Australian scientists say they have discovered an unknown spinning object in the Milky Way that they claim is unlike anything seen before. The object – first discovered by a university student – has been observed to release a huge burst of radio energy for a full minute every 18 minutes. Objects that pulse energy in the universe are often documented. But researchers say something that turns on for a minute is highly unusual.

The team is working to understand more. The object was first discovered by Curtin University Honours student Tyrone O’Doherty in a region of the Western Australian outback known as the Murchison Widefield Array, using a telescope and a new technique he had developed. Mr O’Doherty was part of a team led by astrophysicist Dr Natasha Hurley-Walker, from the Curtin University node of the International Centre for Radio Astronomy Research (ICRAR).(BBC)…[+]

Six young Japanese people are suing the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant after developing thyroid cancer in the years following the 2011 nuclear disaster. The plaintiffs, aged between six and 16 at the time of the disaster, say they got cancer from radiation exposure. All of them underwent surgery to remove parts or all of their thyroid glands, their lawyer said. However, they may struggle to prove that the radiation led to their cancer. Their lawsuit is seeking $5.4m (£4m) in compensation from the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco). A Tepco spokesman said the company was aware of the case filing and would address it once they had seen the details of the complaint. The Fukushima nuclear disaster occurred on March 11, 2011 when a massive earthquake off north-east Japan triggered a tsunami which led to a nuclear meltdown.(BBC)…[+]

US Coast Guard officials are searching for 39 people who are feared missing after their ship capsized on Saturday night off the Florida coast. Officials were alerted on Tuesday morning after fishermen spotted a man clinging to the hull of a boat 45 miles (72km) from the city of Fort Pierce. The survivor said the group had embarked from Bimini, Bahamas, on Saturday night and hit foul weather. US officials say the boat may have been part of a “human smuggling venture”. According to the survivor, who has not been identified, none of the passengers was wearing a life vest. Migrant tragedy is biggest loss of life in English Channel. The search was being led by the Miami Coast Guard using ships and aircrafts, the agency said on Twitter.(BBC)…[+]

Cuban officials say more than 700 people who took part in anti-government protests last year have been charged with crimes including sedition, vandalism, theft and public disorder. The public prosecutor’s office said 172 people had already been tried and convicted, without giving details. Families and activists have criticised the trials as unfair, and say the sentences are disproportionate. Hundreds of people were arrested after the protests, the largest in decades. Thousands demonstrated across the Communist-run island last July to voice anger over food and medicine shortages, price increases and the government’s handling of the pandemic. The statement by the public prosecutor’s office is the first official confirmation of the trials. In total, 710 people faced charges, it said, with most of them being held in detention as they await the trials.(BBC)…[+]

Disney has responded to criticism made by Game of Thrones actor Peter Dinklage about its forthcoming live action adaptation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Dinklage said the remake of the 1937 animated film, based on story from the Brothers Grimm, was “backward”. Disney said it was going to “avoid reinforcing stereotypes from the original animated film”. Dinklage had said Disney should have reassessed the project. “I was a little taken aback by [the fact] they were very proud to cast a Latina actress as Snow White,” he told podcaster Marc Maron. “But you’re still telling the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” Dinklage – who stars in the forthcoming Oscar-tipped film Cyrano – has a form of dwarfism called achondroplasia. The actor has previously spoken about the representation of dwarfism, saying it was “bad writing” to make it a “dominant character trait”. The original Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs film, released in 1938, was the first full-length animated feature from Disney, and is considered one of the studio’s classics. West Side Story star Rachel Zegler and Red Notice actress Gal Gadot are set to star in the adaptation, as Snow White and the Evil Queen respectively.(BBC)…[+]

Guatemala’s highest court has sentenced five former paramilitaries to 30 years in prison for raping dozens of indigenous Mayan women during the country’s civil war in the 1980s. The men were members of so-called Civil Self-Defence Patrols, armed groups formed and supported by the military. The 36 victims were aged 12-52 when the crimes happened, prosecutors said. “There were massacres. Many women were raped,” said Antonina Vale, a survivor. “It’s the pain we have in our hearts.” Around 200,000 people were killed or disappeared in the 1960-1996 conflict. Most of them were members of indigenous groups, who were targeted by the army and right-wing paramilitaries, accused of supporting left-wing guerrillas. The three-week trial at the Supreme Court in the capital, Guatemala City, included testimony from survivors and relatives of the victims of the Achi indigenous group. The rapes, they said, happened around the village of Rabinal, north of the capital. The area, which was targeted heavily during the war, is the site of a mass grave with the bodies of more than 3,000 people.(BBC)…[+]

A French surgeon faces legal action after he tried to sell an X-ray of one of his patient’s injuries as a digital artwork without her consent. The senior surgeon at a Paris hospital put the image of a woman’s forearm with a Kalashnikov bullet lodged near the bone up for sale online as an NFT. The listing said she had been shot in the arm during the 2015 Bataclan attack in Paris which left 130 people dead. Emmanuel Masmejean now faces legal action and possible misconduct charges. Mr Masmejean, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Georges Pompidou hospital, had also described the patient on the NFT website as a young woman who had lost her boyfriend during the 2015 massacre in Paris by Islamic State gunmen. Asked for comment by Mediapart, which first reported the story, Mr Masmejean reportedly said he acknowledged that the sale was “an error” and that he regretted not having sought permission from the patient.(BBC)…[+]

Millions of people were left for hours without electricity on Tuesday when a huge power blackout hit cities in three Central Asian countries. Areas of Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan were affected when a shared power line was disconnected. It caused traffic jams, airport delays and other public transport disruptions across the ex-Soviet nations. The blackout happened in the late morning, with power restored in most areas by early evening. The power grids of the three countries are interconnected, and linked to Russia’s network via a Soviet-built power line that runs through Kazakhstan. It allows them to draw power from Russia’s grid when there are unexpected shortages. But due to “a significant emergency imbalance” there was a power surge and the connection was cut, grid operator KEGOC said.(BBC)…[+]

A Mexican journalist has been shot dead in the northern border city of Tijuana, officials say, the third journalist to be killed in the country this year. Lourdes Maldonado López, who had decades of experience, was attacked in her car as she arrived home on Sunday. She had previously said she feared for her life, and was enrolled in a scheme to protect journalists, activists said. The country is one of the world’s most dangerous for journalists, and dozens have been killed in recent years. Many of those targeted covered corruption or powerful drug cartels. Campaigners say the killings are rarely fully investigated, with impunity virtually the norm. The motive for Maldonado’s killing was not clear and no-one has been arrested.(BBC)…[+]

An Australian man has pleaded guilty to abducting four-year-old Cleo Smith and holding her at his home for 18 days. Cleo vanished from her family’s tent last October while on a camping trip in Western Australia, sparking a huge search that gripped the country. Police later found her at a stranger’s house in her hometown of Carnarvon, a short drive from the campsite. Terence Darrell Kelly, 36, admitted a charge of child stealing to a magistrate on Monday. He was remanded in custody to face the Perth District Court in March, and is expected to be sentenced at a later date. Australian media reported that Mr Kelly’s guilty plea had come as a surprise ahead of what many expected to be a lengthy legal process. He has been held in a Perth jail since 5 November – two days after police smashed their way into his locked house, found Cleo inside, and arrested him on a nearby street.(BBC)…[+]