Barry Manilow tunes used to deter protesters

Authorities in New Zealand tried using songs by Barry Manilow and James Blunt to disperse protesters, reported Sky News. “Freedom convoy” demonstrators set up a camp on the grounds of the country’s parliament to protest against vaccine mandates. But when officials used a sound system to blast out songs by Manilow and Blunt on a loop, the protesters simply responded by dancing.

You’re more likely to get a date than meet an alien

Researchers have applied the Drake equation – a formula used to assess the chances of finding alien life in our Milky Way – to the mathematics of dating. They found that if you are an averagely-attractive Birmingham resident and happy to settle for a man with most of his own teeth aged 30-50, then the chance of you finding love is almost five times as likely as the chance of advanced alien civilisations existing within 1,000 light-years of Earth. “The Drake equation is just a way of narrowing things down,” a researcher told The Times.

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China ‘will attack New York in 2049’

A time-traveller “from the year 2104” has claimed the US will face an unexpected attack by a Chinese Air Force pilot in just 27 years. The TikTok user, named Matthew Smith, claims to be visiting 2022 from more than 80 years into the future, said the Daily Star. In a new video, Smith claimed that in 2049, “a member of China’s Air Force disobeyed orders and stole a powerful aircraft and bombed NYC”.