Category: World

‘Game of Thrones’ Themed Attraction To Open In UK

It seems that die-hard “Game of Thrones” fans from all around the world will get to experience the fictional world of Westeros and Essos, through an all new “GoT” themed attraction.

It seems that die-hard “Game of Thrones” fans from all around the world will get to experience the fictional world of Westeros and Essos, through an all new “GoT” themed attraction.

The new attraction, which was planned in 2019, received the nod from the local authorities only this month, and will reportedly be set in the Linen Mill Studios in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, with an estimated budget of £24 million.

According to reports, fans will get access to iconic sets like the Map Room, Dragonstone’s Throne Room, Castle Black’s Mess Room, Cersei’s Courtyard in King’s Landing, and also the fort at Winterfell. It is very well known that major portion of the series was shot in the Linen Mill Studios.

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“Some of the most iconic scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed at Linen Mill Studios. Our fans will soon have an opportunity to visit and see the work of the show’s incredible crew in the museum setting it deserves,” Jeff Peters, HBO vice president of licensing and retail, said in an interview, as reported by Indian Express.

Along with the tour of iconic sets, the attraction will also feature a tour of the costumes and props and a visit to the makeup and prosthetics shop.

Although it has been more than a year, since the series bid its goodbye, fans are constantly looking for some new information, including sequels, prequels and new books from author George RR Martin. The news of the new attraction has been met with joy of fans. The series has been the inspiration for many restaurants, pubs, cafes and many destination hotels too.

As of now, there is no official opening date for the new “GoT” themed attraction, as the project is still in the very early stages. However, a public announcement is expected to happen within this year.

Russia’s COVID-19 Vaccine Sputnik V: First Batch Released For Public

If the mass vaccination plan of Russia goes successfully as planned, the country will see the end of COVID-19 by next summer.

The first batch of Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has been released for the public, with plans for regional deliveries in the near future.

As per the information from the Russian Health Ministry, the vaccine against coronavirus, developed by Russia’s Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), has cleared the quality tests and has been released for civil circulation.

“The first batch of the ‘Gam-COVID-Vac’ (Sputnik V) vaccine for the prevention of the new coronavirus infection, developed by the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Ministry of Health of Russia, has passed the necessary quality tests in the laboratories of Roszdravnadzor (medical device regulator) and has been released into civil circulation,” the ministry said in a statement.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin has expressed hope to vaccinate a majority of the Russian capital’s residents against the coronavirus within several months.

Sputnik V vaccine was the first vaccine against COVID-19, registered by the Russian Health Ministry on August 11, 2020. Named as homage to the world’s first artificial Earth satellite launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, Sputnik V is actually a recombinant adenovirus vaccine – which uses harmless adenovirus, a group of common cold viruses, tweaked to contain the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2. This gives the immune system the chance to recognize and respond to the virus, without the risk of getting sick.

If the mass vaccination plan of Russia goes successfully as planned, the country will see the end of COVID-19 by next summer. Russia is also expected to complete early-stage trails on a second potential vaccine against the deadly coronavirus this month.

Russia is also in the talks with India, “on different levels” about cooperation that may include “supplies, co-development and co-production” of Sputnik V. Russia has also shared “comprehensive data” on the vaccine’s safety with the Indian government.

Lebanon’s Beirut Blast: 100 Dead; 4000 Injured; Medical Supplies Destroyed in Explosion

A massive explosion ripped through the capital city of Beirut in Lebanon, killing nearly 100 and injuring at least 4000 people, with still hundreds missing, feared to be trapped under the rubble.

The blast, registered as a 3.3 magnitude earthquake near the Beirut’s port, was heard and felt as far away as Cyprus, which is more than 200 kilometers (180 miles) across the Mediterranean.

The explosion, that sent a huge mushroom cloud-shaped shockwave, flipped cars and shattered distant buildings, blowing out the windows. A red cloud hung over the city, as the streets of the city looked like “an apocalypse.” A tweet from Jenan Moussa gave a clear picture of the blast’s impact.

The government has urged the residents in and surrounding the area of explosion, to stay indoors and wear masks if available, as there are also reports of toxic gases released from the blast.

Hospitals in Beirut are still overrun with wounded people, while patients are being transported to hospitals to nearby cities. Some hospitals in the Lebanese capital are reportedly too damaged to treat patients.

This comes in a time, when Lebanon is already on its knees, due to their economic crisis, with their hospitals already being short on medical supplies. However, it has just been reported that their medical goods, which were stored near the explosive site, have also been destroyed in the blast.

Prime Minister Hassan Diab said that “about 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate were stored in the Beirut port warehouse, for over six years, without taking preventive measures, endangering the safety of citizens.” He claimed the storage to be “unacceptable” and that anybody related to the cause of this blast will surely pay.

