News Archives - Page 21 of 81

Helicopter With Baby On Board Crashes into Residential Area Near Philadelphia

12Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

US, News

Helicopter With Baby On Board Crashes into Residential Area Near Philadelphia

Near the American city of Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, a helicopter with an infant on board has crashed over a residential area. Miraculously, there were no fatalities, local authorities report. The plane crashed into a residential area near Upper Darby Township, on the border with Philadelphia, for unknown reasons on Tuesday. All four passengers, except the baby, were able to free themselves from the helicopter. The baby's condition is said to be stable, and she, like the pilot, was taken to hospital. According to American media, the helicopter was on its way to a children's hospital in Philadelphia, where the two-month-old girl would be treated. The US aviation authority is investigating the cause of the incident. Numerous witnesses saw the incident happen. Shocked motorists...

US Federal Reserve Vice-Chairman Resigns After Reports of Dubious Stock Market Transactions

11Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

US, Business, News

US Federal Reserve Vice-Chairman Resigns After Reports of Dubious Stock Market Transactions

Richard Clarida, the deputy chairman of the US central bank, is stepping down shortly before the end of his term due to reports of dubious stock market transactions. He will step down Friday, the Federal Reserve reported Monday. Clarida has been the Fed's vice-chairman since late 2018. His term normally expires at the end of January. Clarida has come under fire for the past year over private stock market operations in 2020, as markets collapsed due to the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, the Fed was gearing up to commit major resources to contain the Covid crisis. According to a report by The New York Times, Clarida had bought an equity fund the day before an influential decision by the Fed to intervene in the markets. As a result, prices rose again. Clarida had previously sta...

Largest Producer Sees Condom Use Fall by 40 Percent Since the Start of the Corona Crisis

10Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Malaysia, Business, News

Largest Producer Sees Condom Use Fall by 40 Percent Since the Start of the Corona Crisis

The world's largest producer of condoms, Malaysian company Karex, says the use of its products has fallen by 40 percent since the corona pandemic. The company is trying to make up for that with other products. For example, it will also make medical gloves, writes the Japanese newspaper Nikkei. Karex CEO Goh Miah Kiat sees the closure of hotels and the sex industry during the pandemic as the reason for declining condom use. In addition, several governments have stopped campaigns to distribute condoms. Karex makes one-fifth of all condoms in the world. Initially, the company thought that condom sales would rise sharply due to the lockdowns. Instead, Karex makes condoms for brands such as Durex and distributes its own products. It makes 5 billion condoms a year and exports them to ...

7Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Technology, News

Samsung Records Best Quarter Ever

Samsung Electronics has made an operating profit of 13.8 trillion won in the past three months. That is the best quarter ever for the Korean tech giant. The profit is therefore 52.5 percent higher than a year ago. The turnover also reached new heights with 76 quadrillion won, 23.5 percent higher than a year ago. Samsung itself shares this in a prospect of the full results later this month. For the avoidance of doubt, this only concerns Samsung Electronics, not the industrial, insurance, or construction activities of the Samsung Group. The chip activities and strong demand for memory chips, among other things, made Samsung's cash register ring. Still, the sale of foldable smartphones is also said to have contributed to the success. With the provisional figures for the fourth qua...

Pope Francis: Not Having Children is Selfishness

6Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

News

Pope Francis: Not Having Children is Selfishness

Pope Francis has again criticized couples who do not want to have children. "Today, we see a form of selfishness. We see that some people don't want children or have only one child, but they do have dogs and cats that take the place of children," he said during an audience at the Vatican in Rome. "That makes people laugh, but it's the reality." The Pope spoke of a "demographic winter" and probably referred to falling birth rates in Italy. "People don't want children or just one and no more," Pope Francis said. "Civilization ages and lacks humanity when one loses the riches of parenthood," he warned. "A country without children suffers. So wherever in the world one lives and marries, one must remember to have children." "Having children naturally or through adoption is a ...

