A sign for customers shopping for eggs at Trader Joe’s hangs by the cartons in Merrick, New York, U.S., February 16, 2025. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Turkey has begun exporting around 15,000 tonnes of eggs to the United States as a devastating outbreak of bird flu is slashing U.S. production and sending prices soaring, a leading sector official said on Wednesday.
Deaths of millions of laying hens imperil U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to bring down everyday costs, as grocery stores ration supplies and restaurants raise prices for egg dishes.
Shipments to the U.S. from Turkey began this month and will continue until July, said Ibrahim Afyon, chairman of the Egg Producers Central Union in Turkey.
“The export will take place through our member companies with the required authorizations, while two firms will coordinate the process,” Afyon said.
“A total of 15,000 tonnes of eggs — equivalent to 700 containers — will be shipped,” he added.
The U.S. has been working to contain bird flu, which was first detected in dairy cattle in Texas last March and has since spread to more than 970 herds in 17 states. The virus has infected nearly 70 people since April, primarily farm workers exposed to infected poultry or cattle. One person who was infected died.
The outbreak in poultry began in 2022 and has wiped out about 162 million chickens, turkeys and other birds, according to U.S. data. A surge in recent infections is fuelling egg shortages.
“We support the temporary import of egg products to help ease the strain on the U.S. egg supply,” said Chad Gregory, CEO of United Egg Producers, a cooperative that represents U.S. egg farmers.
Faced with supply constraints, U.S. companies have sought alternative import markets, leading to negotiations with Turkish producers, Afyon said. The deal is expected to generate around $26 million in export revenue, he added.
Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani. Credit: Reuters Photo
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has told a federal judge here that its efforts to serve its complaint on Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani in the alleged bribery scheme are “ongoing”, including through a request for assistance to the Indian authorities.
The SEC submitted a status update Tuesday to Judge Nicholas Garaufis at the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York regarding its efforts to serve its complaint on Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani.
The SEC said that both Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani “are located in India, and the SEC’s efforts to serve them there are ongoing, including through a request for assistance to the Indian authorities to effect service under the Hague Service Convention for Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters.”
The SEC said that its complaint dated November 20 last year alleges that Gautam Adani and Sagar Adani violated the antifraud provisions of the federal securities laws by “knowingly or recklessly making false and misleading representations concerning Adani Green Energy Ltd in connection with a September 2021 debt offering by Adani Green.
It said that because the “defendants are located in a foreign country, Rule 4(f) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) governs service of the Summons and Complaint.
FRCP 4(f) contains no set time limit for service, and the SEC may serve Defendants “by any internationally agreed means of service that is reasonably calculated to give notice,”… such as the Hague Service Convention.”
The SEC update, submitted by its Counsel Christopher Colorado, cited a case which notes that service via the Hague Service Convention is one permissible means of serving defendants located in India.
“Since the filing of its Complaint, SEC staff has been working to serve Defendants in accordance with FRCP 4(f). SEC staff has contacted Defendants or their counsel (to the extent SEC staff is aware of such counsel) and has sent them Notices of Lawsuit and Requests for Waiver of Service of Summons, including copies of the Complaint.
“Additionally, under Article 5(a) of the Hague Service Convention, the SEC has requested assistance from India’s Ministry of Law and Justice, the Central Authority for India under the Hague Service Convention.”
“That process is ongoing, and the SEC will continue its efforts to serve Defendants in India by the methods prescribed by FRCP 4(f)—including under the Hague Service Convention—and will keep the Court apprised of its progress,” the SEC said.
In November last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission had charged Gautam Adani, Sagar Adani and Cyril Cabanes, an executive of Azure Power Global Ltd., for conduct arising out of a massive bribery scheme.
In a parallel action, the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York unsealed criminal charges against Gautam and Sagar Adani and Cabanes, among other individuals connected to Adani Green and Azure Power.
Adani is being indicted by the US Department of Justice for his role in an alleged years-long scheme to pay $250 million (Rs 2173 crore) bribes to Indian officials in exchange for favourable solar power contracts.
The Adani group has said that the allegations by the Department of Justice and the SEC are “baseless” and has denied them.
“The allegations made by the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission against directors of Adani Green are baseless and denied,” a spokesperson for the Adani Group had said in a statement.
The spokesperson pointed to a US Department of Justice statement that said “The charges in the indictment are allegations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty”.
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S., February 18, 2025. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque Purchase Licensing Rights
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has instructed the Justice Department to terminate all remaining Biden-era U.S. attorneys, asserting that the department had been “politicized like never before.”
“We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last week, the White House sent termination notices to several U.S. Attorneys around the country who had been appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden.
On Monday, several U.S. attorneys appointed by Biden announced they were stepping down. Others left the government last week.
While it is customary for U.S. Attorneys to step down after a change in the presidential administration, usually the incoming administration asks for their resignations and does not issue tersely worded termination letters, current and former Justice Department lawyers say.
The termination of the U.S. attorneys, who serve as the top federal law enforcement officers in their districts, is the latest in shake-ups at the Justice Department since Trump took office last month.
Career Justice Department officials normally remain in office from one administration to the next. Yet dozens in cities including Washington and New York have been fired or quit since Trump took office.
Donald Trump has taken aim at Ukraine after its President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said it was a “surprise” his country had not been invited to talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the war with Russia.
Saying he was “disappointed” by Ukraine’s reaction, he appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war, saying the country “could have made a deal”.
A full-scale Russian invasion sparked the war in Ukraine almost three years ago.
Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Riyadh for the first high-level, face-to-face talks between the two countries since the invasion.
They agreed to appoint teams to start negotiating the end of the war.
Lavrov said his country would not accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, a proposal raised at a meeting of European members of Nato in Paris on Monday.
European Nato states, who remain committed to supporting Ukraine against Russia, have been smarting at being sidelined by Trump’s unilateral peace initiative, which reversed the resolutely pro-Ukraine policy of his predecessor as president, Joe Biden.
Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence, Trump was asked by the BBC what his message was to Ukrainians who might feel betrayed.
“I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat, well, they’ve had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily,” he said.
“You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he later added.
“I could have made a deal for Ukraine,” he said. “That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land – and no people would have killed, and no city would have been demolished.”
After the meeting in Riyadh, Trump said he was “much more confident”.
“They were very good,” he said. “Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”
“I think I have the power to end this war,” he added.
Asked about the prospect of European countries sending troops to Ukraine, Trump said: “If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it. If they want to do that, I think that’d be fine. I mean, I know France has mentioned it, others have mentioned it, UK has mentioned it.”
However, he added: “We won’t have to put any over there because, you know, we’re very far away.”
After Monday’s meeting in Paris, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said any Ukraine peace deal would require a “US backstop” to deter Russia from attacking its neighbour again.
Sir Keir said a “US security guarantee was the only way to effectively deter Russia”, and vowed to discuss the “key elements” of a peace deal with Trump in Washington next week.
Sergei Lavrov and Marco Rubio held talks in Saudi Arabia
Also at the talks in Riyadh were US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, as well as Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov and the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev.
Stressing that Moscow would not agree to peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, Lavrov said: “Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is of course completely unacceptable.”
He said the US and Russia would appoint ambassadors to each other’s countries as soon as possible and create conditions to “restore co-operation in full”.
“It was a very useful conversation. We listened to each other, and we heard each other,” he said.
He reiterated Russia’s previous position that any expansion of the Nato defence alliance – and Ukraine joining it – would be a “direct threat” to Russia.
Rubio for his part said he was “convinced” Russia was “willing to begin to engage in a serious process” to end the conflict.
“There has to be concessions made by all sides. We’re not going to predetermine what those are.”
“Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one”, he added.
Rubio said the European Union was going to “have to be at the table at some point because they have sanctions as well that have been imposed”.
On the absence of Ukraine at the meeting, he insisted “no-one is being sidelined”.
“Everyone involved in that conflict has to be OK with it, it has to be acceptable to them,” he added.
The talks in Paris, which were hastily arranged in response to the apparent rapprochement between Russia and the US under Trump, did not agree a unified position.
Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said discussing sending troops to Ukraine at present was “completely premature”.
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said he did not intend to send troops while Italy’s Giorgia Meloni – the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration – expressed doubts.
She told the meeting in Paris that deploying European troops would be “the most complex and the least effective” way of securing peace in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s leader looked visibly tired and upset when he gave his reaction to the Roiyadh meeting during a news conference in Turkey.
“We want everything to be fair and so that nobody decides anything behind our back,” Zelensky said.
“You cannot make decisions without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine.”
He will be alarmed by all the smiles on both American and Russian faces in Riyadh, but he will know that he can do little to change whatever they agree on over his head.
The Ukrainian president will also know that his country’s chances of resisting – let alone defeating – Russian troops without American help are very slim.
Palakkad, Kerala: A procession in Kerala’s Palakkad district displaying images of Hamas leaders during an annual cultural fest drew sharp criticism on the social media.
The banners, carried atop elephants by a group of youths, were part of the “Thrithala Fest” in Thrithala, Palakkad, on Sunday evening.
The display of the images led to heated discussions on the social media, with some alleging the event was linked to a religious festival and many questioning the organisers for allowing such banners.
The participation of Congress leader and former MLA VT Balram has further fuelled the debate.
However, a person, who is part of the organising committee and wishes to remain anonymous, accused a section of young people of attempting to trigger a communal issue over the procession, which is in no way connected to a religious festival.
In a Facebook post, Congress leader Balram criticised a section of the media for allegedly using the controversy surrounding the Thrithala Fest to target the Muslim community and Kerala, even at the national level.
He stated that all Indians who are not affiliated with the Sangh Parivar support the Palestinian people and their aspirations for independence.
The Congress leader said that whether Hamas leaders should be glorified is a separate issue but condemned the Sangh Parivar for allegedly using the matter as part of an anti-Muslim hate campaign.
“Thrithala will stand united against such divisive attempts,” he wrote.
Clarifying the nature of the festival, he stated that ‘Thrithala Fest’ is an annual public celebration of the region, not a religious event linked to any mosque or place of worship.
He noted that the festival’s organising committee includes representatives from various religious and political backgrounds. Leaders from various parties, officials, and tourists regularly participate in the event.
He also mentioned that a festival supplement had included congratulatory messages from Minister M B Rajesh, MP Abdusamad Samadani, himself, the BJP constituency president, and others. This would serve as evidence that ‘Thrithala Fest’ is a national event rather than a religious gathering, he said.
Meanwhile, the BJP on Monday demanded that a case be registered against the event’s organisers.
BJP state president K Surendran termed the incident “shocking” and accused both the ruling and opposition parties of appeasement politics.
A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport’s chief executive said.
Snow was being blown by winds gusting to 40 mph (65 kph) when the flight from Minneapolis carrying 76 passengers and four crew attempted to land at around 2:15 p.m. Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it’s not clear what went so drastically wrong when the plane touched down.
Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences but provided no details on the crash. Video posted to social media only showed the aftermath with the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR overturned, the fuselage seemingly intact and firefighters dousing what was left of the fire as passengers climbed out and walked across the tarmac.
“We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,” Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters.
Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken said 18 passengers were taken to the hospital. Earlier in the day, Ornge air ambulance said it was transporting one pediatric patient to Toronto’s SickKids hospital and two injured adults to other hospitals in the city.
Emergency personnel reached the plane within a few minutes and Aitken said the response “went as planned.” He said “the runway was dry and there was no cross-wind conditions.”
The crash was the fourth major aviation accident in North America in the past three weeks. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground. And on Feb. 6, 10 people were killed in a plane crash in Alaska.
The last major crash at Pearson was on Aug. 2, 2005, when an Airbus A340 landing from Paris skidded off the runway and burst into flames amid stormy weather. All 309 passengers and crew aboard Air France Flight 358 survived the crash.
On Monday, Pearson was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 32 mph (51 kph) gusting to 40 mph (65 kph), according to the Meteorological Service of Canada. The temperature was about 16.5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8.6 degrees Celsius).
The Delta flight was cleared to land at about 2:10 p.m. Audio recordings show the control tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow “bump” on the approach.
“It sounds to me like a controller trying to be helpful, meaning the wind is going to give you a bumpy ride coming down, that you’re going to be up and down through the glide path,” said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida.
“So it was windy. But the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that,” Cox said. “The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that.”
The plane came to a rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L, not far from the start of the runway. Just after the crash, tower controllers spoke with the crew of a medical helicopter that had just left Pearson and was returning to help.
“Just so you’re aware, there’s people outside walking around the aircraft there,” a controller said.
“Yeah, we’ve got it. The aircraft is upside down and burning,” the medical helicopter pilot responded.
Cox, who flew for U.S. Air for 25 years and has worked on U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigations, said the CRJ-900 aircraft is a proven aircraft that’s been in service for decades and does a good job of handling inclement weather.
He said it’s unusual for a plane to end up on its roof.
“We’ve seen a couple of cases of takeoffs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it’s pretty rare,” Cox said.
Among the questions that need to be answered, Cox said, is why the crashed plane was missing its right wing.
“If one wing is missing, it’s going to have a tendency to roll over,” he said. “Those are going to be central questions as to what happened to the wing and the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. They will be found, if not today, tomorrow, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will read them out and they will have a very good understanding of what actually occurred here.”
The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would head up the investigation and provide any updates. The NTSB in the U.S. said it is leading a team to assist in the Canadian investigation.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement that “the hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport.”
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he has been in touch with Delta about the crash.
Israeli PM revealed a blueprint to redevelop Gaza into an idyllic urban and rural settlement (Image: Israel PMO)
Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled a vision for the future of Gaza, following closely on the heels of Donald Trump’s contentious plans for the region.
The Israeli Prime Minister shared a blueprint, complete with striking CGI renderings, proposing the transformation of Gaza into an urban oasis. This plan mirrors Trump’s idea to convert Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East” which the former U.S. President announced last week during a press conference with Netanyahu.
According to The Sun, speculation is rife that Trump may have been briefed on Netanyahu’s AI-enhanced vision of Gaza. Nadav Shtrauchler, a previous strategist for Netanyahu, commented to the publication: “I think it’d been shown to Trump one way or another.
“Trump didn’t wake up in the morning and come up with the idea, there would have been routes to this, probably from Israel. It was planted somehow.”
The futuristic designs, labeled “Gaza 2035” potentially influencing Trump, depict the area adorned with avant-garde skyscrapers and connected by a 132-mile railway to NEOM.
The ambitious proposal touts “US dominance” and aims to elevate Gaza “from crisis to prosperity” by completely reconstructing the territory “from nothing”.
This revelation comes amidst the furor caused by Trump, who infamously pledged to “take over” the Gaza Strip and transform it into a luxurious Middle Eastern “Riviera”. The Republican, aged 78, faced global backlash after suggesting that displaced Palestinians should be resettled elsewhere.
Trump claimed his strategy would generate “thousands of jobs” and turn the area into a “magnificent” destination inhabited by “the world’s people”.
Trump remarked: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll make that into an international unbelievable place. The potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable. You have to learn from history, you just can’t let it keep repeating itself.”
Among the numerous leaders to criticise these comments was Sir Keir Starmer, who reiterated his support for a two-state solution as the key to resolving the region’s issues.
4.0 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Delhi-NCR on February 16, 2023 | PTI
Strong tremors were felt in the national capital and adjoining areas as an earthquake of 4.0 magnitude struck the region early on Monday. There are no reports of any injuries or collateral damage. The depth of the earthquake was only 5km.
Notably, shallow earthquakes, originating five or 10 kilometres below the surface, tend to cause more damage than those originating deep below the surface. Panic gripped the region as buildings started shaking due to the earthquake. Residents rushed out of their apartments and houses for safety.
Netizens shared videos of of the earthquake on social media showing houses, electric poles, fans and solar panels swaying due to the earthquake.
A woman in her 50s who was out on a morning walk in E Block of Noida Sector 20 said, “‘Hum log bahar park me walk kar rahe the toh pata nahin chala. Lekin kafi tej tha. Log bahar aa gaye. (We were walking in the park, so we didn’t feel it strongly. But it was quite strong. People came rushing out)’,” she told PTI.
Naresh Kumar, a resident of West Delhi, said this was the first time that he had experienced such a strong tremor.
Ratanlal Sharma, who was waiting at New Delhi railway station for a train to Prayagraj, said he was at the platform when he felt a sudden jolt. “It felt like a train suddenly came to a screeching halt,” he said.
Kim Sae-ron on the red carpet in 2017. Pic: Reuters
South Korean actress Kim Sae-ron has been found dead at her home in Seoul, according to the Yonhap news agency.
A friend discovered the Netflix actress after going to her house.
They called the police who found no signs of foul play, according to Yonhap.
Kim, 24, was one of South Korea’s most promising actresses and starred in a number of box-office hits, most recently in the 2023 hit Netflix series Bloodhounds.
Her career took a hit, however, after she crashed her car while driving drunk in 2022.
She was fined 20 million won (£11,000) over the incident and largely withdrew from acting.
She attempted to return to acting last year but later removed herself again over health issues, according to Yonhap.
Kim rose to prominence in 2009 with her role in A Brand New Life, which saw her appear at the Cannes Film Festival.
JD Vance has taken aim at the UK and Europe over what he claimed was “backsliding” free speech and democracy.
The US vice president pulled no punches when addressing European leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.
“When I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners,” he said, during a speech that roamed across Europe targeting perceived infringes on free speech.
Speaking with unusual directness to some of the US’s closest allies, he added: “Perhaps most concerningly, I look to our very dear friends, the United Kingdom, where the backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs.”
Pic: Boris Roessler/picture-alliance/dpa/AP
Mr Vance criticised the country for the conviction of 51-year-old Adam Smith-Connor, who was given a conditional discharge for breaching a safe zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.
“After British law enforcement spotted him and demanded to know what he was praying for, Adam replied simply, it was on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before,” Mr Vance said.
He then went on to talk about “safe access zones” in Scotland – a 200m wide area (150m in England) outside abortion clinics to stop anti-abortion campaigners leafleting, holding vigils, or showing graphic images to people near the sites.
‘New sheriff in town’
“In Britain, and across Europe, free speech I fear is in retreat,” he said.
“In Washington, there is a new sheriff in town and under Donald Trump’s leadership we may disagree with your views but we will fight to defend your right to offer it in the public square, agree or disagree,” Mr Vance said to muted applause.
He then switched his focus to the car attack in Munich on Thursday, in which 36 people were injured.
Mr Vance wrongly described the suspect in that attack as an asylum seeker, when in reality he has lived in Munich since he arrived as an unaccompanied minor in 2016 and has a work permit.
Mr Vance also spoke about an annulled election in Romania, and issues in Sweden, Germany and Brussels.
‘Like it or not, Brexit won’
As he listed values he believes Europe is diverging away from the US over, he raised immigration.
“I can’t bring it up again without thinking about the terrible victims who had a beautiful winter day in Munich ruined,” he said.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with them and will remain with them. But why did this happen in the first place?”
He went on: “No voter on this continent went to the ballot box to open the floodgates to millions of unvetted immigrants.
“But you know what they did vote for in England? They voted for Brexit and, agree or disagree, they voted for it.
“And more and more all over Europe, they’re voting for political leaders who promised to put an end to out-of-control migration.”
UKRAINE’S brave President Volodymyr Zelensky has today called for the creation of an “Army of Europe” to take on Russia.
Zelensky spoke about his ambitions to create a continental military force at the Munich Security Conference – as he blasted Vladimir Putin a “liar, weak and predictable”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has called for the creation of an ‘Army of Europe’ to take on RussiaCredit: AFP
The 47-year-old Ukrainian leader made the comments as he notably left out Washington’s involvement in his European army dream.
It comes amid Donald Trump urging Ukraine to find a resolution to end the war quickly.
President Trump has already shared a phone call with both Zelensky and Putin with all three men looking to agree to a peace deal.
Tyrant Putin is expected to make a number of deranged demands when he finally meets Trump for Ukraine peace for talks.
Whereas Zelensky has said he won’t accept any peace deal unless his country is given security guarantees.
Speaking in Germany today, Zelensky proposed a new plan to achieve safety for Ukraine going forwards.
He said: “Many leaders have talked about Europe and that needs its own military, an army of Europe and I believe the time has come.
“The Armed Forces of Europe must be created.
“Without Ukraine’s army, Europe’s army’s will not be enough to stop Russia.
“Only our army in Europe has real, modern battlefield experience but our army alone is not enough too.
“And we need what you can provide weapons, training, sanctions, financing, political pressure and unity.”
The Ukrainian president said Europe should be looking to create such a military separate from Nato in case “America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it”.
He added that after three years of fighting, Ukraine has managed to build up the foundations of a European army and should now act on it.
“As we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security we must build the Armed Forces of Europe so that Europe’s future depends only on Europeans and decisions about Europe are made in Europe,” he said.
“Europe has everything it takes but it needs to come together.
“We need confidence in our own friends so that others have no choice but to respect Europe’s power and without a European army that is impossible.”
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk appeared to support Zelensky’s calls as he said Europe urgently needs a plan over security.
He said he fears “global players will decide” Europe’s future if they don’t prepare.
The calls for a united force on the continent comes as disagreements over Ukraine’s potential Nato membership continues to rage on.
Ukraine has wanted to be a part of Nato for years – an issue that helped spark Vlad’s initial invasion three years ago.
This would give them protection from any foreign forces as an attack on a Nato country would result in a counter strike conducted by the remaining nations.
Moscow has constantly said they will not allow Ukraine to join the alliance with Putin vowing to continue his assault until he is given these assurances.
The US has also been accused of rolling over to Russia before negotiations had even started following on from Putin and Trump’s positive chat.
Over the past few days, those close to The White House have said Ukraine won’t be allowed to go back to its 2014 borders before the annexing of Crimea.
US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has also been adamant that there is no chance Ukraine would be allowed to join Nato.
Zelensky told global leaders in Munich he is refusing to accept that Ukraine won’t be allowed a Nato membership.
He even said the organisation needs to stop allowing Putin to dictate things on his terms and instead help Ukraine to prevent a wider war breaking out in Europe.
A general view of a construction site where many tall apartment buildings have been constructed in recent years, in Parramatta, Sydney, August 14, 2023. REUTERS/Stella Qiu/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Australia will ban foreign investors from buying existing homes in the country for two years, its government said on Sunday, in an effort to boost under-pressure housing supply.
“We’re banning foreign purchases of established dwellings from April 1, 2025, until March 31 2027,” treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement with housing minister Clare O’Neil. It added that a review would be undertaken on whether the ban would be extended.
Dissatisfaction with housing in Australia reached an all-time high last year and it is an issue that is expected to dominate a general election due by May.
O’Neil said in comments televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corp that the ban would likely free up around 1,800 properties per year for local buyers.
“These initiatives are a small but important part of our already big and broad housing agenda which is focused on boosting supply and helping more people into homes,” the ministers’ statement said.
Housing is the largest contributor to the rising cost of living in Australia and is set to be a key issue at the upcoming election. A recent poll had the centre-left Labor government lagging its main conservative political opposition.
The government recently passed housing reforms including a shared equity scheme and tax incentives for developers, to ease cost pressures and achieve a target of building 1.2 million new homes by 2030.\
Delhi Railway Station News: A stampede situation at New Delhi Railway Station claimed 18 lives and left several others injured due to an uncontrollable crowd surge. Authorities have launched a high-level inquiry into the incident.
15 Dead in Delhi Railway Station Stampede Photo : PTI
Delhi: At least 18 people, including five children, died, and several others were injured in a stampede-like situation at New Delhi Railway Station on Saturday night. The Delhi railway station stampede incident created chaos among passengers, but authorities managed to bring the situation under control. The injured were rushed to hospital, as confirmed by the Ministry of Railways.
The deceased include nine women, 4 men and five children. Delhi Station Stampede: What Happened at New Delhi Railway Station?
The incident occurred when the Prayagraj Express was stationed at platform number 14, with a large crowd gathered there, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Railway, KPS Malhotra. The situation worsened as Swatantrata Senani Express and Bhubaneswar Rajdhani were delayed, leading to more passengers gathering on platforms 12, 13, and 14.
According to DCP Malhotra, the sudden surge in the number of passengers was due to the sale of 1,500 general tickets. “That’s why the crowd became ‘uncontrollable.’ There was a stampede-like situation at platform no. 14 and near the escalator near platform no. 1,” he said.
While Indian Railways dismissed reports of a stampede as “a rumour,” they confirmed that an undisclosed number of people had been injured and taken to hospital. The Ministry of Railways stated that the incident occurred at around 10 pm when an “unprecedented rush situation” developed near platforms 13 and 14.
“Some of the passengers present there on the platforms fainted due to this sudden rush further leading to the rumours of a stampede-like situation. This led to the spread of panic. The situation was later controlled by easing the rush situation,” the Ministry said. “Northern Railways immediately ran four special trains to evacuate the unprecedented sudden rush. Now rush has been reduced. In the meanwhile, the fainted & injured passengers have been taken to nearby hospitals by RPF & Delhi Police.” PM Modi Extends Condolences
The tragic incident has prompted a high-level inquiry by the Railways. Several leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, expressed their sorrow over the loss of lives.
PM Modi took to X (formerly Twitter) and wrote, “Distressed by the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station. My thoughts are with all those who have lost their loved ones. I pray that the injured have a speedy recovery. The authorities are assisting all those who have been affected by this stampede.”
As per the notification issued by the Department of Revenue, bourbon whiskey would now attract 50 per cent customs duty on its import.
The US is the primary exporter of bourbon whiskey to India accounting for about one-fourth of all such liquor imported into India. (Representative image)
As per the notification issued by the Department of Revenue, bourbon whiskey would now attract 50 per cent customs duty on its import.
India has slashed import duty on bourbon whiskey to 50 per cent as it warmed up to negotiating a mega trade deal with the US.
The reduction in customs duty on bourbon whiskey was notified on February 13 just ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s talks with US President Donald Trump.
However, there has been no reduction in basic customs duty on import of other liquors. They would continue to attract 100 per cent duty.
The US is the primary exporter of bourbon whiskey to India accounting for about one-fourth of all such liquor imported into India.
As per the notification issued by the Department of Revenue, bourbon whiskey would now attract 50 per cent customs duty on its import.
Paris 2024 Olympics – Athletics – Men’s 5000m Final – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 10, 2024. Grant Fisher of United States reacts. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
American Grant Fisher smashed the world indoor 5,000 meters record at the Boston University David Hemery Valentine Invitational on Friday, just a week after setting the indoor 3,000 meters record.
Fisher clocked 12 minutes 44.09 seconds, lowering the 12:49.60 mark set by Ethiopia’s Kenenisa Bekele in 2004.
The 27-year-old Fisher, who won bronze in both the 5,000 and 10,000m at last year’s Paris Olympics, had broke the world indoor 3,000m record at the Millrose Games in New York on Saturday.
The UK must be prepared to go to war with Russia if Vladimir Putin decides to escalate his war in eastern Europe, a senior MP has said.
European leaders are scrambling to respond to Donald Trump’s announcement yesterday that he discussed a plan to end the war in Ukraine with the Russian president.
In the House of Commons on Thursday, MPs sharply criticised the move, comparing it to Neville Chamberlain’s ill-fated appeasement campaign that failed to stop the Second World War.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also drawn a stark line between the US president’s position and his own, saying: ‘There’s no negotiation about Ukraine which doesn’t include Ukraine.’
Directing questions at defence minister Maria Eagle in the chamber this afternoon, MPs made clear their concerns over the potential repercussions of Trump’s move.
