Iran President & Foreign Minister Die In Helicopter Crash
May 20, 2024 / By Zunair Tahir / World News
About thirty minutes into the journey, the chopper carrying President Raisi, Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, and other officials lost communication.
According to Iranian media, Iran President Ebrahim Raisi died on Sunday in a helicopter crash in the region of East Azerbaijan.
Over a hilly area, the helicopter carrying Iran’s President Raisi and his Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian vanished. Iran’s national media said that there was “no sign” of life among the occupants of the chopper.
Helicopter Carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi
“Upon finding the helicopter, there was no sign of the helicopter passengers being alive as of yet,” according to state television.
After a period of increased tensions in the area, especially because of the Gaza conflict and Iran’s recent escalation with Israel, this incident occurred.
Having taken office in 2021, President Raisi has repeatedly reaffirmed Iran’s unwavering support for Palestine in his recent address to inaugurate a dam.
Videos of the leader inside the helicopter were released on Sunday by Iran’s official media.
The footage shows the Iranian president staring out of an airplane window while other high-ranking officials, including Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, are seated across from him.
A formidable new strategic strike drone that Ukraine is testing could prove to be a formidable opponent for anybody who stands in its way on the battlefield. This is what we now know about the drone’s impact on the front lines.
Mykhailo Federov, the Ukrainian Minister of Digital Transformation, announced on his official Telegram channel on February 5th that Ukraine has begun testing the new Shoolika mk6 drone manufactured by Skylabs US as a component of the Brave1 initiative.
Drone Shoolika mk6
According to a translation by Militaryni, Federov told his followers, “The Defense Forces have already tested the Shoolika mk6 and offered their feedback: the drone is important for tactical operations, especially at night.”
Brave1 is a government platform that combines forward-thinking businesses with Ukrainian defense concepts to develop the new weaponry required to counter Russia and strengthen Ukraine’s military might.
The program has shown to be quite effective, and Ukriane’s Brave1 project is developing new technologies, one example of which is the Shoolika mk6. What are the capabilities of this new drone then?
Drone Shoolika mk6 Weapons
Federov said that the drone featured an advanced night vision system and that the Shoolika mk6 can deliver precise hits. He also noted that the drone has shown to be very beneficial in night assaults. However, the drone has other innovative features as well.
The Shoolika mk6 can transport a 6-kilogram or 13.2-pound payload to its target and has a range of up to 10 kilometers, or 6.21 miles. Although it might not seem like much, that is more than enough to do significant harm.
According to Militaryni, the Shoolika mk6 drone is equipped with an anti-tank bomb known as a “four-section hardpoint section for shaped PTAB-type ammunition,” which is intended to defeat tanks and other armored vehicles and equipment.
Shoolika mk6
The Shoolika mk6’s high-precision control system and resilience to electronic warfare are what actually make it dangerous. Federov did not provide any further information regarding these issues in his Telegram post, though.
NATO is now codifying the Shoolika mk6, a formidable drone that will soon be enhanced with artificial intelligence for use in autonomous missions and improved cameras to help it find targets more effectively.
The Shoolika mk6 is “a multifunctional combat asset poised to turn every military operation into a success with minimal human risk,” according to its developer Skylab UA, who also described the drone as “the future of aerial support.”
According to Militaryni, it takes Skylab UA around three weeks to assemble ten Shoolika mk6 drones, not counting the time needed for software updates, calibration, testing, and packing.
Ukraine Drone Shoolika mk6
The typical Shoolika mk6 costs between $25,000 and $30,000. However, in January 2024, Skylab UA announced a price drop for the Shoolika mk6, albeit the firm did not name a pricing.
The Brave1 program, which was started in April 2023 by six Ukrainian government ministries to promote collaboration between digital firms and the defense sector, is what led to the development of the Shoolika mk6.
“Ukraine ought to grow into a nation that embraces technology, learns quickly, and uses it effectively. Federov stated during the program’s debut that “the creation of BRAVE1 is one of the important steps in this direction,” according to a news release.
Our objective is to create a framework for the quick initiation of defense technology initiatives. must make audacious choices and provide the ideal environment for the growth of businesses producing military technologies,” Federov continued. “Courage and technology can go a long way toward our victory.”
