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As the call to prayer rang out in Sagaing last Friday, hundreds of Muslims hurried to the five mosques in central Myanmar.

They were eager to hold their last Friday prayers for Ramadan, just days away from the festive period of Eid that would mark the end of the holy month.

Then, at 12:51 local time (06:21 GMT), a deadly earthquake struck. Three mosques collapsed, including the biggest one, Myoma, killing almost everyone inside.

Hundreds of kilometres away, the former imam of Myoma mosque, Soe Nay Oo, felt the quake in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.

In the following days, he found out that around 170 of his relatives, friends and members of his former congregation had died, mostly in the mosques. Some were leading figures in the city’s close-knit Muslim community.

“I think about all the people who lost their lives, and the victims’ children – some of them are young children,” he told the BBC. “I can’t hold back my tears when I talk about this.”

More than 2,700 people have died in the quake which happened near Sagaing and Mandalay, Myanmar’s second city. The death toll is expected to rise as rescuers continue to pull out bodies from rubble.

While the area was known for its ancient Buddhist temples, the cities were also home to a significant Muslim population.

An estimated 500 Muslims died while praying in their mosques, according to figures given by the country’s leader, Min Aung Hlaing, on Monday.

Eyewitnesses in Sagaing have told the BBC that the road where the mosques were, Myoma Street, was the worst hit in the city. Many other houses on the street have also collapsed.

Hundreds of people have sought shelter by the side of the road, either because they are now homeless, or are too afraid to go back to their homes in case there are aftershocks. Food supplies are reported to be scarce.

In Myoma alone, more than 60 people were said to be crushed in the collapse, while scores more died in the Myodaw and Moekya mosques. More bodies were still being pulled out on Tuesday.

There are indications that the worshippers had tried to escape, according to Soe Nay Oo, who has received multiple reports from surviving members of his community.

He currently lives in the Thai city of Mae Sot with his wife and daughter, after escaping from Myanmar soon after a coup that took place in 2021.

There were bodies found outside of the main prayer hall, he said, in the area where worshippers wash themselves. Some were also found clutching other people’s hands, in what looked like attempts to pull them away from the crumbling building.

Among the many loved ones Soe Nay Oo lost was one of his wife’s cousins. Her death, he said, was “the most painful thing that I have endured” in his 13 years as an imam.

“She was the one who showed her love to us the most,” said Soe Nay Oo. “Everyone in the family loved her. The loss is unbearable for us.”

Another of his wife’s cousins, a well-respected businessman who had performed the Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, also died.

“He always called me Nyi Lay [‘little brother’ in Burmese]…When I married my wife, he said we are family now and he always treated me like his own little brother,” said Soe Nay Oo.

“He was always there for us whenever we needed him. I have lost those whom I love like brothers like him.”

Some of the close friends who died include Soe Nay Oo’s former assistant imam, whom he remembered for his strong work ethic and remarkable talent in reciting the Quran.

The principal of the local public school, who was also the only female trustee of the Myoma mosque, also died. She was remembered by Soe Nay Oo as a generous soul who would often pay for mosque programmes out of her own pocket.

He said every time he hears of yet another person from the community who died, he experiences a new wave of grief. “I feel devastated… it always comes to my mind, the memories I cherish of them.

“Even though they were not close relatives, they were the ones who always welcomed me, followed my prayers, and who prayed together.”

The fact that they died during Ramadan is not lost on him. “All the departed have returned to Allah’s home, I would say. They will be remembered as martyrs accordingly,” he said.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2e98xep10o

A volcano erupted to the south of Iceland’s capital on Tuesday, spewing lava and smoke in a fiery display of orange and red that triggered the evacuation of tourists and residents, although air traffic continued as normal.
Referred to as a land of ice and fire for its many glaciers and volcanoes, the North Atlantic island nation has now seen 11 eruptions south of Reykjavik since 2021, when dormant geological systems reactivated after some 800 years.

“Warning: An eruption has begun,” the Icelandic meteorological office said in a statement.
The outbreak penetrated protective barriers close to the Grindavik fishing town, triggering an evacuation of those residents who had returned following previous eruptions, although most houses have stood empty for over a year.
“There is lava coming within the barrier at the moment, but it’s a very limited eruption so far,” said Rikke Pedersen, head of the Nordic Volcanological Center.
Emergency services also evacuated the nearby Blue Lagoon luxury spa in the hours ahead of the eruption, as geologists had warned it was imminent.

Pedersen said the outbreak was similar in size to an eruption from January 2024, which spewed lava into Grindavik.
The eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula so far have not directly affected the capital city Reykjavik and have not caused significant dispersal of ash into the stratosphere, avoiding air traffic disruption.
Icelandic experts predict that the so-called fissure eruptions, characterised by lava flowing out of long cracks in the earth’s crust rather than a single volcanic opening, could repeat themselves for decades, or even centuries.
The North Atlantic island, home to nearly 400,000 people, attracts thousands of tourists every year who come to explore its rugged nature, including geysers, hot springs and volcanoes.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/volcanic-magma-eruption-begins-iceland-meteorological-office-says-2025-04-01/

OpenAI on Monday said it raised $40 billion in a new funding round that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion, the biggest capital-raising session ever for a startup.

The infusion of cash comes in a partnership with Japanese investment giant SoftBank Group and “enables us to push the frontiers of AI research even further,” the San Francisco-based company said in a post on its website.

“Their support will help us continue building AI systems that drive scientific discovery, enable personalized education, enhance human creativity, and pave the way toward AGI (artificial general intelligence) that benefits all of humanity,” the company said.

AGI refers to a computing platform with human-level intelligence.

The company plans to scale its infrastructure and “deliver increasingly powerful tools for the 500 million people who use ChatGPT every week.”

The funding news came the same day OpenAI announced it was building a more open generative AI model as it faces growing competition in the open-source space from Chinese rival DeepSeek, and Meta.

The move would mark a strategic shift by OpenAI, which until now has been a fierce defender of closed, proprietary models that do not allow developers to modify the basic technology to make AI more adapted to their goals.

OpenAI and defenders of closed models — which include Google — have often decried open models as riskier and more vulnerable to nefarious uses by malicious actors or non-US governments.

OpenAI’s embrace of closed models has also been a bone of contention in its battles with former investor Elon Musk, the world’s wealthiest person, who has called on OpenAI to honor the spirit of the company’s name and “return to the open-source, safety-focused force for good it once was.”

Putting pressure on OpenAI, many large companies and governments have proved reluctant to build their AI products or services on models they have no control over, especially when data security is a concern.

The core selling point of Meta’s family of Llama models or DeepSeek’s models is addressing these worries by letting companies download their models and have far greater control to modify the technology for their own purposes and keep control of their data.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this month that Llama hit one billion downloads, while the release of DeepSeek’s lower-cost R1 model in January rocked the world of artificial intelligence.

“We’ve been thinking about this for a long time, but other priorities took precedence. Now it feels important to do,” OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman said on X of the decision to build a more open model.

Source : https://www.ibtimes.com/openai-says-it-raised-40-bn-valuation-300-bn-3768344

Elon Musk fired back at Ashley St. Clair — the conservative influencer claiming to have given birth to the Tesla and SpaceX boss’ 13th child — on Monday after she accused the world’s richest man of cutting back on child support payments.

“I don’t know if the child is mine or not, but am not against finding out,” Musk wrote on X. “ No court order is needed.”

“Despite not knowing for sure, I have given Ashley $2.5M and am sending her $500k/year,” the Department of Government Efficiency chief claimed.

St. Clair charged that Musk was being a “petulant man-child” in a response to Musk’s tweet, denying that he’s willing to take a paternity test.

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he was “pissed off” at Russian President Vladimir Putin and will impose secondary tariffs of 25% to 50% on buyers of Russian oil if he feels Moscow is blocking his efforts to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump told NBC News he was very angry after Putin last week criticized the credibility of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s leadership, the television network reported, citing a telephone interview early on Sunday.

Since taking office in January, Trump has adopted a more conciliatory stance towards Russia that has left Western allies wary as he tries to broker an end to Moscow’s three-year-old war in Ukraine.
His sharp comments about Putin on Sunday reflect his growing frustration about the lack of movement on a ceasefire.
“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault … I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” Trump said.

“That would be, that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States,” Trump said. “There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25- to 50-point tariff on all oil.”
Trump later reiterated to reporters he was disappointed with Putin but added: “I think we are making progress, step by step.”
Trump said he could impose the new trade measures within a month.
There was no immediate reaction from Moscow. Russia has called numerous Western sanctions and restrictions “illegal” and designed for the West to take economic advantage in its rivalry with Russia.
Trump, who spent the weekend at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida, told NBC News he planned to speak with Putin this week. The two leaders have had two publicly announced telephone calls in recent months but may have had more contacts, the Kremlin said in video footage last week.

The White House had no immediate comment on when the call would take place, or if Trump would also speak with Zelenskiy.
Trump has focused heavily on ending what he calls a “ridiculous” war, which began when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but has made little progress.
Putin on Friday suggested Ukraine could be placed under a form of temporary administration to allow for new elections that could push out Zelenskiy.
Trump, who himself has called for new elections in Ukraine and denounced Zelenskiy as a dictator, said Putin knows he is angry with him. But Trump added he had “a very good relationship with him” and “the anger dissipates quickly … if he does the right thing.”
GROWING PRESSURE TO END WAR
Trump’s comments followed a day of meetings and golf with Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Saturday, during Stubb’s surprise visit to Florida.

Stubb’s office on Sunday said he told Trump a deadline needs to be set for establishing a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire to make it happen and suggested April 20 since Trump would have been in office then for three months.
U.S. officials have been separately pushing Kyiv to accept a critical minerals agreement, a summary of which suggested the U.S. was demanding all Ukraine’s natural resources income for years. Zelenskiy has said Kyiv’s lawyers need to review the draft before he can say more about the U.S. offer.
Trump told reporters on Air Force One he thought Zelenskiy was “trying to back out of the rare earth deal…. if he’s looking to renegotiate the deal, he’s got big problems.” Trump also told reporters that Ukraine would never be part of NATO.
Trump’s latest tariff threats would add to the pain already facing China, India and other countries through trade measures imposed during his first two months in office, including duties on steel, aluminum and cars. More duties on imports from the countries with the largest trade surpluses are slated to be announced on Wednesday.
William Reinsch, a former senior Commerce Department official now at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said the haphazard way Trump was announcing and threatening tariffs leaves many questions unanswered, including how U.S. officials could trace and prove which countries were buying Russian oil.
Trump set the stage for Sunday’s news with a 25% secondary tariff imposed last week on U.S. imports from any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela.
His remarks to NBC suggest he could take similar action against U.S. imports from countries that buy oil from Russia, a move that could hit China and India particularly hard.
The U.S. has not imported any Russian barrels of crude oil since April 2022, according to U.S. government data. Before that, U.S. refiners bought inconsistent volumes of Russian oil, with a high of 98.1 million barrels in 2010 and low of 6.6 million in 2014, according to a review of EIA data since 2000.
India has surpassed China to become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian crude, which comprised about 35% of India’s total crude imports in 2024.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/trump-threatens-secondary-tariffs-russian-oil-if-unable-make-deal-ukraine-2025-03-30/

THE methodical Ocean’s Eleven-style heist where burglars stole as much as $30 million in cash from a money storage facility could take years to crack, a former FBI agent has told The U.S. Sun.

Like something out of a Hollywood film script, thieves managed to sneak into the Gardaworld building in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, on the evening of Easter Sunday 2024, undetected and without triggering any alarms.

The elaborate, well-thought-out plan resulted in one of the largest cash heists in the history of Los Angeles.

FBI officials believe the stealthy suspects used a ladder to scale the building’s roof, where they gained access to the facility through a hatch, before entering the vault area where the money was stored.

On the morning of April 1, 2024, aerial footage captured an apparent hole on the south side of the building that had been boarded up, as a pile of debris laid on the grass.

Terry Rankhorn, a former FBI special agent who spent decades investigating cyber, fraud, and wire fraud cases, told The U.S. Sun the hole in the wall was likely the thieves’ exit point.

“They probably had hand carts on a truck outside,” Rankhorn speculated.

“They pulled up, shuttled the money out on that and made away with it. In Los Angeles, that’s reasonably close proximity to the Mexican border.

“If I were guessing, the smart move would have been to get it across the border because it’s probably going to be easier to get there.

“You can’t just walk into a bank with 25 million dollars in money and deposit it without drawing a significant amount of scrutiny.”

Rankhorn said it could be years before names connected to the March 31, 2024, heist begin to emerge.

“The people who did it will be discovered, but we just have to wait and be patient with it,” he added.

“We can’t put a time or say, if you haven’t found him in a year, you haven’t found him. Well, that’s just not the case.

“[The FBI] looked for D.B. Cooper for decades and never stopped looking until the point where he couldn’t reasonably still be alive.”

D.B. COOPER MYSTERY

The unsolved mystery surrounding infamous hijacker D.B. Cooper began on November 24, 1971, when a middle-aged man identifying himself as Dan Cooper purchased a one-way $20 ticket from Northwest Orient flight from Portland, Oregon, to Seattle.

Carrying a black attache case and a brown paper bag, Cooper boarded Flight 305 sometime after 2:30 pm local time, took his seat in the last row, 18E, and ordered himself a drink.

Sometime after takeoff, at around 3 pm, Cooper handed a note to a flight attendant, identified as 23-year-old Florence Schaffner, sitting in a jump seat behind him, revealing that he had a bomb in his suitcase.

The mild-mannered hijacker requested four parachutes and $200,000 in twenty-dollar bills in exchange for the 36 other passengers on board.

The president of Northwest Orient authorized the payment of the ransom and ordered the six crew onboard to comply with Cooper’s orders.

For approximately two hours, Flight 305 circled above Seattle to give authorities enough time to scramble together the ransom money and the parachutes, and mobilize other emergency personnel.

Upon landing, per Cooper’s instructions, one representative from the airline was permitted to board the plane. They dropped off the items and the cash, and the passengers were permitted to disembark.

The plane was then refueled and Cooper ordered the pilots to fly southeast in the direction of Mexico City at the minimum airspeed possible without stalling the aircraft.

Flight 305 took off for a second time at 7.40pm and, shortly after, Cooper ordered all remaining crew to stay in the cockpit as he made his way towards the aft ramp in the tail of the plane.

One stewardess caught a glimpse of Cooper standing in the aisle, tying what appeared to be the bag of money around his waist.

That was the last anyone ever saw of Cooper. He’d later become known as DB Cooper when a journalist at the time accidentally mistyped Dan as DB in a report and the name stuck.

A little after 8 pm, somewhere over southwest Washington, a light flashed up on the instrument panel in the cockpit, indicating the rear exit door had been opened.

With that, Cooper was gone, parachuting out into the stormy night sky with his ransom and the briefcase and brown paper bag he’d boarded the plane with.

Despite a massive search, no trace of Cooper or his parachutes was ever found.

‘INFINITE MEMORY’

Rankhorn, who spent 21 years in the FBI, said that despite the meticulous heist, the suspects – like DB Cooper – will never be out of the woods and will eventually make a mistake.

“These people, congratulations, you have 20 to 30 years of looking over your shoulder and more than likely you will be caught in the end,” the former federal agent told The U.S. Sun.

“They may think that, Ok, I’ve waited a year, I’ve waited two years, now I can start buying luxury items. Well, if the FBI is involved, the FBI has infinite memory.

“They never forget the people that they’ve been looking for. They’ve been looking for people for 30 years and sometimes will find them.

“So, you’re never as a criminal out of the woods. If you’re involved in this case, you have to look over your shoulder for literally the rest of your life.

“There is no grace period. There’s no statute of limitations on this.”

Rankhorn continued, “In any criminal endeavor, the number of people that you involve in it exponentially increases your chance of discovery.

“There was a famous pirate named Captain Kidd who famously said three people can keep a secret when two of them are dead.

“And what that means is that when people execute a crime like this, a really spectacular crime, people like to talk.

“And oftentimes, the criminal pathology, the people that are drawn to this life of crime, they have impulse control.

“So, they’re going to be more likely to either brag out of ego or brag when they’ve had too many drinks under their belt.”

Rankhorn reckons the problem the thieves will encounter is how to spend the stolen cash.

“Their biggest problem comes in on how to actually use the money,” he added.

“And that sounds like a silly statement, but there’s a great TV series called Ozark, where that in there a money launderer tells some criminals who came into quite a bit a cash and said, well, what you have is a lifetime supply of groceries because you can’t carry a suitcase around of money and just pay with everything in cash.

“We are in an increasingly more and more digital economy where it’s fairly rare to pay cash for things.

“And some things are fairly or reasonably impossible to pay in cash.

“You don’t buy a house in cash, you don’t buy a nice, expensive car with cash.

“You don’t rent cars with cash. You don’t buy airline tickets with cash.”

However, Rankhorn suspects the burglars have already integrated the cash into the banking system through money launderers, which he believes they set up before the heist.

“They will probably sit on this substantially for probably a year. In the meantime, they’re probably already have integrated it into the banking system because as a criminal, you don’t want to sit on a fungible asset,” he said.

“Liquid assets like cash are dangerous because other criminals will come and kill you and take it, or your colleagues will kill you and take it.

“So, they probably have it already integrated into the banking system, if they have any brains at all. And they’re just waiting, abiding their time to try to begin spending.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13869679/oceans-eleven-cash-heist-los-angeles-exclusive-fbi/

Hundreds of thousands of people joined a massive opposition protest in Istanbul on Saturday, rallying to defend democracy after the arrest of city mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, AFP correspondents at the scene said.

Ozgur Ozel, leader of the main opposition CHP which organised the protest, told demonstrators there were 2.2 million people in the crowd, but AFP was not able to independently confirm the figures.

Protesters gathered for a mass rally in Istanbul on Saturday at the call of Turkey’s main opposition CHP over the jailing of city mayor and top party figure Ekrem Imamoglu whose arrest has sparked the country’s biggest street demonstrations in over a decade.

The mass protests over Imamoglu’s March 19 detention have prompted a repressive government response that has been sharply condemned by rights groups and drawn criticism from abroad.

The rally in Maltepe on the Asian side of Istanbul comes on the eve of the Eid al-Fitr celebration marking the end of Ramadan, which starts Sunday.

Widely seen as the only Turkish politician capable of challenging President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the ballot box, Imamoglu was elected as the CHP’s candidate for the 2028 presidential race on the day he was jailed.

Under a cloudless blue sky, protesters with posters of Imamoglu could be heard chanting: “Everywhere is Taksim, resistence is everywhere!” on board ferries crossing the Bosphorus to the Asian side of the city, an AFP correspondent said.

The slogans were referring to the city’s iconic Taksim Square, the epicentre of massive protests in 2013.

Opposition leader and CHP head Ozgur Ozel told France’s Le Monde newspaper he planned to make Saturday rallies a weekly feature in cities across Turkey, with others to be held in Istanbul every Wednesday.

“We believe the arrests will slow down from now,” he told the daily, saying he was “ready to take the risk of spending eight to 10 years in prison if necessary. Because if we don’t stop this attempted coup, it will mean the end of the ballot box.”

The protests over Imamoglu’s arrest quickly spread across Turkey, with vast crowds joining mass nightly rallies outside Istanbul City Hall called by the CHP, that often degenerated into running battles with riot police.

Although the last such rally was Tuesday, student groups have kept up their own protests, most of them masked despite a police crackdown that has seen nearly 2,000 people arrested.

In Istanbul, at least 511 students were detained, many in predawn raids, of whom 275 were jailed, lawyer Ferhat Guzel told AFP, while admitting that the number was “probably much higher”.

The authorities have also cracked down on media coverage, arresting 13 Turkish journalists in five days, deporting a BBC correspondent and arresting a Swedish reporter who flew into Istanbul to cover the unrest.

Although 11 journalists were freed Thursday, among them AFP photographer Yasin Akgul, two more were detained on Friday as was Imamoglu’s lawyer Mehmet Pehlivan, who was later granted conditional release.

Swedish journalist Joakim Medin, who flew into Turkey on Thursday to cover the demonstrations, was jailed on Friday, his employer Dagens ETC told AFP, saying it was not immediately clear what the charges were.

‘Accusations 100 percent false’

Unconfirmed reports in the Turkish media said Medin was being held for “insulting the president” and belonging to a “terror organisation”.

“I know that these accusations are false, 100 percent false,” Dagens ETC’s editor-in-chief Andreas Gustavsson wrote on X account.

In a post on social media, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard said Stockholm was taking his arrest “seriously”.

Turkish authorities held BBC journalist Mark Lowen for 17 hours on Wednesday before deporting him on the grounds he posed “a threat to public order”, the broadcaster said.

Turkey’s communications directorate put his deportation down to “a lack of accreditation”.

Source : https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250329-turkey-opposition-calls-mass-rally-in-istanbul

The protesters are trying to escalate a movement targeting Tesla dealerships and vehicles in opposition to Musk’s role as the head of the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, where he’s gained access to sensitive data and shut down entire agencies as he attempts to slash government spending.

Most of Musk’s estimated $340bn fortune consists of the stock he holds in the electric vehicle company that he continues to run while also working alongside Trump.

Tesla Takedown has been organised by a group that includes disillusioned owners of the carmaker’s vehicles, celebrities such as actor John Cusack, and at least one Democratic Party lawmaker, Representative Jasmine Crockett from Dallas.

Earlier protests were somewhat sporadic.

But Saturday’s demonstrations mark the first attempt to surround all 277 of the carmaker’s showrooms and service centres in the US in hopes of deepening a recent decline in the company’s sales.

In front of the New York store in Manhattan, between 500 and 1,000 people gathered, demanding Musk’s resignation from government.

The protesters were gathered at the call of environmentalists from Planet Over Profit, who believe that “stopping Musk will save lives and protect our democracy.”

For Amy Neifeld, a 70-year-old American psychologist who had not taken to the streets since the anti-Vietnam War protests in the 1970s, Elon Musk is leading the United States towards “fascism”.

“I’m Jewish and I grew up with a deep awareness of what fascism is. And it’s only gotten worse since the election” of Donald Trump, she told the AFP news agency.

