An Irish Catholic priest has called for Christians to stop using the word Christmas because it has been hijacked by “Santa and reindeer”, the media reported on Saturday. Father Desmond O’Donnell said Christians of any denomination need to accept Christmas now has no sacred meaning, reports the Guardian. O’Donnell’s comments[Read More…]
Germany’s telecommunications regulator has announced a blanket ban on smartwatches for children over privacy concerns and asked parents to destroy the ones already purchased. “Via an app, parents can use such children’s watches to listen unnoticed to the child’s environment and they are to be regarded as an unauthorised transmitting[Read More…]
Here’s a chance for Hindi speakers across the country to help choose a Hindi Word of the Year 2017. Oxford Dictionaries is calling for “The Hindi Word of the Year” which will be a word or expression that has attracted a great deal of interest over the last 12 months.[Read More…]
Astronomers have discovered an Earth-sized planet outside our solar system which is expected to be temperate and could be a “comfortable abode for possible life”. This Earth-sized world, named Ross 128 b, is likely to have a surface temperature that may also be close to that of the Earth, according[Read More…]
Contrary to global fears, few workers believe that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will take away their jobs, a new survey claimed on Wednesday. The survey of more than 5,000 people from across the US, the UK and Australia by global professional services firm Genpact showed a striking gap in views about[Read More…]
Governments around the world have drastically increased their attempts to manipulate information being shared on social media networks, contributing to a seventh consecutive year of decline in internet freedom, a global report said. In its annual report released late Monday, the Washington-based Freedom House said that manipulation and disinformation tactics[Read More…]
Over 400 people were killed and thousands injured when a devastating 7.3 magnitude earthquake struck Iran in a region bordering Iraq, damaging hundreds of buildings and causing massive destruction. The death toll could rise, officials warned on Monday. Iran’s state-run Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) news agency raised the death[Read More…]
Washington: Joining the fight against Alzheimer’s, Microsoft founder Bill Gates on Monday announced a $50 million Dementia Discovery Investment Fund from his personal wealth to find a cure for the brain-wasting disease. “Of all the disorders that plague us late in life, one stands out as a particularly big threat to[Read More…]
Men with a history of cardiovascular disease may be more at risk of facing sudden cardiac arrest during or soon after sex, a study led by an Indian-origin researcher has revealed. Sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) is when the heart suddenly stops beating. It usually occurs without warning. The findings showed[Read More…]
At least 134 people were killed and over thousands of others injured after a powerful earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale struck an area near the Iran-Iraq border, media reports said on Monday. According to Iran’s state-run Press TV, 130 victims were killed in Kermanshah province. Four other people[Read More…]
The United Nations and the Bangladeshi government are stepping up efforts to immunize Rohingya refugees living in overcrowded camps and makeshift shelters, as the number of suspected measles cases is on the rise, said the UN on Friday. Measles, a childhood killer disease which can be particularly dangerous among unimmunised[Read More…]
Italian authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of death of 26 teenage girls whose bodies were recovered in the Mediterranean Sea, the media reported on Tuesday. The girls, aged 14-18, were believed to have been migrants from Niger and Nigeria who had embarked on the treacherous route to[Read More…]
A huge new leak of financial documents has revealed how the powerful and ultra-wealthy, including Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II’s private estate, secretly invest vast amounts of cash in offshore tax havens, media reports said on Monday. The details come from a leak of 13.4 million files on Sunday that expose[Read More…]
Lauding India’s increasing per capita income, World Bank CEO Kristalina Georgieva on Saturday said she has no doubt that India will be a high-middle income country by 2047 when it completes its centenary year of independence. “In the last three decades, India’s per capita income has quadrupled. I have no[Read More…]
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday met Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan and discussed ways to boost bilateral ties. “Reinvigorating age-old ties. PM @narendramodi meets President Serzh Sargsyan of Armenia, discusses ways to intensify cooperation,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar tweeted. Earlier on Friday, Sargsyan attended the World Food India[Read More…]
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Filippo Grandi has told the UN Security Council that over 800,000 Myanmar Rohingya were probably in the “most acute” situation. Grandi made the remarks about Rohingya refugees, as in comparison to 65 million to 66 million people forcibly displaced in the world, Xinhua news[Read More…]
The CIA has released thousands of files seized during the May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, including personal photographs of his family and insight into the Al Qaeda’s global leadership, the media reported. The massive amount of new material released on Wednesday contains nearly 470,000[Read More…]
The Congress on Wednesday said that World Bank’s “Ease of Doing Business” global rankings is “not based on ground reality” as it has not taken into account the impact of GST and demonetisation, and the survey is confined only to Mumbai and New Delhi. “We, as a party, are not[Read More…]
The US State Department has issued a travel warning to Niger and urged American citizens not to travel to the African country or surrounding areas due to “terrorist activity, kidnappings and high rate of crime”, the media reported. “Terrorist organisations, armed groups, and smugglers operate in the areas bordering Mali,[Read More…]
The influx of Rohingya refugees arriving in Bangladesh after fleeing violence in Myanmar continued on Saturday despite the two countries signing an agreement to stop the exodus. “I do not see that the Rohingya influx has stopped. Normally, 1,000 to 2,000 Rohingyas enter Bangladesh daily, and it is continuing,” Shah[Read More…]
After three women revealed incidents of sexual misconduct involving the former US President, George HW Bus, one more woman has come forward alleging that Bush had touched her inappropriately. On Friday, Amanda Staples posted a photo on Instagram of her with the 93-year-old former leader taken in 2006 when she[Read More…]
A UN special rapporteur on human rights has urged the Security Council to take decisive action to resolve the crisis in Myanmar’s Rakhine state, noting that the crisis “reaches beyond Myanmar’s borders”. “The crisis in Rakhine state has not only been decades in the making but has for some time[Read More…]
Former flames, singers Selena Gomez and Justin Bieber, who dated each other on and off between 2011 to 2014, are reportedly on good terms now following the formers kidney transplant. Gomez underwent a kidney transplant in summer, getting a kidney from her close friend, TV actress Francia Raisa. “Selena is[Read More…]
The total number of Rohingya refugees that have arrived Bangladesh from Myanmar since August 25 has reached 604,000, a UN spokesman said here on Wednesday. “Refugees have sought shelter in Bangladesh since the outbreak of violence in Myanmar on August 25,” UN deputy spokesman, Farhan Haq said on Wednesday. More[Read More…]
The European Union has deployed a 10-member team in Nepal to observe the elections to the House of Representatives and State Assemblies scheduled for November 26 and December 7. “In response to an invitation by the Nepal authorities, the European Union has deployed an Election Observation Mission (EOM) to Nepal[Read More…]
