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Showing posts from April, 2020

Will the fashion industry revive from the consequences of coronavirus pandemic?

The coronavirus pandemic is continuing to be a  global threat as the total of confirmed cases rises  to 3,222,466 and 228,270 deaths. However, to  contain the virus from spreading further, many  nations had to lockdown cities. The consequences  of lockdown and travel ban severely hit the global  market. The stock markets crumpled, and business sectors such as real estate, tourism, MSME, retail  industry, and many more are continuing to bare  losses. The entire world is currently battling the deadly  virus and the lockdown has upset the fashion  industry too. Big fashion brands, such as Burberry,  Dior, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Louis Vuitton, and  many more, felt the impact of the coronavirus  lockdown as malls, fashion streets, and stores were  shut all over the globe. Many important fashion events such as the Met Gala in New York, Paris  Men’s Fashion Week, 2020 CFDA Fashion Awards  and The India Fashion Week Autumn- Winter 2020  either had to be postponed or canceled due to t

Pentagon clears speculations over the three UFO videos taken by US Navy pilots

The Pentagon on Monday authorized the release of three grainy videos taken by  the United States Navy pilots which shows unidentified mysterious flying objects.  Releasing the statement, the US Department of Defence declassified the three  videos and said that the aerial phenomena in the videos can be characterized as "unidentified". As per the statement, one of the videos was taken in November 2004, which the  other two were taken by the US Navy in January 2005 during the pilot training.  They were making rounds in the public domain after unauthorized release in  2007 and 2017. According to the Pentagon, the videos were released after a thorough review in  order to "clear up any misconceptions by the public on whether or not the  footage that has been circulating was real, or whether or not there is more to the  videos." Furthermore, it has been noted by the Pentagon that the release of these footages do not reveal any sensitive capabilities or syste

Climate change and intensifying displacement of 'climate refugees'

Scientific researches have suggested that the Earth's climate is changing at an unprecedented rate every day, which is leading to forced displacement of communities and families across the world. The United Nations recognizes the ramifications of climate change on refugees and other people concerned and is working to provide protection and assistance to people who are affected by environmental concerns. In such an incident, the UN Rights Committee ruled out a historic judgment in January 2020 stating that the "countries may not deport individuals who face climate change-induced conditions that violate the right to life." The judgment was ruled out in view of an asylum application filed by Ioane Teitiota, a man from the Pacific island of Kiribati in 2015. Teitiota applied for asylum in New Zealand in the year 2015, stating that the rise in sea level and effects of climate change made Kiribati uninhabitable for all its residents. However, New Zealand denied his asylum

'No proof that Corona patients can't be reinfected': WHO’s warning against 'immunity passports'

While the world is grappling with the Coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organisation (WHO) issued a scientific brief suggesting the countries to not issue an “immunity passport” or “risk-free certificate” to the patients who have recovered from the COVID-19 disease. In the brief issued on April 24, the WHO has particularly specified that there is no evidence that "people who have recovered from COVID-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection." This development has come to light after countries such as Chile and Germany were exploring the prospects of issuing immunity passports to citizens who have recovered from the disease, thereby exempting them from lockdown-quarantine measures and allowing them to travel. According to a March 2020 report in The Guardian, researchers in Germany conducted a mass study into the number of people who are immune to the COVID-19 disease in order to get the key workers who have recovered from the virus back into th

Canada's Indigenous population struggle against COVID-19 without equal public healthcare

As the number of COVID-19 cases in Canada continues to surge, the Indigenous communities in the country are bracing themselves for the worst. Exposed to the pandemic, the country's First Nations fear that the virus will expand beyond the urban sectors to the rural and remote locations of the country. However, the greater fear among the First Nations and remote Indigenous communities is the lack of medical care and proper infrastructural facilities. As per reports, there are over 50 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the First Nations reserves. Most of these cases are confined to communities in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia. With the increasing number of cases, the Indigenous communities have already blocked entries to non-residents and erected barriers and checkpoints. However, there are mounting concerns about the lack of access to COVID-19 testing and other medical facilities. According to Minister of Indigenous Services in Canada, Marc Miller, Indigenous communiti

