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US President Joe Biden's aircraft has landed at Knock airport as he returns to his roots in County Mayo. Mr Biden has links to the county through his great grandfather Edward Blewitt. The president is due to speak at a homecoming celebration outside St Muredach's Cathedral in Ballina on Friday night. A crowd of up to 20,000 people are expected to line the streets of the town for the event. President Biden and his sister Valerie Biden Owens were greeted by dignitaries at the airport. "It's good to be back," he said. It is thought that the president will be presented with a brick from a fireplace that is the last surviving piece of his ancestral home in Ballina. Mr Biden is making a couple of stop-offs on his way to Ballina, including Knock Shrine, a pilgrimage site for Catholics. In 1879 locals said they saw an apparition of Mary, Joseph, John the Evangelist, angels and an altar with a cross and a lamb (representing Jesus). According to Irish tourism sites, 1.5m pilgrims visit Knock Shrine every year. It is understood President Biden will make a private visit to the Mayo Roscommon Hospice in Castlebar that is dedicated to his son Beau, the former Delaware Attorney General, who died from brain cancer in 2015. The president will also visit the North Mayo Heritage Centre. Its family history research unit works with people around the world who want to trace their ancestry from Mayo. 'Welcome home' The mayor of Ballina, Mark Duffy, said people were eagerly awaiting the president's arrival. "This is a homecoming event, it's a welcome home where he has family and friends in the area," he told BBC News NI. "I hope there is respect given to that because they are true ties, they are sincere links, it's not engineered, it's not fabricated. "It's meaningful for the president, it's meaningful for the people here in town." link: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65270569

The question of what non-human animals experience is front and center in the zeitgeist. The acclaimed book An Immense World, by science journalist Ed Yong, delves into the remarkable sensory capacities and perceptions of other creatures. When Animals Dream, by philosopher David Peña-Guzman, looks at dreaming as evidence of mind. And other po[CENSORED]r works—from naturalist Carl Safina’s Beyond Words and biologist Jonathan Balcombe’s What a Fish Knows to journalist Sy Montgomery’s The Soul of an Octopus and primatologist Frans de Waal’s Mama’s Last Hug—argue that many non-human animals are individuals with lives that matter to them. 
 These observations are significant, because the degree of care and concern we give to animals seems to depend on how we picture their inner lives. Most recently, philosopher Martha Nussbaum, in her book Justice for Animals, argues that we human beings owe other animals—as individual persons—the freedom to live out their lives according to their full capabilities. As animals ourselves, but as animals who prize our capacity to think (Homo sapiens means a “wise,” “knowing,” or “discerning” human being), we tend to judge and give consideration to other animals based on their smarts. Instead, I want to suggest that their capacity to feel and express feelings is what is truly essential. Emotion, it turns out, may even endow our fellow creatures with what we could term a “spiritual” life. Emotion is displayed by animals all around us. Dolphins and orcas—both highly social species—demonstrate playfulness and loneliness, cheerfulness and affection. Elephants, who also live in close-knit groups, give every appearance of joy and sorrow. They seem to mourn their dead, and unfortunately experience something close to post-traumatic stress disorder. Baboons can become depressed, monkeys angry, pigs and calves terrified, and parrots cranky. Octopuses and crows clearly seem to prefer certain people. Fishes seek out caresses to relieve stress. And rats apparently enjoy being tickled! https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/the_emotional_life_of_animals_and_what_it_means_for_us

A new exhibition in the Parisian Louvre museum called “The Origins of the Sacred Image” will showcase five of 16 works that were rescued from war-torn Ukraine: four icons from the 6th and 7th century — encaustic paintings on wood from Saint Catherine’s Monastery on the Sinai Peninsula in Egypt — and one micro-mosaic icon from the late 13th or early 14th century from Constantinople, with a lavish gold frame. Icons are portraits of holy persons in the Christian Orthodox faith. They are predominantly found in Eastern European churches. The oldest surviving examples date from the 6th-7th centuries, such as the icons that will be on display in the Louvre museum. They are considered major milestones in the history of art. “Since the start of the war, like other museums, we have been concerned to see how we can support our Ukrainian colleagues. In the autumn, faced with the intensity of the conflict, we decided to carry out this rescue,” Louvre president Laurence des Cars told press agency AFP. “It’s not much in a sea of sadness and desolation, but it’s a symbol,” she added.Eleven other works, “among the most emblematic and most fragile” from the Ukrainian collection, will be housed in the Louvre’s reserves “until the situation improves,” according to the Paris museum. The icons, representing both the foundations of Byzantine civilization and its innovative relationship to images, hold numerous mysteries yet to be unraveled. This is why the Louvre has created an international committee, consisting of Ukrainian scientists and renowned specialists in the field, to conduct in-depth analysis and study, shedding light on the significance of these works. The art treasures were brought to France via Poland and Germany on May 10 under military escort and with help of the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH).https://indianexpress.com/article/lifestyle/art-and-culture/louvre-museum-exhibits-icons-ukraine-8666030/

Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti will take charge of Brazil next summer, says the Brazilian Football Confederation president Ednaldo Rodrigues. The five-time World Cup winners are confident the Italian will be in place for the Copa America in June 2024. Rodrigues said Fernando Diniz will oversee the Selecao until then, alongside his role as Fluminense boss. "He will come and make the transition in Brazil for Ancelotti," Rodrigues said. "His game plan is almost similar to that of the coach that will take over at Copa America, Ancelotti. "We don't call him an interim coach of the national team." Brazil have been without a permanent head coach since the World Cup, when Tite resigned following their quarter-final defeat by Croatia, with under-20s coach Ramon Menezes taking charge of recent friendly fixtures. Ancelotti, whose contract expires next summer, would be the first foreign manager to coach Brazil since 1965. There has been no official word from Ancelotti or Real Madrid that he will depart the club next year. The 64-year-old began his second spell at the Bernabeu in 2021, after leaving Everton, and has won the Champions League, La Liga, a Copa del Rey and the Club World Cup among a string of successes since his return. ADVERTISEMENT The Champions League final win against Liverpool in 2022 was Ancelotti's fourth European triumph as a manager, and second with Real Madrid, after also winning the competition twice with AC Milan. link: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66109831

The UK has confirmed it is supplying Ukraine with long-range missiles it requested for its fight against invading Russian forces. The Storm Shadow cruise missile has a range of over 250km (155 miles), according to the manufacturer. By contrast, the US-supplied Himars missiles used by Ukraine only have a range of around 80 km (50 miles). The weapons will give Ukraine the "best chance" of defending itself, UK Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said. They are fired from aircraft, so the longer range means Ukrainian pilots will be able to stay further from the frontlines. Once launched, the Storm Shadow drops to low altitude to avoid detection by enemy radar, before latching onto its target with an infra-red seeker. Zelensky: We must wait before starting offensive The announcement was made in the House of Commons by Mr Wallace. The decision follows repeated pleas from Ukraine for more weapons from the West. Mr Wallace said the missiles would "allow Ukraine to push back Russian forces based on Ukrainian sovereign territory". He said the UK took the decision after Russia "continued down a dark path" of targeting civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Mr Wallace wrote to his Russian counterpart Sergei Shoigu in December, he said, to warn that further attacks could result in the UK donating more capable weapons. He said the missiles were "going into" or already in Ukrainian hands, and described the move as "calibrated and proportionate to Russia's escalations". "None of this would have been necessary had Russia not invaded," he said. He said the missiles would be compatible with Ukraine's existing, Soviet-era planes and praised the technicians and scientists who made that possible. But he warned the range of the British-supplied Storm Shadows was "not in the same league" as Russia's own missile systems - with some of Moscow's weapons being able to travel far further. Earlier this year, Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov insisted longer-range missiles would not be used to attack targets within Russia itself. "If we could strike at a distance of up to 300 kilometres, the Russian army wouldn't be able to provide defence and will have to lose," he told an EU meeting. "Ukraine is ready to provide any guarantees that your weapons will not be involved in attacks on the Russian territory." In February, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he was prepared to send long-range missiles to Ukraine, and the British government opened a bidding process for their procurement. "Together we must help Ukraine to shield its cities from Russian bombs and Iranian drones," Mr Sunak said then. "That's why the United Kingdom will be the first country to give Ukraine longer-range weapons." On Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow would take an "appropriate" military response to any British-supplied Storm Shadow weapons used by Ukrainian forces. The Storm Shadow missile has been operated by both British and French air forces and has been used previously in the Gulf, Iraq and Libya. The British-supplied missiles can only be fired by aircraft, but French missiles can be fired from ships and submarines. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-65558070

