Author: News Desk

United States: Barbie, the highest-grossing movie of 2023, has received a lot of nominations for the 81st Golden Globes. Nine awards, including picture (comedy or musical), screenplay, director, leading actress for Margot Robbie, supporting actor for Ryan Gosling, and three separate entries in the original song category, are up for grabs for Greta Gerwig’s pastel-coloured satire. After losing out on nominations for Lady Bird and Little Women, this is Gerwig’s first time on the directing shortlist. With this haul, Barbie becomes the second-most-nominated movie in Globe history, behind only Nashville with eleven nominations. Along with Oppenheimer, the movie whose unlikely…

Myanmar: The United Nations (UN) report shows that Myanmar has overtaken Afghanistan as the world’s biggest producer of opium. This year, Myanmar produced an estimated 1,080 metric tonnes of opium, which is needed to make heroin, according to the most recent report released by the UNODC, the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime. The figures come after the UNODC reported that after the Taliban banned poppy cultivation in April of last year, opium production in Afghanistan fell by an estimated 95 percent to about 330 tonnes. Methamphetamine and opium trafficking in particular have long been active in the “Golden…

United States: Mr. Donald Trump, the former president of the US, has stated that he has “nothing more to say” in response to his decision not to testify again in his civil fraud trial in New York. The leading candidate for the Republican nomination in the 2024 presidential contest, Mr. Trump, stated on Sunday that he did not think it was necessary to testify because he had already done so “very successfully & conclusively” last month. “I have already testified to everything & have nothing more to say,” Mr. Trump cited in a post on his Truth Social platform. The…

Sudan: The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) has reported that two people have died and seven others have been injured in an attack on their humanitarian convoy in the capital of Sudan. The Red Cross added in a statement that three ICRC employees were among the injured. “The humanitarian convoy, consisting of three ICRC vehicles and three buses, all clearly marked with the Red Cross emblem, was due to evacuate over a hundred vulnerable civilians from Khartoum to Wad Madani when it came under attack upon entering the evacuation area,” as per the statement. The ICRC expressed shock…

United States: Strong thunderstorms and tornadoes swept across Tennessee, resulting in at least six fatalities. Emergency management officials reported that three people had been confirmed dead in Madison, Tennessee, which is located just north of Nashville. “We have teams assessing damage and looking for patients. Unfortunately, we can confirm there are three fatalities as a result of the severe weather on Nesbitt Lane,” the Nashville Office of Emergency Management shared on X. “At this time we can confirm that three people are deceased, two adults and one child as a result of the tornado that touched down this afternoon. Additionally,…

Germany: Justine Triet’s French courtroom drama thriller Anatomy of a Fall has won Best Film at the 2023 European Film Awards (EFA). A two-time nominee for best actress, Sandra Hüller took home the prize for her barnstorming performance as a writer who may have killed her husband in Anatomy of a Fall. Hüller asked the audience to “silently, strongly, vividly, imagine peace” during a moment of silence as she accepted her prize. She then addressed the various conflicts that are currently raging in and around Europe. In addition to sharing the best screenplay award with Arthur Harari for their collaborative…

United States: The US Secretary of State, Mr. Antony Blinken, has urged Israel to end and make public the investigation into the artillery strikes in Lebanon that resulted in the death of a journalist and the injuries of six others. Mr. Blinken said that an active investigation by Israel into the October 13, 2023 strike in southern Lebanon is “important and appropriate.” “My understanding is that Israel has initiated such an investigation, and it will be important to see that investigation come to a conclusion and to see the results of the investigation,” Mr. Blinken stated in a news conference.…

United States: The tech giant Meta has stated that all conversations on Facebook and Messenger will be automatically encrypted. Only the sender and recipient can read calls and messages that are encrypted end-to-end (E2EE). While encrypted messages have always been an option, they will now always be the default setting. The UK government and police are among the critics who argue that the switch to default encryption will make it more difficult to identify child sexual abuse on Messenger. According to Ms. Loredana Crisan, the head of Messenger, “unless you choose to report a message to us,” nobody, not even…

Australia: Australia and Papua New Guinea (PNG) have signed a bilateral security deal that will strengthen the Pacific state that has been courted persistently by China. The agreement, which was inked in Canberra by PNG’s Mr. James Marape and Australian Prime Minister, Mr. Anthony Albanese, follows PNG’s May signing of a defence agreement with the US to modernise its military bases. During a joint press conference, Mr. Marape informed reporters that the agreement with Australia demonstrated the two nations’ status as “brother and sister nations.” Before PNG gained independence 48 years ago, Australia set up the country’s borders, public service,…

United States: McDonald’s, an American multinational fast food company, has introduced CosMc’s, a beverage-led concept small-format restaurant. In a test launch, the first CosMc’s store will open this month in Bolingbrook, Illinois, and a few more will follow in the upcoming months. By 2027, the fast-food chain also intends to open about 10,000 McDonald’s locations worldwide, with a large number of those locations in China. The announcement was in line with the company’s investor day. Executives revealed long-term goals for the development of a new restaurant, plans to sign up 100 million new members for the loyalty programme, and a…