Author: HR News Desk

A section of ice roughly the size of Manhattan has broken away from Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica, one of the continent’s fastest-moving and most closely watched glaciers, in a calving event scientists have linked to warming ocean and air temperatures. A massive slab of ice, roughly the size of Manhattan and covering an estimated 225 square kilometres, broke away from Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica, an event first noticed in November 2016. Researchers have warned that a further crack could open up at the point where the ice broke free, potentially releasing an even larger mass into…

A relative of Nobel laureate Gabriel García Márquez has been abducted by an armed gang near Colombia’s Caribbean coast, with kidnappers demanding a $5 million ransom for her release, Colombian radio station RCN Radio reported on Wednesday. A relative of the late Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez has been kidnapped by an armed criminal gang, which is now demanding a ransom of $5 million, roughly 4.4 million euros, for her safe release, according to Colombian radio station RCN Radio. The victim, 33-year-old graphic designer Melissa Martinez García, is the granddaughter of Jaime García Márquez, the brother of the Nobel Prize-winning…

A mother from Reims, France, has described the distress of watching her newborn daughter receive stitches after a surgeon accidentally cut the baby’s head during a planned caesarean section, in an experience made worse when her anaesthesia also failed to fully take effect. A woman from Reims, France, named Hélène has spoken out after a surgeon accidentally cut into her baby daughter’s head while performing what was meant to be a routine, planned caesarean section, according to Hotrecentnews. It was Hélène’s third child, and unlike her previous births, this delivery had been scheduled as a caesarean from the outset. During…

In June 2016, male bus drivers in Nantes turned up for work in skirts after their employer refused to let them wear shorts during a severe heatwave, arguing the company’s dress code was inconsistent and left them working in dangerously hot conditions. Six bus drivers in the French city of Nantes staged an unusual protest in June 2016, arriving for work dressed in skirts after their employer refused their request to wear shorts during a period of exceptional heat. With temperatures reaching 38C (100F) and prompting weather alerts across France, the drivers, who worked for Semitan, the public transport operator…

In 2018, a small unmanned drone operated remotely from Amsterdam carried abortion pills across the Irish border into Belfast, part of a campaign by Dutch organisation Women on Waves designed to highlight the far more restrictive abortion laws then in force in Northern Ireland compared with the rest of the UK and the Republic of Ireland. A campaign dubbed the “Abortion Drone,” or “abortion robot,” successfully flew abortion pills into Belfast, Northern Ireland, in 2018, in a symbolic act of civil disobedience aimed at Northern Ireland’s abortion laws. Operated remotely from Amsterdam, the small unmanned aerial vehicle carried the medication…

A vast floating playground featuring inflatable slides, bridges and a “human launcher” has expanded into what its operators call the biggest floating playground in Asia, drawing selfie-seeking holidaymakers to Subic Bay in the Philippines, even as one of the country’s most famous beach destinations remains closed over pollution concerns. A giant inflatable unicorn park in the Philippines is drawing holidaymakers from across the world, offering exactly the kind of photogenic setting many travellers now consider essential to any trip abroad. Located in Subic Bay, in the Zambales province of the Philippines, the floating attraction features a range of inflatable slides,…

Restoration work on Samara’s famous Constructivist “Factory Kitchen” building has missed its deadline ahead of the 2018 World Cup, prompting authorities to cover the unfinished landmark with a decorative banner bearing the tournament’s symbols rather than complete the repairs in time. Samara’s celebrated “Factory Kitchen,” one of the most significant surviving examples of Soviet Constructivist architecture anywhere in the world, will be covered with a banner featuring the 2018 World Cup’s symbols after restoration work failed to meet its deadline ahead of the tournament. Officials had originally promised the building would be fully restored by December 2017, before pushing the…

Saudi Arabia has become the first country in the world to grant citizenship to a robot, announcing the decision during a technology conference in Riyadh for Sophia, a humanoid robot built by Hong Kong-based Hanson Robotics, in a moment that has pushed decades-old debates about artificial intelligence into new social and political territory. Saudi Arabia has granted citizenship to a robot for the first time in history, bestowing the status on Sophia, a humanoid robot developed by Hanson Robotics, during the Future Investment Initiative conference in Riyadh. The announcement, made by the country’s king, marks what many are calling a…

Around 6,000 climate activists from across Europe gathered in Germany’s lignite coal districts for a ten-day Climate Camp, culminating in mass civil disobedience actions that shut down a major coal-fired power plant and saw thousands form a human chain around one of the country’s largest open-pit mines. Thousands of European climate activists converged on the heartland of Germany’s coal industry for a ten-day gathering that combined protest with grassroots organising. Around 6,000 people took part in Climate Camp, held in Germany’s coal-mining districts from 18 to 29 August, with a main camp based near Erkelenz serving as a hub for…

Virtual reality adult videos became one of Pornhub’s fastest-growing categories, with viewing figures reaching around 500,000 a day and Britain among the fastest-growing markets. Virtual reality was still a relatively new consumer technology when Pornhub reported a sharp rise in interest in its immersive adult videos. The platform said its VR catalogue had expanded from just 30 videos when the category launched in 2016 to more than 2,600 by May 2017. Daily viewing had settled at roughly 500,000, while Christmas Day produced an especially large spike as VR headsets became popular gifts. VR viewing quickly expanded Pornhub’s figures showed how…