Twitter seeks public help as verification badges return in early 2021

 

Twitter, which delayed its public confirmation measure or that tricky Blue Badge three years back, on Tuesday declared to relaunch check, including another public application measure, in mid 2021.

Before it returns the check cycle that saw a lot of discussions in the recent years, the miniature writing for a blog stage is requesting the general population to share input on a draft from its new confirmation strategy.

"Calling for public criticism has become a significant piece of our approach improvement measure since we need to guarantee that, as an open help, our standards mirror the voices of the individuals who use Twitter," the organization said in a proclamation.

"In the event that you like to Tweet your criticism, we'll be tuning in there, as well. Utilize the hashtag #VerificationFeedback. The public input period begins today, November 24, and proceeds until December 8," Twitter educated.

Twitter plans to present the last arrangement on December 17.

Three years prior, the stage delayed the public check program in the wake of hearing criticism that it felt subjective and confounding to numerous individuals.

After a year, the organization deprioritised this work further to zero in on securing the honesty of the public discussion around crucial points in time like the 2020 US political race.

"From that point forward, we haven't been clear about who can get checked and when, why a record may be unconfirmed, or being confirmed," Twitter conceded.

Presently, the organization has recognized six sorts of records in its draft strategy as Notable Accounts - government; organizations, brands and non-benefit associations; news; diversion; sports and activists/coordinators and other powerful people.

As indicated by the proposed strategy, "the blue confirmed identification on Twitter tells individuals that a record of public premium is bona fide. To get the blue identification, your record must be prominent and dynamic."

Why Trump's Covid-19 relief orders may not put money in workers' pockets

 

President Donald Trump's new leader requests to help Americans battling under the financial downturn are far less clearing than any pandemic alleviation charge Congress would pass.

Trump acted Saturday after exchanges for a second pandemic alleviation bill arrived at a stalemate. Democrats at first looked for a $3.4 trillion bundle, yet said they brought down their interest to $ 2 trillion. Republicans had proposed a $1 trillion arrangement.

The are inquiries concerning how compelling Trump's estimates will be. A request for supplemental joblessness protection installments depends on state commitments that may not appear.

A finance charge deferral may not convert into all the more going through cash for laborers relying upon how managers execute it.

Be that as it may, the president is attempting to stem a slide in the surveys with a demonstration of activity three months before he faces Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the November political decision.

Here is a gander at the four leader orders.

Joblessness INSURANCE

The president moved to continue paying a supplemental government joblessness advantage for many Americans jobless during the episode.

His request called for installments up to $400 every week, 33% not exactly the $ 600 individuals had been accepting under an advantage that lapsed a month ago.

What number of individuals will get the advantage and for how long is available to address. Trump said the installments would be supported 75 percent by the national government and 25 percent by states.

In any case, it is hazy if states will pay that share, given intense spending setbacks in the midst of the financial downturn. The central government had been taking care of the full expense of the now-terminated $600 supplement.

Ariel Zetlin-Jones, partner teacher of financial aspects at Carnegie Mellon University's Tepper School of Business, said a few states have just drained their joblessness remuneration trust reserves and have mentioned government advances to continue making installments.

Hackers break into 570 e-commerce stores including in India: Gemini report

A programmer bunch has broken into in any event 570 internet business stores in 55 nations, remembering for India, over the most recent three years, spilling data on more than 184,000 taken Visas and created over $7 million (over Rs 52 crore) from selling bargained installment cards.
Known as "Guardian", the gathering has been taking data from these online stores which incorporates Mumbai-based online adornments store ejohri.com that was supposedly undermined in February this year, as per the danger knowledge firm Gemini Advisory.
"More than 85 percent of the casualty locales worked on the Magento CMS, which is known to be the top objective for Magecart assaults and brags more than 250,000 clients around the world," said the Gemini report.
The nation facilitating the biggest choice of these casualty online business locales was the US, trailed by the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
The sites hacked incorporate online bike dealer milkywayshop.it, Pakistan-based attire store alkaramstudio.com, Indonesia-based Apple item affiliate ibox.co.id and US-based head wine and spirits vender cwspirits.com, among others.
The Keeper 'Magecart' bunch has undeniably undermined several areas and likely extricated installment card data from a lot more that still can't seem to be revealed.

