Author: News Desk

Edinburgh: Unexpected turn of economic events, the United Kingdom, following Brexit, is forecast to surpass Germany in economic performance. This development emerges as the Eurozone braces itself for the likelihood of a more profound recession, spurred by escalating interest rates. Recent figures have shown that both Britain and Germany witnessed economic shrinkage in the quarter leading up to September. This downturn positions Europe’s two largest economies on the brink of a further fiscal decline. Nevertheless, analysts at UBS (Formerly: Union Bank of Switzerland) are sanguine about the UK’s economic rebound, predicting a strong recovery within the next year. In contrast,…

Argentina: Argentina’s new President, Mr. Javier Milei, has sent letters to BRICS leaders to formalise his decision to reject an invitation to join the grouping of major emerging economies. The bloc, which is made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, in August announced that it was admitting six new members in a bid to counter the Western-led global order. The BRICS countries are often seen as a counterweight to the Western-led world. In a letter to the leaders, Mr. Milei stated that the decisions taken by the preceding government had been revised. The letters signed by Mr.…

United States: A secret US government spacecraft has taken off on a classified mission atop the world’s strongest rockets. On a SpaceX Falcon Heavy, the X-37B craft was launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The most recent mission it was on was in 2020, but it has been on six other missions since 2010. The rocket that was used on Thursday can send it farther into space than it has ever been. This little spacecraft, which is about the size of a bus and looks like a miniature space shuttle, was built by Boeing and has, up to…

United States: Maine’s top election official has disqualified former US President, Mr. Donald Trump, from running for office in the state’s US presidential primary next year as a result of the Capitol riots. This makes Maine the second state to do so. Ms. Shenna Bellows, the secretary of state for Maine, declared that Mr. Trump had incited an uprising when he disseminated untrue allegations of voter fraud during the 2020 election and then called on his followers to demonstrate in front of the Capitol building on January 6, 2021. “I do not reach this conclusion lightly. I am mindful that…

India: A joint investigation by Amnesty International and The Washington Post found that the Indian government has been using Pegasus spyware to target prominent journalists. Pegasus software, developed by the Israeli company NSO Group and distributed to governments worldwide, allows users to read and write on a phone, browse through images, record calls, track locations, and even record the owner using the camera. According to Amnesty International, the most recent case of spyware on the iPhones of journalists Mr. Siddharth Varadarajan of The Wire and Mr. Anand Mangnale of The Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project was discovered in October.…

North Korea: Mr. Kim Jong Un has directed the North Korean military to “accelerate” war preparations, including the nuclear programme, in response to what he described as unprecedented aggressive actions by the United States. According to the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) Mr. Kim “set forth the militant tasks for the People’s Army and the munitions industry, nuclear weapons, and civil defence sectors to further accelerate war preparations” during a speech at a continuing meeting of the nation’s ruling Workers’ Party. Additionally, Mr. Kim emphasised that “unprecedented” anti-North confrontations with the US were to blame for the “extreme” state…

South Korea: The South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, who starred in Parasite, the Oscar-winning film directed by Bong Joon Ho, and appeared in the Dr. Brain series on Apple TV+, passed away by apparent suicide. According to Yonhap, a South Korean news agency, Lee was found dead inside a car in a Seoul park. Lee’s wife reportedly found what appeared to be a suicide note and reported the actor’s departure from the house to the police, according to Yonhap. Lee had been under investigation over allegations that he had used illegal drugs, as per the report. A number of accusations…

Israel: Israel’s government has granted Intel Corp $3.2 billion for a new $25 billion chip plant, which it plans to build in southern Israel. The agreement between Israel and Intel represents a significant gesture of support from a major US corporation and a kind offer from the Israeli government at a time when Washington, Israel’s largest ally, is putting more pressure on Tel Aviv to take additional action to reduce civilian casualties in Gaza. The chipmaker committed to purchasing goods and services worth 60 billion shekels ($16.6 billion) from Israeli suppliers over the next ten years in addition to the…

United States: The US has launched strikes on forces aligned with Iran in Iraq in response to a drone attack that left three US service members critically injured, according to the White House. According to a statement released by US National Security Council spokesperson, Ms. Adrienne Watson, US President, Mr. Joe Biden, gave the order to strike three locations in Iraq that were used by Kataeb Hezbollah and related organisations. The strikes “focused specifically on unmanned aerial drone activities,” according to Ms. Watson. “The President places no higher priority than the protection of American personnel serving in harm’s way. The…

Belarus: The president of Belarus has stated that Russia has finished shipping tactical nuclear weapons to his nation, a development that has alarmed other countries. Mr. Alexander Lukashenko stated that the deliveries were completed in October at a meeting of a Moscow-led economic bloc in St. Petersburg, but he did not specify how many or where they had been used. When compared to far more potent nuclear warheads attached to long-range missiles, tactical nuclear weapons, which are intended for use in combat, have a lower yield and a shorter range. Their yield can be as low as one kiloton, which…