Sir Julian Lewis, the Conservative former head of the defence select committee, asked: ‘Will the Government impress on President Trump at every possible opportunity that the reason why appeasement led to World War Two was that it left a vacuum in Europe? ‘
He continued: ‘Whereas the reason why the occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of that war did not lead to World War Three was the United States filled any possible vacuum and contained further aggression.
‘So if he is going for a settlement against the wishes of the Ukrainian people, the least he can do is to guarantee directly the security of that part of Ukraine which remains unoccupied.’
Vladimir Putin’s call with Donald Trump was his first with a US president since the invasion of Ukraine (Picture: AP)
Johanna Baxter, the Labour MP for Paisley and South Renfrewshire, echoed his sentiment, saying ‘if reports of the call between President Trump and Moscow are to be believed, then this is less the Art of the Deal and more a charter for appeasement’.
Eagle responded: ‘I’ve already said quite clearly that the fate of Ukraine in these negotiations can’t be determined without Ukraine being fully involved, and that is our priority.
‘At the moment to put them in the strongest position, war fighting is still happening, to put them in the strongest possible position to negotiate from strength.’
Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin told the minister ‘some of the defence chiefs have been expressing this, that we must be ready to fight a war with Russia if necessary, in order to be able to deter Russia’.
He added that this would be necessary ‘if we are to be in any position to guarantee the security of an independent and sovereign Ukraine, after whatever is agreed between President Trump and President Putin’.
Speaking to ITV’s Robert Peston, Sir Keir said his ‘position is the NATO position’.
The PM said: ‘Ukrainians want this conflict to end. It could end tomorrow if Russia stopped the aggression and withdrew its troops, and we must never lose sight of that.
‘But Ukraine needs to be in the strongest possible position. Ukrainians want peace. Those that have had to flee their country want to go back to their country.
‘But this has to be led by Ukraine.’
On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer said Britain is committed to Ukraine being on an ‘irreversible path’ to joining Nato after the US stated Nato membership for Kyiv is not a realistic prospect.
Britain has so far sought to strike a delicate balance between supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and keeping Donald Trump, who says he has agreed with Vladimir Putin to start ‘negotiations’ to end the conflict, on side.
But David Lammy, the UK Foreign Secretary, has told broadcasters: ‘We are still some way from a negotiated peace.’
In a readout of the Prime Minister’s conversation with Mr Zelensky, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: ‘The Prime Minister began by reiterating the UK’s concrete support for Ukraine, for as long as it’s needed.
‘He was unequivocal that there could be no talks about Ukraine, without Ukraine.
‘Ukraine needed strong security guarantees, further lethal aid and a sovereign future, and it could count on the UK to step up, he added.
‘The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s commitment to Ukraine being on an irreversible path to Nato as agreed by allies at the Washington Summit last year.’
THIS is the ultra-luxury UFO submarine that can dive 650ft under the ocean and host 12-hour undersea parties.
The posh pod can be rented out for all-night bashes – and you can even get married hundreds of metres underwater.
The Triton 660/9 AVA is kitted out with surround sound, mood lighting and climate control for the ultimate custom experience.
The Florida-based engineers Triton Submarines said they “threw out the rule book” when designing the new model.
It can transform into anything from a casino to a cocktail bar during its 12-hour cruises.
The makers promise that “activities are limited only by the owner’s imagination”.
Guests on board are treated to stunning 360-degree views of the ocean, fine dining, spa treatments and subsea gaming experiences.
The swanky sub is oval-shaped and 3 metres long by 5 metres wide.
The space inside is 2.3 metres, leaving plenty of room for even the tallest of passengers.
Eight guests can fit in the plush leather seats alongside the pilot – or six if you plump for the smaller version.
The underwater craft also weighs a hefty 11 tonnes.
That’s because a lot of tough material is needed for the sub to endure the extreme conditions of the deep ocean.
The sub dives to depths where the pressure is 20 times greater than we experience on land.
The all-important controls for the sit in the middle of the vessel, in a space known as the Halo Cockpit.
This sub is also the first to feature the new wireless Hammerhead Controller, which can be used to drive the vessel from any seat in the pod.
Passengers can even have a crack at driving the thing around, under the watchful eye of the pilot.
Triton says the secret to creating such a roomy sub is their “world-first free-form acrylic hulls”.
They add: “As the shape remains constant across its width, so much more of the space is realised as additional headroom, legroom and usable space.”
The Triton sub can be booked for locations around the world, with past dive spots including the Great Barrier Reef, Antarctica, Japan, the Galapagos and the Red Sea.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk delivers remarks as he joins U.S. President Donald Trump during an executive order signing in the Oval Office at the White House on February 11, 2025 in Washington, DC. Andrew Harnik | Getty Images
The U.S. government needs to “delete entire agencies” in a cost and efficiency drive, tech billionaire and Tesla
co-founder and CEO Elon Musk said Thursday when asked about whether the changes he is implementing as part of President Donald Trump’s administration will last beyond Trump’s term.
“I think we do need to delete entire agencies, as opposed to leave part of them behind. … It’s kind of like leaving a weed,” Musk said. “If you don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back. But if you remove the roots of the weed — it doesn’t stop weeds from ever going back, but it makes it harder.”
Musk, who also founded SpaceX and owns social media platform X, made the comments while speaking via video link to an audience at Dubai’s annual World Governments Summit, as part of a conversation hosted by the UAE’s artificial intelligence minister, Omar Sultan Al Olama.
“So we have to really delete entire agencies, many of them,” Musk said. “And that’s not to say there won’t be an increase over time of bureaucracy in some new administration, but it will be from a much lower baseline. So certainly it’s a step in the right direction.”
“Nothing’s forever,” he added, “but I think we can strengthen the foundations of the United States substantially.”
Trump appointed the South African-born engineer and tech entrepreneur as a “special government employee” and the head of a new advisory body called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, under the administration. Musk has been vocal about his aims to improve government efficiency and reduce bureaucracy and regulations, and on Thursday said that such efforts could amount to a $1 trillion reduction in the federal deficit by 2026.
PM Modi Sets New Manta For India-US Ties After Meeting With Donald Trump
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House, shared his vision of ‘Make India Great Again’. PM Modi said that the joint vision of MAGA and MIGA will become a mega partnership.
MIGA is a phrase inspired by Donald Trump’s famous slogan ‘Make America Great Again’. “In the language of America, it’s Make India Great Again – MIGA. When America and India work together, this MAGA plus MIGA becomes a ‘mega partnership for prosperity’ and it is this mega spirit that gives new scale and scope to our objectives,” said PM Modi while addressing a joint press conference alongside Trump.
President Trump often talks about MAGA.
In India, we are working towards a Viksit Bharat, which in American context translates into MIGA.
“The people of America are well aware of President Trump’s motto ‘MAGA – Make America Great Again.’ The people of India too are focusing on heritage and development as they move forward at a fast pace and with a firm resolve towards the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047,” he added.
Sharing a glimpse from Modi-Trump joint press conference, Union Minister Piyush Goyal wrote on X, “Make America Great Again (MAGA) + Make India Great Again (MIGA) = MEGA Partnership for Prosperity.”
Make America Great Again (MAGA) + Make India Great Again (MIGA) = MEGA Partnership for Prosperity 🇮🇳🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/lGBWa8fPRJ
India and the US have decided to take a big leap in broad-basing their strategic ties in several critical areas, with President Trump announcing after talks with PM Modi that Washington is paving the way to provide New Delhi with F-35 fighter jets as part of increasing military supplies by billions of dollars.
After holding wide-ranging talks with PM Modi, Trump said there is a “special bond” between the world’s oldest and largest democracies and both sides decided to shore up cooperation in diverse areas such as energy, critical technologies and connectivity.
PM Modi is the fourth foreign leader to visit Trump in the weeks after the American leader’s inauguration as the 47th President of the US.
PM Modi congratulated Tulsi Gabbard on her confirmation as US’ Director of National Intelligence(X/@narendramodi)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with newly elected director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard after landing in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning (IST). This was one of the first meetings among many in Modi’s packed US schedule, which also includes meeting President Donald Trump.
Sharing a glimpse of the meeting with Tulsi Gabbard, PM Narendra Modi said that he discussed India-US friendship with her and also congratulated her for becoming Trump’s Director of National Intelligence.
In a post on X, he wrote, “Met USA’s Director of National Intelligence, @TulsiGabbard in Washington DC. Congratulated her on her confirmation. Discussed various aspects of the India-USA friendship, of which she’s always been a strong votary.”
Met USA’s Director of National Intelligence, @TulsiGabbard in Washington DC. Congratulated her on her confirmation. Discussed various aspects of the India-USA friendship, of which she’s always been a strong votary. pic.twitter.com/w2bhsh8CKF
Modi, who is on a two-day US visit, was welcomed by a huge crowd of the Indian diaspora and expressed his gratitude to them.
“A warm reception in the winter chill! Despite the cold weather, the Indian diaspora in Washington DC has welcomed me with a very special welcome. My gratitude to them,” he wrote on X.
A warm reception in the winter chill!
Despite the cold weather, the Indian diaspora in Washington DC has welcomed me with a very special welcome. My gratitude to them. pic.twitter.com/H1LXWafTC2
Prime Minister Modi is slated to meet President Donald Trump during his trip to the United States and hold a bilateral meeting with him. This will be the first official meeting between Modi and Trump in the latter’s second term as the US President.
Expressing his anticipation to meet Trump, Modi said he was “looking forward” to the meeting and discussing India-US ties. On X, he wrote, “Landed in Washington DC a short while ago. Looking forward to meeting @POTUS Donald Trump and building upon the India-USA Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. Our nations will keep working closely for the benefit of our people and for a better future for our planet. @realDonaldTrump”
Landed in Washington DC a short while ago. Looking forward to meeting @POTUS Donald Trump and building upon the India-USA Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership. Our nations will keep working closely for the benefit of our people and for a better future for our planet.… pic.twitter.com/dDMun17fPq
Programmes to tackle HIV, polio, mpox and bird flu have been affected by the freeze on tens of billions of dollars of overseas aid from the US, says the head of the World Health Organization (WHO).
US President Donald Trump has taken steps to close the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), arguing that its spending is “totally unexplainable”.
However, WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged the Trump administration to consider resuming aid funding until other solutions can be found.
HIV treatments and other services have been disrupted in 50 countries, he said at a briefing on Wednesday.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the freeze on US aid funding, at a virtual press conference in Geneva, Dr Tedros said: “There are actions that the US government is taking… which we’re concerned are having a serious impact on global health.”
In particular he pointed to the suspension of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, which he said had halted HIV treatment, testing and prevention services in 50 countries.
He added that a reprieve for life-saving services had not stopped the disruption.
“Clinics are shuttered and health workers have been put on leave,” Dr Tedros said.
Experts in global health have warned of the spread of disease, as well as delays to the development of vaccines and new treatments as a result of the cuts.
Trump has argued that USAID is “incompetent and corrupt”.
He recently announced huge cuts to the agency’s 10,000-strong workforce and the immediate suspension of almost all of its aid programmes.
The agency spends about $40bn (£32bn) – about 0.6% of total US yearly government spending – on humanitarian aid, much of which goes towards health programmes.
The vast majority of USAID money is spent in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, where it is primarily used for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.
Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who is working on the White House’s effort to shrink the size of the federal government, has previously claimed that the aid agency is “a criminal organisation”.
Neither Trump nor Musk have provided clear evidence to support their claims.
As well as the freeze on USAID, President Trump has taken steps to withdraw the United States from the WHO.
Under the Biden administration the US was the largest funder of the UN’s health agency and in 2023 it contributed almost one-fifth of the agency’s budget.
Dr Tedros said Trump’s decision was affecting collaboration between countries on global health threats. He also said the US had reduced its reporting of bird flu cases in humans.
The WHO says it has employed emergency measures similar to those used during the Covid pandemic to fill the gaps where there are shortages – in life-saving antiretroviral medication, for example, which is used to treat people living with HIV.
Users have flagged omissions on online boardsImage: Andrew Kelly/File Photo/Reuters
Google has removed cultural events like Black History Month honoring African Americans as well as Pride Month from being listed as default holidays or national observances on Google Calendar.
Several other events and holidays like Women’s History Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, National Hispanic Heritage Month and Indigenous People Month were also removed from Calendar.
Google has yet to list out the cultural events that it has removed. A spokesperson for the tech giant told the Associated Press agency that it first made the changes in the middle of 2024.
“Maintaining hundreds of moments manually and consistently globally wasn’t scalable or sustainable,” Google said in its statement to AP, adding: “So in mid-2024 we returned to showing only public holidays and national observances from timeanddate.com globally, while allowing users to manually add other important moments.”
It is not clear why the changes are being noticed now, but they come as tech companies publicly pull away from their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.
US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office, terminating “illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”
The Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, on Monday did not seem happy with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) over the delay in delivering the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark 1A.
Air Chief Marshal AP Singh Irked During Aero India 2025 Over Delay In Delivery Of LCA Tejas MK 1A Fighter Jets (Screengrab) | X/@ItsShubhangi)
Bengaluru: The Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal AP Singh, on Monday did not seem happy with the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) over the delay in delivering the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) Tejas Mark 1A. During the ongoing Arero India 2025, Air Chief Marshal Singh Singh told HAL officials that he had no confidence in the state-run company as it failed to meet the critical requirements of the force. A video of the conversation between the Chief of Air Staff and the HAL officials also surfaced online.
“I can only tell you our requirements and what our worries are. You have to alleviate those worries and make us more confident. At the moment, I am just not confident of HAL, which is a very wrong thing to happen,” Air Chief Marshal Singh told the HAL officials.
Here Is The Video:
“Maza nehi aa raha,” Indian Air Force Chief tells HAL executives that he is not confident of HAL.
A very concerning exchange over delayed Tejas Mk1A jets. Hope something constructive comes out of these events. High time for entry of private players. pic.twitter.com/VS3dDSxrgL
“Everything is [driven by] ‘ho jayega’ (will happen) and ‘karenge’ (we will do it) !” Singh is heard saying in the clip shot,” The Chief of Air Staff could be heard saying. He further added that he would be the happiest person if the HAL proved him wrong. Notably, the video of the conversation surfaced on Tuesday.
Notably, the delay in the delivery of the LCA Mk 1A could hamper the combat effectiveness of the IAF. The force has ordered 83 Mk-1A fighters for Rs 48,000 crore in February 2021. The IAF is reportedly planning to buy more 97 Mark 1As at the cost of Rs 67,000 crore. Notably, the HAl had promised to deliver the first aircraft to the IAF by March last year. However, due to the inability of the US firm GE Aerospace to supply the F404 engines on time and some other key delays the HAL failed to deliver the first aircraft.
“I was promised when I come here in February that I will see 11 Mk-1As ready minus the engines. That is what I was promised. Not a single [fighter] is ready… You calling it Mk-1A. It is not Mk-1A. Mk-1A is after the capability comes in. Then only it is Mk-1A. (Not) just by change of one software to other software…the weapon comes in, when the capability comes in, then it is Mk-1A. But ‘maza nahi aa raha hai’ (it’s not working out ) ,” the air chief could be heard saying in the video.
Notably, four Mk-1As performed in the inaugural flypast at the airshow t the Yelahanka airbase in Bengaluru. However, the critical trials are yet to begin, which includes testing of the indigenous Astra beyond-visual-range missile and other weaponry.
Narendra Modi at the Artificial Intelligence Action Summit in Paris on Tuesday
When Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Washington and meets President Donald Trump later this week, there will be some warm hugs and shared laughs. But that will not be all.
Trump and Modi have developed a strong personal rapport over the years, marked by high-profile meetings and joint appearances.
Since their first meeting in Washington in 2017, their bond has grown through other events, including joint appearances at massive rallies in Houston and Ahmedabad. Their chemistry stems from shared worldviews and politics and a mutual strategic focus on countering China, a concern that has also strengthened the broader US-India partnership.
Not surprisingly, Trump has often criticised India, but he has never criticised Modi.
And so, during Modi’s visit, the two leaders will probably spend time mapping out next steps in the US-India strategic partnership, which is already in a good place.
Modi will reportedly meet several members of Trump’s cabinet, as well as US business leaders and members of the Indian-American community.
He may also meet SpaceX and Tesla chief Elon Musk. Modi, keen to scale up India’s burgeoning electric vehicles sector, would be happy if Musk opened a Tesla factory in India.
And yet the Trump-Modi conviviality and heady talk of strategic partnership may mask a sobering reality: during Modi’s visit, the relationship’s transactional side will come into sharp relief with each leader, especially Trump, armed with an array of demands.
Delhi knows Trump well. Many of Modi’s current cabinet ministers also served during his previous term, which overlapped with part of the first Trump administration. That familiarity has been on display since Trump’s inauguration last month: Delhi has publicly signalled its willingness to lower tariffs, take back undocumented Indian immigrants and buy American oil.
It has already lowered some tariffs and taken back 104 undocumented Indians, with the first plane arriving in India last week. These pre-emptive steps are meant to prevent Trump from making specific demands of India and to reduce the likelihood of tensions with the new Trump administration.
Still, Trump may ask Modi to make additional tariff reductions, to further chip away at a US goods and services trade deficit with India that has approached $46bn (£37.10bn) in recent years. But an obstacle could become an opportunity: Modi may call on Trump to enter into bilateral talks on an economic partnership accord meant to reduce tariffs on both sides.
In recent years, Delhi has shown a growing willingness to pursue trade deals. The Trump administration may prove to be a more willing interlocutor than the Biden administration, which imposed heavy environmental and labour-related conditions on new trade agreements.
Trump may also ask Modi to take back more undocumented Indians. Given that some estimates put the number at more than 700,000 – the third-largest such group in the US – this will be a difficult and delicate issue for Delhi to navigate.
Last week, India’s Foreign Minister S Jaishankar told parliament that the government was working with the US to ensure Indian citizens were not mistreated while being deported after reports of them being shackled sparked anger.
Trump may also call on Modi to buy more American oil.
In 2021, India was the top destination for American oil exports, but the Russian invasion of Ukraine brought major changes in global oil markets and prompted Delhi to ramp up imports of cheap oil from close partner Russia. The price point will determine how much oil India is willing to buy from the US.
Modi may also come with his own energy ask: invest in Indian nuclear energy. Delhi is amending its nuclear liability law and has announced a new nuclear energy mission, in an attempt to sharpen international interest in the fuel.
India aims to meet half its energy requirements through renewable energy by 2030. Asking Trump to invest in nuclear fuel amounts to a potential happy medium: it is cleaner than fossil fuels, but far removed from the solar and wind power that may not strike the Trump administration as an attractive investment.
Technology will probably be discussed as well.
This was a fast-growing space for bilateral relations in the Biden era, thanks to the 2022 implementation of the Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technologies (iCET), which both sides view as a new cornerstone for strategic partnership. iCET is meant to be directly overseen by the two national security advisers – to avoid getting bogged down in bureaucracy – which means they must each be personally invested in it.
Modi will likely seek assurances from Trump and his National Security Adviser Mike Waltz that they remain committed to this. Given Washington’s focus on countering China by making India a bigger part of tech global supply chains, they probably will.
Also on the tech co-operation front, Modi may make a pitch for Trump to maintain the H-1B visa regime. These visas for highly skilled foreign workers, heavily criticised by some influential Trump supporters, have been awarded to large numbers of Indian tech employees in the US.
Google Maps has changed the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America for people using the app in the US.
Explaining the move, Google said it was making the change as part of “a longstanding practice” of following name changes when updated by official government sources.
It said the Gulf – which is bordered by the US, Cuba and Mexico – would not be changed for people using the app in Mexico, and users elsewhere in the world will see the label: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.
It comes after President Donald Trump ordered the body of water to be renamed in US government documents after he returned to office last month.
Mexico had decried the move, arguing that the US had no legal right to change the Gulf’s name.
The change was made by Google on Monday after the Geographic Names Information System, a US government database run by the Interior Department, listed an update to the Gulf’s name.
The listing reads: “The Gulf of America, formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico, with an average depth 5300 ft is a major body of water bordered and nearly landlocked by North America with the Gulf’s eastern, northern, and northwestern shores in the U.S. and its southwestern and southern shores in Mexico.”
It said the change was made in accordance with Trump’s executive order to “restore names that honor American Greatness”.
Following the signing of the order, President Trump proclaimed 9 February as “Gulf of America Day”.
“I call upon public officials and all the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities,” a White House statement said.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum had asked Google to reconsider its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico.
She argued the US could not legally change the Gulf’s name because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dictates that an individual country’s sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles out from the coastline.
The Associated Press, a global media organisation, said that it would not change the name of the Gulf of Mexico in its style guide – which is used by most US media outlets.
Because of the style guide decision, the White House said it was barring an AP reporter from covering an executive order signing in the Oval Office.
Hashtags calling for a boycott of BeerBiceps have been trending, and several influencers have also weighed in on the matter. | Image: X
Popular YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, known for his channel BeerBiceps, faces a major backlash after losing over 2 million subscribers in the wake of a controversy surrounding filthy remarks on Samay Raina’s India’s Got Latent, a satirical spin on India’s Got Talent.
Subscriber Count Drops Drastically
As of January 31, BeerBiceps had a subscriber base of 10.5 million. However, following the controversy, the numbers have plummeted to 8.1 million as of February 10. The sharp decline reflects growing public discontent, with several netizens calling for a boycott of the influencer.
What Sparked the Controversy?
The backlash stems from an episode of India’s Got Latent. The show, known for its comedic format, features guest judges such as Ashish Chanchlani and Apoorva Mukhija (The Rebel Kid), who humorously critique participants.
In a viral clip from the episode, Ranveer can be heard asking an offensive question: “Would you rather watch your parents have sex for the rest of your life, or would you join in once and stop it forever?”
The remark has triggered widespread outrage, with social media users condemning it as inappropriate and distasteful.
Public Reaction and Fallout
The controversy has ignited heated debates online, with critics demanding accountability from Allahbadia. Hashtags calling for a boycott of BeerBiceps have been trending, and several influencers have also weighed in on the matter.
Meanwhile, Allahbadia on Monday issued a half-hearted apology for his controversial comment on a show, saying comedy is not his forte and described the whole episode as a “lapse in judgment”.
“My comment was not just inappropriate, it wasn’t even funny. Comedy is not my forte. Just here to say sorry,” Allahbadia, popularly known as BeerBiceps, said in a video statement posted on his social media handles.
Allahbadia has been mercilessly trolled for his distasteful comment on parents and sex on Samay Raina’s “India’s Got Latent” show.
“Many of you asked if this is how I wish to use my platform. Obviously, this is not how I wish to use my platform. I am not going to give any context, justification or reasoning behind whatever happened. I am just here for an apology. I, personally, had a lapse in judgement. It wasn’t cool on my part.”
His podcast is watched by people of all ages and he doesn’t want to be the kind of person that takes that responsibility lightly, the influencer said.
Measles and tetanus vaccine vials are ready to be administered at the Dallas County Health & Human Services immunization clinic in Dallas, on March 8, 2019. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Fifteen measles cases — mostly in school-aged children — have been confirmed in a small county in West Texas with one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state.
South Plains Public Health District Director Zach Holbrooks said Monday that his department was first notified in late January about the first two cases in Gaines County, which he said were “two children who had seen a physician in Lubbock.”
Some of the cases appear to be connected to private religious schools in the district, said Holbrooks, who cautioned that the investigation is ongoing.
“I wouldn’t say they’re all connected, but our teams are looking into exposure sites and the background of those cases,” he said.
Local health officials set up a drive-through vaccination clinic last week and are offering screening services to residents.
The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60. This month, health officials in metro Atlanta are working to contain a measles case that spread to two unvaccinated family members.
Texas law allows children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs. The percentage of kids with exemptions has risen over the last decade from .76% in 2014 to 2.32% last year, according to Texas Department of State Health Services data.
Gaines County has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine: Nearly 14% of children from kindergarten through grade 12 had an exemption in the 2023-24 school year, which is more than five times the state average of 2.32% and beyond the national rate of 3.3%.
But the number of unvaccinated kids in the county is likely significantly higher, DSHS spokeswoman Lara Anton said, because Gaines County has many children who are homeschooled and whose data would not be reported.
The measles, mumps and rubella vaccines is a two-shot series: The first is recommended at 12 to 15 months old and second between 4 to 6 years old. The vaccine is required to attend most public schools in the U.S.
But vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks. Lawmakers across the country have proposed various vaccine requirement changes at a time when anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is awaiting confirmation as the secretary of Health and Human Services.
One of the early Gaines County cases traveled to neighboring New Mexico while they were still infectious, Anton said, but there were no immediate reports of infection. New Mexico Department of Health spokesman Robert Nott said the agency has been in communication with Texas officials but there was no known exposure to measles in his state.
“We’re going to watch this very closely,” Nott said.
Two cases of measles were reported in early January in the Houston area, but Holbrooks said the West Texas cases don’t appear to be connected.
OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration taken May 20, 2024. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
A consortium led by Elon Musk said on Monday it has offered $97.4 billion to buy the nonprofit that controls OpenAI, another salvo in the billionaire’s fight to block the artificial intelligence startup from transitioning to a for-profit firm.
Musk’s bid is likely to ratchet up longstanding tensions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman over the future of the ChatGPT maker at the heart of a boom in generative AI technology. Altman on Monday promptly posted on X: “no thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74 billion if you want.”
Musk cofounded OpenAI with Altman in 2015 as a nonprofit, but left before the company took off. He founded the competing AI startup xAI in 2023.
Musk, the CEO of Tesla (TSLA.O), and owner of tech and social media company X, is a close ally of President Donald Trump. He spent more than a quarter of a billion dollars to help elect Trump, and leads the Department of Government Efficiency, a new arm of the White House tasked with radically shrinking the federal bureaucracy. Musk recently criticized a $500 billion OpenAI-led project announced by Trump at the White House.
OpenAI is now trying to transition into a for-profit from a nonprofit entity, which it says is required to secure the capital needed for developing the best AI models.
Musk sued Altman and others in August last year, claiming they violated contract provisions by putting profit ahead of the public good in the push to advance AI. In November, he asked a U.S. district judge for a preliminary injunction blocking OpenAI from converting to a for-profit structure.
Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and Altman says the founders originally approached him to fund a nonprofit focused on developing AI to benefit humanity, but that it was now focused on making money.
“It’s time for OpenAI to return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was,” Musk said in a statement on Monday. “We will make sure that happens.”
Altman told staff in a message that the company’s board of directors intends to make clear it has no interest in Musk’s “supposed bid”, according to a report by The Information on Monday.
Musk and OpenAI backer Microsoft (MSFT.O) did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The consortium led by Musk includes his AI startup xAI, Baron Capital Group, Emanuel Capital and others.
xAI could merge with OpenAI following a deal, according to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported Musk’s offer earlier on Monday. xAI recently raised $6 billion from investors at a valuation of $40 billion, sources have told Reuters.
‘THROWING A WRENCH’
“This (bid) is definitely throwing a wrench in things,” said Jonathan Macey, a Yale Law School professor specializing in corporate governance.
“The nonprofit is supposed to take money to do whatever good deeds, and if OpenAI prefers to sell it to somebody else for less money, it’s a concern for protecting the interests of the beneficiaries of the not-for-profit.”
OpenAI was valued at $157 billion in its last funding round, cementing its status as one of the most valuable private companies in the world. SoftBank Group (9984.T) is in talks to lead a funding round of up to $40 billion in OpenAI at a valuation of $300 billion, including the new funds, Reuters reported in January.
Aside from any antitrust implications, a deal this size would need Musk and his consortium to raise enormous funds.