Nature’s way to fight corona pandemic: Sunlight kills corona

According to the latest report publicized by The White House on Thursday (April 24,2020) a latest research was carried out by the US Department of Homeland Security's most advanced bio containment lab, which declares that sunlight has the ability to kill corona virus which is a major breakthrough. The White House also informs that warmer, humid weather can cause severe damage to the life time of corona virus, which will cut the time it takes to spread and potential of virus to live. Corona virus have become the most hazardous pandemic the world have never faced in closer decades and evidently United Nations is the most affected with 886,709 positive cases of corona. US have lost 50,243 lives due to corona pandemic and 85,922 were recovered from the virus infection as of April 24,2020. The researchers and scientists around different parts of the world have been working day/night for weeks in row to get close in finding a medicine/vaccine to treat corona pandemic which is a sev

Ukraine launched a campaign to correct articles on Wikipedia

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has announced the launch of a campaign to correct articles devoted to the country in the Wikipedia Internet encyclopedia, which the Kiev authorities consider to be biased.  This was announced on Wednesday by the press service of the Foreign Ministry. The Wikimedia Ukraine public organization, the country's largest association of Wikipedia administrators, acts as a partner of the ministry in this endeavor. The Foreign Ministry calls the campaign’s goal to counteract misinformation about Ukraine and disseminate appropriate information about the country in different languages.  At the same time, the representative of the Foreign Ministry said that the campaign participants will make entries on Wikipedia on the so-called Russian aggression against Ukraine. In particular, the agency will begin in May an online marathon called “The Month of Ukrainian Diplomacy”.  Within a month, the authors of the Ukrainian-language Wikipedia will

Coronavirus: CDC chief warns second wave of COVID-19 could be worse next winters for the United States

As the United States struggles between re-opening and more testing, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Robert Redfield warned that a second wave of the Covid-19 could be more severe in the coming winter. Due to its similarities with common flu, it will cause a toll on healthcare systems, Washington Post reported. Redfield rehashed that the following year will be of more testing time, as the virus is going to be with us beyond this season and year until the scientists find a cure. Currently, the global pandemic proceeds to reduce in some states in the United States, as shown in reports. The US government would need to prepare months ahead for a possible second wave of Coronavirus. In the United States, around 810,000 people have tested positive from Covid-19, and more than 45,000 have died. The CDC head told CNN that as the state governors plan to lift restrictions gradually, they must upscale testing, contact tracing, personal hygiene, and continue

COVID-19: Poisoning from disinfectants rises due to increased use in US

Starting from China's Wuhan city, the novel Coronavirus pandemic has taken the world by storm within months. In the wake of the pandemic outbreak, people have made major lifestyle changes in order to lower the risk of COVID-19 infections. One of the most important precautions to curb the spread of the virus is to regularly clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces at homes. However, people in the United States went a little overboard while sterilizing their homes using the cleaning chemicals, which has led to a rise in the number of cases of poisoning from the disinfectants and cleaners.  In a report published on April 20, the US-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has confirmed a 20.4 percent rise in incidents of poisoning due to bleach and other cleaning agents in the country over the last three months. The US poison centers received over 45,550 calls about exposure to cleaning chemicals and disinfectants between January and March 2020, since the outbreak of

US relocated strategic bombers from the island of Guam

US forces deployed B-52 strategic bombers from Guam Island in the Pacific Ocean and relocated them to a North Dakota base.  This was done in order to get these planes out of a potential attack from China and use them more flexibly in Washington’s global plans. Five B-52s left the Andersen Air Force base on Guam Island on April 16 and arrived at Minot base in North Dakota.  Strategic bombers B-52, B-1 and B-2 have been deployed in turn on Guam since 2004 as part of a policy of pressure on China and the DPRK.  From there, they made, in particular, flights to the zone of the Korean Peninsula to demonstrate the US military power to Pyongyang. However, bases on Guam, Sankei notes, now find themselves in the potential strike zone of Chinese medium-range missiles.  In such circumstances, it was decided to transfer all strategic bombers to the United States.  The Pentagon does not exclude a new temporary transfer of such aircraft to Guam. Between October 2024 and March 2025, the