Banano QCAV-4 is bioengineered to resist FOC R4T and has been tested for six years on the oceanic continent. The banana sector is considering importing the first variety resistant to Fusarium Race 4, called banana QCAV-4, which is being evaluated in Australia, where the fungus was detected in 2015. If this new variety passes the tests in that country, it would offer a safety net against the plague that affects banana plantations and other Musaceae, highlighted José Antonio Hidalgo, executive director of the Association of Banana Exporters of Ecuador (AEBE). The plague has already been present in the region since 2019 when it was detected in Colombia, in 2021 it arrived in Peru and in January of this year Venezuela confirmed the appearance of the fungus. Ecuador has not yet reported the disease. Meanwhile, the banana sector, through the banana cluster, has already imported a variety, but tolerant to the pest, which is Formosana 218, which was carried out through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), the Regulatory Agency and Plant and Zoosanitary Control (Agrocalidad) and the National Institute of Agricultural Research (Iniap). The Formosana 218 variety is native to Taiwan and is already being used in the Philippines and Central American countries such as Honduras and Costa Rica. In addition, the importation of another tolerant variety, the gal from Israel, is in process. The arrival of this tolerant variety occurred after having complied with the current legal regulations of the Organic Law of Agricultural Health (LOSA) and the Organic Law of Agrobiodiversity, Seeds and Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture (Loasfas). Meanwhile, QCAV-4 bananas, developed in partnership with the Australian government and industry, have been grown in field trials in the Northern Territory of Australia for over six years and have proven highly resistant to the disease. Fusarium, reported AEBE through a statement. The new banana variant is currently being evaluated by the Australian Government regulatory authorities, the Office of Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) and the Food Standards of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ). If the Australian Government approves this variety it would be available in about five years. Australia's world class biosecurity rules have so far limited the impact of the race 4 disease on most of the Australian industry, however it has been found in parts of North Queensland and has decimated the commercial banana industry of the Northern Territory. For his part, Hidalgo indicated that the country needs to have the largest number of varieties being tested on Ecuadorian soil due to the proper biosafety and entry processes that must be managed, in order to see the reactions that these varieties have regarding productivity in the future. flavor and that adapts to the Ecuadorian soil. “This new variety would reach the country depending on the efforts made by the MAG, there are options abroad. You have to make the arrangements, today there is only one variety in the country formosana 218, and there are others outside that just motivate to have the largest number being tested, "added the leader. However, while regulatory approval from OGTR and FSANZ would support the environmental and food safety of QCAV-4, there are no plans to grow or sell QCAV-4 bananas to consumers in Australia at this time, AEBE explained. https://www.eluniverso.com/noticias/economia/una-variedad-de-banano-resistente-al-fusarium-raza-4-que-se-evalua-en-australia-aparece-como-nueva-opcion-para-el-sector-bananero-ecuatoriano-nota/

Sea dragon dads and octopus moms are the extreme marine parents we need, winning photos show. A gorgeous new image shows a common sea dragon dad drifting through a seagrass meadow with his jewel-like egg clutch in tow. The image took the top spot in the Compact Behavior category of the Underwater Photography Guide's 2022 Ocean Art(opens in new tab) contest. Common sea dragons (Phyllopteryx taeniolatus) typically live at depths of around 13 to 20 feet (4 to 6 meters), though they can dive down to 160 feet (50 m), according to the Georgia Aquarium(opens in new tab). They usually begin brooding in late July or early August. The eggs start out a beautiful shade of deep magenta, which fades to brown as the baby dragons develop. Sometimes green or brown algae grows along the dad's tail, helping provide further camouflage. "After a few weeks, you start to see eye spots inside each [egg]", Greg Rouse(opens in new tab), a marine biologist at the University of California San Diego's Scripps Institution of Oceanography who wasn't involved with the photo contest, told Live Science. Rouse said that the eggs pictured here are "a pretty fresh brood." Unlike most vertebrates, male sea dragon parents are the ones who invest time and energy into caring for unhatched eggs. Closely related groups, including seahorses and pipefishes, also display this unusual brooding strategy. However, seahorses and some pipefish sport a specialized kangaroo-like pouch to hold their eggs, whereas sea dragons simply glue their eggs to the underside of their tails. A clutch of sea dragon eggs typically numbers somewhere between 100 and 180, depending on the size of the female. Related: Best wildlife photography cameras 2023 All sea dragons are endemic to the waters of coastal Australia. They're notoriously tricky to breed in captivity: Of the three species of sea dragon, only the common (or weedy) dragon has been successfully captive-bred, and not in large enough numbers to sustain a sizable po[CENSORED]tion. "The sea dragons people see in the aquarium are mostly being caught in the wild," Rouse said. To help monitor how this impacts sea dragon numbers, Rouse co-founded the citizen science project Seadragon Search(opens in new tab), in which diving enthusiasts can record their encounters with these fish. https://www.livescience.com/sea-dragon-dad-glues-his-brood-to-his-tail-for-safekeeping-stunning-image-shows

