack
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China’s Xi targets top general in growing purgeSpeed Read Zhang Youxia is being investigated over ‘grave violations’ of the law
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Panama and Canada are negotiating over a crucial copper mineIn the Spotlight Panama is set to make a final decision on the mine this summer
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Why Greenland’s natural resources are nearly impossible to mineThe Explainer The country’s natural landscape makes the task extremely difficult
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Iran cuts internet as protests escalateSpeed Reada Government buildings across the country have been set on fire
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US nabs ‘shadow’ tanker claimed by RussiaSpeed Read The ship was one of two vessels seized by the US military
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How Bulgaria’s government fell amid mass protestsThe Explainer The country’s prime minister resigned as part of the fallout
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Femicide: Italy’s newest crimeThe Explainer Landmark law to criminalise murder of a woman as an ‘act of hatred’ or ‘subjugation’ but critics say Italy is still deeply patriarchal
