Foreign News
Nebraska zoo extracts 70 coins from white alligator’s stomach
An alligator at a US zoo had to undergo surgery after veterinarians discovered 70 coins in the animal’s stomach.
The coins were found in a rare, 36-year-old leucistic alligator, which has translucent white skin and blue eyes.
Veterinarians identified “metal foreign objects in the stomach of an iconic resident” – Thibodaux. The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in Omaha, Nebraska said patrons threw coins into the enclosure, which were eaten by the animal between cleanings.
He has recovered from the procedure and is back in his habitat.
The zoo urged visitors to avoid throwing “coins into any bodies of water at the zoo”, after the sizeable amount of change was pulled from the animal’s stomach.
All 10 alligators – including Thibodaux – participated in a routine examination which involved blood collection, radiographs and more. When zoo workers discovered the coins, they acted fast and performed surgery on Thursday, removing the coins from Thibodaux “before they caused any problems”.
“With the help of his training, Thibodaux was anesthetized and intubated to allow us to safely manage him during the procedure,” associate veterinarian Christina Ploog, who led the procedure, said in a statement. “A plastic pipe was placed to protect his mouth and safely pass the tools used to access the coins, such as a camera that helped us guide the retrieval of these objects.”
The zoo said in a statement that X-ray imaging confirmed that the objects were successfully removed, adding that “Thibodaux recovered well from the procedure”. Taylor Yaw, director of animal health at the zoo, said the procedure is not “common”.
Ms Ploog told a local news outlet that people do not realise how coins can harm animals. She said not only could animals ingest the coins, but they could also contain dangerous chemicals.
The zoo answered one concerned person online who asked if the coins get swept up by the zoo. “We do routine cleanings in the habitats of this area and throughout the zoo,” the zoo wrote on Facebook. “In between cleanings is when our alligators still manage to get them before they are removed.”
(BBC)
Independent Wexford TD Verona Murphy will be the next Ceann Comhairle (speaker) of Dáil Éireann.
She will become the first woman to ever hold the role after being elected by her fellow TDs (members of the Irish parliment).
Fianna Fáil’s John McGuinness and Seán Ó Fearghaíl as well as Aengus Ó Snodaigh from Sinn Féin also ran for the position.
Politicians in the Republic of Ireland met for the first time since the general election on Wednesday.
[BBC]
A plot to assassinate Pope Francis during a trip to Iraq was stopped following a tip-off from British intelligence, according to his upcoming autobiography.
The Pope writes that, after landing in Baghdad in March 2021, he was told an event at which he was set to appear was being targeted by two suicide bombers.
Both attackers were subsequently intercepted and killed, he said in excerpts published by Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera.
The visit, which took place over three days during the coronavirus pandemic, was the first ever to Iraq by a pope and saw an intense security operation.
The years before had seen increased sectarian violence in Iraq, with fighting between Shia and Sunni Muslims as well as the persecution of religious minorities.
The country’s Christian community had shrunk dramatically, having been targeted in particular by the Islamic State group and other Sunni extremists.
In excerpts of his autobiography, the Pope says “almost everyone advised me against” the visit but he felt he “had to do it”.
He says the plot was uncovered by British intelligence, who warned Iraqi police, and they in turn told his security detail once he had touched down.
“A woman packed with explosives, a young suicide bomber, was heading towards Mosul to blow herself up during the papal visit,” he says.
“And a van had also set off at great speed with the same intention.”
The Pope adds that he asked a security official the following day what had happened to the would-be attackers.
“The [official] replied laconically: ‘They are no more’. The Iraqi police had intercepted them and blown them up,” he wrote.
The book, entitled Hope, is due to be published on 14 January.
[BBC]
A woman from the Philippines who spent almost 15 years on death row in Indonesia and was nearly executed by firing squad is on her way home.
Mary Jane Veloso was sentenced to death in 2010 after she was found carrying 2.6kg (5.7lb) of heroin through an Indonesian airport.
But the 39-year-old mother of two has always maintained she was tricked into carrying the drugs.
She was handed over to Philippine officials on Tuesday night, after the two governments reached a deal to allow her to return home.
“I have to go home because I have a family there, I have my children waiting for me.”
While the agreement states that Ms Veloso will return as a prisoner, Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos could grant her a reprieve.
Ms Veloso was arrested in April 2010 at Yogyakarta airport.
She said she was convinced by the daughter of one of her godparents to travel to Indonesia to start a new job as a maid.
She claimed that the woman’s male friends gave her new clothes and a new bag, which she was unaware had heroin sewn into it.
She was due to face the firing squad in 2015, but the Philippine government won a last-minute reprieve for her after the woman suspected of recruiting her was arrested and put on trial for human trafficking, while Ms Veloso was named a prosecution witness.
Her reprieve was so late that several newspapers in the Philippines went to print with front pages and headlines reporting it had happened.
The case drew widespread public sympathy in the Philippines (BBC)Ms Veloso’s case drew widespread public sympathy in the Philippines, which does not have the death penalty.
Her circumstances were familiar to many in the Philippines, where it is common for women to escape poverty by seeking work abroad as domestic helpers.
“I bring a lot of things, such as guitar, books, knittings … even this T-shirt I’m wearing was given by my friends,” she said while leaving prison for the airport.
Her transfer comes just days after the five remaining members of the infamous Bali Nine drug ring returned home after serving nearly 20 years in Indonesian prisons.
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