Author: News Desk

United States: Twitter has suffered a significant outage, leaving many users unable to access the popular social media site. Several users who attempted to access the microblogging site were faced with an error screen. Internet outage tracking service Downdetector reported receiving more than 8,700 user reports of issues with the site as of 7:30 AM. “User reports indicate Twitter is having problems since 7:13 EST,” Downdetector tweeted. The outage, which seems to be impacting a number of nations, hasn’t totally shut down the website because many users can still access the platform. Additionally, some users noted performance variations between the…

Bangladesh: Bangladesh has opened the first metro rail service in the capital city, Dhaka, as authorities work to ease congestion in one of the world’s most densely populated cities, where more than 20 million people live. The elevated train network has been under construction for nearly a decade and is expected to have more than 100 stations and six lines crisscrossing the city by 2030. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Ms. Sheikh Hasina described the new railway as “a matter of pride”. “We promised to eradicate traffic jams from Dhaka. With the six metro rail lines, we will be able to do…

Australia: The former Australian Prime Minister Mr. Scott Morrison looks to have been caught up in a leak of partial data on 400 million Twitter users, along with celebrities including the model Ms. Cara Delevingne, US politician Ms. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and pop singer Mr. Shawn Mendes. A sample of data leaked by an alleged cybercriminal last week includes Mr. Morrison’s Twitter account. According to a cybersecurity company that issued a warning about the claim, media personality Mr. Piers Morgan, who also appeared in data samples revealed by the hacker, recently had his Twitter account hijacked. The majority of Morgan’s Twitter…

United States: Mr. Peter Thompson, a US Maricopa County Superior Court Judge, has rejected the request to sanction Ms. Kari Lake, the republican candidate in Arizona’s gubernatorial race, over allegations she made about the legitimacy of the state election. Earlier, Ms. Lake filed a lawsuit alleging voter fraud and challenging the counting and certification of the electoral contest held in November in a bid to be declared the winner despite a lack of evidence. The suit was rejected by the Superior Court in Maricopa County on December 24. Later, Mr. Peter Thompson ruled that Ms. Lake would be responsible for…

United States: The UN security council has denounced the Taliban-led administration’s ban on women attending universities or working for humanitarian aid groups. The 15-member council declared in a statement that the ban on women and girls attending high school and university in Afghanistan “represents an increasing erosion for the respect of human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The council added that the ban “would have a significant and immediate impact for humanitarian operations in country, including those of the United Nations.” “These restrictions contradict the commitments made by the Taliban to the Afghan people as well as the expectations of the international…

United States: The US is considering entry restrictions for travelers from China, as officials expressed concern about a lack of transparency about the country’s biggest COVID-19 outbreak. “There are mounting concerns in the international community on the ongoing COVID-19 surges in China and the lack of transparent data, including viral genomic sequence data, being reported from the PRC,” US officials stated. The lack of genomic data makes it “increasingly difficult for public health officials to ensure that they will be able to identify any potential new variants and take prompt measures to reduce the spread,” the US officials remarked. “The…

United States: Scientists have developed a blood test to detect Alzheimer’s disease without the use of painful lumbar puncture, which extracts cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from the lower back, or expensive brain imaging. If the test is proven to be accurate, it may speed up disease diagnosis and allow for earlier treatment. Even though Alzheimer’s is the most prevalent type of dementia, diagnosing it can be difficult, especially in its early stages. Current guidelines recommend the detection of three distinct markers: abnormal accumulations of amyloid and tau proteins, as well as neurodegeneration – the slow and progressive loss of neuronal…

United States: US airlines have cancelled thousands of flights as winter storms and staffing issues wreaked havoc across the country. On December 27, nearly 4,900 flights were canceled, with another 4,400 delayed. More than 60 percent of the cancelled flights belong to Southwest Airlines, which called off over 2,500 flights. The flight cancellation chaos led to thousands of exasperated passengers sleeping in terminals as they searched for solutions. “We’ve been chasing our tails, trying to catch up and get back to normal safely, which is our number one priority, as quickly as we could. That’s exactly how we ended up…

South Korea: The former president of South Korea Mr. Lee Myung-bak has received a presidential pardon, which has cut short his 17-year prison sentence for corruption. Mr. Yoon Seok-yeol, president of South Korea, issued the pardon for the former president as part of the East Asian country’s customary mass pardons around national holidays. “Mr. Lee was on a list of more than 1,300 people who received special pardons from the perspective of broad national unity through reconciliation, tolerance, and consideration,” Mr. Han Dong-hoon, justice minister of South Korea, stated after a Cabinet meeting with president Mr. Yoon Suk-yeol. The former…

Australia: The Australian cricketer David Warner battled through searing heat to smash an incredible unbroken 200 before retiring in discomfort as Australia extended their lead over South Africa in his 100th Test at the Melbourne Cricket Ground. The hosts were 386-3 at the end of day two of the second Test, leading by 197 runs after the Proteas were bowled for 189 runs in their first innings on a scorching day. Travis Head was not out 48 with Alex Carey on nine. Steve Smith and Marnus Labuschagne were the only wickets to fall. But worryingly for Australia, Cameron Green, who…