Wednesday, 31 March 2021

Prophet Bushiri's 8-year-old daughter dies after battle with lung infection

 

 Israella, the 8-year-old daughter of Enlightened Christian Gathering (ECG) leader Prophet Shepherd Bushiri, has passed away.  Israella died in the Intensive Care Unit of a Kenyan hospital in the early hours of Monday morning, March 29,
 Prophet Bushiri confirmed the sad news in a statement issued through his Facebook page on Monday morning. The embattled prophet had called an emergency prayer meeting on for his daughter saying she had been battling a lung infection for the past few weeks.
Police in Malawi recently delayed Isabella seeking medical assistance when they blocked the prophet’s children, cousin Esther Bushiri and mother-in-law Magdalena Zgambo to depart from Kamuzu International Airport in Lilongwe in a private air ambulance. They were later allowed to travel by government after a week.

Popular football pundit and lifelong Arsenal fan, Claude Callegari dies at 58, after posting a tweet saying 'I will disappear soon to see my mother then you can all be happy'

 

 
Popular football pundit and lifelong Arsenal fan, Claude Callegari has died at the age of 58, just two days after he told his social media followers he would 'disappear soon to see my mother then you can all be happy'.
On the afternoon of March 29, the former Arsenal FanTV pundit passed away with the cause still not revealed but his family has asked for privacy after his father announced the news.
In his final tweets, Mr. Claude reacted to criticism of his analysis on Arsenal FanTV, writing: 'No one is forcing you to watch it don't worry I will disappear soon to see my mother then you can all be happy'.  
A statement released on behalf of the family read: 'We can't believe we are writing this, with permission from Claude's father, it is with great sadness and a broken heart that we have to announce that our dear friend and legend Claude sadly passed away yesterday afternoon, March 29.

FootballerJarrod Bowen faces FA investigation and potential ban over N-word tweet he sent out at the age of 15

 

West Ham winger, Jarrod Bowen is facing FA investigation and a potential ban after an N-word tweet from 2012 was discovered. The 24-year-old English footballer was just 15 at the time when he posted the comment.
 The now-deleted post read: 'That one friend that thinks their black #N*****please.'
 The Football Association have confirmed they are aware of the post, which was made by Bowen when he was a 15-year-old playing in Hereford's youth ranks, and have launched an investigation into the matter.

Holland to send 200 people on eight-day holiday to Greece as an experiment to see if tourism is feasible during pandemic

 

 The Dutch government is planning to send 200 people on holiday to Greece for eight days as an experiment to see if tourism is feasible during the pandemic. About 25,000 people are said to have applied for the free trip and the trial will see travellers enjoy an all-inclusive holiday in Rhodes, costing £342 (€399) per person, BBC reports.
 During the experiment, hosted by holiday firm Sunweb, the selected holiday-goers will not be allowed to leave the resort and will be expected to quarantine for ten days when they return back to Holland.
According to RTL Nieuws, those selected must be aged 18-70 and will all be staying at the Mitsis Grand Hotel in Rhodes where they will be the only guests.  

Two trains crash killing at least 32 and injuring over 66 in Egypt

 

 
At least 32 people have been killed and 66 injured after two trains collided north of the city of Sohag in Egypt. The country's railway authority said emergency brakes in the first train were triggered by "unknown individuals", which caused the train to come to a halt.
 A second train then crashed into the first from behind, causing two carriages to come off the tracks.
 Authorities have dispatched 36 ambulances to the scene and casualties were being taken to local hospitals, the nation's health ministry said in a statement on Friday, March 26.
Pictures on local media show overturned carriages with passengers trapped inside.

Woman marries her late husband’s corpse so they will remain one (video)

 

 
A widow, identified as Beatrice Mbayi, married her late husband William Godfrey Mukalama in Funyula Busia County, Kenya. The wedding ceremony was attended by a large crowd. The bride, wearing a white wedding dress, was escorted by women in the community, as she walked down to the corpse housing her husband's body.
 "We are aware it is not your wish to have a wedding ceremony in this manner, but kindly accept this ring so that you and your wife will remain one," the man presiding over the ceremony told the dead groom.

