The orca who swam with her dead calf for 17 days in an apparent act of grieving recently gave birth to a new baby, according to Michael Weiss, research director of the Center for Whale Research. The calf born to Tahlequah, known to researchers as J35, was first spotted on Dec. 20 swimming along with J pod in the Puget Sound area for the past several days. Initially, the researchers could not confirm the identity of the calf with certainty. On Monday, however, scientists and researchers observing the calf “confidently” assigned Tahlequah as the mother and the baby as alpha-numeric J61, Weiss said to CNN. On Friday, a nature enthusiast and photographer who captured the calf — without first realizing it — told CNN, “My first reaction to seeing the calf was complete shock. I was just looking through my photos to see who the whales were that passed close to the port side of the ferry I was on and noticed a much smaller dorsal on one of the photos. As I scrolled through the series I realized it was very tiny calf, much smaller than any of the known young ones in the group. Based on the size and color of the calf, I realized it was a new calf and traveling with J35, my spark whale, the whale that started my obsession.” The Center for Whale Research said in a post on Facebook that they were able to photograph the calf’s underside, “confirming that the calf is a female.” The mother first made headlines in 2018 when she swam about 1,000 miles of ocean with the body of her calf, which died a few hours after birth, preventing it from sinking for more than two weeks. She had her first known baby since that incident, J57, two years later in 2020. She is also a mother to another orca, J47. While the new baby news is joyous and hopeful, researchers are still concerned about the Southern Resident killer whale population. They are listed as endangered in Canada and are “one of the most critically endangered populations of marine mammals in the USA,” according to researchers . “The team, including multiple experienced killer whale researchers, have expressed concern about the calf’s health based on the behavior of both J35 and J61,” the Center for Whale Research said in a post on Facebook Tuesday. “Early life is always dangerous for new calves, with a very high mortality rate in the first year. J35 is an experienced mother, and we hope that she is able to keep J61 alive through these difficult early days,” the post read. According to Orca Conservancy on X, worrying behavior had been observed concerning the calf. “The calf had also been observed being pushed around on J35’s head and was not looking lively, which is a concern, but also added calf behavior is not fully understood,” the post read . “All of this serves as a reminder that in order for new calves, salmon stocks need to be recovered to levels that will help support population growth.” According to researchers , the Southern Resident population grew during the late 1970s to mid-1990s, peaking at 98 animals. This year, the population census counted 73 whales. The Center for Whale Research said in a post on Facebook “The Southern Resident killer whale population needs ample access to their food supply, mainly salmon, to survive and thrive. Every single birth counts and these whales need enough fish to be able to support themselves and their calves.”
RICHMOND, Ky. (AP) — Matt Morrissey threw a 67-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Calwise Jr. that ended the scoring midway through the fourth quarter and Eastern Kentucky beat North Alabama 21-15 on Saturday for its fifth straight win. TJ Smith drove North Alabama to the EKU 45-yard line before he threw an interception to Mike Smith Jr. to end the game. Smith threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Dakota Warfield to give North Alabama a 15-14 lead with 10:37 to play. Morrissey completed 9 of 15 passes for 154 yards and added 60 yards on the ground with a touchdown run. Brayden Latham added 103 yards rushing on 19 carries that included a 2-yard score for Eastern Kentucky (8-4, 6-2 United Athletic Conference). Smith was 23-of-39 passing for 325 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for North Alabama (3-9, 2-5). Tanaka Scott had 109 yards receiving and a touchdown catch. ___ Get alerts on the latest AP Top 25 poll throughout the season. Sign up here ___ AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
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86 years after infamous 'War of the Worlds' broadcast, visitors in the sky have New Jersey panicking againKalyan: Several hundred Kalyan residents attempted on Thursday to stop the ambulance carrying the body of the 13-year-old girl for the last rites, saying the rites should be conducted only after the accused had got the death penalty. Police then convinced the crowd through social workers and local BJP MLA Sulabha Gaikwad, after which the body was taken for cremation. Several thousand gathered for the funeral, demanding justice for the girl and death rap for the accused. When the body reached the crematorium, residents demanded an assurance of action from CM Devendra Fadnavis . DCP Atul Zende told the gathering the CM had issued an order that the case be heard in a fast-track court and had appointed a special public prosecutor. Several people asked how the accused, Vishal Gawli, had got out of jail despite three cases of sexual assault being registered against him. They said if police had collected proper evidence, the accused would not have got bail and would not have been able to commit such a heinous crime. Late Thursday evening, some residents of Kalyan held a candle-light march from near the girl's house to Kolsewadi police station. On Thursday night DCP Zende went around the city, caught youths consuming alcohol in public places, made them do sit-ups and let them go after a warning. Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India . Don't miss daily games like Crossword , Sudoku , Location Guesser and Mini Crossword .Morrissey throws 67-yard TD pass to Calwise Jr. to lift Eastern Kentucky over North Alabama 21-15
Declassified files show the note to former MP John Spellar also said the republican party had ignored the “visceral component of sectarianism” in responding to a new government good relations strategy. Mr Spellar, then a Northern Ireland Office minister, had launched a consultation on the “A Shared Future” document, an attempt to address community divisions, segregation and sectarianism in the region at a time when the devolved powersharing institutions were suspended. A file at the Public Record Office in Belfast shows that OFMDFM official Chris Stewart wrote to the minister in July about a response to the document from Sinn Fein representative Bairbre de Brun. Mr Stewart told Mr Spellar that Ms de Brun’s letter had been critical of the document and was clearly intended to “mark your card”. He said among a number of points raised by de Brun was that “the promotion of equality is the key to improving community relations”. His memo adds: “Sinn Fein is clearly seeking to position or align the issue of community relations within its equality and human rights agenda. “This general Sinn Fein position has resulted in a simplistic analysis of community relations, which is