Uniquely Nelson

A baby elephant struck by a motorbike while crossing a road in Thailand survived after it was revived by an off-duty rescue worker. The elephant being given CPR by rescue worker Mana Srivate. Photo: BBC screenshot Mana Srivate told Reuters news agency he had performed dozens of resuscitation attempts in his career - but never before on an elephant. In a video that went viral online he is seen giving two-handed compressions to the elephant lying on its side in the middle of a dark road. The elephant stood up after 10 minutes. It had been trying to cross a road with a group of wild pachyderms in the eastern Thai province of Chanthaburi. In the video, Mana's colleagues are also seen treating the motorcycle rider, who survived the crash without serious injuries. Mana, who has been a rescue worker for 26 years, told Reuters he came across the accident scene late on Sunday while he was off duty on a road trip. "It's my instinct to save lives, but I was worried the whole time because I can hear the mother and other elephants calling for the baby," Mana told the agency by phone. "I assumed where an elephant heart would be located based on human theory and a video clip I saw online. "When the baby elephant starting to move, I almost cried," he said. The baby elephant stood up after about 10 minutes and was taken to another site for treatment, reported Reuters, before it was returned to the accident site in the hope of finding its mother. It has escaped serious injuries too. The other elephants returned when the mother heard her baby calling out, Mana told the agency. He added that the elephant was the only victim he had ever managed to revive through cardiopulmonary resuscitation. - BBC

Two men in their sixties who are considered to be high-ranking members of an Australian bikie gang are facing deportation to New Zealand. Photo: 123RF The pair, aged 64 and 65, were arrested this week in Adelaide and taken into immigration detention in a joint operation by border officials, federal police and the South Australia police. The men are considered to be the founding members of the Descendants Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMCG), Australian police said. Australian police said both men posed a "significant risk" to the South Australian and wider Australian community. The gang is a 'declared criminal organisation' in South Australia. Australian Federal Police detective acting superintendent Gavin Stone said: "Outlaw motorcycle gangs exist for one reason only - to make as much money as possible, in any way possible. "They are sophisticated, violent organised criminal networks that have zero respect for the law and regard themselves as above it, and the Descendants are no different. "The AFP-led National Anti-Gangs Squad will use all powers at our disposal to keep Australians safe from these criminal gangs." Since 2014, more than 300 OMCG or organised crime members have had their Australian visas cancelled or refused. Australian Border Force commander of special investigations Greg Linsdell said along with its partner agencies it was focused on disrupting the activities of outlaw motorcycle gangs. "Any non-citizen with an extensive criminal history and involvement with a criminal organisation, such as an OMCG, can expect to have their Australian visa cancelled and to be removed from our country."

They are using medical syringes in Assisi these days, but it has nothing to do with the pandemic. Restorers are using them to save priceless 700-year-old frescoes by Giotto. Assisi, the Lower Basilica of St Francis, Chapel of the Magadalene: the western wall. Photo: AFP They are almost finished with a year-long project to clean and consolidate the frescoes in the Chapel of the Magdalene in the lower basilica of St Francis that houses the tomb of the 13th century saint. The frescoes depict scenes from the life of Mary Magdalene, including one where Jesus resurrects Lazarus. The Raising of Lazarus. Photo: AFP Several years ago, during a check of the frescoes, chief restorer Sergio Fusetti heard hollow sounds when he knocked on them, indicating that the plaster holding them was slowly detaching from the walls. Officials decided to carry out the first restoration of the frescoes in nearly 50 years. "After the cleaning we do the consolidation. That is done by making tiny holes and using a plastic syringe ... the same type used for injection of medicine on ourselves. We inject an acrylic resin bond," Fusetti said. "Then we eliminate the old patchwork from previous restorations that were badly done or done with plaster. We re-do them using only sand and lime and then we move on to the final phase, the aesthetic one, that is done exclusively with water colours," he said.

