A Paris administrative court has provisionally stopped the planned auction and export of La Pascaline, the calculating device built by Blaise Pascal in 1642. The ruling follows a legal appeal by scientists and heritage advocates who asked that the instrument be designated a national treasure and protected under France's heritage laws. Christie's had prepared to offer the machine as part of the...

The Royal Navy says it intercepted two Russian naval vessels as they passed west through the Dover Strait into the English Channel. HMS Severn shadowed the RFN Stoikiy, a corvette, and the tanker Yelnya during the encounter in the past fortnight, the UK Ministry of Defence reported. After initially tracking the pair, Severn handed monitoring duties to a NATO partner off the coast of Brittany but...

When 23-year-old Aishat Baimuradova left Chechnya earlier this year she hoped to build a life away from strict family controls and public scrutiny. Friends say she adopted a more modern appearance — shortening her hair, abandoning the headscarf and even altering an eyebrow — and began sharing candid photos online, telling people she finally felt able to breathe. In October, Armenian police...

The United States has publicly claimed authorship of a controversial 28-point blueprint intended to end the war in Ukraine, after reports that the document was being characterised by some as favouring Russia. Senator Marco Rubio, who has been involved in discussions over the plan, insisted the proposal was produced by the US and incorporated feedback from both Russian and Ukrainian sources. His...

Leaders from Europe, Canada and Japan have urged further work on a US-drafted 28-point plan intended to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, expressing serious reservations about several of its provisions. At the G20 summit in Johannesburg, officials from Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Germany and Norway — together with two senior EU...

War is never inevitable, but understanding risk is crucial for peace. Asia and the Middle East — two regions rich in history, culture, and energy — are also burdened with unresolved tensions, strategic rivalries, and deep-rooted conflicts. Below are 10 informed guesses about where future wars might emerge in these regions — if diplomacy and cooperation fall short. 1. 🇮🇱🇮🇷...

By ChatGPT, your friendly digital fortune tellerWhat does the future hold? No one can say for sure, but patterns, science, and human ambition give us some strong clues. As an AI trained on a mountain of human knowledge and trends, I’ve developed a few ideas about where things might be going — some exciting, some alarming, and all worth thinking about.So here are 10 bold guesses about the...

SAP is a powerful and complex ERP system used by organizations worldwide for business operations. While SAP can seem intimidating at first, there are many built-in features and tricks that can save time and boost productivity for everyday users. Whether you're in sales, procurement, finance, or logistics, these tips can make your SAP life a lot easier. 1. 🎯 Use Wildcards in Search When...

PHP has a vast set of built-in functions that every developer should know to write efficient and secure code. Here are some essential ones: 1. String Functions strlen($string): Returns the length of a string. strpos($haystack, $needle): Finds the position of the first occurrence of a substring. str_replace($search, $replace, $subject): Replaces occurrences of a string within another...

Smiling is one of the most universal human expressions. It transcends language, culture, and background, making it a powerful tool for communication and connection. A simple smile can brighten someone’s day, create positive energy, and even improve health. But how important is smiling, really? Let’s explore its significance in different aspects of life.1. Smiling and HappinessA smile is often...