“We have to do something very quickly, because he’s moving very quickly,” Neifeld added.

In London, about two dozen protesters held signs lambasting Musk outside a Tesla dealership as passing cars and trucks tooted horns in support.

One of the signs displayed at the London protest showed a photo of Musk next to an image of Adolf Hitler making the Nazi salute — a gesture that Musk has been accused of reprising shortly after Trump’s January 20 inauguration.

A person in a tyrannosaurus rex costume held another sign with a picture of Musk’s straight-arm gesture that said, “You thought the Nazis were extinct. Don’t buy a Swasticar.”

“We just want to get loud, make noise, make people aware of the problems that we’re facing,” Cam Whitten, an American who showed up at the London protest told The Associated Press.

Some people opposed to Musk have gone beyond protests and set Tesla vehicles on fire and committed other acts of vandalism that US Attorney General Pam Bondi has decried as “domestic terrorism”. Musk indicated he was dumbfounded by the attacks during a March 20 company meeting and said the vandals should “stop acting psycho”.

Crockett and other Tesla Takedown supporters have been stressing the importance of Saturday’s protests to remain peaceful.

But police were investigating a fire that destroyed seven Tesla vehicles in northwestern Germany early Saturday morning. It was not immediately clear if the blaze, which was extinguished by firefighters, was related to the Tesla Takedown protests.

Meanwhile, a growing number of consumers who bought Tesla vehicles before Musk allied himself with Trump have been looking to sell or trade in their cars, while others have slapped on bumper stickers seeking to distance themselves from the billionaire’s efforts to prune or shut down government agencies.

Source : https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/29/elon-musk-protesters-gather-at-tesla-showrooms

Elon Musk’s xAI artificial intelligence firm has acquired Musk’s X, the social media outfit formerly known as Twitter for $33 billion, marking the latest twist in the billionaire’s rapid consolidation of power.
The all-stock deal announced on Friday combines two of Musk’s multiple portfolio companies, which also include automaker Tesla and SpaceX, and potentially eases Musk’s ability to train his AI model known as Grok.

Musk announced the transaction in a post on X, saying: “The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt).”

“xAI and X’s futures are intertwined,” he wrote. “Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent.”
Neither X nor xAI spokespersons immediately responded to requests for comment. Much of the deal’s specifics remained unclear, such as how investors may be compensated, how X’s leaders would be integrated in the new firm or the prospect of regulatory scrutiny.

“This development feels surprising and somewhat unexpected,” PP Foresight analyst Paolo Pescatore said. “To a certain extent, it closes a chapter in the turbulent saga of X.”
“The choice of $45 billion is not a coincidence,” said D.A. Davidson & Co. analyst Gil Luria. “It is $1 billion higher than the take-private transaction for Twitter in 2022” and he can share the value of the xAI business with Twitter co-investors.
Musk, the world’s wealthiest man, has also consolidated his power in Washington, D.C. by overseeing the Trump administration’s cost-cutting efforts as head of the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE. That has also put him in the position to potentially influence agencies that oversee his business dealings.

An investor in xAI, and now in the combined entity, told Reuters they were not surprised by the deal, viewing it as Musk consolidating his leadership and management at his own companies. The investor declined to be named.
Musk did not ask investors for approval but told them that the two companies had been collaborating closely and the integration will drive deeper integration with Grok.

OPENAI RIVALRY

Musk’s xAI startup was launched less than two years ago and recently raised $10 billion in a funding round that valued the company at $75 billion, according to a media report.
In February, Musk, 53, made a $97.4 billion bid with a consortium for the ChatGPT maker OpenAI, which was rejected, with OpenAI saying that the startup was not for sale. Musk co-founded OpenAI with CEO Sam Altman in 2015.
Musk competes directly with the popular OpenAI platform and has sued in federal court in California to prevent his rival from converting from a non-profit to a for-profit business. A judge earlier this month denied Musk’s request for a preliminary injunction that would prevent the changeover.

The wide release of AI software has set off a flurry of investment and competition in Silicon Valley. In an effort to be more efficient, companies are seeking ways to integrate the software into nearly every part of their operations.
As competition in AI intensifies, xAI has been ramping up its data center capacity to train more advanced models, and its supercomputer cluster in Memphis, Tennessee, called “Colossus,” is touted as the largest in the world.
xAI introduced Grok-3, the latest iteration of its chatbot, in February, as it tries to compete with Chinese AI firm DeepSeek and Microsoft-backed OpenAI. The X platform can serve to further distribute xAI products, while also providing a real-time feed of users’ musings, screenshots and other data.

TWITTER FREED

Musk clinched a deal in 2022 to buy X, then Twitter, for $44 billion, ending its run as a public company since its 2013 initial public offering, declaring that “the bird is freed” once the acquisition closed.
He gutted the company’s workforce after the acquisition, prompting advertisers to flee the platform and a rapid decline in revenue. Recently, brands have been returning to X as Musk’s influence grows in the Trump administration.
The seven banks that extended $13 billion in loans to Musk to buy X kept the debt on their books for two years until they could sell it all at once last month, according to a source familiar with the transactions.
This was made possible after a surge in investor interest for exposure to AI companies along with X’s improved operating performance over the previous two quarters, among other factors, according to two people familiar with the matter.
After the merger, investors who bought the debt from the banks will profit, said Espen Robak, founder of Pluris Valuation Advisors, which specializes in illiquid assets. “For sure the debt is worth more now, if not fully paid off.”

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/musks-xai-buys-social-media-platform-x-45-billion-2025-03-28/

At least 144 people have been killed and 730 others injured in Myanmar following a powerful earthquake, according to the head of the country’s military government.

“The death toll and injuries are expected to rise,” Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said on television.

The 7.7 magnitude quake struck around 12.50pm local time (6.20am UK time) on Friday at a shallow depth of six miles, with the epicentre about 10 miles from the second city of Mandalay.

There were also aftershocks, with one measuring a strong 6.4 magnitude 12 minutes later.

Neighbouring Thailand was also rocked by the earthquake, with eight people killed in the capital Bangkok, after a 33-storey skyscraper, which had been under construction, collapsed.

Rescuers searching through the rubble of the tower block for survivors have said more than 100 people were missing.

Footage showed the high-rise in the Chatuchak area crashing to the ground as people ran away from the scene.

In Myanmar, buildings in five cities and towns collapsed, along with a railway bridge and a road bridge on the Yangon-Mandalay Expressway, state media reported.

Images showed the destroyed Ava Bridge over the Irrawaddy River, with its arches leaning into the water.

A rescue worker from the Moe Saydanar charity group said it had retrieved at least 60 bodies from monasteries and buildings in Pyinmanar, near the capital Naypyidaw, and more people were trapped.

‘Building collapsed in front of my eyes’

“We all ran out of the house as everything started shaking,” a Mandalay resident said.

“I witnessed a five-storey building collapse in front of my eyes. Everyone in my town is out on the road and no one dares to go back inside buildings.”

THE Red Sea submarine tragedy which killed six is the latest in a string of disasters to hit the Egyptian tourist hotspot.

A series of deadly accidents – from dive boats sinking to shark maulings – has tainted the holiday resort destination’s image.

The carnage has even prompted a warning from the UK government to would-be travellers about the perils of the Red Sea.

Six people died and 39 were miraculously rescued after the Sindbad pleasure submarine sank off the Egyptian resort city of Hurghada on Thursday.

Bombshell first images of the sunken sub just moments after the tragedy showed it floundering on the sea bed.

Reviews of previous trips in the sub revealed it had scraped and bumped along the sea floor.

And past passengers described it as “the worst experience ever” with the vessel being in “terrible condition”.

But this is far from the first boating calamity on the Red Sea.

There have been as many as 16 dive boat accidents in the past five years – often attributed to dodgy, over-modified equipment.

Live-aboard dive boats have been proven especially dangerous – and were the focus of the government’s warning.

The Sea Story boat capsized and sank in November 2024, killing 11 of the 44 onboard.

Two more boats run by the same firm – Dive Pro Liveaboard – have sunk in the past three years.

Scuba Scene was destroyed by a fire in April 2022 with 36 onboard, and the same happened to Sea Legend in February 2024.

The passengers and crew of those voyages were lucky to all escape alive.

Holidaymakers also contend with the constant threat of shark attacks in the Red Sea, with some killed in horror maulings.

A Romanian woman called Elisabeth Sauer, 68, was mauled to death by a tiger shark in July 2022.

She had been snorkelling in shallow waters – as tourists often do – when the killing machine pounced on her.

Disturbing images showed a red stain of blood growing in the water following the attack.

Then a 24-year-old Russian man was dragged into the water and savaged to death by a 10ft-long beast in June 2023.

The man’s head and hand were reportedly later found inside the shark’s digestive system.

And an EU diplomat, Italian Gianluca di Gioia, 48, was ripped apart in December 2024.

Meanwhile, Peppino Fappani, 69, a retired dentist, tried to fight off one of the beasts by jabbing it in the eye – sustaining gruesome wounds to his right hand in the struggle.

A stark warning from the UK government issued in November 2024 read: “Over the last 5 years, 16 accidents have occurred involving liveaboard dive vessels operating in the Red Sea.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13887100/red-sea-disasters-submarine-sharks-boats/

Six Russians died on Thursday and 39 foreign tourists were rescued when a viewing submarine sank off the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Hurghada, the local governor’s office said on Facebook, adding that no passengers or crew were still missing.
The Red Sea Governorate said the submarine, named “Sindbad”, had 50 people onboard: 45 tourists of different nationalities from Russia, India, Norway, and Sweden, and five Egyptian crew members.

“Most of those on board were rescued and taken to their hotels and hospitals in Hurghada,” the Russian consulate in Hurghada said.
The submarine was equipped with large portholes to let passengers see the Red Sea’s spectacular corals and marine life, and was able to descend to a depth of 25 metres, according to the company’s website.
The pleasure craft was a far cry from the extreme adventure submersible that imploded thousands of metres below the Atlantic near the sunken Titanic in June 2023.
The Red Sea is a major hub for Egypt’s crucial tourism industry, a pillar of the economy, in which Russian tourists play an increasing part. Egypt also attracts tourists with its great pyramids of Giza and cruises on the Nile in Luxor and Aswan.

Successive Egyptian governments have waged successful crackdowns on Islamist militant groups who hurt the tourism industry with attacks on foreigners in the past.
Egyptian authorities are conducting investigations with crew members to determine the causes of the submarine sinking, the local governorate cited Red Sea Province Governor Amr Hanafy as saying.
The submarine, which is owned by an Egyptian, was licensed and so was the crew captain, he said.
There have been several recent incidents of tourist boats capsizing. Last June, a boat sank after suffering severe damage from high waves, though no casualties were reported.
And in November, a tourist boat capsized while carrying 31 tourists and 13 crew on a multi-day diving trip. Local media reported that at least 11 people had died in the incident, which was also blamed on high waves.

At the time, the governor of the Red Sea province said the boat, the Sea Story, had passed a safety inspection eight months earlier.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/six-foreigners-killed-sinking-tourist-submarine-off-egypts-red-sea-resort-city-2025-03-27/

US vice president JD Vance will fly to Greenland this week, after accusing American and Danish leaders of ignoring the island “for far too long”.

He will join second lady Usha Vance and energy secretary Chris Wright as part of a delegation to visit the Pituffik space base, the US military base in Greenland.

Originally, Ms Vance had planned to attend a popular dog-sled race in Greenland – a move Denmark’s prime minister Mette Frederiksen criticised as putting “unacceptable pressure” on the semi-autonomous Danish territory.

Announcing the change in destination to the US base, Mr Vance said he didn’t want his wife to “have all that fun by herself,” before adding that “a lot of countries have threatened” the world’s largest island.

Mr Vance then said: “We’re going to check out how things are going there.

“Speaking for President Trump, we want to reinvigorate the security of the people of Greenland because we think it’s important to protecting the security of the entire world.”

The vice president also claimed US and Danish leaders had “ignored Greenland for far too long” and that “we think we can take things in a different direction”.

Since US President Donald Trump took office, he has regularly floated the idea of Greenland becoming part of the United States.

Greenland’s strategic location, at the northeastern tip of the North American continent and as the gateway to the Arctic Ocean. as well as its rich mineral resources, would benefit the US.

It also lies along the shortest route from Europe to North America, and is vital for the US ballistic missile warning system.

The governments of both Greenland and Denmark have voiced opposition to such a move.

Greenland Prime Minister Mute Egede told the newspaper Sermitsiaq his nation has tried “all diplomatic and democratic options”, but Mr Trump’s mission is “to own and control Greenland”.

On Tuesday, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen accused the US of putting “unacceptable pressure” on Greenland.

Waltz omitted from announcement

White House national security adviser Mike Waltz was originally set to take part in the Greenland visit.

However, his name was omitted from the latest announcement, according to the Associated Press (AP).

It comes after a US journalist was added to a Signal group chat where US officials discussed airstrikes on Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.

It is unclear if he is still going, or whether his travel plans were altered after the leak.

Speaking on Tuesday evening, Mr Waltz said he took responsibility for creating the group, adding: “I built the group. So look, that’s the part that we have to figure out…

“Embarrassing? Yes, but Pete [Hegseth, US defence secretary] and I are veterans.”

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/jd-vance-announces-trip-to-greenland-and-accuses-denmark-of-ignoring-island-for-far-too-long-13335925

American news magazine The Atlantic has published what it says is a full transcript of a Signal chat in which top defense and Trump administration officials discussed airstrikes on Yemen.

The Atlantic first published details of the group chat on Monday.

Amid the political fallout, members of the chat including Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and CIA Director John Ratcliffe downplayed the incident and told a Senate hearing that no classified information had been shared in the Signal chat.

This prompted The Atlantic to release the full transcripton Wednesday.

The transcript includes the names of those involved in the chat, except for one CIA officer whose name was withheld by the magazine on request from the agency.

Trump administration hits back at story

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt quickly responded to Wednesday’s disclosure. The White House says Trump still has “confidence” in his national security team.

“The Atlantic has conceded: these were NOT ‘war plans’,” she posted on social media.

“This entire story was another hoax written by a Trump-hater who is well-known for his sensationalist spin.”

The screenshots published on Wednesday also confirmed that National Security Advisor Mike Waltz was responsible for adding Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg to the chat — something Waltz had earlier admitted to.

On Wednesday, Waltz reiterated his claims that the chat contained “no locations,” “no sources and methods,” and “no war plans.”

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance said the transcript showed that Goldberg “oversold” the significance of the magazine’s story.

“It’s very clear Goldberg oversold what he had,” Vance posted on social media.

Timing of Yemen strike shared in chat

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth repeatedly denied sharing war plans in the Signal chat.

But the transcript shows that he texted the start time for a planned killing of a Houthi militant in Yemen on March 15 as well as other details of imminent US strikes.

Hegseth posted the following timeline in a single message:

“1215et: F-18s LAUNCH (1st strike package)”
“1345: ‘Trigger Based’ F-18 1st Strike Window Starts (Target Terrorist is @ his Known Location so SHOULD BE ON TIME _ also, Strike Drones Launch (MQ-9s)”
“1410: More F-18s LAUNCH (2nd strike package)”
“1415: Strike Drones on Target (THIS IS WHEN THE FIRST BOMBS WILL DEFINITELY DROP, pending earlier ‘Trigger Based’ targets)”
“1536 F-18 2nd Strike Starts _ also, first sea-based Tomahawks launched.”
“MORE TO FOLLOW (per timeline)”
“We are currently clean on OPSEC”
“Godspeed to our Warriors.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/the-atlantic-publishes-more-texts-on-us-yemen-attack-plan/a-72044541

At least 18 people have died as multiple wildfires rage across South Korea’s southeastern region, with thousands of firefighters aided by the military deployed in a bid to contain one of the country’s worst forest fires in decades.
The deadly wildfires have spread rapidly and forced more than 27,000 residents to flee their homes, the government said. The blazes, fuelled by strong winds and dry weather, have razed entire neighbourhoods, closed schools and forced authorities to transfer hundreds of inmates from prisons.

Vladimir Putin has served as either prime minister or president of Russia since August 9, 1999. How has the former KGB officer managed to continuously expand his power?

Putin has strengthened his grip on power over a quarter of a centuryImage: Maxim Shemetov/REUTERSIn what was largely a formality, Vladimir Putin was confirmed in office in the Russian presidential elections with 52.9% of the vote on March 26, 2000.

The result of the elections was a foregone conclusion. When Boris Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned from office on December 31, 1999, Putin, who had been prime minister since August 9, 1999, also took over the office of president as per the constitution.

Putin has now been in power for 25 years, taking a strategic approach to his rise to become the autocratic and undisputed ruler of Russia, even if he was not president for a few years.

A vacancy in the Kremlin
As the Russian constitution at the time did not allow a president to rule for more than two consecutive terms, there was a vacancy in the elections on May 7, 2008.

Putin’s confidant Dmitry Medvedev, former Chairman of the Gazprom Supervisory Board, replaced Putin in office. One day later, Russia’s parliament, the Duma, elected Putin as the new head of government with 87.1% of the vote at Medvedev’s suggestion. Even though Medvedev now held the highest office, Putin continued to pull the strings behind the scenes.

In the course of these 25 years, the Russian president has transformed his country into the “strongest personalized dictatorship in the world,” said Russian political scientist Mikhail Komin.

He told DW that this was only possible because, over the quarter century he has been in power, Putin has persistently undermined all of Russia’s political institutions.

Regional control as the foundation of power
It all began with the abolition of regional autonomy, Komin explained. The Kremlin created its instrument of control in the Russian regions, laying the foundation for a consolidation of power.

Another Russian political scientist, Grigory Nishnikov, based in Finland, shares this view. “If we think back to the Russia of the early Putin years, we can point to several autonomous centers of power, both constitutional and informal, such as the oligarchs,” he told DW. “They all formed a sort of counterweight to the Kremlin.”

Putin destroyed all this, said Nishnikov, centralized everything, and focused Russia’s system of power on himself.

However, he believes this isn’t the only reason why the Russian president has remained in power for so long. There have been plenty of events over the past 25 years that could have been dangerous for Putin, namely:

•           the protests in Moscow’s Bolotnaya Square following the 2011 parliamentary election,

•           the risk of instability in Crimea after the Ukrainian peninsula was annexed in 2014,

•           the unrest that followed the controversial pension reform in 2018,

•           massive protests in support of the late Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny across Russia over the next few years,

•           the start of the war in Ukraine in early 2022, accompanied by protests on the streets of Moscow and St. Petersburg.

However, every act of popular resistance was followed by even greater repression. “And new adversaries were always eliminated in the course of these events,” said Nishnikov. As a result, he does not believe there is anyone left now who could challenge Putin.

Putin and Trump: Brothers in spirit?
In terms of foreign policy, there are signs of a rapprochement between the United States and Russia, which began when US President Donald Trump had his first term in office (2017- 2021). The first personal meeting between Trump and Putin took place in July 2018 at the Russia-US summit in Helsinki.

“For Putin, Trump is the greatest gift of his political life,” explained political scientist and historian Helmut Müller-Enbergs in an interview with the German news platform T-Online.

That, said the expert from the University of Southern Denmark, has become evident during negotiations to reach a ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. Putin, said Müller-Enbergs, essentially offered Trump “[Ukraine’s] raw materials and the prospect of a fulfilled election promise” to end the war.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also recently hinted to the international press that Trump and Putin have a close relationship and speak to each other more often than previously assumed.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/25-years-of-putin-russias-president-cements-his-power/a-69844205

THE FBI has launched a special task force to investigate the rising wave of attacks against Tesla cars.

The announcement comes hours after multiple incendiary devices were uncovered at a Tesla showroom in Texas – thwarting a potentially devastating attack.

The word “RESIST” painted at a Tesla building after an incendiary attack on several cars on March 18, in Las VegasCredit: GettyA skyrocketing amount of recent attacks has also prompted the investigation.

The attacks are a response to Elon Musk’s appointment as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Trump’s administration.

There have been at least 80 reported cases of vandalism or arson in the U.S. and Canada, as well as peace protests at showrooms.

The latest attack – which targeted a showroom in Dallas, Texas, where Tesla is headquartered – was prevented thanks to an anonymous call.

FBI head Kash Patel said on X: “The FBI has been investigating the increase in violent activity toward Tesla, and over the last few days, we have taken additional steps to crack down and coordinate our response.

“This is domestic terrorism.

“Those responsible will be pursued, caught, and brought to justice.”

Musk addressed worried employees last Thursday.

He said: “If you read the news, it feels like, you know, Armageddon.”

The boss added that anyone burning Tesla vehicles was “psycho” and should “stop being psycho!”

Furious Trump called out the attacks and defended Tesla, saying that anyone convicted of such crimes could serve their sentence in El Salvadorian prisons.

The Central American nation is infamous for its treatment of inmates in sprawling megaprisons.

The investigation also comes after the Tesla attack epidemic even spread to Europe.

Several of their vehicles were set ablaze on March 14 in Germany, just days after Trump stood in support of Musk’s cars in front of the White House.

Over the weekend, a man was arrested for allegedly driving his car toward anti-Musk protesters outside a Tesla showroom in West Palm Beach, Florida, on Saturday.

A U.S. protest group called Tesla Takedown is calling for demonstrations on Saturday, March 29, outside of the nearly 300 Tesla showrooms in the country.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/13862635/fbi-tesla-taskforce-car-attacks/

China and India are likely to try to interfere in the Canadian general election on April 28, while Russia and Pakistan have the potential to do so, the country’s spy service said on Monday.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service made its comments at a time when Ottawa’s relations with both India and China are chilly. Beijing and New Delhi have denied previous allegations of interference.

Canada was slow in responding to efforts by China and India to interfere in the 2019 and 2021 elections, but their outcomes were unaffected by the meddling, an official probe said in a final report released in January.

Vanessa Lloyd, deputy director of operations at CSIS, told a press conference that hostile state actors were increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to meddle in elections.

“The PRC (People’s Republic of China) is highly likely to use AI enabled tools to attempt to interfere with Canada’s democratic process in this current election,” she said.