European Union ambassadors are meeting to try to co-ordinate their policies on links to the UK, after dozens of countries suspended travel amid alarm over a new coronavirus variant. A traveller at a nearly deserted Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport. Photo: AFP They will consider a recommendation from the European Commission to lift restrictions. But EU member states are free to set their own rules on border controls and may continue with their own policies. France and the UK are trying to reach a deal to end disruption in the Channel. The new variant appears to be more transmissible, but there is no sign it is more deadly. Britain has reported a record number of new cases of Covid-19 in a single day as it battles a surge in infection caused by the variant strain of the disease. Official figures show there were 36,804 new cases and another 691 deaths within 28 days of a positive test - both figures up markedly from a day before. The figures were released as almost all the EU's 27 member states began blocking travellers from the UK. The EU's executive branch, the European Commission, recommended its members allow people to travel to their country of residence providing they take a Covid-19 test or self-isolate. But it said non-essential travel should be discouraged. Travellers look at the departures board at Terminal 5 of Heathrow Airport in west London. Photo: AFP It also said transport staff, such as lorry drivers, should be exempt from all travel restrictions and mandatory testing. EU ambassadors are considering adopting the rules but despite this countries are likely to continue with their own policies, the BBC's Gavin Lee reports from Brussels. Meanwhile, more than 1500 lorries are stuck in Kent in south-east England as UK and French leaders try to reach an agreement on reopening the French border. Some countries, such as Spain, Portugal and Hungary, are only allowing their residents to return home. As the list of countries imposing travel restrictions on the UK grew, the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Europe director, Hans Kluge, said member states would convene to discuss strategies and limit travel, while maintaining trade. Some of the lorries in the queue at the port of Dover. Photo: AFP WHO emergencies chief Mike Ryan said new strains were a normal part of the evolution of a pandemic, and that it was not "out of control", contradicting earlier remarks in the UK from Health Secretary Matt Hancock. The co-founder of BioNTech, producer with Pfizer of the vaccine now being used in the UK, also voiced optimism. "Scientifically, it is highly likely that the immune response by this vaccine also can deal with the new virus variant," Ugur Sahin said. He added that, if needed, a mutation-beating vaccine could be provided within six weeks. What's happening in Europe? France imposed a ban on passengers and freight from the UK, causing disruption at the key southern British port of Dover. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was working with French President Emmanuel Macron to resume trade, and that he hoped the issue would be resolved "as soon as possible". French Transport Minister Clément Beaune said his country would announce what would replace the initial 48-hour ban on travellers and lorries on Tuesday. Beaune said proof of a negative Covid test for anyone arriving from the UK would be a certainty. Lorry drivers spent a second night sleeping in their cabs outside Dover on the M20 motorway, which has been shut since Sunday night. Andrew Opie of the British Retail Consortium told the BBC the lorries must get moving again from Wednesday to avoid supply disruption in the UK. "There is a problem potentially directly after Christmas and that is really in fresh produce," he said. "So we're talking here about things like salad, vegetables, fresh fruit, of which the vast majority comes from Europe at this time." A French supermarket chain warned of potential seafood shortages. "We have trucks stuck on the other side of the border... with products that we are expecting for the holiday season: fish and seafood," Dominique Schelcher, the head of supermarkets at Système U, told BFMTV. Meanwhile, Japanese car giant Toyota said it had suspended production in two factories in the UK and one in France. It blamed "shortages of parts due to transport delays and the uncertain nature of the duration of the border closures". Sweden banned foreign travellers from Denmark overnight into Tuesday after cases were discovered there. The decision alarmed Danes - especially those on the island of Bornholm, which relies on a fast ferry link with Ystad in Sweden. There are fears that many will struggle to get to or from Bornholm in time for Christmas, Danish media report. There was some better news from the continent on Monday, with the EU's medicines regulator approving the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, paving the way for jabs to be given as early as Sunday. And in the rest of the world? Many other countries, from India, to Iran, to Canada have suspended flights from the UK. The US already has restrictions in place that prevent most non-US citizens who have been in the UK and some other countries for the last 14 days from entering. It is yet to follow suit with a ban on all travellers from the UK, but two airlines - British Airways and Delta - will only allow passengers who test negative for the coronavirus to fly to New York's John F Kennedy airport. