Author: Web Desk

Melbourne: Venus Williams has received a wildcard entry for the Australian Open, becoming the oldest female player to feature in the tournament’s main draw at the age of 45. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has been granted the final women’s wildcard for the season-opening major, which begins on  January 18 in Melbourne. Williams has last competed at the Australian Open in 2021, when the American was beaten in the second round by Italy’s Sara Errani. Williams return to Melbourne Park marks another milestone in a career that has spanned more than three decades at the highest level of professional tennis.…

Tokyo: Japan parliament has witnessed a push for infrastructure changes as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and dozens of female lawmakers have backed a petition calling for more women’s toilets inside the parliamentary complex. The move has reflected growing pressure to modernise facilities as women take up a larger share of seats in the legislature. A record 73 women were elected to the 465-seat Lower House in October 2024, surpassing the previous high set in 2009. Despite this rise, facilities within japan parliament have remained largely unchanged since the building was constructed in 1936, nearly a decade before women gained the…

Washington: Several US states have introduced new restrictions on what items can be purchased using government food assistance benefits, with bans on products such as soda, candy and energy drinks taking effect from New Year’s Day. The changes affect recipients of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, widely known as SNAP, and will begin in West Virginia, Utah, Indiana, Iowa and Nebraska. The measures are aimed at limiting the use of taxpayer-funded benefits for foods considered unhealthy. Under the new rules, West Virginia and Utah will ban the purchase of sodas using SNAP benefits. Nebraska will prohibit both sodas and energy…

Paris: France plans Australia-style social media ban as the government has prepared draft legislation to restrict access to major platforms for children under the age of 15, with the proposed measures expected to take effect from the 2026 academic year. The move has followed growing political concern over the impact of excessive screen time, online bullying and harmful digital content on young people. The draft bill has been completed and is set to be submitted to France’s Conseil d’État for legal review before being debated in parliament early next year. The proposal includes two key measures: a ban on social…

Reykjavík: Iceland has witnessed an extraordinary weather event after record-breaking temperatures were recorded on Christmas Eve, marking the warmest December 24 since measurements began. The Icelandic Meteorological Office has confirmed that the eastern town of Seyðisfjörður reached 19.8C, far exceeding the country’s typical December temperature range of between -1C and 4C. The warmth was not isolated to a single location. A temperature of 19.7C was also recorded at Bakkagerði in eastern Borgarfjörður, placing the day among the hottest December dates ever observed in Iceland. The previous December record stood at 19.7C, recorded on December 2, 2019 in Kvískerjar in the…

Conakry: Mamady Doumbouya has been elected president of Guinea, according to provisional results announced by electoral authorities, completing a transition process that began after the 2021 military takeover. The outcome has confirmed expectations following a tightly managed vote held on December 28. Mamady Doumbouya, a former special forces commander, has secured 86.72 percent of the vote, an absolute majority that eliminates the need for a second round. The Supreme Court has eight days to review and validate the results if any legal challenges are submitted. The win grants Doumbouya a seven-year presidential mandate. The election has followed a turbulent political…

San Francisco: Meta has moved to deepen its artificial intelligence ambitions by agreeing to acquire Chinese-founded startup Manus, marking another significant step in the company’s push to integrate advanced AI technologies across its consumer and business platforms. Meta said the acquisition will allow the company to operate and sell Manus’s services while embedding the technology into products including Meta AI. Although financial terms were not disclosed, a source with direct knowledge of the deal said the transaction values Manus at between $2 billion (£1.6 billion) and $3 billion (£2.4 billion). Manus, now based in Singapore, gained global attention earlier this…

Dhaka: Khaleda Zia has passed away at a hospital in Dhaka after doctors described the condition as extremely critical in the final hours. Physicians had placed Khaleda Zia on life support, but medical teams said multiple treatments could not be administered simultaneously because of age-related complications and overall health deterioration. Khaleda Zia became Bangladesh’s first female prime minister in 1991 after leading the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to victory in the country’s first democratic election in two decades. The election followed years of military rule and marked a turning point in Bangladesh’s democratic transition. Despite declining health, party officials had earlier…

Jakarta: Sumatra floods have reshaped Indonesia’s year-end celebrations after the central government has backed regional decisions to cancel New Year fireworks in a gesture of mourning and solidarity. The move has followed severe flooding and landslides across the island that have killed more than 1,100 people and displaced hundreds of thousands. Officials have said multiple regional governments and police authorities have chosen to forgo fireworks out of respect for the victims of the Sumatra floods. These include restrictions in the capital Jakarta and the popular tourist destination Bali, where police have banned displays and urged residents to avoid setting off…

Florida: Ukraine peace talks have advanced after detailed discussions between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, though both sides have acknowledged that critical issues remain unresolved, particularly concerning territorial control. Following meetings at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, both leaders described the talks as productive. Trump said that most aspects of a proposed 20-point peace framework had been agreed but noted that ‘one or two very thorny issues’ continued to block a final deal. The most sensitive of these has remained the question of land, especially in eastern Ukraine. Zelensky said that negotiators had reached agreement on around 90 percent of the revised…