Ex-Chelsea striker, Diego Costa 'reaches agreement to join Benfica after being released by Atletico Madrid

 


Former Chelsea striker, Diego Costa has reportedly reached an agreement with Benfica after the Portuguese club tabled an offer of a two-year deal worth £5million. The Spanish international, 32, was released by Atletico Madrid by mutual consent in December and has spent the last three months looking for a new club.
 Mundo Deportivo report that Costa has been speaking with his some clubs, and even turned down an offer by Ligue 1 side Marseille to join them.
 It has been reported that Benfica have offered the 32-year-old £2.6m a season to play for them, and Costa has agreed to the move in principle.

Monday, 29 March 2021

Prolific poet and actor, Craig Grant dies at 52

 
American actor and poet, Craig 'muMs' Grant, who starred in HBO's Oz  has died at the age of 52.
 LAByrinth Theater Company, of which he was a member, released a statement announcing his passing. No cause of death was revealed yet.
 "The LAByrinth Theater family is deeply saddened to share the news of the unexpected loss of Craig 'muMs' Grant," the post read. "We'll forever miss our friend, brother, LAB member, Emcee, mentor, poet, actor, spoken-word giant, and fire-breathing teddy bear. muMs' presence, performances, and words inspired a generation. His legacy will live on, from the Bronx and into the beyond. Keep rocking the mic, Schemer!"

Isreal Adesanya ditched by BMW over r.a.p.e comment

 


Nigerian-born New Zealand Ultimate Fighting Championship star, Isreal Adesanya aka Style Bender have been ditched by BMW. BMW dropped Adesanya as a brand ambassador after the offensive comments he made in an online video. Adesanya was due to be unveiled as the new face of the BMW New Zealand on Monday, the same day as the launch of the new BMW M3 and M4 models, but the German car manufacturer has decided to go a different way.
Adesanya had in the course of the week in what he perceived as a ‘fight talk’ had told possible future opponent, Kevin Holland in an online video, “Bro, I will fu**ing r3pe you.”

Barrack Obama’s grandmother, Mama Sarah Obama, dies aged 99

 

 
Mama Sarah Onyango Obama, the grandmother of former US President Barrack Obama, is dead. She was aged 99. Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Marsat Obama, who revealed that her mother died at the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu at 4.45am on Monday, March 29.
Sarah Obama had been admitted to the hospital on Sunday morning, due to an illness but lost her battle with life barely 24 hours later.

Czech Republic's richest man, Petr Kellner dies in Alaska helicopter crash

 


Petr Kellner, Czech Republic’s richest man has been killed in a helicopter crash in Alaska, his financial group PPF has said
 “We announce with the deepest grief that, in a helicopter accident in Alaska mountains on Saturday, March 27, the founder and majority owner of the PPF group, Mr Petr Kellner, died tragically,” PPF said in a statement.
 The 56-year-old billionaire and four others died in the crash, whose circumstances were being investigated.  Alaska State Troopers said Kellner and other victims were aboard an Airbus AS350 B3 helicopter when it went down near Knik Glacier northeast of Anchorage at 6.35pm on Saturday, March 27.

Safaree gets jewellery of his daughter's face

 

 Safaree got a jewellery fashioned in the likeness of his daughter's face.
 The rapper, who is father to 1-year-old Safire Majesty, took to Instagram to share his new jewellery and also  the photo of Safire that the jewellery is modeled after.

Friday, 26 March 2021

George Floyd: Minneapolis to pay $27 million to settle family lawsuit over death

 


The family of George Floyd and city of Minneapolis have agreed a record $27million settlement to resolve the lawsuit filed against the city and four cops involved in his death. It is the largest pre-trial wrongful death settlement in US history. George Floyd’s death in police custody stirred national and global protests over racial injustice and police brutality.
Floyd, a 46-year-old Black man, died in May as Derek Chauvin, a white Minneapolis police officer, kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Floyd’s dying pleas for help were captured on widely viewed bystander video, sparking one of the largest protest movements ever seen in the United States and outside of it.

Citigroup launches Zoom-free Fridays to ease pandemic 'fatigue'

 

 
American investment bank Citigroup has urged its staff to limit video calls on Fridays in an effort to promote a better work-life balance. Chief executive Jane Fraser told staff to observe "Zoom-free Fridays", in a memo on Monday.
She also said 28 May would be designated as a company-wide holiday, known as a "reset day".
Ms Fraser used the memo to address how working practices would change when the coronavirus pandemic has passed.
The coronavirus crisis prompted a sudden shift to remote work for many businesses globally, ushering in the widespread use of video-call software such as Zoom.

