Author: News Desk

London: Leading scientists have urged the UK government to require cigarette-style warning labels on bacon and ham, highlighting that chemicals used in processing these meats can cause bowel cancer. The scientists criticized successive British governments for doing ‘virtually nothing’ over the past decade to reduce risks from nitrites, despite overwhelming evidence of their harm. October 2025 marks ten years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared processed meat carcinogenic to humans, placing it in the same category as tobacco and asbestos. Nitrites, the chemicals added to bacon and ham during processing, serve to cure and preserve the meat and give…

Seattle: The Amazon outage this week was caused by a bug in its automation software, leaving services from Signal to smart beds offline for several hours. In a detailed post, AWS outlined a cascading series of events that triggered the outage, taking down thousands of websites and applications relying on its cloud infrastructure. The Amazon outage primarily affected DynamoDB, AWS’s database system where customers store data, due to “a latent defect within the service’s automated DNS [domain name system] management system.” DynamoDB manages hundreds of thousands of DNS records and uses automation to monitor the system, ensuring updates, capacity adjustments,…

Kingston, Jamaica: Tropical Storm Melissa is steadily moving through the central Caribbean, with forecasters warning that it could soon strengthen and brush past Jamaica as a powerful hurricane while unleashing potentially catastrophic flash flooding and landslides in southern Haiti. As of October 24, the storm was centered about 150 miles (245 km) southeast of Kingston, Jamaica, and roughly 270 miles (430 km) southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, moving north at 3 mph (6 km/h) with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph (75 km/h), according to the US National Hurricane Center in Miami. Tropical Storm Melissa is expected to drop copious rain…

Jakarta: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has urged international sports federations to refrain from hosting events in Indonesia following the country’s decision to deny visas to Israeli gymnasts at the ongoing Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta. Indonesia said the move was necessary to ‘maintain public order.’ The IOC’s executive board issued a statement recommending that world sports bodies cease holding competitions in Indonesia. The statement also confirmed that Indonesia’s potential Olympic Games bids will not proceed until the government provides assurances that all athletes, regardless of nationality, will be allowed to compete in future events. Earlier this month, Indonesia,…

Beijing: Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group (9988.HK) has launched a new AI chatbot assistant service integrated into its Quark app, marking a renewed push into the consumer-facing artificial intelligence sector currently dominated by ByteDance and Tencent. The company announced the launch, describing the new service as part of its broader effort to enhance user experience through intelligent, real-time digital tools. The Quark app, which originally debuted as a web browser, has been repositioned this year as Alibaba’s flagship consumer platform, incorporating advanced AI capabilities such as smarter search functions and voice-enabled assistance. According to Alibaba’s statement, the new chat assistant…

Reykjavik, Iceland: Mosquitoes have been discovered in Iceland for the first time after the country experienced record-breaking heat this spring, ending its status as one of the few mosquito-free regions in the world. Insect enthusiast Bjorn Hjaltason observed the insects over several nights last week while using wine-soaked ropes to monitor moths. Hjaltason found two female mosquitoes and one male, which were later identified as Culiseta annulata, a species capable of surviving winter. Before this discovery, only Antarctica shared Iceland’s mosquito-free distinction. The mosquitoes were found in Kjós, a glacial valley southwest of Reykjavik. Hjaltason posted images of the insects…

Beijing, China: Pop Mart, the Chinese toy maker behind the hugely popular Labubu dolls, has reported a significant surge in sales following the release of mini versions of the monster-themed toys in August. The company reported that its global revenue for the three months ended in September increased by approximately 250 percent compared to the same period last year. International markets played a significant role in this growth, with sales in the United States increasing by more than 1,200 percent and European revenue rising over 700 percent. The boost builds on Pop Mart’s recent streak of strong sales. Its shares…

London: The Metropolitan Police, under Operation Zoridon, have raided 120 shops suspected of selling stolen goods in their largest-ever operation targeting shoplifting. The two-day blitz, involving more than 300 officers, led to 32 arrests and the seizure of thousands of items, including food, cosmetics, electrical devices, gaming consoles, and branded merchandise, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Superintendent Luke Baldock stressed that, “Shoplifting is not a victimless crime, and the gangs involved are organised and have links to drugs and violence. Rogue shopkeepers who trade in stolen goods are funding criminal activity and driving up costs for everyone. They’re keeping…

New Delhi: Diwali fireworks have significantly worsened air quality in India’s capital, New Delhi, making it one of the most polluted cities in the world. On October 21, the city’s air quality index (AQI) reached 442, according to Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir. As is common every year, the widespread use of fireworks on October 20, marking the Hindu festival of lights, added to existing pollution from traffic, industry, and agricultural burning that typically accumulates in the cooler months, resulting in New Delhi topping global pollution charts, IQAir noted. The concentration of PM2.5, fine particulate matter small enough to…

London: The UK government has unveiled a landmark reform set to overhaul post-16 education by introducing a new qualification route called ‘V Levels’ for students aged 16 to 19. The announcement, made by the Department for Education (DfE), aims to deliver ‘vocational qualifications tied to rigorous and real-world job standards.’ Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson described technical and vocational education as the ‘backbone of this country’s economy,’ saying it has been neglected for too long. https://twitter.com/bphillipsonMP/status/1980159646833816053 Under the reforms, around 900 existing vocational qualifications for 16-19-year-olds will be replaced with V Levels, creating a clearer pathway alongside existing A Levels and…