Elon Musk will launch Starlink in response to Blinken’s comments regarding internet freedom in Iran.

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Elon Musk will launch Starlink in response to Blinken’s comments regarding internet freedom in Iran.

Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, announced on Friday, September 23, that he would launch the company’s Starlink satellite internet service in response to tweets from Antony Blinken, the secretary of state of the United States, stating that the country had taken steps “to advance internet freedom and the free flow of information” to Iranians.

In the midst of protests across Iran in response to the passing of Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman in custody, the U.S. Treasury Department on Friday released guidelines expanding internet services available to Iranians despite U.S. sanctions on the country.

A Treasury official briefing reporters stated, “Our understanding of Starlink is that anything they offer would be commercial grade and would be hardware that’s not covered under the general licence, so that would be something they would need to write into Treasury for.”

The updated licence, according to a later statement from the U.S. State Department, is self-executing and allows “anyone who meets the criteria outlined in this general licence to proceed with their activities without requesting additional permission,” the spokesperson added.

Regarding Starlink’s authorization to conduct business in Iran, Musk could not be reached for comment or clarification.

Iranians have been protesting since Mahsa Amini passed away last week while being held by the authorities for wearing “inappropriate dress” and being detained by the morality police.

Musk stated on Monday that the company would request a sanctions exception in order to offer Iranians access to Starlink satellite broadband service, which was previously offered to Ukraine in support of its defence against Russian invasion.

The spokesperson for the U.S. State Department added that “OFAC would welcome it and prioritise it” if SpaceX found that an activity directed at Iranians needed a specific licence.

“By the same token, if SpaceX decides that their conduct is already permitted and has any questions, OFAC likewise welcomes that dialogue,” the State Department source continued.

China willing to make effort for peaceful ‘reunification’ with Taiwan

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China willing to make effort for peaceful ‘reunification’ with Taiwan

Following weeks of military exercises and war games by Beijing close to the island, a representative for the Chinese government stated on Wednesday that China is willing to use all possible effort to work toward a peaceful reunification with Taiwan.

Taiwan is administered democratically, yet China claims it as its own territory. China’s claims to sovereignty over Taiwan are rejected by the Taiwanese government, which asserts that only the island’s residents have the power to determine the future of the territory.

Since early last month, China has been conducting exercises near Taiwan after US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taipei. These exercises have included firing missiles into the waters close to the island.

At a news conference in Beijing, Ma Xiaoguang, a representative of China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, stated that China was prepared to exert the most effort to accomplish peaceful “reunification”.

“He continued by saying that China’s commitment to defending its borders is strong.”

A “one nation, two systems” approach has been put forth by China for Taiwan, which is akin to the plan used to retake control of the former British colony of Hong Kong in 1997.

According to polls, that proposition has been opposed by every major Taiwanese political party and has almost no public support.

China has also never renounced using force to annex Taiwan, and in 2005 it passed legislation authorising military action against Taiwan if it secedes or appears to be about to secede.

According to Taiwan’s government, the People’s Republic of China’s claims to sovereignty over the island are invalid because it has never been under its control.

The world welcomes PM Modi’s intervention because of his powerful voice: U.K

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The world welcomes PM Modi’s intervention because of his powerful voice: U.K

According to the U.K.’s Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has a strong, influential voice on the international stage, and the Russian leadership respects India’s position on the international stage. Cleverly also emphasised that London hopes President Vladimir Putin will pay attention to those calling for peace amid the conflict in Ukraine.

Cleverly was responding to a question regarding the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and Modi’s assuring Putin last week that “today’s era is not of war” outside of the 22nd Shanghai Cooperation Organization meeting in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.

“On the international scene, Prime Minister Modi is a strong, influential voice. We are aware that the Russian government values India’s opinion and position on the international scene. I sincerely appreciate Prime Minister Modi’s assistance. And we sincerely hope that Vladimir Putin pays attention to those who are pleading for de-escalation and peace. Therefore, we warmly appreciate Prime Minister Modi’s intervention, “Mr. Cleverly stated in an interview with PTI

He added that the situation in Ukraine has resulted in a horrible loss of lives.

He emphasised that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has made the issues already there with regard to food security and those in danger of starvation and insecurity worse.

