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Why this iconic view of Mt Fuji is set to be obstructed

<p>One small town in Japan is fed up with disrespectful tourists, and is set to take drastic measures to block an iconic view of My Fuji to deter travellers. </p> <p>Fujikawaguchiko, at the foot of the Yoshida Trail to Mount Fuji, has long been overrun with tourists who are hellbent on getting the perfect picture of the Japanese mountain. </p> <p>Tourists specifically flock to the Lawson convenience store to take their pictures, with the contrast between the busy neon-lit shop and the peaceful mountain behind it making for the perfect holiday snap. </p> <p>However, in recent years since Japan reopened its borders to international tourists after harsh Covid lockdowns, these tourists have had the run of the town, and locals have had enough. </p> <p>To combat the over tourism of the area and deter travellers, local officials of the town are set to erect a giant mesh barrier atop the store, blocking the picture perfect view.</p> <p>One town official said that there have been ongoing problems with tourists leaving trash and not following traffic rules, despite signs and security guards being posted to warn them.</p> <p>"It is regrettable that we had to take such measures," the official said.</p> <p>The net, which measures 2.5 meters high and 20 meters long, will be erected early next week.</p> <p>The crowds plaguing the small town, which is in Yamanashi prefecture, to the north of Fuji and about 100 kilometres west of Tokyo, is just one part of a larger over tourism issue in the whole of Japan. </p> <p>"Overtourism – and all the subsequent consequences like rubbish, rising CO2 emissions and reckless hikers – is the biggest problem facing Mount Fuji," Masatake Izumi, a Yamanashi prefectural government official, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/travel/mount-fuji-overtourism-intl-hnk/index.html">told CNN Travel</a> in 2023.</p> <p>Some locals had even nicknamed the 3,776-meter (12,388-foot) mountain, called Fuji-san in Japanese, "trash mountain."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images </em></p>

International Travel

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Human remains found in search for missing actor

<p>Californian hikers have discovered human remains in the wilderness area where actor Julian Sands disappeared more than five months ago, according to authorities.</p> <p>Officials have not yet identified the victim.</p> <p>The remains were transported to the coroner’s office for confirmation, which is expected to be completed next week, <em>The New York Post</em> reported.</p> <p>Sands was reported missing on January 13 after he failed to return from a hiking trip in Mount Baldy, located about 72 kilometres east of Los Angeles.</p> <p>The search – consisting of 80 volunteers and officials – resumed on June 12 after a temporary suspension.</p> <p>Police have conducted eight ground and air searches since the actor's disappearance on the mountain.</p> <p>“Despite the recent warmer weather, portions of the mountain remain inaccessible due to extreme alpine conditions. Multiple areas include steep terrain and ravines, which still have 10-plus feet [about 16 metres] of ice and snow,” San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said.</p> <p>Sands’ family spoke publicly for the first time since he vanished, releasing a statement on June 23 to express their gratitude for the ongoing search and rescue efforts.</p> <p>“We are deeply grateful to the search teams and co-ordinators who have worked tirelessly to find Julian,” the family said.</p> <p>“We continue to hold Julian in our hearts, with bright memories of him as a wonderful father, husband, explorer, lover of the natural world and the arts, and as an original and collaborative performer.”</p> <p>Sands is known for starring in films such as Arachnophobia, A Room with a View, Warlock and Leaving Las Vegas.</p> <p>Mt. Baldy is renowned for being one of the most dangerous peaks to climb in California.</p> <p>According to the<em> Los Angeles Times</em>, six people have died with crews conducting over 100 searches as daredevils and avid hikers alike are drawn to the daunting challenge of the more-than-16,000 metre climb.</p> <p>In January, officials found hiker Jin Chung, 75, who had become lost on Mount Baldy and was hospitalised with a leg injury and other weather-related injuries.</p> <p>Before Chung’s brief disappearance, a mother of four fell more than 500 to 700 feet to her death.</p> <p>Crystal Paula Gonzalez, renowned as a “hiking queen”, slipped on the steep icy hillside and later died from her injuries, officials reported.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Facebook / Getty</em></p>

News

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Princess Charlene opens up about her health for the first time

<p dir="ltr">Princess Charlene of Monaco has opened up about her ongoing illness for the first time, describing it as a “long, difficult and very painful” experience.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 44-year-old royal spoke about her health in a candid interview with the newspaper, <em><a href="https://www.monacomatin.mc/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Monaco Matin</a></em>, admitting that she is taking her recovery process slowly.</p> <p dir="ltr">“My state of health is still fragile and I don’t want to go too fast,” she told the publication. “The path has been long, difficult and very painful.”</p> <p dir="ltr">It comes after Princess Charlene has made headlines over the past year for her lengthy absence from public life and separation from her family in Monaco after she suffered an ear, nose and throat infection while in South Africa that saw her undergo several surgeries and stay in her home country for 10 months.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-135a7d9a-7fff-82b6-1b5b-0e89ba673615">She reportedly first fell ill in May 2021 and her 10-day visit became significantly longer, delaying <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/caring/princess-charlene-finally-comes-home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">her return to Monaco</a> until late 2021.</span></p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBjB1EMrWP/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBjB1EMrWP/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by HSH Princess Charlene (@hshprincesscharlene)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">In November, <em><a href="https://pagesix.com/2022/05/01/princess-charlene-makes-first-public-appearance-after-mystery-illness/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Page Six</a></em> reported that Charlene “almost died” after the surgeries and losing an extreme amount of weight, while her husband Albert, Prince of Monaco, told People that her condition was the result of “several factors which are private matters”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She was clearly exhausted, physically and emotionally,” he told the publication, adding that she was sent to a “treatment facility” within hours of returning. “She was overwhelmed and couldn’t face official duties, life in general or even family life.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Page Six also reported that sources connected to friends of the family were concerned Albert was “downplaying” Charlene’s illness while stressing that her condition wasn’t related to her mental or emotional health.</p> <p dir="ltr">“It is unfair that she is being portrayed as having some kind of mental or emotional issue,” the source told the outlet. “We don’t know why the palace is downplaying that she almost died in South Africa.”</p> <p dir="ltr">The source said the royal’s weight loss was due to her being unable to eat solid foods and only “take in liquids through a straw”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“She has not been able to eat solid food in over six months because of all the surgeries she has since gone through,” the source added.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-1bcce484-7fff-a529-0c5d-0ea046515305"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Charlene made her first public appearance in May, attending the Monaco E-Prix with her husband and their seven-year-old twins, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques in early May.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd87H2WMxdk/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cd87H2WMxdk/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by HSH Princess Charlene (@hshprincesscharlene)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">She also appeared at the Monte Carlo Fashion Awards with Gabriella, sharing a behind-the-scenes snap of the pair on her Instagram page.</p> <p dir="ltr">“I loved every moment preparing my Princess for her first official event,” Charlene captioned the photo of the pair dressed in formal wear. “We’re looking forward to a great evening at the fashion awards.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-39d7ccbe-7fff-c43c-d618-5a3e93b38d48"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @hshprincesscharlene (Instagram)</em></p>