Manchester City have signed Croatia midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea for an initial £25m. The deal for the 29-year-old is also worth a possible £5m in add-ons and he has signed a four-year contract. Kovacic is City's first signing of the summer after they won the Treble of Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup titles last season. "This is a brilliant move for me, and I cannot wait to get started with City," said Kovacic. His arrival follows the club announcing Ilkay Gundogan's free transfer to Barcelona, while City have had a £90m bid - thought to have included an £80m initial payment - for England midfielder Declan Rice rejected by West Ham. Kovacic added: "Anyone who has watched this team under [manager] Pep [Guardiola] knows how good they are - for me, they are the best in the world. The trophies they have won are clear for all to see, but they are also the best footballing side out there. "To be joining this squad really is a dream for any footballer. I still have plenty of learning and developing to do, and I know under Pep's management I can become a better player, which is really exciting for me. "My plan now is to rest for a few weeks before coming back to Manchester to prepare for the new season. I want to help this club stay at the top and win more trophies." Kovacic joined Chelsea from Real Madrid in August 2018, initially on loan, before signing a five-year deal. ADVERTISEMENT He made 37 appearances for the club in a turbulent campaign last season as they finished 12th in the top flight. Kovacic was part of the Chelsea side who won the Champions League in 2021, coming on as a late substitute in the 1-0 final win over City. At international level, Kovacic has made 95 appearances for Croatia, playing every game as they finished third at the 2022 World Cup. "It was a very simple decision to bring him to City because he has the tactical and technical qualities we are looking for in a midfielder," said City director of football Txiki Begiristain. "He is someone we have monitored for a very long time and always we were impressed whenever we watched him." link: https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66003047