"With income likely surpassing $7 million and expanded cybercriminal enthusiasm for CNP (Card Not Present) information during the COVID-19 isolate measures over the world, this present gathering's business sector specialty has all the earmarks of being secure and beneficial," said the report.

Global refurbished phone market declines 1% in 2019, India sees 9% growth

The worldwide market for renovated cell phones declined 1 percent (year-on-year) in 2019, arriving at a little more than 137 million units, as indicated by another report. A similar market in India, be that as it may, grew a solid 9 percent a year ago.
The worldwide market developed to some degree in the final quarter as Apple redesigns stayed solid however a 1 percent expansion during the second 50% of the year couldn't balance the decrease in the main half, said most recent exploration from Counterpoint's 'Restored Smartphone Tracker'.
"This is the first run through over the most recent four years that the repaired advertise has declined for the entire year. The pattern is for the most part connected with the downturn in new cell phone deals in key locales like the US, China and Europe," said Jeff Fieldhack, Research Director at Counterpoint Research.
Regardless of a decrease in the general market, there were a few development markets like India, Latin America and Africa.
Varun Mishra, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research said that the refurb environment in these economies is still at an incipient stage.
"As far as cell phones, these business sectors remain underpenetrated. Numerous clients are searching for moderate gadgets to come on the web. The change from include telephones to cell phones and the desire of premium gadgets at a moderate value guide proceed toward fuel development in these business sectors," Mishra said in an announcement.
There is additionally the progressing change of the refurb portion from the chaotic segment to composed in nations like India which is opening chances.

Apple and Samsung kept on commanding the optional market in 2019.

Anti-racism protests in UK 'subverted by thuggery': Boris Johnson

The counter bigotry exhibitions in the UK are "undermined by thuggery", Prime Minister Boris Johnson has stated, censuring the assaults on cops after 'Dark Lives Matter' fights held over the custodial killing of George Floyd turned savage and the Covid-19 lockdown was penetrated by a great many individuals for a second continuous day.
African-American Floyd kicked the bucket in Minneapolis on May 25 after white cop Derek Chauvin stuck him to the ground and bowed on his neck for over eight minutes while the 46-year-old bound man wheezed for breath.
The recording, which became a web sensation, indicated Floyd begging the official, saying he can't relax. The four cops found in the recording have since been charged. Floyd's passing has activated broad fights over the US and in numerous different nations.
Johnson took to web based life on Sunday to state that the counter bigotry reason for the exhibits had been deceived by the "thuggery" of some protestors as the Metropolitan Police made 12 captures for open request offenses just as criminal harm to landmarks in focal London.

"Individuals reserve a privilege to dissent calmly and keeping in mind that watching social removing however they reserve no option to assault the police," said Johnson.

More than 106,000 people have been infected by the coronavirus across the world and at least 3,600 have died as the disease upturns a modest growth in the world economy since mid-2019 and threatens key sectors of India's economy where some see a “silver lining” in China practically shutting down.
Multilateral lending agencies, like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), estimate that the coronavirus will have a long-term impact on global economic growth.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates that the world's gross domestic product (GDP) could reduce by 0.1%-0.4%, noting that financial losses could range from $77 billion to $347 billion. Growth in China could reduce by 0.3% to 1.7% and in developing Asia, excluding China, by 0.2% to 0.5%, the ADB said in an analysis outlining best- and worst-case scenarios.
The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the influential think tank, reckons this year world economy may grow at its slowest rate since 2009 because of the coronavirus.
The OECD has forecast a 2.4% growth for the world economy in 2020, down from 2.9% in November. A longer "more intensive" outbreak could halve growth to 1.5%, it said.
The IMF has promised $50 billion and World Bank $12 billion to fight the disease and its impact.
India: risks a lot, gains some
India's economy hasn't caught the bug but if the coronavirus crisis persists worldwide its plans to revive growth could be disturbed.
India's gross domestic product (GDP) growth fell to an unprecedented 27-quarter low of 4.7% in the quarter ended December 2019 (with the previous quarter’s growth having been corrected) due to contraction in investment and manufacturing output for two successive quarters. GDP growth is set to stagnate at 4.7% in the March quarter (Q4) too, according to the annual estimate by the National Statistical Office (NSO).
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), India could lose $348 million in trade because of the coronavirus. India figures among UNCTAD's top 15 economies most affected by the slowdown in manufacturing in China.