Earlier this month Beijing announced tariffs on more than Rs 22,289 crore ($2.6 billion) worth of Canadian agricultural and food products, retaliating against levies Ottawa slapped on Chinese electric vehicles and steel and aluminum products last year.

Canada said last week that China had executed four Canadian citizens on drug smuggling charges and strongly condemned Beijing’s use of the death penalty.

Canada last year expelled six Indian diplomats – including the head of mission – over allegations they were involved in a plot against Sikh separatists on Canadian soil.

“We have also seen that the government of India has the intent and capability to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes,” said Lloyd.

The Chinese and Indian diplomatic missions in Ottawa were not immediately available for comment.

Source : https://www.deccanherald.com/india/canada-says-china-and-india-may-seek-to-meddle-in-election-3461242

MULTIPLE incendiary devices have been uncovered at a Tesla dealership, according to police.

Police responded to the Tesla showroom in Austin, Texas, on Monday morning after receiving reports of suspicious devices at the location.

The Austin Police Department’s bomb squad unit was deployed to the dealership, where they determined the devices were incendiary.

Incendiary devices are weapons or munitions designed to set fire to objects or cause burns, according to the United Nations’ Office for Disarmament Affairs.

Authorities collected the devices without incident.

The FBI was assisting Austin police at the showroom, according to CNBC.

Federal agents launched a 10-person task force on Monday as 48 attacks on Teslas have been reported so far this month, according to the New York Post.

The agency called the acts “domestic terrorism” and plans to deploy personnel from the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division and eyeing a blog that reportedly calls for more attacks.

A growing number of videos online have also circulated of people defacing and damaging Tesla vehicles on the roads.

The attacks have come following Tesla chief executive Elon Musk’s appointment as head of the Department of Government Efficiency in the Trump administration.

Since his appointment, Musk has slashed federal jobs and budgets in an effort to reduce government spending and bring down the national debt.

‘HATRED AND VIOLENCE’

The billionaire, 53, has blamed Democrats for the attacks on his auto company, calling the incidents “coordinated.”

“It’s really come as a quite a shock to me that there is this level of real hatred and violence from the left,” Musk told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on March 18.

“I thought the left, you know, Democrats, were supposed to be a party of empathy, the party of caring.

“And yet they’re burning down cars. They’re firebombing dealerships.

“They’re firing bullets into dealerships. They’re just smashing up Teslas.”

There has been no evidence to support Musk’s claims.

Hillary Clinton gave a withering response to the revelation that top Trump officials had leaked national security secrets on a group chat.

“You have got to be kidding me,” she wrote alongside a side-eye emoji.

On Monday, The Atlantic published a bombshell report revealing that Trump administration officials—including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance, and National Security Adviser Mike Waltz—had discussed highly confidential war plans in a group chat on the commercial messaging app Signal. Atlantic Editor-in-Chief Jeffrey Goldberg had inadvertently been added to the chat.

For Clinton, whose 2016 campaign was dogged by relentless attacks over her use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state, the irony is rich.

Some of the same officials involved in Monday’s fiasco were among those who, during the 2016 campaign, fueled a political firestorm over Clinton’s use of the private email server at the State Department, which the FBI ultimately deemed “extremely careless” but not criminal.

Rubio blasted Clinton in a Fox News interview in 2015, saying, “The exposure of sensitive information to foreign intelligence agencies by communicating in an insecure manner is incompetence, it is malpractice, it’s inexcusable.”

Waltz, who was the one to invite Goldberg to the group chat, was still bringing up Clinton’s emails in 2023.

“Biden’s sitting National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan sent Top Secret messages to Hillary Clinton’s private account. And what did DOJ do about it? Not a damn thing,” he posted on X at the time.

Trump has repeatedly called for Clinton to be jailed for her use of a private email, leading chants of “lock her up!” at rallies.

FBI Director James Comey opened an investigation into Clinton’s use of a private email 11 days before the election. Although the investigation reached the same conclusion—that Clinton had been “careless” but not acted criminally—two days before voters went to the polls, Clinton maintained it was “the determining factor” in her loss.

By using the Signal app—which is not approved for sharing classified information—to discuss highly sensitive plans about national security, the administration may have violated several laws, according to Goldberg.

Source : https://www.thedailybeast.com/hillary-clinton-responds-after-trump-admins-war-plan-leak/

China sought to reassure foreign corporate chiefs of the country’s business potential when Vice Premier He Lifeng met with the heads of Apple (AAPL.O), Pfizer (PFE.N), Mastercard (MA.N), Cargill and others on Sunday.
He also met with pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly (LLY.N), medical device company Medtronic (MDT.N), and specialty glass maker Corning (GLW.N), a commerce ministry statement said.

Beijing is keen to woo foreign investment amid heightened geopolitical tensions, as policymakers try to boost domestic consumption in a slowing economy to offset the impact of U.S. tariffs.

“China will continue to improve the business environment and welcome more investment by multinational companies in China, sharing opportunities for development,” He told the business leaders, describing China’s economy as “highly resilient” and “full of vitality”.
The statement did not specify where they met. Many foreign CEOs are in Beijing to attend a business forum on Sunday and Monday, with some expected to meet President Xi Jinping on Friday, sources have told Reuters.
In a further push to encourage investment, the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade said smartphone maker Apple was welcome to deepen its supply-chain cooperation with China. The council’s chairman, Ren Hongbin, met with Apple CEO Tim Cook on Sunday.

The Trump administration has imposed 20% tariffs on all Chinese goods since taking office in January, accusing Beijing of not doing enough to stem the flow of fentanyl into the United States, straining relations between both.
At the China Development Forum, Chinese Premier Li Qiang on Sunday urged countries to open their markets to combat “rising instability and uncertainty”, and promised more active macroeconomic policies.
U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines, a staunch supporter of President Donald Trump, met Li on Sunday with seven senior executives from U.S. companies. Daines called the meeting a chance for them to air their views on the business environment in China directly to Li.

Some 86 company representatives from 21 countries came to the forum this year, with American firms making up the largest group of attendees, state broadcaster CCTV said.
A source said fewer American CEOs are attending the forum compared with last year.
But some CEOs were optimistic about investing and doing business in China, state-backed Global Times reported.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/chinas-vice-premier-reassures-apple-pfizer-cargill-others-business-potential-2025-03-24/

Israel’s military struck the largest hospital in southern Gaza on Sunday night, killing two people, wounding others and causing a large fire, the territory’s Health Ministry said.

The strike hit the surgical building of Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis, the ministry said, days after the facility was overwhelmed with dead and wounded when Israel resumed the war in Gaza last week with a surprise wave of airstrikes.

Those killed in Sunday night’s strike included a 16-year-old boy who underwent surgery two days ago, according to the Health Ministry. Also killed was Ismail Barhoum, a member of Hamas’ political bureau, who was being treated at the hospital, Hamas said in a statement.

Israel’s military confirmed the strike on the hospital, saying it hit a Hamas militant operating there. Israel blames civilian deaths on Hamas because it operates in densely populated areas.

Like other medical facilities around Gaza, Nasser Hospital has been damaged by Israeli raids and strikes throughout the war.

More than 50,000 Palestinians have now been killed in the war, the Health Ministry said earlier Sunday.

The military claimed to have “eliminated” dozens of militants since Israel ended a ceasefire Tuesday with strikes that killed hundreds of people on one of the deadliest days in the 17-month war.

Israel’s unrest over Gaza and political issues grew Sunday, with anger at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as his government voted to express no confidence in the attorney general, seen by many as a check on the power of his coalition.

“I’m worried for the future of this country. And I think it has to stop. We have to change direction,” said Avital Halperin, one of hundreds of protesters outside Netanyahu’s office. Police said three were arrested.

‘Displacement under fire’

Israel’s military ordered thousands of Palestinians to leave the heavily destroyed Tel al-Sultan neighborhood in the southern city of Rafah. They walked to Muwasi, a sprawling area of squalid tent camps. The war has forced most of Gaza’s population of over 2 million to flee within the territory, often multiple times.

“It’s displacement under fire,” said Mustafa Gaber, a journalist who left with his family. He said tank and drone fire echoed nearby.

“The shells are falling among us and the bullets are (flying) above us,” said Amal Nassar, also displaced. “The elderly have been thrown into the streets. An old woman was telling her son, ‘Go and leave me to die.’ Where will we go?”

“Enough is enough. We are exhausted,” said a fleeing Ayda Abu Shaer, as smoke rose in the distance.

The Palestinian Red Crescent emergency service said it lost contact with a 10-member team responding to the strikes in Rafah. Spokesperson Nebal Farsakh said some were wounded.

Israel’s military said it had fired on advancing “suspicious vehicles” and later discovered some were ambulances and fire trucks.

In Gaza City, an explosion hit next to a tent camp where people had been told to evacuate. “My husband is blind and started running barefoot, and my children were running,” said witness Nidaa Hassuna.

Strikes kill Hamas leader

Hamas said Salah Bardawil, a well-known member of its political bureau, was killed in a strike in Muwasi that also killed his wife. Israel’s military confirmed it.

Hospitals in southern Gaza said they received a further 24 bodies from strikes overnight, including several women and children.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said 50,021 Palestinians have been killed in the war, including 673 people since Israel’s bombardment on Tuesday shattered the ceasefire.

Dr. Munir al-Boursh, the ministry’s general director, said the dead include 15,613 children, with 872 of them under 1 year old.

The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its count but says women and children make up over half the dead. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 fighters, without providing evidence.

Ceasefire in tatters

The ceasefire that took hold in January paused more than a year of fighting ignited by Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack into Israel, in which militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took 251 hostage. Most captives have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

In the latest ceasefire’s first phase, 25 Israeli hostages and the bodies of eight others were released in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners. Israeli forces allowed hundreds of thousands of people to return home. There was a surge in humanitarian aid until Israel cut off all supplies to Gaza earlier this month to pressure Hamas to change the ceasefire agreement.

The sides were supposed to begin negotiations in early February on the ceasefire’s next phase, in which Hamas was to release the remaining 59 hostages — 35 of them believed to be dead — in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and an Israeli withdrawal. Those talks never began.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/israel-palestinians-hamas-war-news-ceasefire-hostages-03-23-2025-6cf589a317118f69855d5faa97330803

Hundreds of thousands of protesters filled Istanbul’s streets on Sunday for a fifth night of protest against the arrest of the Turkish president’s main rival.

Ekrem Imamoglu, the mayor of Istanbul, was detained on Wednesday and formally arrested and jailed pending trial over corruption charges earlier on Sunday.

Police used pepper spray and fired rubber bullets into the crowd that gathered outside Istanbul’s city hall.

Reporting from Istanbul on Sunday evening, Sky News’ special correspondent Alex Crawford described the protests as “relatively peaceful” but said they were “the biggest protests Turkey has seen in more than a decade”.

The huge demonstrations have continued despite a ban on gatherings in Istanbul imposed this week – but many protesters hid their faces with masks.

Most protesters did not want to speak on camera as they were scared of being recognised, Crawford said, but they took to the streets because “they feel their democracy is being eroded”.

She said questions remained over how long authorities would allow these protests to continue – and whether they will escalate into a real crisis for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The protests intensified after Mr Imamoglu was charged on Sunday with running a criminal organisation, accepting bribes, extortion, illegally recording personal data and bid-rigging. A request to detain Mr Imamoglu on terror-related charges was denied.

Following the ruling, he was transferred to Silivri prison, west of Istanbul.

Mr Imamoglu has labelled all of the claims “unimaginable accusations and slanders”.

Many view his detention as a political move to remove him from the 2028 presidential race – deepening concerns over the country’s democracy and the rule of law.

The Turkish government denies Mr Imamoglu’s arrest was politically motivated and says the courts are independent.

Mr Erdogan has served as Turkey’s president since his Justice and Development Party (AKP) came to power in 2003.

Its biggest opponent in the next election looks set to be the Republican People’s Party (CHP), which this weekend began holding a primary presidential election to endorse Mr Imamoglu, their only presidential candidate.

The party also set up solidarity boxes where non-members could show their support – and at the time of last night’s protest, more than 13 million had done so, according to the CHP.

In a post on social media, Mr Imamoglu praised the result, saying the people had told Mr Erdogan: “Enough is enough.”

“That ballot box will arrive and the nation will deliver a slap to the administration it will never forget,” he added.

Mr Imamoglu – who could be prevented from running for president if he is convicted – was one of 48 people jailed pending trial this weekend. The others being held include a key aide and two Istanbul district mayors.

While the protests have largely been peaceful, there has been some violence in Istanbul, as well as other cities including Ankara and Izmir.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/turkey-protesters-met-with-tear-gas-and-rubber-bullets-at-rallies-after-presidents-main-rival-jailed-13334597

Roughly 100 people waved signs and danced in protest outside a Tesla dealership in Washington on Saturday, angry at the electric vehicle maker’s billionaire CEO Elon Musk, who has led efforts to sharply cut the federal workforce.
Cars driving past the demonstration honked at the protesters whose signs featured photos of Musk, the world’s richest man. President Donald Trump appointed Musk to lead efforts to downsize the federal government, which has thousands of workers in the nation’s capital.

Trump tapped Musk to lead a task force dubbed the Department of Government Efficiency, which so far has overseen cuts of more than 100,000 jobs across a federal civilian workforce of more than 2 million people. DOGE has also pushed for the freezing of foreign aid and the canceling of thousands of programs and contracts.
“We are coming out with joy and showing other people that they’re not alone,” said Melissa Knutson, one of the protesters outside the dealership in Washington.
Protesters also turned out at other U.S. cities, including Los Angeles, as well as abroad, such as in Toronto where some Canadians have vowed not to purchase U.S. products following the Trump administration’s hiking of tariffs on Canadian goods.

In the weeks leading up to the protests, motorists have traded in a record number of Tesla (TSLA.O), electric vehicles this month, Edmunds data showed.
Tesla stock has nearly halved from its January peak. The shares skyrocketed after Trump’s election in November on hopes it would be easier for Tesla to roll out robotaxis under the new administration.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/anti-musk-protesters-gather-outside-tesla-dealership-washington-2025-03-22/

The top diplomats from Japan, China and South Korea met in Tokyo on Saturday, seeking common ground on East Asian security and economic issues amid escalating global uncertainty.
“Given the increasingly severe international situation, I believe we may truly be at a turning point in history,” Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said at the start of the meeting in Tokyo with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul.

The U.N. children’s agency on Saturday urged Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers to immediately lift a lingering ban on girls’ education to save the future of millions who have been deprived of their right to education since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

The appeal by UNICEF comes as a new school year began in Afghanistan without girls beyond sixth grade. The ban, said the agency, has deprived 400,000 more girls of their right to education, bringing the total to 2.2 million.

Afghanistan is the only country in the world that bans female secondary and higher education, with the Taliban justifying the ban saying it doesn’t comply with their interpretation of Sharia, or Islamic law.

“For over three years, the rights of girls in Afghanistan have been violated,” Catherine Russell, UNICEF executive director, said in a statement. “All girls must be allowed to return to school now. If these capable, bright young girls continue to be denied an education, then the repercussions will last for generations.”

A ban on the education of girls will harm the future of millions of Afghan girls, she said, adding that if the ban persists until 2030, “more than four million girls will have been deprived of their right to education beyond primary school.” The consequences, she added, will be “catastrophic.”

Source: https://apnews.com/article/afghanistan-unicef-taliban-ban-girls-education-54930502f36c3b24c042b79fc30c5fa4

At least 91 Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in airstrikes across Gaza on Thursday after Israel resumed bombing and ground operations, the enclave’s health ministry said, effectively ditching a two-month-old ceasefire.
After two months of relative calm, Gazans were again fleeing for their lives after Israel effectively abandoned a ceasefire, launching a new all-out air and ground campaign against Gaza’s dominant Palestinian militant group Hamas.

Israeli aircraft dropped leaflets on residential neighbourhoods, ordering people out of Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun towns in the north, the Shejaia district in Gaza City and towns on the eastern outskirts of Khan Younis in the south.
Late on Thursday, Israel’s military said it had begun ground operations in the Shaboura district of Gaza’s southernmost city Rafah, which abuts the Egyptian border.
“War is back, displacement and death are back, will we survive this round?” said Samed Sami, 29, who fled Shejaia to put up a tent for his family in a camp on open ground.

A day after sending tanks into central Gaza, the Israeli military said on Thursday it had also begun conducting ground operations in the north of the densely populated enclave, along the coastal route in Beit Lahiya.
Hamas, which had not retaliated during the first 48 hours of the renewed Israeli assault, said its fighters fired rockets into Israel. The Israeli military said sirens sounded in the centre of the country after projectiles were launched from Gaza.
Some Gazans said there were no signs yet of preparations by Hamas on the ground to resume fighting. But an official from one militant group allied to Hamas, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters on Thursday that fighters, including from Hamas, had been put on alert awaiting further instructions. Fighters had also been told to stop using mobile phones.

HUNDREDS DEAD

Tuesday’s first day of resumed airstrikes killed more than 400 Palestinians, one of the deadliest days of the 17-month-old conflict, with scant let-up since then.

In a blow to Hamas as it sought to rebuild its administration in Gaza, this week’s strikes have killed some of its top figures, including the de facto Hamas-appointed head of the Gaza government, the chief of security services, his aide, and the deputy head of the Hamas-run justice ministry.

The Islamist group said the Israeli ground operation and the incursion into the Netzarim corridor were a “new and dangerous violation” of the ceasefire agreement. In a statement, it reaffirmed its commitment to the deal and called on mediators to “assume their responsibilities”.

For Israel, a return to full-blown war could prove complicated, some current and former Israeli officials say, amid waning public support and burnout among military reservists. Protesters accuse Netanyahu of continuing the war for political reasons and endangering the lives of remaining hostages.

A temporary first phase of the ceasefire ended at the start of this month. Hamas wants to move to an agreed second phase, under which Israel would be required to negotiate an end to the war and withdrawal of its troops from Gaza, and Israeli hostages still held there would be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners.

Israel has offered only a temporary extension of the truce, cut off all supplies to Gaza and said it was restarting its military campaign to force Hamas to free remaining hostages.

The Israeli military said it had intercepted two missiles fired towards Israel from Yemen on Thursday, one in the early hours and the other in the evening. There were no reports of casualties. Iran-aligned Yemeni Houthi forces have occasionally fired missiles at Israel in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

‘WE DON’T WANT DEATH’

The ceasefire had allowed Huda Junaid, her husband and family to return to the site of their destroyed home to camp out in the ruins. But they were now forced to flee again, packing their few remaining belongings into a donkey cart and searching for a new place to pitch their tent near a school.

“We don’t want war, we don’t want death. Enough, we are fed up. There are no longer children in Gaza, all of our children are dead, all of our relatives are dead,” she said.

Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, a Hamas official said mediators had stepped up efforts with the two warring sides but no breakthrough had yet come.

The war began after Hamas militants attacked Israeli communities near the Gaza border in October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/least-70-palestinians-killed-israeli-strikes-across-gaza-gaza-health-authorities-2025-03-20/

Cambridge scientists have made a major breakthrough in weather forecasting after developing a new AI prediction model that is tens of times better than current systems.

The new model, called Aardvark Weather, replaces the supercomputers and human experts used by forecasting agencies with a single artificial intelligence model that can run on a standard desktop computer.

This turns a multi-stage process that takes hours to generate a forecast into a prediction model that takes just seconds.

“Aardvark reimagines current weather prediction methods, offering the potential to make weather forecasts faster, cheaper, more flexible and more accurate than ever before,” said Richard Turner, a professor of machine learning in the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge.

Tests of the Aardvark model revealed that it is able to outperform the United States national GFS forecasting system using just 10 per cent of the input data, leading researchers to say it could offer a “revolution in forecasting”.

The researchers noted that its simple design and ability to run on standard computers means it has the potential to be used to create bespoke forecasts for a huge range of industries – from predicting wind speeds for offshore European wind farms, to rainfall and temperature predictions for farmers in developing countries.

“Aardvark’s breakthrough is not just about speed, it’s about access,” said Dr Scott Hosking, Director of Science and Innovation for Environment and Sustainability at the Alan Turing Institute.

“By shifting weather prediction from supercomputers to desktop computers, we can democratise forecasting, making these powerful technologies available to developing nations and data-sparse regions around the world.”

Anna Allen from the University of Cambridge, who led the research, added: “These results are just the beginning of what Aardvark can achieve. This end-to-end learning approach can be easily applied to other weather forecasting problems, for example hurricanes, wildfires, and tornadoes.

Source : https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/ai-weather-forecast-aardvark-cambridge-b2717122.html

In recent years, as the global trade gradually grew more volatile due to conflicts, tariffs and pandemic-related disruptions, Japan has been working to rebuild its domestic semiconductor industry.

The country once dominated the market of high-performance electronics and still boasts some of the most cutting-edge chip fabrication technology in the world. In the 1980s, however, Japan effectively allowed nations like South Korea to take over large-scale production of basic chips as the sector was not very profitable at the time. It was also understood that international trade would not be impeded, allowing Japan to rely on imports.

However, that understanding has changed, said Kazuto Suzuki, a professor of science and technology policy at Tokyo University. Talking to DW, he pointed to the disruption of supply chains triggered by the coronavirus pandemic.

“The sudden shortage of chips in Japan, Europe and the US made the Japanese government realize that if domestic industry was not to go into decline, then we would need our own dedicated supplies,” he said.

More recently, the Japanese government’s sense of urgency has been heightened by policies introduced by the new Donald Trump administration that impede free trade, Suzuki added.

Japan not aiming for the top?

“The biggest single factor for the government is ensuring economic security,” said Damian Thong, head of Japan equity research and a semiconductor sector specialist at the Macquarie Group in Tokyo.

“The feeling is that it is critical that Japan is able to maintain an independent capability in semiconductors in order to meet the needs of its own manufacturers,” he told DW.

The “AI boom” of the last couple of years has further focused the government’s attention on the sector, Thong added. Despite these pressures, however, Thong believes it is unlikely that Japan is attempting to regain its former position as the world’s dominant chipmaker.