French Billionaire Takes The Top Spot In The World’s Richest Person List View His Net Worth
February 2, 2024 / By Zunair Tahir / World News
The CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, has been surpassed in wealth by French billionaire Bernard Arnault, who also serves as chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton.
The French billionaire Bernard Arnault has surpassed Elon Musk to become the richest person in the world.
On Friday, January 20,24, Arnault made over $20 billion (KSh 3.2 trillion) and defeated Musk, who according to Forbes is currently valued at $204 billion (KSh 32.7 trillion).
Aliko Dangote, a Nigerian, increased his net worth to $22 billion (KSh 3.5 trillion) in January by earning over $6 billion (KSh 963 billion).
Arnault and his family’s net wealth increased by $23.6 billion on Friday, January 26, 2023, to $207 billion (KSh 33.2 trillion), according to data from Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list. Elon Musk’s net worth was $204 billion (Ksh 32.7 trillion) at the time this article was published.
The event comes after LVMH’s shares rose by more than 12% at the end of trading on Friday, January 26, 2024, as a result of the company’s robust sales.
Louis Vuitton and Sephora are just two of the 75 fashion and cosmetics businesses under the control of 74-year-old Anault’s LVMH empire.
In 2021, the French billionaire paid $16 billion (KSh 2.6 trillion) for the luxury brand, which at the time was thought to be the largest acquisition in history.
Elon Musk, however, continues to lead the Bloomberg Billionaire Index in terms of wealth, followed by Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon.
Based on the available statistics, the CEO of Tesla has lost more than $30 billion since 2024, which has helped to close the gap with Bezos.
Aliko Dangote, the richest man in Africa and Nigeria, on the other hand, has increased his net worth to $22 billion by earning over $6 billion.
Since June of last year, when Nigeria started its Forex reforms, Dangote has recovered the majority of his losses.
Dangote’s estimated net worth at the start of January 2024 was $15 billion.
For a short while, Johann Rupert of South Africa overtook him as the richest man in Africa. The richest man in Africa, Aliko Dangote, has witnessed the fastest gain in net worth in years, reaching $22 billion.
Dangote made nearly $1 billion (KSh 160 billion) on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, and $282 million on Wednesday, January 24, 2024, according to data from the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
At the Nigeria Exchange Limited, Dangote Cement’s share price kept up its upward trend.
Blancpain x Swatch Launches ‘Ocean of Storms’ To The Scuba Fifty Range
January 10, 2024 / By Zunair Tahir / World News
Another popular colorway has been introduced to the Blancpain x Swatch Fifty-Fifty collection, which includes the Scuba Fifty line. This January 11th is its releasing date.
The elusive high-low partnership between commercial Swiss watchmaker Swatch and luxury watchmaker Blancpain, which was first unveiled in September of last year, has made a strong case for the consumer market’s ravenous appetite for historically significant watch designs reinterpreted for the general public.
Meet “The Ocean of Storms,” the Blancpain x Swatch Scuba Fifty.
Using the legendary history of the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, the world’s first dive watch, as the foundation for their collaboration, the initial collection came in five distinct colorways.
Known as the “Scuba Fifty,” each watch was named after one of the five seas in the globe and had a subtle variation in design that was specific to the nautical theme they were intended to represent.
But since it will be the only one with a chic, monochromatic white-on-black colorway, the sixth edition could be the most sought-after of the lot.
Blancpain x swatch scuba fifty the ocean of storms watch dial
This mysterious interpretation of the Scuba Fifty, appropriately dubbed “The Ocean of Storms” in honor of the 2 million square kilometer Oceanus Procellarum “sea” on the Moon, is housed in the same Bioceramic casing as its predecessors.
This time, however, it sports a rotating bezel with contrasting white numbers and a black paint job.
Similarly, the watch dial is appropriately decorated in the same color palette, and it has elegantly been combined with glowing hour markings and orange highlights on the second hand’s tip and the depth rating.
The Ocean of Storms version will have a NATO canvas strap that matches the rest of the Scuba Fifty line and be powered by Swatch’s own SISTEM51 mechanical movement. When it releases on January 11, 2024, for THB 14,700, be ready to fight for it in shops and online. Fortunately, there is no restriction on this release, so you may still purchase it when the supplies are refilled at a later time.
