Italian landslide pushes hundreds of coffins into the sea
An estimated 200 coffins tumbled from their places in northwest Italy when a landslide destabilised a 100-year-old cliffside cemetery last week.
Video emerged on social media which showed emergency response workers in boats searching for the coffins in the waters of Camogli, near Genoa.
Two chapels were also swept away in the landslide to the rocks below the graveyard.
The village mayor is quoted as saying it was an “unimaginable catastrophe” in an area that is prone to cliff collapse.
The videos that appeared on social media showed a number of coffins floating in the muddied waters.
Speaking to CNN, Mayor of Camogli, Francesco Olivari, said “This type of collapse that happened today is very hard to detect or to predict”.
Local workers had noticed cracks in the cliffs and realised there was a risk of collapse, the authorities said, which resulted in the area being cordoned off.
Around 10 of the estimated 200 coffins had been recovered according to regional civil protection assessor Giacomo Giampedrone.
WHO Covax scheme delivers first vaccines
The BBC reported that Ghana is the first country to receive vaccines as part of the Covax vaccine-sharing initiative.
A delivery of 600,000 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine arrived in Accra last Wednesday. The first recipients are to be healthcare workers.
The Covax scheme aims to reduce the divide between the wealthy nations and the poorer nations, who are unable to buy doses.
The programme aims to deliver two billion vaccine doses globally by the end of the year, and Ghana was chosen as the first recipient after promising to distribute the vaccines quickly.
Vaccinations are due to start in Ghana next week, and as well as healthcare workers, those over 60, people with underlying health conditions, and senior officials are expected to be prioritised.
Meanwhile, nations in the developed world have faced criticisms of “vaccine hoarding” as they began buying and ordering more vaccines than they would need months ago.
Australia: Oldest rock art is 17,300-year-old kangaroo
Australian scientists have discovered the continent’s oldest known rock art – a 17,300-year-old painting of a kangaroo.
The painting, which measures 2 metres (6.5 feet) was painted in red ochre on the ceiling of a rock shelter.
The artwork was found in western Australia’s Kimberley region, which is known for its Aboriginal rock paintings.
Its age was determined by radiocarbon-dating ancient nearby mud wasp nests, and the findings were published in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
“We radiocarbon dated three wasp nests underlying the painting and three nests built over it to determine, confidently, that the painting is between 17,500 and 17,100 years old; most likely 17,300 years old,” said Dr Damien Finch, a geochronologist from the University of Melbourne.
