If you’ve either had a busy weekend or haven’t had the chance to follow news updates, here’s a wrap of the five stories that made headlines that you may have missed.
1. India reported that 86 people died by drinking bootleg alcohol
According to the officials, at least 86 people died in Punjab, India, after drinking bootleg alcohol on Saturday. The alcohol is said to be highly toxic due to its added sanitizer or chemicals like methanol.
The deaths reported have been on a steady growing over the weekend. More than 100 police raids were carried out on Saturday to confiscate the illegally made toxic liquid, and 25 arrests in the case have been reported.
2. Global warming has made two Canadian Arctic ice caps disappear
Two Canadian Arctic ice caps have wholly melted according to NASA satellite imagery. Mark Serreze, the director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), said that the ice caps’ disappearance is a direct influence of global warming.
The melting of the ice caps was initially predicted in 2017 in a paper by the NSIDC. “We’ve long known that as climate change takes hold, the effects would be especially pronounced in the Arctic,” Serreze, who lead the paper, added.
3. Trump may ban popular app TikTok in the US
Late Friday, US President Donald Trump told ABC News reporters that the US might be banning TikTok. On Sunday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told CNBC Television that the action would be taken in the coming days.
The news caused backlash on social media by TikTok users. According to The CNN, TikTok users started creating live streams and videos to demonstrate their fear of a TikTok end.
4. Egyptian officials invited Elon Musk for a visit after he tweeted a conspiracy theory about the Pyramids
Egypt reacted back to Elon Musk’s tweet “Aliens built the pyramids obv”, that was retweeted more than 87,000 times over the weekend.
READ MORE: India Bans 47 Chinese Apps Including a TikTok Clone
Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Rania A. Al Mashat, asked the billionaire to visit the country’s pyramids to see that this is only a conspiracy theory. In the tweet, Mashat asked Musk “to check out the tombs of the pyramid builders” that would give him proof that the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids and not Aliens.
5. Coronavirus: Droid-style robots tests have started in Leeds
Autonomous droid-style robots were announced to have started in trials across Leeds City and Leeds Bradford Airport to help sanitise objects and areas in the fight against coronavirus.
Assistant professor at Leeds University School of Mechanical Engineering, Dr Bilal Kaddouh, told The Independent that the pilot scheme’s results are promising. The robots are able to identify objects that need to be cleaned and can successfully maneuver around them. “The robotic arms effectively delivered the disinfectant on to the target surfaces,” he said.
Berta believes that oftentimes the most compelling stories do not receive enough media coverage, and she is committed to uncovering it. Her interest mainly focuses on the global issues concerning society, science, and the environment.
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