Author: Vidya Saras

  FRIDAY, JUNE 13 ■ Bright Arcturus, very high toward the south these evenings, and Spica, below it by about three fists at arm’s length, form an almost perfectly equilateral triangle with dimmer Denebola, Leo’s 2nd-magnitude tail tip, off to their right. All three sides of the Arcturus-Spica-Denebola triangle are close to 35° long (35.3°, 35.1°, and 32.8°). In 1974 Sky & Telescope’s George Lovi named this the Spring Triangle to parallel those of summer and winter. For so fine an equilateral, the name ought to stick. Mercury is getting a little higher in bright twilight after sunset (bring binoculars),…

The champions of Europe may have already been crowned, although there is an even bigger prize on offer this summer, as 32 teams compete to be named the best club side on the planet. Yes, amid much excitement and intrigue, the revamped FIFA Club World Cup is now finally on the horizon, with things kicking off on Saturday 14 June, ahead of what will be a month-long feast of football in the United States. Related Every English club to play at the Club World Cup Chelsea and Man City are preparing to head to the United States in the summer.…

Doctors in India say 270 bodies have been recovered from the site of Thursday’s plane crash in Ahmedabad.The London-bound aircraft crashed into a residential area shortly after take-off killing all but one of the 242 passengers and crew members, a 40-year-old British man.Officials have also been trying to establish how many people were killed on the ground and have been continuing the slow process of matching DNA samples to confirm the victims’ identities. Vigils honouring the dead have taken place across India and the UK.India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) is leading the inquiry into the cause of the crash,…

Marvel Studios Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury has become one of the most significant and recognizable characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Making his on-screen debut in the MCU’s very first post-credits scene at the end of “Iron Man,” Fury was introduced as the director of SHIELD and the mastermind behind the Avengers Initiative – the plan to bring together Earth’s mightiest heroes in a team that could defend the planet against threats too powerful for any one superhero. Jackson’s Nick Fury, known for donning a large leather coat and…

EXTERNAL DEBT outstanding rose 14% to $146.74 billion at the end of March, with the government and banks ramping up their borrowing, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) said. The central bank added that compared to the end of 2024, external debt rose 6.6%. “The increase in external debt in the first quarter was primarily attributed to the National Government’s fund-raising activity meant to support infrastructure projects and other budgetary requirements,” the BSP said. This brought the external debt as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) to 31.5% from 29.8% in the fourth quarter, a level that “still reflects the…

Israeli fire kills 25 people in Gaza, medics say

A man named Vance Boelter allegedly shot and killed Melissa Hortman, a Democratic Minnesota state representative, and her husband Mark Hortman at their home at some point early Saturday morning while, according to law enforcement, impersonating a police officer. He also allegedly shot state senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette Hoffman at their home. They are alive, but remain in critical condition.Law enforcement has said they found a manifesto and hit list in the alleged suspect’s car, which included politicians, abortion providers, and pro-abortion rights advocates. There were also allegedly fliers in his car for the “No Kings” protest…

While stablecoins have yet to attract developers at the same scale as Apple’s iPhone, stablecoin issuer Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire suggests that breakthrough moment isn’t far off.“We are not quite yet at the iPhone moment when developers everywhere realize the power and opportunity of programmable digital dollars on the internet in the same way they saw the unlock of programmable mobile devices. Soon,” Allaire said in a post on Saturday.“The highest utility form of money ever created,” he added.Retail giants are eyeing stablecoinsAllaire’s comments came in response to a16z Crypto partner Sam Broner, who said in a post on the…

The Ethereum network will be undergoing a scheduled upgrade at block number 9,200,000, which is predicted to occur on Wednesday, January 1, 2020. The exact date is subject to change due to variable block times and timezones. Please upgrade your node before Wednesday, December 30, 2019 to account for the variable block times Ethernodes.org has kindly provided Istanbul node statistics and a countdown timer located at https://ethernodes.org/muir_glacier. etherscan.io has provided a countdown timer located at https://etherscan.io/block/countdown/9200000. You can monitor the network upgrade in real time at http://forkmon.ethdevops.io/ (it will be updated shortly before the fork). What is Muir Glacier? Muir…

Web3 developer platform Sequence has announced a partnership with Magic Eden to “unlock a new era for web3 devs, creators & collectors.”This partnership – which comes after Ubisoft’s Sequence-powered Web3 title Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E. held its free mint on Magic Eden – will make it easier for developers to build, launch and scale blockchain-based games, giving projects “instant access to trusted distribution, liquidity and a wide player base.”As part of this alliance, Magic Eden is integrating Sequence’s existing wallet solutions, Sequence is adding support for the Magic Eden wallet “across in-game and in-app environments”, and the firm becomes Magic…