Author: News Desk

Palestine: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that the number of casualties from disease may surpass those from bombings in the Gaza Strip if the health and sanitation systems are not restored. Since the launch of Israeli strikes on Gaza on October 7, essential infrastructure in the besieged territory has been disrupted due to fuel and supply shortages, along with targeted attacks on hospitals and United Nations facilities. “Eventually we will see more people dying from disease than from bombardment if we are not able to put back together this health system,” Ms. Margaret Harris, a spokesperson for the…

United Kingdom: A new report has found that thousands of people in the UK are losing their lives needlessly from cancer since the country lags behind when it comes to survival rates. According to the study by Cancer Research UK, big strides have been made in treating the disease over the past 50 years, but slow and late diagnosis, along with delays in treatment, mean progress is “at risk of stalling.” The report noted that the UK has the worst survival rates for five out of seven forms of cancer compared with Australia, Canada, Norway, Denmark, Ireland, and New Zealand.…

United States: Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” concert movie has reportedly achieved a milestone exceeding $250 million in gross sales at the global box office. This surpasses the film’s $15 million budget and puts it in the running to become the most successful concert film ever. The movie’s distributor, AMC Theatres, revealed that Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour has sold $250 million worth of tickets globally, placing it in the top 20 biggest movies of 2023. After Thanksgiving weekend, Eras Tour had made $178.2 million in North America and $71.8 million abroad. It is presently ranked No. 19 on the worldwide…

United Kingdom: The Greek Prime Minister, Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis, criticised his British counterpart, Mr. Rishi Sunak, for cancelling a scheduled meeting in London. According to reports, the Greek PM had hoped to raise the issue of the Parthenon marbles in the meeting as disagreements over the antiquities erupted with renewed intensity. Mr. Mitsotakis told reporters that he was “deeply disappointed by the abrupt cancellation” of the meeting. “I want to express my annoyance at the fact that the British prime minister cancelled our scheduled meeting a few hours before it was due to take place,” the centre-right leader said in…

Israel: The Israel-Hamas conflict appeared to be entering its fifth day of truce as the two sides finished their fourth round of prisoner releases from Gaza in return for Palestinians detained in Israeli jails during the first four days of the agreement, although negotiators stated the process would go on. There was an agreement to extend the initial four-day truce by two days; it was set to expire on Monday. Qatar, along with Egypt, has facilitated indirect talks between Israel and Hamas. “We have an extension … two more days,” Qatar’s Ambassador to the United Nations Ms. Alya Ahmed Saif…

Australia: Australian authorities will ban imports of disposable vapes from January, which comes as part of efforts to curb nicotine addiction in children. The country will further introduce new rules to stop single-use vapes from being made, advertised, and supplied. The move comes amid a broader push to eliminate recreational vaping completely. Vaping has been marketed as a way to quit smoking. But, according to Australia’s Health Minister, Mr. Mark Butler, it has created a “new generation of nicotine dependency.” Vapes, or e-cigarettes, are lithium battery-powered devices that have cartridges filled with liquids containing nicotine, artificial flavourings, and a range…

United States: The US navy has captured five attackers who seized an Israel-linked cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden amid missile attacks from Houthi-controlled Yemen. “The destroyer USS Mason responded to a SOS call from a commercial tanker that had been taken over by armed assailants in the Gulf,” US Central Command announced. The Liberian-flagged tanker, which had been hauling phosphoric acid, was identified as the Central Park by the vessel’s company. The ship is managed by Zodiac Maritime, a London-headquartered international ship management firm owned by Israel’s Ofer family. The US military noted that the USS Mason, with…

United States: Neuroscientists Ms. Tamar Makin and Mr. John Krakauer have argued that previous studies don’t conclusively show the brain’s capacity to rewire itself after a stroke, an amputation, or sudden loss of vision or hearing can functionally reorganize itself. “The idea that our brain has an amazing ability to rewire and reorganize itself is an appealing one. It gives us hope and fascination, especially when we hear extraordinary stories,” remarked Mr. Krakauer from Johns Hopkins University. “This idea goes beyond simple adaptation, or plasticity – it implies a wholesale repurposing of brain regions. But while these stories may well…

China: China has opened an investigation into one of the country’s biggest shadow banks, Zhongzhi Enterprise Group (ZEG), which has lent billions to real estate firms. The group has an asset management arm that reportedly handled more than $139 billion. According to reports, the authorities are investigating “suspected illegal crimes” against the firm. This comes days after reports that ZEG had declared it was insolvent. Last week, the firm told investors in a letter that its liabilities, amounting to $64 billion, have surpassed its assets, currently valued at approximately $38 billion. While authorities stated that they had taken “criminal coercive…

United States: A US official reportedly stated that US President, Mr. Joe Biden, will not be attending the recent UN climate summit in Dubai. This Thursday’s opening of COP28, which could be the largest UN climate summit ever, is expected to draw about 70,000 attendees, including Pope Francis and national leaders. Mr. Biden and Vice President’s, Ms. Kamala Harris, schedules, made public by the White House, indicated that neither would be visiting Dubai this week. In addition to lighting the national Christmas tree, Mr. Biden will be visiting Colorado to promote US investment in wind energy. The US president will…