US Teacher Arrested for Vaccinating Student Without Parental Consent

5Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

US, News

US Teacher Arrested for Vaccinating Student Without Parental Consent

A New York school teacher has been arrested for vaccinating a student against the coronavirus without the consent of the 17-year-old's parents. That reports the BBC. Biology teacher Laura Russo (54) from Long Island is said to have vaccinated the 17-year-old boy - who had asked for the vaccine herself - at her home. Video footage shows the woman telling the boy that "everything will be okay, I hope. So there you go, home vaccination." The boy's parents are said to have alerted the police after their son came home and told them what had happened. The police arrested Russo on New Year's Eve. She faces a four-year prison sentence for performing a medical procedure without parental consent and without the necessary medical qualifications.

Venezuelan Opposition Reaffirms Guaido as Interim President

4Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Venezuela, News

Venezuelan Opposition Reaffirms Guaido as Interim President

The Venezuelan opposition re-elected its leader, Juan Guaido, as interim president on Monday night for a one-year term. Several countries recognize Guaido as the real president of Venezuela, leading him and his government to control various Venezuelan properties located in those countries. Domestically, however, Guaido has no real power. In early 2019, Guaido, then speaker of parliament, declared himself interim president after the international community failed to recognize the re-election of current president Nicolas Maduro. The opposition had boycotted the election at the time and called it “fraudulent” afterwards. The opposition-controlled Venezuelan National Assembly thus reconfirmed Guaido as president. However, that parliament was stripped of its power in 2017 with a pro-...

Buckingham Palace Didn’t Want A Candle in the Wind

3Jan

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

UK, News

Buckingham Palace Didn’t Want A Candle in the Wind

Of Princess Diana's funeral, many people especially remember the moment when Sir Elton John sang the adapted version of his song Candle in the wind. But according to archival documents that have just been released, the Palace was not in favour of this. Buckingham Palace would have found the text too sentimental. An early draft of the program stated that Elton John would be singing another song, Your song. The Dean of Westminster pleaded for Candle in the wind in a personal letter to the Palace. He felt that a "daring" choice was needed at that point in the celebration, pointing out that the song is "played and sung all over the country in memory of Diana". The dean suggested not to print the text if it was found to be too sentimental. A saxophonist would have been ready to play...

Record Number of Infections, But Fewer Deaths: South Africa Seems Past Peak of Omicron Wave

31Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

South Africa, News

Record Number of Infections, But Fewer Deaths: South Africa Seems Past Peak of Omicron Wave

In South Africa, the fourth corona wave seems to have reached its peak. As a result, the authorities are abolishing the curfew. Although the omicron variant has led to a record number of infections, fewer people have been hospitalized and died from the virus compared to other waves. The omicron variant was first discovered on November 23 in South Africa. Immediately several countries cancelled flights to and from the country. The fourth wave had thus started in South Africa. The variant also caused the highest number of infections yet identified: more than 23,000 cases were recorded per day in mid-December. The variant is now causing a new wave of infections worldwide. Yesterday, the South African authorities announced that the fourth corona wave appears to have peaked. As a result, th...

Fortnite was Down for 7 Hours Due to Server Problems

30Dec

By Alan LorenzNo Comments

Technology, News

Fortnite was Down for 7 Hours Due to Server Problems

The still wildly popular battle royale game Fortnite from Epic Games was down for more than 7 hours on Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, the server issues have been resolved. Loyal players will agree: Fortnite has been dealing with regularly recurring server problems for the past two weeks. With last night's 7-hour breakdown as the low point. The problems started on Wednesday evening around 4 p.m. UK time. The game's servers remained offline "due to stability issues," according to Fortnite's Twitter account. There were also reports worldwide of problems logging into the Epic Games Store. After more than 7 hours, Epic Games announced that the issues had been resolved. Fortnite seems to have been struggling with capacity or scaling issues since Chapter 3 kicked off this month. Additio...