When the ground started to tremble, Minae Akiyama had flown to Ishikawa prefecture from southern Japan to spend New Year’s with her family.
Even now, thinking about it still gives me the shakes. She spoke to that from a shelter in the city of Nanao, where she and her family are currently residing in the wake of Monday’s catastrophic 7.5 magnitude earthquake. “My heart was pounding, my mind went blank, we just scrambled,” she said.
During the earthquake, Akiyama recalled hiding under a table and hoping for survival before gathering necessities and escaping outside. Following the incident, pictures taken at her mother’s home reveal tipped-over cupboards and closets, as well as food and kitchenware strewn on the floor.
Although the family was not hurt, the earthquake still feels like it happened two days later as they wait for help at the shelter and experience numerous aftershocks that pierce the earth. Some of the cement pillars of the structure are visible to be surrounded by rubble, even at the shelter.
“It feels like the building is trembling right now,” Akiyama remarked. “My body trembles whenever there is an aftershock because I think about the main earthquake.”
At least 62 people were killed in Monday’s earthquake, which occurred on the first day of the new year, according to the prefecture’s official website. According to the report, officials are still looking for those who may be buried under debris or in isolated regions, and an unknown number of people are still unaccounted for.
Yoshimasa Hayashi, the chief cabinet secretary, had earlier on Tuesday stated that 120 people were still in need of rescue.
Situated on the more rural, western part of central Japan, the Noto Peninsula felt the tremors, which resulted in fallen buildings, fires, and tsunami alarms. Images from all over the area revealed charred buildings, broken roadways, and debris where homes previously stood in addition to whole multistory buildings that had collapsed on their sides. A few people were reminded of the 2011 Tōhoku 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami, which led to a nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima power plant, by the earthquake. The majority of the deaths and missing were caused by tsunami waves, leaving over 22,000 people dead or missing. The aftermath is still being felt today.
The death toll and levels of destruction from Monday’s earthquake look to be significantly lower than those caused by the 2011 tragedy in a nation that has long been accustomed to earthquakes and where construction rules, especially in more remote places, are scrupulously adhered to. However, the depth of the damage is still being analyzed.
When the 2011 earthquake struck, Kouki Takahashi, now 28, was a middle school student in Tokyo. He currently resides in Nanao. That was a long time ago, and Tokyo was shaken, but hundreds of kilometers separated the epicenter from the city.
For Takahashi, it was much closer this time. “This felt worse than any massive earthquake I have ever experienced,” he remarked.
However, he claimed that the Monday earthquake event made him think about Tōhoku once more. It felt comparable, he remarked. “It was a similar earthquake back then (in 2011), starting with light shaking and building in intensity over time.”
When the tremors started on Monday, he was at home having a bath. He claimed to have been completely nude when he rushed outside to get into his automobile, citing the swaying of telephone poles and buildings.
He stated that, considering the regular earthquakes and the military helicopters and cars going by, the friend’s parking lot felt like the safest place to be. He spent Monday night sleeping in his car there.
His flat is still standing, but the walls are cracked. According to him, some of his acquaintances had worse luck and completely lost their homes.
Similar to the shelter Akiyama and her family are currently residing in, many such survivors are now receiving minimal aid.
There’s not much more than a roof; when went on Tuesday night, there was no heating, so people slept on mats on the ground covered in heavy blankets. They wore their jackets, hats, and gloves to remain warm in the 4 degrees Celsius (40 degrees Fahrenheit) midnight thermometer.
The Japan Self-Defense Forces, which are now coordinating search and rescue activities with local governments, police, and fire departments, had to wait in line outside to obtain water since there was no flowing water. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made this announcement on Wednesday.
US Delivers Ukraine Its Final Round Of Military Assistance
December 28, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / World News
On Wednesday, the US said that the final installment of military assistance to Ukraine had been disbursed.
$250 million (€225 million) in support was agreed by the White House, but any funding will require new congressional approval.
Republican and Democratic negotiations have come to a standstill.
For its part, the Kremlin has bet that dwindling Western assistance will be essential to its ultimate success in Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in a statement on Wednesday, “It is imperative that Congress act as soon as possible to advance our national security interests by helping Ukraine defend itself.”
