News & Current Events

[ad_1] Meghan Markle and Prince Harry dancing Meghan Markle on Wednesday released an unusual video, showing herself dancing while in labour with Lilibet, four years ago.The 43-year-old Duchess of Sussex shared the recording on Instagram to commemorate her daughter's fourth birthday. Meghan wrote alongside the video: "Four years ago today, this also happened. "Both of our children were a week past their due dates… so when spicy food, all that walking, and acupuncture didn't work - there was only one thing left to do!"The mother-of-two appeared dancing to The Drake Family's rendition of Starrkeisha's The Baby Momma Dance. Meghan performed a hip-shaking routine and executed a spin beside her hospital bed.Prince Harry made an amusing cameo wearing a grey hooded top. He moved across the space before performing a synchronised squat with Meghan. The pair appeared at ease while recording […]

[ad_1] Jeffrey Epstein (File photo) Jeffrey Epstein, the convicted sex offender who died by suicide nearly six years ago, invested $40 million in two funds managed by Valar Ventures, a New York-based firm co-founded by Silicon Valley mogul Peter Thiel, according to a confidential estate financial report obtained by The New York Times. These investments, made during 2015 and 2016, have now grown to an estimated $170 million, making them the largest remaining asset in Epstein’s estate.The financial link between Epstein and Thiel’s firm had remained undisclosed until now. Valar Ventures focuses on tech-based financial services startups, and the firm’s representative described Epstein in 2014 as a “well-known adviser to world leaders, top universities and philanthropic organizations.”The estate, which currently holds over $200 million in assets, has distributed hundreds of millions in settlements to Epstein’s victims and the US Virgin […]

[ad_1] US President Donald Trump (left), Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) US President Donald Trump revealed that he held a tense phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, discussing the recent Ukrainian strike on Russian airfields and growing concerns over Iran’s nuclear ambitions.In a post on social media platform X, Trump said the call with Putin lasted “approximately one hour and 15 minutes” and was “a good conversation,” though he admitted it would not “lead to immediate Peace.” The two leaders discussed “various other attacks that have been taking place by both sides.”According to Trump, Putin “very strongly” indicated that Russia would respond to Ukraine’s recent airfield attack. The Russian military has accused Kyiv of damaging several docked aircraft in an overnight drone strike on Russian soil, a claim Ukraine has neither confirmed nor denied.The call comes just days after […]

[ad_1] Astronomers say they have discovered a massive planet orbiting a tiny star, a bizarre pairing that has stumped scientists (Image credit: X/AFP) Astronomers on Wednesday have discovered a huge planet orbiting a tiny star. This bizarre pairing has left the scientists puzzled. The small star is called TOI-6894. Most stars in the Milky Way galaxy are small like TOI-6894. It is a red dwarf with only about 20 per cent of the Sun's mass. Scientists never thought that such tiny stars could support massive planets.However, a team of international astronomers found clear signs of a gas giant planet orbiting the small star TOI-6894. Their findings were published in the journal ‘Nature Astronomy’.This discovery makes TOI-6894 the smallest known star to host such a large planet.The planet has a slightly larger radius than Saturn, but weighs only half its mass. […]

[ad_1] A billboard campaigning for each family to have two children in an effort to improve the birth rate stands along the street in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (Image credit: AP) Vietnam has officially ended its long-standing two-child policy. The country’s National Assembly amended the law on Tuesday that restricted families to having one or two children. The news was confirmed by state media, Vietnam News Agency, on Wednesday. The decision was made to boost falling birth rates and address concerns about an aging population.Vietnam's "golden population" period - when the working age population outnumbered the dependent population- began in 2007 and may continue until 2039. The working population is likely to reach its peak in 2042, and the total population may start shrinking by 2054. This shift could slow economic growth, as there will be fewer workers and […]

[ad_1] Image generated by AI for creative and illustrative purpose The UAE has officially announced the dates for the Eid Al Adha 2025 public holiday. Following the moon-sighting committee’s confirmation on Tuesday, May 27, the holiday begins on Thursday, June 5 with Arafat Day, and continues with Eid Al Adha on Friday, June 6, Saturday, June 7, and Sunday, June 8.This results in a four-day long weekend for both the public and private sectors across the UAE, allowing many residents to enjoy extended time with family, travel, or leisure activities.No additional day off for weekend overlapThough the Eid holiday includes Saturday and Sunday, already part of the regular weekend, the UAE Labour Law does not mandate a compensatory day off when public holidays fall on weekends.According to the UAE Cabinet, “public holidays are not carried forward if they fall on […]

[ad_1] Representative Image (AI-generated) I once heard someone say, "Having a child is like outsourcing a vital organ that runs around outside all by itself and climbs trees." Having a child is as fascinating and meaningful as it can also be worrying and exhausting.A new study on parental satisfaction confirms this apparent contradiction. Compared to people who are childfree, parents feel their lives are more fulfilled. However, parents are not more satisfied with their lives than non-parents. On the contrary: they are often more dissatisfied.These are the findings of the sociologists Marita Jacob and Ansgar Hudde from the University of Cologne, published this month in the specialist Journal of Marriage and Family. The researchers based their study on data from the European Social Survey, which had more than 43,000 respondents from 30 countries.Jacob and Hudde determined that, regardless of nationality […]

[ad_1] Second world war era bomb fenced off with screens to defuse them (AP) COLOGNE: More than 20,000 residents were being evacuated from part of Cologne's city centre on Wednesday as specialists prepared to defuse three unexploded US bombs from World War II that were unearthed earlier this week.Even 80 years after the end of the war, unexploded bombs dropped during wartime air raids are frequently found in Germany.Disposing of them sometimes entails large-scale precautionary evacuations such as the one on Wednesday, though the location this time was unusually prominent and this is Cologne's biggest evacuation since 1945. There have been bigger evacuations in other cities.Authorities on Wednesday morning started evacuating about 20,500 residents from an area within a 1,000-meter (3,280-foot) radius of the bombs, which were discovered on Monday during preparatory work for road construction. They were found in […]

[ad_1] Image generated by AI for creative and illustrative purposes The UAE Ministry of Education and Dubai’s Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has published the official academic calendar for the 2024–2025 school year and confirmed key dates for the 2025–2026 term. The calendar applies to all public and private schools following the Ministry curriculum, with detailed instructions on term lengths, exam schedules, holidays, and instructional days.End-of-year schedule for 2024–2025Third-Term Exams: Final term exams for all grade levels will begin on June 10 and continue until June 19, 2025.Results: Student results will be released between June 30 and July 2.Re-examinations: Scheduled from July 4 to 10, with results announced on July 14.Student Summer Holiday: Begins on June 30.Teaching and Administrative Staff Holiday: Starts on July 14, following the release of re-exam results.The third term includes 11 weeks, amounting to 52 […]

[ad_1] Representative image (AI) TOKYO: The number of births in Japan last year fell below 700,000 for the first time on record, government data showed Wednesday.The fast-ageing nation welcomed 686,061 newborns in 2024, 41,227 fewer than in 2023, the data showed. It was the lowest figure since records began in 1899.Japan has the world's second-oldest population after tiny Monaco, according to the World Bank.Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has called the situation a "quiet emergency", pledging family-friendly measures like more flexible working hours to try and reverse the trend.Wednesday's health ministry data showed that Japan's total fertility rate the average number of children a woman is expected to have also fell to a record low of 1.15.The ministry said Japan saw 1.6 million deaths in 2024, up 1.9 percent from a year earlier. Ishiba has called for the revitalisation of rural […]