Watch out rodents! New York appoints rat czar

New York City has appointed its first ever director of rodent mitigation.. or rat czar to use a more informal title - it's Kathleen Corradi, who currently works for the city's Education Department.

Her mission now: to reduce New York's rat population - the number of sightings doubled last year.

"You’ll be seeing a lot of me - and a lot less rats,” Corradi, whose official title is “citywide director of rodent mitigation,” said at a news conference. “There’s a new sheriff in town.”

Newshour's James Menendez has been speaking to the BBC's Pratiksha Ghildial is in New York.

Photo shows: A rat runs across a sidewalk in the snow in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., December 2, 2019. Credit: Reuters