Southern latitude exceeds northern latitude

Malaga : A new driverless electric bus has begun operating in the southern Spanish city of Malaga, in a project presented as a first in Europe. The bus, which began running on Saturday, is equipped with sensors and cameras and links Malaga's port to the city centre on an eight-kilometre (five-mile) loop it does six times a day. "The bus knows at all times where it is and what is around it," said Rafael Durban Carmona, who heads the southern division of Spanish transport company Avanza that leads the public-private consortium behind the project. It can "interact with traffic lights," which are also equipped with sensors that alert the bus when they turn red, he told AFP. The bus uses artificial intelligence to improve its "decisions" based on data recorded along the route. The 12-metre (39-foot) vehicle, which looks like any other bus, can carry 60 passengers and was developed by Spanish firm Irizar. Other driverless pilot projects already exist in Europe, but none of ... » Learn More about Driverless bus hits streets of Malaga in southern Spain

February 26, 2021 13:07 First and second graders in Seoul will go back to school every weekday from next Tuesday, while high school seniors and kindergarteners will also return to classes. School lunches will be provided depending on the situation at each school. But students will have to abide by quarantine guidelines because nobody under 18 will be vaccinated for coronavirus. That means they have to keep a physical distance of at least 1 m between themselves, wear face masks all the time and wash their hands often. Classrooms must be ventilated often. Parents have to measure their children's temperature every morning and keep them at home if it exceeds 37.5 degrees Celsius. Kids are advised to walk or ride a bike to school if possible to avoid public transportation. According to health authorities, a mere 5.8 percent of children aged 7-12 have been infected at private crammers and other educational facilities, compared to 38 percent who were infected in the family. ... » Learn More about Kids Go Back to School Next Week

India on Sunday sent its first consignment of wheat to Afghanistan through the Chabahar port in Iran, seen as a 'landmark' move to operationalise the new strategic transit route, bypassing Pakistan. The shipment was flagged off from the Kandla port in Gujarat with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and her Afghan counterpart Salahuddin Rabbani joining the ceremony through video conferencing. 'The shipment of wheat is a landmark moment as it will pave the way for operationalisation of the Chabahar port as an alternate, reliable and robust connectivity for Afghanistan,' the ministry of external affairs said in a statement. In June, India and Afghanistan had launched an air freight corridor between the two countries to boost trade as Pakistan has been refusing land transit access through its territory. "I am extremely delighted that today we have joined on a momentous occasion for the people of our three countries and the region," Swaraj said, terming the move as ... » Learn More about India sends first wheat shipment to Afghanistan via Chabahar port

The recent Indo-Iran deal to develop the strategic Chabahar Port is part of India's "larger geo-strategic calculations" to gain access to the Middle East and Central Asia and to counter Pakistan-China's plan to develop Gwadar port, a media report said in Beijing on Tuesday. "Actually, Chabahar is just the tip of the iceberg of India's geostrategic ambitions. Besides building new berths and upgrades to Chabahar, what interests New Delhi more is a comprehensive scheme that can reshape India's geopolitics to the northwest and extend its influence further into the Middle East, Central Asia and the Trans-Caucasus," an article in the state-run Global Times said on Tuesday. To this end, India has recently committed USD 400 million (Rs 26 hundred crore) in steel to construction of the railway connecting Chabahar and Zahedan, near Afghan border, the report said. "Although New Delhi ostensibly highlights economic considerations, such as facilitating trade along the ... » Learn More about India’s Chabahar port plan is to buffet China’s plans in Gwadar

New Delhi: In DNA on Friday, Zee News Editor-in-Chief Sudhir Chaudhary analyses India's domestic politics and elections. The Election Commission today announced the dates for the assembly elections to West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Assam and Union Territory of Puducherry. The results will be announced on May 2 and our country is fully prepared for the outcome. India is often called a nation of festivals because nearly a thousand festivals are celebrated every year. That is, every day people celebrate around three festivals and an election is one of these three festivals. India, on an average holds five to seven assembly elections every year. That is, in every four month people vote to form a government in their state. As the EC announced the polling dates today for four states, West Bengal is the most important because at present the incumbent Mamata Banerjee-led government and BJP are locked in a direct fight. We try will try to understand the new twist in the ... » Learn More about DNA Exclusive: Analysis of election that can change India’s political future