Musk’s stock in Tesla is valued at roughly $165 billion, according to LSEG data, but his leverage with banks is likely to be thin after his $44 billion buyout of X, which was then called Twitter, in 2022.
To finance such a bid, Musk could sell part of his stake in Tesla or take a loan against his stake, or use his stake in rocket company SpaceX that is worth tens of billions of dollars as collateral, according to an uninvolved investment banker, who requested anonymity.
“Musk’s offer to buy OpenAI’s nonprofit should significantly complicate OpenAI’s current fundraising and the process of converting into a for-profit corporation,” said Gil Luria, analyst at D.A. Davidson.
The seventh day of the Parliament budget session began at 11 am. One key highlight will be the introduction of the new Income Tax Bill, which received approval from the Union Cabinet on Friday.
The Bill aims to simplify India’s direct tax laws. It will not introduce any new tax burdens but seeks to streamline existing provisions, removing long clauses and complex sentences to make the legislation more accessible.
The Parliament is likely to witness a stormy session as the opposition has demanded a discussion on the stampede at the Maha Kumbh, which killed 30 people and left 60 injured. The deportation of illegal Indian immigrants from the US and the arrest of Indian Fishermen by the Sri Lankan Navy are also topics of discussion.
The first part of the Budget session of the Parliament commenced on January 31 and will continue till February 13. The session will reconvene on March 10 and continue till April 4.
Parliament Budget Session Update
Rajya Sabha will debate Union Budget from 2 pm onwards today. The House will sit for two additional hours (till 8pm) today and tomorrow to complete the debate on the Union Budget.
Parliament Budget Session Update: Sonia Gandhi Calls To Prioritise Census
Member of Parliament Sonia Gandhi called to prioritise census, which was last scheduled for 2021. Ms Gandhi said that 75% of the rural population and 50% of the urban population are entitled to receive subsidised food grain but the benificaries are still decided on the basis of census 2011. Therefore, it is essential to complete the census.
The Union Budget 2025-26 indicates that it is unlikely census will be completed this year as well, she said.
“Food security is not a privilege, it is a fundamental right,” she added.
Parliament Budget Session Update: Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar Makes An Appeal
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankar appealed to the members of the parliament to patiently hear anyone who has been “legitimately given the floor”. He made it clear that no kind of disturbance would be appreciated. “There are occasions when people may be euphoric and otherwise also. This house has to send a very sober message that this house is meant for expression and dialogue and we will uphold it,” he said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks to U.S. President Donald Trump during a meeting at Hyderabad House in New Delhi, India, February 25, 2020. REUTERS/Al Drago/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing additional tariff cuts ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that could boost American exports to India and avoid a potential trade war, government officials said.
Modi’s trip to the U.S. on Wednesday and Thursday comes as Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries, a move aimed at reshaping global trade relationships in favour of the United States.
Trump has not specified which countries would be hit but has previously called India a “very big abuser” on trade and stressed that India should buy more American-made security equipment to move toward a fair bilateral trading relationship.
India is considering tariff reductions in at least a dozen sectors, including electronic, medical and surgical equipment, along with some chemicals, to raise U.S. exports. These reductions align with New Delhi’s domestic production plans, three government officials said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that concessions are being considered for items that India primarily sources from the U.S. or has potential to buy more of, such as dish antennas and wood pulp. Modi is expected to discuss tariffs with Trump next week and India is open to discussing a possible mini trade deal.
The early visit hopes to avoid a “trade war-like situation that is happening between U.S. and China,” a third official said. Trump imposed sweeping 10% tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to respond with duties on American energy.
The officials did not wish to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to media. India’s trade ministry, foreign affairs ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment e-mailed outside official work days.
The discussions on tariff concessions follow a reduction in India’s average import tariff rates to 11% from 13% on several items in the country’s annual budget, and a cut in taxes on high-end bikes and luxury cars.
India is also reviewing surcharges levied on more than 30 items, including luxury cars and solar cells.
The upcoming meeting between Modi and Trump will focus on trade, defense cooperation and technology, but has been overshadowed by the recent deportation of Indians from the U.S.
One of the three officials said the meeting will help offer political direction to ties between the two countries and detailed talks on tariffs will follow the trip.
Despite Trump’s criticism of India’s trade practices, the U.S. president has called Modi “fantastic”.
The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner and two-way trade surpassed $118 billion in 2023/24, with India posting a surplus of $32 billion.
There’s a new race in space, but it’s not where you might think. It’s happening close to home – in the nearest bit of space, right on the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.
High in the skies of Earth, a new space race is underway. Here, just above the boundary where space begins, companies are trying to create a new class of daring satellites. Not quite high-altitude planes and not quite low-orbiting satellites, these sky skimmers are designed to race around our planet in an untapped region, with potentially huge benefits on offer.
Roughly 10,000 satellites are orbiting our planet right now, at speeds of up to 17,000mph (27,000km/h). Every one of these delicate contraptions is in constant free-fall and would drop straight back down to Earth were it not for the blistering speeds at which they travel. It’s their considerable sideways momentum, perfectly stabilised against the Earth’s gravitational pull downwards, that keeps satellites in orbit.
A new class of satellites are aiming to push the limits of this balancing act and plough a much more precarious, lower orbit that would skim the top of Earth’s atmosphere. Known as Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO), spacecraft at these altitudes have to battle against the significantly greater drag from the air in the upper reaches of the atmosphere than their loftier cousins, lest they get pushed out of the sky. Should they manage it, however, such satellites might achieve something even more jaw-dropping – they could potentially fly forever.
“When you start describing it to people, it starts to sound like a perpetual motion machine,” says Spence Wise, senior vice-president at Redwire, an aerospace firm in Florida. A perpetual motion machine is not meant to be possible. But it almost is, in this instance.
A handful of pioneering companies have begun work on designs for satellites that may be able to orbit the planet at these unusually low altitudes while simultaneously harvesting air and using it to make propellant – literally on the fly. This new generation of orbiters could enable ultra-high-definition surveillance of activities on the ground, or superfast satellite-based communications.
If you want to send something into orbit, you have to decide how high your satellite is going to fly. Earth orbits are generally described in terms of altitude and are categorised into different sections. The highest, at some 22,000 miles (36,000km) and above is called High Earth orbit. Here, satellites enter a geostationary position, meaning they are always above the same location on Earth below. This is useful for telecommunications and weather monitoring, for example. Next is Medium Earth orbit, which spans from roughly 22,000 miles (36,000km) down to 1,200 miles (2,000km) above the planet’s surface. Below this is Low Earth orbit, which stretches down to altitudes of 250 miles (400km), where the International Space Station (ISS) is found.
Even further below this lies VLEO, loosely defined as anything below the ISS and down to an altitude of about 60 miles (100km). Operating here is difficult because of the influence of Earth’s atmosphere. “The atmosphere will increase exponentially as you come down,” says Hugh Lewis, a professor of astronautics and a space debris expert at the University of Southampton in the UK.
That creates more drag on your satellite, which can spell doom. As molecules in the atmosphere smash into the satellite, they rob the vehicle of its momentum, causing the tug of our planet’s gravity to drag it towards the ground.
A satellite left in medium Earth orbit or above would carry on circling our planet for millennia. In VLEO, however, it would last barely months, weeks, or even days depending on its speed, shape and mass, dictating the amount of drag it produces and thus its lifetime. Once a satellite dips to an altitude of about 60 miles (100km), the end is imminent. The intense friction created by the thicker atmosphere subjects the satellite to temperatures of thousands of degrees, ultimately tearing it apart.
All satellites pass through VLEO on their way up or down, but not many have purposefully tried to stay there. One such spacecraft, however, was the European Space Agency’s Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite. Launched in 2009, it orbited at an altitude of around 155 miles (250km), using an ion propulsion system to fire out charged particles behind the spacecraft. This gave it a constant level of thrust that could counteract the drag of the atmosphere.
GOCE was intended to measure Earth’s gravitational field with extreme precision, which it achieved. But it also demonstrated the design choices that were necessary for operating in VLEO. It had a sleek, elongated form that helped it to overcome atmospheric drag. “It looked like a dart,” says Lewis. GOCE ultimately ran out of fuel and burned up in the atmosphere on re-entry in 2013.
Several companies are now trying to do something even more impressive. They are developing technology to harvest molecules from the thin layer of air that is present in VLEO in order to actually propel satellites here. Such a system, called Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP), has been made possible by advancements in electric and ion propulsion in recent years. In essence, it involves fixing a large bucket or opening to the front of the satellite, into which gas molecules from the atmosphere flow before they are ionised to create plasma that generates thrust.
“The idea is to use the same air slowing down your satellite as a propellant,” says Francesco Romano, a scientist at the Swiss Plasma Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, who has previously studied this technology. Using electric and magnetic fields, the engine would ionise gas from the atmosphere, taking away one electron from each molecule, to produce a free electron and an ion. Then, using magnets, the electrons and ions are pushed out the back of the spacecraft, producing thrust. “Theoretically, if you can generate a thrust that is the same as your drag, you stay at this altitude for an infinite amount of time,” says Romano.
To date, an assortment of experimental ABEP systems have been able to produce relatively small amounts of thrust at ground level, but their feasibility in orbit has yet to be properly tested.
One company investigating the potential of ABEP is Stellar Advanced Concepts in London. Together with another firm in the Netherlands and the University of Manchester, the company received a grant of £390,000 ($510,000) from the British government towards their efforts in July 2024. They hope to launch a demonstration of the technology into space by 2027. “That would be a small satellite with a small payload, maybe an Earth observation camera of some kind, as a proof of principle,” says Newsam.
A start-up called Kreios Space, based in Igualada, Spain, is also working on an ABEP prototype it aims to fly by 2026. In Kreios’s case, this would be a small satellite “that allows us to do all the testing in orbit in different altitudes,” says Adrián Senar Tejedor, the company’s CEO and co-founder. The optimal altitude for thrust and drag balancing is expected to be between 125 to 155 miles (200 to 250km). “That’s the sweet spot,” says Senar Tejedor.
But he points out that significant contracts for developing this technology are emerging on the other side of the Atlantic.
The US Department of Defense’s Otter program has already committed more than $20m (£16m) to help several companies develop air-breathing VLEO satellites. One of them, Redwire is designing a sleek “orbital drone” called SabreSat that could potentially achieve endless VLEO orbits. “That is the intent,” says Wise.
Redwire has a design for a satellite with solar panels facing edge-on to its motion, like the fins of a fish, in order to reduce drag on the spacecraft. The build would be modular, so that different versions of the satellite could fly with different instruments on board. “You can think of it like a ship,” says Wise. “It has bulkheads, and we’re able to add additional bulkheads to increase the length.”
The European arm of Redwire is concurrently developing its own VLEO satellite, called Phantom, as part of a European Space Agency (Esa) project called Skimsat. “We’re currently in the middle of the design stage, and the team is working towards a launch in 2027 or 2028,” says Juan Pablo Ramos, business development manager for Redwire in Antwerp, Belgium.
Phantom will not use air-breathing technology, however. Instead, it will rely on a specific blend of undisclosed materials on the satellite to reduce drag and an aerodynamic cone-shaped front. “The cone is designed to improve drag and protect the instruments,” says Ramos.
Getting to orbit soon is important. “I expect it to become increasingly popular,” says Newsam. “I do think it’s important to have first-mover advantage. Whoever gains the credibility of being able to produce an ABEP system, they would win the orders. But there should end up being a reasonably big market.”
There are some very good reasons for operating a satellite in VLEO. The first is Earth imaging – the closer you are to Earth, the higher resolution your images can be. “You could either have smaller cameras and gain the same quality of data, or the same camera and get a higher resolution,” adds Newsam.
That might be useful for the military, but also for civilian purposes too. “There are lots of applications in maritime, agriculture, wildfire monitoring,” says Senar Tejedor. And there could be scientific benefits from studying the atmosphere in VLEO. Putting sensors on satellites operating here “would be a dream”, says Sean Elvidge, an assistant professor of space environment at the University of Birmingham in the UK. “It would tell us an awful lot about the environment.”
The other major application of being in VLEO is that you are closer to the ground for communications. That is particularly useful for space internet services, like SpaceX’s Starlink network, which currently beams the internet to receivers on the ground from higher orbits. By using lower satellites in VLEO, the antennas can act like mobile phone towers and beam the internet straight to your phone. “Going direct to a cell phone is a challenging task to do from space,” says Tim Farrar, a satellite communications expert in California. “These lower [orbits] could enable a direct-to-cell constellation.”
The overall global market for VLEO satellite services could be vast. “We expect it to be around $15bn (£11.5bn) in 2032,” says Senar Tejedor.
An oft-touted benefit of VLEO, aside from the various novel applications, is that this kind of orbit is self-cleaning. Generally, defunct or dead satellites in VLEO will eventually fall back into the deeper atmosphere and break up, limiting the volume of space junk that would otherwise be left orbiting Earth.
BJP supporters celebrated after the landmark victory in DelhiImage: IANS
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday gained back majority control of New Delhi’s legislature for the first time since 1998.
The BJP won over 40 seats out of the 70 in total in Delhi’s Legislative Assembly. BJP supporters took to the streets in celebration after the win.
“Development wins, good governance triumphs,” Modi said in a post on X. “I bow to my dear sisters and brothers of Delhi for this resounding and historic mandate to @BJP4India. We are humbled and honored to receive these blessings.”
Indian Interior Minister and BJP member Amit Shah called the win a “sign of the people’s faith in the Prime Minister Modi’s vision of progress.”
It’s a blow to the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which was founded in 2012 on an anti-corruption platform. AAP, which Arvind Kejriwal leads, has been in power in Delhi, which is India’s capital, since 2015.
Opposition figure Kejriwal congratulates BJP
“We accept the verdict and congratulate the BJP,” Kejriwal said in a video address after the loss. Kejriwal served as Delhi’s Chief Minister from 2013 to 2014 and 2015 to 2024.
Kejriwal, along with other Delhi officials, was taken into custody in March last year, accused of receiving kickbacks in exchange for the granting of liquor licenses in the city.
His arrest, which occurred weeks before the first phase of the 2024 Indian general election, was labeled by the opposition as election interference. The German government said India is expected to uphold “basic democratic principles” after the arrest, with India summoning Germany’s ambassador in response.
Kejriwal has been on bail after a decision made by the Supreme Court of India.
Fellow AAP member Atishi Marlena took over as Chief Minister of Delhi in September 2024, after Kejriwal stepped down from the position. She kept her seat in the 2025 Delhi election.
Economic support, Delhi infrastructure concerns on voters’ minds
AAP won previous elections due to welfare programs to help the impoverished, such as free water and power. For the 2025 election, the BJP announced its own anti-poverty initiatives of offering monthly payments to poor women along with help for the elderly.
The BJP campaigned on improving Delhi’s air quality. Indian news outlet Indian Express reported that the poor condition of Delhi’s roads and sewers also led to voters in the capital turning away from the incumbent AAP.
More than 200,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany, on Saturday against far-right extremism ahead of the country’s general election.
The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is in second place in recent polls and has prompted widespread protests across the country before voters cast their ballots on Feb. 23.
The protest at Munich’s Theresienwiese — where Oktoberfest takes place each year — brought a significantly larger crowd than expected, according to the German dpa news agency. The event’s organizer estimated the crowd could be up to 320,000 people, many of whom carried signs against the AfD with slogans like, “Racism and hatred is not an alternative.”
The protest was supported by activist groups as well as the Munich Film Festival, churches and Munich soccer clubs FC Bayern and TSV 1860, among others. Police told dpa that the demonstration was peaceful.
Similar protests attracted large crowds on Saturday in Hanover, Rostock, and elsewhere in Germany, mirroring other demonstrations that have occurred across the country in recent weeks.
Last month, at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a huge crowd blew whistles, sang anti-fascist songs and carried banners denouncing AfD. Activists said they hoped the rally also would draw attention to other far-right parties in Europe and the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.
Demonstrators have recently also opposed Friedrich Merz, the center-right leader and front-runner in the upcoming election, and his Christian Democrats for last month sending to parliament proposals for tough new migration rules that received AfD’s backing.
The protesters say Merz and his party broke Germany’s unwritten post-Nazi promise by all democratic parties to never pass any rule or resolution in parliament with the support of far-right, nationalist parties like the AfD. Merz insists his position is unchanged and that he didn’t and won’t work with the party.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un visits the Ministry of National Defence on the day the Korean People’s Army was founded, in Pyongyang, North Korea February 8, 2025, in this photo released by North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency. KCNA via REUTERS Purchase Licensing Rights
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un criticised trilateral military cooperation among the United States, Japan and South Korea for raising tensions in the region and vowed countermeasures, including the further development of nuclear forces.
Kim said U.S. deployments of nuclear strategic assets, war exercises and military cooperation with Japan and South Korea were inviting military imbalance in the region and raising a grave challenge to the security environment, state media KCNA reported on Sunday.
“The DPRK does not want unnecessary tension of the regional situation but will take sustained countermeasures to ensure the regional military balance,” Kim said during a visit to the defence ministry on Saturday to commemorate the founding day of its Army.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
U.S. President Donald Trump, after a meeting on Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, said he would have relations with North Korea, as they expressed concern over its nuclear program.
But during the visit, Kim “clarified once again the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces,” according to the report.
On Russia’s war with Ukraine, Kim said: “The army and people of the DPRK will invariably support and encourage the just cause of the Russian army and people to defend their sovereignty, security and territorial integrity in keeping with the spirit of the treaty on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the DPRK and Russia.”
Last month, South Korea said it suspected North Korea of preparing to send more troops to Russia, in addition to about 11,000 soldiers who had been dispatched for the three-year-long war.
In a separate commentary released later on Sunday, North Korea’s KCNA again criticised South Korea’s military activity with the United States this year and warned that aggressive actions would be met by undesired consequences.
The battle for Delhi enters its last leg and the buzz could not have been bigger as exit polls added the intrigue with its predictions that favoured the BJP heavily. Delhi’s triangular contest — featuring AAP, BJP, and Congress — makes counting day a high-stakes event. The counting of votes began at 8 AM Saturday. The BJP is leading ahead of AAP in early trends. Meanwhile, senior AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Atishi and Manish Sisodia are trailing. Stay tuned to this space for the latest, fastest, and most accurate updates on Delhi assembly election results.
The stage is set for the D- Day when Delhi decides its next government. The exit polls have predicted a comfortable win for the BJP, however, AAP in the past has defied these predictions. This makes the contest even more intriguing. Congress can also play a crucial role, though the exit polls have predicted a rout for the grand-old party, it could still dent the prospects of AAP, if experts are to believed.
Don’t Write Off AAP As Yet
Since its emergence in 2013, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has consistently defied exit poll predictions. In the 2020 elections, pollsters estimated AAP would secure around 54 seats, yet the party dominated with 62. Similarly, in 2015, exit polls failed to anticipate AAP’s sweeping victory, as it clinched 67 seats.
Delhi Key Constituencies & Candidates:
New Delhi – Arvind Kejriwal(AAP), Parvesh Verma,(BJP) & Sandeep Dikshit(Congress)
BJP’s Manish Choudhary is leading from the Okhla seat; AAP’s Amanatullah Khan is trailing; as per Election Commission trends.
Delhi Election Results 2025 : Virendra Sachdeva’s First Reaction As BJP Crosses Majority Mark
As BJP leads in 42 seats, Delhi BJP president Virendraa Sachdeva said, “If you are dishonest with the public, then the public will give a similar result. Under the leaa dership of PM Modi, double-engine govt will be formed in Delhi.”
Residents of the area also complained of a smell arising from the waterImage: Luciano Gonzalez/Anadolu/picture alliance
Blood-red waters that filled a winding waterway near the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, raised a stink as images circulated on social media on Friday.
The area is home to tanneries and other industries that process animal hides into leather using chemicals, but along part of its banks are numerous homes and an ecological reserve.
Photos and footage raised fears that industrial chemicals had been dumped into the Sarandi Stream, which flows into the Plate River on the city’s southern outskirts.
Officials in the Avellaneda municipality, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of the Argentine capital, said they suspected the presence of aniline, a toxic substance used in medicines and dyes.
‘The smell woke us up’
The river looks like “a river of blood,” resident Maraa Ducomls told the AFP news agency. “The smell woke us up. In the daytime, when we looked at this side of the river, it was completely red, all stained.”
The Environment Ministry for Buenos Aires province said it had taken samples from the river to determine which substance caused the water to turn red. The ministry said the coloration could have been caused by “organic” substances.
Your surgeon could soon be in India or China as you lie under the knife (Picture: Getty Images)
Surgery is scary at the best of times, but what if your surgeon was controlling the scalpel from halfway across the world?
This could be the new reality within a matter of years as technology companies look roll out 6G networks worldwide, according to a senior figure involved in its development.
6G’s nanosecond fast speed could now make ‘online surgeries’ possible for the first time.
What will make 6G unlike any other previous mobile networks is its latency, which is the time it takes for data to travel from a device to the network.
‘6G is a game-changer,’ said Greg Flak, a senior manager in networking and planning at tech company AWTG.
AWTG were instrumental in the implementation of 5G across parts the UK and are working alongside universities in the testing of 6G.
Flak added: ‘6G will be ten times faster than 5G and have fifty times lower latency.’
6G will be as close to ‘real time’ you could get, as the latency will be nanoseconds, compared to the 10 milliseconds it is with 5G.
‘It would not be detectable for the user, that is a massive amount of time for equipment,’ Flak told Metro at TechEx Global Technology Conference in London.
The results could be revolutionary for the health industry, argues Flak, and could even lead to the very first ‘online surgeries’.
‘The doctor is remote somewhere in India, and doing the surgery in the US with a robot’
‘This requires no delay. A surgeon will have to react in real time, every single millisecond from machine to machine counts. That is why it is possible with 6G.’
The latency of 6G could also make automated, or self-driving cars, ‘way safer’ because it allows for faster decision making and environment analysis.
Flak says that 6G could hit our devices by as soon as 2026, or 2027, even though the technology ‘is not ready yet.’
In order to transmit larger amounts of data, the frequency at which the data travels will have to be higher.
The equipment needed to transmit this higher frequency is yet to be manufactured.
Flak said: ‘For a ten times higher frequency for 6G,the antennas will start to be really microscopic.
‘It’s very hard to manufacture the transmitters that will be generating those kinds of frequencies.
‘Consumer equipment still needs to be manufactured and tested.
‘There is no 6G network already populated in the world. There are only test networks in the lab.’
The higher frequency will also mean a shorter range 6G can reach, limiting how effective the coverage can be.
‘‘I don’t think that we should expect 6G to be widely populated, because of the higher frequency,’ added Flak.
‘It will first only be used in small areas where there is high demand.’
An equally ambitious vision of care in England was channeled by Jake Parkinson, Intelligent Automation Lead at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
2,042 Indians were sent back to India in 2019, the most in a year. (File photo)
Over 15,000 Indians living illegally in the US have been sent back to the country since 2009, with the most number of Indians being deported by the US was in 2019. The statistic was revealed by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday, as he made statement on the deportation of 104 illegal Indian immigrants by the US.
“The process of deportation (by the US) is not new… it has been there for years. This is not a policy applicable to only one country. Our focus should be on the crackdown on illegal migrants…We are engaging with the US to ensure deportees are not mistreated,” the minister said.
According to the data shared by Jaishankar, a total of 15,756 illegal Indians living in the US have been deported to India since 2009.
2,042 Indians were sent back to India in 2019, the most in a year. It was followed by 1,889 in 2020, the year when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the world.
Here is the year-wise data of Indians deported from US:
2009: 734
2010: 799
2011: 597
2012: 530
2013: 515
2014: 591
2015: 708
2016: 1,303
2017: 1,024
2018: 1,180
2019: 2,042
2020: 1,889
2021: 805
2022: 862
2023: 617
2024: 1,368
2025 (till February 5): 104
Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday denied the U.S. State Department’s claim that his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free.
Mulino said he had told U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the U.S. State Department’s statement suggesting otherwise late Wednesday.
“I completely reject that statement yesterday,” Mulino said during his weekly press conference, adding that he had asked Panama’s ambassador in Washington to dispute the State Department’s statement. He was scheduled to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday.
On Wednesday evening, the U.S. State Department said via X that “U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year.”
The Panama Canal Authority put out its own terse statement later Wednesday night saying it had “not made any adjustments” to the fees.
Mulino said the U.S. statement “really surprises me because they’re making an important, institutional statement from the entity that governs United States foreign policy under the president of the United States based on a falsity. And that’s intolerable.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with Mulino and canal administrators and visited the critical trade route earlier this week, said on Thursday from the Dominican Republic that he had no confusion about his discussions with Panama, but “I respect very much the fact that Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow.”
“The United States has a treaty obligation to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack,” Rubio said. “That treaty obligation would have to be enforced by the armed forces of the United States, particularly the U.S. Navy. I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.”
Rubio had carried a message from Trump that China’s influence at the canal was unacceptable.
Rubio had told Mulino that Trump believed that China’s presence in the canal area may violate a treaty that led the United States to turn the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal.
Canal administrators said they were open to discussing giving U.S. warships priority in crossing the canal, but did not say they had considered waiving fees.
Mulino said via X that he was scheduled to speak to Trump on Friday.
Since 1998, U.S. warships, including submarines, have transited the Panama Canal 994 times. They accounted for just 0.3% of the canal’s traffic during that period. The canal received $25.4 million in total fees for those crossings, according to data from the canal authority.
Russia’s interference remains faceless but the world’s richest man has been preaching ‘peoples’ revolutions’ while overtly supporting far-right candidates across Western democraciesImage: Hendrik Schmidt/dpa/picture alliance
German voters are overwhelmingly concerned about foreign election interference according to a new poll published by the Brussels-based digital industry association Bitkom.
Overall, the poll found that 88% of those questioned — the survey polled just over 1,000 eligible voters — expressed fear that outside forces, whether governments, groups or individuals, would actively attempt to sway the vote through social media campaigns.
Ranked highest among those suspected of nefarious activity was Russia (45%), followed by the US (42%) and China (26%). There was also concern voiced over East European actors (8%).
Those voters polled also provided insight into how they form their political opinions, with 82% citing conversations with friends and family, 76% television and 69% the internet.
Some 80% of respondents felt the next government should address the problem of potential internet and social media misinformation by prioritizing digital policy.
Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst picked up on a trend in which 71% of respondents called for a new independent ministry to be created to address the issue, saying, “The new digital ministry must be equipped with all the necessary rights and resources, needs its own budget and a digital proviso for new laws and projects.”
German voters already seeing disinformation
One-third of those voters who say they use the internet as a source of news and information told Bitkom that they had already seen misinformation online.
The biggest concerns expressed by voters overwhelmingly had to do with the threat of so-called deepfakes — or realistic but entirely fake videos, photos or audio — and targeted disinformation. Some 56% of respondents said German democracy was ill-prepared to counter such threats.
Another 30% of respondents said they had already run into misinformation about the coming election online.
“Voter awareness for disinformation is increasing,” said Bitkom’s Wintergerst. “That is an important first step against Fake News. Disinformation can dramatically influence Germany’s federal elections by generally skewing public opinion and defaming candidates or parties.”
Wintergerst called elections the “heart of or democracy,” but warned that “disinformation undermines trust in the democratic process.” On a positive note, he added that “an informed society is the best protection against digital manipulation.”
German voters suspicious of Russian, US meddling
Among those countries with a reputation for foreign election interference, Russia has earned a top spot. Its well-documented troll farms, its use of bots and its efforts in past US and European elections provide ample evidence thereof.
Russia also has an antagonistic relationship with most European countries, is interested in driving EU disunity and has plenty of axes to grind with all but the most extreme populist parties on the continent — both left and right.