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman have shut their borders completely to international passengers. Along with Denmark, the new strain has also been detected in Australia, Italy and the Netherlands. Some experts believe the new strain has already spread beyond where it has been reported, crediting the UK's use of genomic surveillance for detecting it. "I think we will find in the coming days that a lot of other countries will find it," Marc Van Ranst, a virologist from the Rega Institute for Medical Research in Belgium, told broadcaster VRT. In another development, travellers from South Africa are also facing bars from some countries after another new variant of the virus was discovered that is unrelated to the one found in the UK. - BBC

Antarctica can no longer lay claim to being the only continent free of coronavirus after 36 Chileans there reportedly tested positive for Covid-19. Two Chilean marines take a rest at Chile's military base Presidente Eduardo Frei, in the King George island, in Antarctica, on March 13, 2014. Photo: AFP / Vanderlei Almeida Spanish-language media has reported up to 36 people connected with the Chilean Army base General Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme tested positive for the virus on Monday. The research station, known colloquially as O'Higgins, is one of 13 active Chilean bases in Antarctica. It is located close to the northern-most tip of the Antarctic Peninsula in West Antarctica - far from Australia's bases in East Antarctica - and was described by one travel website as "hard to reach even by Antarctic terms". In August, Antarctica New Zealand said it would reduce usual support staff and scientists from 350 to 100, and all would isolate for 14 days to prevent Covid-19 from reaching the southern continent. Australia sent about 250 expeditioners to Davis, Mawson and Casey stations and Macquarie Island this season, about half the usual staff. According to the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) website, only staff considered essential to keeping the stations operational and monitoring wildlife and climate travelled south. Expeditioners isolated for two weeks in Hobart and were Covid-tested three times before travelling to Antarctica. The Scientific Committee on Antarctic Region was already researching how the Covid-19 pandemic had affected Antarctica. The ABC has contacted the AAD, the Council of Managers of National Antarctic Programs, the World Health Organization, the Chilean embassy and Antarctic research body Instituto Antártico Chileno for comment. -ABC / with additional reporting by RNZ

The Maritime Safety Authority of Fiji has lifted restrictions that were placed on ships and vessels since last Wednesday. The Copra Shed Marina in Savusavu. Photo: Supplied/Copra Shed Marina The restrictions came ahead of Cyclone Yasa which hit the country last Thursday. The category five storm left four people dead with the northern island of Vanua Levu bearing the full brunt of Yasa. However, restrictive travel would remain for the Lau, Kadavu and Lomaiviti groups. The maritime authority said any travels to these Islands must be approved by the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO). In a public advisory, MSAF chief executive Simon Gravenall said all other maritime transport involving passengers and cargoes could resume. Savusavu is one of the main ports on Vanua Levu. Yachties there are counting their losses. For some of them, it was Cyclone Winston all over again. In 2016 Winston, a similar magnitude storm, left 44 people dead, tens of thousands homeless and millions of dollars in damage. Yachts were flung ashore by winds and waves whipped up by Winston. The co-owner of the Copra Shed Marina in Savusavu, Geoff Taylor, said unlike Winston, Yasa did not come with devastating storm surges. In 2016, 22 yachts at the marina were damaged, he said. Taylor said since last Thursday, six yachts were beached at the nearby Nawi Island. Yasa ravaged the 'hidden paradise' of Fiji and Taylor said the wind speed created significant damage on land. He said the marina also suffered some damage because two boats crashed into the building. But he said compared to Winston, yachties were more prepared this time around. "This time, there were no yachts on the western end of the harbour so when the westerlies came after Yasa's eye went over, there were no boats to come down. "So, there was a lot less effect on the yachts this time around compared to Winston." Taylor said they had managed to refloat three yachts while three others were yet to be repaired. He said the owners of these yachts were away and had yet to be contacted on the damage to their vessels. Vuda Marina was a safe haven for yachties during Cyclone Yasa. Photo: Supplied/Vuda Marina Relief for yachties on Viti Levu Across on the main island of Viti Levu and in the western part of the island, boat owners there were counting themselves lucky. They had escaped the wrath