Jesus, the Alpha & the Omega
In of August of 2016, astronomers from the European Southern Observatory (ESO) confirmed the existence of an Earth-like planet around Proxima Centauri – the closest star to our Solar System. Also, they confirmed that this planet (Proxima B) orbited within its star’s habitable zone. Since that time, multiple studies have been conducted
Continue readingScientists have found the first evidence that particles of air pollution travel through pregnant women’s lungs and lodge in their placentas. Toxic air is already strongly linked to harm in foetuses but how the damage is done is unknown. The new study, involving mothers living in London, UK, revealed sooty
Continue readingPuglia is a region in southern Italy, at the “heel” of the boot. Puglia is sometimes called “Apulia.” Matera, which is a UNESCO world heritage site because of the extraordinary cave dwellings, called the “Sassi.” The landscape of Puglia is mostly flatland or low rolling hills with literally millions of
Continue readingIn an age of austerity and a climate of fear about child abuse, perhaps it is unsurprising that social workers have turned to new technology for help. Local authorities – which face spiralling demand and a £800m funding shortfall – are beginning to ask whether big data could help to identify vulnerable
Continue readingCredits: The Guardian, Reuters.
Continue readingOccitan language, also called Languedoc, a modern name given by linguists to a group of dialects that form a Romance language that was spoken in the early 21st century by about 1,500,000 people in southern France, though many estimates range as low as one-third that number. The UNESCO Red Book lists some of the dialects
Continue reading“Inflatable duck baby pool with canopy.” “Hot selling colourful temporary full arm tattoo for men.” “Splendid reusable dog pee pad (minimum order: 500).” Load up the homepage for e-commerce giant, Alibaba – a wholesale shopping site that’s more or less China’s answer to eBay – and you’ll find images and descriptions of
Continue readingThe Observatory issued the No 10 signal at 9.40am as Severe Typhoon Mangkhut buffeted the city with powerful winds. Hong Kong was faced with a total shutdown on Sunday, with flights cancelled, villagers evacuated from low-lying areas, and government departments are activating their emergency response plans. Mangkhut, named after the
Continue reading1 Corinthians 9: 15 – 27; 1 Corinthians 10: 6 – 13. It is not unusual that we would be blissfully unaware that under certain circumstances, we would have benefited from a level of self-control, whether they be our impulses and sensitivities or thoughts and opinions. The Apostle Paul concluded
Continue readingAn attempt to overturn the decades-old global ban on commercial whaling has failed, to the relief of conservationists. Anti-whaling nations defeated by decisive margin proposals from the Japanese government that would have allowed for the return of whale hunts. The vote, on the last day of this year’s meeting of the International Whaling
Continue readingAn outbreak of African swine fever terrorising pig farmers in Europe has dramatically escalated with the confirmation that the deadly infectious disease has spread to Belgium. The discovery of the highly contagious disease in two wild boars found dead near the town of Étalle, in Gaume, has sparked calls for a mass cull
Continue readingThe Dutch government expelled two alleged Russian spies this year after they were accused of planning to hack into a Swiss chemicals laboratory where novichok nerve agent samples from the Salisbury attack were analysed, it has emerged. The men were arrested in The Hague this spring as part of an
Continue readingThe number of people suffering from hunger has increased during the past three years, after years of decline, a UN report suggests. According to the analysis, 821 million people globally were undernourished in 2017 – about one person in every nine. And nearly 151 million under-fives – 22% of the
Continue readingPhlox is a genus of 67 species of perennial and annual plants in the family Polemoniaceae. They are found mostly in North America (one in Siberia) in diverse habitats from alpine tundra to open woodland and prairie. Some flower in spring, others in summer and fall. Flowers may be pale blue, violet, pink, bright red, or white. Many are fragrant. It attracts hummingbirds,
Continue readingThe US State Department has said it is deeply concerned over China’s “worsening crackdown” on minority Muslims in China’s north-western territory of Xinjiang as the Trump administration reportedly considers sanctions against senior Chinese officials and companies linked to allegations of human rights abuses. China’s “strike hard” campaign in the name of countering
Continue readingBilbao, Spain. This Basque beauty has impactful architecture, brilliant beaches, one of the best museums in the world and a unique gastronomic identity. Famously passionate and proudly independent, the Basques are an enigma. Although their unofficial country straddles northern Spain and south-west France, the residents’ impenetrable language, with its Indo-European roots,
