ICYMI: 5 stories to put a smile on your face
March 12, 2021
Bangladesh's first transgender presenter airs
Tashnuva Anan Shishir became Bangladesh's first transgender television news presenter. She made her debut on Monday, timed to coincide with International Women's Day, with a three-minute news bulletin at the privately-run Boishakhi broadcaster.
Most transgender people in Bangladesh face rampant discrimination and violence. They are often forced to live by begging, the sex trade or crime.
Shishir, who also works in theater, has also been bullied and moved to Dhaka when her family began feeling embarrassed by her transition during her early teens. "But, I never gave up. I tried to pursue my education," she said.
Her appointment will hopefully encourage support for the transgender community, Saiful Islam, chief news editor of the channel said.
World's oldest living person to carry Olympic torch
At 118 years old, Kane Tanaka, the world's oldest living person showed this week that age is no barrier when it was announced she is preparing to carry the Olympic torch this May in Japan, ahead of the Tokyo games set to take place this year.
Tanaka, who has twice survived cancer, lived through two global pandemics and loves fizzy drinks, will take the flame as it passes through Shime, in her home prefecture of Fukuoka, on Japan's Kyushu Island.
While Tanaka's family will push her in a wheelchair for most of her 100-meter leg, the supercentenarian — a person aged over 110 years old — is determined to walk the final few steps, as she passes the torch to the next runner.
Scientists get first-ever snap of shark making its own light
Scientists in New Zealand snapped the first-ever photo of a shark producing its own light, according to a study published last week by researchers from the Catholic University of Louvain and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.
Around 57 of the 540 known shark species are thought to be capable of producing light. But according to study co-author Jerome Mallefet, they are "really difficult to observe" as they live between 656 and 2,953 feet below the ocean's surface.
The kitefin shark is now the world's largest known bioluminescent vertebrate.
EU lawmakers declare bloc LGBT+ 'freedom zone'
The European Parliament passed a resolution on Thursday declaring the European Union an "LGBTIQ freedom zone."
The measure seeks to ensure protections for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer communities across the bloc, stating "LGBTIQ rights are human rights."
It also hit back at EU member states that have anti-LQBT+ policies, particularly Hungary and Poland.
Most EU lawmakers backed the move. "Being yourself is not an ideology. It's your identity. No one can ever take it away," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
US care home residents get the all-clear for hugs
Nursing home residents vaccinated against COVID-19 can get hugs again from their loved ones. Indoor visits may also be allowed for all residents, the US government said on Wednesday.
The ban on visits went into effect almost one year ago in a bid to stop COVID-19 from spreading in US nursing homes. Only in the fall were facilities allowed to begin socially distanced outdoor visits and limited indoor ones.
"There is no substitute for physical contact, such as the warm embrace between a resident and their loved one," the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said in its new guidance. "Therefore, if the resident is fully vaccinated, they can choose to have close contact (including touch) with their visitor while wearing a well-fitting face mask and performing hand hygiene before and after.''
kmm/rt (Reuters, AP, AFP, dpa)