Author: News Desk

United States: Authorities in the US state of Texas have instructed American citizens not travel to Mexico during the spring break holidays for security reasons. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) remarked that drug cartel violence represented a significant threat for anyone crossing into Mexico. The announcement comes after four Americans were kidnapped recently after crossing the border. Two of them were murdered, while two were released unharmed. In addition, three American women who went to Mexico to sell clothes at a market have been missing for more than two weeks. “Drug cartel violence and other criminal activity represent…

France: The French Senate has approved President Emmanuel Macron’s unpopular pension reform plan, amid thousands of protesters rallying across the country to oppose the changes. Senators passed the reforms by 195 votes to 112, bringing the package another step closer to becoming law. A committee will frame a final draft, which will be submitted to the Senate and National Assembly for a final vote. “An important step was taken this evening with a broad vote on the pension reform text in the Senate,” the French Prime Minister, Ms. Elisabeth Borne, stated after the vote, adding that she believed the government…

United Kingdom: The United Kingdom Prime Minister Mr. Rishi Sunak will fly to San Diego to unveil plans for supplying nuclear-powered submarines to Australia under the AUKUS scheme amid concerns over the growing threat from China. A major announcement is expected to be made when the UK prime minister meets with his Australian counterpart, Mr. Anthony Albanese, and US President Mr. Joe Biden. As a response to concerns about China’s economic coercion and foreign policies, the UK’s defence and security strategy for the 2020s will be updated. The revised version is due to be published at the upcoming meeting in…

Indonesia: One of the most active volcanoes in the world, Mount Merapi in Indonesia, erupted, dumping smoke and ash over nearby towns. According to the nation’s disaster mitigation agency, there were no early reports of injuries. Pictures seen on local media showed ash-covered homes and streets in a community close to the volcano, which is on Java Island and not far from Yogyakarta, the cultural centre of Indonesia. The ash cloud, as reported by the Merapi Volcano Observatory, rose 9,600 feet (3,000 metres) above the summit. After the eruption, which was detected at 12:12 PM, authorities set up a restricted…

China: After three years of zero-COVID restrictions, China’s rubber-stamp legislature has picked Mr. Li Qiang, a longtime aide to leader Xi Jinping, as premier. Mr. Li Qiang will be in charge of restoring the world’s second-largest economy. At a mostly ceremonial vote held at at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, the National People’s Congress supported Mr. Li. With three votes against him and eight abstentions, Mr. Li received 2,936 votes. One of Xi’s most dependable proteges, Mr. Li, 63, is the nation’s most powerful leader in decades. Premier Mr. Li Keqiang, who has served as Xi’s deputy since 2013,…

Belgium: The Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo has announced that the country’s federal government employees will no longer be allowed to use the Chinese-owned video app TikTok on their work phones. Mr. De Croo noted that the Belgian National Security Council had warned of the risks associated with the large amounts of data collected by TikTok, which is owned by Chinese firm ByteDance, and also bexcuase of that that the company is required to cooperate with Chinese intelligence services. “That is the reality. That’s why it is logical to forbid the use of TikTok on phones provided by the…

United Kingdom: The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) proposals to allow Russian and Belarussian athletes to compete once more in international sport and at the Paris 2024 Games have come under fire from the government, which has written to the Olympic Games’ largest sponsors pleading with them to exert pressure on the IOC. The UK chief executives of the IOC’s international partners, including Coca-Cola, Intel, Samsung, and Visa, have also been requested by the culture secretary, Ms. Lucy Frazer, to press the IOC on a number of important concerns it has on the prospective relaxation of the ban. The IOC is…

United States: The United States House of Representatives has approved a bill that would require government intelligence agencies to declassify information related to the origins of COVID-19. The bill was approved with 419 votes in favour and zero votes against it. The bill will be sent to the desk of US President Mr. Joe Biden, who has not indicated whether he plans to sign or veto the legislation, which was approved by a unanimous Senate vote. Even if the president vetoes the bill, both chambers of Congress may have the two-thirds majority needed to pass the bill. “Transparency is a cornerstone…

France: The French President Mr. Emmanuel Macron and United Kingdom Prime Minister Mr. Rishi Sunak have agreed on a multiyear financial package to stop migration across the Channel, days after the UK passed a bill barring unauthorised arrivals. According to the deal, the UK will help fund a detention centre in France while French authorities will deploy a new dedicated permanent policing unit and enhanced technology to patrol the country’s beaches, including drones and aircraft. The UK stated that it would contribute roughly $581 million over the next three years to help pay for the new measures, adding that it…

United States: According to NASA’s Planetary Defense Coordination Office, it has been monitoring the new asteroid 2023 DW, which has “a very modest possibility” of colliding with Earth on February 14th, 2046. The European Space Agency predicts that the asteroid will collide with Earth one in 625 times, whereas the Sentry system of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory predicts a collision once in 560 times. The only object that scientists are monitoring and that has a ranking on the Torino scale, which NASA uses to classify potential Earth-impact scenarios, is an asteroid. The chances of the space rock hitting the globe,…