Author: News Desk

London: Storm Floris is sweeping across the northern parts of the United Kingdom, prompting severe weather warnings and major travel disruption. A yellow wind warning issued by the Met Office came into effect at 6 am on August 4 and will remain active until 6 am on August 5. This has been upgraded to an amber alert for much of Scotland, effective from 10 am to 10 pm on August 4. The storm is expected to cause significant issues for transport. Train operators LNER and Avanti West Coast have issued urgent advisories, asking passengers not to travel north of Newcastle…

Geneva: Plastics have become a ‘grave, growing and under-recognised danger’ to both human health and the environment, with experts warning of a worsening plastics crisis in a major review published in the Lancet medical journal. The comprehensive analysis warns that the world is in the midst of a ‘plastics crisis,’ responsible for disease and death from infancy through old age, with at least $1.5 trillion in annual health-related damages globally. The plastics crisis is largely driven by the explosive increase in plastic production, which has surged more than 200-fold since 1950 and is projected to nearly triple by 2060, reaching…

Sydney: Tens of thousands of demonstrators braved pouring rain on August 3 to join the ‘March for Humanity’ across Sydney’s iconic Harbour Bridge, demanding peace and urgent aid deliveries for Gaza. The protest comes amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where over 60,000 people have reportedly died since Israel’s military campaign began nearly two years ago, according to Palestinian authorities. Participants, ranging from seniors to families with children, carried umbrellas and Palestinian flags, and some brought pots and pans to highlight growing hunger in the besieged enclave. “Enough is enough, when people from all over the world…

London: Individuals who promote Channel crossings or sell fake passports on social media platforms could face up to five years in prison under new UK government plans aimed at tackling illegal immigration and online smuggling activity. The proposed law will create a new criminal offence targeting online advertisements for illegal migration, supplementing existing laws that already prohibit assisting illegal entry into the country. The move follows research indicating that around 80 percent of migrants arriving in the UK via small boats used internet platforms during their journey, often to contact people-smuggling agents. The government believes the new offence will give…

London: The UK government has announced that more than 1,000 weapons have been surrendered under a month-long national knife amnesty campaign, launched to combat rising knife crime. The initiative coincides with the official enforcement of a new ban on ninja swords, as part of the government’s wider crackdown on dangerous weapons. The campaign was intensified following a deadly knife attack on July 29, 2024, when teenager Axel Rudakubana attacked a Taylor Swift-themed children’s dance event in Southport, northern England. The horrifying incident left three girls dead and 10 others wounded in what has become one of Britain’s most disturbing mass…

Washington DC: The White House has announced plans to construct a new $200 million ballroom, a project long envisioned by US President Donald Trump. This expansive addition, along with a modernisation of the East Wing, which currently houses First Lady Melania Trump’s offices and other White House staff, will be entirely funded through private donations. Trump himself is contributing, alongside other unnamed donors. According to White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, construction will begin in September 2025 and is expected to be completed well before the end of Trump’s term in January 2029. The ballroom will span approximately 90,000 square…

London: The hit Netflix series Wednesday makes a highly anticipated return nearly three years after its initial launch in November 2022, expanding the eerie and beloved Addams Family universe. Season Two premiered with a star-studded purple carpet event in London, outside Westminster’s Central Hall and the Queen Elizabeth II Centre, where the cast and creators gathered to celebrate the show’s next chapter. Jenna Ortega reprises her role as the gothic and sharp-witted Wednesday Addams, now returning to Nevermore Academy as an unwanted hero. This season, Wednesday once again takes on the role of supernatural sleuth, navigating new paranormal mysteries while…

London: Airlines have reacted angrily after a radar-related technical failure in the UK’s air traffic control systems led to the cancellation of more than 150 flights, disrupting travel plans for thousands of passengers during one of the busiest periods of the year. The National Air Traffic Services (NATS) issued an apology for the IT failure, which was detected at 4:05 pm and resolved within 20 minutes by switching operations to a backup system. Despite the quick fix, significant travel disruption followed, leading airline leaders to criticise NATS for repeated failures and inadequate crisis management. https://twitter.com/NATS/status/1950588789958844445 Ryanair’s Chief Operating Officer Neal…

Sriharikota, India: A groundbreaking Earth-observation satellite, NISAR, jointly developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NASA, is set to launch on July 30 at 17:40 IST (12:10 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in southern India. The 2,392kg NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite is expected to transform global disaster management and climate monitoring by detecting even minute changes in Earth’s surface. Described by NASA as its ‘most sophisticated radar ever built,’ NISAR will use both L-band (NASA) and S-band (ISRO) radar frequencies, a first-of-its-kind configuration in space, to measure Earth’s shifts, from glacial melt and land subsidence to…

Washington DC: People across the globe are living better lives and expressing more hope for the future, as global life satisfaction reaches a record high, according to a new Gallup survey. Gallup’s data, based on responses from 142 countries in 2024, shows that a median of 33 percent of adults rated their lives positively enough to be considered thriving. This marks a two-percentage-point increase from 2023. In contrast, only 7 percent of adults were categorized as ‘suffering,’ a figure that has declined from the 12 percent low point recorded in 2014. These findings continue a nearly two-decade trend of rising…