One glaringly obvious source of active US interference is Elon Musk.
The world’s richest man, Donald Trump’s biggest single donor and the owner of the social media platform X, Musk has been brazen in his insults of German leaders and his backing of the far-right and in part extreme Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, calling it the country’s only hope.
In early January, Musk, who has 216 million followers on X, sat down with AfD leader Alice Weidel for a rambling one-hour live discussion on the platform. He has also made a name for himself by pushing far-right extremists in the UK, using his outsized media presence — and lack of accountability — to push for government change.
US social media companies have generally abdicated responsibility for keeping disinformation in check, arguing consumers need to be aware of what they read and shirking any gatekeeping responsibility for the masses of disinformation generated and distributed on their sites.
It remains an open question as to whether the EU, which generally has tougher Code of Practice on Disinformation standards than the US (as seen in the EU’S Digital Services Act, or DSA), is up to the task of holding those sites responsible.
Domestic threats cannot be ignored — social media and the far-right
China was the third entity mentioned in the study and is known for actively engaging in malign cyber activities. Beyond its digital acts, the country has also found its way into Germany’s political system by infiltrating political parties.
Specifically, questions have been raised about Chinese influence within the far-right AfD as well as an unholy Chinese-Russian alliance that has plagued the party.
Beyond party boss Weidel’s long and unclear relationship with China, the Kremlin-friendly AfD was most famously embroiled in a Chinese spy scandal when the party’s top EU candidate, Maximilian Krah, was found to have a Chinese spy working in his office.
Irv Gotti died Wednesday, according to the Hollywood Reporter and a source close to the music producer. He was 54.
The Murder Inc. founder’s cause of death has not yet been confirmed.
Reps for Gotti weren’t immediately available to Page Six for comment.
Irv Gotti has died. He was 54. Getty Images for WEtv
The music mogul’s death comes several months after he reportedly suffered a stroke and was admitted to a recovery center, Wack100 shared in August 2024, per TMZ.
The talent manager, 47, also claimed to have received a photo of Gotti using a cane, noting that he had “lost a lot of weight.”
Gott’s rep, however, clarified to the outlet that his client had “been struggling with diabetes for years, which caused him to have a minor stroke over six months ago.
“He has since changed his diet to eating more healthy.”
Gotti’s rep added, “He’s been successful in making a full recovery. Irv is not in a rehab facility. He is at home with his family, enjoying life.”
Gotti — born Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. — previously discussed his health struggles during an appearance on the “Drink Champs” podcast in August 2023.
The record producer, who helped turn Ja Rule and Ashanti into superstars in the early 2000s, shared that diabetes started “deteriorating” his body and he didn’t have his condition under control despite having it “forever.”
“It’s hereditary,” he said about his illness, admitting he also wasn’t consistent with taking his insulin.
Throughout his career, Gotti produced multiple hits with Ja Rule, Ashanti, DMX and Jennifer Lopez, including “Always On Time,” “I’m Real,” “Ain’t It Funny,” “Foolish,” “Rain on Me” and “Mesmerize.”
Protesters set fire to the Dhanmondi-32 residence of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the ousted PM Sheikh Hasina, in Dhaka, Bangladesh February 5, 2025. REUTERS/Mehedi Hasan Purchase Licensing Rights
Thousands of protesters set fire to the home of Bangladesh’s founding leader, as his daughter, ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a fiery social media speech calling on her supporters to stand against the interim government.
Witnesses said several thousand protesters, some armed with sticks, hammers, and other tools, gathered around the historic house and independence monument, while others brought a crane and excavator to demolish the building.
The rally was organised alongside a broader call, dubbed “Bulldozer Procession”, to disrupt Hasina’s scheduled 9 p.m. online address on Wednesday.
Protesters, many aligned with the “Students Against Discrimination” group, had expressed their fury over Hasina’s speech, which they viewed as a challenge to the newly formed interim government.
Tensions have been escalating in Bangladesh since August 2024, when mass protests forced Hasina to flee to neighbouring India.
The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has struggled to maintain control as protests and unrest have continued. Demonstrators have attacked symbols of Hasina’s government, including the house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which was first set ablaze in August.
A symbol of the country’s establishment, the house is where Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal), as he is popularly known, declared Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.
A few years later it became the site of a national tragedy. Mujibur Rahman and most of his family were assassinated at the house in 1975. Hasina, who survived the attack, later transformed the building into a museum dedicated to her father’s legacy.
“They can demolish a building, but not the history. History takes its revenge,” Hasina said in her speech on Wednesday.
She urged the people of Bangladesh to stand against the interim government, accusing them of seizing power in an unconstitutional manner.
Security personnel escort Indian immigrants deported from the U.S., as they leave the airport in Ahmedabad, India February 6, 2025. REUTERS/Amit Dave Purchase Licensing Rights
Indian opposition lawmakers questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and demanded a discussion in parliament on Thursday over what they said was ill-treatment of 104 Indian immigrants deported by the U.S.
A U.S. military plane carrying the immigrants landed on Wednesday in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in Punjab state, part of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. The deportation came a week before Trump is expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.
All immigrants, barring children, were handcuffed during the flight, The Times of India and the Indian Express newspapers reported, quoting unnamed officials in Punjab who said they had spoken to the deportees.
The deportees underwent hours of scrutiny at Amritsar airport before police escorted them out in small groups in police vehicles. Reuters was unable to speak to the immigrants.
Some of them were flown on a regular flight to Ahmedabad in Gujarat state on Thursday, closer to their homes, said a police official, who did not want to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.
They were escorted out of the Ahmedabad airport by security personnel, according to a Reuters witness. Most of the others are from Punjab or the neighbouring state of Haryana, police have said.
“Reports have surfaced of these individuals being shackled and treated in a degrading manner during their deportation process, raising serious concerns about their human dignity and rights,” opposition Congress party lawmaker Gaurav Gogoi said in a notice to the secretary general of the lower house of parliament.
In a separate notice by another Congress party lawmaker, Manickam Tagore urged Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to make an immediate statement in parliament clarifying the Modi government’s stand and steps taken to address the issue.
The Indian foreign ministry and the U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Both houses of parliament were adjourned on Thursday as opposition lawmakers shouted slogans demanding a government response.
Migration has been among the key issues discussed by India and the U.S. since Trump assumed office last month, and is also expected to come up during Trump’s talks with Modi.
Although Indian immigrants have been deported by previous U.S. administrations, it was the first time Washington used a military aircraft to do so. It was also the farthest destination for such flights using a military aircraft.
The Trump administration has increasingly turned to the military to help carry out its immigration agenda, using military aircraft to deport migrants and opening military bases to house them.
Delhi Election 2025 highlights: Arvind Kejriwal and Atishi met with the EC on Tuesday ahead of the assembly polls in the capital.
Delhi Election 2025 highlights: With voting for the Delhi assembly elections to commence tomorrow, February 5, the mandatory silence period has begun after campaigning for all parties ended yesterday. Delhi is set to witness a triangular competition between the Aam Admi Party, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party. The Election Commission’s Model Code of Conduct (MCC) mandates that all public meetings, election-related functions, and campaigning must cease 48 hours before the close of polling.
1.56 crore voters are eligible to cast their ballots across 13,766 polling stations on February 5. Among them, 83.76 lakh are men, 72.36 lakh women, while 1,267 are third-gender voters, according to the EC.
220 companies of paramilitary forces, 19,000 home guards, and 35,626 Delhi police personnel will also be deployed to ensure safety and fair voting practices during the elections.
Votes are scheduled to be counted on February 8.
Delhi election 2025 | Key updates
An intense battle of words has broken out ahead of the Delhi elections, with Union home minister Amit Shah accusing former Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal of being involved in a “flood of scams”.
Meanwhile, Arvind Kejriwal took a dig at the BJP government over the Union Budget 2025 saying that as soon as people gave them fewer seats, they promptly changed the income tax regime and would halve GST rates once they were defeated in Delhi as well.
Congress’ candidate from the New Delhi assembly constituency Sandeep Dikshit also criticised Arvind Kejriwal, his rival for the seat, on the latter’s prediction that AAP would win 55 out of 80 seats, saying, “A year ago, PM Modi also said 400 seats, some say 450, but it is good that Arvind Kejriwal did not claim 80 seats—he would have won more than what he had.”
Delhi Election 2025: Police say further probe is underway after alleged cash seizure
Delhi Election 2025 : “We received a call that some people were caught with ₹5 lakhs, our team reached there and FST (Flying Squad Team) handed over two men, namely Gaurav and Ajit…both are attached to (Delhi) CM office, as per the preliminary information. We have seized ₹5 lakhs from them. Further investigation is underway…we are investigating the source of the money, where it was brought from, and where they were taking it…as per what we have got to know till now, one of the men was working as an assistant of CM’s PA and the other one is a driver,” said Ravi Kumar Singh, DCP South East.
Delhi Election 2025 : MoS Harsh Malhotra accuses AAP of ‘hooliganism’
Delhi Election 2025 : MoS Harsh Malhotra accused the AAP of spreading a “fake narrative” and creating an “atmosphere of fear” by resorting to “hooliganism”.
“Yesterday, there were 8-10 vehicles with Atishi, and when she was inquired about it, they were found to be from Punjab, and they got into a scuffle with the Police; FIR has also been registered. In Laxmi Nagar, a complaint has been registered against Pravesh Garg and Meenakshi Sharma, two AAP ‘goons’. They threatened and assaulted a woman worker of BJP…when we got here, we got to know that, in Govindpuri, ₹5 lakhs were recovered from Atishi’s aides. They don’t want Delhi elections to be fair. They want to create riots, so we are here to complain to the Election Commission of India,” he said.
The BJP’s Delhi unit has claimed that CM Atishi’s PA was caught with ₹5 lakh cash.
The saffron party’s capital unit X account said, “Marlena ji is openly distributing money, and has invited people from other states to her assembly…and yesterday to create drama she was accusing that why there are people from outside in Kalka assembly…then who is this?? The fear of defeat is clearly visible to you people.”
PRESIDENT Donald Trump has vowed to take over the devastated Gaza Strip and “level” the site before looking to redevelop it.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Republican’s clear plan to help rebuild the war-torn strip saying it will “change history”.
President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at a joint press conferenceCredit: Reuters
Trump said America “will do a job with it” if they own the Gaza Strip and take full responsibility to dismantle it safely after years of torment for the people of Palestine.
He added it is a “very dangerous place to be” at the moment and requires America’s help to rebuild completely.
Trumps Middle East envoy said they plan on creating a three to five-year timeline for the reconstruction of Gaza.
Detailed plans are yet to be revealed over the potential demolition plot but the newly-inaugurated President said it will involve a complete reconstruction.
He said they would destroy all of the buildings in the war zone before beginning to “create an economic development”.
This would create “unlimited numbers of jobs and housing”, he added.
Trump then urged as many countries as possible to take in the displaced Palestinians so the upheaval of Gaza could be completed peacefully.
The remarks were made in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from The White House.
A smiling Netanyahu described Trump as the “greatest friend Israel has ever had”.
Trump added he has spoken to dozens of people who “love the idea” of the US taking over the strip.
Last week, Trump revealed radical plans to “clean out” the strip after he described Gaza as a “demolition site”.
He said: “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.
“Almost everything is demolished and people are dying there.”
At the end of January, Trump called on neighbouring Arab nations to take in more Palestinians.
He echoed these thoughts again today and said places like Egypt and Jordan should offer to take in as many people as possible.
Gaza’s two million inhabitants should instead “go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts”, he said.
The move “could be temporary” or “long-term”, he said.
Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority condemned Trump’s proposal last month.
Trump’s plans would also be a stark change from the US’s previous policy which promoted a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.
The pre-war population of Gaza was over two million people and over 45,000 people have been killed since October 7, 2023, according to the United Nations.
Hundreds of people left Santorini on ferries and planes on Tuesday to reach safety in Athens as a series of quakes kept shaking the famous Greek tourist island.
Hundreds of quakes have been registered every few minutes in the sea between the volcanic islands of Santorini and Amorgos, in the Aegean Sea, in recent days, prompting authorities to shut schools in Santorini and the small nearby islands of Ios, Amorgos and Anafi until Friday.
A tremor with a magnitude of 4.9 was recorded by the Athens Geodynamic Institute at 0246 GMT on the island, most of whose popular white and blue villages cling to steep cliffs over the sea.
Hundreds of permanent residents and workers rushed to a port early on Tuesday to embark for the Greek capital.
Flights out of Santorini to Athens were full, Greek air carrier Aegean Airlines said on Tuesday. A total of 2,500 to 2,700 people were expected to have flown out since Monday by the end of the day, it added.
“We are going to leave because I am afraid, there are constantly earthquakes, we have to leave for the kids, so the kids can calm down,” said Beni Ouklala, 38, who has temporary work on the island.
A woman carries her daughter as people board a ferry during increased seismic activity on the island of Santorini, February 4. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis Purchase Licensing Rights
Others were unfazed. “We will stay here, why should we leave? If something happens it happens,” said Eftichis Diamantopouulos, 63, a tourist boat captain.
Santorini throngs with hundreds of thousands of tourists in the summer. It is much quieter at this time of the year, but with seismologists estimating that the intense seismic activity could take days or weeks to abate, local authorities have drafted an emergency accommodation plan.
“We have (planned for) places for shelters for the population without structures and on level surfaces, there are eight places that can accommodate people,” said Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos.
Emergency rescue crews were also on the ground, while people were advised to stay out of coastal areas due to the risk of landslides and avoid indoor gatherings.
Some hotels started emptying their pools as they were told that the water load made buildings vulnerable and construction activities have ceased.
Greece is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in Europe as it sits at the boundary of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates whose constant interaction prompts frequent quakes.
A total of 205 Indian nationals, who had illegally entered the US, have been deported on a US military aircraft that took off from Texas about six hours back, sources have told NDTV. The sources said each deported Indian national is verified, indicating New Delhi’s involvement in the deportation process. This is likely the first of many such flights that will bring illegal Indian immigrants in the US back.
A C-17 US military aircraft is bringing the Indian nationals back home. Here is a trivia — unless fitted with an air-transportable galley, the US Air Force C-17 has a single toilet onboard for 205 passengers.
The deportation of illegal migrants is in line with US President Donald Trump’s hardline stand against illegal immigrants in the US. Earlier, US military aircraft flew illegal immigrants deported to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras.
The first round of deportation of illegal Indian nationals has taken amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would fly to the US next week. This will be his first visit after Trump took over as US President for the second time. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar had earlier said New Delhi is open to the “legitimate return” of Indian nationals living ‘illegally’ abroad, including in the US.
“For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came,” Trump told reporters last month.
The US President has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that India “will do what’s right” when it comes to taking back illegal Indian immigrants. According to a Bloomberg News report, India and the US have identified 18,000-odd Indian migrants who entered the US illegally.
The Ministry of External Affairs has said India is against illegal immigration because it is linked to several forms of organised crime.
“For Indians not just in the United States, but anywhere in the world, if they are Indian nationals and they are overstaying, or they are in a particular country without proper documentation, we will take them back, provided documents are shared with us so that we can verify their nationality and that they are indeed Indians. If that happens to be the case, we will take things forward and facilitate their return to India,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing.
Most of those killed were women farm workers who were being transported in a vehicle next to the exploding carImage: Syrian Civil Defense White Helmets via AP/picture alliance
A car explosion in northern Syria on Monday has killed at least 20 people, the Syrian presidency said, vowing to hold those responsible “for this criminal act” to account.
The blast took place on a main road on the outskirts of Syria’s northern city Manbij, the civil defense said. Fourteen women and one man were killed, and fifteen other women were injured.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) put the death toll at 18 civilians, including 14 women.
Since the lightning rebellion which toppled the rule of Bashar Assad in December, Manbij has been the scene of fighting between the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed fighters.
Spate of car bomb attacks in Manbij
Most of those killed were women farm workers who were being transported in a vehicle next to the exploding car, state news agency SANA reported, citing the civil defense, also known as the White Helmets. It added that the death toll was likely to climb.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
The explosion is the second in three days. On Saturday, four civilians were killed and nine more were injured in another car bomb attack in Manbij.
Munir Mustafa, the deputy director of the White Helmets, said Monday’s car bomb explosion was the seventh in Manbij in just over a month.
CANADA and Mexico breathed a sigh of relief after President Donald Trump shelved his punishing tariff plans for 30 days in a last-gasp deal.
The Republican was left celebrating after he managed to secure a stronger border with his two neighbors through a $1.3billion plan and 10,000 troops.
President Donald Trump speaks to the press upon arrival at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on February 2Credit: Getty
Trump dramatically stopped entering a potential trade war with Canada and Mexico by pausing sweeping 25 per cent tax increases just hours before it was scheduled to be implemented.
Stock markets had gone into a tailspin on Monday as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held last-minute calls with Trump.
The duo were left making a desperate bid to end any threat and halt a damaging world trade war.
Trump confirmed he’d decided to pause his plans for a month after both Mexico and Canada promised to keep 10,000 frontline personnel along their American borders.
The aim is to protect the US from illegal immigration and an influx of deadly drugs entering the country.
Trump praised his own negotiating skills by posting on Truth Social after his last call with Trudeau: “As President, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of ALL Americans, and I am doing just that.
“I am very pleased with this initial outcome.”
He also said Canada will implement their $1.3billion border plan and reinforce it with new helicopters, technology and personnel.
Trump added that the next 30 days will determine if he goes ahead with the tariffs or if a “final economic deal with Canada can be structured”.
Justin Trudeau later confirmed these changes in alignment with Trump’s wishes.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also announced her administration and Trump had reached a series of similar agreements.
Sheinbaum said at a news conference she had a “long conversation” with Trump on the phone on Monday.
Among the series of agreements includes Mexico’s immediate action to reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the country’s National Guard.
The bolstered security presence will be tasked with preventing drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, particularly fentanyl.
The United States said it would also commit to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons into Mexico, the Mexican president said.
“Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade,” Sheinbaum added.
Trump also gave Sheinbaum 30 days to “achieve a deal” between the two countries.
What is the trade war?
DONALD Trump almost started a trade war after he threatened to slap steep tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico.
The newly-inaugurated president believes the taxes were “worth the price” to stopping the manufacture and import of the deadly drug fentanyl and ending the “RIPOFF OF AMERICA”.But prices of fruit like avocados and tomatoes and manufactured products like cars or computers are set to be more expensive for Americans.A trade showdown could cost families $1,000 (USD) and slow down general growth if prices spike – but the Republican appears ready to risk it with the taxes kicking in Tuesday.Trump slammed those opposing the tariffs saying the US was no longer going to be the “stupid country” that was subsidizing others.He said his tariffs could bring some pain to the economy, but that is the “PRICE THAT MUST BE PAID” to end trade deficits with Canada, Mexico and China.In a post on TruthSocial on Sunday, he said: “MAKE YOUR PRODUCT IN THE USA AND THERE ARE NO TARIFFS!!Trump said he would slap a 25 per cent tariff on all imports from Canada and Mexico and add another 10 per cent tariff on to Chinese trade.Energy, like oil and natural gas, imported from Canada was also only hit with a 10 per cent tariff.But soon Mexico and Canada announced condemnatory retaliatory tariffs on the US.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum ordered the mysterious “Plan B” to go into effect which “includes tariff and non-tariff measures” in a lengthy X post.She said that her government sought dialogue over confrontation with the US – but now Mexico has had to respond with similar force.
He replied on Truth Social: “I just spoke with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico.
“It was a very friendly conversation wherein she agreed to immediately supply 10,000 Mexican soldiers on the border separating Mexico and the United States.
“These soldiers will be specifically designated to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrant into our country.
“I look forward to participating in those negotiations, with President Sheinbaum, as we attempt to achieve a ‘deal’ between our two countries.”
Earlier on in the day, Mexican, Canadian and Chinese leaders all scrambled to retaliate at the President after he signed an executive order over the weekend that would allow tariffs to start on Tuesday.
Canada responded by imposing a 25 per cent tariff on more than $100 billion of US goods.
While China vowed to sue the United States with the World Trade Organization.
TRADE WAR BREWING
Meanwhile, President Trump had two conversations with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, hours before the US tariffs on Canada are set to go into effect.
The two leaders spoke on the phone early Monday – talks a senior Canadian government official told The New York Times “were not optimistic.”
However, Trump told CNN their follow-up conversation went “very well.”
But when asked if the tariffs against Canada will still go into effect on Tuesday, the president said, “Watch.”
The tariffs against Canada include a 25% tax on Canadian imports, though energy products, such as oil and natural gas, will only be subject to a 10% levy.
President Trump acknowledged that the tariffs would “bring some pain to the economy” but said it is the “price that must be paid.”
Trump said he also plans to speak with China perhaps over the next 24 hours.
The president warned that if the two countries can not strike a deal, China’s tariffs will “be substantial.”
“It feels amazing,” said the musician, who grew up in Chennai, in a backstage interview with the Recording Academy after winning the Grammy.
Chandrika Tandon Credit: LinkedIn
New Delhi: Indian-American vocalist and entrepreneur Chandrika Tandon has won the Grammy award for the album Triveni in the Best New Age, Ambient or Chant Album category.
The 67th edition of the biggest musical awards night, organised by the Recording Academy, was held on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Tandon, also a global business leader and the older sister of former CEO of PepsiCo Indra Nooyi, won the award along with her collaborators South African flautist Wouter Kellerman and Japanese cellist Eru Matsumoto.
“It feels amazing,” said the musician, who grew up in Chennai, in a backstage interview with the Recording Academy after winning the Grammy.
Thousands of people protested in Berlin on Sunday against plans to limit immigration proposed by opposition conservatives and supported by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Friedrich Merz, the conservatives’ leader who is tipped to become Germany’s next chancellor after a national election set for Feb. 23, sponsored a draft bill with AfD support, breaking a taboo against cooperating with the far-right party.
Around 160,000 gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, next to the Bundestag lower house, according to the Berlin police. The protesters held banners reading “We are the firewall, no cooperation with the AfD” and “Merz, go home, shame on you!”.
Merz, the CDU/CSU’s candidate for chancellor, on Friday tried to push the immigration bill in the lower house but failed to secure a majority as some of the deputies from his own party refused to support it.
People light up their mobile phones during a protest against the migration plans of the CDU party leader and top candidate for Chancellor Friedrich Merz and the far-right Alternative for Germany party (AfD), in Berlin, Germany February 2, 2025. REUTERS/Christian Mang Purchase Licensing Rights
Their failure to endorse his draft dealt a blow to the authority of Merz, who had pushed for the law despite warnings from party colleagues that he risked being tarnished with the charge of voting alongside the far-right.
Mainstream German parties had previously joined forces to prevent the AfD, which is under surveillance by Germany’s security services, from achieving legislative power, something they call a firewall against the far-right.
The draft law would have restricted family reunifications for some refugees and called for more people to be refused at the border. Two-thirds of the public support stronger immigration rules, according to a recent poll.
President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, drawing swift retaliation and an undeniable sense of betrayal from the country’s North American neighbors as a trade war erupted among the longtime allies.
The Republican president posted on social media that the tariffs were necessary “to protect Americans,” pressing the three nations to do more to curb the manufacture and export of illicit fentanyl and for Canada and Mexico to reduce illegal immigration into the U.S.
The tariffs, if sustained, could cause inflation to significantly worsen, threatening the trust that many voters placed in Trump to lower the prices of groceries, gasoline, housing, autos and other goods as he promised. They also risked throwing the global economy and Trump’s political mandate into turmoil just two weeks into his second term.
Trump declared an economic emergency in order to place duties of 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada. Energy imported from Canada, including oil, natural gas and electricity, would be taxed at a 10% rate. Trump’s order includes a mechanism to escalate the rates charged by the U.S. against retaliation by the other countries, raising the specter of an even more severe economic disruption.
“The actions taken today by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a somber tone as he announced that his country would put matching 25% tariffs on up to $155 billion in U.S. imports, including alcohol and fruit.
He channeled the betrayal that many Canadians are feeling, reminding Americans that Canadian troops fought alongside them in Afghanistan and helped respond to myriad crises from wildfires in California to Hurricane Katrina.
“We were always there standing with you, grieving with you, the American people,” he said.
Mexico’s president also ordered retaliatory tariffs.
“We categorically reject the White House’s slander that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of meddling in our territory,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote in a post on X while saying she had instructed her economy secretary to implement a response that includes retaliatory tariffs and other measures in defense of Mexico’s interests.
“If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious fentanyl consumption in their country, they could fight the sale of drugs on the streets of their major cities, which they don’t do and the laundering of money that this illegal activity generates that has done so much harm to its population.”
The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia, David Eby, specifically called on residents to stop buying liquor from U.S. “red” states and said it was removing American alcohol brands from government store shelves as a response to the tariffs.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country’s government “firmly deplores and opposes this move and will take necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests.”
China began regulating fentanyl-related drugs as a class of controlled substances in 2019 and conducted “counternarcotics cooperation with the U.S.,” the ministry said, calling on the U.S. government to correct what it considers wrongful actions.
The Ministry of Commerce in China said it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization for the “wrongful practices of the U.S.” and take measures to safeguard its rights and interests.
The tariffs will go into effect on Tuesday, setting up a showdown in North America that could potentially sabotage economic growth. A new analysis by the Budget Lab at Yale laid out the possible damage to the U.S. economy, saying the average household would lose the equivalent of $1,170 in income from the taxes. Economic growth would slow and inflation would worsen, and the situation could be even worse with retaliation from other countries.
Democrats were quick to warn that any inflation going forward was the result of Trump’s actions.
“You’re worried about grocery prices. Don’s raising prices with his tariffs,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York wrote in a series of posts on X. “You’re worried about tomato prices. Wait till Trump’s Mexico tariffs raise your tomato prices,” read another. “You’re worried about car prices. Wait till Trump’s Canada tariffs raise your car prices,” read another.
A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said the lower rate on energy reflected a desire to minimize disruptive increases on the price of gasoline or utilities. That’s a sign White House officials understand the gamble they’re taking on inflation. Price spikes under former President Joe Biden led to voter frustration that helped return Trump to the White House.
The order signed by Trump contained no mechanism for granting exceptions, the official said, a possible blow to homebuilders who rely on Canadian lumber as well as farmers, automakers and other industries.
The official did not provide specific benchmarks that could be met to lift the new tariffs, saying only that the best measure would be fewer Americans dying from fentanyl addiction.
The order would also allow for tariffs on Canadian imports of less than $800. Imports below that sum are currently able to cross into the United States without customs and duties.
“It doesn’t make much economic sense,’’ said William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former U.S. trade official. “Historically, most of our tariffs on raw materials have been low because we want to get cheaper materials so our manufacturers will be competitive … Now, what’s he talking about? He’s talking about tariffs on raw materials. I don’t get the economics of it.’’
With the tariffs, Trump is honoring promises that are at the core of his economic and national security philosophy. But the announcement showed his seriousness around the issue as some Trump allies had played down the threat of higher import taxes as mere negotiating tactics.
The president is preparing more import taxes in a sign that tariffs will be an ongoing part of his second term. On Friday, he mentioned imported computer chips, steel, oil and natural gas, as well as copper, pharmaceutical drugs and imports from the European Union — moves that could essentially pit the U.S. against much of the global economy.
Elon Musk has demanded the release of jailed UK anti-Islam extremist Tommy Robinson (center)Image: Tayfun Salci/ZUMA/picture alliance
The British government is intentionally “replacing the British nation with hostile, violent, aggressive migrants” who will vote for them, according to right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson, who also believes that Islam is “a mental health issue rather than a religion of peace.”
