Breaking world news
‘It’s heartbreaking’: Maltese mourn collapse of Azure Window arch
“As arches go, the Azure Window had celebrity status, featuring in films such as Clash of the Titans and The Count of Monte Cristo and serving as the backdrop to the Dothraki wedding scene in the television version of Game of Thrones.
But now, the limestone arch, one of Malta’s most famous landmarks, is no more, having collapsed into the sea after a heavy storm…” (The Guardian)
Revised travel ban to face first legal challenge as Hawaii lawsuit advances
“Donald Trump’s newly revised travel ban is set to face its first legal challenge after a federal judge in Hawaii allowed the state’s attorney general to submit an amended lawsuit previously lodged against the president’s first, failed ban…” (The Guardian)
Russian destabilisation of Balkans rings alarm bells on eve of EU summit
“The European Union needs to be more visible in the western Balkans to counter Russian attempts to destabilise the region, a leading MEP has said…” (The Guardian)
Cool about Revolutionary ardour
“Putin’s Russia has a history problem. How do you commemorate the 1917 Revolution without celebrating it and encouraging mass movements against the system?” (Le Monde diplomatique)
Asian collision course
“Donald Trump challenged the One China policy, but soon backed off. He wants concessions from China on trade and security, and he might even attempt to impede China’s global ascent…” (Le Monde diplomatique)
China’s evolving cyber warfare strategies
“China’s cyber capabilities are continuously evolving in parallel with the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) ongoing military reforms and modernization drives. As the PLA invests in the development of comprehensive cyber capabilities, the character of future conflicts in East Asia will increasingly reflect cyber-kinetic strategic interactions…” (Asia Times)
Hard times for feminists in China
“On January 21, 2017, more than half a million people showed up for the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., and hundreds of similar protests took place around the globe. But not in China, a country with 645 million women — nearly one-sixth of the world’s female population…” (supchina)
Intel squad from Hyderabad helped MP and UP police nab suspected ISIS terrorists
“NEW DELHI: Were it not for a small group of intelligence experts in Telangana dedicated to tracking individuals and groups inspired by the so-called Islamic State, central agencies and Madhya Pradesh police might still have been scrambling to track down the terrorists behind the Ujjain train blast…” (Times of India)
Over 100 farmer suicides this year in drought-prone Marathwada
“MUMBAI: Despite claims by CM Devendra Fadnavis that the agrarian crisis was being tackled on war footing, 117 farmers ended their lives in Maharashtra’s drought-prone Marathwada region in the first two months of 2017…” (Times of India)
Regular Humans Have Been Taught to Double Their Memory Capacity in 40 Days
“Most days, it’s a struggle just to remember where you put your keys. But there are a few ‘super-memorisers’ in the population who can memorise huge lists of words at a time, or recite thousands of digits of Pi by heart…” (Science Alert)
Australia Was Colonised by One Group 50,000 Years Ago, DNA Evidence Reveals
“Historic hair samples collected from Aboriginal people show that following an initial migration 50,000 years ago, populations spread rapidly around the east and west coasts of Australia…” (Science Alert)
Photo: By Felix König (Own work) [GFDL or CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
