#5Things: Twitter policy, breakdancing as a sport, Mount Everest, and more

1. Twitter expands hateful conduct rules

Twitter Inc has expanded its policy barring hateful speech to include “language that dehumanises people on the basis of race, ethnicity and national origin”. The company banned speech that dehumanises others based on religion or caste last year and updated the rule in March to add age, disability, and disease to the list of protected categories.

2. Firefighters battle blaze at New Germany cosmetics factory

Firefighters continue to battle the blaze that swept through a chemical company in New Germany, Pinetown on Tuesday morning. eThekwini Fire Department’s Divisional Commander Durban West, Dennis Govender, said the department received information about the explosion at Zeta Labs in Otto Volek Road just after 11.30am. This is after 10 tons of hand sanitizer exploded.

More details here.

3. Breakdancing gets Olympics greenlight

While you can’t deny that breakdancing is far from easy – is it really a sport? The International Olympic Committee clearly thinks so, as of this week, their decision to include breakdancing was confirmed, in the hopes of the Olympics attracting a younger audience.

Read the full story here.

4. Mount Everest gets new official height 

Mount Everest is higher than we previously thought. Kathmandu and Beijing had differed over Mount Everest’s exact height for years, but after each sent an expedition of surveyors to the summit, they have agreed that the official height is 8,848.86m, a bit more than their previous calculations.

5. Critically endangered Sumatran orangutan born at Belgian animal park

An animal park in Belgium has welcomed the arrival of a critically endangered Sumatran orangutan. The male orangutan, named Mathaï, was born on November 28 at Pairi Daiza animal park. He was conceived and born naturally, joining his father Ujian, mother, Sari, and brother, Berani.

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IMAGE CREDIT: AFP