India's chemicals sector could lose $129 million, textiles and apparel $64 million, automotive $34 million, metals and metal products $27 million--to list just some businesses.

Air passenger demand plunges by 14% on coronavirus travel restrictions

Passenger traffic data for February released by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that demand (measured in total revenue passenger kilometres or RPKs) fell 14.1 per cent compared to February 2019.
This was the steepest decline in traffic since 9/11 and reflected collapsing domestic travel in China and sharply falling international demand to/from and within the Asia Pacific region, owing to the spreading COVID-19 virus and government-imposed travel restrictions.
February capacity (available seat kilometres or ASKs) fell 8.7 per cent as airlines scrambled to trim capacity in line with plunging traffic, and load factor fell 4.8 percentage points to 75.9 per cent.
"Airlines were hit by a sledgehammer called COVID-19 in February. Borders were closed in an effort to stop the spread of the virus. And the impact on aviation has left airlines with little to do except cut costs and take emergency measures in an attempt to survive in these extraordinary circumstances," said IATA's Director General and CEO Alexandre de Juniac.
"The 14.1 per cent global fall in demand is severe, but for carriers in the Asia Pacific the drop was 41 per cent. And it has only grown worse. Without a doubt this is the biggest crisis that the industry has ever faced," he said.
February international passenger demand fell 10.1 per cent compared to February 2019, the worst outcome since the 2003 SARS outbreak and a reversal from the 2.6 per cent traffic increase recorded in January.

Significantly, Chinese airlines' domestic traffic fell 83.6 per cent in February, the worst outcome since IATA began tracking the market in 2000. With the easing of some restrictions on internal travel in March, domestic demand is showing some tentative signs of improvement.

Donald Trump impeachment trial to resume for final arguments

Current Affairs
President Donald Trump's denunciation preliminary resumes for definite contentions on Monday before a normal absolution later in the week that Democrats have said will be invalid on the grounds that no observers affirmed. The president was arraigned in December for maltreatment of control over weight on US partner Ukraine to report examinations that would have helped him strategically, including into Joe Biden, a main challenger during the current year's presidential polling form.
Biden is among the competitors Monday in the Iowa councils that pick the state's Democratic chosen one and imprint the official beginning of political decision season. The determination procedure in to a great extent rustic Iowa, corresponding with definite prosecution contentions in Washington, will be firmly looked as a sign regarding which of 11 Democratic competitors are increasing early force to challenge Trump in November's political race.
At just the third prosecution preliminary of a US president, Trump is everything except guaranteed of being vindicated Wednesday, the day after his yearly "Condition of the Union" discourse, which the president said will convey an "extremely, positive message".
Republicans hold 53 seats in the Senate to 47 for the Democrats, yet a 66% greater part, or 67 representatives, is expected to expel him from office.
Adam Schiff, the pioneer of the House investigators, known as denunciation administrators, told CBS on Sunday that it was "quite exceptional" that congresspersons on the two sides had recognized that Democrats demonstrated their body of evidence against the president.

"However, I'm not letting the congresspersons free. We're despite everything going to go into the Senate this week and put forth the defense why this president should be expelled....READ MORE