Body

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Sheep rescued from 40kg fleece

<p dir="ltr">A bushwalker enjoying a walk along a mountain top came across a sheep burdened by its heavy 40kg fleece.</p> <p dir="ltr">The sheep, named Alex, was found on Mt Alexander in Victoria unable to walk and could hardly lift his head.</p> <p dir="ltr">The walker contacted Edgar’s Mission who came and rescued the sheep who was in a “worse state of health”.</p> <p dir="ltr">"So weak was he that he could not stand. Not even when assisted to do so, and struggle we did to find a passage in through his felt-like fleece to administer life-enhancing fluids,” the rescuers wrote on Facebook. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Truth be told, too, we wondered at first blush with Alex: Could his life even be saved, and would the kindest thing have been to let him pass from this world? </p> <p dir="ltr">“And then we lifted the shroud of wool from his face and our eyes met, and in that instant, it was so strikingly clear he wanted to live.”</p> <p><iframe style="overflow: hidden; border: initial none initial;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=476&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fedgarsmission%2Fvideos%2F654275415827887%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=267&amp;t=0" width="267" height="476" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></p> <p dir="ltr">Alex was taken back to the sanctuary where his fleece which was “sodden with rain, urine, twigs, bark, beetles and maggots” was removed.</p> <p dir="ltr">”A fleece so matted and dense that at first it stubbornly refused to cede to the shears,” they revealed.</p> <p dir="ltr">“But somehow it miraculously did. All 40 kg of it!”</p> <p dir="ltr">Alex will remain at the sanctuary for the rest of his hopefully long life.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Facebook</em></p>

Travel Trouble

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Princess Charlene finally comes home

<p dir="ltr">Princess Charlene has finally been able to reunite with her family in Monaco after an unknown illness saw her withdraw from the public eye.</p> <p dir="ltr">The 44-year-old has been plagued by poor health for almost a year - with the majority spent separated from her family - and an official statement from the palace has confirmed she has reunited with her husband, Prince Albert, and two children, Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella.</p> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3387a191-7fff-103a-d970-453ee51c9858"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">“As a result of Princess Charlene’s encouraging recovery and her doctor’s approval, their Serene Highnesses are delighted to announce that the Princess will now continue her convalescence in the principality, with her husband and children by her side,” the statement <a href="https://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/royals/major-development-in-princess-charlenes-mystery-health-battle/news-story/63cefad41948b8efacbeee321a464355" target="_blank" rel="noopener">read</a>.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBjB1EMrWP/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CWBjB1EMrWP/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by HSH Princess Charlene (@hshprincesscharlene)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">“Consequently, Princess Charlene has already returned to Monaco where she has been happily reunited with her family and loved ones. The next few weeks should allow for Princess Charlene to further strengthen her health before gradually resuming her official duties and commitments.” </p> <p dir="ltr">The palace said Charlene still needed to recover before she could spend time with the people of Monaco, but that she “looks forward” to doing so.</p> <p dir="ltr">The statement also read that the couple asked for privacy for their family in order for the Princess to fully recover.</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-36a88be0-7fff-3c6f-5cf1-10298fc2cf0b"></span></p> <p dir="ltr">Charlene was temporarily reunited with her family when <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/lifestyle/family-pets/princess-charlene-of-monaco-reunites-with-family" target="_blank" rel="noopener">they visited her</a> in August last year, after an ear, nose and throat infection saw her undergo multiple surgeries in her native South Africa and remain there for ten months.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CS_VuctjIN1/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CS_VuctjIN1/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by HSH Princess Charlene (@hshprincesscharlene)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p dir="ltr">She briefly returned to Monaco in November before taking a temporary break from royal duties and reportedly <a href="https://www.oversixty.co.nz/health/caring/we-miss-you-princess-charlene-s-children-share-heartbreaking-message" target="_blank" rel="noopener">seeking medical care</a> in a Swiss clinic.</p> <p dir="ltr">In January, the palace issued a statement saying the Princess had received and was recovering from dental treatment over “several weeks”, meaning she would miss the annual celebration of Saint Dévote Day.</p> <p dir="ltr">“With her husband H.S.H. Prince Albert II, she shares her heart with all Monegasques and residents on the occasion of these celebrations,” the statement, translated from French by <em><a href="https://people.com/royals/monaco-palace-shares-update-on-princess-charlenes-health-as-her-recovery-continues/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">PEOPLE</a></em>, reads.</p> <p dir="ltr">“As soon as her health will allow, it will be with joy that the Princess once again shares moments of conviviality with them.”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-443a4383-7fff-5e85-ca3e-55500e4e1932"></span></p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image: @hshprincesscharlene</em></p>

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Tributes flow for one of our oldest WWII veterans

<p>One of Australia's oldest surviving World War II veterans, Bert Collins has died. Aged 105, he was the oldest member of the Australian Labor Party.</p><p>Albert "Bert" Collins was due to celebrate his 106th birthday in March.</p><p>Tributes recognising and remembering the Bankstown local have been posted online following news of his death. "My friend Bert Collins passed away this morning," Blaxland MP Jason Clare said.</p><p>"Bert was the oldest member of the Australian Labor Party.</p><p>"He would have turned 106 next month. Rest in Peace old friend."</p><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p dir="ltr" lang="en">Sad news. My friend Bert Collins passed away this morning. <br /><br />Bert was the oldest member of the ⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/AustralianLabor?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AustralianLabor</a>⁩ Party. <br /><br />He would have turned 106 next month. Rest In Peace old friend. <a href="https://t.co/kN0Td8I2wz">pic.twitter.com/kN0Td8I2wz</a></p>— Jason Clare MP (@JasonClareMP) <a href="https://twitter.com/JasonClareMP/status/1492753650015703040?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 13, 2022</a></blockquote><p>The Labor Party also posted "Vale Bert Collins" on social media.</p><p>Mr Collins rose to the rank of a sergeant in the 52nd Australian Composite Anti-Aircraft Regiment (AIF) based in Papua New Guinea.</p><p>The veteran's Anzac spirit has never wavered and was a quality admired by many.</p><p>"When I was a boy, my Mum instilled in me a very important lesson, which I've lived by my entire life," he told the Canterbury-Bankstown Council last year.</p><p>"She said I must remember to never be rude to anyone, to never tell lies and to always show respect towards others … and I have every day of my life."</p><p><em>Image: Nine News</em></p>

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Strictly Ballroom producer’s hottest property hits the market

