Ford joins hand with Google.

Ford Motor Co has joined hands with Alphabet Inc’s Google to cooperate in software, artificial intelligence and cloud computing, to develop new consumer services and modernize internal operations.  The automaker will deploy Google artificial intelligence technology to improv…

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Archaeologists in Egypt discover a mummy with a golden tongue.

Egyptian archaeologists discovered 16 human burial chambers outside of Alexandria -- and at least one of them contained a human skull with a startling golden tongue. The tongue is an amulet made of gold foil, and might've been made to help the dead speak in the afterlif…

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Wikipedia introduces new Universal Code of Conduct to fight harassment.

Wikipedia has introduced a Universal Code of Conduct that looks to create a global standard for the site and ensure a “diverse, inclusive, and accessible” community of contributors, continuing its efforts to fight harassment. The formal code of conduct — like many Wikimedia …

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World Cancer Day - 04 February.

World Cancer Day is marked on February 4 to raise awareness of cancer and to encourage its prevention, detection, and treatment. World Cancer Day was founded by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to support the goals of the World Cancer Declaration, written i…

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Hollywood actor Hal Holbrook dies at age 95.

Hal Holbrook, the Oscar-nominated actor known for playing Deep Throat in All the President's Men, has died at 95. Holbrook, who also appeared in Wall Street, Into The Wild and Lincoln, died on 23 January, his assistant told the New York Times. As Deep Throat, Holbrook lea…

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Apple will invest $3.6 billion in Kia Motors.

Apple is investing 4 trillion won ($3.6 billion) in Kia Motors in a collaboration to built an electric car.  This is according to a report by Korean outlet DongA Ilbo (via Bloomberg), which claims a deal may get inked on February 17. According to the report, the plan is to l…

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Alibaba looking to raise up to $5 billion from bond issuance.

Alibaba is looking to raise up to $5 billion via U.S. dollar-denominated bonds. The Chinese e-commerce giant announced the bond offering, in a statement with very few details. Alibaba plans to sell several tranches of bonds with different maturities up to 40 years. Alibaba’s …

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Uber to buy Drizly for $1.1 billion.

Uber announced that it would be acquiring alcohol delivery service Drizly, in a stock and cash deal valued at approximately $1.1 billion. Drizly’s marketplace is expected to be built directly into the Uber Eats app, though the company notes that it will maintain Drizly as a…

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Jeff Bezos to step down as Amazon CEO.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos will leave his post later this year, turning the helm over to the company’s top cloud executive, Andy Jassy, according to an announcement Tuesday 02 Feb 2021. Bezos will transition to executive chairman of Amazon’s board. Bezos, 57, founded Amazon in 19…

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Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC) to restart fuel oil trade.

The Cabinet of Ministers has approved the proposal to restart the fuel oil business by the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation (CPC). The Monopoly of fuel oil supply, upheld by the ‘Lanka Maritime Services Limited’ affiliated to CPC, was opened to the private sector in 2004. The bo…

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Vivo ranked among Top 5 Global Smartphone Brands in 2020, according to IDC.

According to the latest annual data from IDC, vivo, a leading global smartphone brand, ranked fifth in the global smartphone market in 2020 with a market share of 8.6 percent and shipments exceeding 110 million devices. With a year-over-year growth rate of over 1 percent, v…

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Period drama ‘Bridgerton’ smashes Netflix viewership records.

Netflix has claimed its biggest hit ever with “Bridgerton,” a drama set in Britain in the early 1800s. Some 82 million households watched the drama, based on novels by Julia Quinn, in its first 28 days, Netflix (NFLX) said in a statement on Wednesday. The company also claims …

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U.S. Government commits $40 million loan to support small businesses and empower Sri Lankan women.

The U.S. Government committed a $40 million loan to Sri Lanka’s SDB bank to support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and women entrepreneurs. The loan from the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), the U.S. Government’s development bank, aims to suppo…

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First unmanned space flight set to launch in December.

India’s first unmanned space flight as part of the ‘Gaganyaan’ mission is scheduled to be launched in December this year, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Monday 01 Feb 2021.   Four Indian astronauts are being trained in Russia. The first unmanned launch, th…

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New species of chameleon is discovered in Madagascar.

New species of chameleon where the males have unusually large genitals for sex with bigger females is discovered. A new miniature species of chameleon where the male is much smaller but has unusually large genitals in order to have sex with the much larger female has been di…

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Australian fast bowler Merv Hughes inducted in the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame.

