Blog - Viral News

The viral moments from the Paris Olympics 2024: Muffins! Snoop Dogg! Pole vault fails!

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

Life Style

The viral moments from the Paris Olympics 2024: Muffins! Snoop Dogg! Pole vault fails!

In a year when Gen-Z is dominating the competition by giving unprecedented behind-the-scenes access on social media, some of the most unforgettable moments from the 2024 Olympics have come in the most unexpected of ways. After the subdued atmosphere at the last games thanks to Covid and its strict social distancing rules, it feels like there is a renewed sense of excitement around this summer’s competition. From the defining photo of the Games so far to the anonymous lifeguard sending the internet into a frenzy, these are the top moments that have gone viral and catapulted some athletes to, err, unexpected international fame.Stephen Nedoroscik: the pommel horse guy who loves a Rubik’s cubeIs it a bird? Is it a plane? Err, no — and it’s not quite Superman either. But thanks to his cool comp...

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

Business

Manawa Energy shares in trading halt

Matahina Power Station. Photo: Manawa Energy / supplied Manawa Energy's shares are in a trading halt pending a review of its earnings outlook which was expected to be less than the guidance it provided in May. The renewable power generator was expecting underlying, for the year ending March 2025, to be in the range of $130m and $150 million. However, it said earnings were likely to be down on guidance amid uncertainty about the recovery of money owed by a customer, as well as adverse market conditions. The trading halt was expected to be lifted no later than the NZX market opening on Friday morning. Source link

Elon Musk sues advertisers over X ‘boycott’

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

World News

Elon Musk sues advertisers over X ‘boycott’

By Daniel Thomas and Michelle Fleury, BBC News Elon Musk. Photo: SLAVEN VLASIC / AFP Elon Musk's X/Twitter is suing a group of major companies, alleging that they unlawfully conspired to boycott the site. It accuses the food giants Unilever and Mars, private healthcare company CVS Health, and renewable energy firm Orsted - along with a trade association called the World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) - of depriving it of "billions of dollars" in advertising revenue. The lawsuit relates to the period in 2022 just after Musk bought X, then known as Twitter, when advertising revenue dived. Some companies had been wary of advertising on the platform amid concerns that its new owner was not serious enough about removing harmful online content. X chief executive Linda Yaccarino said "peop...

The White Lotus season 3 trailer has dropped – what do we know so far?

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

World News

The White Lotus season 3 trailer has dropped – what do we know so far?

White Lotus S3 is slated to release in 2025. Photo: YouTube / HBOMax The first preview of The White Lotus season three has arrived. On Tuesday, HBO Max released a compilation trailer showcasing the streaming service's upcoming projects for the back-end of 2024 and going into 2025, featuring snippets of The Last of Us season two, Dune: Prophecy and more. But the two-minute trailer revealed little about Mike White's beloved murder mystery anthology - The White Lotus bit ran at just six seconds long. Let's take a closer look. What do we know about season three so far? After two hit seasons, it was announced in November, 2022 that the acclaimed show had been renewed for a third, however production had been halted due to actors and writers' strikes. The tiny new teaser tells us everything ...

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

Business

Unemployment rate rises to 4.6%

Photo: 123RF Unemployment has risen slightly while wage growth appears to be slowing in the private sector, although public sector wage growth remains strong. Stats NZ data showed the annual unemployment rate rose to 4.6 percent in the three months ended June, from a revised 4.4 percent in the previous quarter. The rate was the highest since March 2021 and broadly in line with economists' and the Reserve Bank's expectations. The increase in unemployment has been fuelled by cooling demand for workers and as migration surged to fill previous shortages in the labour market. The level of underutilisation, a measure of slack in the jobs market, rose to 11.8 percent from 11.2 percent. Private sector wages rose 3.6 percent annually, after the previous quarter's 3.8 percent rise, indicating wage...

