A mysterious monolith, similar to ones that have appeared briefly in the Utah desert, on a heath in the Netherlands, in Warsaw and on a Romanian hilltop, has now popped up in Toronto.
Canadian media said the four-meter (12-foot) tall shiny metal structure, which appeared to be hollow, was spotted on the city's shore on New Year's Eve.
Similar ones were also recently reported in Vancouver and in the midwestern city of Winnipeg.
Images posted on social media describing it as "Mono-terrific" showed Toronto's downtown including the iconic CN Tower in the distance.
Local residents were giddy, eager to get a glimpse of the installation that some suggested online was either "rogue art," left by aliens, or a promotion for an upcoming film.
Others worried that crowds would flock to the Humber Bay Shores neighbourhood in breach of public health officials' pleas to stay home during a government-ordered lockdown to slow the spread of the Covid-19 illness.
Nobody has claimed credit for the monoliths that have popped up around the world, and then disappeared.
By Friday morning, the Toronto monolith had been vandalised with red paint.
News of the first monolith in the Utah desert in November gained worldwide headlines, with many noting the object's similarity with alien monoliths that trigger huge leaps in human progress in Stanley Kubrick's classic sci-fi 2001: A Space Odyssey.
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Date of launch: 2014
Founder: Jon Richards, founder and chief executive; Samer Chebab, co-founder and chief operating officer, and Jonathan Rawlings, co-founder and chief financial officer
Based: Media City, Dubai
Sector: Financial services
Size: 120 employees
Investors: 2014: $500,000 in a seed round led by Mulverhill Associates; 2015: $3m in Series A funding led by STC Ventures (managed by Iris Capital), Wamda and Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority; 2019: $8m in Series B funding with the same investors as Series A along with Precinct Partners, Saned and Argo Ventures (the VC arm of multinational insurer Argo Group)
Day 3, Abu Dhabi Test: At a glance
Moment of the day Just three balls remained in an exhausting day for Sri Lanka’s bowlers when they were afforded some belated cheer. Nuwan Pradeep, unrewarded in 15 overs to that point, let slip a seemingly innocuous delivery down the legside. Babar Azam feathered it behind, and Niroshan Dickwella dived to make a fine catch.
Stat of the day - 2.56 Shan Masood and Sami Aslam are the 16th opening partnership Pakistan have had in Tests in the past five years. That turnover at the top of the order – a new pair every 2.56 Test matches on average – is by far the fastest rate among the leading Test sides. Masood and Aslam put on 114 in their first alliance in Abu Dhabi.
The verdict Even by the normal standards of Test cricket in the UAE, this has been slow going. Pakistan’s run-rate of 2.38 per over is the lowest they have managed in a Test match in this country. With just 14 wickets having fallen in three days so far, it is difficult to see 26 dropping to bring about a result over the next two.
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