POPE Francis warned on Thursday of the dangers of misinformation and its spread via social media and artificial intelligence (AI), cautioning it could be “misused to manipulate minds”.
In his traditional New Year’s address to diplomats at the Vatican, Francis lamented the increasing ephasized number of society, “aggravated by the continuous creation and spread of fake news, which not only distorts facts but also perceptions”.

THE Customs Department announced weekly foreign exchange rates to be exercised in levying Customs tariffs and a US dollar is set to be exchanged at K3,588.
The exchange rates for Customs duty from 12 to 18 January are K3,588 against a US dollar, K2,636.59 for a Singapore dollar, K105.11 against a Thai baht and K491.545 for a yuan, the Customs Department announced.

NAGA New Year Festival will take place from 15 to 17 January in Lahe, Naga Self-Administered Zone on a grand scale, said U Aung Htut, chair of the Naga Traditional Literature and Culture Association (Central). Leshi, Lahe and Nanyun towns of the Self-Administered Zone rotate their turns to host this annual festival after the harvest season.

EGYPTIAN Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty voiced on Wednesday Egypt’s “full support” for Lebanon to elect a new president and end its two-year presidential vacuum.

CHINESE telecoms firm Huawei has partnered with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) to promote the conservation of a marine protected area on Kenya’s south coast.
The three-year project, which was unveiled Monday, seeks to protect the ecological health of Kisite-Mpunguti Marine Park and Reserve, a biodiversity hotspot located on the edge of Kenya’s south coastal county of Kwale.

The opening ceremony for Ayeyawady Shukhintha Resort in Myitkyina marking the 77th Anniversary of Kachin State Day that falls on 10 January 2025 was held at the resort yesterday.

Myanmar and Belarus foster friendship and cooperation

2025 International Conference on Applied Research in Education begins

Local farmers and businesspersons from Yekyi Township of Ayeyawady Region shipped 550,000 pieces of dragon fruits to Yangon market said Daw Cherry, the owner of fruit wholesale centre in Yekyi Township.
They sent 450,000 pieces of dragon fruits in October, compared to 550,000 pieces of fruits in November. Local farmers grow dragon fruit plants in organic techniques.

NIHON Hidankyo, the Japanese atomic bomb survivors’ group that won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize, urged the government on Wednesday to participate as an observer at a convention of signatories to a UN nuclear weapons ban treaty, but said Prime Minis-
ter Shigeru Ishiba remained noncommittal during a meeting in Tokyo.