April 11, 2019, brought us a new word for Judas: Moreno—the puppet president of Ecuador who sold Julian Assange to Washington for his 30 pieces of silver. Yesterday’s arrest of Assange inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London is the first stage in Washington’s attempt to criminalize the First Amendment to …
Read More »New Australian 50 cent coin features 14 indigenous languages.
Australia has issued a new 50 cent coin celebrating some of the country’s indigenous languages, many of which are at risk of extinction. The new design incorporates 14 translations of the word “coin” from languages native to the Australian continent, developed in collaboration by the Royal Australian Mint and the …
Read More »Coffee not essential for life.
The Swiss government wants to put an end to its emergency stockpile of coffee after declaring that it is “not essential” for human survival. Switzerland began storing emergency reserves of coffee between World War One and World War Two in preparation for potential shortages. It continued in subsequent decades to …
Read More »YouTube TV prices are going up to nearly $50 a month.
Cutting the cable cord just got a little more expensive. The price of a YouTube TV subscription is going up by $10 to $49.99 a month. The Google-owned company announced the price hike in a blog post-Wednesday. YouTube said it was raising prices to bring customers “the best service possible.” …
Read More »Amazon staff listen to customers’ Alexa recordings: reports.
When Amazon customers speak to Alexa, the company’s AI-powered voice assistant, they may be heard by more people than they expect, according to a report. Amazon employees around the world regularly listen to recordings from the company’s smart speakers as part of the development process for new services, Bloomberg News …
Read More »Opinion: Why the black hole is a ray of light in these dark times.
“The gates of hell, the end of space and time.” That was how black holes were described at the press conference in Brussels where the first ever photograph of one was revealed to an excited audience. And this black hole, a super-massive object at the center of the galaxy Messier …
Read More »Iraq will be no starting point for action against neighbors, Salih assures Iran
In a veiled warning to the US, President Barham Salih of Iraq says his country’s soil will not be a “starting point” for any action against its neighbors, two days after Washington blacklisted an elite Iranian military force, which greatly contributed to the collapse of the Daesh. Salih made the …
Read More »Dinosaur skin traces discovered in South Korea.
An “exquisitely preserved” trace of dinosaur skin has been discovered in South Korea. Researchers found a set of tiny tracks from a blackbird-sized Minisauripus, the smallest known theropod. The footprints themselves, which measured only an inch long, also contained perfectly preserved skin traces. “These are the first tracks ever found …
Read More »Theresa May defends 31 October delay to MPs
Theresa May has told MPs it remains her “priority” to deliver Brexit, defending the decision to delay the UK’s exit from the EU by more than six months. The new deadline of 31 October, set following late-night talks in Brussels, means the UK is likely to have to hold …
Read More »World’s longest domestic flight takes off.
A US domestic flight taking almost 12 hours has been launched – making it by far the world’s longest air route within a single country, and breaking the 5,000-mile barrier. Hawaiian Airlines flight 89 connects Boston with Honolulu, Hawaii, a distance of 5,095 miles. It is scheduled to take 11 …
Read More »Mount Everest may have shrunk after earthquake – Nepal’s government.
Mount Everest may have shrunk as the result of a devastating earthquake – so a team of Nepalese surveyors is heading to the summit of the world’s tallest mountain to discover the truth. After two years of training, the four-strong group will try to work out whether the official height …
Read More »UK police arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.
British police say they have arrested WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange inside the Ecuadorean embassy in London, where the whistleblower has been living since 2012. “Julian Assange, 47, has today, Thursday 11 April, been arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) at the Embassy of Ecuador,” police said. Police …
Read More »World’s largest election starts in India.
Indians have started voting in the country’s multi-phase parliamentary elections, in what is considered the biggest elections in history. India’s general elections kicked off early on Thursday, with about 900 million people being eligible to vote at about a million polling stations set up across the country. The voting takes …
Read More »Omar al-Bashir forced out.
A Sudanese government source says President Omar al-Bashir has stepped down and that consultation is underway to form a transitional council. Adel Mahjoub Hussein, the Sudanese minister of production and economic resources in North Darfur, told the Dubai-based al-Hadath TV on Thursday that, “There are consultations to form a military …
Read More »First ever black hole image released
Astronomers have taken the first ever image of a black hole, which is located in a distant galaxy. It measures 40 billion km across – three million times the size of the Earth – and has been described by scientists as “a monster”. The black hole is 500 million trillion …
Read More »Pope blames US, Europe for deaths of people in war zones
Pope Francis says arms sales by the United States and Europe are to blame for the deaths of people, including children, in such places as Yemen, Syria, and Afghanistan. “The rich Europe and America sell weapons… used to kill children and kill people,” said the pontiff, in unprecedented remarks made …
Read More »Maldives election: Early results show victory for president’s party
President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih’s party is on course to win a landslide victory in the Maldives parliamentary election, early result show. The Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) is projected to win almost 60 seats in the 87-seat parliament, local media report. Final results are expected to be declared on Sunday. An …
Read More »G-7 ministers reveal ‘clear differences’ on Middle East
Foreign ministers from the Group of Seven nations failed to reach consensus on key Middle East issues on Saturday as they wrapped up a meeting in France that was shaken by the absence of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. The diplomats in attendance projected a united front while walking …
Read More »UK’s May concedes Brexit deal won’t pass ‘in near future’
British Prime Minister Theresa May acknowledged that the government’s strategies to get her Brexit deal approved in Parliament failed, saying Saturday there’s little prospect lawmakers will back the thrice-rejected divorce agreement “in the near future.” With the U.K. once again days away from a deadline for leaving the European Union, …
Read More »Chief of staff says Dems will ‘never’ see Trump tax returns
Democrats will “never” see President Donald Trump’s tax returns, said White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney on Sunday, as a new front opened in the confrontation between the administration and Congress. Mulvaney accused Democrats of engaging in a “political stunt” and wanting “attention” after the chairman of the House …
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