New Zealand approves paid leave after miscarriage, and encourages the world to follow

 

New Zealand will become one of the world's only countries to offer paid bereavement leave for workers who suffer a miscarriage, after lawmakers unanimously approved the motion on Wednesday.
Employees in the country will be entitled to three days' leave after a miscarriage under the law, which is set to gain royal assent after passing its final stage in parliament.
Ginny Andersen, the Labour MP who introduced the bill, said it would make New Zealand only the second country to provide such a benefit to her knowledge. India allows women six weeks of leave after a miscarriage.

Botswana rules out bacteria in latest elephant deaths

 

 
Botswana's environment ministry says it identified 39 more elephant carcasses since January as it investigated the unexplained deaths of elephants in the country. The latest deaths in the Moremi Game Reserve add to the 330 deaths reported last year between May and June in the country's Okavango Delta. The ministry on Wednesday said its preliminary investigations had ruled out anthrax and bacterial infections as the cause of death.
It also ruled out poaching, saying further investigations on the deaths and surveillance were ongoing. It said extensive air and field investigations did not uncover any death of other wildlife species.
The hundreds of deaths last year were attributed to the ingestion by the animals of toxins that can occur naturally in standing water.
The toxins, made by microscopic algae in water, are known as cyanobateria.
Botswana is home to a third of Africa's declining elephant population.

Bolivia’s ex-president Jeanine Anez, many former ministers arrested in coup probe

 

 


The former interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez Chavez, and several former ministers have been arrested. Prosecutors said she and the ministers took part in a coup against the then President Evo Morales in 2019. Mr Morales resigned and fled Bolivia after protests and allegations of electoral fraud.
Ms Áñez has said she is the victim of a political vendetta by Mr Morales’s Mas Socialist party, which has since returned to power.
The party won a landslide victory in presidential and congressional elections in October last year, paving the way for Mr Morales to return to Bolivia from Argentina and take over the leadership of the Mas party.

Taylor Swift ends legal battle with US theme park

 


 Taylor Swift and a Utah theme park have agreed to end their legal battle over copyright without any money exchanging hands. Last month, Evermore Park filed a case against the Grammy-winner, claiming she had infringed its trademark with her album Evermore and its merchandise.
Swift counter sued three weeks later, saying the park was playing her music on its grounds without a licence.
However, both sides have now agreed to drop their respective cases.
"As a resolution of both lawsuits, the parties will drop and dismiss their respective suits without monetary settlement," a spokesperson for Swift told the BBC in a statement.

Thursday, 25 March 2021

1 in 5 Americans lost a loved one to Covid -19 - poll finds

 

 About 1 in 5 Americans say they lost a loved one to Covid-19, according to a new poll, as Thursday marked the one-year anniversary of the pandemic. The poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that about 3 in 10 Americans are still worried about themselves or a family member being infected with the contagious bug.
The survey also shows that the virus devastated communities of color the most.
About 30 percent of African Americans, and Hispanics say they know a family member or close friend who died from the coronavirus, compared to 15 percent of white people, according to the AP-NORC poll.

Coronavirus: 'Double mutant' Covid variant found in India

 


A new "double mutant" variant of the coronavirus has been detected from samples collected in India. Officials are checking if the variant, where two mutations come together in the same virus, may be more infectious or less affected by vaccines.
Some 10,787 samples from 18 Indian states also showed up 771 cases of known variants - 736 of the UK, 34 of the South African and one Brazilian. Officials say the variants are not linked to a spike in cases in India. India reported 47,262 cases and 275 deaths on Wednesday - the sharpest daily rise this year.

Former FIFA president, Sepp Blatter gets new six-year ban from football for financial wrongdoing

 

 Former Fifa president, Sepp Blatter has been given a new ban of six years and eight months from football. Blatter, 85, who is already banned from football, was handed the new punishment for multiple breaches of FIFA’s ethics code. The ban will come into force when his current suspension ends in October.
 FIFA’s former secretary-general, Jerome Valcke, was also handed the same punishment.
The ban has been imposed for multiple breaches of Fifa’s ethics code and comes into force when a current suspension ends in October, Fifa said.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey's first tweet sells for over £2 million

 


Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey has sold a digital certificate connected to his first ever tweet for over £2m. The digital certificate was purchased in an auction by Sina Estavi, a Malaysia-based entrepreneur.
The tweet, posted by Jack Dorsey on March 21, 2006, reads: "just setting up my twttr"
Buyer, Mr Estavi said: "This is not just a tweet!"
 He added that "years later people will realise the true value of this tweet, like the Mona Lisa painting".

