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Read time : 2 mins
Level : Intermediate
By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian Outback town of Quilpie hoped its offer of free residential land to anyone who would make it their home might attract five new families to the remote community of 800. But authorities have been overwhelmed by more than 250 inquires in less than two weeks from around Australia and internationally.
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Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
Photo taken by Jean-Pierre Dalbéra https://www.flickr.com/photos/dalbera/44326168410
By SYLVIE CORBET and THOMAS ADAMSON Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — In a move with potential ramifications for other European museums, France is displaying 26 looted colonial-era artifacts for one last time before returning them to Benin — a decision authorities in the West African country described as “historic.”
The wooden anthropomorphic statues, royal thrones and sacred altars were pilfered by the French army 129 years ago. The French will have a final glimpse of the objects, from the collection known as the “Abomey Treasures,” in the Musée du quai Branly–Jacques Chirac from Tuesday through Sunday.
Calixte Biah, curator of the Museum of History of Ouidah, Benin, where the artefacts will first be exhibited, said the occasion was historic. Continue reading
Read time : 2 mins
Level : Intermediate
By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press
LONDON (AP) — A work by British street artist Banksy that sensationally self-shredded just after it sold at auction three years ago fetched almost 18.6 million pounds ($25.4 million) on Thursday — a record for the artist, and close to 20 times its pre-shredded price.
“Love is in the Bin” was offered by Sotheby’s in London, with a presale estimate of 4 million pounds to 6 million pounds ($5.5 million to $8.2 million).
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Read time : 4 mins
Level : Advanced
By TOM MURPHY AP Health Writer
The first new Alzheimer’s treatment in more than 20 years was hailed as a breakthrough when regulators approved it more than four months ago, but its rollout has been slowed by questions about its price and how well it works.
Several major medical centers remain undecided on whether to use Biogen’s Aduhelm, which is recommended for early stages of the disease. Big names like the Cleveland Clinic and Mass General Brigham in Boston say they’ll pass on it for now.
One neurology practice has even banned the company’s sales reps from its offices, citing concerns about the drug and its price, which can climb past $50,000 annually. Continue reading
Read time : 2 mins
Level : Intermediate
By CHINEDU ASADU Associated Press
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — African health officials are optimistic that the world’s first malaria vaccine endorsed by the World Health Organization will “dramatically change” the way the continent of 1.3 billion people fights the disease.
The new malaria vaccine is “a game-changer” in combating the disease which accounts for hundreds of thousands of deaths each year in Africa, John Nkengasong, director of the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told an online press briefing Thursday.
The WHO endorsed the vaccine on Wednesday based largely on clinical trials carried out in three African countries — Ghana, Kenya and Malawi — where more than 800,000 children have received the vaccine since 2019.
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Read time : 5 mins
Level : Advanced
By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV AND HRVOJE HRANJSKI Associated Press
MOSCOW (AP) — The Nobel Peace Prize sometimes recognizes groundbreaking efforts to resolve seemingly intractable conflicts, such as once-sworn enemies who sat down and brokered an end to war. In other years, the recipient is someone who promoted human rights at great personal cost.
The prestigious award also can serve as a not-so-subtle message to authoritarian governments and leaders that the world is watching.
What does the selection of two journalists, Maria Ressa, 58, of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov, 59, of Russia, say about freedom of expression and the history of dissent in the countries of the 2021 peace prize winners?
“It is a battle for facts. When you’re in a battle for facts, journalism is activism,” Ressa said Friday. Continue reading
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Intermediate
UNICEF: Battered by pandemic, kids need mental health help
By JOHN LEICESTER Associated Press
PARIS (AP) — Governments must pour more money and resources into preserving the mental well-being of children and adolescents, the U.N.’s child protection agency urged in a report Tuesday that sounded alarms about blows to mental health from the COVID-19 pandemic that hit poor and vulnerable children particularly hard.
The United Nations Children’s Fund said its “State of the World’s Children” study is its most comprehensive look so far this century at the mental health of children and adolescents globally. The coronavirus crisis, forcing school closures that upended the lives of children and adolescents, has thrust the issue of their mental well-being to the fore.
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Read time : 4 mins
Level : Advanced
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE and JONATHAN MATTISE Associated Press
A new report sheds light on how world leaders, powerful politicians, billionaires and others have used offshore accounts to shield assets collectively worth trillions of dollars over the past quarter-century.
The report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists brought promises of tax reform and demands for resignations and investigations, as well as explanations and denials from those targeted.
The investigation, dubbed the Pandora Papers, was published late Sunday and involved 600 journalists from 150 media outlets in 117 countries. Continue reading
Read time : 3 mins
Level : Intermediate
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Barack Obama’s presidential center will move another step closer to its brick-and-mortar future next week when ground is broken after years of reviews, other delays and continued local opposition.
Obama and his wife, Michelle, will join Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot in Chicago on Tuesday for a groundbreaking ceremony for the Obama Presidential Center.
“Michelle and I could not be more excited to break ground on the Obama Presidential Center in the community that we love,” the former president says, seated beside his wife, in a video announcement shared first with The Associated Press.
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Read time : 3 mins
Level : Advanced
By COLLEEN LONG Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — A 3,500-year-old clay tablet discovered in the ruins of the library of an ancient Mesopotamian king, then looted from an Iraqi museum 30 years ago, is finally headed back to Iraq.
The $1.7 million cuneiform clay tablet was found in 1853 as part of a 12-tablet collection in the rubble of the library of Assyrian King Assur Banipal. Officials believe it was illegally imported into the United States in 2003, then sold to Hobby Lobby and eventually put on display in its Museum of the Bible in the nation’s capital.
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