He cleverly asserted that the UN is still important as world leaders assemble at the UN headquarters for the high-level week amidst tumultuous times and humanitarian and geopolitical issues.

Mr. Cleverly met S. Jaishankar, the minister of external affairs, on the sidelines of the high-level UNGA session in New York on Wednesday night.

Mr. Cleverly expressed excitement about meeting his Indian colleague earlier in the day. “Jaishankar, well-versed in us. He has collaborated with my forerunners. And I’m eager to talk about our bilateral relationship as well as global, regional, and other challenges. “

Study reveals Saturn’s rings and tilt could be product of an ancient ‘missing moon’

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Study reveals Saturn’s rings and tilt could be product of an ancient ‘missing moon’

Saturn’s missing moon, Chrysalis, is thought to have been pushed onto the planet until it tore apart, generating rings and adding to Saturn’s tilt.

Saturn may have once been in sync with Neptune, but according to recent modelling research by scientists at MIT and other institutions, Saturn has since eluded Neptune’s influence. What caused this realignment of the planets? The one carefully examined theory the team has is that of a missing moon.

The team claims in a paper published in Science that Saturn, which currently has 83 moons, originally had at least one additional satellite that they have named Chrysalis. According to their theory, Chrysalis and its siblings orbited Saturn for billions of years while applying pressure to keep the planet’s tilt, or “obliquity,” in resonance with Neptune.

Torn apart by a grazing encounter, Chrysalis is supposed to have gotten unstable some 160 million years ago and approached its planet too closely. Enough of the moon was lost for Saturn to be released from Neptune’s influence and acquire its current tilt.

Furthermore, the team hypothesises that while the majority of Chrysalis’ body fragments may have collided with Saturn, some of them may have remained suspended in space and later disintegrated into tiny frozen pieces to form the planet’s distinctive rings.

Therefore, the missing satellite could shed light on two open questions: Saturn’s current tilt and the age of its rings, which were formerly thought to be just approximately 100 million years old, much younger than the planet.

The main author of the new study and professor of planetary sciences at MIT Jack Wisdom explains that this satellite was long dormant until suddenly becoming active and the rings developed.

The study’s other co-authors are Rola Dbouk from MIT, Burkhard Militzer from Berkeley University, William Hubbard from the University of Arizona, Francis Nimmo and Brynna Downey from Santa Cruz University, and Richard French from Wellesley College.

World Bank: Global rate hikes could trigger 2023 recession

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World Bank: Global rate hikes could trigger 2023 recession

According to the World Bank, interest rate increases by central banks around the world could lead to a global recession in 2023.

Central banks have raised rates “with a degree of synchronicity rarely experienced during the preceding five decades” to counter rising prices, the research added.

Raising interest rates makes borrowing more expensive, slowing the rate of price increases.

But it also raises the cost of borrowing, which can impede economic expansion.

The World Bank’s warning comes before the US Federal Reserve and Bank of England’s monetary policy gatherings, which are anticipated to raise key interest rates next week.

According to research, the three biggest economies in the world—the US, China, and the euro area—have been slowing down significantly.

Economic problems are already beginning to show themselves. Delivery juggernaut FedEx issued a warning to investors on Thursday, predicting that revenue would fall hundreds of millions of dollars short of expectations due to a sudden and significant decrease in activity, particularly in Asia and Europe.

In reaction to the decline in demand, the company announced it would close hundreds of offices and scale back its operations.

FedEx shares dropped more than 20% as a result of the announcement, which caused a broad sell-off of the stock. Other shipping companies’ stock prices also dropped, including those of Amazon, Deutsche Post, and Royal Mail.

The rate of price growth, or inflation, just reached a 40-year high in the US and the UK.

Demand increased as constraints related to the pandemic loosened, while costs for electricity, fuel, and food rose as a result of the conflict in the Ukraine.

In 2007, a subprime mortgage crisis in the US served as the catalyst for a global financial catastrophe.

Following the failure of the Lehman Brothers investment bank in September 2008, this turned into a full-fledged crash.

A month later, the Fed, the European Central Bank, the Canadian, Swedish, and Swiss central banks all reduced their benchmark interest rates in unison.