Expert warns parents not to use fabric softener on your baby's clothing

 


Deyan Dimitrov, CEO of Laundryheap, has warned parents over the danger of washing their children's clothes with fabric softener and gave alternative advice to follow instead
Many of us add fabric softener to the clothes wash without a second thought - but a laundry expert has issued a warning for parents not to use it on baby clothes. We all know the product leaves our washing soft and smelling fresh, but Deyan Dimitrov, CEO of Laundryheap, has said that it can irritate your baby's sensitive skin, as well as drastically reducing the flame resistance of the clothing.
Deyan explained baby clothes are usually treated with flame-resistant chemicals for safety reasons, but fabric softener reduces its effectiveness and make the material more susceptible to catching fire in the case of an accident or emergency.

Japan: Former Justice Minister Kawai admits vote buying

 

Former Justice Minister Katsuyuki Kawai pleaded guilty at a Japanese court on Tuesday to a bribery scandal and said he would step down as a lower house lawmaker, local media reported.
At the Tokyo District Court, Mr Kawai, a right-hand man to former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, admitted that he had paid bribes.
He said the bribe was paid to local politicians and supporters in the western prefecture of Hiroshima in return for securing votes for his wife Anri Kawai in the 2019 upper house elections, Kyodo News reported.

Covid-19: Brazil to get fourth health minister since pandemic began

 

 
Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has announced he is appointing a new health minister - the fourth since the coronavirus pandemic began. Marcelo Queiroga, a cardiologist, is to replace General Eduardo Pazuello, an army officer with no medical training. It comes as the number of Covid-19-related deaths in Brazil approaches 280,000.
Brazil has the second highest number of infections and deaths in the world, behind the US.
Mr Bolsonaro has faced widespread criticism over his handling of the outbreak.

Ex-google employee, Girouard becomes billionaire in 24 hours

 


Forbes has announced Upstart Holdings’ co-founder and CEO, Dave Girouard who is also an ex-Google employee, as the latest tech expert to become a billionaire. According to Forbes, he is now worth of $1.3billion. This comes after his company’s shares increased by a whopping 89% on a single day trading to make him a billionaire within 24 hours.
He was a former president of Google Enterprise Services where he built Google’s cloud app business worldwide.

France to return Klimt painting sold under duress during Nazi era

 

 
France is to return a painting by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt to the heirs of the Jewish family that was forced to sell it by the Nazis. French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot said restoring it to its rightful owners was an acknowledgement of the crimes they suffered.
She said the painting bore witness to the "broken lives" of the Nazi era.
The French state bought the work, its only Klimt, in 1980 without realising its history.
The pre-war owner of Rosiers sous les Arbres (Rose Bushes Under the Trees) was Nora Stiasny, from a well-known Austrian Jewish family. She had inherited it from her uncle, the Austrian industrialist and art collector Viktor Zuckerkandl, Ms Bachelot told a news conference at the Musée d'Orsay in Paris.

Tesla CEO, Elon Musk says people can now buy Tesla electric vehicles with bitcoin

 

 
Tesla CEO, Elon Musk has announced that people can now buy Tesla electric vehicles in the U.S. with bitcoin.
 “You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin,” the chief executive – and self-named “Technoking of Tesla” tweeted on Wednesday, March 24.
 Musk also went on to clarify in another tweet that Tesla will be keeping the money received from customers as bitcoin, rather than coverting it to traditional currency like dollars.
 “Tesla is using only internal & open source software & operates Bitcoin nodes directly. Bitcoin paid to Tesla will be retained as Bitcoin, not converted to fiat currency.”

Friday, 19 March 2021

UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov officially retires from UFC as an unbeaten champion

 

 UFC chief, Dana White has announced that fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov will be retiring from the sport. Khabib, one of the greatest fighters of all time, beat Justin Gaethje in October to make it 13 wins from 13 in UFC and an unbeaten 29-0 record overall.
The news online amid rumours of a return to the octagon for the legendary Russian but those rumors have now been squashed by Khabib and Dana Whyte .
 After both men had a dinner on Thursday night, Thursday March 18, they both confirmed the news on social media.