WTO rejects EU claims that it no longer provides subsidies to Airbus

International News
PARIS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization on Monday rejected European Union claims that it no longer provides subsidies to planemaker Airbus, underscoring tariffs recently imposed by the United States on European goods.
A new compliance report from the Geneva trade watchdog found that the Airbus A380 and A350 jetliners continue to be subsidised as a result of past European government loans.It is the latest move in a record transatlantic trade dispute involving mutual claims of illegal aircraft subsidies, coming to a head at a time of rising global trade tensions.
The United States was in October awarded the right to impose tariffs on $7.5 billion of annual EU imports in the case against Airbus. It went ahead with partial tariffs on most Airbus jets and products from cheese to olives and single-malt whisky.A decision on retaliation rights for the EU in a parallel case on aid for Boeing is due next year..
In Monday's finding, a three-person panel rejected EU claims that a recent decision by Airbus to stop producing the slow-selling A380 meant the giant airliner could no longer be seen as a threat to Boeing, whose competing 747 is also out of fashion.While the WTO no longer faulted Airbus for causing lost sales to Boeing with the A380, which is no longer marketed, it ruled that the superjumbo would continue to cause market-share damage to Boeing for as long as it is produced and delivered.
Airbus plans to shut production in mid-2021.

The WTO appeared to strengthen findings against the A350, saying it had both cost sales and damaged Boeing's market-share prospects - a process called impedance - in the busier twin-engined long-haul market where Boeing offers its 787 Dreamliner...Read More

Three, including gunman, killed in shooting outside Oklahoma Walmart store

International News
Three individuals were killed in a shooting early Monday outside a Walmart store in Oklahoma, including the aggressor, police said - the most recent in a string of dangerous weapon assaults at the prevalent grocery store chain.
Danny Ford, the police boss in the town of Duncan, said the shooting - an obvious local debate - occurred in the blink of an eye before 10:00 am (1600 GMT) in a parking garage before the store.
"We have three people that are expired. We have two white guys and a white female. Two of the exploited people are inside the vehicle, one is outside the vehicle," said Ford.
A handgun was likewise found at the scene, police said.
Witnesses told nearby news channels that the shooter moved toward his exploited people while they were inside the vehicle, starting to shoot at them.
He at that point turned his weapon on himself when a fourth man allegedly hauled out a gun and tested the shooter, they said.
Relatives at the scene said the shooting was a local contest between a spouse and his significant other, a nearby Fox news subsidiary detailed.
A Walmart representative revealed to Fox that no staff individuals were engaged with the episode in Duncan, a town of 22,000 occupants somewhere in the range of 75 miles (120 kilometers) south of Oklahoma City, the state capital.

Schools in the territory had been set on lockdown incidentally before being given an "all reasonable" by nearby police, the neighborhood school region said in an announcement. Toward the beginning of this current month, another permitless convey law became effective in the focal US state, permitting anybody more than 21 and without a lawful offense conviction to convey a weapon without a grant or a permit.....READ MORE

Jimmy Carter admitted to hospital after suffering minor pelvic fracture

International News
Former US President Jimmy Carter was admitted to an Atlanta hospital on Monday for a procedure to relieve brain pressure from bleeding caused by recent falls, the Carter Center said in a statement.
Carter, 95, the country's oldest living president, was admitted to Emory University Hospital three weeks after suffering a minor pelvic fracture in a fall at his home in Plains, Georgia. He was released from the hospital a few days after that accident.
A previous fall earlier in October required stitches to Carter's face, but he resumed work soon after on a homebuilding project for the nonprofit group Habitat for Humanity.
In May, the former Democratic president broke his hip, also at home, requiring him to undergo surgery.. He was hospitalized briefly in 2017 for dehydration and was diagnosed with skin cancer in 2015.
No information was immediately provided about the circumstances leading to his latest hospitalization.
The procedure to relieve pressure on his brain was scheduled for Tuesday morning, the Carter Center said, adding that he was "resting comfortably," and that his wife, Rosalynn, 92, was with him.
Carter, a former peanut farmer and Georgia governor, defeated Republican President Gerald Ford in 1976 to become the nation's 39th president, serving a single four-year term in the White House.
His presidency was overshadowed by an economic recession, an energy crisis and the taking of US hostages by Iran, but he also played a leading role in brokering the Camp David Accords leading to an Egypt-Israel peace treaty.
He lost his 1980 re-election bid to Republican Ronald Reagan.
After leaving office in 1981, Carter went on to become an international fixture and a noted humanitarian. He won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2002 for his efforts toward finding peaceful solutions to international conflicts, advancing democracy and human rights and promoting economic and social development.

