Author: News Desk

Ukraine: Mr. Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, met Mr. Rishi Sunak on his arrival in the UK for the first time since Russia’s invasion. Before meeting with King Charles and delivering a speech to Parliament, he had a visit with the British prime minister in Downing Street. This development coincides with plans to expand UK training of the Ukrainian military to include fighter aircraft pilots and marines. Moreover, the UK has disclosed a new round of sanctions targeted at Russia. The most recent sanctions target IT firms as well as companies that produce military equipment like drones and helicopter parts.…

Sri Lanka: According to President Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, who spoke to Parliament, Sri Lanka’s economy is anticipated to expand once more from the end of this year and the administration expects the nation to emerge from bankruptcy by 2026. The 22 million-person island in the Indian Ocean is currently seeking a $2.9 billion bailout from the International Monetary Fund after experiencing its biggest economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. Mr. Wickremesinghe claimed that the government could revive the economy provided Sri Lankans were willing to put up with high direct taxes for an additional six months. After dropping…

Australia: Australia has blocked the construction of a coal mine in order to protect the Great Barrier Reef. The government rejected a proposal for a new mine about 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) from the world’s largest coral reef system. According to Environment Minister Ms. Tanya Plibersek, the project poses an unacceptable risk to the world heritage area, which is already highly vulnerable. Mr. Clive Palmer, an Australian billionaire who owns the mine, has not yet responded to the rejection. Mr. Palmer’s firm, Central Queensland Coal, proposed to build an open-cut mine about 700 kilometres north-west of Brisbane that would produce…

London, UK: Decoded letters from Mary Queen of Scots, who was held captive by her cousin Queen Elizabeth I in England, have been discovered. According to experts, the work of the codebreakers is an essential finding regarding Mary in the last 100 years. The letters’ contents were thought to be lost for many years. That is, until Satoshi Tomokiyo, a physicist, and George Lasry, a computer scientist and cryptographer, discovered them in the Bibliotheque Nationale de France (BnF), along with Norbert Biermann, a pianist and music professor. The letters were written between 1578 and 1584, just before Mary was executed…

United States: The American basketball player LeBron James has confirmed his status as the one of the most dominant National Basketball Association (NBA) players in history after passing Kareem Abdul Jabbar’s all-time scoring record. With 10.9 seconds remaining in the third quarter, the 38-year-old broke Abdul Jabbar’s record of 38,387 points with a step-back fadeaway jumper from the foul line over the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kenrich Williams. But while Abdul-Jabbar took 1,560 games to record his total, James set his record in just over 1,400 appearances. Michael Jordan has the most points per game in NBA history with 30.1. James…

United States: Microsoft has announced that the company is updating its search products with more artificial intelligence, using the technology behind the wildly popular ChatGPT, as part of taking advantage of increasingly powerful AI tools. Microsoft CEO Mr. Satya Nadella unveiled the latest version of Bing and an updated version of its Edge web browser at an event held at Microsoft’s Redmond, Washington, headquarters. In the new Bing, users will see standard web links on the left and AI-powered answers on the right that are specifically modified to address the question. Mr. Nadella remarked that “this is a new day…

Pakistan: Pakistan has lifted the ban on Wikipedia two days after it was imposed due to alleged blasphemous content. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered the country’s telecom regulator to restore the online encyclopaedia with “immediate effect”. “Blocking the site in its entirety was not a suitable measure to restrict access to some objectionable content,” a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office remarked. “The unintended consequences of this blanket ban, therefore, outweigh its benefits,” the statement added. Information Minister Ms. Marriyum Aurangzeb posted on Twitter that a committee has been constituted by the government “to review the decision to ban…

United Kingdom: The Treasury and the Bank of England have revealed that a state-backed digital pound as an alternative to cash is likely to be launched later this decade. According to the report, the government is speeding up its response to the rise of privately issued cryptocurrencies and stable coins with a four-month public consultation process on a “Britcoin.” After the volatility of cryptocurrencies and the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX, the Bank and the Treasury will seek to reassure the public that a state-backed digital currency would be as safe as cash. Furthermore, the officials will explore the…

United States: The head of the United Nations, Mr. Antonio Guterres, has warned that further escalation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict could mean the world is heading towards a “wider war.” Mr. Guterres decried the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a speech to the 193-member UN General Assembly presenting his 2023 priorities, stating that the war was “inflicting untold suffering on the Ukrainian people with profound global implications.” The Secretary General’s priorities were focused on Russia’s invasion, the climate crisis, and extreme poverty. “We have started 2023 staring down the barrel of a confluence of challenges unlike any in our lifetimes,”…

United Kingdom: A new study has found that people who cohabit with a partner have lower blood sugar levels, even if they do not get along with them. The study further warned that social isolation may increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. According to the study published in the British Medical Journal’s diabetes journal, living with someone is an important source of social support for adults in mid- to late-life. The researchers further remarked that the effects were the same regardless of whether the relationship was harmonious or acrimonious. The lead author, Ms. Katherine Ford, formerly of the University…