of Yasa. Cynthia Rasch, of the Port Denarau Marina in Nadi, said more than 90 vessels had come through its Blue Lanes Initiative - 11 of them superyachts. The Lanes were launched in June to revive the tourism industry which had been crippled by the Covid-19 pandemic since March. Rasch said some yachts had already left for Australia to escape the cyclone season, while others were headed to New Zealand for next year's America's Cup. She said about 50 foreign yachts were moored at the mangroves while others sought shelter at the Vuda Point Marina in Lautoka. "The boats were at the mangrove shelter as it provides good protection against the winds," said Rasch, the chief executive officer of Port Denarau. "We were very lucky. We came out reasonably unscathed from Yasa. "The largest impact we got were some winds but that was it. Our marina has had no damage and boats at the mangroves are safe and sound." But this was not the case in 2016. Rasch said Winston tore through the western division and many yachts suffered extensive damage. "We were devastated by Winston. We suffered alot of damage then. But we are relieved that we were spared the wrath of Yasa." Cynthia Rasch. Photo: Supplied/Port Denarau Marina American Keith Whitaker and his family have been in Fiji since the Blue Lanes opened and were among yachties hunkering down off the marina last week. The Whitakers were among yachties sheltered at Vuda Point and came away unscathed. "The most we saw was 45knots of wind." Rasch said with the cyclone season underway, "there's more to come". She is mobilising the yachting community in Nadi to help with the relief efforts for those affected in the north. Whitaker said yachties will come to their aid because they have the ability to get stuff out. But the Texan native said yachties were also concerned there were already two cyclones this year - both category five the highest level. "This is supposed to be an El Nino year and right out the back the first and second cyclones are the largest to hit the Pacific. "The biggest concern now for yachties still stuck in Fiji is how far can we get away from safe havens if another one spins up in the next week or two?" Whitaker hoped New Zealand and Australia would ease their restrictions to allow yachties to shelter there to escape the cyclone season in the Pacific. Meanwhile, Geoff Taylor of the Copra Shed Marina in Savusavu said Christmas this week is going to be 'subdued' in the north as thousands of people begin to rebuild their lives. Taylor and Rasch both praised the resilience of the people saying they had done it in 2016 and in April this year when Cyclone Harold also a category five storm and they would rise again after Yasa. Taylor said the nautical tourism industry had grown significantly in recent years with people from Labasa Town visiting Savusavu. "As soon as we can get the yachts back in we should be back on track. "It's been a very tough year with the Covid-19 pandemic but hopefully, 2021 will be a better year for us." .. Photo: Supplied/Copra Shed Marina

Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny said on Monday local time he had tricked a Russian secret agent into disclosing details of the botched plot to kill him and had been told that poison had been placed in his underpants. Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. (File photo). Photo: AFP /Instagram @Navalny Navalny, one of President Vladimir Putin's most outspoken critics, was airlifted to Germany for treatment in August after collapsing on a plane in Russia. Germany has said he was poisoned with a Soviet-style Novichok nerve agent in an attempt to murder him, an assertion many Western nations accept. Navalny declared his poisoning case solved earlier this month when a joint media inquiry said it had identified a team of assassins from Russia's FSB security service. In a video published on his website on Monday, Navalny said he had phoned up some of his alleged poisoners before the joint investigation was released and posed as an aide to the secretary of Russia's Security Council. One of the men, named by Navalny as an employee of Russia's FSB security service, spoke to him for 49 minutes and appears to have been part of the clean-up team, he said. Navalny published a recording and transcript of the conversation. Reuters could not independently verify the fact of the phone call or the identity of Navalny's interlocutor. The Kremlin has repeatedly rejected any suggestion that Russia tried to kill Navalny. The FSB did not immediately comment. In the video, Navalny can be heard asking a voice on the phone: "Why did nothing work out?" "Well, I've asked myself this question more than once," the voice responded. When asked why Navalny survived, the voice says it was probably because the plane he was on at the time made an unplanned emergency landing and he was treated professionally and quickly by Russian medics. "If it had been a bit longer, then it's possible it would all ... have ended differently," the voice said. Putin last week dismissed media reports about Navalny's poisoning, saying they were made up of information provided by US intelligence services and were an attempt to smear Putin himself and make Navalny seem more important than he really was. Navalny is convalescing in Germany but has said he plans to return to Russia at an undisclosed date. - Reuters

