Australian Michelle Lee is first woman to row solo across the Pacific

A 50-year-old massage therapist from Sydney has become the first woman to row alone across the Pacific. Michelle Lee set out from Mexico in August last year, and completed her 8,700-mile journey in 237 days, reaching North Queensland last week. She rowed a 25ft-long carbon fibre craft, and encountered five hurricanes, four cyclones and many sharks, including one that leapt onto the boat and thrashed around on the deck. To pass the time when she wasn’t rowing, she listened to audiobooks and played the ukulele. It was a “privilege”, Lee said, to experience “Mother Nature in all her runway-ready, take-me-as-I-am, natural beauty”.

Bank with first ATM given Grade II-listed status

A Barclays bank in the London suburb of Enfield, which was fitted with the world’s first ATM in 1967, has been given Grade II-listed status. The heritage body Historic England said the installation of the ATM marked the building out as the site of a “major technological development”. It also noted that the building is of “architectural interest”, thanks in part to its “largely unaltered exterior”, its “well-proportioned composition” and its “strong street presence”.

Bumper breeding season for UK’s loudest bird

The UK’s loudest bird has had a bumper breeding season, after nearly disappearing from the country. Bitterns, a member of the heron family, are known for their distinctive “booming” call, which in spring can be heard from three miles away. The birds were driven to extinction across the UK in the 1870s by over-hunting and the draining of their wetland habitats; but efforts have been made in recent years to boost their numbers. Nearly 230 breeding males were counted during the last breeding season in 2022, the RSPB has said.

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