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been in a British jail cell since October for contempt of court as well as spreading false claims about an underage Syrian refugee in a video titled, “Silenced.”
He was also convicted of several prior crimes, including assault and fraud. He was formerly a member of the British National Party, a fascist UK political party; as well as the leader of the far-right, anti-Islamist, English Defense League.
But Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and US President Donald Trump’s biggest supporter, regularly uses his account on his social media platform X as a soapbox to call for Robinson’s release from prison, ostensibly in the name of free speech. Robinson, Musk has said, is behind bars for telling the “truth.”
According to British media outlets, Musk is also helping Robinson financially. In a statement on X, Robinson’s team thanked Musk and his X team for their “unexpected and generous assistance” in two legal cases. Among other things, these involve a new court case in which Robinson has been accused of violating anti-terrorism laws. A DW request for comment from X’s press department went unanswered.
Musk elevating Robinson’s profile
But what’s behind Musk’s generosity? Robinson is unpopular in the UK. A recent poll by the research institute More in Common found that only 12% of respondents had a favorable view of the right-wing agitator, while 46% held a negative opinion. Musk hasn’t helped his popularity with his efforts either: A majority of Britons surveyed said they wanted the tech billionaire to stay out of politics and concentrate on ridding his social media platform of hate speech instead.
But Musk doesn’t appear to be interested in that — quite the opposite. He has helped elevate Robinson’s profile by restoring his Twitter account — which had been blocked by the company in 2018 — after he bought the platform in October 2022. Now Robinson, who has more than 1 million followers, can once again spread his message.
Robinson’s message got a further boost last summer when three young girls were killed in a knife attack in the northern English city of Southport. Robinson incited his followers to take to the streets; race riots ensued. Musk also got involved, criticizing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his response and saying that “civil war is inevitable.” Since then, Musk has gone further, accusing Starmer of turning the UK into a police state and calling for his resignation.
Is Musk intentionally spreading misinformation?
Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nongovernmental organization, said the X owner is intentionally spreading misinformation, giving extremist voices a platform to garner more clicks and thus increase his profits. Musk, as Ahmed told DW, has transformed X into a platform that accelerates the spread of hate and disinformation in British society.
Tim Bale, a political scientist at Queen Mary University of London, goes a step further. He thinks Musk is trying to undermine trust in the UK government because its politicians are attempting to rein in the power of the US tech giant with new laws.
The Online Safety Act, passed in October 2023, is indeed something that affects online platforms like X. The law requires them to remove all illegal or harmful content or face fines equivalent to up to 10% of their revenue.
Musk campaigning for Germany’s AfD
Is the European establishment a thorn in Musk’s side for the same reason? The EU wants to use its Digital Services Act to limit the spread of false information on social media platforms, and has placed the burden for ensuring this happens on the tech behemoths themselves — casting a particularly stern eye at Musk and X.
Many EU parliamentarians have called for immediate measures, even more so since Musk began openly championing Germany’s far-right AfD — which has in part been labeled extremist. In early January, Musk described AfD co-leader Alice Weidel as “Germany’s most popular chancellor candidate,” and spent more than an hour chatting with her live on X. A few days later, he made an appearance at the AfD’s party conference via video.
Musk regularly insults German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, referring to him as “Oaf Schitz.” And Vera Jourova, the former EU commissioner for values and transparency, was forced to sit by as he railed against her as “the epitome of banal bureaucratic evil.”
Parth Patel from the progressive think tank IPPR is concerned that conspiracy theories could eventually enter the British mainstream thanks to Musk’s efforts. “It’s plausible that he will be successful in indoctrinating people to that point of view, and if he does, it will be very dangerous,” he said.
A person in a car was the seventh fatal victim of the fiery crash of an air ambulance onto a busy Philadelphia street, authorities said Saturday, as investigators sifted through burned cars, damaged homes and charred debris for clues to determine why the aircraft plummeted shortly after takeoff.
Carrying six people from Mexico, including a child who spent months in treatment at a hospital, the Learjet 55 went down just after departing from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, creating what witnesses described as a massive fireball, shaking houses and leaving a chaotic street scene.
Authorities couldn’t yet say why the jet crashed, and Adam Thiel, the city’s managing director, said it could be days — or longer — until officials are able to fully count the number of dead and injured across a sprawling impact area in a densely populated residential area.
The plane took off, reached about 1,500 feet of altitude and then plummeted in a steep descent, crashing less than a minute after takeoff in what National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy called a “high-impact crash” that left the plane “highly fragmented.”
As of Saturday morning, officials said, there were seven dead — six on the jet and the person in the car — and 19 injured. Most of the injured had been treated and released, hospitals said.
There are “a lot of unknowns about who was where on the streets” when the plane crashed, and it is possible that the casualty figures will grow, Thiel said.
The crash scene was at least four to six blocks, and authorities were working to assess the damage, including going house to house to inspect the dwellings, Thiel said.
Homendy said her agency’s staff was working to collect debris from the plane, which could take days or weeks, and haul it away to a secure location to begin evaluating it.
Air traffic controllers didn’t hear anything concerning before the crash, and her agency was still looking for the cockpit voice recorder, a helpful piece of evidence in the investigation, Homendy said.
It is likely damaged and possibly fragmented because of the impact, although her agency’s researchers and engineers have significant expertise in repairing them, she said.
The plane hit the ground just after 6 p.m., during a busy Friday evening dinner hour less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the airport.
“All of sudden I heard like a ‘boom,’ and I thought it was a thunderstorm,” said Selkuc Koc, a waiter at the Four Seasons Diner on Cottman Avenue. “And I get up and look at the smoke and the fire, it was like a balloon. I thought it was a gas station that blew up.”
One diner patron was hit and injured by a small but heavy metal object that flew through the window, Koc said.
Child patient had just finished treatment for life-threatening condition
Of the six people on board the medical transport jet, one was a child who had just completed treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia hospital, one was her mother and four were crew members, officials said.
A hospital spokesperson said the girl spent four months there receiving life-saving treatment for a condition not easily treated in Mexico. Shriners officials said they couldn’t give details about the girl or her family because of patient privacy rules.
“Her journey was one of hope and of aspiration,” spokesperson Mel Bower told The Philadelphia Inquirer. The relationships that the girl formed with staff “were true and were dear,” and she’ll be missed greatly by them, he said.
All the victims on the jet were from Mexico
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said all six victims on the plane were from her country. In a statement on the social media platform X, she mourned their deaths.
“Consular authorities are in constant contact with the families; I have asked the Foreign Affairs Secretary to support whatever is needed. My solidarity with their loved ones and friends,” she said in Spanish.
Tijuana, Mexico, across the border from San Diego, was to have been the flight’s final destination after a stop in Missouri.
Neither Philadelphia officials nor plane owner Jet Rescue Air Ambulance disclosed the identities of the dead.
But XE Médica Ambulancias, a Mexican emergency service, identified one of its doctors, Raúl Meza, as a victim. In a post on X, it said he was the service’s chief of neonatology and assigned to a the ISEM Atizapán hospital, which is in the State of Mexico near Mexico City.
In Veracruz, a city on the Gulf of Mexico, relatives of Josué Juárez said he was the aircraft’s co-pilot. They were preparing to hold a family ceremony and staying away from TV and social media to avoid seeing images of the crash.
They hadn’t seen videos, but they were told that there was a horrible explosion, that the plane broke apart and that the crash scene covered several blocks, brother Édgar Juárez told The Associated Press by phone.
Josué Juárez, 43, lived in central Mexico, loved salsa dancing and video games and had been a pilot for more than a decade, his brother said. He loved to fly and worked for the air ambulance service for more than a year, flying mostly from Mexico’s Caribbean coast to the United States.
“He was always aware that he had his risks, but the truth is that more accidents happen on the road,” Édgar Juárez said.
Crash comes on the heels of devastating D.C. midair collision
The crash came just two days after the deadliest U.S. air disaster in a generation. On Wednesday night, an American Airlines jet carrying 60 passengers and four crew members collided in midair in Washington, D.C., with an Army helicopter carrying three soldiers. There were no survivors.
Homendy said the NTSB is a highly skilled agency, and that it is not unusual for it to investigate two major accidents at the same time.
Jet Rescue Air Ambulance, which operated the Mexico-registered Learjet 55, is based in that country and has operations both there and in Miami. A company spokesperson said a seasoned crew operated the plane, and all flight crews undergo rigorous training.
The Philadelphia crash was the second fatal incident in 15 months for Jet Rescue. In 2023 five crew members were killed when their plane overran a runway in the central Mexican state of Morelos and crashed into a hillside.
Income Tax: Know difference between new tax regime vs old tax regime after the Union Budget 2025-26.
Latest Income Tax Slabs, Rates In Budget 2025: As widely expected, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced huge income tax relaxations in the first full Budget of the Modi 3.0 government. Income up to Rs 12 lakh of normal income, other than capital gains income, is tax free. Here are the latest slabs and rates of income tax under the new tax regime for the financial year 2025-26 for those earning above Rs 12 lakh.
The income tax relaxation will give much-needed boost to the consumption in the economy. Here’s the current income tax rates and slabs under the new tax regime (FY 2025-26).
Income up to Rs 4,00,000: Nil
Income from Rs 4,00,001 to Rs 8,00,000: 5%
Income from Rs 8,00,001 to Rs 12,00,000: 10%
Income from Rs 12,00,001 to Rs 16,00,000: 15%
Income from Rs 16,00,001 to Rs 20,00,000: 20%
Income from Rs 20,00,000 to Rs 24,00,000: 25%
Income above Rs 24,00,000: 30%
Importantly, those earning up to Rs 12 lakh a year will have to pay no tax on rebate under 87A. Those those earning above, these tax slabs will be applicable under the new tax regime. Those earning up to Rs 12 lakh in a year in the financial year 2025-26 will have to pay no tax as part of rebate under Section 87A of the Income Tax Act, 1961.
Also, effectively those earning up to Rs 13 lakh will now be able save income tax as over and above the Rs 12 lakh income limit, there is a standard deduction of Rs 75,000, and a marginal relief of around Rs 30,000.
Income Tax Exemption Limits
2005: ₹1 lakh
2012: ₹2 lakhs
2014: ₹2.5 lakhs
2019: ₹5 lakhs
2023: ₹7 lakhs
2025: ₹12 lakhs
The old tax regime remains the same. Following were the slabs till now:
Current Tax Slabs Under the Old Tax Regime (Applicable FY 2024-25, FY 2025-26)
The Old Tax Regime, while retaining higher rates, has allowed taxpayers to claim various exemptions and deductions. Here are the slabs:
Income up to Rs 2,50,000: Nil
Income from Rs 2,50,001 to Rs 7,00,000: 5%
Income from Rs 7,00,001 to Rs 10,00,000: 10%
Income from Rs 10,00,001 to Rs 12,00,000: 15%
Income from Rs 12,00,001 to Rs 15,00,000: 20%
Income above Rs 15,00,000: 30%
For senior citizens aged 60-80 years, the basic exemption limit is Rs 3,00,000. For super senior citizens (above 80 years), it is Rs 5,00,000.
The Old Tax Regime allows deductions under various sections, such as:
Section 80C: Up to Rs 1,50,000 for investments like PPF, ELSS, and LIC premiums.
Section 80D: Health insurance premiums.
Section 24(b): Interest on home loan up to Rs 2,00,000.
Other exemptions like HRA and LTA.
Tax Slabs Under the New Tax Regime Till Now (Applicable FY 2024-25)
The New Tax Regime, introduced in the Budget 2020, offered lower tax rates but fewer exemptions and deductions. Here are the current tax slabs till now (before the Budget 2025):
Income up to Rs 3,00,000: Nil
Income from Rs 3,00,001 to Rs 7,00,000: 5% (tax rebate under Section 87A up to Rs 7 lakh)
Income from Rs 7,00,001 to Rs 10,00,000: 10%
Income from Rs 10,00,001 to Rs 12,00,000: 15%
Income from Rs 12,00,001 to Rs 15,00,000: 20%
Income above Rs 15,00,000: 30%
This was the made default tax regime in the previous budget 2024. Under this regime, taxpayers can opt for lower rates but must forgo popular exemptions like HRA, LTA, and deductions under Sections 80C, 80D, and others.
However, taxpayers can avail of a standard deduction. The standard deduction limit for salaried employees was increased to Rs 75,000 in the Budget 2024-25. For family pensioners, it was hiked to Rs 25,000.
Choosing between the New and Old Tax Regime depends on an individual’s financial profile. The New Tax Regime is more suitable for those who prefer simplicity and have minimal investments. Conversely, the Old Tax Regime benefits taxpayers who maximise exemptions and deductions.
Forty-one bodies had been pulled from the Potomac River as of Friday afternoon, including 28 that had been positively identified.
A Coast Guard vessel with a crane is pictured as it works near the wreckage of a Black Hawk helicopter in the Potomac River. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
The name of one of the three soldiers killed in the plane crash in Washington is not being released.
The army identified two of the soldiers killed when an American Airlines jet and a military helicopter collided mid-air as Staff Sergeant Ryan Austin O’Hara and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Andrew Loyd Eaves.
However, it made the unusual decision, at the request of the family, not to release the name of the third soldier.
Meanwhile, investigators announced the black box from the Black Hawk helicopter has been recovered.
They are reviewing the flight data recorder along with two from the plane as they probe the cause of the devastating crash.
Forty-one bodies had been pulled from the river as of Friday afternoon, including 28 that had been positively identified, Washington DC fire chief John Donnelly Sr said at a news conference.
He said next of kin notifications had been made to 18 families, and that he expects that all 67 of the bodies of the dead will eventually be recovered.
“It’s been a tough response for a lot of our people,” Mr Donnelly said, noting that more than 300 responders were taking part in the effort at any one time.
Investigators have already recovered the cockpit voice recorder and flight data recorder of the American Airlines plane, which struck the helicopter as the plane was coming in for a landing at the airport next to Washington.
Officials are scrutinising a range of factors in what National Transportation Safety Board chairwoman Jennifer Homendy has called an “all-hands-on-deck event”.
Investigators are examining the actions of the military pilot as well as air traffic control, after the helicopter apparently flew into the jet’s path.
Air crash investigations normally take 12-18 months, and investigators told reporters on Thursday that they would not speculate on the cause.
It has been suggested the helicopter exceeded an altitude limit.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday he would impose hefty new tariffs of 25% on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% on imports from China, and nothing could be done by the three countries to forestall them.
Trump did, however, reference a potential carve out for oil from Canada, saying that rate would be 10% versus the 25% planned for other goods from the United States’ northern neighbor. But he indicated wider tariffs on oil and natural gas would be coming in mid-February, remarks that sent oil prices higher.
A drone view shows trucks waiting in line at the Zaragoza-Ysleta border crossing bridge to cross into the U.S., as new tariffs are expected soon from U.S. President Donald Trump, in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico January 31, 2025. REUTERS/Jose Luis Gonzalez Purchase Licensing Rights
Trump has been threatening the tariffs for weeks, saying they would be imposed on Feb. 1 and remain in place until the countries did more to stem the flow of both migrants and fentanyl over the U.S. border.
Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office as he was signing executive orders, Trump said he understood the duties could result in higher costs being passed on to consumers and acknowledged his actions may cause disruptions in the short term. Most economists estimate such sweeping import taxes, and the likely retaliation, would disrupt economic activity around the globe.
Asked if there was any opportunity at this stage for the three top U.S. trading partners to win a delay, Trump said: “No, no. Not right now, no.”
He brushed away the notion his threats for levies have been a bargaining tool. “No, it’s not … we have big (trade) deficits with, as you know, with all three of them.”
“It’s something we’re doing, and we’ll possibly very substantially increase it, or not, we’ll see how it is,” Trump said. “But it’s a lot of money coming to the United States.”
And more tariffs are on the way, the Republican president said, saying import taxes were being considered on European goods as well as on steel, aluminum and copper, and on drugs and semiconductors.
“We’re going to be putting tariffs on steel and aluminum, and ultimately copper. Copper will take a little longer,” he said.
Financial markets have been whipsawed by the rapid-fire but still not fully clear developments on Trump’s tariff plans, with currency trading showing particular volatility. The Canadian dollar and Mexican peso both weakened while Treasury bond yields rose, and stocks ended the day lower.
Still, he said he was not concerned about the reaction of financial markets to his plans to impose tariffs.
“The President will be implementing tomorrow 25% tariffs on Mexico, 25% tariffs on Canada, and a 10% tariff on China for the illegal fentanyl that they have sourced and allowed to distribute into our country, which has killed tens of millions of Americans,” White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told a press briefing.
Leavitt said details of the tariffs will be released sometime on Saturday.
When Trump imposed punitive duties on Chinese goods in 2018 and 2019, there was typically a lag of two to three weeks for Customs and Border Protection to begin collecting tariffs, due to computer system updates and notices required for importers.
Trump traveled late on Friday to his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, saying he would work all weekend there. He was joined on the flight by his commerce secretary nominee Howard Lutnick, who Trump has designated as his trade policy chief. MAJOR DISRUPTION
Economists and business executives have warned the tariffs would spark increases in the prices of imports such as aluminum and lumber from Canada, as well as fruits, vegetables, beer and electronics from Mexico and motor vehicles from both countries.
Trump again spoke of collecting hundreds of billions of dollars in revenues from other countries, but economists generally say tariffs are paid by firms that import goods and pass the costs on to consumers or accept lower profits.
“President Trump’s tariffs will tax America first,” said Matthew Holmes, public policy chief at the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. “From higher costs at the pumps, grocery stores and online checkout, tariffs cascade through the economy and end up hurting consumers and businesses on both sides of the border.”
Trump’s move is expected to draw retaliatory tariffs, potentially disrupting more than $2.1 trillion in annual two-way U.S. trade with the three trading partners.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said Canada would immediately respond with forceful countermeasures, adding Canadians could be “facing difficult times in the coming days and weeks.”
Canada has drawn up detailed targets for immediate tariff retaliation, including duties on Florida orange juice, a source familiar with the plan said. Canada has a broader list of targets that could reach C$150 billion ($105 billion) worth of U.S. imports, but would hold public consultations before acting, the source said.
Union Budget 2025 Updates: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present a record eighth consecutive budget, which is expected to contain measures that ease the burden on the middle class struggling with high prices and stagnant wage growth while being fiscally prudent.
As per the Economic Survey tabled on Friday, the Indian economy is expected to grow at 6.3-6.8 percent in 2025-26. While India will need structural reforms and deregulation to reinforce medium-term growth potential, investment activity is expected to pick up.
Ahead of the Budget, President Droupadi Murmu addressed a joint sitting of Parliament where she said the government has worked with strong determination to lift the economy out of the state of “policy paralysis” despite global concerns such as aftermath of COVID-19 pandemic and war-related uncertainties.
During the Budget Session, sixteen bills, including the Finance Bill 2025, amendments to the Waqf and Banking Regulations Act, and the merging of the Indian Railways and Indian Railways Board Acts, will be tabled.
Here are the Updates of Union Budget 2025:
What Changes Do Economists Suggest For Salaried Taxpayers
Every Budget season, the most-asked question remains the same – does it have anything for the salaried class? With Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman set to present Budget 2025-26 on February 1, the salaried class is again looking out if the government has any plans to reduce their financial burden.
Economists have suggested that the government this time offer a higher tax exemption limit and an increased standard deduction under the new tax regime, which would benefit a lot of taxpayers. In the last Budget, the standard deduction was increased to Rs 75,000 from Rs 50,000 while the exemption limit stands at Rs 3 lakh under the new regime.
5 Union Budgets That Left A Lasting Impact On Indian Economy
Introduction of wealth tax in the 1957-58 Budget
The 1957-58 Budget, presented by Finance Minister TT Krishnamachari, introduced a landmark reform – the wealth tax. For the first time, individuals were taxed on the value of their personal assets. The shift marked a new approach to taxation, aimed at reducing economic inequality by taxing the wealthy. The wealth tax remained in place for decades before it was scrapped in 2015.
The ‘Black Budget’ of 1973-74
The 1973-74 Budget, presented by Yashwantrao B Chavan, is remembered as the “Black Budget” for its staggering fiscal deficit of Rs 550 crore. India was grappling with serious economic challenges, including rising oil prices and food shortages. The Budget laid bare the country’s economic difficulties, and it was a precursor to the political and economic turbulence that followed, including the declaration of the Emergency in 1975.
Feb 01, 2025 10:47
Core Team Behind Budget 2025-26
Nirmala Sitharaman has been supported by a skilled team of experts, each playing a crucial role in shaping the economic roadmap.
Here are the key figures behind the Budget-making process:
Indian Air Force’s (IAF’s) Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla will script history as the first Indian astronaut to travel to the International Space Station (ISS). Grp Capt Shukla is selected as the pilot for Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4). It is a private astronaut mission and will be launched aboard a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft.
The Ax-4 crew includes members from India, Poland, and Hungary, marking each nation’s first mission to the space station in history and second government-sponsored human spaceflight mission in over 40 years, as per the official website of the mission. It will be launched not before Spring this year, reported The Times Of India.
Who Is Group Captain Shubanshu Shukla?
Shubhanshu Shukla will be India’s second national astronaut to go to space since 1984 after Squadron Leader Rakesh Sharma. Grp Capt Shukla is born on October 10, 1985, in Lucknow. He was commissioned into the IAF in June 2006 as a fighter pilot. He was promoted to the rank of Group Captain in March last year.
Meet #Ax4‘s Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla. Shubhanshu is a distinguished pilot in the Indian Air Force and was handpicked as one of the four astronauts for @ISRO‘s historic Gaganyaan mission, the nation’s inaugural human spaceflight endeavor. Learn more:https://t.co/Bb7lDVdq7x. pic.twitter.com/Xjx651864G
Grp Capt Shukla has an impressive 2,000 hours of flight experience across various aircraft, including the Su-30 MKI, MiG-21, MiG-29, Jaguar, Hawk, Dornier, and An-32. In 2019, the IAF officer received a call from the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for India’s maiden human spaceflight mission, Gaganyaan, scheduled for launch in 2025. He was sent for training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Moscow, Russia. On February 27, 2024, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled Shukla as one of the elite astronauts undergoing intensive training.
About Axiom 4 Mission:
The Ax-4 mission will “realize the return” to human spaceflight for India, Poland, and Hungary. It will be the first time all three nations will execute a mission on board the International Space Station. This historic mission underscores how Axiom Space is redefining the pathway to low-Earth orbit and elevating national space programs globally, as per the official website.
🇺🇸 Commander Peggy Whitson
🇮🇳 Mission Pilot Shubhanshu Shukla of #India
🇵🇱 Mission Specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski of ESA/#Poland
🇭🇺 Mission Specialist Tibor Kapu of #Hungarypic.twitter.com/Jjx8ERGqFf
Alpine Skiing – FIS Alpine Ski World Cup – Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy – January 17, 2025 General view as the Olympic rings and the Paralympics logo are seen in Cortina d’Ampezzo REUTERS/Lisi Niesner/ File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
The Italian Alps will host the fifth Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2028, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Thursday.
The Games will be held in Northern Valtellina, Trentino and Cortina, using existing venues that will also stage events at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
“The election of Dolomiti Valtellina 2028 is an expression of the IOC’s confidence in Italy’s ability to deliver world class, exceptional winter sports events,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a statement.
Search and rescue teams work near the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, in the aftermath of the collision of American Eagle flight 5342 and a Black Hawk helicopter that crashed into the Potomac River, in Arlington, Virginia, U.S., Jan. 30, 2025. Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
There were no survivors after an American Airlines regional jet with 64 people aboard collided with a Black Hawk military helicopter moments before the airplane was set to land at Washington, D.C.’s Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport on Wednesday night, officials said. The accident was the worst air disaster in the U.S. since 2001.
Hundreds of first responders have switched to a recovery operation from rescue efforts, District of Columbia Fire and Emergency Medical Services Chief John Donnelly said in a press conference Thursday morning. Donnelly said at least 28 bodies have been recovered so far: 27 from the jet and one from the helicopter.
Both aircraft plunged into the icy waters of the Potomac River. First responders including divers worked overnight to try to recover victims, battling choppy, cold waters.
Sixty passengers and four crew members were on board the American flight. Three people were on board the military helicopter, an official said.
American Eagle Flight 5342, a PSA Airlines Bombardier CRJ700 regional jetliner, was on approach into the airport’s Runway 33 when it collided with a Sikorsky H-60 helicopter at around 9 p.m. ET, the FAA said. The flight was arriving from Wichita, Kansas, and flying at an altitude of about 300 feet at the time of the collision, according to FlightRadar24.
PSA Airlines is an American Airlines subsidiary and one of its regional carriers. American Eagle is how the airline brands its regional flights.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, two days into the job, said the American Airlines jetliner was broken into three sections in the Potomac.
The accident hands President Donald Trump a crisis less than two weeks into his new term, as it ends the country’s nearly 16-year stretch without a deadly commercial passenger crash.
Trump claimed at a White House news conference Thursday that policies promoting diversity, equity and inclusion “could have been” to blame for the collision, the deadliest U.S. plane crash since November 2001. He did not provide evidence.
Pressed on whether he was getting ahead of the investigation and on how he could connect the collision to DEI, Trump said, “Because I have common sense, OK?”
The National Transportation Safety Board is leading the investigation into Wednesday’s accident. The probe will also include the Federal Aviation Administration, American Airlines and other parties.
American Airlines CEO Robert Isom said in a memo to staff that the NTSB would be the “sole source of truth going forward, and accuracy is of the utmost importance.”
At a briefing Thursday afternoon, NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy said the agency would leave no stone unturned in its investigation.
Investigators will look at everything from staffing levels at the airport’s air traffic control facility to pilot training, maintenance, communications between air traffic controllers and the aircraft involved in the crash, she said.
NBC News reported that two “black boxes” with flight information were recovered from the jet, citing a source with knowledge of the investigation.
Staffing at Reagan National Airport on Wednesday night wasn’t at normal levels for the time of day and the amount of traffic, according to a source familiar with a FAA preliminary incident report. The FAA didn’t immediately comment.
The person said the tower at the airport normally has one controller who focuses on helicopter traffic, though FAA allows for that position to be combined so one person could watch airplanes and helicopters. That was the case Wednesday night, the source said.
“Everyone who flies in American skies expects that we fly safely, that when you depart an airport, you get to your destination,” Duffy said in a press conference Thursday. “That didn’t happen last night, and I know that President Trump, his administration, the FAA, the DOT, you will not rest until we have answers for the family and for the flying public.”
Duffy said he thought the accident was preventable.
The FAA does not have a permanent head, which would require Senate confirmation. Former Administrator Mike Whitaker stepped down on Jan. 20, when Trump took office.
On Thursday, Trump appointed Chris Rocheleau, a former senior FAA official, as acting head of the FAA.
American CEO Isom traveled to Washington, D.C., overnight.
“I want to express my sincere condolences for the accident that happened last night. We’re absolutely heartbroken for the family members,” Isom said in a press conference. “Our focus right now is to support all of those involved and also the PSA airlines team.”
He said the American flight was at final approach and “at this time, we don’t know why the military aircraft came into the path of the PSA aircraft.”
Isom said the captain of the American Eagle flight had about six years with PSA and the first officer had about two years. The plane was on a “standard” approach, he added. “That’s about all I can say.”
NBC News reported that one of the soldiers on the helicopter was an instructor pilot lending experience to the crew, which was on an annual training mission.
The airline provided contact information for people who “believe you may have loved ones on board Flight 5342.”
American and Russian figure skaters were on board the flight, according to the countries’ official groups.
