U.S. cuts off Ethiopia, Mali, Guinea from Africa duty-free trade program.

The United States on Saturday 01 January 2022 cut Ethiopia, Mali and Guinea from access to a duty-free trade program, following through on President Joe Biden's threat to do so over alleged human rights violations and recent coups. Biden said in November that Ethiopia wo…

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France has now become the sixth country in the world to report more than 10 million COVID-19.

France has now become the sixth country in the world to report more than 10 million COVID-19 infections since the pandemic began, according to official data published on Saturday. This news comes as health authorities in the country confirmed more than 200,000 daily COVID ca…

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Australia to rename Canberra's Aspen Island in honor of Queen Elizabeth 11.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, on January 1, announced the country would rename Aspen Island in Canberra's Lake Burley Griffin as part of June 2022 national and community events.  The series of events will be a part of community events in 2022 to celebrate the…

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Egypt became fourth new member of New Development Bank.

Egypt added as the fourth new member of BRICS New Development Bank. Bangladesh, UAE, and Uruguay joined BRICS New Development Bank in September 2021. Membership expansion enables New Development Bank to position itself as a premier development institution for emerging econo…

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UNESCO, Sweden partner to establish Palestinian Virtual Museum.

In framework of the help to the Palestinian Cultural Heritage by the mission “Local Development through the Rehabilitation and Revitalization of Historic Environment in Palestine” funded by Sweden by Sida; UNESCO and the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities (MoTA) joined for…

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Israel Signs Deal to Buy $3.1 Billion in U.S. Helicopters, Tankers.

Israel has signed a deal with the United States to buy 12 Lockheed Martin Corp CH-53K helicopters and two Boeing Co KC-46 refuelling planes, the Israeli Defence Ministry said, estimating the total price at around $3.1 billion. The deal, signed on Thursday 30th December 2021,…

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China launches a five-year plan to become a global robotics hub.

China has announced a five-year plan to promote its ambition to become a global innovation hub for robotics by 2025. We want to get there by focusing on strengthening key components such as servomotors and control panels. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology o…

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Betty White, beloved and trailblazing actress, dies at 99.

Betty White, the self-described "lucky old broad" whose sweetly sarcastic senior citizen characters were a beloved fixture on TV shows and movies such as "The Golden Girls," "Boston Legal" and "Hot in Cleveland," died Friday 31 Decemb…

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World Day of Peace - 01 January.

On January 1st, the World Day of Peace invites all people to reflect upon the important work of building peace. It’s also a day for the Pope to give a special message that reflects the theme for the year and to pray for peace. When trying to define peace, people often use wo…

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New Year’s Day - 01 January.

Nearly the entire world recognizes New Year’s Day on January 1st. It’s also one of the most celebrated holidays of the year.  Celebrations will begin in the Pacific Ocean with Samoa celebrating the New Year before the rest of the world. The latest stroke of midnight will occ…

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Euro Day - 01 January.

Every year on January 1st, Euro Day celebrates the issuance of the monetary unit of the European Union. This monetary unit is called the euro. The United Nations recognizes 180 currencies used by the Member States throughout the world. We typically refer to currency as money…

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Minimum age of sale for tobacco products to be raised to 24.

The minimum age of sale, purchasing and promotion of tobacco products will be increased from 21 to 24 next year, Chairman of National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol (NATA), Dr. Samadhi Rajapaksa said. He told the media that the relevant changes would come into effect as th…

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Ross Taylor announces international retirement.

Ross Taylor has announced he will retire from international cricket at the end of the current home season with the upcoming series against Bangladesh being his last Test cricket before he finishes with the ODIs against Australia and Netherlands. Taylor, 37, currently has 110…

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Quinton de Kock announces retirement from Test Cricket.

Quinton de Kock has announced a sudden retirement from Test cricket with immediate effect "to spend more time with his growing family". de Kock was due to miss the second and third Tests against India on paternity leave but has decided to step away from the longes…

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Japan introduced the world’s 1st Dual-Mode Vehicle.

Japan has introduced a minibus lookalike world’s first dual-mode vehicle (DMV) in its town of Kaiyo. The vehicle can run on normal rubber tyres on the road but its steel wheels, which are in its underbelly, descend when it hits the rail tracks. The DMV can carry up to 21 pa…

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J.D. Crowe, Influential Bluegrass Musician, Dies at 84.

