Author: News Desk

Sweden: Numerous protesters have stormed the Swedish embassy in central Baghdad after the Quran burning incident in Sweden. The Swedish foreign ministry press office said in a statement that all embassy staff were safe and highlighted the need for Iraqi authorities to protect diplomatic missions. “The Iraqi government has instructed the competent security authorities to conduct an urgent investigation and take the necessary security measures in order to uncover the circumstances of the incident and identify the perpetrators of this act and hold them accountable according to the law,” the foreign ministry said in a statement. Iraq’s foreign ministry also…

United States: In a new study, scientists have found a gene that can help the body fight ‘severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2’ (SARS-CoV-2) so well that people with it may not have any COVID symptoms at all. HLA genes are responsible for encoding proteins that play a crucial role in the immune system by recognising and differentiating between healthy cells and infected cells within the body. According to the findings, a minimum of 20 percent of individuals infected with COVID-19 either do not show any symptoms throughout the course of the infection or remain asymptomatic. In a collaborative study…

United States: The President of Stanford University, Dr. Marc Tessier-Lavigne, has announced that he will resign after an independent investigation found “substandard practises” in research papers he was involved in. Dr. Tessier-Lavigne, a prominent neuroscientist from Ontario, Canada, issued a statement saying he would leave his post on August 31. Previously, media reports in the United States raised questions about “falsified data” in research linked to Dr. Tessier-Lavigne. Recently, a scientific panel commissioned by Stanford’s Board of Trustees cleared the President of participating in any misconduct, even though it found “serious flaws” in the research papers reviewed. “The Panel has…

United States: The streaming giant Netflix has announced that it has added nearly six million new paid subscribers after a crackdown on password sharing. That number of subscribers was bigger than expected and it follows efforts by the company to re-ignite growth following unusual subscriber losses last spring, as per the statement. Netflix is also facing challenges from ongoing strikes in the US by writers and actors. Netflix has expanded its paid sharing initiative, aimed at curbing account sharing for free, to over 100 countries after commencing its widespread implementation earlier this year. The company reported that revenue in these…

Russia: Russia’s Defence Ministry has warned that ships travelling to Ukraine’s Black Sea ports will be considered potential military targets. The warning came after Ukraine said it would set up a temporary shipping route for grain exports following Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Deal. The Defence Ministry stated that it would consider all ships travelling to Ukraine to be potentially carrying military cargo for Kyiv, and “the flag countries of such ships will be considered parties to the Ukrainian conflict.” In a statement, the Ministry noted that it would implement its new step in the Black Sea starting…

Pakistan: The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned that Pakistan’s economic challenges are “complex and multifaceted” and the risks are “exceptionally high.” In a recently published report, the IMF noted that Pakistan’s economy had been hit by “significant shocks” in 2022, including floods that caused damage of more than $30 billion, the war in Ukraine, and other “fiscal as well as external pressures.” “Addressing them requires steadfast implementation of agreed policies as well as continued financial support from external partners. Consistent and decisive implementation of programme agreements will be essential to reduce risks and maintain macroeconomic stability,” the report added.…

London, UK: The UK government has announced that India’s Tata Group will build an electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in Britain to supply its Jaguar Land Rover factories. Under the plan, the company will build its first gigafactory outside of India in Britain with an investment of $5.2 billion, creating up to 4,000 jobs and producing an initial output of 40-gigawatt hours (GWh). The British Prime Minister, Mr. Rishi Sunak’s government, has refused to say how much financial support it promised in order to secure the investment and fend off Spain, which had also lobbied to win the project. Britain…

United States: North Korea has not reacted to the unusual entry of a United States soldier into its territory. The soldier has crossed the heavily fortified border that separates South and North Korea, but North Korean authorities have yet to comment on the incident. North Korea has remained silent concerning the situation of US Private 2nd Class Mr. Travis King, who voluntarily defected to North Korea while visiting the border village of Panmunjom on 18th July 2023. No official information has been released by North Korean authorities regarding his fate. US Defence Secretary Mr. Lloyd Austin has confirmed that an…

Thailand: Thailand’s Constitutional Court has temporarily suspended prime ministerial candidate Mr. Pita Limjaroenrat as a lawmaker, delivering its announcement as parliament gathered to determine his chances of assuming the role of premier. According to the statement,”The court decision came after accepting a case that alleges Mr. Pita, leader of the election-winning Move Forward Party, was unqualified to run in a May 14 election because he held shares in a media company, in violation of electoral rules.” Members of parliament are prohibited under Thai law from owning stock in media companies. The 42-year-old Mr. Pita lost his initial bid for the…

United States: A thousand authors have endorsed a letter addressed to the CEOs of OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, IBM, and Stability AI, urging them to stop using copyrighted work without permission. Ms. Margaret Atwood, Mr. Jonathan Franzen, Mr. James Patterson, Ms. Suzanne Collins, and Professor Viet Thanh Nguyen are among the prominent writers. The letter was organised by the Authors Guild, the largest professional writers’ organisation in the United States. The signatories call attention to the “inherent injustice of exploiting our works as part of your AI systems without our consent, credit, or compensation” in the letter. “These technologies mimic…