Author: News Desk

China: As Iran and Pakistan demonstrate their military might, China faces a dilemma over whom to support. Despite urging restraint from both nations, China’s significant oil imports from Iran and close ties with both countries complicate its decision in these recent developments. Amidst military maneuvers by Israel in Gaza and assaults by the Houthis in the Red Sea, the Middle East faces heightened volatility due to the Iran-Pakistan conflict. Recent aerial attacks by both nations have resulted in 11 casualties, including 4 children in Iran and 2 in Pakistan, as per official reports. Iran’s strikes were aimed at two Jaish…

United Kingdom: The UK Prime Minister, Mr. Rishi Sunak, put an end to a Tory uprising after his contentious Rwanda bill cleared the Commons. The bill, which seeks to establish Rwanda as a secure nation to deport asylum seekers to, was approved by 320 votes to 276, with 44 votes in favor of the government. Just 11 Tory MPs voted against the bill in total, including Mr. David Jones, co-chairs of the New Conservatives, Mr. Danny Kruger and Ms. Miriam Cates, former immigration minister Mr. Robert Jenrick, Ms. Sarah Dines, Mr. James Duddridge, Mr. Mark Francois, Ms. Andrea Jenkyns, and…

United States: The US military has attacked Houthi-controlled locations in Yemen with missiles once more, making it the fourth time in as many weeks that it has done so. The regions targeted, according to the Houthi-controlled Saba news agency, were Hodeidah, Taiz, Dhamar, al Bayda, and Saada. The media organization asserted that the strikes also involved UK aircraft, but the Guardian was unable to corroborate those claims. According to the US military, its forces attacked 14 Houthi missiles that were ready to launch from Yemen and posed an immediate threat to nearby US Navy and merchant ships. Since November, major…

United States: For the first time in a 12-year period, Apple has surpassed Samsung to take the lead in the global smartphone market. The International Data Corporation (IDC) reports that last year, the phone giant based in America accounted for over one-fifth of all phones shipped. Chinese phone manufacturers Xiaomi, OPPO, and Transsion trailed behind Samsung, which held a 19.4 percent market share. Sales of smartphones have decreased because so many people upgraded during the pandemic. Nearly 1.2 billion smartphones were sold last year, according to IDC, a decrease of more than 3 percent from the year before. Due to…

China: China’s population declined in 2023 for the second year in a row, signalling the worsening of a demographic crisis that would have a big impact on the second-biggest economy in the world. According to an announcement from China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the population decreased to 1.409 billion in 2023, a decrease of about 2.08 million from the previous year. China’s economy expanded by 5.2 percent last year, according to the NBS, compared to the government’s target of about 5 percent growth. While this expansion marks a significant pick-up over 2022, when China’s economy grew by just 3…

Washington, US: The United States strongly criticized Iran for launching ballistic missile strikes near Irbil, a city in northern Iraq, and described these actions as reckless and inaccurate. Iran’s revolutionary guards have claimed responsibility, stating they targeted Israeli espionage centres in the semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq. The attack, which took place on Monday, resulted in the death of four individuals and injured six others, as reported by the Kurdistan Region Security Council. Iraq has denounced these strikes as a breach of its national sovereignty. Meanwhile, the Israeli government has not issued an official statement regarding these significant developments. In…

United States: Mr. Donald Trump, the former president of the United States, won the Iowa caucuses handily, solidifying his position as the front-runner for the Republican nomination to win the White House again in 2024. Mr. Trump easily defeated Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and former US Ambassador to the UN, Ms. Nikki Haley, moving him one step closer to securing a third consecutive nomination for president. Provisional tallies indicated that Mr. Trump had won at least 20 of the 40 delegates, with Mr. DeSantis taking eight and Ms. Haley receiving seven. US media outlets called the state-wide contest approximately half…

United Kingdom: A new official portrait of the King has been unveiled before being hung in buildings throughout the United Kingdom as part of a $10.1 million (£8 million) government-funded initiative. The Cabinet Office declared last year that it had set aside money to provide free portraits of King Charles to all public bodies, including courts, schools, police departments, fire and rescue agencies, and local councils. The King is seen in the picture donning his full military garb, which includes a large number of medals and decorations in addition to his Royal Navy uniform (he is an admiral of the…

North Korea: North Korea has stated that, as part of its ongoing efforts to develop more potent, difficult-to-detect weapons, it has tested a new solid-fuel missile equipped with a hypersonic warhead. The launch coincided with Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui’s trip to Moscow. Pyongyang was suspected by many in the US and other countries of selling weapons to Russia for use in Ukraine in exchange for Russian technological know-how. The launch was designed to test the reliability of new multi-stage, high-thrust solid-fuel engines and an intermediate-range hypersonic manoeuvrable controlled warhead, the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. It was…

Iceland: Melting lava flows to the edge of a small fishing town in Iceland have caused homes to be engulfed by the eruption of a volcano. Live footage aired on public television on Sunday showed at least three houses set on fire as lava reached the edge of the port of Grindavik. There were no reports of fatalities or injuries, and there was no disruption to air travel. Mr. Gudni Johannesson, the president of Iceland, called the catastrophe a “black day” for his nation. “No lives are in danger, although infrastructure may be under threat,” Mr. Johannesson shared on X.…