Headline
World Records That Tumbled In 2022
Published
1 year agoon
By
EditorFrom roasting temperatures to rocketing energy prices and millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine, 2022 was a year of extremes.
AFP looks back at some of the records smashed:
Food and energy prices
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February caused a massive jump in energy and food costs, with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization’s Food Price Index hitting a historic peak in March and the cost of gas in Europe reaching record highs.
The eurozone annual inflation climbed steadily to 10.6 percent in October, the biggest increase since the index began in 1997.
READ ALSO: Buhari Leaving Nigerians More Vulnerable Than When He Came 2015 – Kukah
Refugees
The war also triggered the biggest wave of refugees in Europe since the end of World War II. More than 7 million Ukrainians fled to other European countries and a further 6.9 million were displaced internally, according to the UN refugee agency UNHCR.
Globally, the number of displaced people exceeded 100 million for the first time.
Burning up
Europe sweated through its hottest summer on record, with records tumbling in many countries, including England where the mercury topped 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) for the first time. Forest fires linked to the hotter, drier conditions also guzzled more land than ever before in Europe — over 600,000 hectares.
Hail of missiles
North Korea fired a record number of missiles into the Sea of Japan in response to large-scale joint military exercises staged by South Korea and the United States.
A particularly intense peak saw 23 missiles fired in 24 hours on November 2.
Farewell Queen
After 70 years on the throne, Britain’s longest-serving monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, passed away on September 8, aged 96.
Before her massive state funeral, an estimated quarter of a million people queued round the clock to view the coffin as it lay in state.
READ ALSO: Three Foreign NGOs Stop Work In Afghanistan After Taliban Ban On Women Staff
Musk mayhem
It was a big year for Elon Musk, the world’s richest man whose fortune was estimated by Forbes at close to $200 billion at the start of December.
The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX added Twitter to his portfolio for $44 billion and swiftly caused controversy, by firing half the staff and unbanning people who had been thrown off the platform, including Donald Trump.
New artistic heights
The art collection of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, which included works by Cezanne, Klimt and Van Gogh, was sold by Christie’s for $1.62 billion, the biggest amount ever for an art auction.
Marilyn Monroe was a big hitter too, with one of her photo portraits by Andy Warhol selling for $195 million, making it the most expensive 20th century artwork.
Tennis titans
When Rafael Nadal won the French Open for the 14th time, the Spanish ace raised his own record of Grand Slam titles to 22, ahead of Novak Djokovic (21) and Roger Federer (20).
It was also a year of farewells with two of the sport’s greatest players calling time on their glittering careers: Federer and Serena Williams, who has 23 Grand Slams to her name.
Jet-setting Swift
The 10th album by the US megastar, “Midnights”, caused such a frenzy that Spotify broke down as more fans sought to listen to it over a single day than any other album.
Ten of its tracks were listed in the top ten Billboard Hot 100, also a first.
Less glorious for Swift was her topping the list for the “worst private jet CO2 emission offenders” among celebrities for her extensive private jet use.
READ ALSO: 2023: Why I Shut Down Atiku’s Campaign Office In Port Harcourt – Wike
In August when she was awarded the unenviable prize, she had already clocked up 170 flights in her private jet.
Eight billion humans
In November the world’s population — which numbered 2.5 billion in 1950 — exceeded eight billion, according to the UN.
AP/CHANNELS TV
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Headline
Google To Offer AI-generated Answers In Search Results
Published
3 hours agoon
May 14, 2024By
EditorGoogle has announced it would introduce AI-generated answers to online queries made by users in the United States, in one of the biggest updates to its search engine in 25 years.
“I’m excited to announce that we will begin launching this fully revamped experience, ‘AI overviews,’ to everyone in the US this week,” Google chief executive Sundar Pichai said at an event in California on Tuesday, May 14.
Google’s search results will feature an AI summary at the top of the page before the more typical unfurling of links.
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The AI answers generated by Google’s Gemini technology will offer succinct summaries of what it found on the internet with links to the online sources that supplied the information.
“You can ask whatever’s on your mind or whatever you need to get done – from researching to planning to brainstorming – and Google will take care of the legwork,” said Google Search team boss Liz Reid.
The change comes as Google feels growing pressure from AI-powered search engines like Perplexity, and from the rumors that OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, is building its own AI search tool.
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Searches through AI chats have also appeared on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, with users able to get information from the web without Google.
The change will soon spread to other countries, Pichai added, making it accessible to more than a billion people.
Headline
College Volleyball Player Killed In US Nightclub Shooting
Published
3 hours agoon
May 14, 2024By
EditorAlbany State University volleyball player Mariam Creighton has been tragically killed in a nightclub shooting in Atlanta.
Atlanta Police Department said on Tuesday, May 14, that the incident happened around 2:28 AM on Sunday, May 14, when officers responded to shots fired at the Elleven45 establishment.
Six people were shot, two of whom were pronounced dead at the scene, Creighton and 20-year-old Nakyris Ridley.
The police department said in a statement;
READ ALSO: Nigerian Burnt To Death In Bangkok Car Crash
“Preliminary investigation indicates the shooting occurred during a physical dispute at the location that escalated to gunfire.”
Creighton was a member of the ASU Golden Rams volleyball team, and was one semester from graduating from the HBCU with a biology degree.
Her family said she was at the club on Sunday celebrating her niece’s birthday. “It’s just senseless,” Creighton’s sister, Tiffany, said. “My sister was just out having a good time, and now our lives are just altered forever.”
A 35-year-old Nigerian man identified as Daniel was burnt to death in a car accident in Bangkok, Thailand.
Bangkok’s Prawet Police Station, confirmed the identity of the Nigerian national in a statement on Tuesday, May 14, 2024,
Daniel, whose Thai wife came to confirm his identity with the police, died on Saturday, May 11, when his car crashed into a road median and caught fire.
This serious road accident occurred at 5:30 a.m. on a three-lane road near Soi Phatthanakan 53/1, Suan Luang Subdistrict and District, Bangkok.
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When officials received the report and arrived at the scene, they found a gray Toyota Vios with Samut Prakan province license plates overturned and engulfed in flames, blocking the middle of the road.
The officers spent about 10 minutes spraying water to extinguish the fire, but the car was completely damaged by the flames.
At that time, rescuers had to use cutting and prying equipment to remove the driver’s body from the wreckage and send it to the Police Hospital for an autopsy. They found a document with a front-facing photo of a foreign man.
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Eyewitnesses stated that they saw the car driving at high speed in the far right lane before losing control and crashing into the road median.
The car spun and hit a palm tree with such force that it flipped over and ended up on its roof in the middle of the road.
At that moment, good Samaritans tried to pry open the door to help the unconscious driver, but before they could pull him out, sparks ignited, and the car quickly caught fire.
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