Continue readingLupus is a constellation located in the deep Southern Sky. Its name is Latin for wolf. Lupus was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd-century astronomer Ptolemy, and it remains one of the 88 modern constellations, although it was previously an asterism associated with the neighbouring constellation Centaurus. Lupus is bordered by six different constellations, although one
Continue readingOne in five men and one in six women around the world develop cancer during their lifetime, according to the latest figures from the from the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). One in eight men and one in 11 women die from the disease. The rising toll of cancer
Continue readingShortly after sunset, along an isolated stretch of highway leading out of a dusty hamlet in northern Peru, a band of five weary farmers clad in reflective neon vests and armed with traditional whips made of bull penises set out on a solemn march. The Ronderos – self-governing peasant patrols –
Continue readingA proposal to create a whale sanctuary in the South Atlantic Ocean has been defeated at an International Whaling Commission (IWC) meeting in Brazil. Japan and several other pro-whaling countries voted against the proposal, causing it to fall short of the two-thirds majority it needed to pass. Brazil’s Environment Minister,
Continue readingStarvation is used as a weapon of war has become the new normal, according to Save the Children. Its analysis shows more than half a million infants in conflict zones could die of malnutrition by the end of the year if they do not receive treatment, the equivalent of one
Continue readingJUST HOW COLD can it get on Earth’s surface? About minus 144°F, according to recent satellite measurements of the coldest known place on the planet. Scientists recorded this extreme temperature on the ice sheet deep in the middle of Antarctica during the long, dark polar winter. As they report this week in Geophysical Research
Continue readingVeteran green fingered record breaker Hans-Peter Schiffer has once again surpassed his legendary sunflower growing skills with a massive 9.17 metre (30 feet 1 inch) plant. The proud gardener from the town of Karst in Nordrhein Westfalen, Germany has held the record continuously three times previously – in 2009 (8.03
Continue readingCan mood be decoded from brain data? The work is part of a larger movement aimed at developing better, more personalised therapies for psychiatric conditions like depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder using deep brain stimulation (DBS), a procedure that requires surgery and is highly invasive. The approach
Continue readingAntisocial personality disorder, sometimes called sociopathy, is a mental condition in which a person consistently shows no regard for right and wrong and ignores the rights and feelings of others. People with antisocial personality disorder tend to antagonise, manipulate or treat others harshly or with callous indifference. They show no
Continue readingManatees and dugongs – same, right? And no quick Google image search is going to change that perspective – after all, they look alike. But in fact, the two living mammal species that belong to the sirenian animal order are oceans apart regarding location, biology and behaviour. They’re classic chalk and cheese:
Continue readingHelianthus or sunflower is a genus of plants comprising about 70 species. Except for three species in South America, all Helianthus species are native to North America. The common name, “sunflower” typically refers to the popular annual species Helianthus annuus, or the common sunflower, whose round flower heads in combination with the ligules look like the sun. This and other species, notably
Continue readingThe following are programmatic elements to consider when planning your 9/11 anniversary observance. Observe moments of silence Observe a moment of silence on September 11 at any or all of the following times marking key moments on 9/11. As in years past, the moments below will be observed as part
Continue readingThe road to the Emerald City in the timeless tale of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is paved in yellow – and in the “Sunflower Surprise” floral display, this is creatively reinterpreted as a profusion of sunflowers. Amidst more than 10,000 sunflowers of various shapes and sizes, our heroine Dorothy
Continue readingA generator sputters into life and men in farmers’ trousers spray water on muddy tractors as the sun slips from a late summer sky. On this most ordinary of village days in a northern corner of Iraq, 20-year-old Bafrin Shivan Amo perches on a metal cot bed to speak of the
Continue readingSan Sebastián or Donostia is a coastal city and municipality located in the Basque Autonomous Community, Spain. It lies on the coast of the Bay of Biscay, 20 km (12 miles) from the French border. The capital city of Gipuzkoa, the municipality’s population is 186,095 as of 2015, with its metropolitan area reaching 436,500 in 2010. Locals call themselves donostiarra, both in Spanish and Basque.
Continue readingHonoré de Balzac was a great believer in the cerebral power of coffee. The renowned French writer had a punishing schedule – every evening, he would scour the streets of Paris for a café that was open past midnight, then write until the morning. It is said that he would consume
Continue readingCredits: The Guardian, National Geographic Society, Reuters.