Birds do it, when they eat berries that have fermented in the first frost. Bees do it, when they suck on tree sap. Educated fleas don’t do it, obviously – but “many kinds of monkeys”, noted Charles Darwin in The Descent of Man, “have a strong taste for … spirituous liquors”. There is evidence that humans were brewing their own booze even before the wheel caught on, but how much do we know about how it works on our brains and bodies? Well, quite a bit. Recent decades have seen dozens of studies validate some old sayings, debunk others, and give the medical establishment a much clearer understanding of how alcohol affects us and how much it is really OK to drink. Read on to find out. The first sip You may have noticed that the effects of your first drink kick in almost as soon as it hits your mouth, but that may be more to do with your expectations than the alcohol itself. “Most people, the first time they drink, find it horrible,” says Professor David Nutt, the chair of Drug Science, an independent UK scientific body researching drugs and alcohol. “But, eventually, they come to associate the smell and taste of their favourite drink with the effect in the brain and the pleasure that’s coming.” From the mouth and gullet, the liquid moves to your stomach, where about 20% is absorbed through the stomach lining. The rest is absorbed once it reaches the small intestines, all of it ultimately ending up in your bloodstream. Food can act like a sponge and slow the alcohol’s absorption: if you are drinking on an empty stomach, the alcohol takes effect much faster. A few minutes after your first sip, once it gets to your bloodstream and into your brain, it starts to have an effect. “This is what we call the rising phase, which is what most people are looking for,” says Nutt. “Your blood vessels widen, which can make you start to feel a bit flushed, you start to feel a bit relaxed around the jaw and then you start to feel chilled and more sociable and convivial. That comes from Gaba, our main inhibitory neurotransmitter, which for most of us is turned down a bit in social situations, making us a bit anxious and tense.” Alcohol, in other words, turns up the Gaba system, helping us to relax. This can also be accompanied by a temporary feeling of warmth and drop in body temperature. This is, essentially, the good bit: you’re half a pint or a glass of wine down, and things feel great. The session As you keep drinking, dopamine kicks in. This is the “seeking” hormone that is often associated with the drive to do things, rewarding us with a little feelgood spike whenever we think about it. “This is where it gets moreish,” says Nutt. “You get a little hit, you get energised, you get loud, and as the effect starts to diminish, you want more. Alcohol releases endorphins, which are the brain’s natural opiates – and they’re also addictive, turning off your sense of control so you drink more than you planned to.” Alcohol affects the prefrontal cortex, which primarily governs cognitive control, impulse behaviour and the brain’s memory centre. This means that your judgment becomes impaired and movement is disrupted. If you drink too much, your liver starts to feel the strain. “On average, the liver can only metabolise, or break down, roughly one small glass of wine or a pint of beer an hour,” says nutritionist Hannah Macey. “When more than this is consumed, your liver becomes unable to deal with the workload so it begins to send alcohol to the heart. This leads to a fall in your blood pressure, while the newly alcohol-rich blood is now pumped to the lungs.” This means that you exhale some of your intake, which, of course, is how Breathalyser tests work. Oh, and those increasingly frequent toilet breaks you take on a night out? Alcohol limits the brain’s production of antidiuretic hormone, instructing your kidneys to release more water, causing dehydration. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/may/24/the-truth-about-booze-how-alcohol-really-affects-your-body-from-first-flush-of-happiness-to-hangover-hell

An unnamed BBC presenter is facing fresh allegations by the Sun newspaper after it claimed he paid a teenager for sexually explicit photos. The star was pictured in his underwear "ready for my child to perform for him", their mother told the paper. It is unclear how old the young person was at the time, but the paper has claimed they were 17 when payments from the presenter started. The BBC has said it takes any allegations very seriously. The allegations, first reported by the Sun on Friday, are that the BBC presenter paid £35,000 for explicit photos over a three-year period. The young person's mother told the paper her child, now aged 20, had used the money from the presenter to fund a crack cocaine habit. She said if the alleged payments continued her child would "wind up dead", the paper reported on Saturday. The Sun said the young person's family complained to the BBC on 19 May. The family is reported to have become frustrated that the star remained on air and approached the newspaper, but said they wanted no payment for the story. A BBC spokesperson has already said: "We treat any allegations very seriously and we have processes in place to proactively deal with them. "As part of that, if we receive information that requires further investigation or examination we will take steps to do this. That includes actively attempting to speak to those who have contacted us in order to seek further detail and understanding of the situation. "If we get no reply to our attempts or receive no further contact that can limit our ability to progress things but it does not mean our enquiries stop. "If, at any point, new information comes to light or is provided - including via newspapers - this will be acted upon appropriately, in line with internal processes." But serious questions remain for the BBC about what investigations went on since the family says it alerted the corporation. The BBC "has some serious questions to answer", a senior Conservative MP said. Caroline Dinenage, chair of the Culture, Media and Sport committee said: "It's vital that TV companies have in place the right systems and processes to ensure their stars, who have disproportionate power and influence over the lives and careers of others, don't abuse it." There is pressure on the corporation's HR department to "investigate these latest claims quickly and explain what has happened since this story first came to light back in May", she added. Earlier former home secretary Priti Patel said the BBC's response had been "derisory" and called for a "full and transparent investigation", accusing the corporation of becoming a "faceless and unaccountable organisation". The presenter is not due to be on air in the near future, but BBC News has not been told whether or not there has been a formal suspension. But the BBC will need to answer if this should have happened sooner, if the investigation should have been more thorough, and if it is fair to its other presenters unconnected to this who are finding themselves facing false rumours. The Sun says there will be a probe by the head of corporate investigations team who has spoken to the family but the BBC has not confirmed this. Following the first Sun report, BBC presenters took to social media to deny they were the star in question, including Rylan Clark, Jeremy Vine, Nicky Campbell and Gary Lineker. This is a disconcerting time for them when they have no involvement in the allegations. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66145747

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