flawed in its description of the causes and necessary policy response. “There is of course, no doubt that a lack of equality has been a contributing factor to poor community relations. “However, Sinn Fein ignores the many other factors, not least the violent conflict that resulted in over 3,000 deaths. “Sinn Fein also portrays poor community relations (for nationalists) as being a purely rational response to the political situation. “This ignores the more visceral component of sectarianism, which is all too prevalent in both communities.” Mr Stewart continues: “To suggest, as Sinn Fein does, that the promotion of equality should be the key component of good relations policy is to ignore the key message in A Shared Future, that indirect approaches alone are insufficient to deal with sectarianism and the abnormal relationship between sections of the Northern Ireland community.” The official recommended the minister invite representatives of Sinn Fein to a meeting to discuss the policy. The file also contains a note about Mr Spellar’s meeting with DUP representatives Maurice Morrow and Peter Weir the following month to discuss the document. The note says: “Morrow said he had no problem with sharing the future and suggested that the first step to that would be an election to decide who spoke for whom – though he was quick to say he didn’t want politics to dominate the meeting.” It adds: “Weir said that the biggest step towards improving community relations would be the creation of a political environment that had the broad support of both unionism and nationalism, and the GFA (Good Friday Agreement) could not create that environment.”‘Well the end of aging and death wouldn’t be bad’: Professor who coined the term AGI for superintelligence thinks we’ll get human-level AI in ‘three to five years’
Packers fail yet again to produce a premier performance against a top NFC team in loss to VikingsIrish civil servants compiled a list of “major leaks” they claimed originated from the Northern Ireland Office (NIO) and Special Branch officers in the region, records show. The confidential briefing note is part of the tranche of documents made public in the annual release of State papers from the Irish National Archives. An Irish Department of Foreign Affairs official focusing on justice and security created the list in October 2002. The document starts by referencing a 1999 interview given by George Mitchell, the chairman of the Good Friday Agreement negotiations, in which he claimed the British and Irish governments, as well as Northern Ireland’s political parties, had leaked information to manipulate public opinion. However, he further accused the NIO of attempting to sabotage the process by leaking information on British Government policy to the media. Mr Mitchell, a former US senator, is said to have expressed alarm and anger over the frequency of leaks from the NIO – saying they were uniquely “designed to undermine the policy of the British Government of which they were a part”. The Irish civil servant notes Mr Mitchell himself was subjected to an attempted “smear” when he first arrived in Northern Ireland, as newspaper articles falsely claimed his chief of staff Martha Pope had had a liaison with Sinn Fein representative Gerry Kelly with ulterior motives. The Irish civil servant goes on to list several “leaks”, starting with the publication of a proposed deal in a newspaper while “intense negotiations” for the Downing Street Declaration were under way. Next, the Department lists two “high-profile and damaging leaks issued from the NIO”. A so-called “gameplan” document was leaked in February 1998, showing papers had been prepared weeks before the Drumcree march on July 6, 1997. In the preceding years, there had been standoffs and clashes as nationalists opposed the procession of an Orange parade down Garvaghy Road in Portadown. The gameplan document showed then secretary of state for Northern Ireland Mo Mowlam, who was publicly expressing a desire for a negotiated solution to the 1997 parade, advocated “finding the lowest common denominator for getting some Orange feet on the Garvaghy Road”. In 1997, a large number of security forces were deployed to the area to allow the march to proceed. The incident sparked heightened tension and a wave of rioting. The document further describes the release of a document submitted by the NIO’s director of communications to the secretary of state as a “second major leak”. It claims a publicity strategy was released to the DUP in the aftermath of the Good Friday Agreement and showed how the UK Government would support a yes vote in a referendum following any talks agreement. In addition, it is claimed unionists used leaked sections of the Patten report on policing to invalidate its findings ahead of its publication in 1999. The report recommended the replacement of the Royal Ulster Constabulary with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, the changing of symbols, and a 50-50 recruitment policy for Catholics and Protestants. At the time, UUP leader David Trimble said the recommendations would lead to a corruption of policing in Northern Ireland. Chris Patten, chairman of the independent commission on policing, said some of the assertions were a “total fabrication” and designed to “muddy the waters” to create a difficult political atmosphere. Elsewhere, the author notes it was leaked to the media there was serious disagreement between the governments of the UK and Ireland on the composition of that commission – with not a single name submitted by the Irish side being accepted by the other. The author notes this incident, still under the heading “NIO leaks”, was believed by British officials to have emanated from the Irish side. The report turns to leaks of other origin, claiming “disgruntled Special Branch officers in Northern Ireland” were blamed by the British Government for a series of releases about the IRA which were designed to damage Sinn Fein in the 2001 general election in Northern Ireland. One senior Whitehall source was quoted in the Guardian as complaining that Special Branch was “leaking like a sieve” after details of an IRA intelligence database containing the names of leading Tories – described at the time as a “hit list” – was passed to the BBC in April 2002. The briefing note adds: “This was followed days later by a leak to The Sunday Telegraph which alleged that senior IRA commanders bought Russian special forces rifles in Moscow last year. “The newspaper said it was passed details by military intelligence in London.” The briefing note adds that other Special Branch leaks were associated with the Castlereagh break-in. The final incident in the document notes the Police Ombudsman’s Report on the Omagh bombing was also leaked to the press in December 2001. Then Northern Ireland secretary John Reid said at the time: “Leaks are never helpful and usually malicious – I will not be commenting on this report until I have seen the final version.” The reason for creating the list of leaks, which the Irish National Archives holds in a folder alongside briefing notes for ministers ahead of meetings with officials from the UK Government and NIO, is not outlined in the document itself. – This document is based on material in 2024/130/6.