YOUR WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE
- A 170-million-year-old Jurassic pterosaur had been discovered on the Isle of Skye in 2017 when PhD student Amelia Penny noticed its jaw in a layer of limestone. Subsequent research into the fossil skeleton by a team working under PhD student Natalia Jagielska showed that it had a wingspan of 2.5 meters (8 ft), and belongs to a previously unknown species. These findings were published in the journal Current Biology.
- Truth Social, Donald Trump’s new social media platform, has been released on the Apple App Store in the United States, albeit in a limited form. The app is similar to Twitter, a platform which Mr.Trump was banned from last year, along with Facebook and Youtube. Some early users have experienced trouble creating accounts, but Devin Nunes, the project’s leader and a former presidential candidate, claimed it would be completely fully operational by March.
- A new report by wildlife charities, using data gathered between 1981 and 2002, reported that hedgehog populations from rural Britain show a dramatic and ongoing decline, with numbers having dropped by between 30 and 75 percent since 2000. The report speculates that this may be because of losses in hedgerows and field margins. However, statistics also revealed that hedgehog numbers are slowly recovering in towns and cities, resulting in increased differences between urban and rural populations.
- Are Britain’s ambitions to cut carbon emissions too costly in the face of rising living costs? With energy prices on the rise, a number of Conservative MPs are urging that the government should reassess how it plans to attain what it calls ‘net zero’ by 2050, which means not adding to the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The objective of net zero was written the UK legislation three years ago with wide support, committing to reducing carbon emissions.
- More cyber-attacks have hit Ukraine. Several Ukrainian banks and government organisations websites were offline on Wednesday. NetBlocks, an internet connectivity business, stated that these attacks are similar to recent Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) attacks. DDOS attacks aim to take a website offline by overloading it with a huge number of requests until it fails. BBC News was told by a researcher that the Ukraine military and banking websites have witnessed a faster recovery due to preparedness and greater capacity to mitigate impacts.
- Following a positive Covid-19 test, the Queen has delayed appointments for the second time this week. According to the Buckingham Palace, the Queen will continue with fewer duties. The virtual audiences scheduled for Thursday will now be held at a later date. The Queen, who is 95 years old, also canceled virtual appointments on Tuesday but had a telephonic meeting with the prime minister on Wednesday. The monarch continues to perform minimal duties and there are no additional engagements planned for this week.
NEWS BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMELA MOORE
Date: 25/02/22
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