On Tuesday, Thailand announced an extended visa stay period for tourists, postgraduate students, and remote workers to improve the country's key tourism industry in the face of economic challenges. According to government spokesman Chai Wacharonke, travellers from 93 countries would be able to remain for 60 days beginning in June, up from 57 nations, with more eligible for visas on arrival. Postgraduate students can stay for an extra year after graduation, and retirees' insurance requirements will be reduced. Tourism, a major contributor to Thailand's economy and employment, is being ta
On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated director Payal Kapadia on her historic achievement at the Cannes Film Festival, where her film "All We Imagine as Light" received the prestigious Grand Prix prize. Kapadia's achievement is notable because she is the first Indian director to receive this honour. Modi commended her great talent and stated that her achievement would encourage the next generation of Indian filmmakers. The film won the festival's second-most prestigious honour. It came after the Palme d'Or, which was presented to American director Sean Baker for "Anora" duri
On June 3, a rare planetary alignment will occur, allowing you to see six planets in a line in the sky. Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune are all involved in this amazing occurrence. This is your next opportunity to see a rare celestial show if you were unable to see the northern lights recently. When multiple planets approach the same side of the sun along their orbits, this is known as a planetary alignment. As per Kate Pattle, a lecturer at the Physics & Astronomy Department at University College London, "This implies that their appearance in the sky is in a line w
Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams is all set for her third space mission and is ready to write another chapter in her illustrious career. The much-awaited launch, which was supposed to test Boeing's Starliner and was originally scheduled for earlier this month, was pushed back because of technical difficulties. But now that the problems have been resolved, the mission is scheduled for sometime between June 1 and June 5. 58-year-old Williams brings an extensive amount of experience to the project. She has already completed two space trips and is familiar with the complexities and requ
German author Jenny Erpenbeck and translator Michael Hofmann won the International Booker Prize for the novel "Kairos," a turbulent love story set in the final years of communist East Germany. They will split the £50,000 ($64,000, €59,000) award that was chosen from 149 entries. "Kairos" portrays a young woman's damaging relationship with an elderly man in East Berlin during the 1980s. The work has been described as "a richly textured evocation of a tormented love affair, interwoven with the personal and national transformations of East Germany" by Eleanor Wachtel, chair of the prize pa
In the capital of Saudi Arabia, Nora screamed out loud, leaning against the microphone. During a recent gig, she performed a set with her bandmates. It would have been impossible to imagine a performance by the all-female psychedelic rock band Seera combining traditional Arabic melodies and the psychedelia of bands like Tame Impala years ago. Seera is a symbol of how women in Saudi Arabia, a country long associated with strict gender segregation and ultraconservative Islam, are finding their voice and expressing themselves through the arts as the country liberalises certain areas of its so
India-born Gopi Thotakura made history by being the first and second Indian to travel into space as a space tourist. He joined Blue Origin on its NS-25 mission, which marked the successful completion of the programme's 25th flight and its seventh human spaceflight. Thotakura, an Andhra Pradesh native, travelled with Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Kenneth L. Hess, Carol Schaller, and retired Air Force Captain Ed Dwight as one of the six members of the crew. Senior Vice President of New Shepard Phil Joyce expressed gratitude to the astronaut clients for advancing Blue Origin's goal of const
A herd of 170 European bison reintroduced to Romania’s Țarcu Mountains could significantly mitigate CO2 emissions, equivalent to removing 43,000 US cars annually. Rewilding Europe and WWF Romania brought back European bison in 2014, after being extinct in Romania for more than 200 years. Currently, there are over 170 of these animals in one of the largest free-roaming populations in Europe. Using a model created by the Yale School of the Environment and supported by the Global Rewilding Alliance, the study calculates how the bison affects ecological interactions that store carbon in soi
Japan's industry ministry has started talks to develop the country's next basic energy plan, which will be in line with the ambitious objective of becoming carbon neutral by 2050. This action follows a significant policy change by PM Kishida in 2022 when he emphasised the need to quickly restart nuclear units to address energy issues, some of which were a result of the situation in Ukraine. Approximately 70% of Japan's electrical generation currently comes from fossil fuels, on which the country is largely dependent. Japan's government updates its energy policy on average every three to
Serena Williams will serve as host of The ESPYS, which is an annual sports awards programme on ESPN, scheduled for July. The 23-time major winner, who is now retired, will take the lead for the fourth time as the event honours the achievements, athletes, and noteworthy moments of the previous year. On July 11, a live broadcast of the ceremony from Hollywood's Dolby Theatre will take place. Expressing her excitement, Williams stated, "This is a long-held aspiration for me, and I am thrilled for the opportunity." She emphasised an exceptional year in sports as well as the outstanding acco