Former Legendary Australian  pacer Merv Hughes has been inducted into the Australian Cricket Hall of Fame. The Australian and Victorian fast bowler became the 56th inductee after a career that spanned 53 Tests and 33 One Day Internationals for Australia. Fast, fearsome and li…

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A small rocket billed as the world's first commercial booster powered by biofuel has launched from Maine.

The Brunswick-based startup bluShift Aerospace launched its first rocket prototype, called Stardust 1.0, on Sunday (Jan. 31), despite freezing temperatures and two false starts. The rocket didn't reach space (or even a mile up), but marked a major milestone for a compan…

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Emmy-winning Screenwriter & Producer dies.

Emmy-winning producer and writer Allan Burns passed away at the age of 85. Born on June 14, 1935, Allan Burns spent his childhood in Baltimore, Maryland before he made it to the west for attending the University of Oregon in 1953. Burns began his writing career in 1962 as an…

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Nobel laureate and ozone chemist Paul Crutzen dies.

Paul Crutzen, the Dutch atmospheric chemist who was a co-recipient of the 1995 Nobel prize for chemistry for his work on stratospheric ozone destruction, died on 28 January at the age of 87 following several years of illness.  His passing means that all three chemists who wo…

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NASA Appoints Indian-American Bhavya Lal as Acting Chief of Staff.

NASA has appointed Indian-American Bhavya Lal as the space agency's Acting Chief of Staff. As the senior White House appointee at NASA, she served as a member of the Biden Presidential Transition Agency Review Team for the agency, NASA said. Bhavya Lal brings extensive e…

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Nguyen Phu Trong re-elected as Chief of Vietnam for 3rd term.

The ruling Community Party of Vietnam has re-elected its 76-year-old General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong for a third five-year term. He is serving the post since 2011. Trong was granted an exemption to contest in the election, though he was above the age limit of 65. The Gen…

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UN World Tourism Organization confirms 2020 as ‘worst year on record’.

Global tourism suffered its worst year on record in 2020, with international arrivals dropping by 74% according to the latest data from the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). Destinations worldwide welcomed 1 billion fewer international arrivals in 2020 than in the previou…

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CSE’s ASPI records biggest single-day drop in history.

The All Share Price Index (ASPI) of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) today (02) recorded the highest drop in a single day in history. The benchmark All Share Price Index crashed down by 561.75 points (or 6.56%) to close at 8,005.32 whilst the S&P SL20 index which feature…

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55th Summit of Asian Development Bank (ADB) to be held in Sri Lanka.

The Cabinet of Ministers has granted the approval for a proposal to hold conduct the 55th Annual Summit of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in Sri Lanka, says the Department of Government Information. Nearly 3,000-4,000 participants will be attending the Summit including mor…

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U.S. voting rights activist Stacey Abrams nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.

U.S. voting rights activist and Democratic Party politician Stacey Abrams has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize for her work to promote nonviolent change via the ballot box, a Norwegian lawmaker said. Abrams, whose work was credited with boosting voter turnout…

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World Wetlands Day - 02 February.

World Wetlands Day is celebrated internationally each year on 02 February. It marks the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, on 02 February 1971. On February 2nd, 1971 a small group of envir…

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UK applying to join Asia-Pacific free trade pact CPTPP.

The UK will apply to join a free trade area with 11 Asia and Pacific nations on Monday, a year after it officially left the EU. Joining the group of "fast-growing nations" will boost UK exports, the government says. The Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Tr…

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Hilton Valentine has died at age 77.

The Animals' guitarist Hilton Valentine, best known for the iconic opening riff on the English rock band's arrangement of "The House of the Rising Sun," has died at the age of 77. Valentine began playing guitar as a teenager growing up in North Shields, Nor…

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Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Secretary Jay Shah takes over as President of Asian Cricket Council (ACC).

Jay Shah, the incumbent Secretary of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has been appointed as the new President of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC). He is the youngest person ever to be appointed to the office. He replaces Nazmul Hussain, Chief of Bangladesh Cricke…

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US has discovered a multi-planetary system.

A new study in the US has discovered a multi-planetary system, which researchers say could be an ideal target for studying planetary evolution and exoplanetary atmospheres.   According to the study, the multi-planetary system is home to a rocky ‘super-earth’ and three ‘sub-N…

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