The Weekly Focus Edition 49
Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
For several years there has been a major conflict over land. Peace treaties have repeatedly failed and the issue has been discussed in the UN multiple times. Leaders have met to reach a consensus, foreign countries have stepped in to help and the use of military forces was also tried. However, the situation is not improving.
The conflict escalated recently when Palestinian Protesters were met with force by Israeli police near the Old City of Jerusalem. The intensity increased when rockets were fired by both sides. Hamas, a militant group that holds a lot of power in Palestine, is currently battling the Israel Defence Forces. Several citizens were killed by the explosions. On May 14th, the IDF realized that it continued to launch airstrikes at Hamas launch sites. The death toll has crossed 100. Israel has armoured up: tightening security and bringing in more forces. Many Palestinian citizens in the northern and eastern borders of Gaza have started fleeing for safety. This war should end through talks and diplomacy; with all this violence, no side is going to compromise and this will last for long. Both sides should agree to a peace deal. We hope for the best and that no more innocent lives are taken.
By Arhaan Zaveri
Cryptocurrency- Problem or Solution?
Cryptocurrency has taken the world by storm, posting huge gains and huge losses in a matter of hours, and all of the volatility driven by one man- Elon musk.
Once Tesla started accepting Bitcoin, the value of a Bitcoin leapfrogged and went past 50,000 dollars. A few days ago, Tesla stopped accepting Cryptocurrency as a payment because of the environmental damage, which caused the stock to plummet. But this is just what's in the news. To know whether it is bad or good can’t be defined by the volatility, hence here are the advantages and disadvantages of cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin.
Advantages-
There can only be a certain number of Bitcoins mined, so it isn’t susceptible to inflation as other currencies may be, and as time goes by demand will also increase.
Transactions can happen fast and easily, and they are much more convenient compared to traditional money.
Bitcoin and most Cryptocurrencies are secure, as the ledger is based on various different mathematical codes and passwords, which make it nearly impossible for frauds to take place
Disadvantages-
Bitcoin and most Cryptocurrencies are private, hence illegal transactions can easily take place without much action taken against it
A recent study showed cryptocurrency is using up almost 1% of the world’s entire power due to the high computing power required to mine Bitcoins, which is increasing our Carbon Footprint massively
Since Cryptocurrency was designed to be secure, once you lose your source code or your password, all your money in your account is lost. There is no proper way of retrieving that money, and hence personal loss is also a high risk involved.
These are just some of the major advantages and disadvantages involved. Cryptocurrency is a whole new era of money, and it is revolutionary and dangerous at the same time. In the end, there is no firm evidence backing either of the two sides, so we leave it up to you to choose whether it is the problem, or the solution.
Football News
We won!! This is what all Manchester City fans will be shouting at this point. The season is not over yet, but City have widened the gap between them and second place Manchester United. Even if the Red Devils win all their games, they will not finish first. Only the race for 2nd, 3rd and 4th positions will be important now. A few days back, Manchester United lost 4-2 to Liverpool that disappointed United. But for Liverpool it meant that maybe their old form was starting to show. They have no hopes to win the league but they can at least compete for higher positions after a disappointing season for the Reds. The La Liga is at a very tense point after FC Barcelona lost 3 games where they could have moved up to first position and taken the lead. Now, there is a very slim chance of them winning. While the Premier League was won by Manchester City, Inter Milan won the Serie A and FC Bayern took home the Bundesliga. It is almost summer now and for all football fans, it means a break from the sport we love the most.
Other News
The scientist behind the invention of sticky notes dies aged 80.
Chaos in Nepal as the PM loses the vote of confidence but remains president as opposition fails to form a government in the given time.
The US allows fully vaccinated people to roam about in some places without a mask.
Animals to be recognized as sentient beings in the UK, a huge victory for Animal Welfare.
An equipment failure caused an electricity outage in around 8.5 million houses in Taiwan.
North Korea claims no COVID-19 cases reported since the pandemic began, again.
India may go ahead with the 2-squad approach as seniors will be in England for the World test Championship, while the rest will be playing in the White-Ball series against Sri-Lanka.
Babar Azam was named as the player of the month after great performances with the bat.
Romelu Lukaku’s party was crashed by police for violating Covid-19 norms.
Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah, Dinesh Karthik and many more senior cricketers take their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
Tech News
Twitter for Android got a new DMs search feature.
Sony releases new Dualsense controllers.
Google Pixel 6 shows of its new, surprising design.
Microsoft is rolling out Dolby Vision for the X-Box 360 and series X.
All your twisted secrets
Rating: ★★★★★
Age: 13+ (language)
Find it here: Amazon India
Author: Diana Urban
Genre: Young adult, fiction, murder mystery
Review: This book is the definition of “everything you know is wrong'' and Urban keeps the best safely hidden for the last. 5 friends- no, that’s not right, 5 classmates- find themselves in the same room for the same meeting to win the same scholarship and to say they don’t know each other is a lie: a nerd, her jock boyfriend, her popular best friend, her nerdy best friend, and a drug-addict find themselves with one envelope that instructs them that within an hour, one of them has to be injected with the serum (poison) laying on the table, that will kill them. If none die, they all do. One at a time, each one of their lies is peeled open: from hidden feelings to murder. But at the end of the day, none of this matters, because one person still needs to die. Who? Read for more ;)
On 9th May 1962, the Beatles signed their first contract with the company EMI Parlophone.
On 10th May 1994, Nelson Mandela became the president of South Africa.
On 11th May 2000, the population of India crossed 1 billion.
On 12th May 1941, Konrad Zuse presented the first programmable, fully automatic computer, Z3.
On 13th May 1637, the table knife was created by Cardinal Richelieu
On 14th May 1948, Israel became independent from the British administration
On 15th May 1940, the first McDonald’s restaurant opened in San Bernardino, California.
Walt Disney, the creator of Mickey Mouse had Musophobia, which is the fear of mice.
By Vivaan Dharamshi
Edited by Nirvaan Zaveri
Writers:
Arhaan Zaveri
Saveer Solanki
Dia Makhecha