Thousands flock to smell plant that reeks of dead rat, rotting rubbish
Huge crowds queued in Sydney to catch a whiff of the flower that smells like ‘hot rubbish’ She may smell like rotting flesh but “Putricia”, the internet-famous corpse flower, has been the centre of attention at the Botanic Gardens of Sydney over the last two days. The rare plant – scientific name amorphophallus titanum, but also known as “Titan Arum” or “bunga bangkai” in Indonesia where it grows wild – began to bloom on Thursday, giving off an odour described as having the aromatic profile of “dead rat”. With 11 corpse flowers in the collection, staff at the gardens traditionally give each a nickname and this time they settled on “Putricia” – a combination of “putrid” and “Patricia”. Putricia the corpse flower prior to blooming at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens [Handout / Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens] Putricia has also become something of an influencer over the last 18 days, as thousands monitored a livestream created by the institution to document her growth from a mere bud to a 1.6-metre-tall flower in real time. With more than 1.5 million views and a very active Discord community, John Siemon, director of horticulture and living collections at the gardens, says staff have been “shell shocked” by Putricia’s sudden popularity. Siemon said at least 20,000 excited onlookers have since passed through the doors to catch a whiff of Putricia over the last week. Advertisement Sydney Botanic Gardens chief scientist Professor Brett Summerell said Putricia had taken time to ramp up production of her unique perfume but was at her height on Thursday evening when the smell could be detected from 20 metres away, outside her pavilion. “It’s a little bit of a build-up,” he said. “Over a period of time, as the flower starts to unfurl, it starts to generate heat and that heat starts to generate chemical reactions. “What the plant is trying to do is produce maximum amounts of that smell so it attracts insects, flies and beetles from all across the jungle so they can come and pollinate it.” The oversize flower features fluted crimson petals and can measure more than a metre (3 ft) across with a pointed centre stalk that can top 3 metres (10 ft). The flower’s disgusting smell and reddish-purple structure is designed to lure pollinators so it can reproduce. The plant typically does not bloom more than once every few years and lasts only about a day. A specimen has not bloomed in Sydney since 2010, making Putricia the fifth corpse flower to bloom at the gardens. Staff at Sydney’s Royal Botanic Gardens up close and personal while in the process of propagating “Putricia” the corpse flower [Handout / Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney] After about 48 hours, the yellow stalk at the centre of the corpse flower collapses and it will be a minimum of three to five years before the plant can bloom again. Sydney resident Rebecca McGee-Collett, who waited 90 minutes to see the flower on Thursday evening, said the flower was beautiful but the smell was “like hot garbage”. Advertisement The plant is native to the Indonesian island of Sumatra and is listed as endangered due to habitat loss and poaching, with 300-500 specimens of Titan Arum thought to be left in the wild. Adblock test (Why?)
ICC lawyer seeks arrest of Taliban leaders over persecution of women
NewsFeed The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor announced he is seeking arrest warrants for the Taliban’s spiritual leader Haibatullah Akhundzada and its chief justice, accusing them of persecuting women in Afghanistan. Published On 24 Jan 202524 Jan 2025 Adblock test (Why?)
Breathing Hope: Battling asthma and COPD in India’s quest for healthier tomorrow
The air we breathe. Time to act, innovate, and invest in solutions that will make every Indian breathe easy, live fully, and contribute to the nation’s future. Let’s not just dream of a developed India-let’s build one, one breath at a time.