He and his wife founded the Carter Center in 1982 to carry on their international and humanitarian work. ...READ MORE

It is time for Hollywood to relinquish ownership of the English language

International News
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- you know, the guys who hand out the Oscars -- have decided to disqualify Nigeria’s first-ever official entry for the international feature film category. “Lionheart,” from Nigerian actress-director Genevieve Nnaji, was rejected because, according to the Academy, the film “includes only 11 minutes of non-English dialogue.”
The decision is in accordance with the rules, which require that foreign films be predominantly in languages other than English. But it has exposed the Academy’s quite comically America-centric view of the world, which is increasingly tone-deaf.Surely the point of recognizing international feature films separately is because it would not make sense to put them in the same category as movies made by American (or British) producers for the home market of the Academy juries. Nigeria has Africa’s largest film industry; about half its population speaks English. It is, in fact, Nigeria’s official language, as it is one of India’s. Is it the Academy’s belief that a film made in Nigeria for Nigerians doesn’t qualify as international merely because the actors use a language Americans also speak?
This is a problem that goes beyond the Academy. England might perhaps be surprised to discover that it doesn’t have the second- or even the third-largest number of speakers of the language that bears its name.
India, the Philippines, Nigeria and Pakistan are all home to comparably larger numbers of English speakers. Yes, many of those people speak additional languages and English is not their “first” language. But, even for them, English is often the language of aspiration, the language of cross-cultural communication, the language of the city.

Restricting their national cultural production entirely to their “first” language would be absurdly limiting. English is not an American or British language. It is the language of millions of us elsewhere who use it unselfconsciously to produce work that is entirely “international” as far as the U.S. is concerned...READ MORE

If China, US continue their tit-for-tat policy, everybody will lose

International News

Things are getting worse. That’s a conclusion one might have reasonably reached after reading this week’s US-China headlines.
First, there was Hong Kong, a matter Beijing has warned Washington to stay clear of. Protesters last weekend battled police, vandalized shops and paralyzed swaths of the Asia financial center. Then President Donald Trump tied outcomes in Hong Kong to trade.
Next, as China’s top trade negotiator prepared to travel to Washington for a new round of talks, the US blacklisted eight prominent Chinese tech firms. In explaining the action, the US cited the companies’ involvement in China’s westernmost Xinjiang province, where up to a million predominantly Muslim ethnic minorities have been allegedly detained.
A day later, the US imposed travel bans on Chinese officials linked to Xinjiang. And it emerged that the Trump administration was moving ahead with discussing possible limits on portfolio flows into China.
These are not events that instill confidence in the state of what is increasingly the world’s most-important bilateral relationship. But there’s also another way to see it.
The Global Times, a state-run Chinese newspaper known for its more hawkish tone, brushed off the blacklisting as a gambit for leverage ahead of this week’s trade negotiations. These American attempts to add "bargaining chips" won't sway China's approach to the talks, it added.

 Could the week's events have been more about positioning than a reflection of growing conflict? The latest round of talks may give us a better idea. Or they won’t. But if what the past week has illustrated is a deterioration in U.S.-China ties, that’ll be bad for everyone....READ MORE

US and China are fighting a trade war and Australia is reaping the benefits

International News

Luckily for Australia, the U.S.-China trade war happened.
Australia faced a personal-credit crunch, housing slump and weak business confidence, threatening to derail the longest-running growth streak in the developed world. Then it got a trade boost as U.S.-China relations soured.
Australia ships around a third of its exports to China, mostly commodities such as iron ore and coal that are used by heavy industry and in the building of apartments. Those exports are in demand as Beijing accelerates construction spending to head off damage caused by Washington raising tariffs.
Trade has been so buoyant that Australia logged its first current-account surplus—a measure of trade and financial flows with other countries—since 1975 in the second quarter of this year. That has provided some much-needed juice to Australia’s economy, on a 28-year run without a recession, as other headwinds to growth intensify. Australia’s gross domestic product expanded at its slowest pace since the financial crisis in the second quarter.
“It seems like a contradiction,” said AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver. “We are hearing all this talk about trade wars, which should obviously affect trade, and yet we have a record trade surplus that’s been far greater than anyone expected.”
Australia’s trade experience is unusual for a U.S. ally, some of whose economies have become collateral damage in the trade dispute. Germany’s exports in June fell 8% on a year earlier, and its current-account surplus has declined.