Grammy-winning bluegrass musician J.D. Crowe, whose influential career spanned more than 50 years, has died. He was 84. His son, David, confirmed the death on Saturday (Dec. 25) to The Associated Press. Born James Dee Crowe in 1937, his career included stints with Jimmy Marti…

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Harbhajan Singh announces retirement from all forms of cricket.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Friday announced retirement from all forms of competitive cricket. The 41-year-old from Punjab took 417 wickets in 103 Tests, 269 wickets in 236 ODIs and 25 scalps in 28 T20Is in his illustrious career. In the IPL across 13 seasons for Mumbai I…

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Pakistan conducts successful test launch of Babur cruise missile 1B.

Pakistan conducted a successful test of an enhanced range version of the indigenously developed Babur Cruise Missile 1B. The test launch was witnessed by Lieutenant General Nadeem Zaki Manj, Director General Strategic Plans Division Dr Raza Samar, Chairman NESCOM Lieutenant …

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Russia launches third and final Angara A5 demonstration mission.

Russia has launched its third and final demonstration flight of the Angara A5 rocket on Monday, December 27. Angara is being developed and built by the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center and is intended to replace several existing launch vehicles. Angara a…

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Joan Didion, American journalist and author, dies at age 87.

Joan Didion, the eminent journalist, author and anthropologist of contemporary American politics and culture – a singularly clear, precise voice across a multitude of subjects for more than 60 years – has died at her home in Manhattan, New York. She was 87. The cause of deat…

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Japan launches Inmarsat-6 F1 Communications Satellite.

Japan has launched Inmarsat-6 F1, a communication satellite, through a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) H-IIA204 rocket from Japan’s Tanegashima Space Center that will enter geostationary orbit, about 22,240 miles (35,790 kilometres) above the earth. It is developed by the…

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Former England Test Captain Ray Illingworth passes away.

Former England captain, Ray Illingworth has passed away. He played 61 Tests for England between 1958 and 1973 and captained the country 31 times, winning 12 matches and an Ashes series in Australia in 1970. He was an all-rounder who scored 1,836 Test runs at an average of 2…

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86.7 km long Bibile-Chenkaladi road vested with the public.

The Bibile-Chenkaladi Road, stretching over 86.7 kilometers on the A5 Road, was vested with the public on December 28, under the patronage of Highways Minister Johnston Fernando. This stretch of road is part of the Badulla-Chenkaladi Road Improvement Project (BCRIP). The BCRI…

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Suresh Subramaniam re-elected National Olympic Committee president.

Suresh Subramaniam has been re-elected as the President of the National Olympic Committee of Sri Lanka (NOCSL) for the period of 2022 to 2026. The NOCSL election to select new office bearers was held at the Olympic House in Colombo on December 28. Subramaniam and President of…

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Sri Lanka crowned champions of Central Asian Volleyball Challenge.

Sri Lanka clinched the Bangabandhu Asian Central Zone Men’s Volleyball Challenge Cup beating hosts Bangladesh in straight sets in the final at the Shaheed Suhrawardy National Indoor Stadium in Mirpur on Tuesday 28 December 2021.  Sri Lanka thus emerged champions winning 28-2…

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Bhutan confers its highest civilian award on Indian Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been conferred with the highest civilian award of Bhutan, Ngadag Pel gi Khorlo, on the occasion of the country’s National Day. Bhutan Prime Minister Lotay Tshering shared on social media that he was overjoyed to hear His Majesty pronounce Pri…

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Elon Musk says SpaceX will land humans on Mars within 5 to 10 years.

Elon Musk during a recent interview with podcaster Lex Fridman said that in the worst case scenario, it’ll be roughly a decade before SpaceX is able to land a human being on Mars. A key limiting factor today, however, is money: it's simply too expensive to send anyone t…

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Somalia's President suspends PM Mohamed Hussein Roble.

Somalian Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble has been suspended. President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has suspended the Prime Minister, who is facing allegations of involvement in the theft of land. Mohamed Roble accused the President of trying to stage a coup and said, he …

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‘He-Man’ artist and toy designer Mark Taylor passes away.

Mark Taylor, artist and toy designer for the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe franchise as well as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, passed away.  Taylor began his career with Mattel in 1976 as a packaging designer. He-man was the muscled frontman for toy manufacturer …

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Former Greek President Karolos Papoulias passes away.

Veteran Greek politician Karolos Papoulias, who served as president at the height of the economic crisis of the 2010s, died. Papoulias, a longtime socialist lawmaker and minister, was close to Andreas Papandreou, the founder of the Socialist PASOK party. He served two terms…

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