“The government here is not trying to deploy on a global scale,” Thong told DW. “It wants to maintain its own scale for Japan but, at the same time, remain relevant and attractive to other foreign companies to come here and set up their own fabrication facilities in the future.”

Taiwan’s semiconductor giant teams up with Sony, Denso

With those goals in mind, Japan has been pursuing a two-pronged strategy to boost domestic production. Firstly, it invited global chip giant Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) in 2021 to link up with Sony and auto components manufacturer Denso and build a plant in Kumamoto, southern Japan. The project is worth 1.2 trillion yen ($8.01 billion, €7.34 billion) with over 40% financed by government subsidies.

The plant is producing the 22-nanometer and 28-nanometer chips that are used in cars and consumer electronics. In 2023, TSMC announced that it would be building a second fabrication plant in the area due to growing demand.

The second element of the strategy was to create a new Japanese semiconductor manufacturer Rapidus. Since 2022, Japanese government agencies have been funneling hundreds of millions of dollars into the new company to help it set up production facilities in Hokkaido.

Rapidus is working with the US firm IBM and the Belgian Interuniversity Microelectronics Center (IMEC) organization to put cutting-edge semiconductor research into production. The government has recently announced that an additional 100 billion yen is being made available to Rapidus under the 2025 budget.

“The objective is to build state-of-the-art chips with other companies to ensure that Japan remains a global player,” said Suzuki.

“There is rapidly growing competition in the semiconductor sector, particularly due to the huge demand in the areas of artificial intelligence, electric vehicles, automated driving, drones and others,” he said.

‘Last chance to revitalize’

While Taiwanese manufacturers are now dominating the global market of advanced semiconductors, Japanese companies still excel in producing machinery required to make sophisticated chips. This technology, however, could at some point be acquired by China. Also, Beijing’s increasingly threatening stance on Taiwan, which it views as a breakaway province, is also fueling concerns of supply disruptions.

Suzuki says Japan has no option but to “step up” to the challenge because the competition “is only going to get tougher.” He also believes that the government is on the right track to ensuring self-sufficiency in chip production.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/japan-returns-to-semiconductor-arena-now-dominated-by-taiwan/a-71974216

Bill Gates is personally lobbying Trump administration officials to keep funding health programs worldwide, from childhood vaccination to HIV treatment, and warning that his foundation cannot step in to fill gaps, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Gates, the billionaire Microsoft (MSFT.O), co-founder turned global health philanthropist, met with the National Security Council as well as Republican and Democratic lawmakers in recent weeks to press that case, the sources said.

Soon after his January 20 inauguration, President Donald Trump moved to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development, cutting more than 80% of contracts and freezing billions of dollars for everything from emergency food assistance to malaria prevention.
The Trump administration, led by the State Department, is reviewing what kinds of foreign aid will remain under its “America First” policy, with a list of around 30 global health projects for consideration, one of the sources said.
“Bill was recently in Washington D.C. meeting with decision makers to discuss the life-saving impact of U.S. international assistance and the need for a strategic plan to protect the world’s most vulnerable while safeguarding America’s health and security,” said a spokesperson for the Gates Foundation, his charitable organization.

Gates told the officials he met with that his foundation cannot replace the role of the U.S. government, the sources said. Gates Foundation directors have also said publicly that no foundation has that capability.
At the same time, many Gates Foundation top priorities like eradicating polio and fighting malaria will be hit by the U.S. pullback. In such cases, the Foundation would need to decide if and how it can keep those programs on track, one source close to the organization said.
Gates’ discussions focused on organizations such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, as well as the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, among others. They are on the shortlist for review by Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump. The U.S. gives around $300 million annually to Gavi, and more than $1 billion to the Global Fund.

Several projects under the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) are also on the review shortlist, the source said.
The Global Fund declined to comment for this story, and Gavi said only that it had not had a termination notice for its main U.S. funding contract. The White House did not respond to requests for comment.
USAID terminated more than 5,200 grants and contracts, a State Department spokesperson said, adding that critical program awards remain active.
“USAID continues to support the U.S. coordinated, interagency response to the Ebola outbreak in Uganda; to provide lifesaving HIV care and treatment services; to provide emergency assistance in conflict zones; and to support key American strategic partners,” the spokesperson said.
At the National Security Council, Gates also pushed for the U.S. to continue to support the World Health Organization, which Trump moved to exit on day one of his administration, as well as efforts to eradicate polio.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/gates-warns-white-house-he-cant-fill-shortfalls-us-global-health-funding-2025-03-18/

IN the vast and frozen wilderness of Antarctica, scientists at the Sanae IV base are living a real-life horror movie.

Trapped at the remote research base, isolated from the rest of the world, they are now begging for help after a colleague allegedly sexually assaulted a fellow researcher and threatened to kill another.

The alleged aggression was sparked by the expedition’s team leader making a change to the work schedule, according to a South African government official.

Sanae IV, perched high on the Vesleskarvet nunatak in Queen Maud Land, is as far from civilisation as one can get.

And with no direct flight or quick access, it can take up to 15 days just to reach the base — making any emergency rescue a monumental challenge.

The South African base is a cutting-edge structure designed to withstand Antarctica’s extreme weather.

But even its modern architecture and life-supporting systems can’t shield its inhabitants from the psychological and emotional strain of being almost completely cut off from the world.

The station is buried deep in one of the coldest, harshest places on Earth, where temperatures regularly plummet to -23°C, and winds howl at speeds up to 135 mph.

The isolation is absolute.

With no hope of escape unless the brutal weather allows, the scientists live in constant fear of being stuck for months on end.

The base is so far from any other human outpost that even during the summer resupply mission, the nearest help is 160 km away.

It’s a slow, nerve-wracking ordeal when things go wrong.

Inside the base, the living conditions are harsh but manageable — if you’re lucky enough to avoid the psychological toll.

The research station is divided into three modules that house the kitchen, dining area, sleeping quarters, and a few leisure areas like a gym, library, and bar,

One of the researchers stationed there, clad in a thick coat and woolly hat, recorded a video tour of the base.

It shows a gym kitted out with dumbbells, a rowing machine and a bike – essential as outdoor exercise is all but impossible.

There is even a “braii” out the back – the South African word for a barbequeue – but the luxury ends there.

All of the team’s water comes from melting snow – a labour-intensive chore the team take turns with using the smelter, which they call the “smelly”.

And there is a bare-bones kitchen, where the team take turns to cook for the nine inhabitants.

The station’s design, while practical, is essentially a series of long corridors that link rooms, offering minimal space for privacy.

It’s not a place for comfort or socialising, but rather one for surviving and doing the work.

And surviving is no easy feat.

Staff live in close quarters, with each team member’s personal space limited to tiny rooms.

The long, dark winter months stretch on endlessly.

Overwintering at Sanae IV means months of constant darkness, with the sun dipping below the horizon and never rising again for months.

This endless darkness has a profound impact on mental health, as crew members find themselves trapped in a world where day and night blur together.

For the trapped team members, every waking hour is a reminder of their isolation.

The crew members have no contact with the outside world beyond occasional satellite communications, and even then, it’s a lifeline that offers only the cold comfort of being able to report back to South Africa.

During the winter, when temperatures are unrelenting and the winds roar outside, their communications with the outside world feel more like a cruel reminder that help is too far away to be of any use.

The constant threat of extreme weather, unpredictable storms, and isolation has worn down many of the team.

The psychological pressure gets real — cabin fever sets in.

With no chance for a break, no chance to leave for a weekend getaway, and no real personal time, tempers flare easily.

Arguments break out. Frustration boils over. Without outside stimulation, even small conflicts become magnified, the isolation turning petty disputes into serious rifts.

An email sent last week from one of the scientists trapped at Sanae IV describes how one of their colleagues had begun threatening others.

According to the email, the accused had physically assaulted a fellow researcher and threatened to kill another.

The email further details the growing atmosphere of fear within the base: “I remain deeply concerned about my own safety, constantly wondering if I might become the next victim.”

The team member’s sense of insecurity isn’t just about the threat to their life — it’s the psychological toll of being trapped in a confined space with someone who has crossed the line.

The threat of violence feels immediate and suffocating.

As the crew waits, with no easy escape, there’s a sense of impending doom.

A member of the team, once trusted to work in such an isolated and high-stakes environment, has now become the biggest threat to the others.

The psychological stress is intense and gets worse by the inability to resolve the issue quickly.

What should be a straightforward process of removing an unsafe individual is complicated by the station’s remote location and harsh weather conditions, which could take weeks, if not months, to overcome.

The desperate message continues: “It is imperative that immediate action is taken to ensure my safety and the safety of all employees.”

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13805440/antarctic-base-sanae-iv-terrifies-scientists/

The astronauts disembarked the capsule on stretchers, as is customary, CNN reported. This precaution is taken by SpaceX for all astronauts returning from long-duration space missions.

NASA Crew-9 astronauts Sunita Williams, Nick Hague, Butch Wilmore, and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov breathed earthly air for the first time in over nine months on Wednesday after the successful splashdown of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule.

The astronauts disembarked the capsule on stretchers, as is customary, CNN reported. This precaution is taken by SpaceX for all astronauts returning from long-duration space missions.

Earlier, a worker rinsed the Crew Dragon spacecraft with fresh water to remove as much salt water as possible.

“Saltwater is corrosive, and we want to try and rinse out as much of the salt water as possible to reduce that corrosion on the metallic structures,” SpaceX’s Kate Tice said.

The side hatch of the Crew Dragon remains closed throughout its time in orbit. After docking with the ISS, astronauts enter and exit through a different hatch on top of the vehicle, CNN reported.

SpaceX’s recovery ship, Megan, used a large rig to lift the capsule carrying the four astronauts out of the water. Nearby crew members closely monitored the spacecraft to ensure there were no fuel leaks.

As the capsule splashed down off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, several dolphins were seen swimming around it, welcoming the astronauts home. At least five dolphins were captured on video circling the capsule as it bobbed in the water, CNN reported. Boats in the area assisted in stabilizing the capsule and ensuring the astronauts’ safety.

NASA astronauts Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Aleksandr Gorbunov have been in space since September 2024. However, Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams had been away much longer–their journey began last June. Initially expected to last just a week, their mission was extended to more than nine months due to issues with their Boeing Starliner capsule, which delayed their return.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt earlier stated that US President Donald Trump had fulfilled his promise to bring home the “forgotten” astronauts.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/sunita-williams-butch-wilmore-nasas-crew-9-astronauts-breathe-earthly-air-after-9-months-disembark-from-spacexs-dragon-video

A federal judge on Monday gave the Trump administration a Tuesday deadline to provide details about plane loads of Venezuelans it deported despite orders not to, in a brewing showdown over presidential power.
President Donald Trump claims the deported Venezuelans are members of the prison gang Tren de Aragua, which he designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The White House on Saturday published a Trump proclamation that invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to declare the gang was conducting irregular warfare against the U.S.

Later on Saturday, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg issued an order blocking the deportations, but the flights continued anyway and 261 people were flown to El Salvador.
A Trump administration lawyer argued both that the judge’s initial oral ruling to block the flights was superseded by a more sparsely written order issued later, and that the government had the legal right to continue with flights once they had left U.S. airspace.
Since taking office in January, Trump has sought to push the boundaries of executive power, challenging the historic checks and balances between the U.S. branches of government.

During a court hearing on Monday, Boasberg, repeatedly pressed the Justice Department attorney, Abhishek Kambli, to provide details on the timing of the flights that transported the Venezuelans to El Salvador, including whether they took off after his order was issued.
“Why are you showing up today without answers?” Boasberg asked.
The judge is trying to ascertain the exact timeline of events surrounding his rulings on Saturday, including when the flights took off and who was on them.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said 261 people were deported in total, including 137 who were removed under the Alien Enemies Act and more than 100 others who were removed via standard immigration proceedings. There were also 23 Salvadoran members of the MS-13 gang, she said.
TIMELINE DETAILS SOUGHT
According to a Reuters timeline, Boasberg’s oral ruling that “any plane containing these folks … needs to be returned to the United States” was issued between 6:45 p.m. and 6:48 p.m Eastern Time. At that hour, two flights were in the air.

A third flight took off at 7:37 p.m., or 12 minutes after the judge’s written order was published. The Trump team has said the third flight carried deportees processed under other immigration authorities and not the Alien Enemies Act and therefore was not subject to the order.
In any event, all three flights, which each made a preliminary stop in Honduras, landed in El Salvador late Saturday night or Sunday morning Eastern Time, hours after the judge’s oral and written rulings.
When Boasberg asked for such details, some of it available on public flight-tracking sites, Kambli told the judge the Trump administration was resistant to sharing information because there was “a lot of operational national security and foreign relations at risk.”
Although Tren de Aragua is a feared criminal organization that trafficks in humans in South America, there has been little documented evidence of large-scale operations in the United States.
The White House has asserted that federal courts have no jurisdiction over Trump’s authority to expel foreign enemies under the 18th-century law. In the hearing, the government argued the court’s jurisdiction was limited by the statute.
Boasberg pressed Kambli about why the Trump administration did not appeal or address any disputes in court rather than let the deportation flights continue. “Isn’t the better course to return the planes to the United States?” the judge asked.
At another point, Boasberg said it was “a heck of a stretch” for the Trump administration to argue that his oral order issued on Saturday to return the planes was not in effect because he had not repeated as much in the written order.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/group-seeks-answers-deportation-venezuelans-despite-court-order-2025-03-17/

“Urgent security consultations took place at the top security and political levels,” it has been reported.

Israeli security convened an emergency meeting after “a recent unusual event that may indicate a Hamas attempt to prepare for a ground invasion into Israel,” according to a new report.

Israeli i24 News’ Ariel Oseran shared information about a sudden meeting on X Monday. No details have emerged at press time about the contents of the gathering.

The report, which has not been confirmed by any third parties, comes as tensions soar in the region amid fragile Gaza ceasefire negotiations as Gaza looks to rebuild after 15 months of bombardment.

“Urgent security consultations took place at the top security and political levels in Israel due to ‘a recent unusual event that may indicate a Hamas attempt to prepare for a ground invasion into Israel.’ The censorship approved to publicize the information,” Oseran wrote on X.

The ceasefire put a halt to over 15 months of fighting, which led to the deaths of around 48,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza health officials.

Israel carried out airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, southern Lebanon and southern Syria on Monday, killing at least 10 people, including a child, according to local authorities. The Israeli military said it was targeting militants plotting attacks.

The airstrikes were the latest in what have been frequent and often deadly attacks by Israeli forces during the fragile ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon.

It has also cut electricity and aid to Gaza in an attempt to force Hamas’ hand in negotiations.

Tension is high in multiple parts of the region, with Yemen’s Houthis threatening to attack Israel ships in its waters after issuing a four-day deadline to resume aid to Gaza.

Source: https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/166583/Israel-hamas-ground-invasion-fears-cabinet-meeting

The Trump administration has deported alleged members of a Venezuelan gang from the U.S. despite a court order forbidding it from doing so, saying in an extraordinary statement that a judge did not have the authority to block its actions.

The deportation operation followed a move by Judge James Boasberg to block President Donald Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act’s wartime powers to rapidly deport more than 200 alleged members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang that has been linked to kidnapping, extortion and contract killings.

“A single judge in a single city cannot direct the movements of an aircraft … full of foreign alien terrorists who were physically expelled from U.S. soil,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.
She said the court had “no lawful basis” and that federal courts generally have no jurisdiction over how a president conducts foreign affairs.
The turn of events represented a remarkable escalation in Trump’s challenge to the U.S. Constitution’s system of checks and balances and the independence of the judicial branch of government.

‘COMMENSURATE TO WAR’

Violent tornadoes ripped through parts of the U.S., wiping out schools and toppling semitractor-trailers in several states, part of a monster storm that has killed at least 32 people as more severe weather was expected late Saturday.

The number of fatalities increased after the Kansas Highway Patrol reported eight people died in a highway pileup caused by a dust storm in Sherman County on Friday. At least 50 vehicles were involved.

In Mississippi, Gov. Tate Reeves announced that six people died in three counties and three more people were missing. There were 29 injuries across the state, he added in a nighttime post on the social platform X.

Missouri recorded more fatalities than any other state as scattered twisters overnight killed at least 12, authorities said. The deaths included a man whose home was ripped apart by a tornado.

“It was unrecognizable as a home. Just a debris field,” said Coroner Jim Akers of Butler County, describing the scene that confronted rescuers. “The floor was upside down. We were walking on walls.”

Dakota Henderson said he and others rescuing people trapped in their homes Friday night found five bodies scattered in the debris outside what remained of his aunt’s house in hard-hit Wayne County, Missouri.

“It was a very rough deal last night,” he said the following day, surrounded by uprooted trees and splintered homes. “It’s really disturbing for what happened to the people, the casualties last night.”

Henderson said they rescued his aunt from a bedroom that was the only one left standing, taking her out through a window. They also carried out a man who had a broken arm and leg.

Officials in Arkansas said three people died in Independence County and 29 others were injured across eight counties.

“We have teams out surveying the damage from last night’s tornadoes and have first responders on the ground to assist,” Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders said on X.

She, Reeves and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared states of emergency. Kemp said he was doing so in anticipation of severe weather moving in later in the day.

On Friday, meanwhile, authorities said three people were killed in car crashes during a dust storm in Amarillo, in the Texas Panhandle.

Extreme weather encompasses a zone of 100 million people
The deaths came as the massive storm system unleashed winds that triggered deadly dust storms and fanned more than 100 wildfires.

Extreme weather conditions were forecast to affect an area that is home to more than 100 million people. Winds gusting up to 80 mph (130 kph) were predicted from the Canadian border to Texas, threatening blizzard conditions in colder northern areas and wildfire risk in warmer, drier places to the south.

The National Weather Service issued blizzard warnings for parts of far western Minnesota and far eastern South Dakota starting early Saturday. Snow accumulations of 3 to 6 inches (7.6 to 15.2 centimeters) were expected, with up to a foot (30 centimeters) possible.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/tornadoes-wildfires-deaths-eb53f6b2463a96b18a08ca9e2db266ab

U.S. President Donald Trump launched large-scale military strikes against Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthis on Saturday over the group’s attacks against Red Sea shipping, killing at least 31 people at the start of a campaign expected to last many days.
Trump also warned Iran, the Houthis’ main backer, that it needed to immediately halt support for the group. He said if Iran threatened the United States, “America will hold you fully accountable and, we won’t be nice about it!”

The unfolding strikes – which one U.S. official told Reuters might continue for weeks – represent the biggest U.S. military operation in the Middle East since Trump took office in January. It came as the United States ramped up sanctions pressure on Tehran while trying to bring it to the negotiating table over its nuclear program.
“To all Houthi terrorists, YOUR TIME IS UP, AND YOUR ATTACKS MUST STOP, STARTING TODAY. IF THEY DON’T, HELL WILL RAIN DOWN UPON YOU LIKE NOTHING YOU HAVE EVER SEEN BEFORE!” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform.

At least 31 were killed and 101 others injured in the U.S. strikes, mostly from women and children, Anees al-Asbahi, spokesperson for the Houthi-run health ministry said in an updated toll on Sunday.
The Houthis’ political bureau described the attacks as a “war crime.”
“Our Yemeni armed forces are fully prepared to respond to escalation with escalation,” it said in a statement.
Residents in Sanaa said the strikes hit a building in a Houthi stronghold.
“The explosions were violent and shook the neighborhood like an earthquake. They terrified our women and children,” one of the residents, who gave his name as Abdullah Yahia, told Reuters.
Strikes also targeted Houthi military sites in Yemen’s southwestern city of Taiz, two witnesses in the area said on Sunday.
Another strike on a power station in the town of Dahyan in Saada led to a power cut, Al-Masirah TV reported early on Sunday. Dahyan is where Abdul Malik al-Houthi, the enigmatic leader of the Houthis, often meets his visitors.

The Houthis, an armed movement that took control of most of Yemen over the past decade, have launched scores of attacks on ships off its coast since November 2023, disrupting global commerce and setting the U.S. military on a costly campaign to intercept missiles and drones that have burned through stocks of U.S. air defenses.
A Pentagon spokesperson said the Houthis have attacked U.S. warships 174 times and commercial vessels 145 times since 2023. The Houthis say the attacks are in solidarity with Palestinians over Israel’s war in Gaza with Hamas militants.
Iran’s other allies, Hamas and Hezbollah in Lebanon, have been severely weakened by Israel since the start of the Gaza conflict. Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, who was closely aligned with Tehran, was overthrown by rebels in December.
But throughout, Yemen’s Houthis have remained resilient and often on the offensive, sinking two vessels, seizing another and killing at least four seafarers in an offensive that disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to reroute to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa.
The U.S. administration of then-President Joe Biden had sought to degrade the Houthis’ ability to attack vessels off its coast but limited the U.S. actions.
U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say Trump has authorized a more aggressive approach.

STRIKES ACROSS YEMEN

The strikes on Saturday were carried out in part by fighter aircraft from the Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier, which is in the Red Sea, officials said.
The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, described Saturday’s strikes as the start of a large-scale operation across Yemen.
“Houthi attacks on American ships & aircraft (and our troops!) will not be tolerated; and Iran, their benefactor, is on notice,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wrote on X. “Freedom of Navigation will be restored.”
Trump held out the prospect of far more devastating military action against Yemen.
“The Houthi attack on American vessels will not be tolerated. We will use overwhelming lethal force until we have achieved our objective,” Trump wrote.
Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said the U.S. government had “no authority, or business, dictating Iranian foreign policy.”
“End support for Israeli genocide and terrorism. Stop killing of Yemeni people,” he said in an X post on early Sunday.
Iran’s mission to the United Nations did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, the Houthis said they would resume attacks on Israeli ships passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea, the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Gulf of Aden, ending a period of relative calm starting in January with the Gaza ceasefire.
The U.S. attacks came just days after a letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei from Trump was delivered, seeking talks over Iran’s nuclear program.
Khamenei on Wednesday rejected holding negotiations with the United States.
Still, Tehran is increasingly concerned that mounting public anger over economic hardships could erupt into mass protests, four Iranian officials told Reuters.
Last year, Israeli strikes on Iranian facilities, including missile factories and air defenses, in retaliation for Iranian missile and drone attacks, reduced Tehran’s conventional military capabilities, according to U.S. officials.
Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is dramatically accelerating the enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the U.N. nuclear watchdog – the International Atomic Energy Agency – has warned.
Western states say there is no need to enrich uranium to such a high level under any civilian program and that no other country has done so without producing nuclear bombs. Iran says its nuclear program is peaceful.
In an apparent sign of U.S. efforts to improve ties with Russia, Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke on Saturday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to inform him about the U.S. strikes in Yemen, the State Department said. Russia has relied on Iranian-provided weaponry in its war in Ukraine, including missiles and drones, U.S. and Ukrainian officials say.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/trump-launches-strikes-against-yemens-houthis-warns-iran-2025-03-15/

FURIOUS Kim Jong-un could send his own officials to face the firing squad for their “reckless” behaviour.