 Global trade volumes grew 4.4% in the first quarter of 2018, when the first U.S. tariffs were imposed, from the same period a year before, according to the International Monetary Fund...Read More

G7 unity under stress as it wrestles with Iran, Amazon fires and trade

Current Affairs

G7 leaders close their summit on Monday with discussion of world problems including the fires ravaging the Amazon rainforest, but overshadowed by President Donald Trump's trade wars and questions over the group's unity.
The summit in Biarritz, a high-end surfers' paradise in southwestern France, saw a dramatic shift of focus Saturday when Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif flew in to discuss the diplomatic deadlock on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme.
Zarif's presence had not been expected and it represented a gamble by French host Emmanuel Macron who is seeking to soothe spiralling tensions between Iran and the United States.
The Iranian top diplomat didn't meet Trump, French diplomats said, but the presence of the two men in the same place at least sparked hopes of a detente. Just this July, the US government imposed heavy sanctions seeking to hamper Zarif's travel, and effectively banning him from the United States.
"Road ahead is difficult. But worth trying," the US-educated Zarif tweeted after meeting Macron and French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, as well as British and German representatives.
French officials said Trump, who has imposed crippling sanctions on the Iranian economy over its nuclear programme, had been aware of the arrival.

 The sources suggested that the secretive visit had also been discussed during an impromptu two-hour lunch between the US president and Macron on Saturday."We work with full transparency with the Americans," one diplomat told reporters on condition of anonymity, despite US media reports that the White House had been taken by surprise...Read More

A total witch hunt, Robert Mueller did a horrible job, says Donald Trump

Current Affairs

As former Special Counsel Robert Mueller concluded hours of marathon testimonies before Congressional committees, US President Donald Trump claimed that he stood vindicated that the entire Russian investigation was nothing but a witch hunt and a hoax.
Former FBI director Mueller appeared before two Congressional committees on Wednesday to respond to questions from Congressmen on the recently-concluded investigations about his allegations of Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
The Democrats allege that the Russian interference helped Trump in his election. Trump dismisses it and says it is a hoax and witch hunt.
"I think Robert Mueller did a horrible job, both today and with respect to the investigation. But in all fairness to Robert Mueller, he had nothing to work with. You know, you can be a builder, but if they do not give you the right materials, you are not going to build a very good building," Trump told reporters at the White House.
"Robert Mueller had no material. He had nothing to work with. So, obviously, he did very poorly today. I do not think there is anybody -- even among the fakers, I do not think there is anybody who would say he did well. I looked at your people, they are saying it was devastating for the Democrats," he said.

 "And even, I will tell you, the two most nauseous and nauseating networks -- whose ratings have both gone down, way down -- even they said this was a really bad day for the Democrats. So, Robert Mueller did a poor job. But in all fairness to him, he had nothing to work with," Trump said responding to a question....Read More

Why many children in Afghanistan can no longer afford to attend school

International News

Every day before dawn, 10-year-old Kamran goes to work with his father and other relatives at a brick factory on the outskirts of Kabul.
Like many children in Afghanistan, school is a luxury his family can no longer afford.His father, Atiqullah, supports his family of eight as well as several siblings, nieces and nephews. One of Kamran's uncles is ill and another has passed away, leaving their families in his father's care.
"My children wake up early in the morning and right after prayers they come here for work, so they don't have time for school," said Atiqullah, who like many Afghans has only one name. "These days if you don't work, you cannot survive."The U.S. and its allies have sunk billions of dollars of aid into Afghanistan since the invasion to oust the Taliban 18 years ago, but the country remains mired in poverty.
Signs of hardship are everywhere, from children begging in the streets to entire families including children as young as five or six working at brick kilns in the sweltering heat.
Atiqullah's family comes from the eastern Nangarhar province, a stronghold for both the Taliban and an Islamic State affiliate that has seen heavy fighting in recent years.
Brick factory owners travel to the villages and offer loans to cover basic necessities, forcing families to work them off during the summer months in a form of indentured servitude.