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Just two years after dropping a record-setting $10.25 million on a Rose Bay apartment, film producer Antoinette “Popsy” Albert has put her historic Bellevue Hill property up for sale in Sydney’s Eastern suburbs.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The asking price is expected to be a high one, with </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.domain.com.au/news/film-producer-popsy-albert-lists-bellevue-hill-house-inhigh-20-million-range-1106705/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">some sources</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> saying it could be within the “high $20 million range”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Designed by architect Espie Dods in the 1980s, the five-bedroom home features five bathrooms, several formal and informal living rooms, dining areas and a loggia (a covered seated area) that spills out into the garden.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The home also boasts a custom theatre, next door to a wine cellar, and one of its bedrooms acts as a self-contained apartment.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 1400-square-metre property is nestled among some of Bellevue’s most famed homes, all found on Ginahgulla Road. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The co-producer of Baz Luhrman’s </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">Strictly Ballroom</span><span style="font-weight: 400;"> has </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.domain.com.au/10-ginahgulla-road-bellevue-hill-nsw-2023-2017435033" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">listed</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> the home with Christie’s realtor Ken Jacobs.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Albert and her late husband, music producer Ted Albert, purchased the home in 1982 for $825,000 from the estate of late racehorse owner Allan Lewis.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Images: Getty Images, Domain</span></em></p>

Real Estate

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"We miss you": Princess Charlene's children share heartbreaking message

<p>Princess Charlene's children have made an emotional public statement, as their mother has been checked into a treatment facility. </p> <p>According to Monaco's Prince Albert II, his wife Charlene has checked into a facility "outside Monaco" to receive help for "exhaustion, both emotional and physical".</p> <p>The National Day of Monaco was celebrated on Friday as Princess Charlene's six-year-old twins, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, showed support for their mother with handmade signs that expressed how much they love and miss her. </p> <p>The two children held the signs at the balcony of Monaco Palace, with their father standing behind them in support. </p> <p>Prince Albert told <a rel="noopener" href="https://people.com/royals/prince-albert-tells-people-princess-charlene-in-treatment-facility/" target="_blank">People</a> that Princess Charlene would be needing several weeks of clinical care, saying "She realised she needed help."</p> <p>He said her current state is the result of "<span>of several factors which are private matters."</span></p> <p><span>"She was overwhelmed and couldn't face official duties, life in general or even family life."</span></p> <p>He also made it clear that Princess Charlene's admittance to the facility has nothing to do with any marital problems between the pair, who married in 2011. </p> <p><span>“I’m probably going to say this several times, but this has nothing to do with our relationship,” he said. </span></p> <p><span>“I want to make that very clear. These are not problems within our relationship; not with the relationship between a husband and wife. It’s of a different nature.”</span></p> <p><span>Earlier this week, Charlene pulled out of her scheduled appearance for National Day of Monaco. </span></p> <p><span>“A period of calm and rest is necessary to ensure the very best recovery for Princess Charlene’s health,” the palace said in a statement to People.</span></p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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‘Vulnerable’ woman murdered on morning walk

<p>A woman has been molested and killed during her regular morning walk in Auckland and New Zealand Police have already arrested one man in the murder investigation.</p> <p>The body of Lena Zhang, also known as Lena Zhang Harrap, was found in an area of bush on Wednesday afternoon in the Auckland suburb of Mt Albert.</p> <p>The 27-year-old, who has Down Syndrome, was reported missing just hours earlier after leaving her home. She left her home around 6.30 am to go for her regular walk to Ōwairaka Domain but never returned.</p> <p><strong>Suspect will appear in court today</strong></p> <p>A 31-year-old man will appear in court today faced with the murder and sexual violation of Lena Zhang.</p> <p>New Zealand Police said they received a significant amount of information from the public following an appeal they made to the public after Zhang’s body was found, to help identify a person of interest they were trying to locate in relation to the murder.</p> <p>Police had uncovered photos of the “person of interest” via CCTV footage. At the time he was wearing a blue jumper and had been captured on CCTV near the area where Lena’s body was found on Wednesday morning.</p> <p>As a result of this appeal and the use of CCTV footage, this man was found in a vehicle in Papatoetoe - around 20km away from Mt Albert - at 1.30 am on Thursday and was arrested.</p> <p><img style="width: 0px; height: 0px;" src="/nothing.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/0c976aa1225549908cd0156d8ee74c41" /><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7844362/lena-person-of-interest-um_blurred.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/0c976aa1225549908cd0156d8ee74c41" /></p> <p>Detective Inspector Aaron Pascoe said police hoped news of the arrest would provide some reassurance to the local community.</p> <p>Police were not currently seeking anyone else in relation to the murder, however enquiries continued into the investigation with a fresh appeal for sightings of a car.</p> <p><strong>Zhang’s family and the community are devastated by her death</strong></p> <p>Detective Inspector Aaron Pascoe said Zhang’s family are understandably devastated by her death.</p> <p>“Lena was a young lady, she was small in stature, she was vulnerable,” said Inspector Pascoe.</p> <p>He added she was a “loving and caring person” who was raised to be independent.</p> <p>“Whoever the offender or offenders are, they’ve targeted a vulnerable member of our community which is just appalling,” Pascoe said.</p> <p><strong>StarJam pays tribute to Lena</strong></p> <p>StarJam, an organisation which uses music, dance and performance to connect young people with disabilities, have paid tribute Lena saying she was a "true Jammer".</p> <p>A Facebook post said: “For over 12 years, Lena has been a true Jammer in Auckland Magic Movers and more recently the Central Alumni All Stars; greeting everyone with her infectious smile, genuine heartfelt support and inviting her fellow Jammers up to join her Spot the Talents. Lena, you will always be in our hearts – our thoughts go out to your family and friends.’”</p> <p>Ella Stuart who worked at StarJam said Lena brought a special touch of magic to the stage: "It was such a privilege to know Lena - she was always so enthusiastic with everything she did and her love of dancing was truly wonderful to watch. She put the 'magic' in Magic Movers! She will be so missed and in our hearts and memories always."</p> <p><em>Image: NZ Police</em></p>

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Princess Charlene of Monaco reunites with family

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After months away from her family, Princess Charlene of Monaco has reunited with her husband and children.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Princess shared a series of photos of the family together once again, with Charlene, Prince Albert, and their six-year-old twins, Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques, posing together.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I am so thrilled to have my family back with me,” Charlene captioned the sweet photos.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“(Gabriella decided to give herself a haircut!!!)” she wrote of her daughter’s newest hairstyle.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Sorry my Bella I tried my best to fix it </span><span style="font-weight: 400;">🙈</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">.”</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CS_VuctjIN1/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CS_VuctjIN1/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by HSH Princess Charlene (@hshprincesscharlene)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 43-year-old has been in South Africa for the last few months, after contracting an ear nose throat infection (ENT) while promoting her conservation work.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The princess underwent surgery almost two weeks ago.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Princess Charlene will undergo an operation today, Friday, August 13, for four hours under general anaesthesia,” the Prince’s Palace of Monaco said in a statement at the time.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Prince Albert and their children, Crown Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella will join her during her recovery period.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Due to her illness, Charlene was required to stay in South Africa, missing her tenth wedding anniversary with Albert in July.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Instead, the princess marked the celebration by sharing a video on Instagram thanking the couple’s nearest and dearest over the last decade.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Thank you for your love and support, and for the generosity we have received during this decade of our marriage,” the princess wrote.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Thank you for your anniversary gifts, for your generosity, and trust.”</span></p> <blockquote style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CQ1ceseAb9v/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="13"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"></div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" rel="noopener" href="https://www.instagram.com/tv/CQ1ceseAb9v/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank">A post shared by HSH Princess Charlene (@hshprincesscharlene)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In an interview with News24, Charlene said that being away from her family had been “a trying time”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It’s been a trying time for me. I miss my husband and children dearly,” she said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“What has been extremely difficult for me was when I was instructed by my medical team that I could not return home for my 10th wedding anniversary.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Albert is my rock and strength and without his love and support I would not have been able to get through this painful time.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Princess Charlene / Instagram</span></p>

Family & Pets

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Princess Charlene’s sad reality without her kids

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Princess Charlene of Monaco has given a glimpse into her recovery from surgery, after weeks of “painful” separation from her husband and children. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 43-year-old former Olympic swimmer took to Instagram to share several snaps from her call with her two twins, six-year-old Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Spending time with Jacqui and Bella,” she wrote. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Making blankets for the crèche next door. Wish me luck,” she added. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Princess Charlene has been in her home country of South Africa for the last few months to undergo anti-poaching work while her husband, Albert and their children remained behind in Monaco. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The royal sported skinny jeans, a green turtleneck jumper and tan boots while blowing kisses to her children via a FaceTime call. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842429/princess-charlene-2.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/e2d60b3631c84397a7b28a8b600e7fe1" /></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">In another photo, Princess Charlene is seen showing several colourful wildlife conservation posts on the wall. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The Zimbabwe-born royal sadly developed a worrying ear, nose and throat infection that required surgery in May. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The royal had a second surgery a month later “to address complications from a previous operation,” the palace confirmed in a statement to<em> PEOPLE Magazine. </em></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Charlene will remain in South Africa “indefinitely” to undergo more procedures, meaning she has not seen her kids and husband since early June when they last came to visit the conservationist royal. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842430/princess-charlene-3.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/c2bbd37e7daf4da59a30b5bcc0c1045b" /></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Her recovery also prevented Charlene from returning to Monaco to celebrate her tenth wedding anniversary with Prince Albert on July 1. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"This year will be the first time that I will not be with my husband on our wedding anniversary in July, which is difficult and saddens me," she said in a statement shared prior to the big day.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"However, Albert and I had no choice but to follow the instructions of the medical team, even if it was extremely difficult. He has been the most incredible support to me," she added.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7842428/princess-charlene-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/e7f728f8f32e4091ab9eb121f56f79ce" /></span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Charlene also opened up about the painful reality being separated from her husband and kids.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"It's been a trying time for me. I miss my husband and children dearly," she told South African News Channel24.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"Albert is my rock and strength and without his love and support I would not have been able to get through this painful time."</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Albert and the twins are planning to visit Princess Charlene in South Africa. </span></p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

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Guide to the Classics: Albert Camus' The Plague