Continue readingA team of scientists and engineers will on Saturday begin an ambitious clean-up of plastics in the Pacific Ocean targeting a stretch of water three times the size of France known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. A 600m-long floating barrier will be launched off the coast of San Francisco and,
Continue readingIt must be hard for Joseph Stiglitz to remain an optimist in the face of the grim future he fears may be coming. The Nobel laureate and former chief economist at the World Bank has thought carefully about how artificial intelligence will affect our lives. On the back of the technology, we
Continue readingBritish police and border security will share intelligence on female genital mutilation (FGM) with US counterparts as part of a drive to increase prosecutions and prevent abuse. Information on flight paths and investigations will be shared between the UK authorities and US agencies, including the FBI and Department of Homeland
Continue readingPsalm 110; Genesis 14; Mark 12: 35 – 37; Hebrews 6:13 – 7: 1 – 28. The mysterious figure of Melchizedek is mentioned only in three Scriptural books: twice in the Old Testament (Genesis & the Psalms) and once in the New Testament (Hebrews). As we delve into Psalm 110,
Continue readingThe Musée d’Orsay is a museum in Paris, France, on the Left Bank of the Seine. It is housed in the former Gare d’Orsay, a Beaux-Arts railway station built between 1898 and 1900. The museum holds mainly French art dating from 1848 to 1914, including paintings, sculptures, furniture, and photography. It houses the largest collection of impressionist and post-Impressionist masterpieces in the world,
Continue readingIt’s reliably reported that 80% of the Italian olive oil on the market is fraudulent. Some experts think that percentage is an exaggeration. Others believe that the bigger problem is poor quality olive oil, deliberately mislabelled as virgin or extra virgin. In any case, it’s likely that when you buy olive oil,
Continue readingToday, 6 September 2018, Pre-Trial Chamber I (the “Chamber”) of the International Criminal Court (“ICC” or the “Court”), composed of Judge Péter Kovács, Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut and Judge Reine Adélaïde Sophie Alapini-Gansou, decided by majority that the Court may exercise jurisdiction over the alleged deportation of the Rohingya
Continue reading
Bible Verse for Today 
There is nothing more frightful than ignorance in action. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)
Cosmic Collision Forges Galactic Ring.
Image Credit: X-ray: Chandra (NASA, CXC, INAF, A. Wolter et al.); Optical: Hubble (NASA, STScI). The rim of the blue galaxy on the right is an immense ring-like structure 150,000 light years in diameter composed of newly formed, extremely bright, massive stars. AM 0644-741 was caused by an immense galaxy collision. When galaxies collide, they pass through each other - their individual stars rarely come into contact. The ring-like shape is the result of the gravitational disruption caused by an entire small intruder galaxy passing through a large one. When this happens, interstellar gas and dust become condensed, causing a wave of star formation to move out from the impact point like a ripple across the surface of a pond. The likely intruder galaxy is on the left of this image. X-ray light is shown in pink and depicts places where energetic black holes or neutron stars, likely formed shortly after the galaxy collision, reside.
NASA Mars Exploration Programme 
Insulin while regulating blood sugar in the human body is also responsible for better memory.
American Psychological Association Conservation International 
The Khasi people (Children of the Seven Huts) are an indigenous ethnic group of Meghalaya in north-eastern India, with a significant population in the bordering state of Assam, and in certain parts of Bangladesh. They are the native people of Meghalaya and are the largest ethnic group in the state. Their language, Khasi, is categorised as the northernmost Austroasiatic language. The main crops produced by the Khasi people are betel leaf, areca nut, oranges, local rice and vegetables.
CDC Travellers’ Health Notices Relief Web 
The national flag of Monaco has two equal horizontal bands of red (top) and white, both of which have been the heraldic colours of the House of Grimaldi since at least 1339. The present bicolour design was adopted on April 4, 1881, under Prince Charles III. The flag of Monaco is graphically identical to the flag of Indonesia, with a slight difference only in its dimension ratio. The Flag of Poland has similar dimensions but has the colours reversed: white on top and red on the bottom.
The U.S. Department of State Travel Warnings The UK Foreign Service Travel Advice 
Designed by Alma Pihl, the only female and one of the best known Fabergé workmasters, as a gift to Maria Feodorovna by her son, Tsar Nicholas II, in 1913. The exterior of the egg resembles frost and ice crystals formed on clear glass. It is studded with 1,660 diamonds and is made from quartz, platinum, and orthoclase. The surprise is a miniature flower basket studded with 1,378 diamonds and is made from platinum and gold, while the flowers are made of white quartz and the leaves are made of demantoid. The flowers lie in gold moss. The egg is 102 millimetres high. It was reported that the buyer was Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, who paid $9.6 million in 2002.
Idiom of the Day 
AL-SHABAAB EXECUTED TWO BUS PASSENGERS WHO WERE BELIEVERS. Click on the image to read more.