Workers say a family of 10 can bring in an average of $12-18 a day, depending on their productivity.Shubham Chaudhuri, who recently completed a three-year stint as the World Bank country director for Afghanistan, said more than half of Afghans live on less than a dollar a day, the amount considered necessary to meet basic needs...Read More

Footprints on the Moon: An interview with space archaeologist Alice Gorman

International News
Perhaps in 50 more years we will be sick of hearing stories from people who have travelled to the moon and back. tdlucas5000 / AAP, CC BY Alice Gorman, Flinders University
Alice Gorman is a space archaeologist working on space junk in Earth orbit, deep space probes, and planetary landing sites. She explores what we can learn from these items and places as material objects, and also their heritage significance – what they actually mean for people and communities on Earth.
Alice features in The Conversation’s podcast series To the Moon and beyond, published to mark the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing of July 1969. This is an edited extract from Alice’s interview with The Conversation’s Sarah Keenihan, published as part of our occasional series Zoom Out.
There is a lot of documentation about what’s been left on the Moon – but it’s amazing how much we don’t know.There are things that have gone missing, like part of a thermal blanket that got ripped off a landing module. There are things that may have gone up there that we didn’t know about. An Apollo test module went walkabout in solar orbit and has only recently been found again.
This is actually where archaeology becomes interesting. I don’t believe, for example, that anyone has ever fully documented the position of all of the boot prints of the Apollo astronauts on the Moon.

 We know what they look like. We know that they’re there. They’re reproduced in countless photographs of the Apollo sites.But has anyone ever actually catalogued them? Has anyone studied them for what they can tell us about how these human bodies moved across the lunar landscape, how they adapted to this environment so different to that of Earth?Read More

Modi's second term to lay groundwork for India's next 25 years: US expert

International News

Congratulating Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his election victory, a top American corporate leader has asserted that in the next five years, the PM will lay the groundwork for India's economic growth and prosperity for the next quarter century.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday led his Bharatiya Janata Party to a super-sized victory for a second term in office, winning an absolute majority and on course to touch the 300-seat mark in the 543-member Lok Sabha."Congratulations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on a decisive election victory. These next five years of Prime Minister Modi's leadership will lay the groundwork for the next 25 years in terms of economic growth and prosperity for the country," John Chambers, Chairman of the Board of Directors at US India Strategic and Partnership Forum (USISPF), said.
Chambers said under Modi's leadership, India will be able to increase its GDP and see economic growth and job-creation, and improve trade and foreign investment.
"The future is bright for India and we at the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum look forward to boosting ties between the two countries like never before," Chambers said, reflecting the views of the American corporate sector, which is increasingly looking at India as an alternative to China when it comes to their manufacturing base.

 Three-term Indian American Congressman Dr Ami Bera issued a statement congratulating the citizens of the country who participated in the elections over the past five weeks."These were the largest democratic elections ever and reflected India's commitment to its founding ideals. I also congratulate Prime Minister Modi on his victory and look forward to working with him and his government to advance the values and interests that bind our two nations," he said.

US sends naval group to Middle East in 'unmistakable' message to Iran

International News

The United States is sending an aircraft carrier strike group and a bomber task force to the Middle East in a "clear and unmistakable" message to Iran, National Security Advisor John Bolton said Sunday.

"In response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications and warnings, the United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group and a bomber task force to the US Central Command region," Bolton said in a statement.

The deployment is aimed at sending "a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that any attack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be met with unrelenting force," Bolton said.

"The United States is not seeking war with the Iranian regime, but we are fully prepared to respond to any attack, whether by proxy, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or regular Iranian forces."
The statement did not specifically state why the deployment is taking place now, but it comes during a deadly escalation between Gaza-based Palestinian militants and Israel in which the two sides have traded a barrage of rocket fire and air strikes in recent days.


 The deployment also comes amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran over the latter's nuclear program, with the US taking aim at Iranian enriched uranium exports with sanctions.