Countries that have reported zero Coronavirus cases

While novel Coronavirus pandemic is paralyzing countries across the world, there are still handful countries that are reporting zero infected cases of the disease. According to data collected by the Johns Hopkins University Coronavirus resource center, there are approximately 15 countries worldwide that are yet not affected by the COVID-19 disease. These countries spared from the pandemic are spread across, Africa, Asia, and Pacific Island nations. There are no cases reported Antarctica also due to sparse human population.  There are zero Coronavirus cases in eight island nations of Oceania, which are Soloman Islands, Kiribati, Tonga, Tuvalu, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Palau, Nauru, Vanuatu, and the Federated States of Micronesia. With a total population of less than 7 lakh people, most of these countries quickly isolated themselves from the rest of the world and announced national emergencies in the wake of the pandemic. Governments of these small Pacific Island nations are also w

British Foreign Minister promised Beijing "hard questions" after the pandemic

A thorough analysis of the Coronavirus outbreak, and whether it could have been prevented, should be done after the pandemic has ended.  This was announced on Thursday by British Foreign Minister Dominic Raab. Absolutely after the fact, a thorough analysis of these lessons is necessary, including the onset spread of the virus. It should be based on scientific knowledge. "Undoubtedly, after the crisis, everything will not be as usual. And we will have to ask complex questions about where it [the virus] came from and how it could have been stopped earlier," Raab said in response to  the question of relations with China in connection with the spread of Coronavirus. Accusations of China's involvement in the spread of Coronavirus were previously voiced by the United States.  In March, Woody Johnson, United States Ambassador to Great Britain, accused the PRC of hiding information about the Coronavirus, which, in his opinion, posed a huge threat to the whole world.

UAE sends aid to Somalia despite difference of political views

Humanitarian cargo with 27 tons of medicines was sent to Somalia in the United Arab Emirates on April 14 to combat Coronavirus infection. The mission, carried out jointly with the World Health Organization, delivered seven tons of drugs from the UAE and 20 tons from WHO.  These supplies will help the work of 27,000 medical workers in an African country, according to the UAE. “Since the outbreak of the Coronavirus outbreak, the UAE has sent emergency medical care to a number of countries and supported relevant international organizations, in particular the World Health Organization, in helping countries in need,” said Muhammad Ahmed Osman al-Hammadi, UAE Ambassador to Somalia. For the period from 2010 to March 2020, the UAE sent Somalia aid worth $ 1.2 billion. Despite the fact that Somalia has rather close partnerships with Turkey and Qatar, these states did not provide assistance during the critical situation caused by the Coronavirus. Back in 2017, the Somali go

UN Secretary General criticizes US for suspension of WHO funding

UN Secretary General António Guterres believes that now is not the time to suspend the payment of contributions to the budget of the World Health Organization (WHO).  He made such a statement amid a decision by US President Donald Trump to suspend funding for the organization in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. "Now is not the time to reduce the resources for the work of WHO or any other humanitarian organization that fights the virus," Guterres said.  "I am sure that WHO should be supported, it is absolutely imperative that the world wins the war against COVID-19. "The World Health Organization, thousands of its employees are fighting at the forefront, helping states and their societies, especially the most vulnerable, providing them with recommendations, equipment, training health workers," the UN administrative head added. He emphasized that it would be necessary to “learn from the pandemic,” but noted that “the time has not yet come for

Coronavirus lockdowns reduce Earth’s seismic noise. Here's how

Coronavirus lockdowns have disrupted normal life and businesses across multiple countries. In order to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus, billions of people in these countries have been home-quarantined. The movement of transports and factories has been temporarily shut down. However, researchers have found that the lack of movement on the surface has resulted in some unexpected shifts in Earth's vibrations. The global lockdown is making the Earth's crust vibrate lesser than usual.  According to the seismologists at the Royal Observatory of Belgium in Brussels, the surface seismometer at the observatory has become more sensitive to the seismic activity which it might have missed prior to the worldwide lockdown. Seismic noise inside the Earth is the hum of vibration in the crust of the planet which is produced by normal human activity. However, in the aftermath of the lockdown, scientists are witnessing a decrease in the seismic noise in the planet's crust.