Iron-fist ruler Kim has wiped one of North Korea’s party committees off the map after being left outraged by their antics.

Dozens of party officials were involved in an embarrassing “drinking spree” that ended in a “major incident” at Ryonggang Hot Springs resort in Onchon county.

Insiders believe this could have involved physical fights, abuse towards staff, cavorting with mistresses and trashing the premises

Michael Madden, director of NK Leadership Watch, told The Sun: “North Korean culture has no qualms about alcohol consumption.

“This was not a case of people getting a tad too tipsy or singing too loudly.

“Whatever happened, it was most certainly a stag party atmosphere.

“This involved about 40 officials under a county party committee.

“Whatever happened was so egregious they decommissioned the county party committee.

“That means some pretty hard individuals tied to Kim will directly manage the Onchon area’s affairs for the time being and the county party committee literally wiped off the map”.

Kim is now desperately trying to clamp down on unruly government officials in his Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) after a series of incidents.

Fuming Kim has demanded his cronies stop abusing their power to clean up their act amid fears it could spell bad news for his party’s future.

His puppet state newspaper Rodung Sinmun recently used its front page to decry bad behaviour and insist on compliance with party discipline.

It warned that disobedience “will cause losses to the party and leave a stain on one’s own political life”.

Kim has forced some local and provincial government officials to work without pay for up to six months as punishment.

But the despot’s wrath could go a lot further – and end in death for the worst offenders.

Mr Madden added: “There were other ruling party meetings at which discipline and bad behaviour were addressed.

“Some local and provincial government officials were sentenced to work without pay for three-to-six-month periods.

“Some of these people will be demoted and/or expelled from the WPK.

“These party meetings, the central Secretariat meeting Kim presided over, and these local level meetings are, in some cases, just the beginning of the process.

“Some of these incidents will be referred to the police or the State Security Department (NK secret police) for further investigation.

“In some of the more egregious cases people will be incarcerated or sent to isolated areas with their family members.

“There is also certainly a high probability that a couple of the most flagrant offenders will be sent to the firing squad and executed.”

North Korea’s implementation of the death penalty has long been condemned by human rights groups.

The nation’s hermetic state means the true number of executions isn’t clear – but defectors have given gruesome accounts.

Murder, rape, drug smuggling, treason, political dissent, piracy, and consumption of media not approved by the government are some of the offences the death penalty is handed down for.

Last year, North Korea admitted carrying out public executions in a rare admission of its treatment of prisoners.

Executions were ordered for 30 officials in September after Kim accused them of failing to prevent flooding and landslides that killed 1,000 people.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13787366/kim-jong-un-execute-staff-party/

Witnesses and livestream viewers said they heard Ms Sato screaming for help during the attack in the Japanese capital on Tuesday.

Police in Japan have arrested a man after a YouTuber was stabbed to death while livestreaming in downtown Tokyo.

Officers said they arrested Kenji Takano, 42, on suspicion of attempted murder at the scene in the Shinjuku district following the attack on Tuesday.

The victim, Airi Sato, was rushed to hospital with critical injuries after she was stabbed repeatedly in her upper body, police said.

The 22-year-old was later pronounced dead.

Takano has been sent to prosecutors but has not yet been charged.

Witnesses and livestream viewers said that they heard Ms Sato screaming for help during the attack.

Online viewers also said the livestream suddenly went black.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/youtuber-stabbed-to-death-during-livestream-13328577

Russia will spare the lives of Ukrainian soldiers in its western Kursk region if Kyiv tells them to surrender, President Vladimir Putin said on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump urged him to avoid a “horrible massacre” there.
Ukraine denied its men were encircled, describing that as a Russian fabrication, but President Volodymyr Zelenskiy called the situation “very difficult”.

Trump, in a social media post, said he had asked the Russian president to spare the lives of thousands of Ukrainians who he said were “completely surrounded” and vulnerable.

“I have strongly requested to President Putin that their lives be spared. This would be a horrible massacre, one not seen since World War II,” he said.
Putin, addressing his Security Council, said he had read Trump’s appeal. While accusing Ukrainian troops of carrying out crimes against civilians that he said amounted to “terrorism” – something Kyiv denies – Putin said he understood the call by Trump to take humanitarian considerations into account.
“In this regard, I would like to emphasize that if (the Ukrainian troops) lay down their arms and surrender, they will be guaranteed life and decent treatment in accordance with international law and the laws of the Russian Federation,” Putin said.

“To effectively implement the appeal of the U.S. president, a corresponding order from the military-political leadership of Ukraine is needed for its military units to lay down their arms and surrender.”
The deputy chairman of Russia’s security council, former President Dmitry Medvedev, posted on social media that the flipside for Kyiv was that “if they refuse to lay down their arms, they will all be methodically and mercilessly destroyed”.
COUNTER-INVASION

Kursk became a key theatre of the war last August when Ukraine, 2-1/2 years after Putin’s full-scale invasion, turned the tables on Moscow by grabbing a piece of Russia’s own territory.
Seven months on, it is once again in the spotlight, as Russian forces attempt to flush out the last remaining Ukrainians and the U.S. urges Russia to agree to a ceasefire in the wider war. Putin said on Thursday the Ukrainians were trapped and facing a choice of “surrender or die”.

Ukraine’s general staff said on Friday: “Reports of the alleged ‘encirclement’ of Ukrainian units by the enemy in the Kursk region are false and fabricated by the Russians for political manipulation and to exert pressure on Ukraine and its partners.”
It said there had been 13 combat clashes on Friday and the battlefield situation was largely unchanged.
“Units of the Defence Forces of Ukraine have successfully regrouped, withdrawn to more advantageous defensive positions, and are executing their assigned tasks within the Kursk region.”
Zelenskiy told reporters that the Kursk offensive had succeeded in diverting Russian forces from elsewhere on the battlefront.
Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-says-it-retakes-another-village-drive-push-ukraine-out-kursk-2025-03-14/

CHILLING pictures showing China’s giant D-Day style invasion barges have fuelled fears that they are preparing to invade Taiwan.

The giant troop-carrying barges are capable of delivering fleets of tanks and thousands of troops directly onto Taiwanese roads.

China is building at least five of the giant troop-carrying barges, according to satellite imagery and military sources.

The communist state is also building its largest ever aircraft carrier – capable of launching war jets from four runways at the same time.

The intensive work going on in Chinese shipyards suggests China is planning a massive amphibious assault.

Experts say the huge purpose-built barges resemble the floating Mulberry Harbours used by allied forces during the D-Day landings in June, 1944.

The barges were spotted moored off the coast of Taiwan, and sparked new fears that China is preparing to invade Taiwan.

Bringing the self-governed province back in line with mainland China has been a goal of president Xi Jinping’s for a long time and recent military activity has shown that China is ready to take it back by force.

The self-governing nation has been protected by the firepower of ally America for decades.

But alarm was spreading across Taiwan after Donald Trump sent mixed messages about continuing US support.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13774808/chinas-invasion-barges-fears-grow-attack-taiwan

Stargazers in North and South America will be able to view a red-colored “blood moon” starting Thursday night in the first total lunar eclipse visible on the continents since 2022.

The celestial event, observable with the naked eye, will have more than an hour of totality and can additionally be seen in parts of western Europe and Africa, as well as New Zealand.

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth goes between the moon and the sun, casting the Earth’s shadow on the moon.

A rare total lunar eclipse involves the Earth’s umbra, the darkest part of the planet’s shadow, covering the moon.

According to NASA, this type of eclipse can also be called a “blood moon” due to the reddish-orange color the moon can become during totality.

The coloration occurs due to sunlight scattering through the Earth’s atmosphere before reaching the moon’s surface—shorter wavelengths like blue and violet fail to reach the moon, leaving only longer wavelengths such as red and orange to illuminate it.

As a result, the more items there are in the Earth’s atmosphere—such as clouds or dust—the redder the moon will appear during the eclipse.

“Keep a close eye on the weather forecast leading up to the eclipse,” said NASA Chief Scientist Renee Weber in a statement. “That totality will last for close to an hour, so even if it’s cloudy you may still be able to glimpse it if the clouds are scattered.”

Source : https://phys.org/news/2025-03-americas-witness-rare-blood-moon.html

NASA and SpaceX on Monday postponed the launch of the Crew-10 Mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch was scheduled for Wednesday after US President Donald Trump urged SpaceX CEO Elon Musk to rescue the stranded astronauts – Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and SpaceX on Monday postponed the launch of the Crew-10 Mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Notably, as part of the mission, a crew of four astronauts on board the Falcon 9 rocket would have replaced the stranded NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore.

The mission was postponed due to a “hydraulic system issue with a ground support clamp arm for the Falcon 9 rocket at Launch Complex 39A” at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.US. As per the NASA statement, opportunity is no earlier than 7:26 pm EDT on Thursday.

Tweet By SpaceX:

Pakistani security forces stormed a train on Wednesday that had been hijacked by separatist militants, killing all 33 attackers and ending a day-long standoff involving hundreds of hostages, the military said.
Separatist Baloch militants on Tuesday blew up the railway track and hurled rockets at the Jaffar Express when it was on its way to Peshawar in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province from Balochistan’s capital of Quetta, carrying 440 people.

The military said 21 hostages and four security troops were killed over the course of the standoff.
“Today we freed a large number of people, including women and children … The final operation was carried out with great care,” military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said, adding that no civilians were killed in the final stage of the operation.
Before the army announcement, the Baloch Liberation Army, which claimed the attack, said it had killed 50 passengers on Wednesday evening. It had said on Tuesday that it was holding 214 people, mostly security personnel.

It had threatened to start executing hostages unless authorities met its 48-hour deadline for the release of Baloch political prisoners, activists, and missing people it says had been abducted by the military.
The BLA is the largest of several ethnic armed groups battling the government in Balochistan, which borders Afghanistan and Iran.
The militants have in recent months stepped up their activities using new tactics to inflict high death and injury tolls and target Pakistan’s military.
Baloch militant groups say they have been fighting for a larger share in the regional wealth of mines and minerals denied by the central government.
SUICIDE VESTS
Junior Interior Minister Talal Chaudhry told Geo television earlier on Wednesday that militants were wearing suicide vests as they sat among the passengers held hostage, complicating the rescue attempt. He said 70-80 attackers had hijacked the train.

The military sent in hundreds of troops and also deployed the airforce and special forces to tackle the militants, Chaudhry said.
In the final phase of the operation, he said special forces first took out the suicide bombers before troops went from carriage to carriage to kill the rest of the militants.
He did not give a number of those rescued in this phase of the operation and it was not immediately clear how or to where the passengers would be evacuated.
The train driver and several others had already been killed, officials said earlier, before the army statement.
Government officials had said earlier, also before the army statement, that 190 of those on board had already been rescued, with more than 50 taken to Quetta to be reunited with their loved ones.
Muhammad Ashraf, 75, who was travelling on the train, said he heard a loud explosion in the mountainous area, which shook all the carriages.
“We lay on the floor once heavy firing started. Shortly after, armed men entered the train and checked our identities,” he said in Quetta.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/pakistan-rescues-155-hostages-train-dozens-still-held-sources-say-2025-03-12/

Greenland’s centre-right opposition has won a surprise general election victory – in a vote dominated by independence and US President Donald Trump’s pledge to take over the semi-autonomous territory.

The Democratic party, which favours a gradual approach to independence from Denmark – achieved around 30% of the vote, near-complete results show.

“Greenland needs us to stand together in a time of great interest from outside,” party leader Jens-Frederik Nielsen told local media. “There is a need for unity, so we will enter into negotiations with everyone.”

His party will now have to negotiate with other parties in order to form a coalition.

Greenland – the world’s biggest island, between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans – has been controlled by Denmark, nearly 3,000km (1,860 miles) away, for about 300 years.

Greenland governs its own domestic affairs, but decisions on foreign and defence policy are made in Copenhagen.

Five of the six main parties in the election favour independence from Copenhagen, but disagree over the pace with which to reach it.

• Greenland’s election: Why does it matter and how does it work?
• Greenland’s vote pivotal for Arctic territory’s future
• Why does Trump want Greenland?

The Democratic party, whose vote was up by more than 20% on 2021, is considered a moderate party on independence.

Another opposition party, Naleraq, which is looking to immediately kick off the independence process and forge closer ties with the US, is on course for second place with almost a quarter of the vote.

Support for Naleraq was boosted ahead of the vote by the decision of one of Greenland’s most popular young politicians, Aki-Matilda Hoegh-Dam, to switch from one of the ruling parties. She came second only to Democrats leader Jens Frederik Nielsen in the popular vote.

“It’s the second biggest party, so you can’t avoid them,” Nielsen told local reporters. “But we don’t want to rule out the other parties beforehand.”

The two current governing parties, Inuit Ataqatigiit (IA) and Siumut, are heading for third and fourth place – marking an upset for Prime Minister Mute B Egede.

More than 40,000 Greenlanders out of a population of 57,000 were eligible to cast their votes to elect 31 MPs, as well as the local government. Six parties were on the ballot.

The voting took place at 72 polling stations scattered across the vast island.

“The Democrats need a supporting partner to be able to have a majority,” says Maria Ackren from the University of Greenland. “It would say it can be either Naleraq or Inuit Ataqatigiit. It’s up to the Democrats to try to figure out what they want.”

Since 2009 Greenland has had the right to call an independence referendum.

Although Naleraq is pushing for a vote within a few years, Jens-Frederik Nielsen’s party favours a gradual approach towards independence, focusing first on making self-government a success.

Prof Ackren believes the Democrats won, partly because Greenlanders wanted a change of government, but also because they were unhappy with new fisheries laws and other domestic issues.

Independence is seen as the end goal for most Greenlanders, but not before reforms have been made to the economy, health and other sectors, she says.

Greenland’s strategic location and untapped mineral resources have caught President Trump’s eye in particular. He first floated the idea of buying the island during his first term in 2019.

Since taking office again in January, Trump has reiterated his intention to acquire the territory.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2r3d0r8z0o

Only seven countries met World Health Organization (WHO) air quality standards last year, data showed on Tuesday, as researchers warned that the war on smog would only get harder after the United States shut down its global monitoring efforts.
Chad and Bangladesh were the world’s most polluted countries in 2024, with average smog levels more than 15 times higher than WHO guidelines, according to figures compiled by Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir.

Only Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia and Iceland made the grade, IQAir said.
Significant data gaps, especially in Asia and Africa, cloud the worldwide picture, and many developing countries have relied on air quality sensors mounted on U.S. embassy and consulate buildings to track their smog levels.
However, the State Department has recently ended the scheme, citing budget constraints, with more than 17 years of data removed last week from the U.S. government’s official air quality monitoring site, airnow.gov, , including readings collected in Chad.

“Most countries have a few other data sources, but it’s going to impact Africa significantly, because oftentimes these are the only sources of publicly available real-time air quality monitoring data,” said Christi Chester-Schroeder, IQAir’s air quality science manager.
Data concerns meant Chad was excluded from IQAir’s 2023 list, but it was also ranked the most polluted country in 2022, plagued by Sahara dust as well as uncontrolled crop burning.

Average concentrations of small, hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 hit 91.8 micrograms per cubic metre (mg/cu m) last year in the country, slightly higher than 2022.
The WHO recommends levels of no more than 5 mg/cu m, a standard met by only 17% of cities last year.
India, fifth in the smog rankings behind Chad, Bangladesh, Pakistan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, saw average PM2.5 fall 7% on the year to 50.6 mg/cu m.

But it accounted for 12 of the top 20 most polluted cities, with Byrnihat, in a heavily industrialised part of the country’s northeast, in first place, registering an average PM2.5 level of 128 mg/cu m.
Climate change is playing an increasing role in driving up pollution, Chester-Schroeder warned, with higher temperatures causing fiercer and lengthier forest fires that swept through parts of South East Asia and South America.
Christa Hasenkopf, director of the Clean Air Program at the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC), said at least 34 countries will lose access to reliable pollution data after the U.S. programme was closed.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/only-seven-countries-met-who-air-quality-standards-2024-data-shows-2025-03-11/

The health clinic where Alice Okwirry collects her HIV medication in Kenya’s capital Nairobi has been rationing supplies of antiretrovirals to one-month refills since the U.S. government froze foreign aid.
On the outskirts of the city, meanwhile, millions of life-saving doses sit on the shelves of a warehouse, unused and unreachable.
The clinic is a half hour’s drive from the warehouse, but for Okwirry, they may as well be an ocean apart.

Without U.S. funding, distribution from the warehouse, which stocks all U.S. government-donated HIV medicine to Kenya, has ceased, leaving supplies of some drugs worryingly low, according to a former USAID official and a health official in Kenya.
The 90-day foreign aid freeze, ordered by U.S. President Donald Trump after taking office on January 20, has upended the global supply chain for medical products to fight HIV and other diseases. It is also blocking the distribution of drugs that long ago reached their destination countries.

“I was just seeing death now coming,” said 50-year-old Okwirry who was diagnosed with HIV in 2008 and has a 15-year-old daughter, Chichi, who is also HIV-positive.
Okwirry used to receive six-month supplies of ARVs from the clinic but now can only get one month.
“I told Chichi: what about if you hear the drugs are doomed?” Okwirry said, growing emotional. “She told me: Mom, I’ll be leaning on you.”
The State Department issued a waiver last month exempting funding for HIV treatment from the freeze.
But the USAID payments system in Kenya is down after the cuts, meaning contractors who implement the programmes cannot be paid, said Mackenzie Knowles-Coursin, who was the deputy head of communications for USAID, East Africa, until resigning on Feb. 3 in protest at the dismantling of the agency.
“Projects are left wondering: ‘Well, how am I going to resume activities if you’re not paying me money?” he said. “The waivers that have been given are really waivers on paper.”

In Kenya, officials in Washington have not authorised the release of money required to distribute the $34 million worth of medicine and equipment at the warehouse, he added.
According to a Kenyan government document seen by Reuters, about $10 million is needed for that distribution. The Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies, the Christian charity that runs the warehouse, supplies drugs to some 2,000 clinics nationwide, its website says.
Knowles-Coursin told Reuters the commodities at the warehouse include 2.5 million bottles of ARVs, 750,000 HIV test kits and 500,000 malaria treatments.

‘FEAR AND ANXIETY’

Indian Americans are increasingly optimistic about India’s future, but hold deep concerns about US-India relations under a second Donald Trump administration, a new survey finds.

The 2024 Indian-American Survey, conducted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and YouGov in October, examined Indian-American political attitudes.

Two pivotal elections happened in India and the US last year, amid a deepening – but occasionally strained – partnership. Tensions between the countries flared over a US federal indictment of Indian billionaire Gautam Adani and allegations of a Delhi-backed assassination plot on American soil.

With more than five million Indian-origin residents in the US, the survey asked some key questions: How do Indian Americans view former president Joe Biden’s handling of US-India ties? Do they see Donald Trump as a better option? And how do they assess India’s trajectory post the 2024 election?

Here are some key takeaways from the report, which was based on a nationally representative online survey of 1,206 Indian-American adult residents.

A crew member remains missing after an oil tanker and cargo ship collided in the North Sea off the coast of East Yorkshire.

Dozens of people abandoned the vessels after the crash just before 9.50am, with the Coastguard rescuing 36 people.

All 23 on board the oil tanker Stena Immaculate are accounted for – but one of the 14 crew members of the Solong cargo ship is still missing.

A Coastguard search was called off around 9.40pm, while both vessels were both still on fire.

One of the 36 people rescued was taken to hospital.

Sky News understands there is a five-mile air and sea exclusion zone around the location of the incident, which may be widened to 10 miles if later required.

The Stena Immaculate was carrying jet fuel and was on a short-term charter to the US Navy at the time of the incident.

The cargo ship was reportedly carrying 15 containers of sodium cyanide and an unknown quantity of alcohol.

Two maritime security sources told Reuters there was “no indication” of any malicious activity or other actors involved in the incident.

‘Multiple explosions onboard’

US logistics group Crowley, which manages oil tanker Stena Immaculate, confirmed the vessel had released some jet fuel after sustaining a ruptured cargo tank.

The firm said it initiated its emergency vessel response plan and is “actively working with public agencies to contain the fire and secure the vessel”.

Crowley added: “Our first priority is the safety of the people and environment. We will provide more updates as information becomes available.”

Downing Street ‘monitoring situation’

The prime minister’s official spokesman said it was an “extremely concerning situation”.

He said: “We thank the emergency services for their rapid response. I understand the Department for Transport is working closely with the coastguard to help support the response to the incident.

“We’re obviously monitoring the situation, we’ll continue to coordinate the response and we’re grateful to emergency personnel for their continued efforts.”

Meanwhile, Hull City Council leader Mike Ross has called for the UK government to set out a rapid response plan in response to the events.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander later praised the work of the emergency services, adding: “The Maritime Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) has begun a preliminary assessment and I am working closely with the MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency) as they conduct an assessment of any counter pollution response which may be required over the coming days.”

Coastguard’s emergency message

Moments after the collision, a message broadcast by the Coastguard warned other ships to stay away from the area.

In audio shared on social media, the Coastguard can be heard warning Solong “has collided” with Stena Immaculate.

“Both vessels are abandoning,” the message continued.