<p>Some weeks ago, I got an email from a student who had returned to Northern Italy over Christmas to see family.</p> <p>Unable to return to Australia, they were in lockdown. The hospitals were filling up fast, as COVID-19 <a href="https://epidemic-stats.com/coronavirus/italy">began to spiral out of control</a>. Sales of Albert Camus’ 1947 novel <em><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11989.The_Plague?from_search=true&amp;from_srp=true&amp;qid=lkEWcCTf5p&amp;rank=1">The Plague</a></em> (<em>La Peste</em>) were <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/mar/28/albert-camus-novel-the-plague-la-peste-pestilence-fiction-coronavirus-lockdown">spiking</a>. Everyone was buying it.</p> <p>Rereading <em>The Plague</em> over these past weeks has been an uncanny experience. Its fictive chronicle of the measures taken in the city of Oran against a death-dealing disease that strikes in 1940 sometimes seemed to blur into the government announcements reshaping our lives.</p> <p>Oran is a city like anywhere else, Camus’ narrator tells us:</p> <blockquote> <p>Our citizens work hard, but solely with the object of getting rich. Their chief interest is in commerce, and their chief aim in life is, as they call it, ‘doing business’.</p> </blockquote> <p>Like people anywhere else, the Oranians are completely unprepared when rats begin emerging from the sewers to die in droves in streets and laneways. Then, men, women and children start to fall ill with high fever, difficulties breathing and fatal buboes.</p> <p>The people of Oran initially “disbelieved in pestilences”, outside of the pages of history books. So, like many nations in 2020, they are slow to accept the enormity of what is occurring. As our narrator comments drily: “In this respect they were wrong, and their views obviously called for revision.”</p> <p>The numbers of afflicted rise. First slowly, then exponentially. By the time the plague-bearing spring gives way to a sweltering summer, over 100 deaths daily is the new normal.</p> <p>Emergency measures are rushed in. The city gates are shut, and martial law declared. Oran’s commercial harbour is closed to sea traffic. Sporting competitions cease. Beach bathing is prohibited.</p> <p>Soon, food shortages emerge (toilet paper, thankfully, is not mentioned). Some Oranians turn plague-profiteers, preying on the desperation of their fellows. Rationing is brought in for basic necessities, including petrol.</p> <p>Meanwhile, anyone showing symptoms of the disease is isolated. Houses, then entire suburbs, are locked down. The hospitals become overwhelmed. Schools and public buildings are <a href="https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/comment/excel-convention-centre-covid-19/">converted</a> into makeshift plague hospitals.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/L8Dyf-wules?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span class="caption">A convention centre in London has been transformed into a 4,000-bed hospital.</span></p> <p>Our key protagonists, Dr Rieux and his friends Tarrou, Grand and Rambert, set up teams of voluntary workers to administer serums and ensure the sick are quickly diagnosed and hospitalised, often amongst harrowing scenes.</p> <p>In these circumstances, fear and suspicion descend “dewlike, from the greyly shining sky” on the population. Everyone realises that anyone – even those they love – could be a carrier.</p> <p>Come to think of it, so could each person themselves.</p> <p>The failure of the governors to consistently impose “social distancing” is shown up spectacularly in the novel’s most picturesque scene. The lead actor in a rendition of Gluck’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EENw_ptgGcg">Orpheus and Eurydice</a> collapses onstage, “his arms and legs splayed out under his antique robe”.</p> <p>Terrified patrons flee the darkened underworld of the opera house, “wedged together in the bottlenecks, and pouring out into the street in a confused mass, with shrill cries of dismay”.</p> <p>Arguably the most telling passages in <em>The Plague</em> today are Camus’ beautifully crafted meditative observations of the social and psychological effects of the epidemic on the townspeople.</p> <p>Epidemics make exiles of people in their own countries, our narrator stresses. Separation, isolation, loneliness, boredom and repetition become the shared fate of all.</p> <p>In Oran, as in Australia, places of worship go empty. Funerals are banned for fear of contagion. The living can no longer even farewell the many dead.</p> <p>Camus’ narrator pays especial attention to the damages visited by the plague upon separated lovers. Outsiders like the journalist Rambert who, by chance, are marooned inside Oran when the gates shut are “in the general exile […] the most exiled”.</p> <p>Today’s world knows many such “travellers caught by the plague and forced to stay where they were, […] cut off both from the person(s) with whom they wanted to be and from their homes as well”.</p> <p><strong>Multiple allegories</strong></p> <p>Camus’ prescient account of life under conditions of an epidemic works on different levels. <em>The Plague</em> is a transparent allegory of the Nazi occupation of France beginning in spring 1940. The sanitary teams reflect Camus’ experiences in, and admiration for, the resistance against the “<a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/the-brown-plague/?viewby=title">brown plague</a>” of fascism.</p> <p>Camus’ title also evokes the ways the Nazis characterised those they targeted for extermination as <a href="https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/defining-the-enemy">a pestilence</a>. The shadow of the then-still-recent Holocaust darkens <em>The Plague</em>’s pages.</p> <p>When death rates become so great that individual burials are no longer possible – as in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFy3_hEBcy8">scenes we are already seeing</a> – the Oranaise dig collective graves into which:</p> <blockquote> <p>the naked, somewhat contorted bodies were slid into a pit almost side by side, then covered with a layer of quicklime and another of earth […] so as to leave space for subsequent consignments.</p> </blockquote> <p>When this measure fails to keep up with the weight of these “consignments”, as with the genocidal actions of the <em><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Einsatzgruppen">Einzatsgruppen</a></em>, “the old crematorium east of the town” is repurposed. Closed streetcars filled with the dead are soon rattling along the old coastal tramline:</p> <blockquote> <p>Thereafter, […] when a strong wind was blowing […] a faint, sickly odour coming from the east remind[ed] them that they were living under a new order and that the plague fires were taking their nightly toll.</p> </blockquote> <p>Camus’ plague is also a metaphor for the force of what Dr Rieux calls “abstraction” in our lives: all those impersonal rules and processes which can make human beings statistics to be treated by governments with all the inhumanity characterising epidemics.</p> <p>For this reason, the enigmatic character Tarrou identifies the plague with people’s propensity to rationalise killing others for philosophical, religious or ideological causes. It is with this sense of plague in mind that the final words of the novel warn:</p> <blockquote> <p>that the plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good; that it can lie dormant for years and years in furniture and linen-chests; that it bides its time in bedrooms, cellars, trunks, and bookshelves; and that perhaps the day would come when, for the bane and the enlightening of men, it would rouse up its rats again and send them forth to die in a happy city.</p> </blockquote> <p><strong>Ordinary hope</strong></p> <p>There is nevertheless truth in the description of Camus’ masterwork as a “<a href="https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books/article-the-hope-at-the-heart-of-albert-camuss-plague-novel-la-peste/">sermon of hope</a>”. In the end, the plague dissipates as unaccountably as it had begun. Quarantine is lifted. Oran’s gates are reopened. Families and lovers reunite. The chronicle closes amid scenes of festival and jubilation.</p> <p>Camus’ narrator concludes that confronting the plague has taught him that, for all of the horrors he has witnessed, “there are more things to admire in men than to despise”.</p> <p>Unlike some philosophers, Camus became <a href="https://www.pdcnet.org/philtoday/content/philtoday_2017_0999_10_2_177">increasingly sceptical</a> about glorious ideals of superhumanity, heroism or sainthood. It is the capacity of ordinary people to do extraordinary things that <em>The Plague</em> lauds. “There’s one thing I must tell you,” Dr Rieux at one point specifies:</p> <blockquote> <p>there’s no question of heroism in all this. It’s a matter of common decency. That’s an idea which may make some people smile, but the only means of fighting a plague is common decency.</p> </blockquote> <p>It is such ordinary virtue, people each doing what they can to serve and look after each other, that Camus’ novel suggests alone preserves peoples from the worst ravages of epidemics, whether visited upon them by natural causes or tyrannical governments.</p> <p>It is therefore worth underlining that the unheroic heroes of Camus’ novel are people we call healthcare workers. Men and women, in many cases volunteers, who despite great risks step up, simply because “plague is here and we’ve got to make a stand”.</p> <p>It is also to these people’s examples, <em>The Plague</em> suggests, that we should look when we consider what kind of world we want to rebuild after the gates of our cities are again thrown open and COVID-19 has become a troubled memory.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/134244/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/matthew-sharpe-125260">Matthew Sharpe</a>, Associate Professor in Philosophy, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/deakin-university-757">Deakin University</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/guide-to-the-classics-albert-camus-the-plague-134244">original article</a>.</em></p>

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“Patience, confidence, courage, solidarity”: Prince Albert of Monaco's health update and personal message

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text "> <p>Prince Albert II of Monaco recently tested positive for COVID-19 last week, and has finally given a health update to the curious public.</p> <p>The reigning monarch is the second royal to contract the deadly virus, and over the weekend, People Magazine was able to give a look into the Prince’s condition.</p> <p>The 62-year-old is improving his health slowly and steadily as he continues to work from the confines of his home, under his doctor’s orders.</p> <p>“A little news. Condition unchanged. Little fever, little cough,” Prince Rainier III, who is the son of Princess Grace of Monaco told <a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://people.com/royals/prince-albert-health-update-after-coronavirus-diagnosis/" target="_blank" title="People Magazine. ">People Magazine.</a></p> <p>“Vital signs all good. The doctors are satisfied for now.”</p> <p>Prince Albert, who falls into the category of high-risk coronavirus patients, is undergoing regular temperature checks, and is consistently receiving news on his blood oxygen levels.</p> <p>An insider to the family has said the king messages, emails and calls ranging from celebrities and politicians to regular everyday people has been touching.</p> <p>Issuing a statement on his behalf, the Palace said Prince Albert was grateful and “touched by the many expressions of sympathy that have come to him from around the world.”</p> <p>“His Serene Highness wishes to thank all those who have shown him their support.”</p> <p>The prince tested anonymously last week in a bid to avoid being treated differently in the healthcare system.</p> <p>The royal exhibited mild flu-like symptoms and was later confirmed to have the virus by the labs of the hospital named after his late mother, Princess Grace of Monaco.</p> <p>It is understood Prince Albert is still unsure of where he could've come in contact with the virus.</p> <p>The royal signed off his official palace statement with a handwritten message of “patience, confidence, courage, solidarity” in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p> <p>There are concerns for 71-year-old Prince Charles, who Prince Albert was with just days prior to his diagnosis as both royals attended the WaterAid Summit on March 10.</p> <p>Thankfully, it is believed Prince Charles did not come into contact with Albert during the event, and he has gone so far as to avoid handshakes during engagements and events since the beginning of March.</p> </div> </div> </div> <div class="post-action-bar-component-wrapper"> <div class="post-actions-component"> <div class="upper-row"><span class="like-bar-component"></span> <div class="watched-bookmark-container"></div> </div> </div> </div>

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A prominent royal has tested positive for coronavirus