Courteney Cox has updated the iconic tampon commercial for menopause.

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Courteney Cox has updated the iconic tampon commercial for menopause.

Courteney Cox garnered notoriety as the first person to use the term “period” in a US TV commercial nine years before she appeared in Friends.

The actress has now provided a modernised rendition of that tampon advertisement from 1985.

In the updated version, which she shared on Instagram, the 58-year-old quotes herself from when she was younger, substituting menopausal misery for period pains.

In a parody of the original commercial, Cox wonders, “Did your life entirely change because of menopause?”

Cox continues by reenacting the locker room scenario from the original, saying, “Let me tell you straight.”

“Menopause will alter your attitude toward ageing. You will die from menopause. It is awful. Nobody else is capable of that.

The bonus of drier skin and developing bald patches are two effects of menopause, according to Cox.

She beams with enthusiasm and says, “Now that’s something,” in the manner of the original commercial but with more cynical irony.

She concludes by saying, “Remember, menopause is not a good thing.” It has the power to alter how you feel about getting older.

Other TV and movie stars like Juliette Lewis, Julianne Moore, and Drew Barrymore are among those who have liked the video, which has received close to a million likes.

Cox told the Sunday Times earlier this year that after trying unsuccessfully to use face fillers, she had gradually “learned to appreciate” growing older.

“And I didn’t realise that, wow, I’m looking extremely abnormal with injections and doing things to my face that I would never do now,” the speaker said.

Angelina Jolie, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Oprah Winfrey are a few more American celebrities who have recently discussed menopause in public.

UK lawmakers argued in July that menopausal women should have more protection and rights at work.

According to the UK’s Women and Equalities Committee, a lack of assistance is driving women out of the workforce.

To provide working women more rights, the cross-party group wants menopause to be recognised as a protected characteristic like pregnancy.

The MPs recommended that a sizable public-sector employer also test out menopausal leave.

Queen lying-in-state wristband sales are prohibited on eBay.

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Queen lying-in-state wristband sales are prohibited on eBay.

eBay is taking down the sales listings for the wristbands required to enter the line to view the Queen lying in state in London.

The paper-coloured bands that identify a mourner’s position in the line are sold as memorabilia.

The bands are identified as non-transferable and do not ensure admission to Westminster Hall to process past the Queen’s coffin.

“These things are against our regulations, and we are removing them,” according to a spokeswoman for the auction website.

On Sunday morning, a couple of the wristbands were still accessible on the website under the “new listing” header, but they did not contain links to any currently running auctions or buy-it-now pages.

Before they were taken down, some old wristbands were fetching up to £70,000 in bids, according to an article in the Guardian. It is unknown, though, if the offers were legitimate.

Tickets to past events, such as concerts or sporting contests, can be sold on eBay as memorabilia. However, according to its policy, it may forbid the sale of tickets to public events.

Additionally, according to its regulations, tickets for upcoming events like concerts, festivals, sporting events, or plays cannot be listed on the website.

To “prevent disappointment,” people are being advised not to travel to the line-up location.

The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) stated that a decision would likely be made this afternoon on the time at which the line to view the lying in state at Westminster Hall would be closed.

Government representatives added that the wait time is currently at least 13 hours.

On Monday, at 06:30 BST, four and a half hours before the late monarch’s state funeral is scheduled to start at Westminster Abbey, the public viewing of the Queen laying in the state will formally end.

No political involvement in Chinese ship docking decision: Lankan envoy

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No political involvement in Chinese ship docking decision: Lankan envoy

India highlighted the ship’s technical prowess and expressed concern over the visit’s objectives.

Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner Milinda Moragoda stated that his nation was working on a framework for cooperation with India to prevent problems like those caused by the Chinese research ship docking at the island’s southern port of Hambantota last month.

During a press conference at the Indian Women’s Press Corps (IWPC), Mr. Moragoda said that the decision to allow the docking of the Chinese ship “Yuan Wang 5” was made at the level of “officials” during the tumultuous time when former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa was fleeing the country.

The High Commissioner stated that there was no political role in the decision and claimed that it was approved, although there was turmoil on the ground.

