POWERFUL tremors shook Nepal’s capital Kathmandu just before dawn on Tuesday, an AFP reporter said, as a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck a remote Himalayan region in Tibet in China.
The US Geological Survey said the epicentre of the quake was in China, but buildings shook in Kathmandu, more than 200 kilometres
away, with officials saying they were checking for damage.
Areas around Lobuche in Nepal in the high mountains near Mount Everest were also rattled by the tremors and a series of aftershocks.
“It shook quite strongly here, everyone is awake, but we don’t know about any damages yet,” said government official Jagat Prasad Bhusal in Nepal’s Namche region, which lies nearer to Everest.
Nepal lies on a major geological faultline where the Indian tectonic plate pushes up into the Eurasian plate, forming the Himalayas, and earthquakes are a regular occurrence.
In 2015, nearly 9,000 people died and more than 22,000 were injured when a 7.8-magnitude quake struck Nepal, destroying more than half a million homes. — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Tomiko Itooka, a 116-year-old Japanese woman recognized as the world's oldest person, has died of old age in western Japan, according to local authorities.

Itooka died on December 29 in a nursing home for the elderly in the city of Ashiya where she resided, the city government in Hyogo Prefecture said Saturday.

Born on May 23, 1908, Itooka became the oldest living person in Japan in December 2023 following the death of FusaTat-sumi, a 116-year-old in Kashiwara, Osaka Prefecture, a Hyogo neighbor.

Itooka was subsequently recognized as the world's oldest living person by Guinness World Records in September 2024, following the death of the previous holder, 117-year-old Maria Branyas in Spain. 

Xinhua

Source: Myawady Daily Newspaper

BEIJING recorded 290 days of good air quality last year, the highest since monitoring began, the municipal ecology and environment bureau said Thursday.
The number of days with good air quality in the national capital accounted for 79.2 per cent in 2024, marking an increase of 19 days compared to the previous year and a significant rise of 114 days compared to 2013.
The number of days with heavy air pollution dropped dramatically, from 58 in 2013 to just two in 2024, a decrease of 96.6 per cent.
Beijing’s average concentration of PM2.5 reached 30.5 microgrammes per cubic metre in 2024, meeting the national standards for four consecutive years. PM2.5 readings, a key indicator of air pollution, are a gauge monitoring airborne particles of 2.5 microns or below in diameter.
Compared to 2013, the annual average concentrations of PM2.5, PM10, nitrogen dioxide and sulfur dioxide in Beijing last year decreased by 65.9 percent, 50 per cent, 57.1 per cent and 88.7 per cent, respectively. — Xinhua

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

INDIA launched a rocket Monday carrying two small spacecraft to test docking in space, a critical step for the country’s dreams of a space station and a manned Moon mission. 

The mission is “vital for India’s future space ambitions”, Jitendra Singh, the country’s science and technology minister, said in a statement ahead of the launch, which was broadcast live by the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced plans last year to send a man to the Moon by 2040. 

The PSLV-C60 rocket, which blasted off Monday evening at the Sriharikota launch site with shooting flames as it soared into the night sky, included two 220-kilogramme (485-pound) satellites. 

ISRO has dubbed the mission Spa DeX, or Space Docking Experiment. 

“PSLV-C60 successfully launches Spa DeX and 24 payloads,” it said in a statement. — AFP

Source: Global New Light of Myanmar

THE world ushered in 2025 on Tuesday, with huge crowds waving goodbye to the old year that brought Olympic glory, a dramatic Donald Trump return and turmoil in the Middle East and Ukraine. 

It is all but certain that 2024 will go down as the hottest year on record, with climate-fuelled disasters wreaking havoc from the plains of Europe to the Kathmandu Valley. 

Sydney — the self-proclaimed “New Year’s capital of the world” — sprayed nine tonnes of fireworks from its famed Opera House and Harbour Bridge at midnight local time (1300 GMT). 

“Just to see all the beautiful colours and enjoy being in this situation with so many people in wonderful Australia,” said 71-year-old retired nurse Ruth Rowse ahead of the dis play. 

As champagne corks popped and New Year’s Eve parties kicked into gear along picturesque Sydney Harbour, many revellers were 

relieved to see the past 12 months in the rearview mirror. 

“It would be nice for the world if it all sort of fixed itself, sorted itself out,” insurance worker Stuart Edwards, 32, told AFP before the fireworks. 

Taylor Swift brought the curtain down on her Eras tour this year, pygmy hippo Moo Deng went viral and teenage football prodigy Lamine Yamal helped Spain conquer the Euros. 

