NEWPORT  –  On a cold February night in 1946, a 15-year-old schoolboy made a surprising discovery as he peered out of his bedroom window. Michael Woodman, a keen amateur astronomer from Newport, had stayed up late waiting for his father to come home when he noticed something strange in the night sky. “There was the constellation of Corona Borealis, but in the ring of the Corona, the second star down was bright – very bright,” he explains. “And I thought ‘I’ve never seen anything like that before.'” The next morning he wrote to the Astronomer Royal. The now 94-year-old smiles as he recalls the memory, surprised that his teenage self would be so bold. “And bless me if the Astronomer Royal didn’t reply, with a letter I’ve still got.” Michael Woodman had witnessed a rare celestial event that briefly dazzled the heavens. Not only that, the Astronomer Royal informed him that he was the first person in the country to have seen this. He’d spotted a star system, about 3,000 light years away, called T Corona Borealis – or T Cor Bor for short – exploding into brightness, becoming visible in the night sky for a few short days. “I hit the jackpot,” he says

Now a whole new generation of stargazers are scanning the skies again because scientists believe T Cor Bor ignites about every 80 years or so. On a crystal clear night, in the Dark Skies Reserve of Bannau Brycheiniog, also known as the Brecon Beacons, astronomers are setting up their telescopes. “T Cor Bor is dim at the minute – it’s magnitude 10, well below what you can see with the naked eye,” explains Dr Jenifer Millard from Fifth Star Labs. To find the area of sky where it should appear, she advises to first locate the plough and follow its handle to Arcturus. To the west of this star is the curved constellation of Corona Borealis, made up of seven stars, and where T Cor Bor will at some point light up. “It is only going to be visible to the naked eye for a couple of days,” she says.

“Of course, if you’ve got a small pair of binoculars or a small telescope, you’ll be able to see it for a little bit longer because you’ve got that magnifying tool. But I do think that it is the short stint in the sky that makes it really special.” The astronomical phenomenon is caused by the interaction between two stars orbiting each other. A small white dwarf, which is a dead star, is locked in a cosmic dance with a much larger red giant – a star that’s reaching the end of its life. The compact white dwarf has an immense gravitational pull, so great that it steals material away from its larger neighbour.

“The gravity on the surface of the white dwarf is a million times the gravity we feel on Earth, so if we stood on it, we would be crushed instantly,” explains Dr Jane Clark, from the Cardiff Astronomical Society. Over time, the material it grabs from the other star gets crushed and compressed – until eventually it triggers a nuclear explosion, releasing a huge amount of energy – a process known as going nova. “And when that happens, it will shine like the best Christmas tree in town,” says Dr Clark. (BBC)

Photo: Michael Woodman. (BBC/Tony Jolliffe)

BEIJING  – Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday extended condolences to his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden, over the passing of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter. On behalf of the Chinese government and people, as well as in his own name, Xi expressed deep condolences over the passing of Carter and extended sincere sympathy to the Carter family.

In his message, Xi called Carter a promoter and decision-maker in the establishment of China-U.S. diplomatic relations, noting that the late U.S. leader had long contributed to the development of bilateral ties, as well as the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries. Xi said that he deeply regrets the former president’s passing.

Noting that the China-U.S. relationship is one of the most important bilateral ties in the world, Xi said that China is ready to work with the U.S. side to focus on the fundamental interests of their people and meet the common expectations of the international community, and advance China-U.S. relations along the right track of sound, stable and sustainable development. (Xinhua)

Photo: China’s Xi Jinping shakes hands with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter during a meeting at Zhongnanhai, the central government compound in Beijing. (Reuters)

BUENOS AIRES –  Late last month, Argentinian President Javier Milei uploaded a characteristically odd photo on social media. It showed him posing with his cabinet behind a golden chainsaw – a callback to the campaign prop Milei wielded at rallies to punctuate his support for spending cuts. An accompanying caption read: “The best government in history.” That bravado may still prove premature but, for now, Milei’s supporters say he has delivered on at least some of his promises – even if many Argentinians are suffering the consequences.

In his first year of his presidency, Milei’s commitment to a draconian fiscal adjustment has begun to change a country that was prone to economic stagnation and runaway inflation, driven by years of wild money-printing that paid for government deficits. A self-described anarcho-capitalist, Milei revved-up his chainsaw immediately upon taking office, quickly moving to slash spending, eliminate government ministries and fire hundreds of bureaucrats.

In tandem, pensions and public salaries were held down, cutting their real value, and public infrastructure projects were scrapped. The cost-cutting resulted in a fiscal surplus in Milei’s first full month in office back in January, and in every month since, a nearly unprecedented streak in recent Argentinian history. Overall, Milei has reduced government spending by 30 percent relative to last year. The president’s contempt for the administrative state has been winning Milei influential admirers outside of Argentina, especially among United States President-elect Donald Trump’s ascendant circle. The victor of last month’s US election has repeatedly praised Milei, calling him his “favourite president”. Both Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, the Trump acolytes tasked with downsizing the US federal government, have spoken well of Milei’s austerity measures, with Ramaswamy advocating for “Milei-style cuts, on steroids”.

Domestically, Milei’s reforms have produced the holy grail of Argentinian politics: falling inflation. When Milei was elected in 2023, Argentina had the world’s highest annual inflation rate in the world: 211 percent. Prices were rising month-on-month by 13 percent, spiking to 25 percent in December 2023 – after Milei became president – following a huge currency devaluation by his government. But monthly inflation is now at 2.4 percent, according to data for November, the lowest in more than four years.

“Inflation was the big phenomenon that voters really cared about,” said Federico Robles, programme coordinator of the Wilson Center’s Latin America programme in Washington, DC. “This is a government that came in and said they were going to solve inflation, and no other issue was going to matter as much as that.” Another positive indicator: Argentina’s central bank has started bringing in billions in new foreign currency reserves, thanks in part to a tightened monetary regime and a tax amnesty scheme that incentivised Argentinians to bring dollar savings back into the banking system. Still, despite the recent influx, overall reserves remain in the red. The country’s renewed macroeconomic stability is changing Argentina’s perception in the markets. The country-risk index, an influential measure of the risk of default from JP Morgan, has tumbled from about 2,000 when Milei took office to roughly 750 at the beginning of the month, its lowest level in five years. (Al Jazeera/AP)

NICKERIE – A team that consists of police officers from Paramaribo and Nickerie launched an investigation after a suspected drug plane went down in the District Nickerie. Sources told Times of Suriname that a suspected drug plane crashed in the Nickerie River. The plane exploded before going up in flames. It is said that the plane went down in the  Stondansi region. A resident from the area reported the plane crash to the police on Thursday. The joint police force has already recovered clothes and suspected drug parcels at the crash site. The investigation is ongoing.

PARAMARIBO – The Fire Department Suriname (KBS) did not come across any illegal fireworks during routine inspections that were carried out in  Paramaribo. Only one of the retailers whose stores were inspected was caught violating the rules. Fire Department Spokesman  Olton Pinas pointed out that the KBS had visited several stores to check if the retailers have valid permits and if they sell illegal fireworks. In one of the stores the retailer was caught selling mini crackers to underage children. The inspectors from the KBS ordered him to stop the sale immediately and to give the children a refund. They then let the retailer off with a warning after the spokesman had made it clear to him that selling fireworks to minors is strictly prohibited. Vendors are only allowed to sell fireworks to minors who are accompanied by an adult. The KBS also checked to see if all of the retail stores that sell fireworks have a fire extinguisher.