More news from around the world includes North Korea's commitment to South Korean Winter Olympics, another Google controversy, and Trump is dealt a blow on energy
Hello, this is Anna bringing you bitesized chunks of the best in news today.
Girl domination - Rising temperatures are turning almost all green sea turtles in a Great Barrier Reef population female, new research has found. The scientific paper warned the skewed ratio could threaten the population’s future. Sea turtles are among species with temperature dependent sex-determination.
Easing tension - North Korea will send athletes and cheerleaders to next month’s Winter Olympics in South Korea, after the two countries held their first official talks for more than two years. The North Korean party will also include performing artists and journalists, South Korea’s vice unification minister Chun Hae-sung said after the first session of talks.
BYE - Controversial UK journalist Toby Young has stepped down from the Office for Students amid a country-wide backlash to his appointment. In a statement posted on the Spectator website on Tuesday morning, Young said: ‘My appointment has become a distraction from its vital work of broadening access to higher education and defending academic freedom.’
Masterful avoidance - Thailand’s prime minister has found a frankly hilarious way to avoid journalists’ questions. He produced a life-sized cardboard cutout of himself and told the reporters to quiz it instead of him. At a press conference in Bangkok, Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters: ‘If you want to ask any questions on politics or conflict, ask this guy.’
No conservatives allowed - Google is facing renewed controversy over its alleged intolerance toward conservatives after a class action lawsuit filed by former engineer James Damore disclosed almost 100 pages of screen shots of internal discussions about politics. Damore, who was fired in 2017 after writing a controversial memo about gender and technology, alleges in the lawsuit that white, male conservative employees at Google are ‘ostracized, belittled, and punished’.
Another blow for Trump - An independent energy agency has rejected a Trump administration plan to prop up coal-fired and nuclear power plants with subsidies, dealing a blow to the president’s promise to revive the struggling coal industry. The decision by the Republican-controlled Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) was not expected and raises even more doubt about the industry’s future.
Disgraced Grace - Zimbabwean anti-corruption investigators are investigating whether former first lady Grace Mugabe fraudulently obtained a doctorate that she apparently received within months. Grace Mugabe was awarded a PhD by the University of Zimbabwe in 2014. Critics say she had not actually studied or undertaken research to earn the doctorate and that she had been handed her diploma just months after enrolling.