Each week, Ben Hopkinson looks back at a serious, crazy, and happy news story from the past week.
Serious News
A new embassy for China has been approved in central London, right near the Tower of London.
The site was purchased by China’s government back in 2018 for £255million with initial plans rejected by Tower Hamlets Council in 2022 for safety grounds, a new submission was then made in 2024 when the government took over the handlings.
There have been concerns that the site that spans 20,000 square metres could be dangerous as a base for spying and cause security risks, however Security Minister Dan Jarvis has said that intelligence agencies were “integral” and he is “content any risks are being appropriately managed”.
The government have had to balance their desire for closer ties with Beijing and the threat – a further delay in the building could set back diplomatic relations between the countries.
Crazy News
A Swiss Brown cow has surprised scientists in Austria, as she was the first cow to be recorded using tools – specifically a stick to scratch her back.
Veronika is kept as a companion by her organic farmer, Witgar Wiegele, who regards her as part of the family and noticed the bizarre actions over a decade ago.
It has only come into attention when it was sent to scientists, who confirmed that the only animal that has similar actions are chimpanzees.
The movements and end of the brush used change depending on where she is scratching.
A study was conducted by Professor Alice Auersperg, a cognitive biologist, who says: “When I saw the footage, it was immediately clear that this was not accidental. This was a meaningful example of tool use in a species that is rarely considered from a cognitive perspective”.
Happy News
Southwark Council have announced plans to rejuvenate an area of Old Kent Road, which includes a wild swimming pond in a Grade II listed gasholder.
It is still early days for the plans of the park, which is set to be named after the Gasworks founder George Livesey.
Documents say that the facility will be a “unique health offer, with nothing similar in London, the UK or Europe”, adding “What we're proposing is to convert that into an open outdoor wild swimming provision. It would be cold water swimming, filtered naturally through reed beds, so nice and biodiverse. It would be unique, not just in London, but anywhere. There isn't a historic gasholder with a swimming pool in it”.
It would also pay homage to George Livesey, who was “quite the Victorian philanthropist” – he built a library nearby as well as hosting allotments and sporting areas on the gaswork site.
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