World news in brief
Russia launches satellite to monitor climate in Arctic
Russia has launched a satellite into space to monitor climatic changes in the Arctic. The satellite, ArktikaM, successfully reached its intended orbit after being launched from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur cosmodrome by a Soyuz rocket yesterday. The launch is part of the Kremlin’s push to expand its activities in the Arctic region as Russia seeks to develop the energy-rich region, investing in the Northern Sea Route for shipping across its long northern flank as ice melts.
The Arctic has warmed more than twice as fast as the global average over the past three decades and Russia plans to send up a second satellite in 2023. Combined, the two will provide round-the-clock, all-weather monitoring. The Arktika-M will pass high over northern latitudes, allowing it to monitor northern regions for lengthy periods before it loops back down under Earth.
At the right orbit, the satellite will be able to monitor and take images every 15-30 minutes of the Arctic, which cannot be continuously observed by satellites that orbit above the Earth’s equator, the country’s Roscosmos space agency said. The satellite will also be able to re-transmit distress signals from ships, aircraft or people in remote areas as part of the international Cospas-Sarsat satellite-based search and rescue
Rooster fitted with knife kills owner during cockfight
A rooster killed its owner by slashing him with a knife attached to its leg at a banned cockfight in India. The bird had been equipped with the three-inch blade known as the ‘kodi kathi’ for the illegal contest at the village of Lothunur in the southern state of Telangana. Its owner, named in local media as 45-year-old Thanugulla Satish Goud, was setting the bird down for the fight when it jumped up in an apparent attempt to escape.
‘The knife pierced him in the groin region,” local police told the Times of India. “It was a severe injury and he lost a lot of blood. When he reached the hospital in Jagtial he was declared dead.” Police said they were looking for more than a dozen people involved in the illegal event on 22 February. The cock has been taken to a poultry farm for “protection” before being presented at a court of law as evidence of the cause of death, police told local media.
Cockfighting was banned in India in 1960 but the practice continues in many states and fights are often associated with Hindu festivals. In 2019, The Washington Post investigated what it called the “Super Bowl of cockfighting” in Andhra Pradesh, and found a fight attended by more than 1,000 people apparently organised by a local MLA – a member of the state’s legislative assembly.
Quarantining couple found dead by their 11-year-old daughter
An 11-year-old allegedly found her parents dead in their basement, where they had been quarantining with Covid-19. Authorities in St Louis, Missouri, said on Friday that the child found her parents dead in their basement bedroom, and that there was no sign of foul play, as local TV station KSDK first reported.
Officers from St Louis County Police Department were called to the family home in Mehlville, a suburb of St Louis, on Thursday last week following a report of a sudden death. The department added in a statement to The Independent that there was “no reason to believe their deaths were caused by anything other than Covid-19 at this time”. The couple, who were in their forties, have not been identified by authorities.
Chuck Duy, a neighbour of the family, told KSDK that the couple recently tested positive, after the woman – who has not been identified – went to hospital. He said the mother tested positive and returned home, from which point the couple began quarantining in their basement bedroom. “She tested positive, but they sent her home and then her husband, meanwhile, was home with a positive test for Covid, so they both were quarantined,” said Mr Duy. “To lose both parents at one time, you know, for an 11-year-old, it’s really tragic. They were just the nicest people. We are praying for the girl and their family.”
‘Irreconcilable differences’ cited for marriage going West
Kim Kardashian has cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason behind her divorce from rapper Kanye West, after seven years of marriage. The Evening Standard reports that Kardashian filed divorce papers with an LA court, which also confirmed that she has requested joint custody of the couple’s four children, North, Saint, Chicago and Psalm. Kardashian filed for divorce earlier in February, following months of speculation over one of the world’s most high-profile celebrity couples. She has hired lawyer Laura Wasser, known for her work on celebrity divorce cases.
TMZ reported this month that Kardashian, 40, and West, 43, have already begun reaching a property settlement agreement, with the outlet citing sources who described the divorce proceedings as “amicable”.
Kardashian began dating West in 2012, while she was still legally married to professional basketball player Kris Humphries. She married West two years later, in a lavish ceremony held in Florence, Italy.
Their relationship regularly made headlines, but speculation over the state of their marriage intensified last year, when West announced his intention to run for US president. During an early campaign event in South Carolina, West caused concern with his rambling speech in which he tearfully told audience-members that he and Kardashian had considered aborting their first child. Shortly after the incident, he went on a Twitter tirade and accused his wife of trying to get him “locked up” by doctors, and revealed he had previously sought a divorce.