Author: News Desk

Alaska: A powerful disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field could allow the aurora borealis to be seen much farther south than usual, potentially lighting up skies across Canada, the northern United States, and even parts of the southern US, according to forecasts. The outlook from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Center comes along with heightened geomagnetic activity and intense solar radiation storms. Shawn Dahl, Service Coordinator at the centre, said that the ongoing conditions are strong enough to significantly expand the usual visibility range of the northern lights. While the storms may create striking visual displays,…

New Delhi:  The Government of India has asked eCommerce and quick-commerce platforms to halt their widely promoted 10-minute delivery services, effectively challenging a business model that has reshaped urban consumption in recent years. The directive comes in the wake of a massive New Year’s Eve strike by nearly 200,000 gig workers, escalating a conflict that has set start-up founders and venture capitalists against politicians, trade unions, and delivery riders. The striking workers demanded a minimum wage framework, a ban on ultra-fast delivery timelines, greater transparency in how wages are calculated, and an end to what they allege is arbitrary algorithmic…

Madrid: At least 21 people were killed and dozens more injured after a high-speed train derailed and crashed into another oncoming train in southern Spain, pushing the second train off the tracks and down a railway embankment, police sources confirmed. The accident occurred near the town of Adamuz in Córdoba province, about 360 kilometres south of Madrid. Of the 75 people taken to hospital, 15 were reported to be in serious condition, Andalusia regional government chief Juanma Moreno said. “The forcefulness of the accident has been very strong… we will likely find more corpses,” Moreno noted, adding that heavy machinery…

London: Temperatures across the UK could fall again toward the end of the month, increasing the likelihood of snow in parts of the country, forecasters have warned. According to the Met Office, weather conditions this weekend are expected to remain mostly average for the time of year, with temperatures generally ranging between 6°C and 10°C. However, January 18 forecast to be largely cloudy and grey, with dense fog in some areas and rain spreading across the country as the day progresses. Rain is expected to move into southern England and Wales, pushing northwards and becoming heavy at times. While south-east…

Cape Canaveral, Florida: NASA’s Artemis 2 mission took a major step forward as the enormous Space Launch System (SLS) rocket, carrying the Orion crew capsule, reached its launch pad. The rocket will carry four astronauts around the moon next month, marking the first lunar flight in 50 years. The journey to the pad was painstaking, taking 11.5 hours as the rocket moved upright for four miles on Crawler Transporter 2. The transporter, which weighs 3 million kilograms and is roughly half the size of a football pitch, burned about one litre of diesel every 3.5 metres, travelling at only one…

Brussels: TikTok will begin rolling out new age-verification technology across the European Union in the coming weeks, responding to growing international calls for restrictions on social media use by children under 16, similar to Australia’s recent ban. Owned by ByteDance, TikTok, along with other platforms popular among young users such as YouTube, faces increasing pressure to identify and remove accounts belonging to minors. The EU system, piloted quietly over the past year, uses profile information, posted videos, and behavioural signals to predict whether an account belongs to a user under the age of 13. Accounts flagged by the system will…

Seoul: BTS’s long-awaited comeback as the global K-pop group announced this week that their first full-length studio album in nearly four years, titled Arirang, will be released on March 20 alongside a new world tour. The album title carries deep emotional and cultural significance for Koreans, raising questions about its meaning, its importance to both Koreas, and why BTS chose it for this milestone release. Arirang is the Korean peninsula’s most cherished folk song and is often described as an unofficial, sentimental national anthem that has resonated across generations. Its origins are believed to date back centuries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yrz49xxOC24 There is…

Tehran: Iranian state media has denied that Erfan Soltani, a 26-year-old Iranian man arrested during anti-government protests in Karaj near the capital Tehran, has been sentenced to death. The clarification follows warnings from international human rights organisations, which had claimed Soltani was facing imminent execution, triggering sharp reactions from Washington. According to reports citing Iran’s judiciary, Soltani is currently imprisoned in Karaj after his arrest on January 10 during the protests. He is facing charges of spreading propaganda against Iran’s Islamic system and acting against national security. In a statement carried by state television, the judiciary stressed that Soltani has…

Melbourne: The world’s top tennis players, from Carlos Alcaraz to Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka to Coco Gauff, have arrived in Melbourne for the Australian Open 2026, the year’s first Grand Slam. The tournament’s famous blue hard courts will feature all-time great Novak Djokovic as he chases a record-extending 11th Australian Open and 25th Grand Slam title, amid a high-profile rivalry between defending champion Sinner and world number one Alcaraz. In the women’s draw, Sabalenka aims for her third Australian Open title but faces strong competition from Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and Amanda Anisimova. Thousands of fans are expected to…

Frankfurt: Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched a new cloud service hosted entirely within Europe, aiming to address growing concerns among users about data security and reliance on predominantly US-based technology providers. The new offering, called the AWS European Sovereign Cloud, provides Europe with an independent cloud alternative designed to meet strict regional data protection and sovereignty requirements. AWS said that the European Sovereign Cloud’s data centres are both physically and legally separate from the company’s existing US-based infrastructure. https://twitter.com/awscloud/status/2011710113539559644 According to Michael Hanisch, Chief Technology Officer of AWS Germany, the system is designed to remain operational even in extreme…