According to the initial reports, a major fire at a warehouse for firecrackers near the port was the cause of the explosion. A detail investigation into the cause of the blast has been initiated and the results will be released within 5 days.

UK to Mint New Coin to Commemorate Mahatma Gandhi

Britain is said to be considering minting a new coin to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi, the India’s Independence hero, in part of the growing interest in recognizing the contributions of Black, Asian and minority ethnic communities.

“RMAC is currently considering a coin to commemorate Gandhi,” in response to Rishi Sunak, the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s letter to the Royal Mint Advisory Committee (RMAC), as reported by the Treasury, in an emailed statement as reported by Times of India.

Mr. Sunak, in support of the campaign called “We Too Built Britain,” has asked the RMAC to pursue representation of BAME communities, stating that their members have made a “profound contribution” and must be considered for recognition on the UK’s coinage.

However, the idea of having Mahatma Gandhi on a British coin was previously announced by former chancellor Sajid Javid in October 2019. The Chancellor’s office has confirmed that Sunak is keen in commemorating the work of previous generations of BAME communities, in the British Coins.

Other campaigns include Noor Inayat Khan’s image on a new £50 note, which was not successful, as the Bank of England announced that the new series scheduled to enter circulation in 2021, will feature the image of Alan Turing, computer pioneer and code-breaker.

North Korea Declares Emergency After First Possible COVID-19 Case; City of Kaesong In Full Lockdown

North Korea has declared state of emergency, after its first ever suspicion of COVID-19, in the city of Kaesong, near the border with South Korea.

A defector, who is now in quarantine, is being suspected to have the infection, as the test result of the case is “uncertain.”

Immediately the North Korean supreme leader Kim Jong-un, has enacted the country’s maximum emergency system, along with the full lockdown in the city of Kaesong, warning officials to “face up to the reality.”

As per the reports from the North Korea’s state media KCNA, the individual suspected to have been infected with COVID-19 was a runaway, who has gone to South Korea nearly three years ago, and has crossed back to North Korea, illegally on July 19.

It’s not clear if the individual has had the official coronavirus test, as the reports only state that several medical checkups show respiratory symptoms similar to COVID-19 cases.

KCNA reports “uncertain result was made from several medical checkups of the secretion of that person’s upper respiratory organ and blood.” The officials have also started the investigation of close contacts of the individual.

Kim Jong-un is said to have noted the situation to be a very critical and dangerous situation which might lead to the deadly and destructive disaster.

If confirmed, this marks the first time, the supreme leader has officially acknowledged Coronavirus infection in North Korea. Before this, North Korea has constantly claimed to have no COVID-19 cases in the territory, which was severely questioned by medical experts.

The country has already received thousands of coronavirus testing kits from Russia and other countries, and was under strict border closures in the past few months. People were also under quarantine restrictions, as a precautionary measure, which was recently eased.

However, The South Korea’s health authorities have made it clear that there was no evidence of the defector, referred to only as “Kim,” having contracted the illness.

“The person is neither registered as a Covid-19 patient nor classified as a person who came in contact with virus patients,” said Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health official, according to Yonhap news agency, as reported by The Guardian.

The KCDC – Korean Centres for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that two people who was in close contact with the defector have been tested negative.

Singaporean Pleads Guilty as Chinese Spy in US

Amid the ongoing stand-off between the United States and China, a Singaporean has pleaded guilty for working as an intelligence agent for the Chinese Army.

According to the US officials, Jun Wei Yeo, also known as Dickson Yeo, was charged with using his political consultancy in America as a front to collect information from U.S. government and military workers, reported Reuters.

Jun Wei Yeo was found to have set up a fake consulting site to solicit information for the Chinese intelligence, following the FBI investigations on dozens of visa holders in relation to any kind of Chinese spying. The Singapore man will be sentenced in October by the Justice Department.

In other incident, a Chinese researcher, Juan Tang, who was a refuge in the San Francisco consulate, was accused of hiding her ties to China’s military service and was detained in California. She was among four Chinese nationals charged with visa fraud for allegedly lying about serving in China’s People’s Liberations Army.

Earlier this week, United States ordered the shutdown of Chinese Consulate in Houston within 72 hours, after nearly four decades in operation. The US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo stated in his speech that the China’s consulate was working as a hub of spying and intellectual property theft, while also calling for an end to the blind engagement with China.

Following this, on Friday, the Chinese government ordered the US to close the consulate in Chengdu, claiming the US’s actions to have seriously breached international law, gravely harming the US-China relationship.

Tension between the nuclear powers has been escalating in the past few weeks, with President Donald Trump’s administration ramping up their aggressive tactics, including the decision to increase their military presence in the South China Sea.

Kanye West 2020: Qualifies for Presidential Ballot in Oklahoma

Kanye West is officially on the 2020 Presidential ballot in Oklahoma, amid reports of the rapper pulling out of the upcoming elections.