Ammo for anti-tank weaponry and air defense systems is included in the most recent aid package. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine is further disappointed by Congress’s refusal to authorize further cash, which comes after Kyiv’s summer counteroffensive failed and Russian forces continued to press their cause.
Prior to this, the White House threatened to “run out of resources” for Ukraine “by the end of the year.”
Zelenskyy attempted to exert further pressure when he visited Washington in December, his third visit to the US capital in as many months. However, concerns about Moscow’s “as long as it takes” support of Ukraine are becoming more prevalent nearly two years after the country began its brutal invasion.
Republicans on the right have made it clear that they will only approve further US aid to Ukraine if immigration laws are tightened here.
This contentious topic was not resolved in a timely manner.
On January 8, US legislators will take up the assistance question once more.
Senate leaders, both Republican and Democratic, have stated that they plan to approve a fresh round of aid that will include economic, humanitarian, and military support.
The complexity lies with the House of Representatives, which must also approve these money.
Mike Johnson, the country’s new Republican president, says there is insufficient regulation on US aid, but he is not against it being extended.
Japan Allow The World’s Largest Nuclear Facility To Reopen
December 28, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / World News
TEPCO’s Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility is now able to resume operations following the lifting of the safety prohibition. The facility still need authorization from regional administrations, though.
The biggest nuclear power plant in the world, Tokyo Electric Power’s (TEPCO) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa reactor, was freed from a safety prohibition, the Japanese nuclear authority said on Wednesday.
Because of the plant’s high running costs, TEPCO has been considering restarting it. It is currently required to obtain authorization from local authorities in Kariwa village, Kashiwazaki city, and Niigata prefecture.
TEPCO’s sole operational atomic power plant was the 8,212 megawatt (MW) Kashiwazaki-Kariwa facility. Since all of Japan’s nuclear power reactors were shut down in the wake of the Fukushima accident in March 2011, the site has been unavailable since 2012. The de facto restriction was lifted by the Japanese Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NRA) when it was determined that TEPCO was now better equipped. The body has carried out more than 4,000 hours of inspection of its facilities.
The facility was previously prohibited from functioning by the NRA in 2021 as a result of safety violations and inadequate counterterrorism measures. This includes an event when an unapproved employee gained access to key plant sections and a failure to safeguard nuclear items.
Subsequently, it issued an injunction prohibiting TEPCO from putting fuel rods into its reactors or bringing in fresh uranium fuel for the facility.
The government’s principal spokesperson, Yoshimasa Hayashi, stated, “The government will seek the understanding and cooperation of Niigata prefecture and local communities, emphasizing’safety-first’.”
Following the ruling, TEPCO declared that it will keep trying to win over the local populace and society at large to its cause. A Tokyo court decided on Tuesday that TEPCO, the only operator of the nuclear power plant Fukushima that was destroyed by the tsunami, was required to compensate the evacuees, numbering in the hundreds.
Japan has been working to lessen its dependency on imported fossil fuels by reactivating all of its domestic nuclear power facilities that adhere to the safety network. However, there are instances where residents or other regulatory agencies object.
Social Social Site X Unavailable To Users Worldwide
December 21, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / World News
Twitter’s predecessor, social networking platform X, is experiencing problems all around the world.
As to the data compiled by Downdetector.com, an outage tracking website, over 47,000 users in the United States are having trouble gaining access to X and X Pro.
Additionally, certain users in Asia and the UK are unable to access postings on the website that have the word “Welcome to X!”
Elon Musk’s company, X, has been contacted for comment.
China’s First Ever Full Scale Test Of Reusable Rockets Boosts iSpace Hyperbola-3’s Objectives
November 3, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / World News
‘Breakthrough’ for China’s commercial space sector, according to the pioneering business iSpace claims that the successful test of its smaller Hyperbola-2 rocket indicates that it is on schedule to launch its larger rocket in 2025.
With the successful full-scale test of the first stage of its Hyperbola-2 rocket, Beijing-based startup iSpace has taken a significant step toward developing its own reusable launch vehicle. This is a first for the Chinese space industry.
In little under a minute, the “hop test” conducted on Thursday at the Jiuquan satellite launch center in the Gobi Desert in northern China confirmed that the company is on schedule to launch its larger Hyperbola-3 reusable rocket in 2025, according to iSpace.
iSpace claimed that the test “provided strong technical support for the development of the medium/large-scale reusable launch vehicle Hyperbola-3 we are currently working on” in a statement posted on its official WeChat account.
