Author: News Desk

Russia: The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, is preparing a “rescue” plan to return three crew members from the International Space Station (ISS) earlier than expected after their Soyuz capsule suffered a coolant leak. Representatives from Roscosmos and NASA cited they were still looking into how the coolant line of the spacecraft’s external radiator developed a minor hole last week, just as two cosmonauts were getting ready for a routine spacewalk. The exact method by which the three Russian crew members will return to Earth is still unknown. Options include launching another empty Soyuz to rescue them or, perhaps less likely,…

United States: Mr. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has declared that he won’t sell any more of his company’s stock for two years. The company’s founder, Mr. Musk, stated that a “serious recession” is expected to hit the economy next year while speaking in a Twitter Spaces audio chat. Tesla’s board is open to the possibility of a share buyback but that will depend on how bad the recession is, the CEO observed. The billionaire, who also controls Twitter and SpaceX, had made a commitment to refrain from selling any more Tesla stock before breaking that promise. In April,…

United Kingdom: The UK government has declared that it will block a new law that would make Scotland the first part of the nation to introduce a self-identification system for people who want to change gender. Westminster announced that it would adopt a “nuclear option” of blocking the bill from going for royal assent, which would enrage supporters of the changes and nationalists. The Scottish government warned against the threat that any attempt to do so would be “vigorously contested.” Scotland became the first part of the UK to approve gender self-identification plans, which was widely applauded as a “historic…

London, UK: A recent research found that an oral antiviral pill for COVID speeds up recovery among vaccinated yet vulnerable patients, but does not reduce their likelihood of needing hospital care or dying. The UK became the first nation in the world to approve molnupiravir for the treatment of COVID in November 2021. A study that revealed the antiviral lowered the risk of hospitalization or death in high-risk, unvaccinated people at the time raised expectations. However, soon after the medicine was approved, additional research, carried out when the Delta variation predominated, revealed the treatment had a lesser impact than initially…

Chile: The President of Chile Mr. Gabriel Boric, whose country has the largest Palestinian population outside of the Middle East, has announced that the country is planning to open an embassy in Palestine. The Palestinian foreign ministry welcomed Chile’s plans to open an embassy in the occupied territories, a move that the Chilean President stated “will signal a demand that international law be respected.” One of the decisions we have taken as a government, I think we have not yet made it public is that we will raise the level of our official representation in Palestine. We will open an…

Hong Kong: The World Trade Organization (WTO) has ruled that the United States is breaking international trade laws by labelling imports from Hong Kong as those from China. The WTO decision dealt with a move by the former US administration of Mr. Donald Trump to revoke special commercial privileges for the Chinese-ruled city. Mr. Trump made the decision – which meant goods made in the city could no longer be stamped “Made in Hong Kong” – after Beijing imposed a sweeping security law on the financial hub in 2020 to stamp out dissent. Until 2020, the US had treated Hong…

United States: The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) has passed a landmark resolution ordering Myanmar’s ruling military junta to release all political prisoners, including deposed State Counselor Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi and former President Mr. Win Myint. UNSC Resolution 2669 on Myanmar expressed “deep concern at the ongoing state of emergency imposed by the military,” and stressed on the need to resolve the long-standing issues. The resolution also called for greater humanitarian assistance for victims of violence, with emphasis on women, children and displaced populations, including the Rohingya Muslims. “Today we’ve sent a firm message to the military that…

India: According to Dr. Jitendra Singh, India’s Minister of State for Space, Science, Technology, Earth Sciences, and Atomic Energy, the H-1 mission, the country’s first human space mission, will launch in the fourth quarter of 2024. India’s overall human space flight programme is named “Gaganyaan.” “In view of the paramount importance of crew safety, two test vehicle missions without crew are planned before the H-1 mission to demonstrate the performance of crew escape system and parachute-based deceleration system for different flight conditions,” Dr. Singh remarked. “The first uncrewed mission, named G-1, is targeted to be launched in the last quarter…

Switzerland: The emergencies director of World Health Organization (WHO) Mr. Michael Ryan has stated that China may be struggling to keep a tally of COVID-19 infections as it experiences a big spike in cases. According to the statement, hospitals in China appear to be filling up amid concerns about a fresh COVID-19 wave hitting the country and the intensive care units (ICU) are busy despite officials saying numbers are “relatively low”. “I would not like to say that China is actively not telling us what is going on. I think they are behind the curve,” Dr. Ryan shared. The WHO…

United States: Much of the US is anticipated to experience life-threatening wind chills and severe snowfall from a powerful winter storm. The hurricane is expected to make landfall in the nation, causing potential travel disruption for millions of Americans. According to National Weather Service forecaster Mr. Bob Oravec, around 200 million people are under extreme weather alerts as cold air from the Northern Plains causes temperatures to nosedive. “Rapid temperature drops, sometimes 50 or more degrees (Fahrenheit) colder than the previous day, it’s a pretty powerful, powerful system,” Mr. Oravec added. The Upper Midwest could receive up to a foot of…