“Vessels who have firefighting equipment or can assist with search and rescue, contact Humber Coastguard.

“Stena is carrying Jet-A1 fuel, which is on fire and in the water. Vessels – remain at safe distance.”

‘Inspectors are gathering evidence’

The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is now investigating the collision.

A spokesperson said: “Our team of inspectors and support staff are gathering evidence and undertaking a preliminary assessment of the accident to determine our next steps.”

The oil tanker was sailing under a US flag, while the Solong cargo ship was Portuguese-flagged, according to Marinetraffic.com.

Overall responsibility for investigating this collision rests with the flag states of the vessels – in this case, Portugal and the United States.

MAIB has an interest as the incident occurred in UK waters, UK authorities are co-ordinating the response, and the crews of both ships were recovered to the UK.

The Solong had been due to travel to Rotterdam in the Netherlands after departing from Grangemouth in Scotland on Monday morning, Marinetraffic.com shows.

Moving images on the tracking site suggest the oil tanker had remained stationary as the Solong headed straight towards it before the collision.

It is believed the Stena Immaculate, which was travelling from Greece to the UK, was anchored at the time.

David McFarlane, director Maritime Risk and Safety Consultants, told Sky News it can take up to an hour to raise an anchor – meaning the tanker might not have had time to get out of the way.

It comes as Martyn Boyers, chief executive of the Port of Grimsby East, said the container ship may have been on autopilot at the time of the crash.

“Autopilot just steers a course, they don’t deviate, there’s no bend in the sea,” he added.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/search-for-missing-crew-member-ended-after-tanker-and-ship-collide-in-north-sea-13325739

These criminals reportedly swipe online money to help fund Kim Jong-Un’s nuclear programme.

The Lazarus Group’s latest hit was orchestrating the world’s largest heist in crypto history two weeks ago.

Fraudsters were able to access the £1.5billion wallet and transfer the contents to an unidentified address.

Authorities have attempted to track the digital coins and stop criminals from turning them into real cash.

Despite this, the alleged North Korean hackers have been able to cash out on around an eye-watering $300million.

Experts have revealed that Kim’s nation has unexpectedly become one of the best countries at crypto crime, according to the BBC.

These criminals are thought to be working round-the-clock to turn as much of their stolen Ethereum into usable cash.

Dr Tom Robinson, co-founder of crypto investigators Elliptic said: “Every minute matters for the hackers who are trying to confuse the money trail and they are extremely sophisticated in what they’re doing.”

Robinson added: “I imagine they have an entire room of people doing this using automated tools and years of experience.

“We can also see from their activity that they only take a few hours break each day, possibly working in shifts to get the crypto turned into cash.”

North Korea has never admitted to being behind the Lazarus group but the FBI has named Park Jin Hyok as one of the alleged hackers.

Dubai-based exchange Bybit admitted that around 20 per cent of the stolen crypto has “gone dark”, meaning it will probably never be found.

The group of high-profile, extremely skilled hackers has developed what experts describe as a powerful and sophisticated system that can breach security layers and steal money.

They have previously ripped a whopping $5billion worth of digital money from the West.

The Lazarus group then used their system on 21 February to carry out what the CEO of Bybit, Ben Zhou, called “the worst hack in history”.

Zhou said he would cover the lost money but the attack caused the value of Ethereum to drop by about four per cent.

Bybit, which oversees $20billion worth of assets, did not have enough on hand to cover the $1.5billion loss so borrowing from other firms to keep the company afloat.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13738114/north-korea-hackers-worlds-biggest-crypto-heist-cashed/

DONALD Trump has warned “monster” nuclear weapons could “end the world” as he sounded the alarm over atomic armageddon.

The President issued the stark warning in a TV interview on Sunday morning after he floated new arms controls with Russia and China.

In an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo on her show Sunday Morning Futures, Trump said he believes nukes are one of the greatest threats to mankind.

In a chilling warning, he said if nukes are ever used again it could trigger the apocalypse.

The US has the second largest nuclear weapons stockpile in the world with around 5,000 weapons.

Russia has the most with nearly 6,000, with China a distant third with around 350.

Nuclear weapons have only been used in anger twice – when the US bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki to end World War 2.

Speaking on Fox, Trump said: “We spend a lot of money of nuclear weapons – the level of destruction is beyond anything you can imagine.

“It’s just bad that you have to spend all this money on something that if it’s used, it’s probably the end of the world.”

The 78-year-old went on to say that too many people are focused on claims of climate change – rather than tackling the global threat posed by nukes.

The President said the threat of nuclear weapons is immediate, warning: “It could happen tomorrow.”

Trump explained: “I watched Biden for years say the existential threat is from the climate.

“I said ‘no’.

“The greatest is sitting on shelves in various countries called ‘nuclear weapons’ that are big monsters that can blow your heads off for miles and miles and miles.”

It comes France offered to use its nukes to protect Europe from Russia.

Fears over nuclear war loom amid unprecdented tensions worldwide as war rages in Ukraine, China threatens the US over trade tensions, and North Korean despot Kim Jong-un continues to arm.

Iran is also feared to be developing nukes – with Trump sending them a letter this week calling for a new round of talks.

Nuclear weapons […] are big monsters that can blow your heads off for miles and miles and miles

Russia has repeatedly rattled the nuclear sabre in the war in Ukraine – and Putin has long threatened the world with his ambitious “super weapons”, such as the Satan 2 nuke.

Trump has long vowed to be the president of peace and said he wants to end wars worldwide – especially the raging conflict in Ukraine.

His comments came mere days after he revealed on Friday that it would be “great” for the world to “get rid of nuclear weapons” – prompting a response from the Kremlin.

The Republican said on Friday: “I know Russia and us have by far the most.

“China will have an equal amount within 4-5 years.

“It would be great if we could all denuclearise because the power of nuclear weapons is crazy.”

Trump’s de-nuking suggestion prompted a response from Kremlin spokesman and Putin puppet Dmitry Peskov.

He said: “Dialogue between Russia and the US on arms control is necessary, especially concerning strategic stability.”

Since taking office Trump has dramatically veered in favour of Putin’s Russia, withdrawn US military aid for Ukraine, and stopped sharing intelligence with the invaded nation.

European countries have been scrambling to chip away their reliance on the US, with Keir Starmer announcing a hike to defence spending in the UK.

And on Wednesday, French President Macron said that his country could gear up its nuclear deterrent to protect the continent under a defensive umbrella against Russian aggression.

Moscow said the speech was threatening towards Russia and had “notes of nuclear blackmail”.

Trump also labelled Zelensky as “ungrateful” and believes the Ukrainian president took US cash like “candy from a baby” for war-torn Ukraine.

Top diplomats from the US including Secretary of State Marco Rubio will meet the Ukrainian delegation for talks on ending the war in Saudi Arabia in a few days.

The US President said: “It was like taking candy from a baby what he did.

“He’s a smart guy, and he’s a tough guy, and he took money out of this country under Biden like candy from a baby – it was so easy with that same attitude.

“I just don’t think he’s grateful. We gave him $350 billion.”

Trump also stressed that he has been “very tough with Russia, tougher than anyone has ever been to Russia”.

Trump’s past comments, including labelling the Ukrainian leader a “dictator,” fuelled speculation that he was siding with Moscow, and he has previously cast doubt on continued US support for Ukraine.

Slamming these claims, the Republican said: “I stopped the Russian pipeline, I’m the one that put sanctions on Russia, I’m the one that gave the Javelins, but I get along well with Putin.

“Nobody has been tougher on Russia than Donald Trump and they know that.”

He added that despite the tough measures previously taken against mad Vlad’s nation, he “got along with Putin,” just like he “got along with Kim Jong-un” and China’s President Xi Jinping.

Putin is said to be ready to talk about a truce with Ukraine as long as his conditions are met, sources in Moscow have said.

The Kremlin’s conditions for a potential truce were shared last month at the US-Russian talks in Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg.

To secure a temporary ceasefire, Putin wants a clear understanding of an eventual peace settlement and what that entails, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

As part of the agreement, Putin will demand to establish the parameters of a peacekeeping mission and which countries take part, one of the sources said.

It comes as thousands of Ukrainian troops who took control of Russian territory over the summer, have almost been “cut off” by Russian forces who have encircled them.

As Trump left Kyiv’s troops “fighting blind” axing intelligence sharing, the Ukrainian soldiers have almost lost their main supply lines, open source maps revealed on Friday.

Over the past three days, a Russian counteroffensive has managed to reclaim territory in the Kursk region and almost cut Zelensky’s forces in two.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13734407/donald-trump-monster-nukes-end-of-world/

In normal times, this election probably wouldn’t be of too much interest to the rest of the world. Around 40,000 voters will choose just 31 parliamentarians, and it will all take place on an island that isn’t even fully autonomous.

But these are not normal times and this election is in Greenland on March 11, which means it could prove a starting point for further geopolitical upheaval in the Northern Hemisphere.

Firstly, because supporters of independence for Greenland hope the ballot may result in a strong mandate for Greenland’s complete separation from Denmark. Currently Greenland, a former Danish colony, is a self-governing territory of the latter.

And secondly, and probably most importantly, because US President Donald Trump has been talking about making Greenland part of the US ever since he was elected last November.

Greenland’s mineral wealth

Trump has frequently spoken of how it would be in the interests of US security to control Greenland. Since the 1950s, the US has run the Pituffik Space Base, in the northwest of Greenland.

It is the Americans’ northernmost post and plays a key role in missile warnings and space surveillance. Previously, during the Cold War, it was called the Thule Air Base and was there to send early warnings and initiate defense against potential Soviet attacks.

Other than security issues, economics might also play a part in Trump’s claims on Greenland. In the south of Greenland, there are thought to be valuable deposits of oil, gas, gold, uranium and zinc.

Thanks to climate change, which is thawing Greenland’s ground out, mining these deposits will eventually become easier.

During his first term in office, in 2019, Trump offered to buy Greenland. The government in Denmark swiftly rejected that.

But this term, Trump has continued to express expansionist intentions, over Canada, the Panama Canal and Gaza, as well as Greenland.

Even before he took up office in January, Trump sent his son, Donald Trump Jr., to Greenland — although officially he was there as a tourist.

A few weeks later, a poll was published showing that only 6% of Greenlanders wanted their island to become part of the US, while 85% opposed to the idea.

In his speech to Congress early in March, President Trump addressed his desire again, directing his comments to the people of Greenland.

“We strongly support your right to determine your own future,” Trump said. But just two sentences later, he seemed to renege on that, stating, “I think we’re going to get it [Greenland] — one way or the other, we’re going to get it.”

Foreign interference?

Given this and upcoming elections, Greenland has had to deal with the possibility that there could be external attempts to influence the country’s vote — for instance, from Russia or China, both of whom are also pursuing their own security agendas in the Arctic.

Denmark’s national security and intelligence service, PET, warned of Russian disinformation in particular.

“In the weeks preceding the Greenlandic elections’ date announcement, several cases of fake profiles were observed on social media, including profiles masquerading as Danish and Greenlandic politicians, which contributed to a polarization of public opinion,” PET stated, although it did not link those accounts to any specific country.

Johan Farkas, an assistant professor in media studies at the University of Copenhagen, is familiar with these kinds of posts as they also circulate in Russian media. But he doesn’t think they’d have much impact on Greenland’s elections because, besides Danish, most locals speak Greenlandic, an Inuit language.

“Greenland is a very small and tight-knit community in many ways,” Farkas told DW. “And so, influencing fake accounts, or these kinds of things that we have seen in the past and in other elections, my assessment is that it’s not an easy thing to do.”

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to worry about. “My concern as a disinformation researcher has more been around how this plays out in macro-politics. Would we suddenly see Elon Musk hosting live podcast interviews with specific candidates or Trump endorsing specific candidates? That is a very problematic and threatening thing for a free and fair election,” Farkas argues, referring to the weeks before Germany’s own recent federal election.

During that time, US billionaire Musk appeared on social media with the leader of Germany’s far-right political party and US Vice President JD Vance called on German centrist parties to cooperate with the far right.

Political controversies

Since the beginning of the year, there have been a number of controversies around Greenland’s upcoming elections. Reports suggest that influencers from Trump’s “Make America Great Again” movement distributed $100 bills in Greenland’s capital, Nuuk.

Local member of parliament Kuno Fencker traveled to Washington where he met a Republican politician who spoke to him about how Greenland should become an American territory.

Media studies professor Farkas doesn’t think the danger has passed — the elections will be held on March 11. “But,” he says, “I was more concerned about a month ago than I am right now.”

In early February, Greenland’s parliament, the 31-seat Inatsisartut, passed a law banning foreign and anonymous donations to local political parties. Danish donations are excluded.

And Trump’s offer to buy their country is not the only thing locals will be voting on in the upcoming election.

Independence from Denmark

The approximately 57,000 Greenlanders, who call themselves Kalaallit, are also worried about other issues. For example, which mineral resources their island should be developing and whether, and which, foreign partners should get concessions to do this.

The debate around mining revenues is part of the argument some make for becoming independent from Denmark. Allowing foreign interests to mine in Greenland would make Greenland less dependent on Denmark.

This is because “Denmark contributes over half of Greenland’s budget revenue to cover employment, health care, and education, with the annual cost of administrative support and direct financial transfers amounting to at least $700 million [€645.5 million] per year,” researchers at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, pointed out in January.

Independence is a long-term goal, Greenlandic Prime Minister Mute Egede said after Trump’s speech to Congress. “We do not want to be Americans, nor Danes; we are Kalaallit. The Americans and their leader must understand that,” Egede wrote on social media. “We are not for sale and cannot be taken. Our future is determined by us in Greenland.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/greenland-elections-to-be-closely-watched-by-the-world-and-donald-trump/a-71864584

The actor’s wife Betsy Arakawa died after developing hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS) around 11 February, a pathologist said.

Actor Gene Hackman died of heart disease around a week after his wife Betsy Arakawa died of a rare infectious disease at their home, a pathologist has said. But what do we know about the rare virus?

The couple were found dead on 26 February in separate rooms of their Santa Fe home, along with one of their dogs, and on Friday the results of medical tests were released in New Mexico.

Two-time Oscar winner Hackman was in the advanced stages of Alzheimer’s when he died of heart disease, and it was likely he was at home alone with the body of his wife for a week before he passed away himself.

Dr Heather Jarrell, chief medical examiner for New Mexico, told reporters Betsy Arakawa is believed to have died around 11 February.

The post-mortem examination showed Ms Arakawa, also known as Betsy Hackman, died of hantavirus pulmonary syndrome – a rare but potentially fatal disease.

But, what is it – and how do you get infected?

HPS, commonly referred to as hantavirus disease, is a respiratory disease caused by hantaviruses which are carried by several types of rodents.

It is a rare condition in the US, with most cases concentrated in the western states of New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado and Utah.

The New Mexico Department of Health says hantaviruses are spread by the saliva, droppings and urine of infected rodents, which in North America is most likely to be the eastern deer mouse (Peromyscus maniculatus).

The virus is often transmitted through the air when people sweep out sheds or clean closets where mice have been living, or by eating food contaminated with mouse droppings.

It is not transmissible from person to person, Dr Jarrell said.

What are the symptoms?

Symptoms, which vary between people, are thought to develop between one and eight weeks after exposure and the likelihood of death in the southwest of the US is about 38% to 50%.

Early symptoms of HPS include fatigue, fever, and myalgia (muscle aches), with about half of patients also experiencing malaise, headaches, dizziness, lightheadedness, chills, sweats, and abdominal problems including nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea, according to the American Lung Association.

Later symptoms include coughing, shortness of breath, and pneumonia (lungs filling with fluid). Rapid breathing and rapid heartbeat are also typical.

At this stage, the disease progresses rapidly, requiring hospital treatment and often mechanical ventilation to help with breathing.

What is the treatment for HPS?

There is no specific cure, treatment, or vaccine for HPS, but patients have a better chance of survival when they are diagnosed early.

How common is it in the US?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began tracking the virus after a 1993 outbreak in the Four Corners region – the area where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet.

The agency said that, as of the end of 2022, 864 cases of hantavirus disease were reported in the US since that tracking began.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/what-is-hantavirus-and-how-rare-is-it-13323830

A man who scaled London’s Big Ben, and spent the day perched on the historic clock tower with a Palestinian flag, was arrested shortly after he came down after midnight on Sunday (Mar 9), police said.

Pictures from the scene showed a cherry picker transporting him to waiting emergency crews on the ground.

London’s Metropolitan Police force, which was first alerted to the climber around 7am local time (3pm Singapore time) on Saturday, said the man was arrested after the “protracted incident”.

The man spent the day perched barefoot on a ledge several metres up the landmark, even as emergency crews urged him to come down from the Elizabeth Tower in central London, more commonly known for its clock bell, Big Ben.

Negotiators had boarded a fire truck lift and used a megaphone to speak with the man, but footage on social media showed the figure in a hoodie and baseball cap saying: “I will come down on my own terms.”

In the footage, negotiators indicated concerns about an injury to his foot, saying there was “quite a lot of blood” and that his clothes were not warm enough as temperatures dropped after nightfall.

AFP journalists at the scene earlier said the man appeared to be bleeding from his foot.

Crowds gathered from behind a police cordon, with supporters chanting “Free Palestine” and “you are a hero”.

Police had closed off the surrounding area, including Westminster Bridge, while the Houses of Parliament cancelled tours.

Westminster police later said all roads in the area had been reopened.

“Every day in Parliament I see dozens of armed police officers patrolling Portcullis House and the parliamentary estate. Where were they today?” Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty posted on X.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/man-climbs-big-ben-clock-tower-london-palestinian-flag-4988141

The Singaporean man accused of stealing and laundering US$230 million worth of cryptocurrency will go on trial on Oct 6 in the United States.

Malone Lam’s trial date was set after he appeared in court in Washington DC on Friday (Mar 7), wearing a green prison jumpsuit.

The 20-year-old had previously requested a “speedy” legal process.

The prosecution expects to have a new indictment related to the case in the next 30 to 45 days, said Assistant US Attorney Kevin L Rosenberg. He added that he expects the trial to last around two weeks.

After the court hearing on Friday, one of his defence lawyers, Scott Armstrong, said in a statement to CNA: “Malone Lam looks forward to exercising his right to trial by jury in this case.”

Lam is being held in a prison in Virginia. More pre-trial hearings are expected in the coming months and he will have an opportunity to enter a formal plea at these hearings.

Together with accomplice Jeandiel Serrano, Lam is accused of taking 4,100 bitcoins from a “high net worth investor” by pretending to be a Google support team member.

US prosecutors have described the scam as “one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts from a private individual … in the history of the United States”.

Serrano, a 21-year-old from Los Angeles, did not appear in court.

For each offence, Lam faces up to 20 years in jail, a fine of up to US$250,000, or up to twice his gains from the scams.

SPENDING SPREE

The case has drawn interest in Singapore after news of Lam’s lavish spending from the alleged theft.

More than 300,000 properties are without power as a tropical storm edges closer to Australia’s east coast, lashing the region with heavy rain.

Storm Alfred has been downgraded from a cyclone to a tropical low, but local authorities have warned that the threat it poses is “not over”.

Violent winds have already downed trees and power lines, with roads flooded in low-lying areas as the storm approaches landfall. Alfred is forecast to hit the coast near Brisbane before moving further inward later on Saturday.

Tens of thousands of people have been told to evacuate from the storm’s path, while others have been urged to stay indoors.

Four million people across Queensland and northern New South Wales are in the firing line of the storm, with dozens of weather warnings in place across both areas.

The emergency services say they are working with energy companies, after some residents were told they could be without power for days.

Around 287,000 customers are experiencing outages in south east Queensland, according to energy provider Energex, while Essential Energy said more than 42,600 homes and businesses in New South Wales had experienced blackouts.

People in Brisbane, Queensland’s capital, went to bed on Friday bracing for strong winds and heavy rain.

They woke up on Saturday to learn that the cyclone had been downgraded and the city would escape the worst of the weather.

But the danger’s not over in other parts of southeastern Queensland and northern New South Wales.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said “the worst is yet to come”, and along the Gold Coast, which has been pummelled by bad weather the past few days, conditions are still pretty extreme.

There is driving rain and strong winds. There are power lines down, hundreds of trees have blown over in gardens, parks and along the main roads. There is lots of debris and emergency services have sectioned off areas most at risk.

“This emergency is not over,” said New South Wales state premier Chris Minns, adding that it is “crucially important” that the public does not “dismiss” the storm.

“It really doesn’t matter to us whether it’s been downgraded from a tropical cyclone to a weather event,” he said.

The state’s emergency service operations commander, Stuart Fisher, warned people not to be “complacent” and said authorities in the region expect flooding to continue over the next few days.

As the storm has edged closer to landfall, nearly 1,000 schools have closed, public transport has been suspended and airports are shut. Elective surgeries have also been cancelled.

Flights are not expected to resume until Sunday at the earliest.

The BBC has spoken to several people from Brisbane’s homeless community, who have taken refuge at Emmanuel City Mission, which has become a round-the-clock shelter.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c625ldpy7yxo

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would soon decide whether to revoke temporary legal status for some 240,000 Ukrainians who fled the conflict with Russia, following a Reuters report that his administration planned to take that step.
Such a move would be a stunning reversal of the welcome Ukrainians received under President Joe Biden’s administration and potentially put them on a fast-track to deportation.

“We’re not looking to hurt anybody, we’re certainly not looking to hurt them, and I’m looking at that,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office when asked about revoking the Ukrainians’ status and deporting them. “There were some people that think that’s appropriate, and some people don’t, and I’ll be making the decision pretty soon.”
The planned rollback of protections for Ukrainians would be part of a broader Trump administration effort to strip legal status from more than 1.8 million migrants allowed to enter the U.S. under temporary humanitarian parole programs launched under the Biden administration, a senior Trump official and three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

A move to revoke the Ukrainians’ status could come as soon as April, all four said. They said the plans to revoke their status got underway before Trump publicly feudedwith Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy last week.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt pushed back on the Reuters report in a post on X, saying “no decision has been made at this time.” U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said on Wednesday that the department had no new announcements. Ukrainian government agencies did not respond to requests for comment.
A Trump executive order issued on January 20 called for DHS to “terminate all categorical parole programs.”
The administration plans to revoke parole for about 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans as soon as this month, the Trump official and one of the sources familiar with the matter said, requesting anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. The plan to revoke parole for those nationalities was first reported by CBS News.

