Author: News Desk

Cyprus: Cyprus’s former Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides has been elected as the new president of the small European Union member state. Mr. Christodoulides, 49, defeated Mr. Andreas Mavroyiannis, a fellow diplomat, with 51.9 percent of the vote, compared to 48.1 percent in the presidential election. “Tonight, a long but beautiful journey has come to an end. It gave me the opportunity to meet thousands of people and hear their hopes and dreams for our country, Mr. Mavroyiannis, a former chief negotiator in peace talks with Turkish Cypriots, shared conceding defeat. The former Foreign Minister won with a majority of 15,041…

United States: The veteran American rapper Mr. David Jolicoeur, a founding member of the renowned rap trio De La Soul, has died at the age of 54. Mr. Jolicoeur co-founded the legendary trio along with Posdnuos (Kelvin Mercer) and Maseo (Vincent Lamont Mason). The group changed the face of hip-hop in the late 80s and early 90s and was honoured at the recently held Grammy Awards in Los Angeles during a tribute to the genre. Over the course of their performing career, De La Soul was nominated for six Grammy Awards, winning one for best pop collaboration with vocals for…

South Africa: Ockie Strydom of South Africa won the Singapore Classic by one stroke over Sami Valimaki of Finland after shooting a nine-under 63. After winning the Alfred Dunhill title in South Africa, Strydom shot a final-round 63 at Laguna National Golf Resort Club to finish on 19 under par and earn his second victory on the European Tour. Valimaki scored a six-under 66 to finish one stroke behind Strydom, despite starting the final round two shots behind overnight leaders Alejandro del Rey and Wang Jeung-hun. Strydom drew Valimaki in by adding four back-nine birdies to his five on the…

Syria: Five days after the first earthquake that shook Syria and Turkey, rescuers were still pulling some survivors from the rubble but they were losing optimism that they would find many more. UN relief chief Mr. Martin Griffiths landed in Kahramanmaras, a city in southern Turkey, which served as the epicentre of the first 7.8-magnitude earthquake that shook millions of people’s lives. According to authorities and medical personnel, 24,617 individuals died in Turkey and 3,574 in Syria. 28,191 has been confirmed as the final number. Despite the freezing weather that has made millions of people even more miserable and in…

Canada: Canadian Prime Minister Mr. Justin Trudeau claimed that a US fighter jet shot down an “unidentified object” over Canadian airspace. “I ordered the take down of an unidentified object that violated Canadian airspace. @NORADCommand shot down the object over the Yukon. Canadian and U.S. aircraft were scrambled, and a U.S. F-22 successfully fired at the object,” Mr. Trudeau Tweeted. Ms. Anita Anand, Canada’s Defense Minister, stated that the object was “cylindrical” and smaller than the alleged Chinese balloon that was shot down over the weekend. The Pentagon said that the object was first sighted over Alaska and the White House…

South Africa: AKA, a well-known rapper from South Africa, was fatally shot outside a restaurant in the coastal city of Durban. Kiernan Forbes was killed along with his close friend, the chef and entrepreneur Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane. The two were heading route to a nightclub for a performance as part of Forbes’ birthday celebration while they shot. The reason for the murder is being investigated. The rapper and his friend were walking to their car when they were approached by two armed men, who shot them at close range, as per the report. The attackers then walked away from the…

United States: The Four Continents figure skating championships were held in Colorado Springs, and Lee Hae-in won the women’s crown after moving up from sixth place and completing a nearly faultless free skate. 17-year-old Lee, is the first South Korean woman to win a tournament for non-European nations since Kim Yu-na in 2009. She finished ahead of Kim Ye-lim, a fellow countryman, who had been leading after the short program but had placed third in the free skate. Isabeau Levito, the 15-year-old national champion from America, withdrew shortly before the free skate due to sickness after placing second in the…

Syria: The US has temporarily loosened its sanctions against Syria in an effort to speed up aid deliveries to the country’s northwest with thousands of people killed in last week’s earthquake. The devastation in Syria’s north, which had already been severely damaged by the civil war and is now mostly under opposition control with Bashar al-Assad’s government only present in a few areas, was made worse by the earthquake that has killed close to 23,000 people there and in the neighbouring country of Turkey. “I don’t think that this license will suddenly open the floodgates and allow for unhindered humanitarian…

France: French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that he is considering stripping Mr. Vladimir Putin of France’s top honour, the “Legion d’Honneur.” The Russian President received the honour in 2006 from former French President Jacques Chirac.The title, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Mr. Macron stated that he is waiting for the “right moment” to strip the Russian president of the title. Mr. Macron awarded the Russian President’s enemy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the top honor, but he has yet to formally remove it from Mr. Putin. Speaking after…

Australia: A new study by Australian researchers has found a protein in the lungs that sticks to the COVID-19 virus like velcro and immobilises it. This may explain why some people do not become ill with the virus while others suffer from severe illness. The research was led by Mr. Greg Neely, a professor of functional genomics with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, in collaboration with Dr. Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher, and Mr. Matthew Waller, a PhD student. The findings of the study were published in the journal PLOS Biology. The team used human cells in tissue…