The lesson we have learned, in my opinion, is that India and we need to work closely together. We also need a framework for cooperation, which is something we are currently talking about.

India, according to him, serves as the region’s security bulwark.

From August 16 to August 22, the Chinese ballistic missile and satellite tracking ship was berthed at the Chinese-run Hambantota port.

On August 13, the Sri Lankan government agreed to allow the ship port access for the period of August 16 to August 22 in exchange for keeping the Automatic Identification System (AIS) activated inside the nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and refraining from conducting any scientific research in its territorial waters.

India raised concerns about the visit’s aim and flagged the ship’s technical capabilities.

The likelihood that the ship’s tracking systems would try to snoop on Indian sites worried New Delhi.

Mr. Moragoda praised India for supporting Sri Lanka during times of need and expressed the hope that it would be instrumental in the island nation’s economic recovery.

Bright songbirds may be traded to extinction.

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Bright songbirds may be traded to extinction.

According to studies, songbirds with distinctive colours face a significant risk of extinction because people want to keep them as pets.

As a result of birds being kept as pets for their lovely sounds, the pet songbird trade in Asia has already brought some species dangerously close to extinction.

According to a recent study, certain feather colours increase the likelihood that birds will be captured from the wild and sold.

According to researchers, rearing birds in captivity for trade may be beneficial.

Lead researcher Prof Rebecca Senior from the University of Durham said, “That won’t work for all animals. However, there is optimism that we may change the source of some pet birds so they are raised in captivity rather than being caught in the wild.

The research, which was published in the journal Current Biology, also suggested that if the most desirable birds kept disappearing from the wild, the remaining populations in Asia’s tropical forests would progressively become “more drab.” The first birds to vanish would be the ones with the most stunning, distinctive colours.

Prof. Senior and her team conducted what amounted to a stocktake of the species and colours that were most frequently purchased and sold in Asian songbird markets in order to better understand the problems facing wild birds.

In order to imitate the effects of trade, the scientists eliminated the most traded species from the wild population. In Asia’s tropical woods, this demonstrated that continued songbird trapping would lead to “more brown and less blue” plumage.

The effects of the trade have been dubbed a “conservation crisis” in some parts of Asia, particularly Indonesia. In an effort to save species that are at risk of extinction due to commerce, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) established a specialised group.

Songbird ownership has a long history in Indonesian culture. Competitions for the best bird singing are extremely well-liked and, on a national basis, can award rewards worth tens of thousands of pounds. Many environmentalists have come to the conclusion that opposing trade is pointless.

After 17 years, the England cricket team heads to Pakistan for a seven-match T20 series.

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After 17 years, the England cricket team heads to Pakistan for a seven-match T20 series.

For the first time in the previous 17 years, the England cricket team arrived in Pakistan on Thursday in preparation for a seven-match T20I series that will begin on September 20. English athletes last competed in Pakistan in 2005. They were due to return last year, but at the last minute, New Zealand withdrew from the tour due to safety concerns.

After a 2009 attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore, Pakistan was forced to play international games in neutral locations like the United Arab Emirates. In 2012 and 2015, they hosted England for a series in the UAE.

Over the past five years, international cricket has gradually made a comeback in Pakistan, and earlier this year, Australia completed a successful trip there for the first time in almost 25 years.

The visit coincides with severe floods in Pakistan that have affected at least 33 million people and inundated around a third of the nation.

As both countries get ready for the T20 World Cup in Australia next month, the 19-man England team, captained by Jos Buttler, will play seven Twenty20 matches against Pakistan in Karachi and Lahore from September 20 to October 2.

In December, England will make a comeback to play three five-day Test matches.

To enhance cricket fans’ TV viewing experiences worldwide, the Pakistan Cricket Board has brought a commentary crew for the historic seven Twenty20 Internationals between Pakistan and England.

The seven matches, which will be played in Karachi and Lahore from September 20 to October 2, will be narrated by renowned English commentators David Gower and Mark Butcher as well as Pakistani cricket greats Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Aamir Sohail, Bazid Khan, and Urooj Mumtaz.

Throughout the season, these analysts will also provide analysis during pre- and post-match broadcasts that are hosted by renowned presenter Zainab Abbas.

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