The Paris Olympics united the world for a brief few weeks in July and August. — AFP

Source: Global New Light of Myanmar

The Chinese PLA Navy today, December 27, celebrated the float out of the first of its next-generation amphibious assault ships. The vessel named Sichuan is reported to be the largest of its kind and incorporates advanced technology.

The new ship was built at Hudong-Zhonghau Shipbuilding, a division of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC). Remarkably, China claims the vessel is just four years from design to float out. It will now undergo outfitting before starting dock and later sea trials.

According to the statement from the PLA, the vessel exceeds 40,000 tons displacement, making it significantly larger than China’s first generation of amphib commissioned in 2021. Among the surprises in the design, the PLA reports the vessel incorporates an electromagnetic catapult and arresting system. This means that the vessel which was originally thought to be capable of helicopters and landing craft will also be able to launch a manned fixed-wing aircraft. It is also thought to be a large base for Chinese drones.

In appearance, the vessel features a full-length flight deck. The Chinese also highlighted a configuration with a two-island superstructure, the first time this feature has been used on a Chinese vessel. They said it is designed to better facilitate aviation operations.

China’s previous amphibs, Type 75, are deployed with helicopters and landing crafts. China built three of the first class. The new vessel is the first of Type 76.

China already reports to have the world’s largest navy and continues to rapidly expand its fleet with new capabilities. Chinese officials hailed the new amphib saying it was a critical part of the efforts to expand the reach and capabilities of China’s Navy. In addition to the new amphib, China continues the outfitting of its new aircraft carrier.

The vessel is seen as a rival to the U.S. which traditionally has had the largest vessels of the type. The Wasp and America class vessels operated by the U.S. are approximately 844 feet (257 meters) in length with reports the new Chinese class is 853 feet (260 meters) although the Chinese only said its displacement would exceed 40,000 tons. That would make it similar in size to the Wasp-class and smaller than the America class which is 45,000 tons displacement. Observers had previously predicted the Chinese vessel would reach 50,000 tons displacement.

Source: The Maritime Executive

A passenger plane operated by Azerbaijan Airlines from Baku to Grozny crashed near the Kazakh city of Aktau on Wednesday, Kazakhstan's Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) said. The Embraer 190 aircraft with flight number J2-8243 crashed near Aktau Airport. The ministry reported 28 survivors in the incident, with rescue operations ongoing. There were 67 people on board, including 62 passengers and five crew members, Azerbaijan Airlines said on X. According to Kazakh media reports, the passengers on board included 37 citizens from Azerbaijan, 16 from Russia, six from Kazakhstan, and three from Kyrgyzstan. The Chinese Consulate General in Aktobe confirmed to Xinhua that there were no Chinese nationals on board the plane. The initial cause of the tragedy appears to be a bird strike. The MES dispatched 52 personnel and 11 units of equipment to the site, where the aircraft was found to be on fire. The Embraer 190 aircraft is designed to carry between 96 and 114 passengers, depending on its cabin configuration. The aircraft can fly up to 4,500 km. According to FlightAware, the aircraft took off from Baku 11 minutes ahead of schedule. While flying over the Caspian Sea, it issued an emergency signal. Azerbaijani media reported that the aircraft was unable to obtain permission to land in Grozny due to fog, leading it to be redirected to Makhachkala and later to Aktau. Azerbaijan Airlines has assured that more information will be provided, while local authorities and emergency services are investigating the crash. Xinhua

Source: Myawady Web Portal

On March 31, a similar satellite, the Resurs-P Number 4, was launched into orbit aboard a Soyuz-2.1b rocket from Baikonur. Sputnik brings you live coverage as the Russian Resurs-P satellite launches from Baikonur aboard the 2000th Soyuz-2.1b rocket, marking a significant milestone in space exploration. The satellite's journey into orbit is expected to take exactly 9 minutes and 23 seconds. The Resurs-P satellites are capable of capturing Earth images with a resolution of 70 centimeters (27.5 inches). This high-resolution data is essential for monitoring pollution, assessing environmental degradation, exploring natural resources, evaluating ice conditions, and conducting emergency monitoring. Additionally, the imagery is invaluable for updating topographic and navigational maps. Sputnik

Source: Myawady Web Portal

A NASA probe made history Christmas Eve after becoming the closest human-made object to the sun, a feat scientists say was as historic as the Apollo moon landing.

The Parker Solar Probe zoo-med within just 3.8 million miles of the sun's surface at 6:53am ET.

Moving at speeds of up to 430,000 mph and enduring temperature of up to 1,800F, the car-sized probe 'touched' the sun to help scientists better understand the star. 

During that brief flyby, the it passed through the sun's super-hot outer atmosphere called the corona - the origin of solar storms which have the potential to cause chaos on Earth.

