latest Current Affair 6 Feb 2016

Chinese New Year celebrations

The Border’s Chinese community will gather on Saturday to ring in the year of the monkey.

The Chinese Church will celebrate the start of the Chinese New Year, which is a 15-day event that begins on Monday. 

Church organiser and pastor Nicole Ching has organised a meal for their small Chinese community and anyone interested in celebrating the event. 

“We have a celebration combined with a church service, we sing songs and my brother performs with nun chucks,” she said.  

"We ask brothers and sisters to bring a dish that represents what they eat in China because they (the church community) come from all different parts of China." 

The year of the monkey is a symbol of intelligence and speed, according to the pastor.

Other traditions the Chinese community will continue include the gathering for a meal and that of the red envelope.

Pretty Little Liars Sneak Peek: Will the New 'A' Break Up Hanna and Jordan?

If you already think Hanna’s fiancé Jordan is a perfect human, this exclusive clip from Tuesday’s Pretty Little Liars (Freeform, 8/7c) isn’t going to change your mind.

It will, however, make you question how much longer their engagement can possibly last now that there’s a new “A” in town. The video finds Hanna receiving an emoji-laden threat from the show’s new über bad, demanding that she hand over the security camera footage — or risk losing Jordan forever.

Of course, this begs a pretty crucial question: What dirt does this new “A” have on Hanna that could convince Jordan — who has stood by his fiancée every step of the way, even when she risked going to jail by erasing incriminating footage — to call off their wedding?

The plot has never been thicker, my friends.

Hit PLAY on the preview clip above, then drop a comment with your thoughts on the romances of Rosewood: Are you worried about Hanna and Jordan? Do you support Spencer and Caleb?

The famous social science experiment that shows why Sanders would be easy to beat

But that in turn raises another (perhaps more obvious) question: What turns people off from extreme ideas? Why are voters less likely to support candidates who propose more radical solutions?

That question may be answered by a series of famous social science studies conducted several decades ago by Princeton University professor Daniel Kahneman, according to Bruce Miroff, a political science professor at the University at Albany.

The researchers found that people were much more upset by the prospect of losing some amount of their money than they were made happy by the prospect of gaining the same amount. The upshot: People have a strong psychological fear of loss — even when they know it might result in a better long-term outcome.

Syria war: Fresh clashes near Aleppo as refugee crisis grows

Fierce clashes have been reported near Aleppo in northern Syria, as government forces try to surround rebels holed up in the strategic city.

Monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said about 120 fighters on both sides had been killed around the town of Ratyan on Friday.

As many as 20,000 refugees fleeing the fighting have gathered at a border crossing with Turkey.

Turkey says it is prepared to help the refugees but the frontier is shut.

In the past few days, the Syrian army backed by Russian air power has made a series of gains in Aleppo province.

Syrian state TV said on Friday that pro-government forces had seized Ratyan, just north of Aleppo city.

EU says Portuguese budget "non-compliant" but will be re-assessed in Spring

Vice-President Valdis Dombrovskis, responsible for the Euro and Social Dialogue, said: “...The Portuguese Government is invited to take the necessary steps to ensure that the 2016 budget is compliant. In spring, the Commission will reassess Portugal’s compliance with its obligations under the Stability and Growth Pact, including under the Excessive Deficit Procedure.”

Over in Greece, thousands of police men (backed up by firemen and coastguard officials) are marching through Athens chanting “we save lives, don’t drown ours “ in reference to pension cuts, writes Helena Smith.

All are in uniform. They’re protesting pension funds being amalgamated and demanding that they be excluded from planned reforms by virtue of the sensitivity of their jobs. Protestors have descended on the capital from all over Greece, including the southern Aegean, site of mass refugee arrivals. The union of police employees from Trikala are participating with a banner that reads: “No to the measures of death. Stop the cuts.”

 Police officers chant slogans during the protest rally. Photograph: Louisa 

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At The Border Mail we love to hear all about your sporting achievements. Whether you take a “specky” in the O and M, hit a run or two in junior cricket or take to the track in athletics, we want to see your name in our pages.

We are constantly looking for ways to improve our service, and particularly to take advantage of new technology. As a result we have developed a new online form for the submission of sports details.

Barbie the sheep found with 20kg overgrown fleece ;

Barbie the sheep wandered off after a fire on a Victorian farm in 2014.

But she’s back – and in need of a shave.

Watch as a shearer cuts three years' worth of growth after Barbie disappeared on February 9, 2014.