<p>The royal palace has confirmed on Friday morning that Prince Albert of Monaco has tested positive for coronavirus, after undergoing a test earlier this week for the worrying pathogen.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7831993/prince-albert-of-monaco.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/b9b15ac7f8e84dd08b1434c5492b4fe2" /></p> <p>He is the first royal member and known head of state to have been diagnosed with COVID-19, however he is not the first member of the Mediterranean paradise to have been hit with the virus as it was announced on Thursday there had been nine new cases.</p> <p>The first case of coronavirus in Monaco was recorded on February 28.</p> <p>Prince Albert had only just sat opposite of Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne, at a WaterAid charity event in London just a mere nine days before he was ruled positive.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7830238/prince-charles-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/1f96c31452db445a94ba31c58a9c237b" /></p> <p>The palace said Albert's health “does not inspire any concern”, adding he was continuing to work from his private apartments. </p> <p>However the palace confirmed the royal is being closely monitored by his person doctor and by more specialists at the Princess Grace Hospital Centre.</p> <p>Albert has also begged the 39,000 inhabitants of Monaco in a to listen to quarantine rules to stop the spread of the virus.  </p> <p>Schools and nurseries in Monaco have been told to close along with non-essential businesses including restaurants, casinos, cafes, concert halls, cinemas and nightclubs.</p> <p><img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7832649/monaco-royals-5.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f02c96bdd3614ff5b02908a746b6aede" /></p> <p>Banks, supermarkets and pharmacies continue to stay open.</p> <p>Information remains unclear in regard to the condition of the royal’s wife, Princess Charlene and whether she has been tested or not.</p> <p>Other high-profile patients include Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, the wife of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, and Begona Gomez, the wife of Spanish leader Pedro Sanchez.  </p> <p>Highly televised events including the Monaco Grand Prix has been called off with several other events on the Formula One calendar because of virus fears. </p>

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The role of music in Einstein's thinking

<p>As we marvel at science’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/gravitational-waves-discovered-the-universe-has-spoken-54237">latest extraordinary breakthrough</a>, it’s also an opportunity to ponder what kind of thinker Albert Einstein was.</p> <p>Born two decades before the beginning of the 20th century, what kind of mind was his that could come up with ideas that would have to wait until the second decade of the 21st century to be proven correct?</p> <p>The man responsible for predicting the existence of gravitational waves as the last brick in his <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-einsteins-theory-of-general-relativity-3481">theory of general relativity</a> is so often reduced to a tongue-poking electric-hair-shock caricature: the slightly mad but cuddly genius who is just <em>different</em> to everybody else.</p> <p>The true picture is perhaps less colorful; Einstein was the product of a well-rounded education that, importantly, very much included the arts and humanities.</p> <p>It’s little known that Einstein was an accomplished violinist, and even less known that had he not pursued science, he said he would have been a musician:</p> <blockquote> <p><em>I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music.</em></p> </blockquote> <p>Looking at the role of music in Einstein’s thinking sheds some light on how he shaped his most profound scientific ideas. His example suggests that in being intimately involved with the scientific complexity of music, he was able to bring a uniquely aesthetic quality to his theories. He wanted his science to be unified, harmonious, expressed simply, and to convey a sense of beauty of form.</p> <p>He confessed to thinking about science in terms of images and intuitions, often drawn directly from his experiences as a musician, only later converting these into logic, words and mathematics.</p> <p><strong>Music of the Spheres</strong></p> <p>Of the many mind-blowing things to consider in the gravitational wave discovery, there’s probably one that would have particularly piqued Einstein’s interest. This incredible sound:</p> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/TWqhUANNFXw"></iframe></div> <p>In converting the gravitational wave into a sound wave, we have the astonishing privilege of being able to hear the echo of a billion-year old explosion from an incomprehensibly distant galaxy.</p> <p>That ripple in space-time took a thousand million years to reach us, hurtling through the void at 299,000 kilometres a <em>second</em>.</p> <p>A solitary bass drum-like thwack represents the literal transposition, emerging from an awe-inspiring cosmic background noise. Adjusted to better suit the human ear, it sounds eerily like a pebble dropped into a bucket of water.</p> <p>It’s strange to think that dropping a pebble in water produces essentially the same rippling sound effect as colliding super-black holes a billion light years away in time and space.</p> <p>Strange but also fitting; it partially suggests the elemental power of sound, linked as it is to movement, a signal of life, dynamism and creation.</p> <p>Whether it’s clapping hands, a resonating violin string, or black holes 30-times larger than our sun spinning around each other at 100 times a second, something is going to get displaced.</p> <p>In the first two actions, displaced air molecules bump up against neighbouring air molecules. The vibration continues as a wave until hitting something than can absorb or stop it, such as an ear drum.</p> <p>In the cosmic example, it is space and time which are displaced, creating a different kind of wave, one that can travel through a vacuum for aeons.</p> <p>Einstein, apart from being overjoyed that his prediction had been confirmed, would have been fascinated by the sound of that gravitational ripple. According to Einstein himself, sound, in the form of music, gave him more pleasure than anything else in life.</p> <p>Far more than a diversion or hobby, music was such a part of the man that it seems to have played a role in his scientific working processes.</p> <p>Einstein’s second wife Elsa told the story of him one day appearing totally lost in thought, wandering to the piano and playing for half an hour while intermittently jotting down notes.</p> <p>Disappearing into a room for two weeks (emerging for the odd piano session), he then surfaced with a working draft of the theory of general relativity.</p> <p>Of course, piano playing and the theory of general relativity are not related in any direct or tangible sense. On one level, the story suggests that for Einstein, piano playing had the same effect walking has for many people. Ambulatory thinking processes release creative juices.</p> <p>Beethoven knew it, as did apparently <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/habits-not-hacks/201407/beethovens-daily-habit-inspiring-creative-breakthroughs">the ancient Greeks</a>, not to mention <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/walking-helps-us-think">many generations of writers</a>.