RENNES, France: A beluga whale, a protected species usually found in cold Arctic waters, has swum into France’s Seine river and reached a lock some 70 kilometers (44 miles) from Paris, officials said Thursday.
The whale was first spotted Tuesday in the waterway that flows through the French capital to the English Channel, and follows the rare appearance of a killer whale in the Seine just over two months ago.
It is currently near Vernon, about halfway between Paris and the port city of Le Havre, with authorities in Normandy’s Eure department urging people to keep their distance to avoid distressing the animal.
“In order to carry out the necessary observations... an operation to keep it in place at the lock will be carried out this afternoon,” the regional authorities said.
They did not specify the size, but an adult beluga can reach up to four meters (13 feet) in length.
While they migrate away from the Arctic in the autumn to feed as ice forms, they rarely venture so far south.
“Studies of its health are underway to determine the best measures to take to ensure its chances of survival,” the Eure authorities said late Wednesday.
In late May, a killer whale — also known as an orca, but technically part of the dolphin family — was found dead in the Seine between Le Havre and Rouen.
The animal found itself stranded in the river and was unable to make its way back to the ocean despite attempts by officials to guide it.
The Eure authorities said lone belugas do sometimes swim further south than usual, and are able to temporarily survive in fresh water.
Beluga whale spotted in France’s Seine river
https://arab.news/523sy
Beluga whale spotted in France’s Seine river
- The whale was first spotted Tuesday in the waterway that flows through the French capital to the English Channel
- It is currently near Vernon, about halfway between Paris and the port city of Le Havre
Arts festival’s decision to exclude Palestinian author spurs boycott
- A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival
SYDENY: A top Australian arts festival has seen the withdrawal of dozens of writers in a backlash against its decision to bar an Australian Palestinian author after the Bondi Beach mass shooting, as moves to curb antisemitism spur free speech concerns.
The shooting which killed 15 people at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec. 14 sparked nationwide calls to tackle antisemitism. Police say the alleged gunmen were inspired by Daesh.
The Adelaide Festival board said last Thursday it would disinvite Randa Abdel-Fattah from February’s Writers Week in the state of South Australia because “it would not be culturally sensitive to continue to program her at this unprecedented time so soon after Bondi.”
FASTFACTS
• Abdel-Fattah responded, saying it was ‘a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship.’
• Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
A Macquarie University academic who researches Islamophobia and Palestine, Abdel-Fattah responded saying it was “a blatant and shameless act of anti-Palestinian racism and censorship,” with her lawyers issuing a letter to the festival.
Around 50 authors have since withdrawn from the festival in protest, leaving it in doubt, local media reported.
Among the boycotting authors, Kathy Lette wrote on social media the decision to bar Abdel-Fattah “sends a divisive and plainly discriminatory message that platforming Australian Palestinians is ‘culturally insensitive.'”
The Adelaide Festival said in a statement on Monday that three board members and the chairperson had resigned. The festival’s executive director, Julian Hobba, said the arts body was “navigating a complex moment.”
a complex and unprecedented moment” after the “significant community response” to the board decision.
In the days after the Bondi Beach attack, Jewish community groups and the Israeli government criticized Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for failing to act on a rise in antisemitic attacks and criticized protest marches against Israel’s war in Gaza held since 2023.
Albanese said last week a Royal Commission will consider the events of the shooting as well as antisemitism and social cohesion in Australia. Albanese said on Monday he would recall parliament next week to pass tougher hate speech laws.
On Monday, New South Wales state premier Chris Minns announced new rules that would allow local councils to cut off power and water to illegally operating prayer halls.
Minns said the new rules were prompted by the difficulty in closing a prayer hall in Sydney linked to a cleric found by a court to have made statements intimidating Jewish Australians.
The mayor of the western Sydney suburb of Fairfield said the rules were ill-considered and councils should not be responsible for determining hate speech.
“Freedom of speech is something that should always be allowed, as long as it is done in a peaceful way,” Mayor Frank Carbone told Reuters.
