An Australian-American cybersecurity firm, Internet 2.0, has revealed that China’s Hubei province, which was the initial epicentre of the COVID-19 epidemic, procured significant quantities of PCR, testing equipment months before Beijing notified international authorities of the emergence of the new virus.

In recognition of their contributions to the modelling of Earth’s climate, measuring variability, and accurately anticipating global warming, Japan’s Syukuro Manabe, Germany’s Klaus Hasselmann, and Italy’s Giorgio Parisi have received this year’s prestigious Nobel Prize in Physics.

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Torture inflicted on Uyghurs in Xinjiang revealed by Chinese detective in exile

The former Chinese detective turned whistleblower Jiang has revealed horrific details about a systematic campaign of torture against ethnic Uyghurs in the region’s detention camp system, which China has long denied.

Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann and Giorgio Parisi win 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics

The Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to scientists Syukuro Manabe, Klaus Hasselmann, and Giorgio Parisi in 2021 for their “groundbreaking advances to our knowledge of complicated physical processes.”

Mark Zuckerberg loses $7 billion in hours as Facebook plunges

In a matter of hours, Mark Zuckerberg’s personal worth dropped by over $7 billion as a whistleblower came forward and outages impacted Facebook’s key programmes.

COVID-19: China raised spending on PCR-test kits just before first confirmed case

An investigation by a cybersecurity company has shown that the Chinese province that was the initial epicentre of the COVID-19 outbreak made significant purchases of equipment used to test for infectious diseases months before Beijing notified international authorities of the new coronavirus.

In less than a decade, global warming destroyed 14% of the world’s corals: Report

EU watchdog backs Pfizer booster for over-18s

As concerns grow that vaccine protection wanes after initial injections, the European Union’s drug watchdog, European Medicines Agency (EMA) has approved Pfizer/BioNTech Covid booster doses for all people over 18 years of age.

South China Sea: Malaysia summons Chinese envoy after Beijing’s vessels enter EEZ

In response to Chinese vessels entering Malaysia’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the South China Sea off the island of Borneo, Kuala Lumpur has summoned Beijing’s ambassador to protest against the “presence and activities” of the vessels.  

Despite disagreements over January 6, Pence still ‘close to’ Trump

Despite disagreements over the developments of January 6, former US vice president Mike Pence insists he remains close to former president Donald Trump.  

Why the Taliban’s repression of women may be more tactical than ideological

Although some Taliban officials continue to say that conditions will improve, women are still being kept from workplaces and schools. Each week seems to bring a new report of restrictions. In that light, the Taliban’s decision to restrict women’s freedom begins to look like a political choice as much as it is a matter of ideology.

Russian spacecraft blasts off to International Space Station with actress, director to film first movie in space

Russia’s space mission blasted off to the International Space Station (ISS) with Actress Yulia Peresild, 37 and film director Klim Shipenko, 38 as they set course to shoot ‘The Challenge’ in space in an attempt to outmanoeuvre Hollywood.