Author: News Desk

Fiji: The former Prime Minister of Fiji, Mr. Frank Bainimarama, has resigned from the country’s parliament after he was suspended for sedition and insulting the president. Mr. Bainimarama posted on the FijiFirst party’s Facebook page that he was tendering his resignation “with immediate effect,” but had no intention of resigning from politics. The 68-year-old had led Fiji since taking power in 2006 and was replaced as prime minister following a closely contested general election last December. Parliament suspended Mr. Bainimarama in February 2023 until 2026 following a speech in which he criticised his successor, Mr. Sitiveni Rabuka, and President Mr.…

Japan: In statements made in honour of International Women’s Day, Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Fumio Kishida vowed to “Work even harder” to address gender inequality, including one of the biggest gender wage discrepancies in the world. Mr. Kishida stated that Japan needed to eliminate the pay gap, appoint more female executives, and stop the tendency of women taking on lower-paying contract job after giving birth. “We will press forward with reviewing parts of our tax system that deter women from entering the workforce, and introduce systems in which it is easier than ever for both men and women to take…

United States: The United States administration has supported the recently filed lawsuit against Texas’s abortion ban, led by five women who were denied reproductive healthcare in the state. The country’s Vice President Ms. Kamala Harris issued a statement calling the women’s stories “devastating”. “As the President and I have long made clear, taking away the right of women to make their own reproductive health care decisions endangers women’s health, with potentially life-threatening consequences,” Ms. Harris remarked. The recently filed lawsuit calls for an injunction against Texas’s abortion ban due to its “uncertainty” in the law’s language. Currently, under Senate Bill 8…

Turkey: A United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) official has stated that the damage caused by the February 2023 devastating earthquakes in Turkey will exceed $100 billion. “It’s clear from the calculations being done to date that the damage figure presented by the government and supported by international partners would be in excess of $100 billion,” the UNDP official Ms. Louisa Vinton shared from Gaziantep, a Turkish city that suffered severe damage in the quakes. According to Ms. Vinton, the provisional damage figure covers only Turkey and is being used as a basis for a donor conference on March 16, 2023,…

Japan: The second attempt by Japan to launch its next-generation H3 rocket was unsuccessful after liftoff, putting the nation’s space and national security programmes in jeopardy. The medium-lift rocket’s second-stage engine failed to ignite just moments after takeoff, according to the Japanese space agency (JAXA), which said it gave the go-ahead for the rocket to self-destruct on 7th March 2023. The H3’s failure, which came three weeks after a launch that was scrubbed due to a different issue, was a setback for Japan’s space programme, presumably for its missile detection program, and a letdown for space enthusiasts who were hoping…

Sri Lanka: According to Sri Lanka’s president, the IMF will provide its final approval for the island nation’s $2.9 billion loan in the third or fourth week of this month. Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe informed the legislature that all funding needs had been satisfied thanks to China’s renewed support. The 22 million-person South Asian country is experiencing its biggest economic crisis since gaining independence from Britain in 1948. Last April, it stopped making payments on its $46 billion foreign debt, leading to months of nationwide food and fuel shortages. The IMF agreement was essential so that other creditors could start releasing money,…

North Korea: North Korea has declared that any move to intercept and shoot down its test missiles would be considered “a declaration of war.” According to a South Korean media report cited in Ms. Kim Yo Jong’s statement, the United States planned to shoot down Mr. Pyongyang’s intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) if the weapons were test-launched towards the Pacific Ocean. Ms. Kim Yo Jong is the powerful sister of North Korean leader Mr. Kim Jong Un. North Korean ballistic missiles, which are normally launched at steep angles to avoid neighbouring nations, have never been shot down by the US or…

Somalia: The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations stated in the context of the recently released food security survey findings that reversing the alarming trend requires transformative actions to sustainably improve food and water security, reduce people’s vulnerability to shocks and stresses, and improve their adaptation to climate change. While humanitarian assistance has prevented worse outcomes and staved off famine in parts of Somalia thus far, millions of rural Somali people continue to face unprecedented challenges to their food security. Somalia has been on the brink of famine in recent months due to the unprecedented drought triggered…

United Kingdm: A group of world-leading experts has warned that the next generation of advanced genetic therapies raises serious medical and ethical issues that must be addressed to ensure the game-changing technology benefits patients and society. Medicines based on powerful gene editing tools will begin to transform the treatment of blood disorders, conditions affecting the heart, eyes, and muscles, and potentially even neurodegenerative diseases before the end of the decade. However, the cost will put them out of the reach of many patients. According to researchers, trials of gene editing in embryos will probably follow, and while the procedure has…

United States: US Senator Mr. Mark Warner announced that the US would be submitting bipartisan legislation this week to allow the government to “ban or prohibit” foreign technology products like TikTok, which is owned by China. Mr. Warner stated that he and Senator Mr. John Thune will introduce the bill, continuing “I’ve got a broad Bipartisan bill that I’m launching with my friend John Thune will be the Republican lead where we’re going to say, in terms of foreign technology coming into America, we’ve got to have a systemic approach to make sure that we can ban or prohibit it when necessary.”…