Covid: Paris lockdown as France fears 'third wave'

 

 The French capital is set to go into a month-long Covid lockdown as the country fears a third wave. Some 21 million people in 16 areas of France will be placed under the measures from midnight on Friday. These measures will not be as strict as the previous lockdown, Prime Minister Jean Castex said, with people allowed to exercise outdoors.
France has recorded more than 35,000 new infections within the past 24 hours.
Mr Castex said a "third wave" of infections in the country was looking increasingly likely.
The situation in Paris is particularly worrying with 1,200 people in intensive care there, more than at the peak of the second wave in November, Health Minister Olivier Véran said.

Catholic Church 'cannot bless same-sex unions'

 

 The Catholic Church does not have the power to bless same-sex unions, the Vatican office responsible for doctrine has said. It is "impossible" for God to "bless sin", the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) said on Monday. But the CDF did note the "positive elements" in same-sex relationships.
In October, Pope Francis said in a documentary that he thought same-sex couples should be allowed to have "civil unions".
In the Catholic Church, a blessing is given by a priest or other minister in the name of the Church.
On Monday, Pope Francis approved the response by the CDF, saying it was "not intended to be a form of unjust discrimination, but rather a reminder of the truth of the liturgical rite".

Former VP sworn in as Tanzania's new president

 

 
Samia Suluhu Hassan has made history as the first female president of Tanzania.  Ms Samia has been sworn in by the Chief Justice Ibrahim Juma at State House in Dar es Salaam. She becomes the sixth president of Tanzania following Wednesday's death of President John Pombe Magufuli from heart-related complications.
The 61-year-old served as President Magufuli’s deputy from 2015 until his death.
The Tanzania constitution stipulates that she should serve his remaining five-year term.

Boxing legend Marvin Hagler in sudden death, fans mourn

 

 Boxing world was thrown into mourning on Saturday following the death of Marvelous Marvin Hagler, who dominated boxing’s middleweight division in the 1980s. He died ‘unexpectedly’ at the age of 66, his wife Kay Hagler said on Saturday. Hagler, who legally changed his name to Marvelous in 1982, posted a record of 62-3-2. He ruled supreme until his reign as undisputed middleweight champion came to a controversial end in 1987 with a loss to Sugar Ray Leonard.
“I am sorry to make a very sad announcement. Today unfortunately my beloved husband Marvelous Marvin passed away unexpectedly at his home here in New Hampshire.

Covid-19: Netherlands suspends use of AstraZeneca vaccine

 


The Netherlands has become the latest country to suspend use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine over concerns about possible side effects. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) say there is no indication of a link between the vaccine and reports of blood clots. Eight countries have so far fully suspended the AstraZeneca vaccinations.
The WHO told Reuters it was important that vaccination campaigns continued.
"It is normal for countries to signal potential adverse events. This does not mean that the events are linked to vaccination but its good practice to investigate them," the agency was quoted as saying.
About 17 million people in the EU and the UK have received a dose of the vaccine, with fewer than 40 cases of blood clots reported as of last week, AstraZeneca said.

Pandemic lockdowns improved air quality in 84% of countries worldwide, report finds

 

 Coronavirus lockdowns led to air quality improvements in most countries, but the level of pollutants will likely rise as governments lift restrictions and economies swing back into gear, according to a new report. IQAir's 2020 World Air Quality Report said human-related emissions from industry and transport fell during lockdowns, and 65% of global cities analyzed experienced better air quality in 2020 compared to 2019. Some 84% of nations polled reported air quality improvements overall.
"The connection between Covid-19 and air pollution has shone new light on the latter, especially as many locations have observed visibly cleaner air -- revealing that air quality improvements are possible with urgent, collective action," the report said.

Tuesday, 16 March 2021

Uber and Lyft to finally share names of drivers deactivated over sexual assault and other serious incidents

 

Uber and Lyft have largely operated in silos when it comes to deactivating drivers over the most severe reports of safety incidents, potentially allowing bad actors to hop from one platform to the other.
Now, the companies say they are ready to change that, announcing the creation of an industry sharing safety program Thursday to relay information about drivers and delivery people deactivated from their platforms over the most serious safety incidents. These incidents will include sexual assaults -- which range from non-consensual kissing of a non-sexual body part to rape -- and physical assaults resulting in fatalities. The program will be managed through a third-party consumer reporting agency called HireRight.