Kanye West is officially on the 2020 Presidential ballot in Oklahoma, amid reports of the rapper pulling out of the upcoming elections.

According to the Oklahoma Election Board documents, West has filed the statement of candidacy and a $35,000 filing fee to the state, which declares that he will be running as a Independent Candidate for President in the 2020 Presidential elections, as reported by TMZ.

“A representative for West filed the necessary paperwork and paid the $35,000 filing Wednesday afternoon, which was the deadline for a spot on the state’s 3 November presidential ballot,” said Oklahoma Board of Elections spokeswoman Misha Mohr. “West was one of three independent presidential candidates to pay the filing fee prior to the deadline, she added. The others were concert pianist Jade Simmons and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Brock Pierce.”

The news comes on the heels of the West’s adviser Steve Kramer’s statement to the New York Magazine’s Intelligencer, which reported that “West is out of 2020 elections.” The report also added that the rapper had overwhelming support, and also that he had hired 180 staffs for the campaign.

West also took to his Instagram account to post a picture of himself with the caption “Kanye 2024,” which was interpreted as he had dropped out of 2020 elections, and will be running for 2024 election.

West has already missed the deadline to qualify for the ballot in many states, including the critical battleground of Florida. However, his campaign was reported to have filed a “Statement of Organization” with the Federal Election Commission stating that a Kanye 2020 committee would serve as principal campaign committee for a West candidacy.

The rapper first announced his presidential bid in an Independence Day tweet, saying he had a vision for 2020. He was immediately supported by his wife Kim Kardashian West and Elon Musk. Since then, he had constantly been talking about his race in the Presidential elections.

Kanye West’s Still In-line For Presidential Race – Just Not in 2020, But 2024

Kanye West has ended his bid for the White House, in the 2020 Presidential election, just two weeks after announcing his entry. But, he will surely meet us in 2024.

The rapper has official announced in his Instagram account that he will be running for 2024 Presidential election saying “See you at the 2024 elections.”

Steve Kramer, the election strategist hired by West, has told the Intelligencer, “He’s out. I’ll let you know what I know once I get all our stuff canceled. We had over 180 people out there today.”

According to the report, the rapper has hired 180 people working in Florida, South Carolina and other states for his Presidential campaign. West had been trying to get his name as a third-party candidate on the ballot, since last week.

Kramer added that “West’s campaign team were working over weekend there, formalizing the FEC and other things that they’ve got to do when you have a lot of corporate lawyers involved.” He also pointed out that the rapper had been receiving “overwhelming support to get him on the ballot.”

 

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2024 🇺🇸 #kanyewest

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Kanye West announced that he is running for President of the United States, in the 2020 Presidential race, just 10 days before, on the July 4, Independence Day. He had decided the name of his party to be “Birthday Party,” as in his opinion, the day his party wins will be everybody’s birthday.

At the time of his announcement, he has already missed deadlines in several state ballots, but he claimed to believe that he could use the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as a reason to be placed on those ballots, as reported by DailyMail.

He had been talking about his entry into the bid for the highest position in the country for years, but it was for the 2024 Presidential race, and not 2020. His tweet on July 4, came as a surprise for his followers.

Kanye West 2020: Tweets “I am running for President”

Kanye West let off the most surprising fireworks display on the 4th of July, Independence day, 2020, with his announcement of running for President in 2020 – 122 days before the November 3 election.

The hip-hop superstar officially announced his decision on his July 4th tweet on his official Twitter page. Within a few minutes, the current President Donald Trump’s one of the high profile supporters, SpaceX founder Elon Musk, expressed his full support to West, while Kim Kardashian West, has also supported her husband, retweeting his tweet.

“We must now realize the promise of America by trusting God, unifying our vision and building our future,” West tweeted. “I am running for president of the United States!” He ended the tweet with a #2020VISION hashtag.

This is not the first time West has talked about his bid for the White House, as even in the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, while accepting his Video Vanguard Award, he talked about the possible entry into Presidential race.

“It’s about ideas, bro. New ideas. People with ideas. People who believe in truth,” West said in his speech. “And, yes, as you probably could have guessed by this moment, I have decided in 2020 to run for president.”

Even in November 2019, he was open about his ambitions for becoming the President, when he said “When I run for president in 2024, we would’ve created so many jobs that I’m not going to run, I’m going to walk.”

While there are no other specifics related to West’s Twitter announcement, the question of his eligibility on the presidential ballots at this later stage is definitely a big hurdle. As per the candidate website Ballotpedia, the rapper had missed the filing date for independent candidates in New York, Maine, Texas, Indiana, New Mexico and North Carolina, which ended on June 25. The cut-off dates in Michigan – July 16, Pennsylvania – August 3, Wisconsin – August 4, Arizona – September 4.