Migrants stripped of their parole status could face fast-track deportation proceedings, according to an internal ICE email seen by Reuters.

Immigrants who cross the border illegally can be put into the fast-track deportation process known as expedited removal, for two years after they enter. But for those who entered through legal ports of entry without being officially “admitted” to the U.S. – as with those on parole – there is no time limit on their rapid removal, the email said.
The Biden programs were part of a broader effort to create temporary legal pathways to deter illegal immigration and provide humanitarian relief.
In addition to the 240,000 Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion, and the 530,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans, these programs covered more than 70,000 Afghans escaping the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.
An additional 1 million migrants scheduled a time to cross at a legal border crossing via an app known as CBP One.
Thousands more had access to smaller programs, including family reunification parole for certain people in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Trump as a candidate pledged to end the Biden programs, saying they went beyond the bounds of U.S. law.
The Trump administration last month paused processing immigration-related applications for people who entered the U.S. under certain Biden parole programs – placing Ukrainian Liana Avetisian, her husband and her 14-year-old daughter, in limbo. Avetisian, who worked in real estate in Ukraine, now assembles windows while her husband works construction.
The family fled Kyiv in May 2023, eventually buying a house in the small city of DeWitt, Iowa. Their parole and work permits expire in May. They say they spent about $4,000 in filing fees to renew their parole and to try to apply for another program known as Temporary Protected Status.
Avetisian has started getting headaches as she worries about their situation, she said.

WANING WELCOME

Police in Australia have charged a 17-year-old who got on a plane with a shotgun and ammunition.

He was filmed being wrestled to the ground by passengers and crew as the aircraft prepared to take off from Avalon Airport, near Melbourne, carrying 160 people bound for Sydney on Thursday afternoon.

Police believe the teenager got onto the airport tarmac by breaching a security fence, before climbing the front steps to the plane, where he was tackled to the ground near the front door.

The 17-year-old – who has not been identified – was taken into custody and will appear in youth court to face eight charges.

Among them are unlawfully taking control of an aircraft, endangering the flight’s safety and creating a bomb hoax.

Victoria Police said a bomb specialist had to be brought in to search a car and two bags which were located nearby.

Footage published by Australian outlet 7News showed the suspect being restrained by a passenger, while a member of ground crew and a pilot removed a utility belt containing tools that the suspect was carrying.

The pilot can also be seen kicking the shotgun away from the teen, who is wearing a fluorescent jacket.

“How is this possible?” someone onboard can be heard saying in the footage.

Victoria Police said the 17-year-old, who is from the nearby Ballarat area, was being held in custody.

Superintendent Michael Reid told reporters that passengers had noticed the teen was carrying a gun as he climbed the steps up to the plane.

“The male was overpowered by three of the passengers, at least,” he said.

Supt Reid said the local force was in contact with counterterrorism police but that it was too early to establish a motive.

“No doubt this would have been a very terrifying incident for the passengers,” he said, while commending the “bravery” of those who had overpowered the suspect.

Barry Clark, one of the passengers, told Australian public broadcaster ABC that the teen appeared to be dressed like an airport worker and was “agitated”.

He said: “All I could do was get the gun out of the way… and then put him in a hold and throw him to the ground until the police came.”

No one was injured during the incident, police said. Investigators located a car and two bags belonging to the suspect nearby.

Avalon Airport is exclusively served by Jetstar, a budget airline operated by Qantas.

In a statement to the BBC’s US partner CBS News, the company said it was working with authorities to investigate the incident.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn0jrkv7k29o

SpaceX’s Starship rocket exploded during a test flight, months after a previous failed launch attempt – with multiple flights having to be grounded in Florida due to debris.

The 403-foot rocket blasted off from Starbase in Boca Chica, Texas, at around 6.30pm eastern time (12.30am UK time).

But, within minutes of launch, contact was lost as the spacecraft – designed to land astronauts on the moon and ferry crews to Mars – went into an out-of-control spin.

Engines on top of Starship started shutting down as it streaked eastward. The flight was supposed to be a controlled entry over the Indian Ocean.

It was not immediately clear where the rocket came down, but images of flaming debris seen from Florida and the Caribbean were posted online.

In a statement, SpaceX said: “During Starship’s ascent burn, the vehicle experienced a rapid unscheduled disassembly and contact was lost.

“Our team immediately began coordination with safety officials to implement pre-planned contingency responses.

“We will review the data from today’s flight test to better understand root cause. As always, success comes from what we learn, and today’s flight will offer additional lessons to improve Starship’s reliability.”

The megarocket’s Super Heavy booster was successfully caught by giant mechanical arms and returned to the launch pad as planned.

The US Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) issued a ground notice for multiple flights after the test launch, and said it will require SpaceX to carry out a mishap investigation into the loss of Starship.

Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach and Orlando airports were issued the notice because of “space launch debris” until 8pm (1am UK time).

Departures at the four Florida airports were delayed by an average of 45 minutes due to the incident.

It comes after the previous Starship test flight in January failed eight minutes into flight when the rocket exploded over the Bahamas.

Blazing debris was sent miles across the sky over the Turks and Caicos, a British Overseas Territory. No injuries or major damage were reported.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/spacex-rocket-explodes-during-test-flight-as-launch-debris-grounds-flights-in-florida-13323119

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar faced a security scare in London as he was heckled by Khalistani extremists on Wednesday, They even tried to attack him. The incident took place when the EAM was leaving in a car after attending an event at the Chatham House think tank. Khalistani protestors stage demonstrations staged a demonstration outside the building.

A video of a Khalistani extremist approaching Jaishankar’s vehicle and tearing the Indian national flag in front of London Police officials also surfaced online. However, the police officers remained unresponsive despite vandalism by Khalisatni extremists.

Pro-Khalistan protestors held flags and raised anti-India slogans outside the building where Jaishankar was participating in a discussion. During his ongoing visit to the United Kingdom, EAM Jaishankar held discussions with UK’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Foreign Secretary David Lammy and several other senior leaders.

In his meeting with UK’s Home Secretary Yvette Cooper on Tuesday, Jaishankar noted that the two leaders held discussions on areas such as flow of talent and joint efforts between India and the UK to tackle “trafficking and extremism”.

He said on X, “A good meeting with Home Secretary @YvetteCooperMP today in London. We discussed the flow of talent, people to people exchanges, and joint efforts in tackling trafficking and extremism.” https://x.com/DrSJaishankar/status/1896933587989193067 Earlier in January, a group of pro-Khalistan extremists had gathered outside the Indian High Commission in London to stage a protest.

They had also previously stormed a cinema in the London town of Harrow and attempted to stop the screening of the Kangana Ranaut starrer film “Emergency”.

When asked about the destructions being caused by Khalistani forces in some UK theatres screening ‘Emergency’, MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said, “We consistently raise concerns with the UK Government regarding incidents of violent protest and intimidation by anti-India elements, freedom of speech and expression cannot be applied selectively and those obstructing it must be held accountable”.

Source : https://www.freepressjournal.in/world/eam-s-jaishankar-faces-security-scare-in-london-as-pro-khalistani-extremists-try-to-attack-him-tear-indian-flag-video

Two major Panama Canal ports have been sold from their Hong Kong owner to a consortium including American multinational investment company BlackRock.

It comes after US President Donald Trump expressed a desire for America to “take back” the key shipping lane from alleged Chinese control.

Hong Kong-based logistics giant CK Hutchison Holdings announced plans to sell a majority stake in the business that controls Balboa and Cristobal ports – which sit at each end of the shipping lane.

The sale is of a 90% interest in Panama Ports Company, which is contracted to run the important ports until 2047.

The Panamanian ports are being sold to a consortium including US financial behemoth BlackRock for nearly $23bn (£17.8bn).

It comes after President Donald Trump applied pressure to end what he says is China’s influence and control over the important shipping lane through which most goods pass.

As part of wider comments, on taking control of other sovereign territories, Mr Trump threatened earlier this year to “take [the canal] back” having said, “China is running the Panama Canal”.

However, on Wednesday, CK Hutchinson Holdings insisted that the deal was “wholly unrelated to recent political news”.

The deal was made a month after a visit to Panama City by US secretary of state Marco Rubio and was welcomed by Trump on Tuesday night.

A happy Trump

“My administration will be reclaiming the Panama Canal, and we’ve already started doing it,” Mr Trump told Congress.

“Just today, a large American company announced they are buying both ports around the Panama Canal and lots of other things having to do with the Panama Canal and a couple of other canals.”

The purchase is part of a wider deal for Hutchison Port’s global business. In total, the consortium will control 43 ports in 23 countries, CK Hutchison Holdings said.

The conglomerate pushed back against the idea the deal was impacted by politics.

“I would like to stress that the transaction is purely commercial in nature and wholly unrelated to recent political news reports concerning the Panama Ports,” CK Hutchison co-managing director Frank Sixt said.

CK Hutchison Holdings is also the owner of UK mobile phone network Three, which is being merged with Vodafone to form the UK’s biggest provider.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/hong-kong-firm-sells-major-panama-canal-ports-to-us-firm-13321850

US DEFENCE Secretary Pete Hegseth declared that the US is “prepared” for war with China in response Beijing’s chilling World War Three threat.

President Trump’s fresh 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada took effect on Tuesday, along with doubled duties on Chinese goods – sparking devastating trade wars.

Trump doubled the tariff on all Chinese imports from 10 per cent to an eye-watering 20 per cent, prompting a chilling warning from Xi Jinping’s nation.

China’s foreign affairs ministry said: “If war is what the US wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end.”

Hegseth slammed Beijing’s threat, warning “we’re prepared” and stressing the importance for the US to “be strong” as the tariff scrap continues to dramatically escalate.

The Defence Sec said on Fox News: “Those who long for peace must prepare for war.

“That’s why we’re rebuilding our military. That’s why we’re re-establishing deterrence in the warrior ethos.

“We live in a dangerous world with powerful, ascendant countries with very different ideology.”

Making a nod to Beijing’s threat, Hegseth added that other nations are “rapidly increasing their defence spending, modern technology, they want to supplant the United States”.

He said: “If we want to deter war with the Chinese or others, we have to be strong.”

In his first address to Congress of his second term, Trump said more crippling tariffs would follow in early April, including “reciprocal tariffs” and non-tariff actions addressing years of trade imbalances.

Citing high duties imposed on US goods by the EU and China among others, Trump said: “Other countries have used tariffs against us for decades, and now it’s our turn.”

The steep tariffs on the United States’ three largest trading partners came into effect at 12:01 am on Tuesday – igniting a trade war that has seen swift retaliation measures from Canada and China.

Trump believes China has not done enough to stop the production of chemicals used to make the drug fentanyl.

China slammed the Republican over the claim and described fentanyl as America’s problem.

The country has also said the tariffs are a “serious violation” of World Trade Organisation rules and lodged a WTO dispute complaint in February.

China responded to Tuesday’s tariffs by announcing 15 per cent additional tariffs on key US farm products.

These include chicken, wheat, corn, and cotton from the US, as well as 10 per cent tariffs on imports of sorghum, soybeans, pork, beef, aquatic products, fruits, vegetables, and dairy products.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, said the country will “fight till the end”.

“I want to reiterate that the Chinese people have never feared evil or ghosts, nor have we ever bowed to hegemony or bullying,” Jian said.

“Pressure, coercion and threats are not the right ways to engage with China.

“Trying to exert maximum pressure on China is miscalculation and a mistake.”

Trump’s sweeping tariffs will have wide-ranging implications for American businesses and consumers.

US shoppers may soon encounter price hikes on several categories of goods, including vehicles, clothing, toys and gadgets, and groceries and alcohol.

The United States gets 75 per cent of its imported toys and sports equipment from China.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13701537/prepared-war-china-trump-defence-tariffs/

A pair of suicide bombers drove two explosive-filled vehicles into a security installation in northwestern Pakistan on Tuesday, killing at least 12 civilians including seven children, police and rescue services said.
The explosion brought down the roof of a nearby mosque soon after residents had broken their Ramadan fast and the local market was teeming with shoppers, a military official said, asking not to be identified.

The official said more militants had tried to enter the military facility after the blast but the attempt was foiled by security forces. Six militants were killed in an exchange of fire, the official said.
Bannu Hospital spokesperson Muhammad Nauman said 12 people were killed and 30 wounded in the attack, adding they were all civilians who had been caught under collapsed buildings and walls. At least seven children were among those killed, a hospital list showed.
The local Rescue 1122 service said it was searching for more casualties under the debris of the collapsed buildings.

Video footage from the scene showed residents sifting through piles of bricks and clearing metal scaffolding amid the wreckage.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif condemned the attack and said the “evil ambitions of the enemies of Pakistan will never be allowed to succeed”.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. Attacks by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) Islamist militant group have risen in recent years against Pakistani police and military in areas near the Afghan border.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/suicide-bombing-rips-through-security-installation-north-west-pakistan-police-2025-03-04/

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels launching an offensive in east Congo abducted at least 130 sick and wounded men from two hospitals in the city of Goma last week, the United Nations said on Monday.
M23 fighters raided CBCA Ndosho Hospital and Heal Africa Hospital during the night of February 28, taking 116 and 15 patients respectively, U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

India faces a crucial choice in modernising its air force – but is a cutting-edge American fighter jet the answer?

During his Washington visit last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi met US President Donald Trump, who announced they were “paving the way” for India to acquire F-35s, a jet primarily sold to close allies and partners.

The F-35 is a “fifth-generation” multi-role fighter jet with advanced sensors, AI-driven combat systems and seamless data-sharing capabilities. Built to evade radar, it’s the most sophisticated jet in the skies – but at $80m a pop, also one of the most expensive. (Stealth is a key characteristic of a “fifth-generation” fighter.)

Many believe that with its fighter squadrons dwindling and China’s military growing, India faces a high-stakes choice: splurge on the state-of-the-art but costly F-35 from the US or strengthen defence ties with Russia through local production of its most advanced stealth fighter jet Sukhoi Su-57.

Experts believe the reality is more nuanced, with the US-Russia “dogfight” largely a media hype – fuelled more recently by the appearance of both jets at Asia’s biggest air show, Aero India, in the southern city of Bangalore last month.

Trump’s F-35 offer seems more “symbolic” than practical, driven by his push to sell US weapons, according to Ashley J Tellis, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Integrating a “fifth generation” aircraft into the India air force (IAF) plans – centred on the homegrown Advanced Medium Combat Aircraft (AMCA) and more Rafales – would be challenging, especially without co-production rights. Being developed by India’s Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), the AMCA is India’s own stealth fighter.

“It is unlikely that the F-35 will be offered for co-production to India – any acquisition will likely be a straightforward sale. This is unlikely, among other things, to sit well with Modi’s emphasis on making in India and the significant end-user monitoring in the event of an F-35 sale will likely not be welcomed by India either,” Mr Tellis told me.

India’s challenges with the F-35 are its steep cost, heavy maintenance and operational issues – the jet’s availability is around 51% for the US Air Force, according to security expert Stephen Bryen, author of a Substack column, Weapons and Strategy. “The question is whether India is willing to invest billions of rupees in the F-35, knowing it could do better buying the Russian jet.”

But many dismiss the Su-57 as a real contender, noting that India exited the decade-long programme to co-produce the jet with Russia in 2018 over disputes on technology transfer, cost-sharing and specifications.

To be sure, India’s air force is ageing and short on fighter jets.

It operates 31 fighter and combat squadrons – mostly Russian and Soviet-era aircraft – far below the sanctioned 42. A key challenge is finding a long-term replacement for the Sukhoi-30, the IAF’s versatile workhorse from Russia.

Christopher Clary, a political scientist at the University of Albany, recently pointed to unsettling data from the ISS Military Balance for India: between 2014 and 2024, China added 435 fighter and ground attack aircraft, Pakistan gained 31, while India’s fleet shrank by 151.

India’s planned fighter jet expansion is largely homegrown, with plans to acquire over 500 jets, mostly light combat aircraft.

Orders for 83 Tejas Mark 1A – an agile multirole homegrown fighter – are confirmed, with another 97 expected to be ordered shortly. Meanwhile, the heavier, more advanced Mark 2 is in development. The homegrown stealth jet remains at least a decade away.

India also has plans to buy 114 multirole fighter jets under the IAF’s $20bn Multi-Role Fighter Aircraft (MRFA) programme requiring foreign jets to be built in India under a transfer of technology deal – its biggest hurdle.

Stalled since 2019, the Indian government is looking at a transparent and non-controversial procurement process after it faced criticism over the acquisition of 36 Rafales in a government-to-government deal. Five jets are in contention, with Rafale leading as it is already in service with the IAF.

Experts say India’s air force modernisation faces three key hurdles: funding, delays and dependence on foreign jets.

Defence spending has shrunk in real terms. The foreign fighter jets programme risks a drawn-out fate. While India prioritises home-made, DRDO’s delays force stopgap foreign purchases, creating a repeating cycle. Breaking it requires delivering a capable homegrown jet on time. Deliveries are also delayed due to a holdup in supplies of General Electric’s F-404 engines for the jets.

A key challenge is the mismatch between the defence ministry’s vision and the IAF’s needs, says Rahul Bhatia, an analyst at Eurasia Group, a geopolitical risk consulting firm.

The Tejas Mark 1 faced early scepticism from the air force, leading to upgrades like the Mark 1A and Mark 2. “But the decades-long development cycles frustrate the armed forces, especially as their requirements keep evolving as newer technologies become available, which in turn contributes to further delays,” Mr Bhatia told me.

Even the Indian Air Force chief AP Singh has made no secret of his frustration over delays.

“I can take a vow that I will not buy anything from outside or I will wait for whatever is developed in India, but it may not be possible if it does not come at that pace [on time],” Air Marshall Singh told a seminar recently.

“At the moment, we all know that we are very badly off when it comes to numbers [of fighters]. And the numbers which were promised are also coming a little slow. So, there will be a requirement to go and look for something which can quickly fill up these voids,” he said, referring to the delayed Tejas Mark 1A deliveries, which were supposed to begin last February but have yet to start.

India’s clear priority is a homegrown stealth fighter, with more than $1bn already committed to its development. “A foreign stealth jet would only be considered if India’s immediate threat perception shifts,” says Mr Bhatia. China has two so-called stealth fighters – the J-20 and J-35 – but they likely fall short of US standards.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cdjyyd7nw1zo

President Donald Trump said Monday that 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada would start Tuesday, sparking renewed fears of a North American trade war that already showed signs of pushing up inflation and hindering growth.

“Tomorrow — tariffs 25% on Canada and 25% on Mexico. And that’ll start,” Trump told reporters in the Roosevelt Room. “They’re going to have to have a tariff.”

Trump has said the tariffs are to force the two U.S. neighbors to step up their fight against fentanyl trafficking and stop illegal immigration. But Trump has also indicated that he wants to eliminate the Americas’ trade imbalances as well and push more factories to relocate in the United States.

His comments quickly rattled the U.S. stock market, with the S&P 500 index down 2% in Monday afternoon trading. It’s a sign of the political and economic risks that Trump feels compelled to take, given the possibility of higher inflation and the possible demise of a decades-long trade partnership with Mexico and Canada as the tariffs would go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.

Yet the Trump administration remains confident that tariffs are the best choice to boost U.S. manufacturing and attract foreign investment. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Monday that the computer chipmaker TSMC had expanded its investment in the United States because of the possibility of separate 25% tariffs.

In February, Trump put a 10% tariff on imports from China. He reemphasized Monday that the rate would be doubling to 20% on Tuesday.Trump provided a one-month delay in February as both Mexico and Canada promised concessions. But Trump said Monday that there was “no room left for Mexico or for Canada” to avoid the steep new tariffs, which were also set to tax Canadian energy products such as oil and electricity at a lower 10% rate.

Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday that “there is no justification” for Trump’s tariffs.

“Because of the tariffs imposed by the U.S., Americans will pay more for groceries, gas and cars, and potentially lose thousands of jobs,” he said. “Tariffs will disrupt an incredibly successful trading relationship. They will violate the very trade agreement that was negotiated by President Trump in his last term.”

Trudeau said his country will retaliate by putting 25% tariffs on American goods worth $155 billion Canadian ($107 billion U.S.) over the course of 21 days, starting with tariffs on $30 billion Canadian ($21 billion U.S.) after midnight Tuesday.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum went into Monday waiting to see what Trump would say.

“It’s a decision that depends on the United States government, on the United States president,” Sheinbaum said ahead of Trump’s statement. “So whatever his decision is, we will make our decisions and there is a plan, there is unity in Mexico.”

Both countries have tried to show action in response to Trump’s concerns. Mexico sent 10,000 National Guard troops to their shared border to crack down on drug trafficking and illegal immigration. Canada named a fentanyl czar, even though smuggling of the drug from Canada into the United States appears to be relatively modest.

As late as Sunday, it remained unclear what choice Trump would make on tariff rates. Lutnick told Fox News Channel’s “Sunday Morning Futures” that the decision was “fluid.”

“He’s sort of thinking about right now how exactly he wants to play it with Mexico and Canada,” Lutnick said. “And that is a fluid situation. There are going to be tariffs on Tuesday on Mexico and Canada. Exactly what they are, we’re going to leave that for the president and his team to negotiate.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Mexico has also offered to place 20% taxes on all imports from China as part of talks with the United States.

Bessent told CBS News on Sunday that China would “eat” the cost of the tariffs, instead of passing them along to the U.S. businesses and consumers that import their products in the form of higher prices.

But companies ranging from Ford to Walmart have warned about the negative impact that tariffs could create for their businesses. Similarly, multiple analyses by the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the Yale University Budget Lab suggest that an average family could face price increases of more than $1,000.

“It’s going to have a very disruptive effect on businesses, in terms of their supply chains as well as their ability to conduct their business operations effectively,” said Eswar Prasad, an economist at Cornell University. “There are going to be inflationary impacts that are going to be disruptive impacts.”