Two men have been found guilty of the manslaughter of 39 Vietnamese migrants found dead in a lorry trailer in Essex. Photo: AFP The migrants suffocated in the sealed container en route from Zeebrugge to Purfleet in October 2019. Eamonn Harrison, 24, who dropped off the trailer at the Belgian port, and people-smuggler Gheorghe Nica, 43, were convicted by an Old Bailey jury. Two others were convicted of being part of a wider people-smuggling conspiracy. The trial examined three smuggling attempts by the gang - two that were successful on 11 and 18 October, and the final trip on 23 October. Lorry driver Christopher Kennedy, 24, from County Armagh, collected the trailers from Purfleet on the earlier two runs, claiming he thought he was transporting cigarettes. But the jury found Kennedy and Valentin Calota, 38, of Birmingham, guilty of conspiring to assist illegal immigration. During the trial, jurors were given a snapshot of the victims - who included a bricklayer, a university graduate and a nailbar technician - and their dreams of a better life. Many of their families borrowed heavily to fund their passage, relying on their potential future earnings once they got into the UK. Det Ch Insp Daniel Stoten, from Essex Police, said: "If you look at the method, the way they transported human beings... we wouldn't transport animals in that way." Another two men - Irish haulage boss Ronan Hughes, 41, of Tyholland, County Monaghan, Ireland, and 26-year-old lorry driver Maurice Robinson - had previously admitted manslaughter. Home Secretary Priti Patel described the deaths as a "truly tragic incident". Prosecutors said in the fatal run, the container became a "tomb" as temperatures in the unit reached an "unbearable" 38.5C (101F). The migrants, aged 15 to 44, were sealed inside for at least 12 hours. They had used a metal pole to try to punch through the roof, but only managed to dent the interior. Prosecutor Bill Emlyn Jones said: "There was no way out, and no-one to hear them; no-one to help them." Harrison, of Newry, County Down, towed the trailer to Zeebrugge, from where it was transported to Purfleet. During the 10-week trial, he claimed he did not know there were people in the trailer and that he watched "a wee bit of Netflix" in bed as they were loaded on. He also said he had no idea there were migrants in two other trailers that he had dropped off at the same port in the previous 12 days. Robinson, from County Armagh, collected the trailer when it arrived on UK shores just after midnight on 23 October. His boss, Hughes, had messaged him: "Give them air quickly don't let them out.". Robinson gave a thumbs-up in reply. But when Robinson stopped on a nearby industrial estate, he found that the migrants were all dead. There was a series of telephone conversations between him and Hughes and Nica, of Basildon, Essex, before Robinson eventually dialled 999. In his evidence, Nica said Robinson told him: "I have a problem here - dead bodies in the trailer." Det Ch Insp Stoten said that many of the police officers who attended "were really young in service" and it was possibly the first time some had ever seen a dead person. He said he believed the "absolutely horrendous scene" would stay with those officers "for the rest of their career and, quite probably, the rest of lives". On all three runs, Nica had arranged cars and a van to transport the migrants at the UK end. Jurors were shown CCTV footage of him carrying a holdall of cash to Hughes's room at the Ibis hotel, Thurrock, early on 19 October. Nica admitted to conspiring to assist illegal immigration in the first two runs, but he insisted that he believed the third run was all to do with smuggling cigarettes. The mechanic told jurors he had been roped into people-smuggling, and said: "I never wanted to be involved in this kind of job." The day after the bodies were found, Nica travelled to Romania, claiming he was "scared" of a "big, big investigation", but prosecutors said the defendant's version of events was "ridiculous". Det Ch Insp Stoten said the gang stood to make between £10,000 and £12,000 per person transported, "the lion's share of which would have gone to Ronan Hughes and Gheorghe Nica". The jury had heard that on 14 October, between the two successful runs, Kennedy was found at the French end of the Channel Tunnel with 20 Vietnamese migrants in his trailer. At least two of those people ended up dying in the fatal run. Police believe the smugglers had "doubled-up" the load on 23 October because of the problem on 14 October, and that was what led to the deaths. Alexandru-Ovidiu Hanga, 28, of Hobart Road, Tilbury, Essex, and Gazmir Nuzi, 43, of Barclay Road, Tottenham, north London, had earlier admitted assisting unlawful immigration linked to the case. Justice Sweeney adjourned sentencing of all the defendants to 7, 8 and 11 January. Patel said her "thoughts remain with those affected by this tragedy". "Today's convictions only strengthen my resolve to do all I can to go after the people-smugglers who prey on the vulnerable and trade in human misery," she added. - BBC