Author: News Desk

China: The health authorities of China have reported that the COVID wave is past its peak, with a rapid decline in both severe cases and deaths in hospitals. According to China’s Center for Disease Control (CDC), the number of critically ill patients in hospitals peaked in the early week of January 2023, then rapidly declined by more than 70 percent. The number of deaths also reached its highest level that week. The CDC noted that the number of visits to fever clinics peaked at 2.867 million on December 23 before falling 96.2 percent to 110,000 on January 23. The report further…

Myanmar: A United Nations report has noted that production of opium has flourished in Myanmar since the military’s seizure of power, rising to a nine-year high. According to the report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, in 2022, in the first full growing season since the military wrested control from the democratically elected government of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, Myanmar saw a 33 percent increase in the cultivation area to 40,100 hectares. “Economic, security, and governance disruptions that followed the military takeover of February 2021 have converged, and farmers in remote, often conflict-prone areas in…

United States: The US Department of State has announced that the country’s diplomat, Mr. Antony Blinken, will head to the Middle East amid almost daily fatal Israeli raids against Palestinians and growing tensions around holy sites in Jerusalem. Announcing Blinken’s visit, the department spokesman Mr. Ned Price noted that the diplomat will discuss the importance of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, among other issues, in meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian Authority President Mr. Mahmoud Abbas. The department stated that Mr. Blinken will discuss a “range of global and regional priorities,”  including the war…

Afghanistan: According to the chief of UN aid, the humanitarian sector was in touch with Taliban leaders to try and obtain more exemptions and formal instructions that would permit certain female help workers to work in Afghanistan despite a prohibition on women NGO staff. “I have been told by a number of Taliban leaders that the Taliban, as an administration, is working on guidelines which will provide more clarity about the role and possibility and hopefully the freedom of women to work in humanitarian work,” Mr. Martin Griffiths, the UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters. Griffiths recalled his approach…

Peru: A group of Peruvian lawmakers has submitted a motion seeking to impeach President Ms. Dina Boluarte for her handling of nearly two months of protests following the removal of her predecessor, Mr. Pedro Castillo. The move to impeach Ms. Boluarte comes in the midst of violent protests following the impeachment and arrest of former President, Mr. Castillo, in which dozens of people have been killed. According to the legislators, allies of Mr. Castillo, the motion was filed on the grounds of Boluarte’s alleged “permanent moral incapacity.” The motion is required to be approved by 52 votes before it can…

United Kingdom: A decade-long study has found that a combination of healthy lifestyle choices such as eating well, regularly exercising, playing cards, and socialising at least twice a week may help slow the rate of memory decline as well as reduce the risk of dementia. The new study published in the journal BMJ suggests that combining multiple healthy lifestyle choices is linked with slowing the speed of memory decline. “A combination of positive healthy behaviours is associated with a slower rate of memory decline in cognitively normal older adults,” researchers from the National Center for Neurological Disorders in Beijing, China,…

Ukraine: The historic centre of Odesa, a port city on the Black Sea in Ukraine, has been added to the list of World Heritage sites by the United Nations Cultural Agency in recognition of “the outstanding universal value of the site and the duty of all humanity to protect it” as the city is in danger of being destroyed. The decision was approved by the 21 member nations of UNESCO’s world heritage committee with six votes in favour, one against, and 14 abstentions. The vote was continuously postponed by Russia, which regularly bombed Odesa and invaded Ukraine in February of…

United States: Facebook parent Meta has announced that the company is reinstating former President Mr. Donald Trump’s personal account after a two-year suspension. “The suspension will end in the coming weeks,”  the social media giant stated. In a statement, Mr. Nick Clegg, Meta’s president of global affairs, remarked that “the public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying.” “The firm had taken action following Mr. Trump’s praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol,” the statement remarked. “The suspension was an extraordinary decision taken in extraordinary circumstances,” Mr. Clegg added, while pointing out that a review…

Lausanne, Switzerland: The International Olympic Committee has approved the participation of competitors from Belarus and Russia in the 2024 Paris Games. Following consultations with members, international federations, and National Olympic Committees, the IOC executive board declared in a statement that “no athlete should be prevented from competing just because of their passport.” As long as they fully uphold the Olympic Charter and haven’t actively backed the war in Ukraine, any Russian or Belarusian athlete would be eligible to compete in the Paris Games as “neutral athletes, as is already happening in professional leagues and some professional sports.” The Olympic Council…

California, US: The most popular American pop singer Justin Bieber has sold his music publishing and recording catalogue shares to the Blackstone-backed Hipgnosis Songs Capital for $ 200 million marking the industry’s latest blockbuster rights deal. The 28-year-old singer joins a who’s who of artists who have recently made money off of their catalogues because of the sale, which has been rumoured for weeks. Now Hipgnosis will get compensated each time a song that contains a part of their music is played in public. https://youtu.be/fRh_vgS2dFE The company, a $1 billion venture between the financial giant Blackstone and the British Hipgnosis Song…