Nikola Corp and its founder Trevor Milton had made several statements that were partially or completely inaccurate, the electric-truck maker disclosed in a regulatory filing late on Thursday following an internal review . Kirkland & Ellis, a law firm hired by Nikola to conduct a review in connection to allegations of fraud by short-seller Hindenburg, was also assessing if the inaccurate statements violated any statute, the filing said. The law firm would also continue to assess the accuracy of other statements made by Nikola, including in its current regulatory filings. Nikola is being investigated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York in connection with Hindenburg's allegations. The short-seller's report claimed that Milton, who has since resigned as chairman, had made false claims about the company's proprietary technology to form partnerships with large automakers. Nikola had ... » Learn More about Nikola’s internal review finds inaccuracy in some statements by Milton

Mitsubishi Corp has decided to pull out of the Vinh Tan 3 power plant in Vietnam , two sources familiar with the company's thinking on the matter told Reuters, as it shifts away from carbon intensive businesses in the face of climate change . Mitsubishi's move to exit the estimated $2 billion project shows how willing Japanese companies and financiers are to drop their once-strong support for coal amid pressure from shareholders and activists. Japan 's big banks regularly topped lending league tables for coal mines and power stations. But, in a little over a year, they have committed to ending their financing for the dirtiest fossil fuel, albeit over decades. The Japanese trading house will pull out of the 2-gigawatt Vinh Tan 3 project, located in the southern province of Binh Thuan, because of climate targets, the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity said. Mitsubishi has committed to reducing their investment in coal power to keep in line with ... » Learn More about Mitsubishi pulls out of Vinh Tan 3 coal project in Vietnam – sources

Video Player Close LONDON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- A woman who left Britain as a teenager to join the Islamic State (IS) cannot return home, the Supreme Court in London ruled Friday. Now aged 21, Shamima Begum wants to come back to Britain to challenge the decision by former British Home Secretary Sajid Javid to strip of her British citizenship for joining the IS militant group. In a unanimous decision, five judges at the Supreme Court ruled that she cannot return to London to fight her citizenship case. Begum and two other east London schoolgirls left Britain for Syria in February 2015 to join the IS. They married jihadi fighters and lived under IS rule. Currently Begum is in a camp controlled by armed guards in northern Syria. Last July the British Court of Appeal ruled that the only fair way forward was to allow Begum into Britain as she could not effectively appeal against the citizenship decision from the camp in northern Syria. The Supreme Court rejected the Court of ... » Learn More about UK court rules “IS bride” from London can’t return home

Video Player Close SHIBERGHAN, Afghanistan, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- In militancy-plagued Afghanistan, it is not easy for women to run their own businesses, but Malalai Mobariz is among a handful of women who confronted the challenges and opened a coffee shop in the country's northern Shiberghan city. "My prime objective of running the coffee shop is to display the ability of women from one hand, and from the other hand to provide job opportunities for women," Mobariz, 25, told Xinhua recently. Living in Shiberghan city, capital of the relatively peaceful Jawzjan province, 390 km north of Kabul, the female entrepreneur hoped to build her career as businessperson from running the coffee shop. Named as "Orange Cafe" and opened four months ago by Mobariz with a fund of 5,000 U.S. dollars, the coffee shop is gaining popularity. Expressing satisfaction over the income of her coffee shop, Mobariz said up to 80 customers including boys and girls, men and women visit Orange Cafe ... » Learn More about Feature: Afghan women runs coffee shop with “resilience, hard work and courage”

Video Player Close LONDON, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Britain's coronavirus reproduction number, also known as the R number, remains unchanged at between 0.6 and 0.9, the British government's Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) announced Friday. The figures mean that on average, every 10 people infected with coronavirus will infect between six and nine others. If the R number is above one, it means the coronavirus outbreak is growing exponentially. According to SAGE, the infection growth rate is estimated to be between minus 6 percent to minus 2 percent, which means the number of new infections is shrinking by between 2 percent and 6 percent every day. The R number varies across regions in England, with the R rate standing between 0.6 to 0.8 in London, the east of England, and the South West. The number stands between 0.7 to 0.9 for the other English regions, including the Midlands and the North East and Yorkshire. England is currently under the third national ... » Learn More about UK’s coronavirus reproduction number unchanged at between 0.6 and 0.9