Articles from ‘elocal magazine’

The Christchurch–Dunedin overnight express, headed by a JA-class locomotive, ran the last scheduled steam-hauled service on New Zealand Railways (NZR), bringing to an end 108 years of regular steam rail operations in this country. · New Zealand’s rail system was predominantly steam-powered from 1863, when the first public railway opened in Christchurch, until the 1950s, when the transition to diesel power gathered momentum. Although NZR…

If aliens are watching Earth, they might be able to detect us from the radio signals we beam to Mars to control our rovers there. Astronomers have now listened in on the nearby TRAPPIST-1 system to check whether aliens are chattering between their own neighboring planets. · Earth has been blasting out incidental radio signals for over a century now, but contrary to what sci-fi says, these are fairly weak and diffuse in space, so they’d be hard…

As if the Line wasn't enough, Saudi Arabia is currently busy constructing yet another amazing skyscraper, named the Mukaab. Taking the form of a supertall cube, new information has been released that details the build progress so far and the sheer scale of the project. · The Mukaab will reach a height of 400 m (1,312 ft) in the Saudi capital Riyadh, but more impressively it will also be just as long and wide, making it so large that, according…

The October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by the Palestinian militant group Hamas and subsequent Israeli reprisals have transformed the Gaza Strip into a global arena where transcontinental alliances transcended local clashes between Israel, Palestine and Iran. · From the Middle East, Egypt and Turkey reiterated their claims of mediation.  · The rise of China and India provided counterpoints to former European empires such as France and the United…

A German pizzeria has been busted after allegedly delivering one of its dishes with a customary side order of cocaine. · Police said the restaurant in Dusseldorf, western Germany, would provide the drug when customers asked for item number 40 on the menu. It is not known how much the pizzeria charged for the special order. · "That was one of the best-selling pizzas," criminal director Michael Graf von Moltke said. · The police were first…

The stock market crash of 1929—considered the worst economic event in world history—began on "Black Thursday," October 24, 1929, with skittish investors trading a record 12.9 million shares. · On October 28, dubbed “Black Monday,” the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunged nearly 13 percent. The market fell another 12 percent the next day, “Black Tuesday.” While the crisis send shock waves across the financial world, there were numerous signs…

Violent clashes between unionised waterside workers and non-union labour erupted two days after Wellington’s ‘wharfies’ held a stopwork meeting in support of striking shipwrights. · Employers claimed the stopwork meeting breached the watersiders’ industrial agreement and brought in other (unionised) workers to replace the men who attended it. The union responded by refusing to work until the dismissed men were reinstated. The employers declared…

A condition that killed millions of sailors between the 16th and 18th centuries has resurfaced, and looks set to become more prevalent in regions of the world you'd least expect to see it. · Scurvy, caused by a vitamin C deficiency, is back in the news following the hospital admission of a 51-year-old Australian man who presented with an acute case of the condition that, until recent years, has been rare in Western, industrialized countries. …

My family loves chicken Parm but making it from scratch on a busy training night is next to impossible. The good news is the chicken can be made ahead and frozen along with the right portion of sauce and cheese for a quick weeknight meal. Serve with pasta and Caesar salad. · Ingredients: · 2 boneless chicken breast's cut into half lengthways  · 1 large egg, beaten · ⅓ cup bread crumbs · 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese · ¾ teaspoon Italian…

There is no possible evasion of the general principle that power and wealth are the measure of public responsibility for the common weal. As long as the great powers, in accordance with the moral will to justice and in accordance with the acceptance of the duties of liberality and natural equity, take over the responsibility to preserve peace and to compromise in conflicts of interest, a responsibility which Providence has laid on their…