</p> <p>But there were deeper levels to the science-music relationship in Einstein’s mind. There’s some evidence music played a role in the very shaping of his most important scientific discoveries.</p> <p>To understand how, it’s important to know something about Einstein’s musical background, as well as his two favourite creators of music; the composers J.S. Bach and W.A. Mozart.</p> <p><strong>Violin lessons</strong></p> <p>We tend to forget the youthful Einstein was not only a looker, but an almost bohemian type whose violin playing was a well-known and celebrated aspect of his public persona.</p> <p>Einstein could often be found onstage performing string quartets with some of the era’s greatest musicians, acquitting himself with aplomb if not distinction.</p> <p>The range of intellectual stimuli Einstein gained from playing music, and its impact on his visionary approach to science, should probably not be underestimated.</p> <p>It wasn’t by chance that Einstein’s two most beloved composers represented the most celebrated practitioners of a particularly favoured approach within European classical music: tonality in the service of formal structure.</p> <p>Tonality is a concept, much like gravity, that (almost) everyone knows about instinctively, with or without specialist training. Music with a “tonal centre” has existed for about half a millennium, and can be heard in music emerging from the Italian Renaissance, through to the popular, film and TV music of today.</p> <p>In fact the gravity analogy is usually extended into metaphor when explaining tonality: it is music that has a gravitational centre, a pitch that sounds most stable, more like the “home base” than any other pitch – the sun in a solar system of pitch-planets.</p> <p>The other pitches “orbit” around the tonally central pitch, with varying degrees of gravitational pull toward the centre. Some are weaker and further away, others are close and feel the pull more strongly.</p> <p>Most people hearing the Preludio from Bach’s Partita for Violin No. 3 would be able to identify this central pitch (called “the tonic”) simply by listening to the opening and then humming whatever note sounded the most important.</p> <p>Of course, things can always get a lot more complex, and the real story is what Bach and Mozart were able to build within this system of order and balanced forces.</p> <p>Bach’s music is synonymous with the art of musical counterpoint; a way of layering different melodies, (anywhere between two to five is common enough), so that they retain independence, yet work together in a unified way.</p> <p>This clip of Bach’s fugue for Organ in C minor BWV 542 depicts the complexities of counterpoint in such a way that non-readers of music will appreciate.</p> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4WhPUqpaRp4"></iframe></div> <p>One melody, or “voice” becomes, two, then three, then eventually four. The “architecture” metaphor is easily apparent - the music feels so beautifully <em>constructed</em>, complex and ornate yet balanced and proportioned, like a cathedral or palace (or indeed a scientific formula).</p> <p>It was probably Mozart, however, who was even closer to Einstein’s heart. His formative musical years were proximate to a “back to Mozart” movement in Europe, a reaction to the perceived decadence and musical indulgence of Wagner and his <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-wagners-ring-cycle-der-ring-des-nibelungen-20475">monumentally long operas</a>.</p> <p>At a time when Wagner had stretched the tonal system to its limits, foreshadowing its collapse in European art music of the 20th century, Mozart’s image was re-polished and deemed to embody an approach that unified balanced architectural perfection with beauty of expression.</p> <p>The finale of Mozart’s Symphony No. 41, K551 (appropriately nicknamed “Jupiter”) provides a handy example of what Einstein saw in this music. Apart from the music’s exhilarating exuberance, the fourth movement is noteworthy for combining the most sophisticated formal design of Mozart’s era (late 18th century sonata form) with the most sophisticated texture of Bach’s (early 18th century fugue).</p> <p>Einstein would have probably especially enjoyed the extraordinary musical structures Mozart creates in the final minutes of the Jupiter, its coda. After a suspenseful pause, and turning some of his melodies upside down just for fun, Mozart takes five musical themes (like melodies but shorter, fragmented) from earlier sections and layers them all on top of each other, narrowly avoiding cacophony through the complex science of musical construction.</p> <p>Much like the mathematics involved in relativity, it’s actually quite difficult to follow what happens here in real time. The coda starts around 10:24, but the whole movement should really be listened to.</p> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/prvBEXbnDR0"></iframe></div> <p>Despite the calculation involved in music like that of the Jupiter, learned complexity was never a means unto itself for these composers. Mozart has a reputation for expressing more than most composers while using the fewest notes. The vulnerable beauty of economically expressed meaning can be heard in the slow movement from the A Major Piano Concerto K488.</p> <p>It’s music such as this the led to now rather clichéd notion that Mozart appeared not to “create” his music, but discovered it ready made. Einstein sought a similar purity, economy and harmoniousness of vision for his theories.</p> <p>What relevance does this musical footnote have at a moment when we are celebrating the scientific breakthrough of the century? I believe it’s an opportunity to broaden our understanding of the ways in which this particular mind of apparent genius worked, to contemplate what kind of lessons can be learned today.</p> <p>What stands out is Einstein’s multi-dimensional approach to thinking. He saw complementarity between disciplines, and wouldn’t dream of siloing Science and the Humanities in separate bins.</p> <p>As the importance of science and technology in combating inexorable environmental catastrophe becomes ever more incontrovertible, the importance of initiatives such as the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science,_Technology,_Engineering,_and_Mathematics">STEM</a> educational grouping appears self-evident.</p> <p>But it’s clear from Einstein’s example that innovation in STEM involves modes of thinking that can come from the arts. For Einstein, it was the notion that the architectural and formal beauty he found in music could inform the inspiration and design of his scientific theories.</p> <p>Music inspired and guided him; it stimulated parts of his brain that could not be accessed through sitting at his desk. It gave him a sense of patterns, feelings, hunches, intuitions – all manner of sensual information that could be described as ways of thinking that don’t involve words.</p> <p>Some have suggested STEAM, so as to include the Arts in the grouping. Or STREAM, to include Reading and Writing. Wouldn’t it be great though if all human intellectual endeavours were simply treated equally?</p> <p>Einstein used as many parts of his mind as he could to experience and interpret the world, to create knowledge. And yet again, it’s been proven that he’s not a bad example to follow.<!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/liam-viney-175637">Liam Viney</a>, Piano Performance Fellow, <a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/the-university-of-queensland-805">The University of Queensland</a></em></p> <p><em>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/good-vibrations-the-role-of-music-in-einsteins-thinking-54725">original article</a>.</em></p>

