Remains of tortoise George returning to Galapagos Islands

Remains of tortoise George returning to Galapagos Islands

QUITO, Ecuador

Lonesome George is returning to the Galapagos Islands, where his longevity as the last of his giant tortoise species and fruitless attempts to find him a mate made him a local legend.

George died at age 90 from natural causes in 2012. His remains were sent to the American Museum of Natural History in New York, where he was embalmed and exhibited.

Now he’s being brought back to Ecuador and will be put in a special display on Santa Cruz island for public viewing starting Feb. 23.

He was the last of his species, and he left no descendants despite efforts by Galapagos National Park workers to mate him with similar tortoise species.

The Galapagos Islands are recognized as an environmental treasure and inspired Charles Darwin’s theory on natural selection.

Yahoo issues warning in fallout from hacking attacks

LONDON

Yahoo is warning users of potentially malicious activity on their accounts between 2015 and 2016, the latest development in the internet company’s investigation of a mega-breach that exposed 1 billion users’ data several years ago.

Yahoo confirmed Wednesday that it was notifying users that their accounts had potentially been compromised but declined to say how many people were affected.

In a statement, Yahoo tied some of the potential compromises to what it has described as the “state-sponsored actor” responsible for the theft of private data from more than 1 billion user accounts in 2013 and 2014. The stolen data included email addresses, birth dates and answers to security questions.

Immigrant workers, families to protest by staying home

PHILADELPHIA

Organizers in cities across the U.S. are telling immigrants to miss class, miss work and not shop today as a way to show the country how important they are to America’s economy and way of life.

“A Day Without Immigrants” actions are planned in cities including Philadelphia, Washington, Boston and Austin, Texas.

The protest comes in response to President Donald Trump and his 1-month-old administration. The Republican president has pledged to increase deportation of immigrants living in the country illegally, build a wall along the Mexican border, and ban people from certain majority-Muslim countries from coming into the U.S. He also has blamed high unemployment on immigration.

China makes deadly carfentanil controlled substance

SHANGHAI

China is adding carfentanil and three related synthetic opioids to its list of controlled substances effective March 1, China’s National Narcotics Control Commission said today.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration called the move a potential “game-changer” that is likely to reduce supply of key chemicals driving a surge of overdoses and deaths among unsuspecting drug users in North America. After China controlled 116 synthetic drugs in October 2015, seizures in the United States of compounds on that list plunged.

Some 5,000 times stronger than heroin, carfentanil is so potent it has been used as a weapon and is considered a potential terrorism threat. Dealers cut fentanyls into heroin and other drugs to boost profit margins.

Associated Press