Exercise or extra fries? New study debunks the brain`s long time dilemma

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

Health

Exercise or extra fries? New study debunks the brain`s long time dilemma

Is your brain in a dilemma wondering if you should go for exercise or instead have those tasty extra fries? A study released by Swiss researchers on Tuesday may finally provide your answer. Until now, science has had no idea what happens in our brain when we make this decision. Researchers at ETH Zurich have uncovered a key factor in the brain`s decision-making process when it comes to this particular decision. Scientists discovered that the chemical messenger orexin and its neurons may be transferable to humans, explaining why some resist temptations and maintain regular physical activity. Researchers found that mice with a blocked orexin system preferred a milkshake over exercise, while those with an intact orexin system spent more time on the running wheel and less time at the milks...

Australia joins defence exercise in contested South China Sea

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

World News

Australia joins defence exercise in contested South China Sea

Crew members of China's South Sea Fleet take part in a logistics supply drill near the James Shoal area on South China Sea. Photo: AFP Australia, the US, Canada and the Philippines will hold a joint exercise in the South China Sea. The ABC understands the Australian Defence Force has sent a surveillance aircraft to join the exercise. The exercises are almost certain to draw an angry response from Beijing, which claims almost the entirety of the South China Sea as its own territory. Australia will join another combined military drill in the contested waters of the South China Sea, where there have been a series of increasingly dangerous confrontations between China and the Philippines. The latest joint maritime exercise will be conducted alongside Canada, the Philippines, and the Unite...

Hunar Hale: ‘Makers prefer newcomers for monetary reasons’

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

Entertainment, Movies

Hunar Hale: ‘Makers prefer newcomers for monetary reasons’

On her way to the première of her latest short film, The Beginning, Hunar Hale gets on a call with us to talk all things career. She has been part of the television industry for 14 years and has had a few successes, including Sasural Genda Phool (2010), Chhal—Sheh Aur Maat (2012), Thapki Pyar Ki (2015), and Patiala Babes (2018). But now, she admits the industry is changing. Newcomers are preferred, an actor’s social media following determines their standing, and seasoned artistes are transitioning to digital entertainment. So, where does Hale stand amid this shift? She talks about exploring short films, and fronting the TV show, Deewani, while hoping to make inroads into the web world. Edited excerpts from the interview. What is your short film, The Beginning, about?It is about fema...

International shares propel best-performing KiwiSaver manager

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

Business

International shares propel best-performing KiwiSaver manager

(file image) Photo: 123RF Kernel's Global 100 fund, which owns 100 blue chip companies across major equity markets, was the best performing KiwiSaver fund of the June quarter, returning 8.9 percent. Morningstar has released its latest KiwiSaver survey, which shows KiwiSaver assets up $3.5 billion over the quarter, and average fund returns ranging from 0.3 percent to 0.8 percent. Kernel founder Dean Anderson said the result was the reflection of strength in international equities compared to the New Zealand market over the past couple of years. "It is also telling that many actively managed funds struggled to beat a global index fund. The difference in fees is a big hurdle, and managers who failed to hold some of the large tech names failed to capture the full returns." The survey noted ...

Women in business leadership make gains but disparities persist in the Pacific

7Aug

By Raayan ThompsonNo Comments

Business

Women in business leadership make gains but disparities persist in the Pacific

2023 Pacific Islands Women's Leaders Meeting. (file image) Photo: Pacific Islands Forum A new report by the Asian Development Bank has found that more Pacific women are taking up leadership roles in business, but they continue to face discrimination. The report, published in the second edition of the Leadership Matters series, found the average proportion of women directors in the Pacific rose by five percent - from 21 percent in 2021 to 26 percent in 2024. While Cook Islands, Kiribati, Samoa and Tuvalu have higher proportions of women directors and chief executives in the region, Fiji and Papua New Guinea are yet to meet the regional average. The report's author Sarah Boxall told RNZ Pacific Waves higher education is key. "We are seeing in the Pacific women are increasingly well educ...