Author: Starvision News Desk

Wellington, July 13 (IANS) New Zealand’s annual food prices were 12.5 percent higher in June 2023 than in June 2022, the national statistics department said on Thursday.Stats NZ saidlast month the annual increase was due to rises across all the broad food categories measured, with grocery food prices increasing 12.8 per cent, fruit and vegetable prices up 22 per cent, meat, poultry, and fish prices increasing 11 per cent, and non-alcoholic beverage prices up 9.7 per cent, reports Xinhua news agency.”Increasing prices for fresh eggs, six-pack yogurt, and cheddar cheese were the largest drivers within grocery food,” Stats NZ’s consumer…

Tokyo, July 13 (IANS) A record 95.5 per cent of people in Japan feel prices have increased either considerably or slightly from a year before, a central bank survey has shown.The result found in the latest survey by the Bank of Japan (BOJ) for June has rewritten its record high for the first time in 15 years, reports Xinhua news agency. The previous high was 94.6 per cent logged in the September 2008 survey around the time of the global financial crisis.The quarterly survey found that 66.3 per cent of the total respondents said that prices went up considerably, also…

Kiev, July 13 (IANS) The Ukrainian Air Force on Thursday said that some 20 Iran-made drones were shot down over Kiev’s airspace.According to the Air Force, the Russian attack on Wednesday night, which came just hours after the the end of the NATO Summit in Lithuania, was the third in a row on Kiev, reports the BBCDebris was reported in five districts and at least two people were sent to hospital with shrapnel wounds.The Air Force reported that two Russian kalibr cruise missiles fired from a ship in the Black Sea were shot down by air defences, while information about…

San Francisco, July 13 (IANS) A brutal heat wave is sweeping across Southern California, intensifying fire danger to the region and increasing risks for heat-related illness.The heat wave has come to the region as a heat dome builds over the US Southwest and West, reports Xinhua news agency.Temperatures throughout Southern California are expected to reach as high as 44 degrees Celsius by Saturday, according to weather forecast.An excessive heat watch has been issued for the western and eastern Antelope Valley foothills starting on Wednesday morning through Saturday evening, when temperatures could reach 43 degrees.The peak of the excessive heat will…

Jerusale, July 13 (IANS) Israel has launched a new short-warning service for abnormal weather events, the Transport Ministry said.The Israel Meteorological Service (IMS), a unit in the Ministry, will be responsible for providing the new service, including short-time alerts on storms, floods, heavy heat loads, and fires, the frequency of which has all increased following global climate change, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.It is part of a new detailed hourly forecast service for the next 24 hours, for 80 cities and towns, alongside 73 tourist sites throughout the country, including all national parks.The Ministry stated that the…

Ottawa, July 13 (IANS) The Bank of Canada has increased its benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points to 5 per cent.In light of the accumulation of evidence that excess demand and elevated core inflation are both proving more persistent, and taking into account its revised outlook for economic activity and inflation, the bank’s governing council decided to increase the policy interest rate, Xinhua news agency quoted the central bank as saying in a statement.According to the bank, as higher interest rates continue to work their way through the economy, Canada’s economic growth will average around 1 per cent through…

Abu Dhabi, July 13 (IANS) Indian businesses and the education community in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) hope to get a new dimension of relations during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s upcoming visit this week.Modi will arrive in Abu Dhabi on Saturday after wrapping up his two-day trip to France.During the visit, he will hold talks with His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the UAE and Ruler of Abu Dhabi.The India-UAE Comprehensive Strategic Partnership continues to and the Prime Minister’s visit will be an opportunity to recognise opportunities to take it forward in various sectors such as…

Khartoum, July 13 (IANS) Since the ongoing violence erupted in Sudan in April, more than 3 million people, roughly half of them children, have been displaced from their homes, according to the UN humanitarians.In its latest situation update, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the Unicef reported about 1.5 million children are living away from home, although some are still in Sudan, reports Xinhua news agency. Overall, one in every two children in Sudan, approximately 13.6 million, needs urgent humanitarian assistance.Since the conflict began, Unicef has provided health supplies to more than 3 million children and…

London, July 13 (IANS) Police in Scotland have said they have begun probe after fresh complaints of sexual harassment allegations emerged against British Sikh chef and broadcaster Hardeep Singh Kohli, according to media reports.Kohli, 54, a former BBC presenter, broadcaster, author and chef, has been accused of predatory and sexually inappropriate behaviour by more than 20 women, The Times reported. The newspaper reported this week that a former Labour party official alleged Kohli bombarded her with unwanted sexual comments after he reached out to her on social media. “He phoned me and immediately started talking about sex,” she said. “I…

Bangkok, July 13 (IANS) The Thai parliament will vote for a new Prime Minister on Thursday, in a ballot seen as a litmus test for reformist Pita Limjaroenrat who won the May general elections after voters rejected conservative military rule that had been in place since the 2014 coup.In a shock election result, Pita’s newcomer party Move Forward won the most seats and largest share of the popular vote, CNN reported.But the 42-year-old Harvard graduate and former tech executive will need the support of lawmakers appointed by the same military leaders to secure a majority.His alliance has 312 votes, which…