Australia’s fertility rate continues to plummet, with registered births dropping below 300,000 for the first time in 14 years
In news that is bound to appal
The birthrate has started to fall
Not here, just down under
I’m starting to wonder
If Ozzies are riding at all
Shutterstock
Residents of Carson, California, have been sickened by a noxious smell from the Dominguez Channel (above) that has been likened to “the stench of death”.
In Carson the locals all tell
Of a terrible foul deathly smell
Since a chemical mire
That was caused by a fire
Left many folk feeling unwell.
AP
Chinese weather authorities successfully controlled the weather ahead of a major political celebration earlier this year
In China they never ask why
They can’t get a glimpse of blue sky
As they have a spray
That makes clouds go away
Which is something the Irish should try
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The US has rejected European calls for regulating or banning ‘killer robots’
There are boffins these days who have got
Designs for a new killer bot
So many folk saw
The need for a law
But the yanks, it appears, still have not
DesignTap
French President Emmanuel Macron (left) privately called Boris Johnson a ‘clown’, says a French magazine
I wonder if Johnson will frown
When he hears how his act has gone down
With the neighbours in France
As I think there‘s a chance
That he doesn’t want to be a clown
Getty
‘Bonenkai’ – or end of year – party season kicks off in Japan in December with some reluctant to join the workplace tradition
If you ask someone in Japan
They’ll tell you that they’re not a fan
Of being forced to
Attend an office do
And they’ll dodge it if somehow they can
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Donald Trump’s approach to the US presidency created unprecedented challenges for intelligence officials responsible for briefing him, the CIA say
The CIA came to great grief
When trying to give Trump his brief
His complete lack of tact
And hatred of fact
Made it a task beyond belief
Getty
Donald Trump has challenged leading editors and politicians to debate him in public that Joe Biden beat him in the 2020 presidential election through fraud
Trump thinks that it’s worth a try
To repeat once again his big lie
That the vote was a fix
And that some dirty tricks
Meant what should have occurred went awry
Getty
Google’s Irish subsidiary has agreed to pay €218m in back taxes
It seems that a big company
That does various things in I.T.
Has said it would pay
Some more tax yesterday
Which is quite a nice thing to see
Shutterstock
Australia’s most expensive goat Marrakesh, who sold for an Australian record of $21,000 at auction
From down under comes a strange tale
That would make a tight fisted man pale
When a healthy young buck
With a fashionable look
Was let go in a bank busting sale
AP
