NICOSSIA: The Cyprus government is investigating how seven whales mysteriously washed up dead on the rugged shoreline of the island’s north coast, authorities said on Saturday.
There were reports another three whales from the same species had been found dead on beaches further east in the breakaway Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
It is the largest number of whale deaths recorded on the eastern Mediterranean island, where whales are occasionally sighted but are by no means common.
The whales that died were all Cuvier’s beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris), famed for diving deeper and for longer than any other species of mammal.
The whales were found on several beaches along the north coast between Polis and Pachyammos.
A first whale was found dead on Thursday, along with three beached whales, which were pushed back out to sea.
Six more, which may or may not have included the three rescued on Thursday, were found dead on Friday.
“The autopsy of the Ziphius species whale was carried out to establish their causes of death after the six dead whales washed up on the northern coast of Paphos (district),” Department of Fisheries and Marine Research official Ioannis Ioannou told the state-run Cyprus News Agency.
He said experts collected samples for further specialized examination.
It is the first time that so many whales have been found dead. Two incidents were recorded in 2021 and 2022, but both involved only a single animal.
Seven whales wash up dead on Cyprus
https://arab.news/z7vp2
Seven whales wash up dead on Cyprus
- The whales that died were all Cuvier's beaked whales (Ziphius cavirostris)
- The whales were found on several beaches along the north coast between Polis and Pachyammos
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.
