North America will witness a total solar eclipse on April 8. Find out how and where you can watch it. Around midday on April 8, 2024, the sky over parts of North America will suddenly go dark for a few minutes. The reason is a total solar eclipse that will begin over the continent from near Mazaltan, Mexico and go beyond Montreal, Canada, passing through nearly a dozen states in the US. The path along which the total solar eclipse can be seen is approximately 115 miles (about 185 kilometers) wide, according to NASA. For the millions of people in the path of the eclipse, sunshine will be blocked momentarily, causing a momentary dark dusk-like state during the prime of the day. Residents will have to wait until 2045 for the next solar eclipse over North America if they miss this one.  What happens during a total solar eclipse? When the moon passes directly between the Earth and the sun, it blocks out some of the light traveling to Earth and casts a shadow over its surface. This event is called a solar eclipse.  It's no different than your palm causing a shadow on your face when you try to block the sunshine, only eclipses happen at a much larger cosmic scale. During an eclipse, observers may notice strange crescent-shaped shadows on the floor, a sudden drop in the temperature, and odd behavior among birds and animals. How to watch a solar eclipse? It's not safe to look directly at the sun without specialized eye protection for solar viewing, eclipse or not. Direct radiation from the sun can damage the retina.  Viewing the sun through a camera lens, binoculars or a telescope without a special-purpose solar filter will instantly cause severe eye injury. Make sure to grab a pair of eclipse glasses, or eyeglasses with solar filters, to watch the event. Glasses that have the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 12312-2 code on the inside are the ones that are safe to wear. If finding glasses is a hassle, you can make a simple pinhole projector at home, which you can use to see a projection of the sun on a white sheet of paper. Is a solar eclipse dangerous? A solar eclipse is simply the moon blocking our sun's view — the moon just causes a shadow and won't introduce any new harmful radiation. A solar eclipse is not a bad omen, but the moon and the sun making a shadow theater. It's safe to go out during an eclipse.  The eerie ring-like glow you see coming from the sun during a solar eclipse is just your regular sunshine.  So, your food will not go bad during an eclipse. It's safe to cook and eat. And there is no harm for pregnant women, either. How easy is it to see a solar eclipse? While total solar eclipses occur nearly every one-and-a-half to two years, many of them sweep across remote areas, making them hard to observe. The 2024 eclipse will pass through several major cities in the United States including Dallas, Little Rock, Indianapolis, Cleveland, Buffalo and Burlington. How long you can observe the eclipse, however, depends on where you're watching it from. According to NASA, the 2024 eclipse is likely to be visible for about four to four-and-a-half minutes along the different locations on its path. If the weather is good enough, the sun's corona — the outer layer of its atmosphere — will be visible from Earth during a solar eclipse. However, there could be bad weather — there is a high chance of clouds on April 8, 2024, which could obscure the view of the eclipse. Some parts of New York, Vermont, Maine and Quebec are expected to have better luck with a clearer view than the southern regions along the eclipse's path.    

India is evaluating free-trade proposals from a clutch of South American and African countries, as it seeks to be more open to such agreements, in its bid to improve access to world markets for goods and services. While a free trade agreement with the UK is set to be completed before the end of the year, and negotiations are underway with the European Union, Australia and Canada for broad economic partnership agreements, talks are to restart soon with Peru for such a pact, after a break caused by the pandemic “We have decided to proceed with the FTA negotiations with Peru. We would be working out the priority areas… Post September, we will start engaging,” commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters here. The secretary said Chile is also requesting for a similar agreement. “If the countries are interested in FTAs, we will also look into possibilities,” he said on the sidelines of CII’s India-LAC conclave. The Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) Region nations include Belize, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Brazil, El Salvador, Panama, Chile, Guatemala, Peru, Costa Rica, Guyana, and Suriname. Peru is the fourth leading trade partner of India in the LAC region, while India is Peru’s ninth-largest global trading partner. The FTA talks had started in 2017 but got disrupted due to Covid. India-Peru bilateral trade stood at $3.11 billion in 2022-23, down from $3.6 billion in 2021-22. In FY23, India’s exports to Peru were $866 million and imports stood at $2.25 billion. Exports to Peru include automobiles, motorcycles and three-wheelers, polyester and cotton yarns, pharmaceuticals, iron and steel products, plastic products, rubber, pipes for oil and gas industry, tyres and pipes. India imports gold, copper, synthetic filaments, phosphates of calcium, fresh grapes and other farm products from the country. As far as the India-UK FTA is concerned, both sides are close to reaching a common ground on issues of intellectual property rights, rules or origin and investment treaty. On the other contentious issues of automobile tariffs and wines and spirits also, both sides have reached a broad consensus. On automobiles, the UK wants India to cut duties on imports for its manufacturers from the highs of 100% and on spirits from 150%. India is also seeking a change of rules regarding classification of products under the category so that its wines and spirit industry gets access to the UK market. The Indian industry is demanding greater access for its skilled professionals in the UK market while the UK is looking for more opportunities for its services into the Indian markets. Barthwal said considering that imports from India constitute less than 2% of LAC’s total imports, there is significant scope for expansion of the India-LAC bilateral trade. Efforts are underway to double the bilateral trade to $100 billion. In FY23, bilateral trade between India and LAC countries was close to $50 billion. Barthwal also emphasised the need for a closer India-LAC cooperation in the area of energy transition. Fresh thinking is called for in areas like renewals, battery manufacturing, energy storage technology and chemical industry impact that are aligned with the net-zero goal, he said. Source: Financial Express

