Author: News Desk

United States: Wayne Shorter, one of the best jazz saxophonists, passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 89. Shorter was a well-known player on the jazz scene in the late 1950s and is recognised for influencing much of jazz music in the 20th century. Miles Davis, Carlos Santana, and Herbie Hancock were just a few of the legends the 12-time Grammy winner performed with. Shorter’s spokesperson stated that he passed away on 2nd March 2023 with his family by his side. https://twitter.com/thejazzestate/status/1631393478423748626?s=20 A consistent theme emerged in the flood of social media tributes that is ‘gone, but not…

Canada: Sunshine Earth Labs, a Canadian biosciences company, announced that it has received a licence to produce and sell cocaine, reflecting the federal health agency’s efforts to enhance the security of the nation’s addicts. The licencing agreement follows a bold policy change that decriminalised small amounts of cocaine, heroin, and other hard narcotics in an effort to combat an opioid addiction crisis that has claimed thousands of lives. British Columbia received a criminal code exemption from Ottawa for the three-year experimental project with the intention of eradicating the stigma attached to drug use that prevents individuals from getting help. Activists…

United States: Elon Musk’s SpaceX rocket company for NASA, has sent four astronauts to the International Space Station. This crew include the first person from the Arab world to go for an extended monthslong stay. Shortly after midnight on 2nd March 2023, the Falcon rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, lighting up the night sky as it travelled up the East Coast. The trip to the International Space Station (ISS), a laboratory orbiting some 420KM (250 miles) above Earth, was expected to take nearly 25 hours, with rendezvous planned for about 06:15 GMT on 3rd…

Sri Lanka: A new report has stated that Sri Lanka’s economic downturn has resulted in a full-blown hunger crisis, with half of the families in the island nation forced to reduce the amount they feed their children. The Save the Children report warned that the Sri Lankan government and the international community must act now to prevent the country’s children from “becoming a lost generation.” Since the Sri Lankan government defaulted on its debt in 2021, soaring inflation and food, medicine, and fuel shortages, as well as a lack of stable employment, have left families in crisis. According to the World…

India: The Indian Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi has criticised global institutions for failing to address the world’s biggest challenges, calling on countries to find “common ground” on divisive issues. Speaking at the opening of the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in New Delhi, Mr. Modi remarked that countries should acknowledge that multilateralism is currently “in crisis.” “The experience of the last few years, including the financial crisis, climate change, pandemics, terrorism, and wars, clearly shows that global governance has failed,” the Indian PM observed. “After years of progress, we are at risk today of moving backward on the sustainable development…

China: TikTok has announced that the company will set a default 60-minute daily time limit for all accounts held by under-18s and is developing a tool to allow parents to prevent their children from viewing content containing certain words or hashtags. The changes come as the company looks to shore up its public image amid concerns among different governments around the world about the app’s security and ability to alter its algorithm to push certain posts. Mr. Cormac Keenan, head of trust and safety at TikTok, stated in a blog post that when the 60-minute limit is reached, children and…

Vietnam: The rubber stamp National Assembly of Vietnam elect a new president, who promptly vowed to fight corruption after his predecessor resigned in an anti-corruption drive. Mr. Vo Van Thuong’s appointment occurs during a time of political unrest in Vietnam, where several ministers have been ousted as a result of the all-powerful Communist Party’s anti-corruption sweep and factional strife. Following Mr. Nguyen Xuan Phuc’s retirement in January 2023, members of the National Assembly chose 52-year-old Mr. Thuong as their representative for a term that lasts until 2026. Mr. Thuong was the only contender. Mr. Thuong pledged to be “determined in…

China: The Chinese President Mr. Xi Jinping and Belarusian leader Mr. Alexander Lukashenko have called for a ceasefire and negotiations to bring about a political settlement to the Ukraine conflict. In the meeting held in Beijing, the two leaders issued a joint statement in which they expressed “deep concern about the development of the armed conflict in the European region and extreme interest in the soonest possible establishment of peace in Ukraine.” “Belarus and China are interested in averting an escalation of the crisis and ready to make efforts to restore regional peace and order,” the statement remarked. The meeting…

Russia: The Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin has ordered officials to tighten control of the border with Ukraine after the drone attacks, which created a new challenge for Moscow a year after it invaded its neighbour. According to the Russian Defence Miinistry, one drone recently crashed just 100 kilometres (60 miles) southeast of Moscow, while two others were brought down in southern Russia. The Defense Ministry noted that Ukraine used drones to attack facilities in the Krasnodar region and neighboring Adygea. The Ministry remarked that the drones were brought down by electronic warfare assets, adding that one of them crashed into…

New Delhi, India: The Group of 20 (G20) foreign ministers conference will focus heavily on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, but host India is sure that the economic issues brought on by the conflict will receive equal attention, according to the country’s foreign secretary. “Yes, given the nature and the developing situation in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it will be an important point of discussion,” Mr. Vinay Kwatra, India’s top diplomat, told as foreign ministers arrived in New Delhi for the meeting. “Questions relating to food, energy and fertiliser security, the impact that the conflict has on these economic challenges that we face”,…