Female world leaders earn special mentions with fight against COVID-19 pandemic

As the globe fights the novel Coronavirus pandemic, women leaders across the world are earning praises for handling the health crisis better than their counterparts. Social media is abuzz with admiration for the female leaders who have worked towards the flattening of the Coronavirus curve in their countries.  New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared a national state of emergency late March with the imposition of strict lockdown for four weeks in the country leading to a significant decline in the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases over the past few days. With strict measures, New Zealand was one of the first countries to close its borders, ban public gatherings and ensure that all travellers arriving in the country remain in self-isolation. Addressing the citizens earlier in March, Jacinda Ardern ensured them the country is together during the crisis, urging them to stay home. On April 13, the country reported its 5th death with over 1000 confirmed cases. A decision on

Corona exposes the dark side of humanity

The pandemic outbreak of coronavirus has changed the course of life and made face-masks, deserted roads, temperature checks-points, police check-posts, house quarantine, work from home, and virtual meetings our new normal. While coughing and sneezing has become a taboo, social distancing has become a global cure against this contagion. Today, with failing health systems, crippling economies, blocked supplies and dying populations, the world needs to stand together more than ever. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 crisis is bringing out the worst of human element - whether its banning export of essential commodities at national level, or non-sharing of resources at state level or stockpiling greedily at an individual level.   Like most of the nations across world, India is also under complete lock-down and in such circumstances falling sick even with an influenza can be a very daunting experience. A few weeks ago due to a sinus attack I was feeling sick and went to the nearest chemist b

Linda Sarsour raises funds for terror-tied group in name of COVID-19 pandemic

As the globe fights the battle against the deadly Coronavirus pandemic, people are coming together to help each other in these tiring times. Amid the efforts made by people from across the countries to help each other, Women’s March co-founder and Islamist activist Linda Sarsour kickstarted a fundraiser under the aegis of the pandemic. However, it has been alleged that the Sharia law apologist is making capital out of the Coronavirus pandemic to raise donations for American Islamic Relief Organization called Baitumaal USA, which has ties with the Islamist terror group Hamas.  Linda Sarsour has started the campaign to raise money for the terror organization through its “COVID-19 Emergency Fund and their support of the people of Gaza”.  As per reports, Sarsour's Baitulmaal organization has raised several eyes for its terror support. It is listed as a partnering organization with the Unlimited Friends Association for Social Development (UFA), which allegedly has ties with

Lima Group Welcomes US Initiative to Create Provisional Government in Venezuela

The countries that are part of the Lima Group welcome the US initiative to create an interim government in Venezuela to overcome the political crisis in which this South American republic is located.   The corresponding statement on Thursday circulated by the Colombian Foreign Ministry. "We, the Group also greatly appreciate the important proposal of the United States of America on a democratic transition in Venezuela, on the formation of a transitional government," the document says, the text of which was published on the agency’s website. It is noted that members of the organization "with extreme concern monitor the situation in which Venezuela is located."  "We urge the international community to work together to support the Venezuelans in finding a peaceful solution that will urgently eliminate a serious crisis and emergency, as well as restore the rule of law, constitutional and democratic order in Venezuela," the document emphasizes.

US authorities believe Iran involved in killing opposition leader in Istanbul

U.S. authorities believe that the Iranian intelligence service was involved in the assassination of Iranian dissident Masoud Molawi Varjanani in November 2019 in Istanbul.  Earlier, the agency published material saying that two representatives of the Turkish authorities confirmed to the agency information about involvement in the assassination of Varjanani by Iranian special services.  According to them, two employees of the Embassy of the Islamic Republic, working for Iranian intelligence, "provoked" the incident, which led to the death of the opposition.  It is noted that before leaving for Turkey, Varjanani worked in the Ministry of Defense of Iran, dealing with cybersecurity. On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo commented on the news about the "Iranian footprint" in the murder of a dissident. "Was reported that Iranian diplomats were involved in the murder of a dissident in Turkey are worrying, but are in full accordance with the

UAE's determination: Built a lab in 14 days to combat the COVID-19 pandemic

The United Arab Emirates opened a massive laboratory built in the country in just 14 days. This new laboratory is capable of handling tens of thousands of tests per day namely RT-PCR (Real-Time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction). It was the first of its kind built outside of China in the world with such large scale. Abu Dhabi Crown Prince His Highness Sheikh Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed visited the UAE's first drive-through testing site in Abu Dhabi this week, and the UAE is set to launch several more across the country in the upcoming days. The laboratory was built in collaboration between Abu Dhabi-based AI and cloud computing company Group42 (G42) and genomics company BGI. The main aim of this lab is to speedup the diagnosis and identification of COVID-19 suspects, to free-up needed hospital beds across the nation and to suppress the deadly virus spread. This new lab will eventually receive samples from UAE and neighboring regions too without specifying