Reagan Washington National was closed Wednesday night and reopened late Thursday morning. Officials said airlines would communicate any schedule changes to passengers.
Indian Billionaires Wage Copyright War on ChatGPT’s Sam Altman (Image Source: Times Now Digital)
India’s business tycoons Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani are leading the legal war against OpenAI CEO Sam Altman for allegedly violating copyright laws by using content from Indian news websites without due consent.
Ambani’s Network18, and Adani’s NDTV are leading the lawsuit along with other members of the Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA). They claim that OpenAI has “deliberately extracted and repurposed copyrighted content” for its generative AI tools, including ChatGPT, without obtaining the necessary licensing agreements.
The publishers argue that this practice jeopardizes their financial stability by redirecting advertising revenue and profiting from the work of content creators. They contend that it threatens India’s media landscape and the future of traditional journalism in a country with over 1.4 billion people.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman May Visit India Next Week
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is expected to visit India next week, a Reuters report said. The ChatGPT founder is reportedly scheduled to land in New Delhi on February 5. The CEO is also expected to meet some officials though there has been no official confirmation.
Altman’s visit comes at a time when he is facing legal heat in India as news agency ANI filed a lawsuit against OpenAi for using its content to train its AI models without any compensation.
Meanwhile, in the US, several major news outlets, including The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, Denver Post, and Orange County Register, have filed lawsuits against OpenAI for copyright violations.
OpenAI’s Defence & Rising Competition
OpenAI has countered the allegations, stating that it only utilises publicly available data in a manner protected under fair use principles. Additionally, the company has argued that Indian courts lack jurisdiction over the matter.
Panamanian authorities have repeatedly stated that there is no Chinese management of the canalImage: Mauricio Valenzuela/dpa/picture alliance
Washington’s new top diplomat, Marco Rubio, will travel to Panama this week in his first overseas trip since assuming office. The new administration’s immigration crackdown is likely to be among the top issues during talks, but US President Donald Trump’s claim that the Central American nation had ceded control of the Panama Canal to China will also loom large.
“We didn’t give [the Panama Canal] to China, we gave it to Panama, and we’re taking it back,” said Trump in his second inaugural address.
His comments drew quick rebuttals from both Beijing and the Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino, who in a post on X said there was “absolutely no Chinese interference” in the canal.
But Trump’s remarks have prompted fresh questions about China’s involvement in one of the most vital waterways for international trade. Rubio, the new US secretary of state, addressed Trump’s concerns at his confirmation hearing earlier this month.
“An argument could be made that the terms under which that canal was turned over have been violated,” he told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Panama and China deepen economic ties
For decades after its completion in 1914,the United States administered the Panama Canal, an 82 kilometer (51-mile) waterway connecting the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Full control of the canal was returned to Panama in 1999, but Washington reserved the right to use military force to preserve its neutrality. Some 40% of all US container traffic passes through the canal each year with China as its second biggest user..
The waterway is managed by the Panama Canal Authority (ACP), a branch of the Panamanian government. Panamanian authorities have repeatedly stated that there is no Chinese management of the canal.
China has significantly expanded its presence around the canal in recent years, especially since Panama established diplomatic ties with Beijing in 2017. That was the same year Panama became the first Latin American nation to join China’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Concerns of Chinese overreach in the waterway have focused on two ports, Balboa and Cristóbal, located on the Pacific and Atlantic sides of the canal respectively. Since 1997, they have been operated by a subsidiary of Hutchison Port Holdings, itself a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based CK Hutchison Holdings, owned by Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-shing.
Analysts said even if Trump’s threats are just bluster — and the Chinese threats overstated — there is a method to the new president’s rhetoric.
“We’re seeing Trump use Panama as an example,” said Will Freeman, a fellow for Latin American studies at the Council on Foreign Relations. “[He’s saying] don’t think you can get away with closer ties with China on my watch.”
A critical military artery
There are concerns in Washington that Chinese operations around the Panama Canal could morph into a capacity to control it, especially if a hot conflict were to break out between the two superpowers.
In testimony to the US Congress last year, the then-commander of the United States Southern Command responsible for Central and South America, General Laura Richardson said, “[China] messages its investments as peaceful. But many serve as points of future multi-domain access for [China] and strategic naval chokepoints,” before citing the Panama Canal by name.
This stands in stark contrast to how Beijing characterizes its relationship with Panama. In a message congratulating Panamanian President Mulino on his election victory last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that establishing diplomatic ties had brought “tangible benefits to the people of both nations.”
But Evan Ellis, a research professor of Latin American studies at the US Army War College, said that in a Chinese invasion scenario of Taiwan, existing Chinese access, influence and technical knowledge could be used to “shut down the canal in deniable ways.” Ellis told DW that could come through “arranging” the sinking of a ship or through either physical or cyber-sabotaging of locks.
Ellis added that in the context of a war in the Indo-Pacific, such activity could be used by China to impede US deployments and other war-fighting efforts. In the case of Taiwan, delays to US support by even a few days could be the difference between China’s invasion being successful or not. There are several ways China could do this, Ellis said, “but one of those big pins on the drawing board is shutting down the Panama Canal.”
‘America First’ could open doors for Beijing
Since taking office, Trump has directed many of his most combative directives at other nations in the Americas, including those seen as important allies of the United States. Trump has threatened to impose tariffs of 25% on all imports from Canada and Mexico from February 1.
This weekend, Colombia only managed to avoid a trade war with Washington after agreeing to accept US military aircraft carrying deported migrants. Honduran President Xiomara Castro has called for an urgent meeting of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) this week to discuss ways to deal with the new US administration.
Police officers next to demonstrators after a pro-Palestinian encampment was dismantled in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., May 16, 2024. REUTERS/Jim Vondruska/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights
U.S. President Donald Trumpsigned an executive order on Wednesday to combat antisemitism and pledged to deport non-citizen college students and others who took part in pro-Palestinian protests.
A fact sheet on the order promises “immediate action” by the Justice Department to prosecute “terroristic threats, arson, vandalism and violence against American Jews” and marshal all federal resources to combat what it called “the explosion of antisemitism on our campuses and streets” since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” Trump said in the fact sheet.
“I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathizers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before,” the president said, echoing a 2024 campaign promise.
Rights groups and legal scholars said the new measure would violate constitutional free speech rights and would likely draw legal challenges.
“The First Amendment protects everyone in the United States, including foreign citizens studying at American universities,” said Carrie DeCell, senior staff attorney at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. “Deporting non-citizens on the basis of their political speech would be unconstitutional.”
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, a large Muslim advocacy group, said it would consider challenging the order in court if Trump tried to implement it.
The Hamas attacks and the subsequent Israeli assault on the Palestinian coastal enclave of Gaza led to several months of pro-Palestinian protests that roiled U.S. college campuses. Civil rights groups documented a surge in hate crimes and incidents directed at Jews, Muslims, Arabs and other people of Middle Eastern descent.
The order requires agency and department leaders to provide the White House with recommendations within 60 days on all criminal and civil authorities that could be used to fight antisemitism, according to the fact sheet.
It calls for an inventory and analysis of all court cases involving K-12 schools, colleges and universities and alleged civil rights violations associated with pro-Palestinian campus protests, potentially leading to actions to remove “alien students and staff.”
Many pro-Palestinian protesters denied supporting Hamas or engaging in antisemitic acts, saying they were demonstrating against Israel’s military assault on Gaza, where health authorities say more than 47,000 people have been killed.
Google’s maps division on Monday reclassified the U.S. as a “sensitive country,” a designation it reserves for states with strict governments and border disputes, CNBC has learned.
The new classification for the U.S. came after President Donald Trump said his administration would make name changes on official maps and federal communications. Those changes include renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and renaming Mount Denali as Mount McKinley.
Google’s order to stop designating the U.S. as a “non-sensitive” country came on Monday, according to internal correspondence viewed by CNBC. That’s when the company announced it would change the name of the body of water between the Yucatan and Florida peninsulas to the “Gulf of America” in Google Maps after the Trump administration updates its “official government sources.”
The decision to elevate the U.S. to its list of sensitive countries illustrates the challenges that tech companies face as they try to navigate the early days of a second Trump presidency. Since the start of the year, Meta, TikTok, Amazon
and others have adjusted their products and policies to reflect Trump’s political views, policies and executive orders.
Trump had a rocky relationship with Silicon Valley throughout his first presidency and didn’t shy away from criticizing the sector throughout his 2024 campaign. More recently, tech executives, including Google CEO Sundar Pichai, have pursued closer ties with Trump, with several standing behind the president during his inauguration.
Google’s list of sensitive countries includes China, Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iraq, among others. The label is also used for countries that have “unique geometry or unique labeling,” according to internal correspondence reviewed by CNBC.
The U.S. and Mexico are new additions.
The “sensitive” classification is a technical configuration that signifies some labels within a given country are different from other countries, a company spokesperson told CNBC.
It’s unclear if Google’s reclassification of the U.S. extends beyond its “Geo” division.
With more than 2 billion monthly users, Google Maps is the world’s top navigation app.
Some team members within the maps division were ordered to urgently make changes to the location name and recategorize the U.S. from “non-sensitive” to “sensitive,” according to the internal correspondence. The changes were given a rare “P0” order, meaning it had the highest priority level and employees were immediately notified and instructed to drop what they were doing to work on it.
Google’s order states that the Gulf of America title change should be treated similar to the Persian Gulf, which in Arab countries is displayed on Google Maps as Arabian Gulf.
New research has been published about a new habitable exoplanet orbiting a sun-like star (Image: Gabriel Pérez Díaz, SMM (IAC)/PA Wire)
A new habitable planet that orbits the sun near Earth has been discovered by scientists.
The exoplanet, a planet outside our solar system, was originally discovered two years ago by Oxford University scientist Dr. Michael Cretignier.
However, a team of international researchers at the institution have published new findings expanding on his planetary discovery in Astronomy & Astrophysics.
The researchers found that the exoplanet, named HD 20794 d, orbits a “habitable zone” of a nearby star akin to our sun, which the exoplanet uniquely orbits elliptically rather than circularly.
This means that the exoplanet is close enough to its star to maintain liquid water on its surface, which is essential for sustaining life.
However, scientists say more research is required to determine if the planet can host life.
The planet, which has a whopping six times greater mass than Earth, is about 20 light years away from our solar system, the researchers found.
Dr. Cretignier discovered the astral body while analyzing archived data from High Accuracy Radial Velocity Planet Searcher (HARPS) at the La Silla Observatory in Chile.
HARPS studies the light absorbed and emitted by objects.
Dr. Cretignier was able to detect the planet by noticing periodic shifts in the spectrum of light emitted by the host star.
Researchers believed this could have occurred because of the gravitational pull of a nearby planet.
To test the theory, the international team recorded two decades’ worth of data to analyze.
He said, “We worked on data analysis for years, gradually analyizing and eliminating all possible sources of contamination.”
Security teams have been helping those injured at the Maha Kumbh festival. Pic: Reuters
Many people are feared dead and dozens have been injured in a stampede at a Hindu festival in northern India.
Images from the scene in the city of Prayagraj, in Uttar Pradesh state, show bodies being stretchered away and rescuers helping those who were hurt.
Millions of people were attempting to take a holy bath in the river at the massive Maha Kumbh festival when there was an initial stampede at 1am local time (1930 UK time).
Authorities said people trying to escape it were then caught in a second – and more serious – stampede at an exit.
Devotees had congregated to bathe at the confluence of the Ganges, the Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati rivers.
A Rapid Action Force unit, a special team deployed during crisis situations, has been sent to the scene.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has spoken to the chief minister for Uttar Pradesh state, Yogi Adityanath, calling for “immediate support measures”, according to the ANI news agency.
Authorities had expected a record 100 million people to visit Prayagraj for the Maha Kumbh – “festival of the Sacred Pitcher” – on Wednesday for the holy dip.
It is regarded as a significant day for Hindus, due to a rare alignment of celestial bodies after 144 years.
The Maha Kumbh festival, which is held every 12 years, started on 13 January and is the world’s largest religious gathering.
Organisers had forecast that more than 400 million people would attend the pilgrimage site over the next six weeks.
Images captured by NASA astronaut Don Pettit showcases the illuminated banks of the Ganga. Credit: X/@astro_Pettit
The world’s largest religious gathering Maha Kumbh Mela was captured in stunning images from the International Space Station (ISS), officials said on Monday.
Shared by NASA astronaut Don Pettit on X, the images captured on Sunday showcase the illuminated banks of the Ganga, reflecting the vibrant energy of the event.
The images capture the radiant lights and vast gathering of devotees at Maha Kumbh, showcasing it as a majestic spectacle.
2025 Maha Kumbh Mela Ganges River pilgrimage from the ISS at night. The largest human gathering in the world is well lit. pic.twitter.com/l9YD6o0Llo
The images underscore the sheer scale of the religious event, which continues to amaze people worldwide, an official statement said.
Sharing the images, Pettit commented on the view of the Maha Kumbh Mela from the ISS, highlighting the radiant brilliance of the world’s largest human gathering along the banks of Ganga.
Canada’s former Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland speaks at a press conference in Toronto on Sunday Jan. 19, 2025, as she kicks off her campaign to become the next Liberal party leader. (Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chrystia Freeland, the former finance minister who is running to replace Justin Trudeau as Canada’s prime minister, said Monday Canada needs to release a “retaliation list” of goods the country would target if U.S. President Donald Trump makes good on his threat to slap 25% tariffs on Canadian goods.
A list of products worth $200 billion Canadian dollars (US$139 billion) would send a message to U.S. exporters about the harm tariffs would cause them, Freeland said in a statement.
“Being smart means retaliating where it hurts,” she said. “Our counterpunch must be dollar-for-dollar — and it must be precisely and painfully targeted: Florida orange growers, Wisconsin dairy farmers, Michigan dishwasher manufacturers, and much more.”
“Now is the moment when Canada must make clear to Americans the specific costs that will accompany any tariff measures by the Trump administration.”
Trump has said he will use economic coercion to pressure Canada to become the nation’s 51st state. He continues to erroneously cast the U.S. trade deficit with Canada — a natural resource-rich nation that provides the U.S. with commodities like oil — as a subsidy.
Canada is the top export destination for 36 U.S. states. Nearly $3.6 billion Canadian (US$2.7 billion) worth of goods and services cross the border each day.
John Ries, senior associate dean at the University of British Columbia Sauder School of Business, said Canada should retaliate against any tariffs but warned against publicizing a list in advance, citing the risk of antagonizing Trump — and making it harder for him to back off on his threats.
“He always wants to win,” said Ries. “He doesn’t want to show any weakness.”
Freeland said Monday that if she wins the leadership race and become prime minister she would also prohibit American companies from bidding on Canadian federal procurement (excluding defense).
She also said she would convene an international summit with the leaders of Mexico, Denmark, Panama, and the president of the European Union to “coordinate a joint response to challenges to our sovereignty and our economies.”
Some lawmakers have suggested Canada could stop energy shipments to the United States, a move opposed by Daniele Smith, the premier of Canada’s oil-rich province of Alberta.
Former central banker Mark Carney, who is also running for the Liberal leadership, said over the weekend that cutting off Quebec’s hydro exports to the U.S. should remain an option on the table in a trade fight with Trump.
Nvidia Corp.’s plunge, fueled by investor concern about Chinese artificial-intelligence startup DeepSeek, erased a record amount of stock-market value from the world’s largest company.
Nvidia shares tumbled 17% Monday, the biggest drop since March 2020, erasing $589 billion from the company’s market capitalization. That eclipsed the previous record — a 9% drop in September that wiped out about $279 billion in value — and was the biggest in US stock-market history.
The drop rippled through the rest of the market due to how much weight Nvidia has in major indexes. Including Monday’s slump, Nvidia selloffs have caused eight of the top ten biggest one-day drops in the S&P 500 Index, based on market value, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The S&P 500 fell 1.5% Monday and the Nasdaq 100 tumbled nearly 3%.
The semiconductor maker led a broader selloff in technology stocks after DeepSeek’s low-cost approach reignited concerns that big US companies have poured too much money into developing artificial intelligence. The Chinese firm appears to provide a comparable performance at a fraction of the price.
All About DeepSeek and Its Lower-Cost AI Model: QuickTake
The latest AI model of DeepSeek, released last week, is widely seen as competitive with those of OpenAI and Meta Platforms Inc. The open-sourced product was founded by quant-fund chief Liang Wenfeng and is now at the top of Apple Inc.’s App Store rankings.
“Concerns have immediately emerged that it could be a disruptor to the current AI business model, which relies on high end chips and extensive computing power and hence energy,” Jefferies analysts said in a note to clients.
Nvidia has been the biggest beneficiary of the influx in spending on AI because they design semiconductors used in the technology. While that heavy spending looks poised to continue, investors may grow wary of rewarding companies that aren’t showing a sufficient return on the investment.
Meta announced plans on Friday to boost capital expenditures on AI projects this year by about half to as much as $65 billion, sending its shares to a record high. That came on the heels of OpenAI, SoftBank Group Corp. and Oracle Corp. announcing a $100 billion joint venture called Stargate to build out data centers and AI infrastructure projects around the US.
Guillain-Barre Syndrome is an autoimmune neurological disorder. (File photo)
Maharashtra on Sunday reported the first suspected death due to Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) in the state after a patient died at a private hospital in Solapur. Meanwhile, GBS cases in Pune have now spiked to 101, raising concerns among health authorities.
The victim (40) was suffering from diarrhoea and also had symptoms of cough and cold, according to reports. He was admitted to the ICU at a private hospital on January 18. After his condition improved, he was shifted to a regular room.
However, his health took a turn for the worse when he started experiencing difficulty breathing. He died right after he was readmitted to the ICU ward, according to reports.
Doctors at Solapur Government Medical College performed the autopsy and said the initial cause of death is suspected to be GBS.
Viscera samples, including brain, blood, and intestinal tissues, have been sent for further analysis. The final cause of death will be determined after receiving the reports in the next 15 days.
Pune is grappling with a surge in GBS cases. The number of cases increased by 28 in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of GBS cases in the city to 101. Typically, GBS cases do not exceed two per month, making the current spike unprecedented.
At present, 16 of the diagnosed patients are currently on ventilator support. Symptoms have been observed in 19 children under the age of 9, while 23 cases are reported in the 50-80 age group. Laboratory tests on patient samples have confirmed the presence of Campylobacter jejuni bacteria, a known trigger for GBS.
In response, authorities have intensified water testing, particularly in areas with the highest number of cases. Test results released on Saturday revealed high levels of E. coli bacteria in a well near Khadakwasla Dam, Pune’s primary water source. However, officials have not determined if this well is in active use.
As of Sunday, the health department surveyed 25,578 households in an effort to identify more GBS cases and pinpoint the source of the outbreak.
What is Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS)?
GBS is a rare condition where the immune system mistakenly attacks nerves in response to a bacterial or viral infection. Symptoms include weakness, paralysis, and other complications.
Doctors report that 80 per cent of affected patients regain their ability to walk independently within six months of discharge. However, some patients may take up to a year or more to fully recover.
Indian soldiers march during the Republic Day parade in New Delhi, India, January 26, 2025. REUTERS/Adnan Abidi Purchase Licensing Rights
Colourful tableaux, fighter jet formations and motorbike stunts by army daredevils marked India’s Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi on Sunday, commemorating the day the nation’s secular constitution came into effect in 1950.
Thousands gathered in the capital to watch the parade from seats around the Kartavya Path – or path of duty – and cheered the march by troops from India’s defence forces and dance performances.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Droupadi Murmu and other political and government leaders attended, with the visiting Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto as chief guest.
The Indian government says 5,000 artists performed over 45 dance forms, while the Kartavya Path was expended to improve viewing.
A daredevil unit performed and some 40 aircraft, including 22 Indian Air Force fighter jets, participated in an air show across a clear sky.
Different states and ministries showcased government initiatives under this year’s theme of “Swarnim Bharat: Virasat Aur Vikas”, Golden India – Heritage and Development.
U.S. search engine startup Perplexity AI has revised the merger proposal it had submitted to TikTok’s Chinese parent ByteDance to create a new entity combining Perplexity and TikTok U.S., a person familiar with the proposal told Reuters on Sunday.
The proposal calls for the U.S. government to own up to 50% of the new company upon a future initial public offering (IPO), the person said.
A Perplexity document shared with ByteDance and new investors proposed the creation of a new U.S. holding company called “NewCo”, the person said.
Under the proposal, ByteDance would sell TikTok U.S. to the investors, which would give TikTok’s existing investors equity in the company. The proposal would also exclude TikTok’s core recommendation algorithm, which ByteDance would keep, the person said.
The U.S. government would own up to half of the new structure once it goes through an IPO of a valuation of at least $300 billion.
Perplexity AI. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic Purchase Licensing Rights
Perplexity AI would also offer to be acquired by the holding company if its own investors received a distribution of the NewCo equity, the person said.
CNBC first reported news of the proposal.
TikTok services were restored last week after U.S. President Donald Trump said he would revive the app’s access in the country after returning to power. TikTok shut off its app for U.S. users due to a law that cited national security.
ByteDance and the White House did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. On Saturday, President Donald Trump said he was in talks with multiple people over buying TikTok and would likely have a decision on the popular app’s future in the next 30 days.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that a source said Perplexity submitted a bid to ByteDance for the startup to merge with TikTok U.S., adding that Perplexity would merge with TikTok and create a new entity by combining the merged company with New Capital Partners.
All bird keepers, from people with pet birds to farmers with huge flocks, are now required to follow strict hygiene measures imposed by the government – and in some counties, birds must be kept indoors.
File pic: APRestrictions have been placed on the whole of England and Scotland to try to slow the spread of bird flu.
All bird keepers, from people with pet birds to farmers with huge flocks, are now required to follow strict hygiene measures imposed by the government.
In some counties, mostly across the east of England, even stricter rules are being put in place that mean birds must be kept indoors.
“I urge bird keepers to check which requirements apply to them,” said the UK chief veterinary officer, Christine Middlemiss.
“Continue to exercise robust biosecurity measures, remain alert for any signs of disease and report suspected disease immediately to the Animal and Plant Health Agency.”
Although the risk to humans is still low, according to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), bird flu cases are rising around the world.
In the US, about 10% of the nation’s egg-laying hens have been culled, leading to soaring egg prices.
The New York Times reported that shops and restaurants are now paying a record $7 (£5.60) for a dozen eggs, up from $2.25 (£1.80) last autumn.
In the UK, the average egg price increased by 16% between early 2023 and early 2024, according to the government’s most recent figures.
Properly cooked poultry products, including eggs, are still safe to eat, according to DEFRA.
A housing order has been extended and from Monday will apply in York, North Yorkshire and Shropshire, and remains in force across East Riding of Yorkshire, the City of Kingston Upon Hull, Lincolnshire, Norfolk and Suffolk.
Mandatory housing also applies within 3km of any infected premises.
Since November, 22 confirmed avian flu cases have been found in England, with one in Scotland.
Four female Israeli soldiers who were taken in the attack that sparked the war in Gaza returned to Israel on Saturday after Hamas militants paraded them before a crowd of thousands in Gaza City and handed them over to the Red Cross. Israel later released 200 Palestinian prisoners in the second exchange of a fragile ceasefire.
The four Israelis smiled, waved and gave the thumbs-up from a stage in Palestine Square, with armed, masked militants on either side as Hamas sought to show it remained in control in Gaza after 15 months of war. The hostages likely acted under duress. Previously released ones said they were held in brutal conditions and forced to record propaganda videos.
Israel’s Prison Service said it released 200 Palestinians, including 121 people serving life sentences after being convicted of deadly attacks against Israelis, while others were held without charge.
Thousands of Palestinians in the Israeli-occupied West Bank city of Ramallah celebrated their arrival. Wan-looking and wearing gray prison sweatsuits, some donned Hamas headbands given to them by the crowd and rode on supporters’ shoulders.
In the deal’s first major crisis, Israel said it would not allow displaced Palestinians to return to northern Gaza by Sunday as anticipated, because civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud was not released as expected.
As mediators addressed that, hundreds of Palestinians gathered near the east-west Netzarim corridor dividing Gaza.
“Why are they treating us like this?” asked one man, Khalil Abd. Families huddled around bonfires against the winter cold.
Israeli forces shot and killed a Palestinian man close to the Netzarim corridor, Palestinian medical officials said. Israel’s military said it fired warning shots in response to “gatherings of dozens of suspects.” It said it was unaware of anyone harmed.
Israel insists on release of civilian hostage Arbel Yehoud
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Israel would not allow Palestinians into northern Gaza until Yehoud, taken from a kibbutz in Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war, was freed.
Hamas said it held Israel responsible for “any delay in implementing the agreement and its repercussions.”
A senior Hamas official said the group informed mediators that Yehoud will be released next week. An Egyptian official involved in negotiations called the matter a “minor issue” that mediators were working to resolve. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The U.S. National Security Council continues to push for Yehoud’s release, a spokesperson said.
The ceasefire began last weekend with the release of three hostages and 90 prisoners. It is aimed at winding down the deadliest and most destructive war ever fought between Israel and Hamas. The deal has allowed for a surge of aid into tiny, devastated Gaza.
Who are the soldiers and prisoners released?
The four Israeli soldiers, Karina Ariev, 20, Daniella Gilboa, 20, Naama Levy, 20, and Liri Albag, 19, were taken from Nahal Oz base near the border with Gaza when Palestinian militants overran it, killing more than 60 soldiers.
The four squealed as they hurried to embrace loved ones. Thousands of people danced and celebrated as the soldiers arrived by helicopter near a Tel Aviv hospital, which said they were in stable condition.
“I had goosebumps watching them,” said Aviv Bercovich in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square. “I just want the war to end.”
Thousands of Israelis gathered there again Saturday night to call for all hostages to be freed, amid fears the war will resume.
A fifth female soldier in the unit, Agam Berger, 20, also was abducted. “Now she’s there alone,” said family friend Yoni Collins.
In Gaza City, resident Radwan Abu Rawiya also watched the handover. “This is huge,” he said. “People forgot about the war, destruction and are celebrating.”
A video released by Hamas’ armed wing showed the hostages thanking the militants in Arabic for the “good treatment,” again likely under duress.
Israel’s army spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari criticized Hamas’ “cynical” display. He also said Israel is concerned about the two youngest hostages — Kfir and Ariel Bibas — and their mother, Shiri. Kfir Bibas marked his second birthday in captivity this month.
Republic Day parade is a magnificent demonstration of India’s military might and cultural richness. (Image: Shutterstock)
Republic Day 2025: India celebrates Republic Day every year on January 26, honouring the ratification of the Indian Constitution. The day is important to millions of Indians. This year, the country is celebrating its 76th Republic Day today on Sunday, January 26. The primary attraction of Republic Day is the parade, which takes place on Kartavya Path (formerly Rajpath) in India’s national capital, New Delhi. The Republic Day Parade is a dazzling exhibition of India’s cultural variety and military force. The country’s military might, unity in diversity, and rich cultural legacy are all on display during the Republic Day Parade.
Republic Day Parade: Interesting Facts
The Republic Day parade starts as soon as the president arrives. The R-Day celebration begins with the cavaliers, the president’s bodyguards, saluting the flag and the national anthem.
A magnificent parade featuring intricate tableaux from different states, Union Territories, and central ministries is a highlight of the Republic Day celebrations every year.
Two all-female defence force contingents (numbering 144) participated in the 2024 Parade.
The theme for this year’s Republic Day parade is ‘Swarnim Bharat: Virasat aur Vikas,’ which honours India’s rich legacy and optimistic future.