National Girl Child Day: A day of reflection and action to end child marriage
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Texas Gov. Abbott asks government to reimburse state for $11B spent to secure southern border
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is requesting that the federal government reimburse his state more than $11.1 billion for taxpayer money spent on securing the southern border during former President Joe Biden’s administration. Abbott, who sent letters to U.S. Congressional members on Thursday, said the Biden administration’s “refusal to do its job the last four years” resulted in the crisis at the southern border that has spilled into the rest of the country. “President Biden’s policies left Texas and the rest of America defenseless against an unprecedented infiltration of violent criminals, known terrorists, and other hostile foreign actors, like the dangerous Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua,” the governor wrote. HOUSE REPUBLICAN INTRODUCES BILL TO REIMBURSE TEXAS FOR BILLIONS SPENT TO SECURE BORDER In response to the federal government’s lack of action at the border, Abbott took matters into his own hands and launched Operation Lone Star in March 2021, which deployed the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety to the US-Mexico border. Operation Lone Star has reduced illegal immigration into Texas by 87% over the past four years, proving the “effectiveness of President Donald Trump’s border measures,” according to Abbott, who added that his efforts have shone a national spotlight on the crisis. The governor outlined that the operation has also resulted in the apprehension of more than half a million illegal immigrants, stopped more than 140,000 illegal attempts to enter the US, made more than 50,000 criminal arrests, seized more than half a billion lethal doses of fentanyl, built more than 240 miles of border barriers and established the only National Guard base along the Texas-Mexico border. “In short, Texas stepped up where the federal government refused and in doing so, protected all Americans from President Biden’s dangerous policies,” Abbott wrote. HOUSE REPUBLICANS RENEW PUSH TO REIMBURSE TEXAS FOR ‘OPERATION LONE STAR’ BORDER SECURITY PUSH Though he is proud of the operation, Abbott noted that its success came with a high price tag of more than $11.1 billion, which has been, and continues to be, paid by Texas taxpayers when it “should have been the federal government’s responsibility.” In a document breaking down the costs, Abbott said that prior to the Biden administration, the state of Texas spent approximately $800 million every two years to supplement federal efforts at the border. “The burden that our State has borne is a direct result of a refusal by the federal government to do its job,” Abbott wrote. “The work that Texas has done through Operation Lone Star has protected and will continue to benefit the entire country.” House Republicans have introduced bills in the past requesting Texas be reimbursed for the billions spent on border security, but legislation has never been passed.
Holger Thorsten Schubart stakes future on India’s green horizon
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Delhi weather: Temperature falls down to 11 degrees; trains and flights stand delayed
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Trump’s ICE nabs child sex offenders among 530+ illegal immigrants caught in single day
Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arrested a number of child sex offenders, as well as gang members and other criminals, among the more than 530 illegal immigrants it caught on another day of the Trump-era mass deportation campaign. Official stats show that as of 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, there were 373 criminal arrests and 165 non-criminal arrests for the day. That includes more than 1,000 removals or repatriations. The agency also arrested 16 gang members, including four belonging to the bloodthirsty Tren de Aragua. According to ICE records, the arrests included one in Buffalo, New York of an Ecuadorian national convicted of rape. Also in Buffalo, agents arrested Pedro Julio Mejia, a national from the Dominican Republic convicted of sexual conduct against a child. BORDER ENCOUNTERS DROP SHARPLY AS TRUMP LAUNCHES CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION In St. Paul, Minnesota, agents nabbed Cristofer Alexander Ramirez-Oliva, a Honduran with a conviction for third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a minor. Meanwhile, in San Francisco, agents arrested Ariel Rene Romice-Patino, a Mexican who was convicted of sexual exploitation of a child and sentenced to 62 months in prison. FIRST IMAGES OF ICE MASS DEPORTATION EFFORTS SHOW ARRESTS OF MS-13 GANG MEMBERS, MURDER SUSPECTS Agents also arrested Magdaleno Zenen Hernandez Garcia, a Mexican national convicted of continuous sexual abuse of a child aged 14 or younger. In New York, agents arrested Turkish national Gokhan Adriguzel, who is a known or suspected terrorist, officials say. TRUMP’S ICE RACKS UP HUNDREDS OF ARRESTS, INCLUDING ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS ARRESTED FOR HORROR CRIMES In Chicago, agents arrested Rimon Aparicio-Pimentel, a Mexican with a previous conviction for attempted murder, for which he was sentenced to 17 years in prison. ICE lodged a detainer on him in 2017, but it was not honored by authorities, and he was released without ICE being notified. The haul is the latest day of busy work for ICE, which is leading the mass deportation operation launched by the new administration. Before Thursday, ICE had made 460 arrests since Trump was inaugurated. Trump has promised to “seal” the border and launch what he said would be a historic deportation campaign. On day one, he signed 10 orders related to the border, including orders to restart wall construction, end parole programs, limit birthright citizenship and deploy the military to the border. CLICK HERE FOR MORE IMMIGRATION COVERAGE His administration has also ended a Biden-era guideline on “sensitive places” where ICE could not conduct enforcement and removed limits on the use of expedited removals to quickly deport migrants. Fox News this week witnessed ICE Boston make eight arrests, including multiple MS-13, Interpol Red Notices, murder and rape suspects, and a volatile Haitian gang member with 18 convictions in recent years who told our cameras that he “ain’t going back to Haiti” and “f— Trump, Biden forever!” On Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt pointed to the latest arrests as proof the administration is delivering on its promises. “The largest massive deportation operation in history is well underway.,” she said on X. “Promises made. Promises kept.”