NBA fines Miami Heat star Meyers Leonard $50,000 for anti-Semitic slur and suspends center

 


The NBA fined Miami Heat's Meyers Leonard $50,000 on Thursday after the center used an anti-Semitic slur while livestreaming a video game. The league also suspended Leonard from team facilities and activities for one week.
Leonard was playing "Call of Duty: Warzone" on Monday when he said: "F**king cowards. Don't f**king snipe at me. You k*** b*tch."
The Miami Heat center apologized for his actions on Tuesday, though he did not allude to the sexist part of his remark in the apology.

AstraZeneca vaccine: Safety experts to review jab

 

 Vaccine safety experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) are meeting on Tuesday to review the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab, after several European countries halted their rollouts.
A number of cases of blood clots were reported in Europe after the vaccine was administered.
But the numbers are below the level you would expect in the general population.
The UK medicines regulator and the WHO say there is no evidence of a link between the vaccine and clots.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) - the European Union's medicines regulator - is also meeting on Tuesday.

Referee caught urinating in centre of the pitch seconds before kickoff on live TV

 


 A referee relieved himself in the centre circle after being caught short seconds before the start of a cup match in Brazil. Denis da Silva Ribeiro Serafim elected to pee in his pants - without pulling his shorts down - as he was being filmed on TV.
He did it so discreetly that the commentator failed to pick up on the extraordinary moment as he introduced the match official and two linesmen just before the start of the Copa do Brasil meeting between Boavista and Goias on Thursday.
But eagle-eyed viewers noticed the telltale urine running down the ref’s leg and the footage started going viral as the match was being played.

5 arrested in South Africa’s biggest banking scandal

 

 South African Police, on Thursday, arrested five persons in connection with the collapse of VBS Mutual Bank, the country’s biggest banking scandal in recent years.
The Police said the suspects were arrested in an early-dawn raid at various places in Gauteng and Limpopo Provinces as they “continue to rid the country of corruption and corrupt activities’’.
Those arrested will be answering to a combined 188 counts of charges, which include theft, fraud, corruption, money laundering and racketeering, the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks) said in a press release.
“Now that the attendance of a suspected organised criminal group is secured in court, attention needs to be given to those who contributed to the looting from various municipalities and undue beneficiaries,’’ said National Head of the Hawks, Godfrey Lebeya.
The VBS institution collapsed in 2018 after its reserves were plundered by greedy executives, leaving thousands of customers in financial troubles.

Monday, 15 March 2021

Indonesia bus carrying school children plunges into ravine, killing 27


A bus carrying school children and parents returning from an excursion plunged into a ravine on the Indonesian island of Java on Wednesday night, killing 27 people, the country's transportation ministry said.
The search and rescue agency said in a statement on Thursday that the driver of the bus lost control shortly before the crash in an area near the city of Sumedang, in West Java province.
The ministry said the bus was carrying junior high school students and some parents. There were 39 survivors.

LinkedIn suspends new sign-ups in China

 

 
LinkedIn — one of the few Western social media networks available in China — has suspended new sign-ups in the country, but said the decision has nothing to do with a recent cyberattack on parent company Microsoft.
Microsoft revealed last week that a group called Hafnium exploited its Exchange email service and was able to gain access to computers. The company said the group was "assessed to be state-sponsored and operating out of China."
A LinkedIn spokesperson said its decision was unrelated to the hack. The social media platform, which is used by professionals, was suspending new member sign-ups for LinkedIn China "as we work to ensure we remain in compliance with local law," it said in a statement.

Dutch inventor of the cassette tape, Lou Ottens, dies age 94

 


Lou Ottens, the Dutch inventor of the cassette tape, has died at the age of 94, his family has confirmed to CNN. They said the inventor died at his home in Duizel, the Netherlands, on Saturday. His cause of death was not given.
An estimated 100 billion cassette tapes have been sold worldwide, according to Philips, the company he began working for in 1952. Ottens also supervised the team that developed the compact disc (CD).
Ottens was described by Olga Coolen, the director of the Philips Museum in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, as an "extraordinary man who loved technology."