Emmanuel Macron, the president of France, was invited in 2024. It is customary to invite a foreign leader to participate in Republic Day festivities. Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, the president of Egypt, was the chief guest in 2023.
India invited Prabowo Subianto, the president of Indonesia, to be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations in 2025.
Fifteen states and union territories—Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal—will showcase their tableaux on Kartavya Path in honour of Republic Day 2025.
Eleven ministries and departments of the central government will also display their representatives.
The Bharat Parv, which takes place at the Red Fort from January 26 to 31, will provide even the states and UTs that were not chosen for the march a chance to showcase their tableaux.
In addition, the President of India uses this occasion to recognise the valour and selflessness of soldiers by awarding several military honours, including the Paramvir Chakra, Ashok Chakra, and Vir Chakra.
Republic Day 2025: India’s 1st Parade Details
The inaugural celebrations commemorating the creation of the Republic of India were not held on Rajpath (now Kartavya Path), but in a 1930s-era amphitheatre, which became the venue for the festivities when the country elected its first president.
On the night of January 26, 1950, iconic public buildings, parks, and railway stations were lit up, transforming the capital city into a ‘fairyland’.
The country erupted in joy shortly after Rajendra Prasad was sworn in as India’s first President on a historic day, and the inaugural Republic Day ceremony was held at Irwin Stadium (Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium) in New Delhi.
The British campaign group “Led By Donkeys” has claimed responsibility for the stunt that authorities say may have breached German laws on the use of symbols linked to illegal organizations.
The imagery was projected onto the outside of Elon Musk’s Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin
German authorities are investigating images projected onto the Tesla Gigafactory just outside Berlin that depicted Elon Musk apparently performing a Nazi-style salute at US President Donald Trump’s recent inauguration.
The projection appeared on the outer facade of the electric vehicle factory in Grünheide, just outside the capital’s city limits, on Thursday night, with the image of Tesla owner Musk accompanied by the German word “Heil” (hail).
In conjunction with the name of Musk’s company, this formed the phrase “Heil Tesla” — a play on “Heil Hitler,” the phrase which accompanied the use of the Nazi stiff-armed salute during dictator Adolf Hitler time in power.
Musk made a gesture twice during a speech in Washington at an event celebrating the start of Trump’s second term in office, prompting debate as to whether his raised-arm gesture had constituted a Nazi salute, which was celebrated by US white nationalists.
Now, German security services have launched an investigation into the suspected use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations, including the depicted salute itself, the use or display of which is illegal in Germany.
“After an appraisal by the responsible public prosecutor in Frankfurt (Oder), the projection of several logos by as yet unknown individuals and the distribution of the images online at least merits an initial suspicion of the use of symbols of anti-constitutional organizations,” read a police statement.
‘Led By Donkeys’: UK campaign group claims responsibility
Responsibility for the stunt has been claimed by the British political campaign group “Led By Donkeys” in conjunction with the German satirical “Center for Political Beauty.”
Some on the political left in Germany contended that if authorities convict any of the group’s members for projecting an illegal image, it would show — in Germany at least — that the gesture was indeed a Nazi salute and not a means of thanking the members of the audience at his speech as Musk and other have said.
Following the publication of the images online, several social media users and news outlets initially questioned the veracity of the stunt.
After initially denying that the action had actually taken place, a German police spokesman later told local public broadcaster RBB that officers were “no longer assuming that it didn’t happen,” having analyzed images online and been present on the ground.Originally established as an anti-Brexit campaign group in December 2018, “Led By Donkeys” has regularly carried out similar stunts in the United Kingdom, targeting populist British politicians such as former Conservative Prime Minister Boris Johnson and far-right Brexit hardliner Nigel Farage in videos beamed onto famous buildings such as the Houses of Parliament in London.
Activists promise more stunts in the future
Philipp Ruch, artistic lead for the “Center for Political Beauty,” told the German dpa news agency that activists had used a special projector to beam a video onto the outside of the Tesla building from a distance of several hundred meters and promised similar stunts to come.
“The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, is promoting the far right in Europe,” wrote “Led By Donkeys” in a social media post accompanying the video that had been projected onto the factory. “Don’t buy a Tesla.”
A group spokesman told the British Press Association that Musk was “using his wealth from Tesla to back far-right parties and degrade democracy” and that he “shouldn’t be surprised if people don’t fancy driving round in his cars for much longer. Increasingly it’s not a great look.”
People walk near dolphins washed up on a beach outside Bosaso, Puntland, Northern Somalia, January 24, 2025. REUTERS/Feisal Omar Purchase Licensing Rights
More than 100 dead dolphins have been found on the coast of Somalia’s semi-autonomous Puntland region, with officials yet to establish what caused their deaths.
The region’s fisheries minister, Abdirisak Abdulahi Hagaa, told Reuters that so far at least 110 dead dolphins had been counted, not far from the port of Bosaso, and that samples had been taken to try to establish what happened.
“So far, we know their death was not caused by wounds from nets because there were no wounds or cuts on them,” he said, adding that officials did not believe toxic materials were to blame since fish in the area did not appear to have been affected.
The US Supreme Court has cleared Mumbai-attack convict Tahawwur Rana’s extradition to India as it dismissed a review petition against his conviction in the case.
The US Supreme Court has cleared Mumbai attack convict Tahawwur Rana’s extradition to India, dismissing his review petition against the move.
India is seeking the extradition of Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, as he is wanted in the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks case. This was Rana’s last legal chance not to be extradited to India. Earlier, he lost a legal battle in several federal courts, including the US Court of Appeals for the North Circuit in San Francisco.
Rana on November 13 filed a “petition for a writ of certiorari” before the US Supreme Court. This was denied by the top court on January 21, a day after Donald Trump was sworn in as the American President.
“Petition DENIED,” the Supreme Court said.
Rana, 64, is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles.
Earlier the US government had argued in the court that the petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied. US Solicitor General Elizabeth B Prelogar said this in its filing before the Supreme Court on December 16.
She said Rana was not entitled to relief from extradition to India in this case.
In his ‘petitions for a writ of certiorari to review the judgment of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Rana had argued that he was tried and acquitted in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois (Chicago) on charges relating to the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai. “India now seeks to extradite him for trial on charges based on the identical conduct at issue in the Chicago case,” it said.
Prelogar disagreed.
“The government does not concede that all of the conduct on which India seeks extradition was covered by the government’s prosecution in this case. For example, India’s forgery charges are based in part on conduct that was not charged in the United States: petitioner’s use of false information in an application to formally open a branch office of the Immigration Law Center submitted to the Reserve Bank of India,” the US Solicitor General had said.
“It is not clear that the jury’s verdict in this case- which involves conspiracy charges and was somewhat difficult to parse – means that he has been “convicted or acquitted” on all of the specific conduct that India has charged,” Prelogar had said.
Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto arrived in the national capital on Friday night, on his first state visit to India.
He was received by the Minister of State for External Affairs, Pabitra Margherita at the airport in New Delhi.
President Prabowo, who is in India from January 23-26, will also be the Chief Guest for India’s 76th Republic Day celebrations.
The Ministry of External Affairs said that the visit will further strengthen the India-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
“A warm welcome to President Prabowo Subianto @prabowo of Indonesia as he arrives in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India. Received by MoS @PmargheritaBJP at the airport. President @prabowo will be the Chief Guest for India’s 76th Republic Day celebrations. This visit will further strengthen the India-Indonesia Comprehensive Strategic Partnership,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated in a post on X.
A warm welcome to President Prabowo Subianto @prabowo of Indonesia as he arrives in New Delhi on his first State Visit to India. Received by MoS @PmargheritaBJP at the airport.
President @prabowo will be the Chief Guest for 🇮🇳’s 76th Republic Day celebrations.
Before departing, President Prabowo shared the details of his visit on X, and said the visit is aimed to strengthen strategic cooperation in areas such as security, maritime, and digital technology development.
He also informed that he will depart for Malaysia after his Indonesia visit.
“Today, I depart for New Delhi, India, to attend the 76th Republic Day celebrations of India. During my visit, I will meet with the President and Prime Minister of India to strengthen strategic cooperation in areas such as security, maritime, and digital technology development,” the Indonesian President stated.
“After completing my agenda in India, I will continue my trip to Malaysia at the invitation of Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim and Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim. Close cooperation with friendly countries has always been our priority to build a stronger and more prosperous region together,” he added.
During his visit, President Subianto is set to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, President Droupadi Murmu and Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar, the MEA stated.
On Friday, he will meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar at the Taj Mahal Hotel at 4:00 pm.
On January 25, President Prabowo will participate in a ceremonial reception at Rashtrapati Bhavan at 10:00 am, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at Rajghat.
He will later hold a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Hyderabad House at 12:00 pm, which will include the exchange of Memorandums of Understanding (MOUs) and press statements.
In the evening, he will meet with India’s Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar at the Taj Mahal Hotel at 4:00 pm. At 7:00 pm, he will meet President Droupadi Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan.
On January 26, President Prabowo will attend the Republic Day Parade as the Chief Guest. Later in the afternoon, he will attend the “At Home” Reception hosted by President Murmu at Rashtrapati Bhavan. At 5:30 pm, he will depart for Indonesia.
Notably, with President Subianto as Chief Guest at this year’s Republic Day, a 352-member marching and band contingent from the country will be participating in the Parade on the Kartvya Path in the national capital.
This will be the first time that an Indonesian marching and band contingent will participate in a national day parade abroad.
Several MoUs and announcements are likely to be concluded and the third CEO Forum will be held on the sidelines.
President Prabowo will be the fourth Indonesian President to attend India’s Republic Day celebrations.
Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday for tens of thousands as firefighters with air support slowed the spread of a huge wildfire churning through rugged mountains north of Los Angeles, but new blazes erupted in San Diego County, briefly triggering more evacuations.
Southern California is under a red flag warning for critical fire risk through Friday. The area has been facing constant challenges in controlling the fires, as dangerous winds gained strength again Thursday.
The Hughes Fire broke out late Wednesday morning and in less than a day charred nearly 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) of trees and brush near Castaic Lake, a popular recreation area about 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires that are burning for a third week.
Crews made significant progress by late afternoon on the Hughes Fire, with more than one-third of it contained.
Two new blazes were reported Thursday in the San Diego area. Evacuations were ordered but were later lifted after a brush fire erupted in the late afternoon in the wealthy enclave of La Jolla near the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine. Further south, near the U.S.-Mexico border, another blaze was quickly spreading through the Otay Mountain Wilderness, home to the endangered Quino checkerspot butterfly and other unique species.
In Ventura County, a new fire briefly prompted the evacuation of California State University Channel Islands in Camarillo. Water-dropping helicopters made quick progress against the Laguna Fire that erupted in hills above the campus of about 7,000 students. The evacuation order was later downgraded to a warning.
Rain is forecast for the weekend, potentially ending Southern California’s monthslong dry spell. Winds are also not as strong as they were when the Palisades and Eaton fires broke out, allowing for firefighting aircraft to dump tens of thousands of gallons of fire retardant.
That helped the fight against the Hughes Fire in the Castaic area north of Los Angeles, allowing helicopters to drop water, which kept it from growing, fire spokesperson Jeremy Ruiz said.
“We had helicopters dropping water until around 3 a.m. That kept it in check,” he said.
Nearly 54,000 residents in the Castaic area were still under evacuation warnings Thursday, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said. There were no reports of homes or other structures burned.
Kayla Amara drove to Castaic’s Stonegate neighborhood Wednesday to collect items from the home of a friend who had rushed to pick up her daughter at preschool. As Amara was packing the car, she learned the fire had exploded in size and decided to hose down the property.
Amara, a nurse who lives in nearby Valencia, said she’s been on edge for weeks as major blazes devastated Southern California.
“It’s been stressful with those other fires, but now that this one is close to home it’s just super stressful,” she said.
The Palisades Fire was more than three-quarters contained, and the Eaton Fire was 95% under control Thursday. The two fires have killed at least 28 people and destroyed more than 14,000 structures since they broke out Jan. 7.
Rain was expected to start Saturday, according to the National Weather Service. Officials welcomed the wet weather, but crews also were shoring up hillsides and installing barriers to prevent debris flows as residents returned to the charred Pacific Palisades and Altadena areas.
The California fires have overall caused at least $28 billion in insured damage and probably a little more in uninsured damage, according to Karen Clark and Company, a disaster modeling firm known for accurate post-catastrophe damage assessments.
On the heels of that assessment, California Republicans are pushing back against suggestions by President Donald Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and others that federal disaster aid for victims of wildfires should come with strings attached.
The oil price is lower following President Trump’s comments on oil
President Donald Trump said he would ask Saudi Arabia and other Opec nations to “bring down the cost of oil” and doubled-down on his threat to use tariffs.
In a speech to executives at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday, the US president said he was ‘surprised’ that Opec hadn’t brought down the price of oil before the elections.
“Right now the price is high enough that that war will continue,” he said, referring to the Russia-Ukraine war and suggesting that the higher oil price was helping to sustain funding for the conflict in Moscow.
“You gotta bring down the oil price, that will end that war. You could end that war,” he added
The president’s comments on the oil price came after he spoke to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Wednesday. According to Saudi State media Bin Salman pledged to invest as much as $600bn in the US over the next four years, however this figure was not mentioned in the White House statement after the call.
Despite the cordial exchange, Trump said he would be asking “the Crown Prince, who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to around $1tn”.
The price of crude fell by 1% following Trump’s comments.
According to David Oxley, Chief Climate and Commodities Economist at Capital Economics these comments are in keeping with Trump’s desire for lower gasoline prices.
“[It’s] his clear intention to use energy as leverage over Russia to end the war in Ukraine. That said, lower oil prices will certainly not incentivise US oil producers to “drill, baby, drill” – particularly in high-cost Alaska.”
“Of course, Saudi Arabia would not be guaranteed to heed a request by President Trump to expand oil production and to bring down global oil prices.”
The US president’s appearance via video at the World Economic Forum marked his first address to a global audience since his inauguration earlier this week.
He used the platform to insist that companies around the world manufacture their products in the US or face bruising tariffs on imported goods entering the American market.
BBC reporter, Oliver Smith, who was in the room with the delegates as the President made his speech, said there were “a few stoney faces” as executives left the hall after the speech, but some happy ones too.
“A very powerful speech,” says one.
“I liked it, I thought it was really good” says another, a delegate from the US.
“A lot of it made sense. Common sense. He’s just looking for fair trade”, he added
One Swiss executive though was pretty downbeat. “It’s nothing new, but it’s clear what he wants to do”, he said.
“Am I happy? No I’m not happy. I think it’s bad for the world,” he adds
Trump also said he would demand an immediate drop in interest rates, which he said had led to deeper deficits and resulted in what he described as economic calamity under the tenure of his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
“This begins with confronting the economic chaos caused by the failed policies of the last administration,” he said.
“Over the past four years, our government racked up $8 trillion in wasteful deficit spending and inflicted nation wrecking energy restrictions, crippling regulations and hidden taxes like never before.”
A new wildfire that broke out north of Los Angeles on Wednesday rapidly spread to more than 9,400 acres (38 square km), fueled by strong winds and dry brush, forcing mandatory evacuation orders for more than 31,000 people.
The Hughes fire about 50 miles (80 km) north of Los Angeles further taxed firefighters in the region who have managed to bring two major fires in the metropolitan area largely under control.
In just a few hours on Wednesday the new fire grew to two-thirds the size of the Eaton Fire, one of the two monster conflagrations that have ravaged the Los Angeles area.
Officials warned people in the Castaic Lake area of Los Angeles County that they faced “immediate threat to life,” while much of Southern California remained under a red-flag warning for extreme fire risk due to strong, dry winds.
Some 31,000 people were under mandatory evacuation orders and another 23,000 face evacuation warnings, Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna told a press conference.
The Angeles National Forest said its entire 700,000-acre (2,800-sq-km) park in the San Gabriel Mountains was closed to visitors.
As a result of the red-flag warning, some 1,100 firefighters were deployed around Southern California in anticipation of fast-moving fires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire) said. More than 4,000 firefighters were working on the Hughes Fire, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.
Southern California has gone without significant rain for nine months, contributing to hazardous conditions, but some rain was forecast from Saturday through Monday, possibly giving firefighters much-needed relief.
Flames rise behind vehicles as the Hughes Fire burns in Castaic Lake, California, January 22. REUTERS/David Swanson Purchase Licensing Rights
Helicopters scooped water out of a lake to drop on the fire while fixed-wing aircraft dropped fire retardant on the hills, video on KTLA television showed. Flames spread to the water’s edge.
Interstate 5, the major north-south highway in the western United States, was temporarily closed in the mountain pass areas known as the Grapevine due to poor visibility from the smoke, the California Highway Patrol said. But firefighters were able to suppress enough of the fire to reopen the highway, Marrone said.
While the new fire raged, the two deadly fires that have ravaged Los Angeles since Jan. 7 came under greater control, Cal Fire said.
The Eaton Fire that scorched 14,021 acres (57 square km) east of Los Angeles was 91% contained, while the larger Palisades Fire, which has consumed 23,448 acres (95 square km) on the west side of Los Angeles, stood at 68% contained.
Containment measures the percentage of a fire’s perimeter that firefighters have under control.
Since the two fires broke out on Jan. 7, they have burned an area nearly the size of Washington, D.C., killed 28 people and damaged or destroyed nearly 16,000 structures, Cal Fire said. At one point, 180,000 people were under evacuation orders, according to Los Angeles County officials.
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin speaking at a conference in 2017
Donald Trump has warned he will impose high tariffs and further sanctions on Russia if Vladimir Putin fails to end the war in Ukraine.
Writing on his social media platform Truth Social, he said that by pushing to settle the war he was doing Russia and its president a “very big favour”.
Trump had previously said he would negotiate a settlement to Russia’s full-scale invasion launched in February 2022, in a single day.
Russia has not yet responded to the remarks, but senior officials have said in recent days that there is a small window of opportunity for Moscow to deal with the new US administration.
Putin has said repeatedly that he is prepared to negotiate an end to the war, which first began in 2014, but that Ukraine would have to accept the reality of Russian territorial gains, which are currently about 20% of its land. He also refuses to allow Ukraine to join Nato.
Kyiv does not want to give up its territory, although President Volodymyr Zelensky has conceded he may have to cede some currently occupied land temporarily.
On Tuesday Trump told a news conference he would be talking to Putin “very soon” and it “sounds likely” that he would apply more sanctions if the Russian leader did not come to the table.
But in his Truth Social post on Wednesday, he went further: “I’m going to do Russia, whose Economy is failing, and President Putin, a very big FAVOR,” he wrote.
“Settle now, and STOP this ridiculous War! IT’S ONLY GOING TO GET WORSE. If we don’t make a ‘deal’, and soon, I have no other choice but to put high levels of Taxes, Tariffs, and Sanctions on anything being sold by Russia to the United States, and various other participating countries.”
Continuing, he said: “Let’s get this war, which never would have started if I were President, over with! We can do it the easy way, or the hard way – and the easy way is always better. It’s time to “MAKE A DEAL”.”
Russia’s deputy UN ambassador Dmitry Polyanskiy earlier told Reuters news agency that the Kremlin would need to know what Trump wants in a deal to stop the war before the country moves forward.
Meanwhile Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the World Economic Forum on Tuesday that at least 200,000 peacekeepers would be needed under any agreement.
And he told Bloomberg that any peacekeeping force for his country would have to include US troops to pose a realistic deterrent to Russia.
“It can’t be without the United States… Even if some European friends think it can be, no it will not be,” he said, adding that no-one else would risk such a move without the US.
While Ukraine’s leaders might appreciate this tougher-talking Trump – they have always said Putin only understands strength – the initial reaction in Kyiv to the US president’s comments suggest that it is actions people are waiting for, not words.
Trump has not specified where more economic penalties might be aimed, or when. Russian imports to the US have plummeted since 2022 and there are all sorts of heavy restrictions already in place.
Currently, the main Russian exports to the US are phosphate-based fertilisers and platinum.
On social media, there was a generally scathing response from Ukrainians. Many suggested that more sanctions were a weak reply to Russian aggression. But the biggest question for most is what Putin is actually open to discussing with Ukraine at any peace talks.
In Moscow meanwhile, some people are seeing signs that the Kremlin may be readying Russians to accept less than the “victory” once envisaged, which included tanks rolling all the way west to the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa.
TV editor Margarita Simonyan, who is stridently pro-Putin, has begun talking of “realistic” conditions for ending the war, which she suggests could include halting the fighting along the current frontline.
That would mean the four Ukrainian regions that Putin illegally pronounced as Russian territory more than two years ago, like Zaporizhzhia, still being partially controlled by Kyiv.
Russian hardliners, the so-called “Z” bloggers, are furious at such “defeatism”.
In his social media post, Trump also couched his threat of tariffs and tighter sanctions in words of “love” for the Russian people and highlighted his respect for Soviet losses in World War Two – a near-sacred topic for Putin – though Trump massively overestimated the numbers and appeared to think the USSR was Russia alone. In reality, millions of Ukrainians and other Soviet citizens also lost their lives.
12 passengers died and 15 others were injured after a false fire alarm caused panic onboard the Mumbai-bound Pushpak Express on the evening of January 22. Passengers, fearing for their lives, jumped off the stationary train only to be struck by another train, the Karnataka Express, on the adjacent tracks.
The incident occurred between Maheji and Pardhade stations near Pachora in Jalgaon district, Maharashtra, around 4:45 pm, when someone pulled the emergency chain to stop the train. Chaos unfolded as passengers mistook sparks and smoke for a fire inside the coach, prompting them to flee.
How It All Unfolded
Officials have confirmed there was no actual fire on the train. Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information and Publicity at the Railway Board, stated: “Based on the information that we have received, no spark or any fire was noticed in the coach.” Preliminary investigations suggest the sparks could have been caused by a “hot axle” or “brake-binding” (jamming).
Passengers described the terrifying moments leading up to the tragedy. A traveller told a Marathi news channel, “Panic gripped passengers after some of them saw sparks flying from the wheels of the train when brakes were applied. Some passengers pulled the emergency chain and got down on the tracks, leading to the tragedy.”
The railway authorities, while talking to Times Now explained, “After the Pushpak Express was stopped due to the alarm chain being pulled, the driver of the train turned on the flasher light as per the rules. The driver of the Karnataka Express also noticed the flasher light and applied the brakes. However, a curvature of almost two degrees obstructed visibility and reduced the braking distance. The curvature also hindered the passengers’ visibility of the train. Despite this, the pilots did their best to avoid the incident.”
Residents of nearby villages rushed to the scene to help, but the sight was deeply distressing. A resident of Pachora said, “We saw the headless body of a man. A woman was inconsolable after her husband lost his life in the accident, his body badly mangled.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sorrow, stating, “Anguished by the tragic accident on the railway tracks in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. I extend my heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of all the injured. Authorities are providing all possible assistance to those affected.”
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, speaking from Davos, called the incident “deeply distressing” and announced financial aid of ₹5 lakh each to the families of the deceased. The Railway Board has also promised Rs 1.5 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased, Rs 50,000 for those with serious injuries, and Rs 5,000 for those with minor injuries.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said, “The train accident in Jalgaon, Maharashtra, is extremely sad. I spoke to Chief Minister Shri @Dev_Fadnavis ji in this regard and took stock of the situation arising after the accident.”
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, also in Davos for the World Economic Forum, expressed deep sorrow over the tragedy and directed officials to ensure proper treatment for the injured.
A plan to build a system of data centers for artificial intelligence has been revealed in a White House press conference, with Masayoshi Son, Sam Altman, and Larry Ellison joining Donald Trump to announce The Stargate Project. Their companies, Softbank, OpenAI, and Oracle (respectively), along with MGX are listed as “initial equity funders” for $500 billion in investments over the next four years, “building new AI infrastructure for OpenAI in the United States.”
According to a statement from OpenAI, “Arm, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Oracle, and OpenAI” are the initial tech partners, with a buildout “currently underway” starting in Texas as other sites across the country are evaluated. It also says that “Oracle, NVIDIA, and OpenAI will closely collaborate to build and operate this computing system.”
Separately, Microsoft announced an update to its partnership with OpenAI, saying that the key elements of their deal remain in place through 2030, covering “our access to OpenAI’s IP, our revenue sharing arrangements and our exclusivity on OpenAI’s APIs all continuing forward.”
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Indian external affairs minister Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong, and Japanese Foreign Minister Iwaya Takeshi at the State Department in Washington.(REUTERS)
External affairs minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday attended the maiden Quad ministerial of the new Donald Trump administration. Soon after the meeting, he met the newly appointed US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, for their first bilateral meeting, lasting for more than an hour.
S Jaishankar became the first foreign minister to hold a bilateral meeting with Marco Rubio.
The Quad meeting was also attended by foreign ministers, Penny Wong from Australia and Takeshi Iwaya from Japan.
Quad is a grouping of four countries aimed at maintaining peace and law and order in the Indo-Pacific region.
“Attended a productive Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting today in Washington DC. Thank @secrubio for hosting us and FMs @SenatorWong and Takeshi Iwaya for their participation,” Jaishankar posted on X after the meeting.
Attended a productive Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting today in Washington DC. Thank @secrubio for hosting us and FMs @SenatorWong & Takeshi Iwaya for their participation.
Significant that the Quad FMM took place within hours of the inauguration of the Trump Administration. This… pic.twitter.com/uGa4rjg1Bw
Jaishankar pointed out that the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting took place within hours of the inauguration of the Donald Trump administration. According to him, this underlined the priority the group has in the foreign policy of its member states. He also said the group’s wide-ranging discussions addressed different dimensions of ensuring a free, open, stable and prosperous Indo-Pacific.
“Agreed on the importance of thinking bigger, deepening the agenda and intensifying our collaboration. The meeting today sends a clear message that in an uncertain and volatile world, the Quad will continue to be a force for global good,” the EAM added.
The four Quad leaders posed for a group picture at the State Department towards the end of the hour-long meeting. However, they did not take any questions from the press.
The meeting was to reaffirm the importance of working with allies across the world on things that are important to America and Americans, Rubio told NBC News earlier in the day.
After their bilateral meeting post the Quad session, Rubio and Jaishankar appeared before a pooled press for a photo session, shaking hands and smiling at the cameras.
Delighted to meet @secrubio for his first bilateral meeting after assumption of office as Secretary of State.
Reviewed our extensive bilateral partnership, of which @secrubio has been a strong advocate.
Also exchanged views on a wide range of regional and global issues.
“Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar today in Washington, D.C. Secretary Rubio and External Affairs Minister Jaishankar affirmed a shared commitment to continuing to strengthen the partnership between the United States and India. They discussed a wide range of topics, including regional issues and opportunities to further deepen the US-India relationship, in particular on critical and emerging technologies, defense cooperation, energy, and on advancing a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said.
Bruce added that during the meeting secretary Rubio also emphasized the Trump Administration’s desire to work with India to advance economic ties and address concerns related to irregular migration.
Jaishankar, who is here at the invitation of the US government to attend the presidential inauguration, also had a meeting with the US National Security Advisor (NSA) Mike Waltz at the White House.
India and France agree on maritime security in the Indian Ocean
In other news, India and France have agreed to explore opportunities for coordinated surveillance to counter threats to maritime security in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR). The two countries also committed to support each other in maritime security engagements.
Donald Trump On H1B Visa: US President Donald Trump said that he likes “very competent people” coming into the country at all levels.
US President Donald Trump is seen.
Donald Trump On H1B Visa: US President Donald Trump said that he likes “very competent people” coming into the country at all levels as he reflected on the H1B visa programme.
