World

The world's largest hornet, an invasive breed dubbed the "murder hornet," has been eradicated from the US, five years after being spotted for the first time in Washington state. According to CBS News , the Washington and US Departments of Agriculture on Wednesday announced that the northern giant hornets - the insects' official name - have not been detected in the US for three years. The 2-inch-long hornet is known to have a stinger longer than that of a typical wasp. Its powerful sting can kill a human. It can also spit venom, but the insect is largely dangerous to bees and other insects, not humans.  "By tackling this threat head-on, we protected not only pollinators and crops, but also the industries, communities, and ecosystems that depend on them," Dr Mark Davidson, deputy administrator at USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said in a news statement, per the outlet .  State, federal and international government agencies worked toget...

An Indian-origin professor In the UK has voiced concerns about the country's salary structure, particularly for contractual academic staff, warning that low wages are leading to a brain drain.  Anant Sudarshan, an Associate Professor at the University of Warwick's Department of Economics, took to X to highlight the issue, revealing that UK academic salaries have become so uncompetitive that he has lost potential hires to Indian universities. "UK salaries are becoming an absolute joke, especially for contractual staff. I have failed to hire people eligible for the UK's special high-potential individual visa because a government* university in India is willing to pay them slightly more in absolute terms than here," he wrote on X. Although the UK may appear attractive on paper due to purchasing power parity, Mr Sudarshan noted that the country is losing its appeal to top academic talent worldwide. "To be clear - there is no comparison in absolute terms on aver...

President-elect Donald Trump plans to launch a mass deportation operation targeting millions of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally and with temporary protections once he takes office on Jan. 20, a challenging initiative that could split apart families and affect U.S. businesses. There were roughly 11 million immigrants in the U.S. illegally or with a temporary status at the start of 2022, a figure that some analysts say has increased to 13-14 million. Those with temporary protections are not immediately deportable and many live in "sanctuary" states that limit cooperation with federal immigration enforcement. WHERE DO IMMIGRANTS WITHOUT LEGAL STATUS LIVE? California was the state with the most immigrants in the U.S. illegally with some 2.2 million in 2022, according to estimates by the Center for Migration Studies of New York, a nonpartisan think tank. Texas was close behind with 1.8 million, followed by Florida (936,000), New York (672,000). New Jersey (495,000) and...

Canadian Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is under increasing pressure to quit after Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland resigned over a policy clash on Monday, setting up one of the worst crises of his nine years in power. Here are some potential ways forward for Canada: CAN TRUDEAU BE FORCED OUT BY HIS LIBERAL PARTY? Unlike Britain, where party leaders are chosen by the parliamentary caucus and can be removed quickly, the Liberal leader is selected by a special convention of members. There is therefore no formal party mechanism to remove Trudeau if he wants to stay. That said, if members of his own cabinet and a large number of legislators call for him to go, he may conclude his position is untenable. CAN TRUDEAU BE FORCED OUT BY PARLIAMENT? Canadian governments must show they have the confidence of the House of Commons elected chamber. Votes on budgets and other spending are considered confidence measures and if a government loses one, it falls. In virtually all cases, an ...

A UK court on Tuesday handed life sentences to the father and stepmother of a murdered 10-year-old British-Pakistani girl who died after being subjected to a prolonged "campaign of torture" and "despicable abuse". Urfan Sharif, 43, and Beinash Batool, 30, will serve at least 40 and 33 years respectively for the killing of Sara Sharif, who had suffered years of horrific violence since the age of six. London's Old Bailey court heard her body was found covered in bites and bruises with broken bones and burns inflicted by an electric iron and boiling water. Passing sentence, judge John Cavanagh said Sara had been subjected to "acts of extreme cruelty" but that Sharif and Batool had not shown "a shred of remorse". They had treated Sara as "worthless" and as "a skivvy", because she was a girl. And because she was not Batool's natural child, the stepmother had failed to protect her, he said. "The stress, pain and tr...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that issues related to the livelihood of fishermen were discussed during his meeting with Sri Lankan President Anura Kumara Dissanayake, and both sides agreed on the need for a humanitarian approach to address the issue. During a joint statement at Hyderabad House in New Delhi on Monday, PM Modi expressed hope that the Sri Lankan government would meet the aspirations of the Tamil community. He emphasized the importance of implementing the Sri Lankan constitution in full and holding provincial council elections as committed. "We also discussed issues related to the livelihood of fishermen and agreed that we should move forward with a humanitarian approach in this matter. On reconstruction and reconciliation in Sri Lanka, President Dissanayake told me about his inclusive approach. We hope that the Government of Sri Lanka will meet the aspirations of the Tamilians, and fulfill its commitment to fully implement the Constitution of Sri Lanka and hold...

Britain's foreign minister said Sunday that London had established diplomatic contact with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) rebel group in Syria, which led the offensive that ousted Bashar al-Assad. They remain "a proscribed terrorist organisation, but we can have diplomatic contact and so we do have diplomatic contact, as you would expect", said Foreign Secretary David Lammy. "We want to see a representative government, an inclusive government. We want to see chemical weapons stockpiles secured, and not used, and we want to ensure that there is not continuing violence," he added. "So, for all of those reasons, using all the channels that we have available, and those are diplomatic and of course intelligence-led channels, we seek to deal with HTS where we have to." (Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.) from NDTV News-World-news https://ift.tt/I1KXGwH