Japan shrine displays jumbo mouse

Tokyo: A shrine in Japan is displaying a giant sculpture of a mouse, the zodiac animal for the year 2020. On Sunday, the three-metre-tall mouse was placed by a volunteer group at the entrance of Tatsumizu Shrine in Mie Prefecture, public broadcaster NHK reported. The group makes a giant zodiac sign every year to pray for people’s happiness and an abundant harvest. It took about a month to create the polystyrene sculpture. The golden mouse is holding a torch as locals hope that many Japanese athletes will win gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. IANS

2019 hottest year on record for Russia

Moscow: This year was the hottest ever registered in Russia, the country’s weather chief said on Monday, as climate change pushes global temperatures to record highs. This year in Russia was the hottest for the entire period of instrumental observations, or nearly 130 years, the head of the Gidromedtsentr weather service, Roman Vilfand, told Russian news agencies. AFP