Submit your Article

Apple Inc. halted product sales in Russia following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, saying the company stands “with all of the people who are suffering as a result of the violence," Aljazeera reported.

The iPhone maker said Tuesday that it stopped exporting products into the country’s sales channel last week, ahead of pausing sales. It’s also removing the RT News and Sputnik News applications from App Stores outside of Russia and has disabled traffic and live-incident features in Ukraine as a “safety and precautionary measure” for citizens there.

The action followed a plea by Ukraine for Apple to stop selling products in Russia, with Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov saying the move could help turn Russian youth against the invasion. He also called on the company to shutter its local App Store. Apple has operated an online store specific to Russia for the last several years, as well as an App Store tailored to the country.

This isn’t the first time Apple has cut off a country. Apple stopped sales briefly in Turkey last year because of economic turmoil and currency fluctuation.

In Russia, the company also limited its Apple Pay service and other online offerings in recent days. Nike Inc., another iconic U.S. brand, has halted sales in Russia as well, saying Tuesday that it “cannot guarantee delivery of goods to customers.”

Apple shares dipped to session lows following news of the move in Russia, before recouping some of the losses. The stock closed down 1.2% to $163.20 on Tuesday.

“We are deeply concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine,” Apple said in its statement. “We are supporting humanitarian efforts, providing aid for the unfolding refugee crisis, and doing all we can to support our teams in the region.”

President Bidya Devi Bhandari today visited the Pashupatinath Temple in Kathmandu to offer worship on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri.

President Bhandari entered the main Temple dedicated to Lord Shiva and worshiped ritually on the Maha Shivarattri. Bhandari paid obeisance to all the temples and shrines in the Pashupatinath Temple premises, according to Pashupati Area Development Trust's (PADT).

The Head of the State was welcomed by Minister for Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation Prem Bahadur Ale, Ministry's secretary Maheshwor Neupane, PADT member-secretary Dr Milan Kumar Thapa and treasurer Narayan Prasad Subedi among others.

Similarly, Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun also reached the Temple today and worshiped on the occasion, according to the PADT.

Ritual has it that the Head of the State should visit the Pashupatinath Temple and offer prayers and worship on Maha Shivaratri festival that falls on fourteenth day of waning moon in the month of Falgun as per the lunar calendar.

An overwhelming number of devotees thronged the holiest shrine of Lord Shiva today. The PADT has made arrangements for the devotees to pay obeisance as long as they arrive at the Temple tonight. RSS

An Indian student was killed on Tuesday in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city that is being pounded by heavy shelling by Russian forces, Hindustan Times reported.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said it was in touch with the student’s family. “With profound sorrow we confirm that an Indian student lost his life in shelling in Kharkiv this morning. The Ministry is in touch with his family. We convey our deepest condolences to the family,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

Bagchi further said foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla is calling in ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine to reiterate India’s demand for urgent safe passage for its nationals who are still in Kharkiv and cities in other conflict zones. “Similar action is also being undertaken by our Ambassadors in Russia and Ukraine,” he added in the tweet.

News of the student’s death came within hour of the Indian embassy in Ukraine asking its citizens to urgently leave capital Kyiv. “Advisory to Indians in Kyiv- All Indian nationals including students are advised to leave Kyiv urgently today. Preferably by available trains or through any other means available (sic),” a statement from the embassy read.

The Indian government has undertaken a massive mission to bring back its stranded citizens from war-torn Ukraine via neighbouring countries and has sent its senior ministers to assist the evacuation process. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged the Indian Air Force to join the evacuation efforts under Operation Ganga, even as as special flights of Air India are being run to bring back the citizens.

For climate scientists reviewing a Pacific Ocean temperature forecast map in November, a bright red, sideways “V”, thousands of kilometres long signalled disaster, Reuters reported.

Combined with La Nina cooling in the central and eastern Pacific, the V-shaped pattern of warm sea water, stretching from Australia’s east coast to the Philippines and back over the ocean north of Hawaii, indicated that halfway around the world in the Horn of Africa the upcoming March-May rainy season would likely fail.

The scientists’ organization, called Famine Early Warning System Network or FEWS Net, sent out an alert with U.N., EU and African institutions, saying the “unprecedented” drought would likely “cause a perilous and disruptive humanitarian disaster”.

If the warning is born out, it could push the region into its worst drought on record. Millions of people would struggle to feed themselves.

Such warning systems are becoming increasingly essential as climate change puts food security at increasing risk. “Our work is to save lives and livelihoods,” said FEWS Net agricultural meteorologist Gideon Galu said in Kenya.

On Monday, a report by the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the top global climate science authority, warned heatwaves, droughts and extreme rainfall would become more frequent in coming decades as temperatures continue to climb.

Already, “increasing weather and climate extreme events have exposed millions of people to acute food insecurity and reduced water security,” it said.