Although the Parker probe endured boiling temperatures, its near-indestructible heat shield should allow it to survive the extreme conditions. 

However, mission scientists will have to wait until Friday for confirmation as they lose contact with the craft for several days due to its proximity to the sun. 

Thomas Zurbuchen, former head of science for NASA, said: 'NASA's Parker Solar Probe has accomplished a feat that is as historic and significant as the moon landing.' 

Nick Pinkine, Parker Solar Probe mission operations manager at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), said: 'No human-made object has ever passed this close to a star, so Parker will truly be returning data from uncharted territory. 'The 

Christmas Eve flyby is the first of three record-setting close passes, with the next two on March 22, 2025, and June 19, 2025 - both expected to bring the probe back to a similarly close distance from the sun. 

The Parker Solar Probe launched from Cape Canaveral in August 2018 before embarking on the 93 million-mile journey to the sun.

The goal was to gather more data about the sun's corona by flying as close as possible through the stellar atmosphere.

Because the gravitation pull is so strong at this distance, the probe needs to be moving incredibly fast to avoid slipping into the heart of the sun.

To do this, the probe has been repeatedly 'slingshot' around the sun and Venus, getting progressively faster with each pass.

In 2021, Parker made its first successful pass of the solar corona, dipping into a region where temperatures can reach over one million degrees Centigrade for up to five hours.

Since then, Parker has completed 21 solar slingshots, but tomorrow the probe will smash its own record for both speed and distance. After completing its seventh loop around Venus in November, Parker used that 'gravity assist' to fly seven times closer to the star than any other spacecraft.

Parker surpassed its previous speed record of 395,000 mph, according to NASA.

At its top speed, the probe moved 300 times faster than a Lockheed Martin F-16 fighter jet or 200 times faster than a rifle bullet.

Arik Posner, Parker Solar Probe program scientist for NASA, says: 'This is one example of NASA's bold missions, doing something that no one else has ever done before to answer longstanding questions about our universe.'

In order to avoid melting during that time, the Parker Solar Probe was designed to withstand unbelievably high temperatures.

The body of the probe itself is protected by an eight-foot-wide heat shield made of a type of carbon foam. Although this shield is just 4.5 inches thick, its material composition makes it almost indestructible. Johns Hopkins APL explained in a mission briefing: 'One yard behind that, where the body of the spacecraft resides, it is almost room temperature.'

And all its systems will need to work perfectly for Parker to gather data from this dynamic environment near a star where no spacecraft has dared travel.'

Meanwhile, the Solar Probe Cup is made of Titanium-Zir-conium-Molybdenum, a metal alloy with a melting point of 4,260 °F.

However, the probe's mission was about more than moving fast and withstanding high temperatures.

The data it brings back could make a huge difference in humanity's defenses against devastating solar flares.

Thanks to the intense temperatures and powerful magnetic fields, scientists haven't been able to look inside the sun's corona.

However, this region is the origin of the plasma and magnetic fields which trigger solar flares and coronal mass ejections.

As the sun enters its solar maximum this year, scientists have warned that Earth is long overdue for an impact from a super flare which could cause widespread blackouts and damage to satellite networks.

By gathering data from this region, NASA says the Parker Solar Probe will help scientists make better predictions about space weather.

That could buy Earth valuable time to protect our most vulnerable systems in the event of a dangerous solar flare. 

Mr Posner says: 'We can't wait to receive that first status update from the spacecraft and start receiving the science data in the coming weeks. 'Parker will transmit a beacon on Friday, December 27 to confirm it has survived the flyby with more data soon to follow.

The probe is then expected to make four more close flybys in 2025, but none so close as tomorrow.

And while the craft will eventually be torn apart by the sun's gravity, the heat shield could continue to orbit for thousands of years to come. MailOnline Mail 

Source: Myawady Daily Newspaper

SOME 3,000 homeless people sat down for a festive Christmas charity dinner on Tuesday in the centre of Buenos Aires, at a time when more than half of Argentina’s population is affected by poverty, one year into ultra-liberal Javier Milei’s term in office.
“I came because I feel alone and it’s sad,” said Walter Villagra, a 54-year-old homeless man who survives by collecting cans after he lost his job as an electrician four years ago.
Titled “No Family Without Christmas”, the event in front of the National Congress was held for the eighth consecutive year, and Tuesday’s turnout exceeded organizers’ expectations.
“To say that it is a special year because there is more and more poverty is sad, but it is true,” Mariana Gonzalez, spokesperson for the Movement of Excluded Workers, one of the organizers behind the event, told AFP. “There are more and more people sleeping on the street and more people coming to the soup kitchens because they do not have a plate of food, it is a very difficult year.” — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar