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Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O’Neill was named first minister in the government that under the terms of the 1998 Good Friday peace accord shares power equally between Northern Ireland’s two main communities — British unionists who want to stay in the U.K., and Irish nationalists who seek to unite with Ireland. [...]

“This is a historic day which represents a new dawn,” O’Neill said. [...]

O’Neill will share power with deputy first minister Emma Little-Pengelly from the Democratic Unionist Party. The two will be equals, but O’Neill, whose party captured more seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 2022 elections, will hold the more prestigious title.

Transportation officials in the UK have warned commuters not to use live snakes as face coverings, after a bus passenger was spotted with a large reptile wrapped around his head. [...]

A Transport for Greater Manchester spokesperson told CNN that passengers are expected to follow government guidance on wearing face coverings on public transportation during the coronavirus pandemic, unless they are exempt.

“This needn’t be a surgical mask … passengers can make their own or wear something suitable, such as a scarf or bandana,” the representative said in a statement.

“While there is a small degree of interpretation that can be applied to this, we do not believe it extends to the use of snakeskin — especially when still attached to the snake.”

In the largest deal to protect old-growth redwood trees anywhere in California in 20 years, a Bay Area environmental group has purchased a remote 730-acre ancient forest on the Sonoma Coast for a new public park west of Santa Rosa. Not only is it larger than Muir Woods, the property boasts more old-growth redwoods, 319 trees taller than 250 feet, including many that are taller than the 305-foot-high Statue of Liberty, and dating back more than 1,000 years.
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The property was the largest unprotected old-growth redwood forest left in private ownership in the United States. It is known now as the Harold Richardson Redwoods Reserve, after a 96-year-old logger who owned the land but refused for generations to cut down the massive, primeval trees.

Richardson died in 2016. The $18.1 million deal with Save the Redwoods League is set to be announced Tuesday. The new park will be operated by the league and open to hikers for free in about three years, after the organization finishes environmental surveys of the property and builds hiking trails.