South Africa’s Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini dies aged 72

 

Goodwill Zwelithini, the controversial but revered king of the Zulus, South Africa's largest ethnic group, died on Friday aged 72 after weeks in the hospital for a diabetes-related illness, the royal palace announced.
The king wielded great influence among millions of Zulus through his largely ceremonial and spiritual role despite having no official power in modern South Africa.
During a decades-long reign, he revived festivals celebrating virgin women, was blamed for fuelling deadly xenophobic violence, slammed gays as "rotten" and enjoyed a lavish and hedonistic lifestyle in a country where millions live in poverty.

China court orders man to pay wife for housework in landmark case

 

 
A Beijing divorce court has ordered a man to compensate his wife for the housework she did during their marriage, in a landmark ruling. The woman will receive 50,000 yuan ($7,700; £5,460) for five years of unpaid labour. The case has generated a huge debate online over the value of domestic work, with some saying the compensation amount was too little. The ruling comes after China's introduction of a new civil code.
According to court records, the man identified by his surname Chen had filed for divorce last year from his wife, surnamed Wang, after getting married in 2015.
She was reluctant to divorce at first, but later requested financial compensation, arguing that Chen had not shouldered any housework or childcare responsibilities for their son.

Protesters in Argentina attack bus carrying president

 

 
Dozens of protesters kicked and threw rocks at a minibus carrying Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Saturday as he visited an area devastated by forest fires, TV footage showed.
As he left a community center in the town of Lago Puelo in the southern Patagonia region, Fernandez had to take refuge behind a wall of people as a crowd of demonstrators pushed toward him and his delegation.
The protesters later stopped the bus carrying the president, punching and kicking it and throwing stones that broke windows in the vehicle, according to footage broadcast by the TN network and the newspaper Clarin.

Rare 'locked' letter sealed 300 years ago is finally opened virtually

 

 Three hundred years ago, before envelopes, passwords and security codes, writers often struggled to keep thoughts, cares and dreams expressed in their letters private.
One popular way was to use a technique called letter locking -- intricately folding a flat sheet of paper to become its own envelope. This security strategy presented a challenge when 577 locked letters delivered to The Hague in the Netherlands between 1689 and 1706 were found in a trunk of undelivered mail.
The letters had never reached their final recipients, and conservators didn't want to open and damage them. Instead, a team has found a way to read one of the letters without breaking its seal or unfolding it in any way. Using a highly sensitive X-ray scanner and computer algorithms, researchers virtually unfolded the unopened letter.

More European nations pause AstraZeneca vaccine use as blood clot reports investigated

 


Denmark, Iceland and Norway have suspended the use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine while the European Union's medicines regulator investigates whether the shot could be linked to a number of reports of blood clots.
Denmark announced a two-week suspension on Thursday following a number of reports of clotting in the country, including one fatal case. Iceland and Norway followed suit, but did not say how long their suspensions would last.
Danish Health Minister Magnus Heunicke made clear the pause was a "precautionary measure," saying it was not possible yet to draw conclusions.
"We act early, it needs to be thoroughly investigated," he said in a tweet.

Thursday, 11 March 2021

World's oldest known wild bird gives birth to another chick at age of 70

 

 

Wisdom the albatross, the world's oldest known wild bird, has birthed a chick at the age of 70, the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has announced.
According to the USFWS, the Laysan albatross hatched the chick on 1 February in a wildlife refuge in the North Pacific Ocean.
Laysan albatrosses usually only live for 12-40 years. But Wisdom was first identified by researchers in 1956.
Although Wisdom hatched her chick in February, the birth - which took place in the Midway Atoll national wildlife refuge, in a US minor outlying island in the North Pacific - has only been reported this week.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic 'set to come out of retirement at 39' to represent Sweden at the Euros

 

 Zlatan Ibrahimovic is reportedly set to come out of international retirement to play for Sweden.  
 The 39-year-old AC Milan striker hasn't represented his country since Euro 2016, his last appearance coming in a 1-0 defeat against Belgium in the group stages.
According to FotbollDirekt Ibrahimovic is poised to make a sensational comeback, and the maverick striker is set to be called up to Janne Andersson's squad on March 16.
Zlatan previously expressed his interest in playing for his country at the 2018 World Cup, but later said he wasn't considering returning to his national team.