After string of adventures, ancient gold ring back in Greece

A more than 3,000-year-old gold signet ring stolen from an Aegean Island in World War II, bought by a Nobel Prize-winning Hungarian scientist and ended up in a Swedish museum, has found its way back to Greece.

The Greek culture ministry said that the gold Mycenaean-era work from Rhodes, decorated with two facing sphinxes, was willingly returned by Swedish officials.

Greek experts confirmed the identification on getting it from Vidar Helgesen, executive director of the Nobel Foundation, to which the ring had been bequeathed by the Hungarian biophysicist.

Greek Culture Minister Lina Mendoni thanked the Nobel Foundation and Swedish authorities, saying it “shows their respect for modern Greece and our constant efforts to fight the illegal trafficking of cultural goods.”

Paper plane makes record-breaking 252-foot flight

A trio of paper aircraft enthusiasts broke a Guinness World Record in South Korea when they sent a folded plane for a flight of 252 feet, 7 inches.

The paper airplane was designed by Chee Yie Jian of Malaysia, folded by Shin Moo Joon of South Korea and thrown into the air by Kim Kyu Tae of South Korea.

Kim threw the plane eight times, achieving a distance of 252 feet and 7 inches with his best throw. The throw took the Guinness World Record for farthest flight of a paper aircraft from quarterback Joe Ayoob and paper airplane designer John M. Collins, whose folded flying machine reached a distance of 226 feet and 10 inches in 2012.

Baby giraffe fitted with orthotic

Over the past three decades Ara Mirzaian has fitted braces for everyone from Paralympians to children with scoliosis. But Msituni was a patient like none other — a newborn giraffe.

The calf was born February 1, at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, with her front limb bending the wrong way. The condition needed immediate correction as it prevented her from nursing and walking around the habitat.

But they had no experience with fitting a baby giraffe in a brace, especially challenging given she was a 5-foot-10-inch-tall (178-centimetre) newborn and growing taller every day. So, they reached out to experts in orthotics at the Hanger Clinic, where Mirzaian landed his very first animal patient.

German town grounds cats to save rare birds

Authorities in the southwest German town of Walldorf have ordered some cat owners to keep their pets indoors until the end of August, to protect a rare bird during its breeding season.

The decree is designed to help save the crested lark, which makes its nest on the ground and is therefore easy prey for feline hunters. The bird’s population in Western Europe has declined sharply in recent decades.

The decree, which applies to all cats in the southern part of the town and will be repeated for the coming three years, has reportedly prompted meows of anguish from pet owners.

The head of the local animal protection association plans to take legal steps to challenge the decree.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 4th, 2022