The second "surveillance balloon" announcement comes after the first sighting prompted the top US diplomat to postpone a trip to Beijing. China claims the balloons are used for scientific purposes. A second Chinese high-altitude balloon has been spotted near Latin America, the Pentagon said late on Friday. "We are seeing reports of a balloon transiting Latin America," Pentagon spokesperson Pat Ryder said. "We now assess it is another Chinese surveillance balloon." He did not specify exactly where the balloon was spotted. The sighting comes a day after US officials announced the presence of a suspected Chinese "spy balloon" flying over sensitive sites in Montana. This incident prompted Secretary of State Antony Blinken to postpone a high-stakes trip to Beijing. What did China say about the balloon? China has dismissed reports about the fist balloon, saying it was used for "civilian" meteorological purposes that deviated off course "due to the influence of westerly winds and its limited control capability." "China regrets that the airship strayed into the United States by mistake due to force majeure," China's Foreign Ministry said. Later on Friday, Beijing also accused US politicians of taking advantage of the incident to attack and discredit China. Some lawmakers have called for the US military to shoot down the balloon with F-22 fighter jets. However, the military decided against this course of action due the risk posed by falling debris. Calls for communication Despite the canceled trip, Blinken said he remained committed to diplomatic relations with China and would be prepared to visit "at the earliest opportunity when conditions allow." Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi also said late on Friday that, "faced with unexpected situations, both parties need to keep calm, communicate in a timely manner, avoid misjudgments and manage differences."

Latin America and the Caribbean registered a record of more than 300,000 new daily Covid-19 cases from January 7-13, according to an AFP count based on official figures.     Argentina was the worst affected country accounting for almost 140,000 of those cases, as well as a seven-day average of 96 deaths.     The country of 45 million has registered almost seven million cases and more than 117,000 deaths since the pandemic began.     The average daily new cases in Latin America of 304,000 is almost double the previous high from the region's last wave when 155,000 daily cases were recorded from May 28 to June 3, 2021.     The new record was a 126 percent increase on the previous seven days.     Deaths have likewise increased, although without reaching anything like the levels of the last wave.     The seven-day average from January 7-13 was 621 deaths, a 44 percent increase on the previous seven days.     It is still a long way off the record number of average daily deaths of more than 5,500 between April 6-12, 2021. Source: BSS AH

Organizers wanted to make it clear the 99th Miss America competition isn't your grandmother's beauty pageant, and their winner did just that on Thursday. Virginia biochemist Camille Schrier won the crown just minutes after wowing the crowd with science. Dressed in a lab coat, she gave a colorful chemistry demonstration of the catalytic decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. No longer called contestants, the 51 women "candidates," who hailed from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, competed for a $50,000 scholarship and the "job" of Miss America, a one-year paid position they hope to use as a public platform for their "social impact initiative." For the second year in a row, women were judged in a swimsuit or how they look in an evening gown. Instead, a series of interviews and talent demonstrations will determine who is best qualified to wear this year's crown. "To make it relevant for these young women, it was important for us as a scholarship and service organization to make sure that we were reflective of this generation, meaning that you no longer had to be defined by some sort of ideal," said Regina Hopper, president & CEO of the Miss America Organization. Morgan Nichols, Miss Carolina, had her own message. She walked down the red carpet wearing a billowing, long skirt topped by a plain white T-shirt that read: "Stronger." While Hopper acknowledges there has been some push-back from "old pageant" people who liked the old way of doing things, she said there's been greater interest in the competition since the roll-out of Miss America 2.0. This year also marks the first time the multi-day event is being held at Mohegan Sun, tribal casino and entertainment complex in suburban southeastern Connecticut. Miss America organizers announced plans this summer to leave Atlantic City, New Jersey — for the second time in its history. Miss America also switched from ABC back to NBC to broadcast the glitzy finale to an estimated 4.5 million viewers. And for the first time, preliminary events and the finale — held in Mohegan's 10,000-seat arena — are being streamed live on the NBC app. "We've had many, many large events. This probably reaches the most people," said Jeff Hamilton, president and general manager of Mohegan Sun. "We're just really, really excited about it." Miss America organizers and NBC have not yet agreed to a multi-year contract with the Connecticut casino. A decision is expected in the coming months. Thursday night's ultimate winner succeeds 2019 Miss America Nia Franklin, a classically trained opera singer from New York. The decision to drop the swimsuit competition did create great controversy and criticism of Miss America officials, including former board chair and former Fox News host Gretchen Carlson, who said in 2018 that Miss America would represent "a new generation of female leaders focused on scholarship, social impact, talent and empowerment." Carlson has since stepped down. Atlantic City businessmen came up with the idea for a pageant in 1921 as a way to extend the summer tourism season beyond Labor Day weekend. It became synonymous with the New Jersey seaside resort but moved to Las Vegas in 2005, returning to Atlantic City in 2013. Source: AP/UNB AH