Author: News Desk

London: Millions of women are expected to gain from strengthened workplace rights set to take effect in April, according to research released by the Trades Union Congress (TUC). The union body said that around 4.7 million women will benefit from enhanced statutory sick pay from next month, including more than 830,000 women who will become eligible for the payment for the first time. According to the analysis, these newly eligible recipients are among the lowest-paid workers who are currently excluded from sick pay because their earnings fall below the £125 weekly eligibility threshold. The TUC remarked that low-paid employees, particularly…

Stockholm: What began as a simple feature to promote a flight price comparison website has grown into Flightradar24, one of the world’s most widely used platforms for tracking aircraft in real time. Swedish entrepreneurs Mikael Robertsson and Olov Lindberg initially created a webpage showing live air traffic to attract more visitors to their online flight comparison portal. The platform is now used worldwide to monitor aviation activity, especially during disruptions or dramatic developments in the skies. Robertsson recalled that the flight-tracking feature quickly surpassed the popularity of the original price comparison tool. One of the platform’s first major traffic surges…

Berlin: Germany’s lower house of parliament, the Bundestag, has passed legislation allowing wolf hunting in response to the rapid growth of their population and the rising number of attacks on farm animals across the country. The growing presence of roaming wolf packs has sparked political divisions, often setting left-leaning parties against conservative and far-right groups, and highlighting tensions between densely populated western regions and the more rural eastern areas where wolf populations are most concentrated. The draft law, strongly opposed by animal protection organisations, was approved with support from the centre-right governing coalition led by the Christian Democratic Union (CDU)…

Ichikawa, Japan: Punch, a seven-month-old baby macaque who stole the hearts of animal lovers worldwide, is gradually outgrowing the Ikea djungelskog plush toy that comforted him after he was initially rejected by his mother and other monkeys at the Ichikawa City Zoo near Tokyo. Images of Punch dragging a toy larger than himself around the enclosure drew attention from visitors and social media users, showing the tiny macaque clutching the stuffed orangutan whenever other monkeys tried to shoo him away. Recently, Punch has begun mingling more with other macaques, climbing on their backs, sitting alongside adults, and occasionally receiving grooming…

London: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, medications widely used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes, may also help reduce the risk of addiction to alcohol, tobacco, and illicit drugs such as cannabis and cocaine. The research published in the British Medical Journal further suggests these drugs could lower the chances of overdose, hospitalisation, and death among individuals already using addictive substances. GLP-1 drugs, including brands such as Mounjaro and Ozempic, are designed to mimic a hormone released after eating, helping people feel fuller for longer. Scientists believe they may also act on the brain’s reward pathways, potentially reducing cravings…

Victoria: The Australian state of Victoria has announced plans to introduce legislation granting employees the legal right to work from home two days per week, marking one of the most significant workplace reforms in the country. Under the proposed laws, which are scheduled to take effect on September 1, any employee whose role can reasonably be performed remotely will be entitled to work from home, regardless of the size of their workplace. The right will be formally embedded into Victoria’s Equal Opportunity Act, making it unlawful for employers to refuse eligible requests without valid grounds. https://twitter.com/JacintaAllanMP/status/2029019149872296081 The reforms will be…

Geneva: An international study has cautioned that without urgent and far-reaching intervention, more than 220 million children worldwide could be living with obesity by 2040. The report was released to mark World Obesity Day, highlighting the urgent need for global action to tackle rising childhood obesity rates. The latest projections from the World Obesity Federation indicate that around 180 million children were obese in 2025. However, the 2026 World Obesity Atlas forecasts that by 2040, approximately 227 million young people aged 5 to 19 will have obesity, while over half a billion in the same age group are expected to…

Abu Dhabi / Manama: Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud computing division of Amazon, has confirmed that drones struck three of its facilities in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain following US and Israeli strikes against Iran over the weekend. Initially, AWS stated that ‘objects’ had hit a data centre in the UAE, causing sparks and a fire. The company also reported that it was investigating power and connectivity disruptions at a facility in Bahrain. AWS confirmed that drone strikes were responsible for the outages. According to the company, two facilities in the UAE were directly hit. In Bahrain, a…

London: More than a quarter of the healthy years lost to breast cancer worldwide are linked to lifestyle-related risk factors such as high red meat consumption and smoking, according to the largest global study of its kind. Published in The Lancet Oncology, the research used data from population-based cancer registries to deliver a comprehensive analysis of breast cancer incidence, mortality, and risk factors. The study examined figures spanning 1990 to 2023 from more than 200 countries and territories, and also generated projections for trends through to 2050. In the UK, approximately one in seven women is expected to develop breast…

Melbourne: The 2026 Formula 1 season is fast approaching, bringing sweeping changes that fans will encounter from the opening round in Melbourne, Australia, taking place from 6–8 March. With bold new technical regulations and the arrival of an 11th team on the grid, the championship enters one of its most transformative phases in history. Among the most significant updates are extensive rule changes covering the power unit, chassis, tyres, and fuel. The new-generation cars are smaller and designed with greater environmental sustainability in mind. Their engines now feature an almost equal 50-50 split between electric and internal combustion power, and…