World’s most pampered bird

There are all types of massages available but for one rescued Japanese white-eye bird, a spoon is all that is needed to send her into rapture.

Julia Lee, from New Taipei City, Taiwan, has pampered Birdbee for four years after finding her on the ground as a baby.

In the video ‘Princess’, as she is affectionately known, raises her head and waits to be groomed as she is left free to roam the house. Julia said: “It was found on the ground when she was a baby bird. She looked a little weak and we brought her home for safety.”

Julia added: “I now brush her feathers tenderly which she absolutely loves. She really enjoys being massaged gently with a cotton swab, a small plastic spoon, or her own feather.

Every time we show her different ways of being massaged, she gets fluffy and relaxed. We even nicknamed her ‘Princess’ because she loves to be pampered so much.”

Sushi chef recreates NBA players

Yujia Hu, a Chinese sushi chef based in Milan, uses rice, seaweed and raw fish to recreate iconic Air Jordan sneakers and the likenesses of current and former NBA players including Michael Jordan, Paul Pierce and James Harden on his Instagram page theonigiriart.

“Driven by the urge to express his creativity, he started to experiment, applying components and techniques from his work,” his website states. “His passion for basketball led him to start creating onigiri portraits of NBA superstars.”

His art also includes other types of sneakers and pop culture figures including the former US President Barack Obama and Kanye West inside one of his Yeezy sneakers.

World’s most expensive earrings don’t even match

The Apollo and Artemis Diamonds are described as ‘truly exceptional stones’ and truly in a ‘class of their own’ when considered as a pair.

Apollo is a 14.54 carat vivid blue diamond, cut and polished into a pear shape. While it’s partner Artemis is a 16 carat intense pink diamond. Both gems are exceptionally rare, with less than 0.1% of diamonds having any blue in them at all. Only an ‘infinitesimally’ small percentage of those is graded Fancy Vivid Blue like Apollo.

They were sold as separate lots at a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva. Apollo sold for £33 million and Artemis cost £12 million — with both earrings snapped up by the same anonymous bidder.

The £45 million final figure is a record for a pair of earrings, though the staggering sum was actually short on what was expected — with the diamonds carrying an estimate of up to £55 million.

David Bennett, worldwide chairman of Sotheby’s International Jewellery Division, said: “The superb ‘Apollo Blue’ and ‘Artemis Pink’, which have now been renamed ‘The Memory of Autumn Leaves’ and ‘The Dream of Autumn Leaves’. I am delighted that the stones will remain together as earrings.”

Prior to the sale, Mr Bennett described the diamonds as ‘the most important pair of earrings ever offered at auction’.

He added: “These exquisite coloured diamonds are enormously rare and each is a wonderful stone in its own right. Together, as a pair of earrings, they are breathtaking.”

Published in Dawn, Young World June 10th, 2017