YOUR WEEKLY NEWS UPDATE
1. The effects of a severe winter storm that brought blizzards and below-freezing temperatures to parts of the US are still being felt. On the second day of the storm, there are now more than 800,000 people without energy in five states, including 680,000 in Michigan. As of Thursday morning, more than 2,000 US flights had been cancelled, according to Flight Aware statistics. Several US regions prepare for temperature records in the meantime. On Thursday, Washington, DC, is predicted to experience 80°F (26°C), the warmest February day since 1874.
2. The military of Canada claims to have just uncovered proof of Chinese surveillance operations in the Arctic. China’s activities in the far north have come under scrutiny in light of the discovery, which was first reported by the Canadian publication. It follows the shooting down of a suspected Chinese surveillance balloon by the US military after it had flown over Canadian and US territory. A continuing effort by the Canadian military tasked with identifying risks to the country’s security by surveilling air, land, and marine domains.
3. The only member of her immediate family to escape a devastating earthquake was a baby born in Syria amid the debris of a collapsed building. Her aunt and uncle have adopted the child. The newborn, who was still attached to her mother by her umbilical cord when she was saved, had received thousands of adoption offers. After a DNA test revealed her aunt was a blood related, she was released from the hospital. She was in wonderful health, according to the doctors. The infant has since been given the name Afraa in honour of her late mother.
4. An alligator measuring 4 feet long was caught in a park in New York. Staff in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park discovered it on Sunday morning. It is said to go by the moniker Godzilla. They alerted the park’s management, who then caught the alligator in the lake and brought to the Bronx Zoo. In warm-climate states in the southeast of the United States, alligators are native. The animal was found in bad health, “extremely sluggish, and possibly cold shocked,” according to NYC Parks, the agency in charge of the city’s open spaces.
5. According to experts, 39% of the time spent on household chores and caring for loved ones might be automated within the next ten years. 65 experts in artificial intelligence (AI) were consulted by researchers from the UK and Japan to make predictions about how much common household work will be automated in the next ten years. While care for the young or elderly was anticipated to be least likely to be affected by AI. For their predictions on robots in the home, the team consulted 29 AI specialists from the UK and 36 AI experts from Japan.
6. According to Environment Minister Rebecca Pow, water firms who violate the rule will face “severe fines,” with the government still mulling fines of up to £250 million. The Times reported that the government was abandoning plans to raise the punishment for disposing of sewage in rivers and seas to £250 million. Water companies “must move swiftly,” Mr. Pow. Labour charged that the administration was making “the same old promises” while doing nothing. A consultation on raising the upper limit on civil fines for water firms is scheduled to begin.
Date: 24/2/23
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