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Think Einstein was smart? Here are 8 people with higher IQs

<p><strong>1. Jacob Barnett: IQ 170</strong></p> <p>Jacob Barnett was <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/autistic-boy-genius-iq-higher-einstein-article-1.1340923">diagnosed</a> with moderate to severe autism at two years old, and doctors predicted he’d never learn to tie his own shoes.</p> <p>Needless to say, he’s mastered dressing himself. The American child prodigy finished grades six through twelve in less than a year, then went to college at age ten.</p> <p>He was a published physicist <a href="https://psmag.com/magazine/jacob-barnett-30-under-30">by the time he was 13</a>.</p> <p>Now he’s <a href="https://uwaterloo.ca/physics-astronomy/about/people/j3barnet">working toward his PhD</a> at age 19.</p> <p><strong>2. Judit Polgár: IQ 170</strong></p> <p>The Hungarian chess master is considered the best female chess player of all time.</p> <p>When she was 15 years and 4 months old in 1991, she was the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/04/news/youngest-grandmaster-ever-is-15-ferocious-and-female.html">youngest player</a> to become an International Grandmaster.</p> <p>She’s <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/smartest-person-in-the-world-2011-12/#bert-byrne-is-alleged-to-have-an-iq-of-170-3">reported</a> to have an IQ of 170.</p> <p><strong>3. Rick Rosner: IQ 192 to 198</strong></p> <p>Rick Rosner has taken <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/interview-with-rick-rosner-2014-11?r=UK&amp;IR=T">more than 30 IQ tests</a>, revealing his IQ is between 192 and 198, depending on how the tests define their scores.</p> <p>Before the allegedly second-smartest man in the world became a TV writer, he worked as a bouncer, stripper, and nude model.</p> <p>He famously <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/entertainment/lawsuit-millionaire-player-answer-article-1.927553">sued</a> ABC network for a faulty question after losing <em>Who Wants to Be a Millionaire</em> at the $16,000 level, but he lost the case.</p> <p><strong>4. Evangelos Katsioulis: IQ 198</strong></p> <p>With a score of 198, Evangelos Katsioulis, MD, MSc, MA, PhD, has the highest tested IQ in the world, according to the <a href="http://psiq.org/home.html">World Genius Directory</a>.</p> <p>The Greek psychiatrist also <a href="http://www.katsioulis.com/evangelos-katsioulis/">has degrees</a> in philosophy and medical research technology.</p> <p><strong>5. Sho Yano: IQ 200</strong></p> <p>American physician Sho Yano started college at age nine, and earned an MD and PhD <a href="http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2012/06/young-medical-student-graduate.html">by the time he was 21</a>.</p> <p>He has a black belt in tae kwon do and started composing music when he was four, but he’s put his focus on <a href="https://www.vitals.com/doctors/Dr_Sho_Yano.html">child neurology</a>.</p> <p><strong>6. Nathan Leopold: IQ 200</strong></p> <p>The infamous Nathan Leopold had an IQ of 200 and spoke nine languages by age 18, but he didn’t use his intelligence for the greater good.</p> <p>When he was 19, he and an accomplice were <a href="https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/leopold-and-loeb-gain-national-attention">arrested for murder</a> in 1924 after trying to commit the “perfect crime.”</p> <p>Leopold spent 33 years in jail before being released on parole.</p> <p><strong>7. Marilyn vos Savant: IQ 228</strong></p> <p>When Marilyn von Savant was ten years old, an adult-level Stanford-Binet test revealed she had an <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/4add9230-23d5-11de-996a-00144feabdc0">IQ of 228</a>, which later landed her a Guinness World Record until the company removed the category in 1990 because the numbers are considered inexact.</p> <p>She’s been answering philosophical and mathematical questions for <em>Parade</em> magazine readers in her “Ask Marilyn” <a href="https://parade.com/member/marilynvossavant/">column</a> since 1986</p> <p><strong>8. Ainan Cawley: IQ 263</strong></p> <p>This Irish child genius is <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3721556/The-smartest-40-people-time-revealed-List-includes-geniuses-Einstein-da-Vinci-s-number-one.html">projected</a> to have an IQ of 263.</p> <p>At eight years old, he was already taking third-year chemistry courses at Singapore Polytechnic, and by the time he was nine, he’d memorized the first 518 decimal places of pi.</p> <p>Now 18, he seems to have a knack for entertainment, having written the script and composed music <a href="https://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/irish-child-prodigy-puts-talent-to-use-for-typhoon-charity-254202.html">for a short film called <em>Reflection</em></a> at age 12. </p> <p><em>Written by Marissa LaLiberte. This article first appeared in </em><a href="http://www.readersdigest.com.au/true-stories-lifestyle/thought-provoking/think-einstein-was-smart-here-are-8-people-higher-iqs?items_per_page=All">Reader’s Digest.</a><em> For more of what you love from the world’s best-loved magazine, </em><a href="http://readersdigest.innovations.co.nz/c/readersdigestemailsubscribe?utm_source=over60&amp;utm_medium=articles&amp;utm_campaign=RDSUB&amp;keycode=WRN93V">Here’s our subscription offer.</a></p> <p> </p> <p><img style="width: 100px !important; height: 100px !important;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7820640/1.png" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/f30947086c8e47b89cb076eb5bb9b3e2" /></p>

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Princess Caroline reveals what Grace Kelly was like as a mother

<p>Princess Caroline, the eldest daughter of Prince Rainier of Monaco and Grace Kelly, has gotten candid for a new book and revealed what is was really like growing up with the screen star from Hollywood’s golden age as her mother.</p> <p>The eldest child of the Monaco royal family, Caroline and her younger brother, Prince Albert, have opened up about their childhood in new book <em>Albert II of Monaco, The Man and The Prince</em>, by Isabelle Rivere and Peter Mikelbank – and written in honour of Prince Albert turning 60 in March this year.</p> <p>The siblings have shared intimate details on the early years of their lives with their parents, with Caroline revealing one particular meaningful figure and influence during their childhood – their nanny, Maureen Wood.</p> <p>“For my brother and I, Maureen was a key figure in our life,” Caroline told <em>People</em>.</p> <p>“When we were little, we were probably closer to our nanny than to our parents.”</p> <p><img width="500" height="500" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7817674/princess-caroline-prince-albert_500x500.jpg" alt="Princess Caroline Prince Albert"/></p> <p>The royals were so attached to their nanny when they were young, that Princess Caroline and Prince Albert would beg Wood not to go whenever she left for her annual holiday during the summer.</p> <p>“We were sad for days,” Caroline admitted.</p> <p>“Most often than not, our mother would end up calling her to ask her to come home earlier than planned.”</p> <p>The revealing new book also shares a sweet anecdote about Princess Caroline, Prince Albert and Wood, who was also interviewed for the tome.</p> <p>One night when Prince Rainier and Kelly were out of town attending a royal wedding, their nanny let the children throw their own “gala dinner” at the Palace.</p> <p>“The Chef cooked a special menu, Caroline wore one of her mother’s gowns, Albert wore a uniform, and I wore a gown too,” Wood recalled.</p> <p>“Then we put on music and we danced.”</p> <p>Despite reports the prince and princesses had a rocky childhood, all three of Kelly’s children have respectfully carried on their mother's legacy of humanitarian work through the Princess Grace Foundation.</p>

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Grace Kelly children photographed together

<p>After the death of Grace Kelly in 1982, the Princess Grace Foundation USA was created in her honour. Now, 35 years on, her three children with Prince Rainier of Monaco have reunited for their first public appearance together in years.</p> <p>Coming together for a celebration at the Theatre Princess Grace on the eve of what would have been their mother’s 88th birthday, Prince Albert II, Princess Caroline and Princess Stéphanie gathered for a rare photo together.</p> <p><img width="450" height="675" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/45703/img_0025.jpg" alt="Img _0025" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p> <p>The event included a screening of <em>The Country Girl</em>, which earned Princess Grace the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1955.</p> <p>In September, to mark the anniversary of her death, Prince Albert <a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2017/09/prince-albert-opens-up-about-the-death-of-his-mother-grace-kelly/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">gave a candid interview</span></strong></a> opening up about how his mother’s death impacted the family, describing the loss as “traumatic”.</p> <p>“It took a very long time for [Stéphanie] to recover from [the accident], and it was a very painful recollection for her,” Albert said.</p> <p>“It took a number of years for her to come to terms with that – the pain of being in that car with our mother and not being able to pull her out or to have a different outcome.”</p> <p>As for his father, Prince Rainier? He was a changed man. “It was pretty obvious that he was deeply affected and he wasn’t quite the same man as he was before the accident.”</p> <p><a href="/lifestyle/family-pets/2017/09/prince-albert-opens-up-about-the-death-of-his-mother-grace-kelly/" target="_blank"><strong><span style="text-decoration: underline;">Click here</span></strong></a> to read more from the interview.</p>

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