UK Passes Tobacco and Vapes Bill

1 April 2026National

The UK Parliament passed the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, barring anyone born on or after 1 January 2009 from ever legally buying cigarettes - effectively raising the smoking age by one year every year.

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Bank of Canada Unveils CAD 20 Note Featuring King Charles III

The Bank of Canada unveiled a new CAD 20 banknote carrying the image of King Charles III, the first British monarch to appear on a Canadian note in over seven decades and the first change since the death of Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. Canada thus becomes the first Commonwealth country outside Britain to put King Charles on a banknote. The note is vertically oriented — only the second such Canadian note after the CAD 10 bill, which the International Bank Note Society judged the world's best design in 2018. Its reverse depicts the Vimy Ridge Memorial in France, and it carries floral emblems of Canada's 13 provinces and territories. Circulation begins in early 2027.

GK ByteThe Bank of Canada, Canada's central bank, was established in 1934 and is headquartered in Ottawa | Canada's capital is Ottawa and its currency is the Canadian Dollar; it comprises 10 provinces and 3 territories | The Battle of Vimy Ridge (1917) is commemorated by the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France

📅 6 Sept 2026InternationalRead complete →

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GK ByteThe Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue) comprises India, the United States, Japan and Australia; it was revived at leaders' level in 2017 and held its first leaders' summit in 2021 | A 'Sherpa' is a leader's personal representative who negotiates the agenda ahead of a summit | The Foreign Secretary heads the Indian Foreign Service and the Ministry of External Affairs' bureaucracy

📅 5 Sept 2026InternationalRead complete →

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GK ByteBelgium: capital Brussels, currency Euro, King Philippe, Prime Minister Bart De Wever | Brussels hosts the headquarters of the European Union institutions and NATO | imec, the Belgian nano-electronics research centre, is based at Leuven

📅 5 Sept 2026InternationalRead complete →

UN General Assembly Adopts African-Led Resolution Backing Equal Earth Map Projection

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GK ByteThe UN General Assembly is the UN's main deliberative organ with all 193 member states, each having one vote | The African Union was founded in 2002 (succeeding the OAU of 1963) and is headquartered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia | Togo's capital is Lomé and its currency is the West African CFA franc

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