Democratic were quick to critize the announced tariffs for making inflation worse and alienating allies.

Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York said voters in last year’s election were primarily upset by inflation and “now Donald Trump is making it worse.”

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., predicted the cost of fertilizer will go up for farmers in her state.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-mexico-canada-b19e004dddb579c373b247037e04424b

“Anora,” a dramedy about a sex worker who marries the pampered son of a Russian oligarch, triumphed at the 97th Academy Awards on Sunday, winning five Oscars, including the prize for best picture. Its victory capped a tumultuous awards season, one that cycled through frontrunners at a dizzying pace with contenders like “Emilia Pérez” and “The Brutalist” seeing their fortunes rise and fall as controversies over everything from offensive tweets to the use of AI upended their campaigns.

It was also a race that unfolded during one of the worst natural disasters in Los Angeles history, something that the Oscars reflected with tributes to the firefighters who came to the aid of communities impacted by the wildfires, as well as with a montage highlighting the many films shot in the city, from “The Long Goodbye” to “Licorice Pizza.”

Sean Baker, the maverick behind “Anora,” was recognized for producing, directing, editing and writing the film’s screenplay, becoming the first person to win four Oscars for the same movie. It was an extraordinary embrace by the entertainment industry of a filmmaker who has largely operated outside of it, making low-budget fare like “Tangerine” and “The Florida Project.” Baker’s latest film was a favorite with critics and its Oscar success is a statement-making moment for Neon, the indie distributor behind “Anora,” which previously guided “Parasite” to a best picture statue in 2020.

However, having earned $40 million globally, “Anora” also ranks as one of the lowest-grossing best picture winners in history. But most of the movies that the Oscars honored this year were made by independent producers and companies. It’s a sign of how averse studios, which focus most of their resources on franchise fare, have become to producing the kind of adult-oriented films that dominate awards season. Those blockbusters that received best picture nominations, such as “Dune: Part Two” and “Wicked,” only scored wins in technical categories.

Adrien Brody (“The Brutalist”) and Mikey Madison (“Anora”) took the top acting honors. Brody, a previous winner for “The Pianist,” played a brilliant, but troubled architect, while Madison scored an upset victory for her portrayal of an exotic dancer under pressure to get an annulment from her rich husband.

A shocked Madison, who had been widely expected to lose the award to “The Substance’s” Demi Moore, said, “I grew up in Los Angeles, but Hollywood always felt so far away from me, so to be here, standing in this room today is really incredible.” She went on to pledge her support to the sex worker community, calling herself, “an ally.”

Brody’s win, one of three prizes for “The Brutalist,” came after a series of setbacks had seen him shunted aside by the movie business. It was a change in fortunes he referenced while accepting his award. “Acting is a very fragile profession,” Brody, who had to hand his gum to his partner Georgina Chapman before taking the stage, said. “No matter where you are in your career, no matter what you’ve accomplished, it can all go away. And I think that what makes this night most special is the awareness of that. And the gratitude that I have to still do the work that I love.”

Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”) was named best supporting actor for his turn as a troubled man on a tour of Poland with his cousin, while Zoe Saldaña (“Emilia Pérez”) won best supporting actress for her performance as an attorney who helps a cartel leader undergo gender affirmation surgery.

With tears streaming down her face, Saldaña declared herself “a proud child of immigrant parents.” She also noted “I am the first American of Dominican origin to accept an Academy Award, and I know I will not be the last.”

In a freewheeling speech, Culkin dropped an f-bomb and reminded his wife, Jazz Charton, that after he won an Emmy for “Succession” she had promised to have more children if he won an Oscar. “Let’s get cracking on those kids,” he said. “What do you say?”

Among other major winners, “I’m Still Here,” a family drama set during Brazil’s military dictatorship, was named best international feature. It was the first time the country had ever won the honor. “Flow,” a fantasy adventure from Latvia about a cat’s efforts to survive a flood, picked up best animated feature over the likes of “The Wild Robot” and “Inside Out 2.” And “No Other Land,” a look at the Israeli government’s efforts to force Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank, won best documentary despite struggling to get distribution. The film was directed by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four activists

“We call on the world to take serious actions to stop the injustice and to stop the ethnic cleansing of Palestinian people,” said Basel Adra, a Palestinian journalist who is one of the film’s directors. “About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now.”

Conan O’Brien, a former late night TV staple turned podcasting impresario, hosted the Oscars for the first time, taking over from Jimmy Kimmel, who had emceed three previous editions. His opening monologue poked fun at everything from the fact that the show began at 4:00 in the afternoon (“everyone here just had brunch”) to “Emilia Pérez” star Karla Sofia Gascón’s social media scandal (“Karla, if you are going to tweet about the Oscars, my name is Jimmy Kimmel.”) There was also a song and dance number about the Academy Awards’ long running time, as well as an appearance by a hoodie-wearing Adam Sandler.

Yet Donald Trump went largely unmentioned, a departure from previous Oscar ceremonies during his first term and the interregnum between his administrations when his name was repeatedly invoked. There were a few allusions to “our chaotic times” and presenter Daryl Hannah offered support for Ukraine, whose leader recently had an uncomfortable Oval Office meeting, but most criticism of the president was implicit, rather than explicit.

The ceremony also included a tribute to the James Bond franchise, which made headlines last month after Amazon MGM bought creative control of the series from the Broccoli family. Introducing a musical performance featuring 007 theme songs like “Live and Let Die” and “Diamonds are Forever,” Halle Berry called Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson, the producers of the films, “the heart and soul of this franchise.”

“Every generation does have their Bond, you know — the world revolves, it evolves, and so does he,” she added. “But that signature mix of danger, style, and intrigue, well, that’s timeless.”

Only now, in a sign of how much Hollywood itself is evolving, an e-retailing giant, and not a traditional studio, will determine the direction of the movie business’s most enduring franchise.

It was Baker who made the most passionate defense of the moviegoing tradition, pleading with the audience to support cinemas.

“Movie theaters, especially independently-owned theaters are struggling,” Baker said. “During the pandemic, we lost 1,000 screens in the U.S. And we continue to lose them regularly. If we don’t reverse this trend, we’ll be losing a vital part of our culture. This is my battle cry. Filmmakers, keep making films for the big screen. I know I will.”

See the full list of winners below.

Best Picture

“Anora,” (Neon) Alex Coco, Samantha Quan and Sean Baker, Producers (WINNER)

“The Brutalist” (A24)

“A Complete Unknown” (Searchlight) Fred Berger, James Mangold and Alex Heineman, Producers

“Conclave” (Focus Features) Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Michael A. Jackman, Producers

“Dune: Part Two” (Warner Bros.) Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe and Denis Villeneuve, Producers

“Emilia Pérez” (Netflix)

“I’m Still Here” (Sony Pictures Classic)

“Nickel Boys” (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)

“The Substance” (MUBI)

“Wicked” (Universal) Marc Platt, Producer

Best Director

Sean Baker, “Anora” (WINNER)

Brady Corbet “The Brutalist”

James Mangold, “A Complete Unknown”

Jacques Audiard, “Emilia Pérez”

Coralie Fargeat, “The Substance”

Actor in a Leading Role

Adrien Brody, “The Brutalist” (WINNER)

Timothée Chalamet, “A Complete Unknown”

Colman Domingo, “Sing Sing”

Ralph Fiennes, “Conclave”

Sebastian Stan, “The Apprentice”

Actress in a Leading Role

Cynthia Erivo, “Wicked”

Karla Sofía Gascón, “Emilia Pérez”

Mikey Madison, “Anora” (WINNER)

Demi Moore, “The Substance”

Fernanda Torres, “I’m Still Here”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Yura Borisov, “Anora”

Kieran Culkin, “A Real Pain” (WINNER)

Edward Norton, “A Complete Unknown”

Guy Pearce, “The Brutalist”

Jeremy Strong, “The Apprentice”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Monica Barbaro, “A Complete Unknown”

Ariana Grande, “Wicked”

Felicity Jones, “The Brutalist”

Isabella Rossellini, “Conclave”

Zoe Saldaña, “Emilia Pérez” (WINNER)

Adapted Screenplay

“A Complete Unknown”, Screenplay by James Mangold and Jay Cocks

A petrol giant in Norway has announced a ban on fuel sales to all US forces following Donald Trump’s treatment of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House, it has been reported.

Norwegian firm Haltbakk Bunkers announced it will stop providing fuel to all American forces in Norway as it declared “No fuel to Americans!”. The firm posted on social media to declare its support for Zelensky as it dealt a hammer blow to US President Trump following the heated spat televised from the Oval Office.

It said: “We have today been witnesses to the biggest s***how ever presented “live on tv” by the current American president and his vice president. Huge credit to the president of Ukraine restraining himself and for keeping calm even though USA put on a backstabbing tv show. It made us sick. Short and sweet. As a result, we have decided to immediate STOP as fuel provider to American forces in Norway and their ships calling Norwegian ports.

“No Fuel to Americans! We encourage all Norwegians and Europeans to follow our example. SLAVA UKRAINA”

Owner of the firm Gunnar Gran has told Norwegian maritime news site Kystens Næringsliv that ‘not a litre of fuel’ will be delivered ‘until Trump is finished’.

It reported: “As you probably understand, not a liter will be delivered until Trump is finished, the owner tells Kystens Næringsliv.

“We run a private limited company and choose our customers!”

The owner also said that the group has excluded Russians since Putin’s invasion, adding: “It gave a lot of our competitors a lot of extra revenue. We lost a lot of revenue. But we have a moral compass. Now the United States is excluded based on their behavior towards the Ukrainians.”

The fuel ban takes effect immediately and applies to vessels calling at Norwegian ports, it says. Haltbakk Bunkers also sends a further appeal.

It comes as Volodymyr Zelensky thanked the “American people” and leadership and held out hope for “strong relations”, the day after an astonishing clash with Donald Trump left many uncertain where the once staunch allies stood.

Ukraine had walked into a meeting at the White House on Friday prepared to sign a mineral deal with the US, hoping it would be a step towards a just ceasefire, but left empty-handed.

In a series of posts on X on Saturday, the Ukrainian president said his people are “very grateful to the United States for all the support”, and specifically thanked Mr Trump and Congress alongside the “American people”.

“Our relationship with the American President is more than just two leaders: It’s a historic and solid bond between our peoples. … American people helped save our people,” he wrote.

“We want only strong relations with America and I really hope we will have them.”

The shouting match that unfolded in the final minutes of the meeting between the two leaders at the Oval Office on Friday seemed to dash, at least for now, Ukrainian hopes that the US could be confirmed as a reliable partner in helping to fend off, and conclude, Russia’s three-year onslaught.

The exchange saw the frustrated Ukrainian president lectured by Mr Trump and vice president JD Vance over what they saw as his lack of gratitude for previous US support.

“You’re gambling with millions of people … You’re gambling with World War Three,” Mr Trump told Mr Zelensky of his attempts to resist the Russian invasion.

It delighted officials in Moscow who saw it as a final breakdown in relations between Washington and the Ukrainian leader.

Source : https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2021304/norway-fuel-giant-refuses-fill

According to reports, there have been disagreements over whether to continue on to phase two of the ceasefire, where a permanent peace will be negotiated, or extend phase one.

Israel says it is stopping all goods and supplies into Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office claimed Hamas has refused to “accept the Witkoff outline for continuing the talks, which Israel agreed to”.

Under a plan put forward by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, the first phase of the ceasefire deal would continue through Ramadan and Passover, or until 20 April.

Israel said in a statement that Mr Netanyahu “decided that starting this morning, all entry of goods and supplies into the Gaza Strip would cease”.

It added: “Israel will not allow a ceasefire without the release of our hostages.

“If Hamas continues its refusal, there will be further consequences.”

The holy month of Ramadan started on Friday and is usually between 29 and 30 days. Pictures emerged from Gaza of Palestinians celebrating among the rubble.

The Jewish holiday of Passover is shorter, but this year finishes on Sunday 20 April.

The first phase of the previously agreed ceasefire expired on Saturday.

Phase one halted 15 months of fighting and saw the release of 33 Israeli hostages held in Gaza and five Thai nationals, in exchange for around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The extension would push back phase two of the ceasefire, which was intended to introduce talks to bring about a permanent end to the war.

Hamas said earlier on Saturday the group rejected Israel’s “formulation” of extending the first phase of the ceasefire in Gaza, but did not explicitly mention Mr Witkoff’s plan.

Hamas’s response to the plan is not yet clear.

Both sides have previously traded accusations that the other violated the fragile ceasefire.

Meanwhile, talks on the long-term future of Gaza are yet to seriously materialise after the UN said it would take decades to rebuild the enclave.

Israeli statement

A statement from the prime minister’s office originally published in Hebrew said that on the first day of the proposed extension, half of the hostages and bodies of the dead would be released.

It added that at the end, if an agreement on a permanent ceasefire was reached, the remaining hostages and bodies would also be released.

The statement added: “Witkoff proposed the outline for extending the ceasefire after he was impressed that at this stage there was no possibility of bridging the positions of the parties to end the war, and that additional time was needed for talks on a permanent ceasefire.”

It went on to add that Israel could return to fighting “after the 42nd day if it feels that the negotiations are ineffective”, pointing out that this was supported by the Trump administration.

It isn’t clear what dates these days correspond to.

Source: https://news.sky.com/story/israel-agrees-to-gaza-ceasefire-extension-after-phase-one-period-expires-13319920

All it took was 90 seconds for weeks of tortured diplomacy to unwind in spectacular fashion.

President Donald Trump’s Oval Office thrashing of Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday laid bare the limits of a full-court press by America’s allies aimed at reshaping Trump’s determination to end Russia’s invasion even if the terms are not to Ukraine’s liking.

It also stressed the profound ways Trump feels emboldened to redirect U.S. foreign policy priorities toward his “America First” agenda in ways that extend well beyond those of his tumultuous first term.

The sudden blowup was the most heated public exchange of words between world leaders in the Oval Office in memory, as the usual staid work of diplomacy descended into finger-pointing, shouting and eye-rolling.

The encounter left the future of the U.S.-Ukraine relationship, and Kyiv’s ability to defend itself in the brutal conflict with Russia, in mortal jeopardy.

“You either make a deal or we are out,” Trump told Zelenskyy, underscoring the American leader’s plans to dictate a swift end to the war or leave its longtime ally to continue the fight without its strongest backer.

Less than a day later, Zelenskyy used a series of posts on X to express his thanks to the American people, Trump and Congress for “all the support,” which he said Ukrainians “have always appreciated,” especially during the war.

“Our relationship with the American President is more than just two leaders; it’s a historic and solid bond between our peoples. That’s why I always begin with words of gratitude from our nation to the American nation,” he added. Ukrainians want “only strong relations with America, and I really hope we will have them,” he said.

Zelenskyy was in London to meet with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer before a summit Sunday of European leaders.

Episode capped intense lobbying effort by American allies
The stunning episode in Washington had capped a week of what turned out to be largely futile efforts by U.S. allies to paper over differences between Washington and Kyiv and to try to steer Trump away from his flirtations with Moscow.

On Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron huddled with Trump to lay the groundwork for an eventual European-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine aimed at deterring future Russian aggression and to encourage the U.S. president to be more skeptical of Vladimir Putin.

But even as Trump and Macron greeted each other with a vise-like grip, the U.S. was splitting with its European allies at the United Nations by refusing to blame Russia for its invasion of Ukraine in a series of resolutions marking the third anniversary of the war.

On Thursday, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited Washington and appealed to Trump for a U.S. “backstop” for European nations who would provide front-line security for Ukraine. He was in essence looking for insurance that, should a peace deal be reached, Russia won’t restart the fighting in the future. Starmer brought flattery and a state visit invitation from King Charles III to soften the ask.

The approach seemed to work, as Trump struck a more conciliatory tone toward Ukraine, calling America’s support for the country against Russia’s invasion “a very worthy thing to do” and disclaiming any memory that he had called the Ukrainian leader a “dictator.”

But Trump also brushed aside Putin’s past broken diplomatic promises, claiming they occurred under different presidents, and saying the Russian leader had never violated a commitment to him. It came as his aides were planning a series of negotiating sessions with Russian officials to lay the groundwork for a potential meeting between Trump and Putin in the coming weeks.

Source: https://apnews.com/article/trump-zelenskyy-oval-office-ukraine-russia-blowup-8aa63e55c859e8fea963911478c376ee

Students in Bangladesh who led a mass uprising to topple former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last summer are now diving into politics by forming the new National Citizen Party.

The aim is to create new political space in a fiercely divisive dynastic political landscape. For decades, the country’s politics have been dominated by two former prime ministers and archrivals — Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia.

The announcement came Friday at a rally in front of Parliament in Dhaka, during which political reforms were promised for a country born in 1971 through a bloody war against Pakistan.

Thousands of people, mainly youths, gathered to witness the moment. Critics of Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus, who heads the interim government, say the new party is nothing but a “King’s Party” blessed by him. But political analysts say the new platform might be able to break the decades-long traditional political power structure in the South Asian nation.

Who are they?

The new party has been named the Jatiya Nagarik Party, or National Citizen Party.

Nahid Islam, a 26-year-old prominent student leader, was named as the head of the party. Nine other officials — all of them student leaders who rose to prominence during the mass uprising in July and August — have been named to top positions, according to Bangladeshi media.

A 151-member committee of the party was announced during the launch.

Supporters say a party is needed to bring reforms to the country’s political culture of nepotism, and to tackle corruption and lack of democratic practices.

What is the party’s mission?

Islam announced that the party’s mission is to dismantle “constitutional autocracy and adopt a new democratic constitution.”

“We must eliminate all possibilities of restoring constitutional autocracy. Now is the time to dream anew, to march forward, and to build a new Bangladesh,” Islam said as he read out the declaration.

He said that the mass uprising wasn’t merely about ousting a government, but also about reshaping the entire political framework.

The party is committed to fostering a political culture where “unity prevails over division, justice replaces vengeance, and merit triumphs over dynastic politics,” Islam said.

Who was invited to the launch?

The organizers said that they invited Yunus, his interim government’s other advisers, heads of political parties, including Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party and others.

Hasina’s Awami League Party and its 13 other previous allies weren’t invited to the launching ceremony. Yunus or other advisers from his interim Cabinet didn’t attend the event. Foreign diplomats were also invited but diplomats from India and other major global powers weren’t spotted at the rally.

Islam and his colleagues have been campaigning for months for Hasina to be put on trial for hundreds of deaths during the July-August uprising. The student leaders involved in the new party have also talked fiercely against India, accusing the neighboring country of exhibiting hegemony over Bangladesh, drawing a sharp reaction from India.

On Friday, a giant stage was installed on a major thoroughfare just in front of the Parliament building in Dhaka. The organizers said they expected up to 300,000 people during the party’s launch. But witnesses said up to 50,000 attended the event.

Who is funding the new party?

After the installation of the interim government, Yunus repeatedly said that he was appointed by the students who led the anti-Hasina uprising.

It wasn’t clear if Yunus had any direct role behind forming the new party, but many critics of Yunus said, mainly on social media, that the formation of the party is an effort to unveil a “king’s party.”

But Bangladeshi analyst Nazmul Ahsan Kalimullah told The Associated Press: “Most probably it’s more than that.

“They have an aspiration to connect young people who felt disconnected in a great way with the mainstream political forces like Hasina’s Awami League party and Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party,” he said. “And, of course this new party has blessings from Muhammad Yunus.”

Kalimullah said the new party “most probably” has “a future.”

Source : https://apnews.com/article/bangladesh-students-political-party-hasina-yunus-7565d2860be1ed4c03bfd9a5beb4f539

Beijing-based tour operators are the first to lead groups into the reclusive nation’s Rason Special Economic Zone, which borders Russia and China.

For Nicolas Pasquali, North Korea was the only country left on his checklist – until last Thursday (Feb 20).

The Argentine-Italian was among the first group of Western tourists to enter the hermit kingdom for the first time in five years. North Korea had been closed to foreign tourists since the COVID-19 pandemic.

Beijing-based tour operators are the first to lead groups into the reclusive nation’s Rason Special Economic Zone, which borders Russia and China.

Pasquali told CNA: “I got a phone call saying, ‘Okay, North Korea is open. Are you coming?’ I said: ‘Boom, sure. I already have my backpack, my passport, some money with me’.

“When it’s your last country, you’re excited; you’re happy; you’re emotional.”

The 32-year-old crossed the border from China’s Yanji to North Korea’s Rason with 11 other tourists. By doing so, he has now visited every country in the world.

During his four days there, he was shown the special economic zone where there are schools, factories and breweries.

“They were kind of cautious with us, taking care of us. They were concerned about how we were going to behave,” he added.

“So if we did something wrong, (there is a) high chance that they will ban any foreign tourists after us because of this reason.”

Beijing-based tour operator Young Pioneer Tours, which has been taking tourists to North Korea since 2008, also said the itinerary was less flexible and more structured this time round, but that new attractions have been added.

Its marketing director Justin Martell said they visited a so-called traders’ market in Rason which sells mostly foreign products.

“There’s also a great place where you can buy local street food from street food vendors, and go to local bars that are within that market as well,” he revealed.

PYONGYANG STILL CLOSED
North Korea remains one of the world’s most repressive regimes, with heavy international sanctions lobbed against it due to its nuclear weapons programme.

Tourists must be accompanied by an official guide at all times. Those who behave inappropriately in North Korea’s eyes – such as talking to North Koreans without authorisation – could face fines, arrest or detention.

Russian tourists have been allowed to enter North Korea since February 2024, amid warming ties between Moscow and Pyongyang.

They are also the only ones who can currently enter Pyongyang, which remains closed to all other foreign visitors.

Analysts said the reopening of the capital will send an important signal that the country is more open to the outside world.

“I love North Korea, and I’m happy to go back because we only saw Rason. But what about the rest? I want to go to Pyongyang, I want to explore more about the south. I want to know more,” said Pasquali.

Source: https://www.channelnewsasia.com/east-asia/north-korea-reopens-foreign-tourists-special-economic-zone-pyongyang-closed-4966381