In a joint news conference at the White House with Oracle CTO Larry Ellison, Softbank CEO Masayoshi Son, and Open AI CEO Sam Altman, Donald Trump said, “I like both sides of the argument, but I also like very competent people coming into our country, even if that involves them training and helping other people that may not have the qualifications they do. But I don’t want to stop — and I’m not just talking about engineers, I’m talking about people at all levels.”
Donald Trump added, “We want competent people coming into our country. And H-1B, I know the programme very well. I use the programme. Maître d’, wine experts, even waiters, high-quality waiters — you’ve got to get the best people. People like Larry, he needs engineers, Masa also needs… they need engineers like nobody’s ever needed them.”
The US President also emphasised on the importance of maintaining quality in immigration.
This comes after Elon Musk also advocated for the H1B visa programme saying that it helps in recruiting qualified tech professionals. The Tesla CEO said earlier, “The reason I’m in America along with so many critical people who built SpaceX, Tesla and hundreds of other companies that made America strong is because of H1B.”
In 2023, The Adani Group acquired the strategic Israeli port of Haifa for $1.2 billion.
The Adani Group Chairman, Gautam Adani, on Monday met the Israeli Ambassador to India, Reuven Azar, and his wife Rachel Azar along with other officials, and discussed India-Israel collaboration.
In a post on X social media platform, Gautam Adani said the company remains committed to continuing to invest and expand its partnership with Israel.
“Honoured to meet with Israeli Ambassador H.E. @ReuvenAzar and Mrs Rachel Azar, along with their team. Had productive discussions on doing our part for supporting India-Israel collaboration, particularly regarding India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) and defence partnerships,” the Adani Group Chairman posted.
Honoured to meet with Israeli Ambassador H.E. @ReuvenAzar and Mrs Rachel Azar, along with their team. Had productive discussions on doing our part for supporting India-Israel collaboration, particularly regarding IMEC and defence partnerships. Through Haifa Port and Adani Israel… pic.twitter.com/9BP5UFsG4A
“Through Haifa Port and Adani Israel Ltd, the Adani Group remains firmly committed to continuing to invest and expand our enduring partnership with Israel,” he added.
In 2023, The Adani Group acquired the strategic Israeli port of Haifa for $1.2 billion. The Port of Haifa is the second largest port in Israel in terms of shipping containers and the biggest in shipping tourist cruise ships.
The India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) is an important initiative that can add to India’s maritime security and faster movement of goods between Europe and Asia.
The IMEC was launched during India’s G20 presidency and aims to integrate India, Europe, and the Middle East through UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Israel and the European Union.
Lower logistics costs, faster connectivity and secure movement of goods are dependent on better cooperation in this area.
Adani Ports is the largest port developer and operator in India with seven strategically located ports and terminals on the west coast and eight ports and terminals on the east coast, representing 27 per cent of the country’s total port volumes.
CHINA is set to host the world’s first man vs robot half-marathon between two-legged robots and 12,000 human runners.
Dozens of bi-pedal bots from 20 different tech firms are expected behind the start line in Beijing in April for a technological test like no other.
A robot sprints to the finish line alongside humans at a half-marathon in Beijing last November, though did not run most of the raceCredit: Hnadout
The engineering exhibition comes as China ramps up its efforts to prove itself as front-runner in the artificial intelligence (AI) race with the US.
Alongside the mechanical contenders will be 12,000 people to allow a comparison between the tech and its human models.
Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place as usual – but this time the medals could be hung around cold metal necks.
The competitors will run a a 21 kilometre (13 mile) route through the city.
The robots entered into the race are from different manufacturers in E-town – the state-level industrial area in Daxing district, with multiple industrial parks that support hi-tech industries.
And there are tight restrictions on the kind of bot that can enter.
The machines must be humanoid, meaning they bear a strong resemblance to human beings.
They must be able to perform bi-pedal (two-footed) walking or running, ruling out anything that uses wheels.
The bots must also be between 0.5 and 2 metres tall, and the maximum extension distance from their hip joint to the sole of the foot must be at least 0.45 metres.
Both remote-controlled and fully automatic humanoids are eligible to race and batteries can be replaced mid-dash.
One of the most anticipated participants is “Tiangong,” a humanoid robot developed by China’s Embodied Artificial Intelligence Robotics Innovation Centre.
Tiangong can run at an average speed of 10 km/h, and last year it made headlines by running alongside human competitors at the Yizhuang Half Marathon in Beijing.
However, the upcoming race will mark the first time that humanoid robots will compete in the entire marathon from start to finish.
Another of the robots said to be “training” for the race is called Tien Kung.
This two-legged grey bot can maintain a steady speed of 6 km/h – so is likely to be outpaced by Tiangong on the day.
The event comes amid the push for humanoid development across China, with cities mapping out plans for key breakthroughs in robotic intelligence and body movement.
People pass in front of big screen during the speech of US President Donald Trump on January 26, 2018 at the Davos Congress Centre (C), the venue of the annual World Economic Forum (WEF), in the town of Davos, eastern Switzerland. / AFP PHOTO / MIGUEL MEDINA (Photo credit should read MIGUEL MEDINA/AFP via Getty Images) Miguel Medina | Afp | Getty Images
Billionaire wealth surged in 2024, as the world’s richest people increasingly benefited from inheritance and powerful connections, according to Oxfam’s latest annual inequality report.
The combined wealth of the world’s most wealthy rose from $13 trillion to $15 trillion in just 12 months, the global charity said Sunday. It marks the second largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since Oxfam records started.
Meanwhile, the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990, the charity said, citing World Bank Data. The richest 1% of people own nearly 45% of all wealth, while 44% of humanity are living below the World Bank poverty line of $6.85 per day, the data showed.
As the wealth of the world’s richest people accelerates at a faster pace than previously predicted, Oxfam now expects to see at least five trillionaires within a decade.
“The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.
“The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated—by three times—but so too has their power,” he said.
The report highlights an increase in “unmerited wealth,” showing that 60% of billionaire wealth now comes from inheritance, monopoly or the power of “crony connections.”
Oxfam’s “Takers Not Makers” report comes as billionaire Donald Trump returns to the White House and 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries prepare to take part in the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla
and close ally of Trump, is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, according to a report from Informa Connect Academy. He’s currently worth about around $440 billion, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index indicates.
Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden this week warned of the rise of an “oligarchy taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence.”
“People should be able to make as much as they can, but pay — play by the same rules, pay their fair share in taxes,” Biden said in his farewell address.
Oxfam is urging on governments to commit to ensuring that the incomes of the top 10% are no higher than the bottom 40% worldwide. Global economic rules should be adjusted to allow for the break-up of monopolies, and more corporate regulation and global tax policies should be adapted to ensure that the rich pay their fair share, according to the charity.
Money that is flowing to the bank accounts of the super rich instead of much-needed investment in teachers and medicines is “not just bad for the economy — it’s bad for humanity,” said Oxfam’s Behar.
A massive fire broke out at the Maha Kumbh 2025 due to a cylinder blast. (PTI)
Several tenders managed to bring the fire under control at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj. The police cited 2-3 cylinder blasts for the blaze while no casualties have been reported.
A massive fire broke out at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj on Sunday, as millions of devotees were gathered at the grand religious gathering. Fire tenders are on site and brought the blaze under control as visuals from the site showed plumes of smoke emerging.
#WATCH | Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh | A fire breaks out at the #MahaKumbhMela2025. Fire tenders are present at the spot.
Police said the blaze took place due to a cylinder blast, adding that there were no casualties so far. “Two cylinders exploded in Sector 19 of the Maha Kumbh Mela, causing a massive fire in the camps. Fire fighters are trying to douse the blaze,” Akhara Police Station In-charge Bhaskar Mishra told news agency PTI.
Prayagraj DM Ravindra Kumar said the fire broke out at 4:30 pm in Sector-19 in the tent of the Gita Press and spread to at least 10 tents nearby. A survey is being conducted to ascertain the damage caused by the fire, said Maha Kumbh DIG Vaibhav Krishna.
VIDEO | Prayagraj: Drone visuals of fire that broke out under a railway bridge near Sector 19 in Maha Kumbh area.
During the chaos after the fire incident, a person, identified as Jaspreet, sustained injuries in his legs, said officials, adding that he was rushed to Swaroop Rani Hospital in Prayagraj after primary check up at a health camp in Maha Kumbh.
PM Modi Dials CM Yogi
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the fire incident and reached the Maha Kumbh on Sunday to conduct an inspection of the site. Senior officials were deployed to the site on his instructions, according to the CMO.
Meanwhile, Prime Minster Narendra Modi spoke to Adityanath and inquired about the fire at Maha Kumbh. After taking stock of the situation, Adityanath directed the concerned officials to carry out relief work on a war footing, the CMO informed.
American users opening TikTok on Sunday were greeted by a message saying they “can’t use” the Chinese-owned app “for now” after a law banning it came into effect.
From Saturday: TikTok to be banned in the USTikTok has begun restoring service to the app in the US after Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order pausing its ban.
A law signed by President Joe Biden last April required ByteDance, TikTok’s China-based parent company, to sell the app to a non-Chinese owner by Sunday or face a ban.
Some users reported that they lost access on Saturday night, and Americans opening the app on Sunday have been greeted with a message saying they “can’t use” TikTok “for now”.
But in a post on Truth Social ahead of his inauguration, Mr Trump said he would issue an executive order handing the app an extension to find a new owner.
“I’m asking companies not to let TikTok stay dark,” the president-elect wrote, adding the order will allow time “so that we can make a deal to protect our national security”.
He then confirmed that “there will be no liability for any company that helped keep TikTok from going dark before my order” and said: “Americans deserve to see our exciting Inauguration on Monday, as well as other events and conversations.”
TikTok later said it had started restoring service on Sunday, thanking the president for clarifying to service providers “that they will face no penalties providing TikTok”.
It added: “It’s a strong stand for the First Amendment and against arbitrary censorship. We will work with President Trump on a long-term solution that keeps TikTok in the United States.”
Ahead of the ban coming into effect, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called TikTok’s plans to shut down the app a “stunt” and said actions enforcing the ban would “fall to the next administration”.
Mr Trump also indicated on Truth Social what a possible deal could look like, saying he would prefer the US “to have a 50% ownership position in a joint venture” with ByteDance or a new owner.
“Without US approval, there is no TikTok,” he said. “With our approval, it is worth hundreds of billions of dollars – maybe trillions.”
On Saturday, the president-elect told NBC News’ Meet The Press moderator Kristen Welker that TikTok would “most likely” be given a 90-day pause from the ban to find a new owner.
Under the bipartisan law on TikTok – signed by Mr Biden – the president can grant a one-time extension of 90 days under three conditions:
• There is a path to divestiture of the app
• There is “significant progress” toward executing a sale
• There are in place “the relevant binding legal agreements to enable execution of such qualified divestiture during the period of such extension”
No legal agreements on the sale of TikTok to a non-Chinese owner have been made public, and Mr Trump did not say on Saturday if he was aware of any recent progress toward a sale.
HAMAS terrorists have come out of hiding to celebrate the new ceasefire agreed with Israel.
Shock pictures show the shameless, gun-wielding fighters waving the green banner of the terror group and the crest of its armed militia.
Pictures show men in balaclavas and camo fatigues waving their guns as they travelled through various towns in the Gaza Strip.
It comes after a 15-month war which saw Israel attempting to destroy the terrorist group as they cowardly hunkered down.
And it has been warned the group has managed to retain much of its strength.
Slain terror boss Yahya Sinwar’s brother Mohammed is understood to be rebuilding the shattered remains of Hamas.
The long-anticipated ceasefire came into effect this morning just after 11.15am local time.
It came after last-minute wobbles as Hamas failed to hand over the list of hostages due to be released.
But after a brief delay of nearly two hours, it was cleared and the ceasefire was implemented.
Hamas has claimed British citizen Emily Damari, 28, will be one of the first released this afternoon.
Romi Gonen, 23, and Doron Steinbrecher, 30, are also to be released following a tense few hours.
Emily’s family’s lawyer Adam Rose told The Sun that whether the Brit is “alive or dead” is unknown “even on the day of her release”.
He said that this has “compounded the torture the family have been going through” since she was brutally taken on October 7.
Mr Rose told The Sun: “Every minute is just another layer of torture.
“Emily’s name appeared on the list of three hostages to be released at 8:10am but we just don’t know if she is alive or dead.
The initial group of freed hostages will be met by medical teams and psychological support staff at three designated points along Gaza’s border before being reunited with their families.
Four more hostages will be returned on the seventh day then every week for a period of four weeks.
Finally, 14 hostages will be returned in the sixth week from the group of 33 made up of 12 women and children, 10 men over the age of 50 and 11 younger men.
The incident took place between 4.30pm and 5pm, police said. (Representational image)
A woman tourist from Maharashtra was killed in paragliding accident along with her instructor in North Goa on Saturday, the police said. The incident reportedly took place after one of the cables snapped mid-flight, due to which they lost balance and collided with some rocks and crashed from a height.
The unfortunate incident took place while they were paragliding at Keri plateau on Saturday evening.
The tourism has been identified as Shivani Dabale, a resident of Pune, while the paragliding pilot was identified as Suman Nepali, a native of Nepal.
The incident took place between 4.30pm and 5pm, according to local media reports. Goa police booked the owner of the paragliding company for alleged culpable homicide, according to reports.
“The incident took place when the victim Shivani was taking a tandem flight with Suman as the pilot. One of the cables is suspected to have snapped mid-flight, due to which they lost balance and collided with some rocks and crashed from a height,” said a police official, according to the Indian Express.
Both suffered serious injuries and were rushed to a hospital, where they were declared dead. The police have initiated a probe and the families of the deceased have been informed, per reports.
A similar incident was reported from Himachal Pradesh on Saturday.
A 19-year-old girl from Gujarat lost her life after falling during paragliding in Dharamshala. Her paraglider pilot was also injured and is undergoing treatment. The incident occurred at the Indrunag site in Dharamshala.
The Brihadishvara temple, built in the 11th Century by King Rajaraja Chola, is a Unesco World Heritage site
It’s 1000 CE – the heart of the Middle Ages.
Europe is in flux. The powerful nations we know today – like Norman-ruled England and the fragmented territories that will go on to become France – do not yet exist. Towering Gothic cathedrals have yet to rise. Aside from the distant and prosperous city of Constantinople, few great urban centres dominate the landscape.
Yet that year, on the other side of the globe, an emperor from southern India was preparing to build the world’s most colossal temple.
Completed just 10 years later, it was 216ft (66m) tall, assembled from 130,000 tonnes of granite: second only to Egypt’s pyramids in height. At its heart was a 12ft tall emblem of the Hindu god Shiva, sheathed in gold encrusted with rubies and pearls.
In its lamplit hall were 60 bronze sculptures, adorned with thousands of pearls gathered from the conquered island of Lanka. In its treasuries were several tonnes of gold and silver coins, as well as necklaces, jewels, trumpets and drums torn from defeated kings across India’s southern peninsula, making the emperor the richest man of the era.
He was called Raja-Raja, King of Kings, and he belonged to one of the most astonishing dynasties of the medieval world: the Cholas.
His family transformed how the medieval world worked – yet they are largely unknown outside India.
Prior to the 11th Century, the Cholas had been one of the many squabbling powers that dotted the Kaveri floodplain, the great body of silt that flows through India’s present-day state of Tamil Nadu.
But what set the Cholas apart was their endless capacity for innovation. By the standards of the medieval world, Chola queens were also remarkably prominent, serving as the dynasty’s public face.
Travelling to Tamil villages and rebuilding small, old mud-brick shrines in gleaming stone, the Chola dowager Sembiyan Mahadevi – Rajaraja’s great-aunt – effectively “rebranded” the family as the foremost devotees of Shiva, winning them a popular following.
Sembiyan prayed to Nataraja, a hitherto little-known form of Hindu god Shiva as the King of Dance, and all her temples featured him prominently.
The trend caught on. Today, Nataraja is one of the most recognisable symbols of Hinduism. But to the medieval Indian mind, Nataraja was really a symbol of the Cholas.
The emperor, Rajaraja Chola, shared his great-aunt’s taste for public relations and devotion – with one significant difference.
Rajaraja was also a conqueror. In the 990s, he led his armies over the Western Ghats, the range of hills that shelter India’s west coast, and burned the ships of his enemies while they were at port.
Next, exploiting internal turmoil on the island of Lanka, he established a Chola outpost there, becoming the first mainland Indian king to set up a lasting presence on the island. At last, he broke into the rugged Deccan Plateau – the Germany to the Tamil coast’s Italy – and seized a portion of it for himself.
The loot of conquest was lavished on his great imperial temple, known today as the Brihadishvara.
In addition to its precious treasures, the great temple received 5,000 tonnes of rice annually, from conquered territory across southern India (you’d need a fleet of twelve Airbus A380s to carry that much rice today).
This allowed the Brihadishvara to function as a mega-ministry of public works and welfare, an instrument of the Chola state, intended to channel Rajaraja’s vast fortunes into new irrigation systems, expanding cultivation, and vast new herds of sheep and buffalo. Few states in the world could have conceived of economic control at such scale and depth.
The Cholas were as important to the Indian Ocean as the Mongols were to inner Eurasia.
Rajaraja Chola’s successor, Rajendra, built alliances with Tamil merchant corporations: a partnership between traders and government power that foreshadowed the East India Company – a powerful British trading corporation that later ruled large parts of India – that was to come more than 700 years later.
In 1026, Rajendra put his troops on merchants’ ships and sacked Kedah, a Malay city that dominated the global trade in precious woods and spices.
While some Indian nationalists have proclaimed this to be a Chola “conquest” or “colonisation” in Southeast Asia, archaeology suggests a stranger picture: the Cholas didn’t seem to have a navy of their own, but under them, a wave of Tamil diaspora merchants spread across the Bay of Bengal.
By the late 11th Century, these merchants ran independent ports in northern Sumatra. A century later, they were deep in present-day Myanmar and Thailand, and worked as tax collectors in Java.
In the 13th Century, in Mongol-ruled China under the descendants of Kublai Khan, Tamil merchants ran successful businesses in the port of Quanzhou, and even erected a temple to Shiva on the coast of the East China Sea. It was no coincidence that, under the British Raj in the 19th Century, Tamils made up the largest chunk of Indian administrators and workers in Southeast Asia.
Conquests and global connections made Chola-ruled south India a cultural and economic behemoth, the nexus of planetary trade networks.
Chola aristocrats invested war-loot into a wave of new temples, which sourced fine goods from a truly global economy linking the farthest shores of Europe and Asia. Copper and tin for their bronzes came from Egypt, perhaps even Spain. Camphor and sandalwood for the gods were sourced from Sumatra and Borneo.
Tamil temples grew into vast complexes and public spaces, surrounded by markets and endowed with rice estates. In the Chola capital region on the Kaveri, corresponding to the present-day city of Kumbakonam, a constellation of a dozen temple-towns supported populations of tens of thousands, possibly outclassing most cities in Europe at the time.
These Chola cities were astonishingly multicultural and multireligious: Chinese Buddhists rubbed shoulders with Tunisian Jews, Bengali tantric masters traded with Lankan Muslims.
Today, the state of Tamil Nadu is one of India’s most urbanised. Many of the state’s towns grew around Chola-period shrines and markets.
US President-elect Donald Trump has launched his own cryptocurrency, which quickly soared in market capitalisation to several billion dollars.
His release of the meme coin, $Trump, comes as he prepares to take office on Monday as 47th president of the US.
The venture was co-ordinated by CIC Digital LLC – an affiliate of the Trump Organization – which has previously sold Trump-branded shoes and fragrances.
Meme coins are used to build popularity for a viral internet trend or movement, but they lack intrinsic value and are extremely volatile investments.
By Saturday afternoon, hours after its launch, the market capitalisation for $Trump reached nearly $5.5bn (£4.5bn), according to CoinMarketCap.com.
CIC Digital LLC and Fight Fight Fight LLC, a company formed in Delaware earlier this month, own 80% of the tokens. It is unclear how much money Trump might make from the venture.
“My NEW Official Trump Meme is HERE! It’s time to celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social as he announced the meme coin on Friday night.
Some 200m of the digital tokens have been issued and another 800m will be released in the next three years, the coin’s website said.
“This Trump Meme celebrates a leader who doesn’t back down, no matter the odds,” the website said.
Thousands protest in Washington against Trump
It included a disclaimer noting the coin is “not intended to be, or the subject of” an investment opportunity or a security and was “not political and has nothing to do with” any political campaign, political office or government agency.
Critics accused Trump of cashing in on the presidency.
“Trump owning 80 percent and timing launch hours before inauguration is predatory and many will likely get hurt by it,” Nick Tomaino, a crypto venture capitalist, said in a social media post.
Saif Ali Khan Attacked updates (Pic Courtesy: IMDb)
Kareena Kapoor leaves home to visit Saif Ali Khan with police escort
Kareena Kapoor, the wife of Saif Ali Khan, was spotted leaving their residence to visit her husband at the hospital after his recent attack.
Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Kemmu arrive at Lilavati hospital to meet Saif
Soha Ali Khan, the sister of Saif Ali Khan, and her husband, Kunal Kemmu, were seen arriving at Lilavati Hospital to be with Saif following his recent attack.
CCTV footage of suspect from from Versova found
CCTV footage of the suspect in the Saif Ali Khan attack case, taken on January 12 in Versova, has been discovered. However, no footage has been found from the actor’s residence, leaving investigators with limited leads.
The footage from Versova could provide valuable information regarding the suspect’s movements leading up to the attack, but authorities are still working to connect the dots and piece together the suspect’s timeline.
Mumbai, Maharashtra: A CCTV footage of a suspect in the Actor Saif Ali Khan case from January 12 in Versova has been found, but no footage is available from his house pic.twitter.com/aSWSNNO3Sz
After the attack on Saif Ali Khan, as per IANS, the suspect was seen heading to a mobile shop in Dadar, where he reportedly purchased a pair of headphones.
This unusual action has raised further questions in the investigation, as authorities are trying to trace his movements and gather more evidence about his whereabouts after the attack. The purchase of headphones could potentially provide more clues about his identity or intentions.
52 hours after incident, attacker still on run
Over 52 hours have passed since the attack on Saif Ali Khan, but the Mumbai Police are still in pursuit of the suspect. Despite several efforts and searches, the culprit remains at large.
The police are continuing their investigation, with multiple teams deployed to gather leads and evidence. The police are hopeful of making progress soon in the investigation.
Crime Branch on Bandra police’s slow response
The incident occurred around 2 a.m. on Thursday, yet the crime branch was only informed at 6 a.m., over three hours later. A report by Hindustan Times suggests that the Bandra police could have apprehended the suspect if they had acted quickly by alerting nearby stations and patrolling units.
Hours after the attack, police arrived at Lilavati Hospital, where Saif Ali Khan was treated, and visited the crime scene in Bandra. However, key details like the FIR and CCTV footage were not shared promptly with the crime branch. A retired officer pointed out that in previous high-profile cases, alerts were sent immediately to all police units, including railway stations.
Rakhi Sawant opens up on Saif Ali Khan’s attack
Rakhi Sawant, deeply shaken by the incident, voiced her concern over the lack of security in high-profile buildings. She expressed disbelief that such a tragedy could happen to him. She questioned the building authorities for charging high maintenance fees while failing to install basic security measures like CCTV cameras. “What is happening in 2025? How can such incidents occur with renowned personalities?” she asked, highlighting the alarming state of safety.
Imran Khan has faced more than 100 charges, all of which he decries as politically motivated
Former Pakistani prime minister Imran Khan has been sentenced to 14 years in prison over a corruption case, in the latest of a series of charges laid against him.
It is the longest valid jail sentence the cricket star-turned-politician, who has been detained since August 2023, has received.
He has faced charges in over 100 cases, ranging from leaking state secrets to selling state gifts – all of which he has decried as politically motivated.
The latest case has been described by Pakistani authorities as the largest the country has seen, though the country has seen huge financial scandals in the past, some of which involved former leaders.
Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were accused of receiving a parcel of land as a bribe from a real estate tycoon through the Al-Qadir Trust, which the couple had set up while he was in office.
In exchange, investigators said, Khan used £190m ($232m) repatriated by the UK’s National Crime Agency to pay the tycoon’s court fines.
Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party argued that the land was donated to the trust for a spiritual education centre and was not used for Khan’s personal gain.
In a post on X, PTI chairman Gohar Ali Khan said that the former prime minister “has done no wrong” and that this was a “politically motivated unfair trial”.
“But [Imran Khan] will not give in, he will not give up, he will not break,” he wrote.
Friday’s verdict comes after multiple delays as Khan’s party held talks with the government.
After his conviction on Friday, Khan told reporters in the courtroom that he would “neither make any deal nor seek any relief.”
Khan’s prison sentence of 14 years is the maximum that could be given in the case. He has also been fined more than £4,000.
His wife has been sentenced to seven years and fined more than £2,000. Bibi, who has been out on bail since last October, was taken into custody in court after her sentence was announced.
In 2023, Khan was sentenced to three years in prison for not declaring money earned from selling gifts he had received while in office.
Last year, Khan received a 14-year jail sentence over the selling of state gifts, and another 10 years for leaking state secrets. Both those sentences were suspended months later.
An investigation has been launched into Elon Musk’s explosive Starship test flight that forced dozens of planes to divert on Thursday.
The Space X rocket blew up in space over the Bahamas about eight minutes after take-off in Texas.
Blazing debris was sent miles across the sky over the Turks and Caicos, a British Overseas Territory.
Glowing orange shards from the explosion broke the sound barrier as they plummeted through the atmosphere, sending booms thundering across parts of the islands, according to seismic ground sensor data.
SpaceX’s Starship launched a test flight from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, on Thursday. Pic: AP
“Preliminary indication is that we had an oxygen/fuel leak in the cavity above the ship engine firewall that was large enough to build pressure in excess of the vent capacity,” SpaceX owner Mr Musk posted on X after the launch.
The company said in a statement that a fire developed when the second stage of the rocket separated from its booster.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has said it will oversee an investigation by SpaceX into the dramatic rocket launch.
“There are no reports of public injury, and the FAA is working with SpaceX and appropriate authorities to confirm reports of public property damage on Turks and Caicos,” said the FAA.
Tracking app FlightRadar24 said its most-watched flights on Thursday evening after the “rapid unscheduled disassembly”, as SpaceX called it, were those holding or diverting over the Caribbean, trying to avoid the falling debris.
It appeared to show several planes flying circular holding patterns, including a Spirit jet heading to Puerto Rico and an Air Transat flight bound for the Dominican Republic.
A Boeing 767 transporting Amazon cargo diverted to Nassau in the Bahamas, while a JetBlue flight turned back to where it began in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The FAA often closes airspace for space missions and can create a “debris response area” to protect aircraft if a rocket has a problem outside the original closed zone.
Video on social media showed the debris from the 400ft Starship rocket streaking across the sky, with another clip showing it from the cockpit of a small plane.
Despite the rocket blowing up, Mr Musk appeared to see the bright side, posting on X: “Success is uncertain, but entertainment is guaranteed!”
SpaceX launched the rocket from Boca Chica, south Texas, on Thursday around 4.40pm local time (10.40pm in the UK).
The flight was the seventh test for the newly-upgraded Starship, which was due to make a controlled splashdown in the Indian Ocean about an hour after launch.
But the company said it lost contact about eight and half minutes into the flight, with the last data indicating an altitude of 90 miles and a velocity of 13,245mph.
There was some success though – the booster section returned to a launchpad and was caught between two giant mechanical arms, which SpaceX describes as chopsticks.
