Author: News Desk

Sydney: School-aged children in Australia are vaping less, according to new findings released a year after a nationwide ban on disposable vapes took effect. The data comes from Generation Vape, a nationwide study conducted by Cancer Council Australia, which reveals a notable decline in vaping among 14 to 17-year-olds, with rates dropping from 17.5 percent at the start of 2023 to 14.6 percent by April 2024. The study also showed that vaping among individuals aged 15 and older decreased by more than a third. https://twitter.com/Mark_Butler_MP/status/1945325305901592627 Australia’s Health Minister Mark Butler welcomed the results, stating that vaping rates among young Australians…

Havana: Cuba’s Labour Minister, Marta Elena Feitó Cabrera, has been forced to resign following intense backlash over remarks she made denying the existence of beggars in the country. The Minister’s comments, delivered during a parliamentary session earlier this week, were widely condemned by Cubans both within the country and abroad, leading to a response from President Miguel Díaz-Canel and ultimately prompting her resignation. Feitó Cabrera had stated during the National Assembly session that, “There are no beggars in Cuba. People are pretending to be beggars to make easy money.” Cabrera also accused individuals searching through rubbish of being ‘illegal participants…

Cape Canaveral, Florida: Peggy Whitson, a retired NASA astronaut turned private space explorer, and her three Axiom-4 crewmates from India, Poland, and Hungary has begun their return journey to Earth on July 14 after completing their stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS). The Crew Dragon capsule carrying the team undocked from the ISS at 7:15 am ET, marking the end of the latest mission organized by Texas-based Axiom Space in partnership with Elon Musk’s SpaceX. If all proceeds as scheduled, the capsule will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere after a 22-hour flight and parachute into the Pacific Ocean off California’s coast…

London: Scientists expect to gain unprecedented insight into human ageing and the early onset of diseases following the completion of the world’s largest whole-body imaging project, which scanned 100,000 individuals from head to toe. The decade-long initiative, led by UK Biobank, now makes available to qualified researchers worldwide over 1 billion de-identified images covering the hearts, brains, abdomens, blood vessels, bones, and joints of volunteers. These are supplemented with detailed medical histories, genetic profiles, and lifestyle data. The data has already contributed to breakthroughs. Subsets of the images have helped researchers uncover how the heart can influence psychiatric disorders, confirmed…

Arizona: A devastating wildfire has destroyed the historic Grand Canyon Lodge and dozens of other structures along the North Rim of Arizona’s Grand Canyon National Park, park officials confirmed. Rangers were forced to close access to the North Rim on Sunday due to the rapid spread of flames. Superintendent Ed Keable announced that the iconic lodge, which served as a landmark for generations of visitors, was consumed by fire. In total, between 50 and 80 structures were lost in the blaze, including a park visitor centre, a gas station, a wastewater treatment plant, an administrative building, and employee housing. The…

London: Record-breaking extreme weather has become the new normal in the UK, scientists have said, confirming that the country is now firmly in the grip of the climate crisis. An in-depth analysis by UK climate experts highlights a dramatic rise in both the frequency and severity of heatwaves and periods of intense rainfall, posing serious threats to public health, infrastructure, and the overall functioning of society. Mike Kendon from the Met Office, who led the assessment, emphasized that, “The extremes have the greatest impact on our society, if we think about our infrastructure, our public health, and how we function.…

Erith, London: A huge fire broke out late on July 11 at an industrial estate on Maypole Crescent in Erith, Southeast London, prompting a large-scale response by the London Fire Brigade (LFB). The fire, which began shortly before 11 pm, sent thick plumes of smoke billowing into the night sky and continued to burn until around 4 am. According to an LFB spokesperson, “Twenty-five fire engines and around 150 firefighters are tackling a fire at an industrial estate on Maypole Crescent in Erith.” The blaze engulfed a single-storey warehouse located within a scrap yard, along with three diggers and multiple…

London: Luxury fashion house Louis Vuitton has confirmed that it suffered a cyberattack targeting its UK operations, resulting in the unauthorised access of customer data, including names, contact information, and purchase history. The brand clarified that no financial or banking data was compromised in the breach. The incident marks the latest in a series of cyber-attacks affecting LVMH, the French luxury group that owns Louis Vuitton. According to an email sent to affected customers, the company stated that, “While we have no evidence that your data has been misused to date, phishing attempts, fraud attempts, or unauthorised use of your…

Toronto: Canadian pop sensation Justin Bieber has taken fans by surprise with the unexpected release of his latest album, titled Swag. Featuring 20 new tracks, the album includes songs such as Dadz Love, Devotion, Therapy Session, and Daisies, touching on deeply personal themes including fatherhood, faith, relationships, and mental health. The drop comes amidst heightened public concern about Bieber’s emotional well-being, following recent social media posts and confrontations with paparazzi. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Justin Bieber (@lilbieber) Promotional photos shared by the singer depict Bieber with his wife, Hailey Bieber, and their baby,…

Helsinki / London: They may look like a regular pair of glasses, but Finnish tech firm IXI is reimagining eyewear with its autofocus smart glasses, which pack advanced liquid crystal lens technology into a familiar frame. Niko Eiden, Chief Executive and Co-founder of IXI, demonstrates the innovation by holding up the glasses, whose lenses contain liquid crystals that can adjust their vision-correcting power on demand. “This one pair could correct the vision of someone who normally uses different pairs of glasses for seeing near or far.” The technology hinges on an electric field that rotates the liquid crystals. “These liquid…