Spirit The Mustang Stallion Celebrating 29th Birthday

Sep 28 2024

Spirit, the Kiger Mustang stallion who served as the inspiration for DreamWorks’ animated film Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, is joyfully celebrating his 29th birthday at the Return to Freedom sanctuary located in Santa Barbara, California.

Born in 1995, Spirit gained recognition as the model for the Oscar-nominated film due to his stunning appearance, which closely resembles that of the rare 15th-century Spanish Barb horses.

His unique features and spirited personality made him the perfect representation for the film’s central character.

To bring Spirit to life on screen, animators meticulously studied his movements and behavior, enabling them to create a character that was both realistic and expressive, despite being voiceless.

Following the success of the film, Spirit was moved to the sanctuary, where he has since become a beloved figure, inspiring countless visitors and serving as a passionate advocate for the protection of wild horses.

In recognition of his significant contributions to the Mustang community and his role as an ambassador for wild horses, Spirit was inducted into the Horse Stars Hall of Fame in 2018. This honor highlights not only his influence in the film industry but also his ongoing commitment to raising awareness about the importance of preserving these magnificent creatures in the wild.

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Environmental Activists Throw Soup On Van Gogh Painting

Sep 28 2024

Supporters of Just Stop Oil have splashed soup on two Vincent van Gogh paintings, just hours after two activists received jail sentences for targeting one of the same artworks.

Three protesters threw orange soup at Sunflowers (1888) and Sunflowers (1889) during the Poets and Lovers exhibition at the National Gallery in central London. They have been arrested on suspicion of criminal damage.

The latter painting was the same artwork targeted by Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland in 2022. This duo is now part of a group of 25 Just Stop Oil supporters currently in jail for climate protests.

The National Gallery later reported that the two paintings targeted on Friday had been removed for examination and were luckily found to be undamaged.

“Future generations will see these prisoners of conscience as being on the right side of history,” Phil Green, one of the participants in Friday’s protest, told gallery visitors.

Former protestor Phoebe Plummer had just been sentenced to two years in prison for causing an estimated £10,000 of damage to the frame of Sunflowers 1888, just an hour before the act.

During sentencing at Southwark Crown Court on Friday, Judge Christopher Hehir told the two protestors, “You two had no right to do what you did to Sunflowers, and your arrogance in believing otherwise warrants the strongest condemnation.”

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Malta Ranks Second In The EU For Overnight Tourist Stays

Sep 28 2024

In the second quarter of 2024, the European Union recorded a total of 780.1 million overnight stays in tourist accommodations, marking a slight 0.2% increase compared to the same period in 2023.

Foreign visitors (non-residents of both EU and non-EU countries) made up a significant portion of these overnight stays, accounting for 49.0% of the total in the second quarter of 2024.

Among the EU countries, Malta stood out as one of the top destinations for foreign visitors. A remarkable 94.7% of all overnight stays in Malta were from international tourists, placing it just behind Cyprus (94.8%) and ahead of Croatia (91.0%) in attracting foreign travelers.

This high percentage highlights Malta’s appeal as a tourist hotspot, especially for those coming from abroad.

The island’s rich history, Mediterranean charm, and diverse attractions continue to draw large numbers of international visitors, cementing its position as one of the leading destinations for foreign tourism within the European Union.

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World’s Oldest Cheese Found In Ancient Chinese Tomb

Sep 28 2024

The oldest known piece of cheese has been discovered, draped across the neck of a mummified woman.

During a 2003 excavation at the Xiaohe Cemetery in Xinjiang, China, archaeologists opened a 3,600-year-old coffin and found a substance placed around the neck of the mummy.

Initially, archaeologists believed the object was a necklace, but upon closer inspection, they identified it as the world’s oldest cheese.

Qiaomei Fu, a paleogeneticist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, told NBC News, “Regular cheese is soft. This isn’t. It’s now extremely dry, dense, and has turned to hard dust.”

She noted that the arid climate of the Tarim Basin desert played a key role in preserving the mummy and the cheese.

The findings shed light on how Bronze Age people consumed dairy and how fermented foods spread throughout Asia. The cheese was identified as kefir, made by fermenting milk with kefir grains, with evidence suggesting both goat and cow milk were used in its production.

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