Author: News Desk

South Africa: AKA, a well-known rapper from South Africa, was fatally shot outside a restaurant in the coastal city of Durban. Kiernan Forbes was killed along with his close friend, the chef and entrepreneur Tebello ‘Tibz’ Motsoane. The two were heading route to a nightclub for a performance as part of Forbes’ birthday celebration while they shot. The reason for the murder is being investigated. The rapper and his friend were walking to their car when they were approached by two armed men, who shot them at close range, as per the report. The attackers then walked away from the…

United States: The Four Continents figure skating championships were held in Colorado Springs, and Lee Hae-in won the women’s crown after moving up from sixth place and completing a nearly faultless free skate. 17-year-old Lee, is the first South Korean woman to win a tournament for non-European nations since Kim Yu-na in 2009. She finished ahead of Kim Ye-lim, a fellow countryman, who had been leading after the short program but had placed third in the free skate. Isabeau Levito, the 15-year-old national champion from America, withdrew shortly before the free skate due to sickness after placing second in the…

Syria: The US has temporarily loosened its sanctions against Syria in an effort to speed up aid deliveries to the country’s northwest with thousands of people killed in last week’s earthquake. The devastation in Syria’s north, which had already been severely damaged by the civil war and is now mostly under opposition control with Bashar al-Assad’s government only present in a few areas, was made worse by the earthquake that has killed close to 23,000 people there and in the neighbouring country of Turkey. “I don’t think that this license will suddenly open the floodgates and allow for unhindered humanitarian…

France: French President Emmanuel Macron has stated that he is considering stripping Mr. Vladimir Putin of France’s top honour, the “Legion d’Honneur.” The Russian President received the honour in 2006 from former French President Jacques Chirac.The title, established in 1802 by Napoleon Bonaparte, is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Mr. Macron stated that he is waiting for the “right moment” to strip the Russian president of the title. Mr. Macron awarded the Russian President’s enemy, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the top honor, but he has yet to formally remove it from Mr. Putin. Speaking after…

Australia: A new study by Australian researchers has found a protein in the lungs that sticks to the COVID-19 virus like velcro and immobilises it. This may explain why some people do not become ill with the virus while others suffer from severe illness. The research was led by Mr. Greg Neely, a professor of functional genomics with the University of Sydney’s Charles Perkins Centre, in collaboration with Dr. Lipin Loo, a postdoctoral researcher, and Mr. Matthew Waller, a PhD student. The findings of the study were published in the journal PLOS Biology. The team used human cells in tissue…

United States: Mr. Elon Musk’s SpaceX company has conducted a successful ground test of the engines on its huge new rocket system, Starship. Engineers held a “static fire” on the Super Heavy, a massive rocket booster, igniting 31 out of 33 engines at the base of the vehicle’s lower segment. Super Heavy was made to send SpaceX’s next-generation Starship vehicle towards orbit before returning to Earth. The firing lasted only a few seconds, with everything clamped in place to prevent any movement. The static fire took place at SpaceX’s R&D facility in Boca Chica, on the Texas/Mexico border. Mr. Musk…

 New Zealand: Netflix is imposing restrictions on password sharing in Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Spain. If customers in certain nations want to share their subscription with friends and relatives who don’t reside with them, they must pay an additional cost. The action comes after South America cracked down on password sharing. Based on the media giant, 100 million people worldwide use shared accounts. Netflix’s capacity to invest in new programming content was being hampered by the loss of revenue from the shared accounts, the company claimed. It has stated that it intends to expand the new strategy to more…

Australia: The Australian government has announced that the country will remove Chinese-made security cameras at defence sites, admitting there is a potential security problem that needs to be addressed. The move comes after an audit conducted by Mr. James Paterson, the shadow cybersecurity minister. The audit eventually confirmed that more than 900 products built by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua are installed at government locations. The audit further found that cameras and security gear were located on more than 200 buildings in almost every department, including the foreign affairs and attorney general’s departments. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese commented that he…

United States: Google’s new AI-powered search bot hit a snag and shook investor trust Because it provided false information in a promotional video. Alphabet, the company that owns Google, saw its market value decline by $100 billion, adding to concerns that Microsoft is gaining ground. Alphabet shares were unchanged after falling as much as 9 percent during regular trading. Shares of Microsoft increased by around 3 percent before retreating and also unchanged in post-market trade. https://twitter.com/Google/status/1622710355775393793?s=20&t=Tbey00kVL-IoLA1sBXqE6g Alphabet Tweeted that a brief gif video showing Bard in action would help to explain complex subjects, but it instead provided an incorrect response.…

North Korea: North Korea’s Mr. Kim Jong Un presided over a significant military display that featured a record number of nuclear and intercontinental ballistic missiles, possibly including a brand-new solid-fueled ICBM, as per analysts. The troops in uniform marched in unison to spell out “2.8” and “75” as part of the parade honouring the 75th founding anniversary of the nation’s armed forces. Mr. Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea, favoured the black coat and fedora combo, and he wore it while attending the parade on February 8 with his wife Ms. Ri Sol Ju and daughter Ms. Ju…