Social media giant Meta, formerly known as Facebook, experienced a significant outage affecting its platforms Facebook, Instagram, Threads, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Social media users frantically took to X to report the outage, with hashtags like #Instagramdown and #Facebookdown trending. As per reports, the outage affected thousands of users globally, with the UK, parts of Europe, Asia, Australia, and South America being the most affected regions. The cause of the outage is yet to be determined, as Meta has not issued a statement on the matter.
Team India dominated in their first T20I match against South Africa, winning by a whopping 61 runs in Durban. In the Pro Kabaddi League, table-toppers Puneri Paltan will be playing on Saturday, November 9. Sanju Samson made history by becoming the fourth player to score consecutive hundreds in men's T20Is. ACC has also unveiled the schedule for the U19 Men's Asia Cup 2024, with India and Pakistan placed in Group A. Dhruv Jurel continued his impressive form by scoring consecutive fifties in the second unofficial Test against Australia A.
The 2021 Mumbai Film Festival has revealed the line-up for its South Asia competition section, featuring 11 titles from India and neighboring countries. Among the Indian titles vying for the top prize are Rima Das' acclaimed film 'Village Rockstars 2' and multiple award-winner 'Girls Will Be Girls' by Shuchi Talati. Other highlights include the UK's Oscar submission 'Santosh' and Cannes Grand Prix winner 'All We Imagine As Light'. Board member and renowned filmmaker Shivendra Singh Dungarpur will lead the stripped-down festival, which runs from October 19-24.
The 2024 MAMI Mumbai Film Festival wrapped up its record-breaking edition with Amit Dutta's 'Rhythm of a Flower' winning the prestigious Golden Gateway Award, and Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan's 'Nocturnes' receiving the Silver Gateway Award. The festival featured a diverse lineup of over 110 films from 45 countries and honored the best in cinematic excellence and innovation. Other notable winners included 'The Fable' and 'Girls Will Be Girls' for its progressive representation of gender.
South Africa registered an impressive win over Bangladesh in the first Test match at Mirpur, after a decade-long wait for a Test match win in Asia. The victory propelled South Africa to the fourth spot in the World Test Championship points table, taking them one step closer to securing a spot in the WTC Final next year at Lord’s. The star of the match for South Africa was Kagiso Rabada, who claimed nine wickets in the game, while Kyle Verreynne’s century in the first innings and Mehidy Hasan’s fighting knock for Bangladesh were other highlights of the match.
South Africa were struggling against Bangladesh in the Dhaka Test, but Kyle Verreynne's impressive century, along with support from Wiaan Mulder, helped the Proteas take a significant lead of 202 runs in the first innings. This also makes Verreynne only the third designated South African wicketkeeper to score a Test century in Asia. On the other hand, Bangladesh will need their captain and senior players to step up in order to avoid another defeat and salvage some pride after their recent whitewash against India.
On Thursday, the Swedish Academy announced South Korean author Han Kang as the winner of the 2024 Nobel Prize in literature for her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and exposes the fragility of human life. Han Kang is the fourth woman from Asia to win the prestigious award and is joined by 17 other women who have previously been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature. Her major international breakthrough came with the novel ‘The Vegetarian’ which portrays the violent consequences that ensue when the protagonist refuses to submit to societal norms. This year, the Literature Nobel has been awarded for the 116th time and for the first time ever, the award has not been given to a single recipient twice.
After weeks of monitoring, the Health Ministry has confirmed that the mpox case reported in Kerala last week is from the fast-spreading clade 1b variety, marking South Asia's first recorded case from the new strain. The 38-year-old patient had recently travelled from the United Arab Emirates and is currently being treated in a government hospital. Despite concerns, authorities have reassured that no mpox symptoms have been observed in 29 close contacts and 37 passengers on the patient's flight. The origins and potential impact of this new strain of the virus, which was first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, continue to be closely monitored by organizations like the WHO.
The highly anticipated FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024, known for showcasing top young basketball talent, is set to start in Amman, Jordan from September 2-9. India, fresh off their SABA Qualifiers win, will compete against tough opponents such as South Korea, Iran, and Kuwait in the group stage. Coach Scott Flemming makes his return as head coach, accompanied by former India international Narendra Grewal. The top four teams from this tournament will secure spots in the 2025 FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Switzerland.
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol and Japanese PM Fumio Kishida vowed to enhance security cooperation with NATO amid growing military collaboration between North Korea and Russia. The two leaders made the commitment during their bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Washington, where they joined leaders from four Indo-Pacific partner nations. The NATO summit came soon after Putin and Kim Jong-un's security cooperation agreement, which has raised concerns in the region and beyond. Yoon stressed the significance of trilateral security cooperation between South Korea, the US, and Japan, while Kishida condemned North Korea's arms exports to Russia, echoing the strong condemnation in the summit declaration issued by NATO leaders.