“The achievement was a significant milestone for China’s commercial space industry… It also issued a challenge to China’s space sector to bring its reusable rocket technology to par with the most sophisticated in the world.”
According to the statement, the first stage of the Hyperbola-2 reached 178.4 meters (585 feet) before performing a well-controlled descent and touchdown. The vertical take-off/vertical landing (VTVL) test achieved a landing accuracy of 1.7 meters (5ft 7in).
According to iSpace, the flight validated the company’s overarching plan for creating a first stage that is recoverable as well as associated technologies, such as the propulsion system, landing navigation and guidance, buffering, and supporting infrastructure.
With an eye toward a maiden flight in two years, the firm said earlier this year that it was abandoning its plans for the Hyperbola-2 in favor of the larger and more potent Hyperbola-3, which is 69 meters (226 feet) in length.
The reintroduced Hyperbola-2 is a two-stage, smaller rocket that runs on liquid oxygen and methane. Its overall length is 28 meters (92 feet), and it can carry 1.9 tons of cargo into low Earth orbit.
The design of the most potent Hyperbola-3 model, one of three models in the family, is reminiscent of the Falcon Heavy spacecraft built by US corporation SpaceX.
According to iSpace, the Hyperbola-3B, which consists of a center core and two side boosters, can launch 8.5 tonnes into low Earth orbit while in reusable mode.
Among the many Chinese businesses developing reusable rockets is the company that made history in 2019 with Hyperbola-1, China’s first privately produced rocket to reach space.
Rivals Galactic Energy and CAS Space have validated the technologies and algorithms for guidance, control, and navigation in their rockets’ vertical recovery phase through the use of scaled-down test items.
The only US business to date that has created a rocket that can land softly vertically and be reused several times is SpaceX. Among the missions completed by the Falcon 9 were the orbiting of Starlink satellites and the transportation of supplies and crew to the International Space Station.
The workhorse Long March rockets are still competitive, according to China’s space authorities, but new technologies, such as reusable rockets, are being developed to cut costs in the future.
Complex, intelligent rocket engines created by Chinese scientists have aided in the landing of a rover on Mars and the retrieval of samples from the moon; nevertheless, testing of these technologies on reusable spacecraft has thus far only included smaller prototypes.
Indian Diplomats Refusal To Enter UK Gurdwara Called “Disgraceful”
September 30, 2023 / By Zunair Tahir / World News
According to the Indian High Commission, “extremist elements” allegedly mistreated the organizers, including a Scottish Parliament member.
According to the Indian High Commission, “extremist elements” allegedly mistreated the organizers, including a Scottish Parliament member.
According to a fake video going popular on social media, a guy on Friday prevented Vikram Doraiswami, the Indian High Commissioner to the UK, from entering the gurdwara in Glasgow.
Additionally, two males are observed attempting to open the High Commissioner’s automobile door while it is parked. The automobile is then spotted departing Glasgow Gurudwara Saheb’s grounds.
The event occurs in the midst of an escalated diplomatic dispute between India and Canada that was started after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed that “agents of the Indian government” were responsible for the death of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in June.
In a statement released on Saturday, the Indian High Commission in London said that “extremist elements” interfered with an event scheduled by the Gurdwara Committee and that one of them attempted to “violently force open” Mr. Doraiswami’s car door.
“On September 29, 2023, three individuals—all from outside Scotland—willfully interfered with a scheduled gathering that the Gurudwara Committee for the community, the High Commissioner, and the Consul General of India had arranged. In this conversation, community and consular problems were covered, according to the statement.
The High Commission stated that the police should look into the attempt by one of the “non-local extremist elements” to forcibly force open the Commissioner’s car door and noted that only one of the organizers’ quick actions, who physically intervened, prevented what could have been a more serious incident.
The Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) and the Metropolitan Police have both been informed of this scandalous occurrence by the High Commission of India, according to the statement. Similar to the ministry of external affairs is the FCDO.
According to the statement, the event’s organizer and other community organization expressed remorse for the incident and encouraged the authorities to take action against the offenders.
