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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

The head of a HIV foundation in South Africa has warned that US funding cuts could lead to half a million deaths and as many new HIV infections over 10 years.

US funding cuts to South Africa’s HIV/AIDS programs could trigger more than 500,000 deaths over the next decade, the head of the Desmond Tutu HIV Foundation, Linda-Gail Bekker, told reporters on Thursday.

“We will see lives lost,” said Bekker after South African groups were notified that they would lose their USAID grants.

“In excess of half a million unnecessary deaths will occur because of the loss of the funding and up to a half a million new infections,” Bekker added, citing studies that assess the potential impact of the funding cuts.

Around 13%, or 7.8 million, people in South Africa are HIV positive — one of the highest rates of HIV in the world, according to government data.

South Africa is one of the largest recipients of funds from the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a project launched by then-US President George W. Bush in 2003 to combat global HIV/AIDS. USAID helps provide funding through PEPFAR.

Why did the US cut funds to South Africa?
South African groups that receive funds through USAID said they had received termination letters from the US State Department overnight.

The notices, seen by the AFP news agency, said the grants were not in line with US priorities and were “terminated for convenience and the interest of the US government.”

The move comes after US President Donald Trump’s announcement to freeze foreign assistance for 90 days last month.

The cuts risk undoing years of progress. PEPFAR, which provides about 17% of South Africa’s HIV budget, ensures that some 5.5 million are on anti-retroviral medication for HIV, according to the Health Ministry.

Following USAID cuts, activists stressed an urgent need to find alternative ways to fund the HIV/AIDS programs.

“We cannot afford delays right now. We need top-tier prioritization,” said Lynne Wilkinson, a public health expert in South Africa.

What’s next for South Africa’s fight against HIV?
The government has tried to reassure the public about the funding gap and pledged to bolster its health care system.

“We are looking at various interventions to address the immediate needs and ensure the continuity of essential services,” President Cyril Ramaphosa said in a national address earlier this month.

Last week, South Africa’s Health Ministry announced a goal of having 1.1 million people living with HIV on treatment by the end of next year.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/south-africa-usaid-cuts-could-prompt-over-500000-hiv-deaths/a-71777420

Before he was hospitalized for double pneumonia, Pope Francis was battling firm resistance from some of his own cardinals about how to plug a widening gap in the Vatican’s finances.
Three days before his hospitalization, Francis ordered the creation of a new high-level commission to encourage donations to the headquarters of the 1.4-billion-member Catholic Church.
The new “Commission on Donations for the Holy See”, announced by the Vatican on Wednesday as Francis was spending his 13th day in hospital, was formed after the pope faced push back against his proposals for Vatican budget cuts from within the Roman Curia.

In a closed-door meeting late last year, Vatican department chiefs, including senior cardinals, argued against cuts and against the Argentine pope’s desire to seek outside funding to fix the deficit, two officials told Reuters.
The officials asked not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the information.
Francis, known to work himself to exhaustion, has continued leading the Vatican from hospital, as staff appointments requiring his approval are announced daily.
He has been seeking to patch up the budget for several years. He has cut cardinals’ salaries three times since 2021 and demanded a “zero deficit” agenda in September.

But his efforts appear to have had little impact.
Although the Vatican hasn’t published a full budget report since 2022, the last set of accounts, approved in mid-2024, included an 83-million-euro ($87 million) shortfall, the two sources said.
Reuters was not able to verify the deficit figure independently.
While the Vatican has operated with a deficit for years by rebalancing accounts and drawing on the dividends from its investment income, the gap has grown significantly in recent years. In 2022, the gap reported by the Vatican was 33 million euros.
Two cardinals who oversee the Vatican’s budget declined Reuters’ requests for interviews and did not provide current budget information. The Vatican did not respond to a request for comment.

GROWING PENSION WOES
Adding to the budget concerns are growing liabilities within the Vatican’s pension fund, which were estimated to total some 631 million euros by the Vatican’s finance czar in a 2022 media interview.
There has been no official update to this figure, but several insiders told Reuters they believe it has ballooned.
“The budget problems are going to force the Vatican to do a lot of things it doesn’t want to do,” said Rev. Tom Reese, a Jesuit priest and commentator who has written about the Vatican’s finances.
The Vatican may have to limit its charitable works or down-size its diplomatic presence at embassies across the world, he said.
“The footprint of the pope could be severely reduced,” said Reese. “If you can’t pay your bills, you can’t do much.”
Reuters could not determine the precise reasons behind the Vatican’s growing budget shortfall. The Vatican suffered a substantial loss of tourist income during the Covid pandemic. And in October, the pope also said there would have to be cuts to the at-least 40 million euro budget for the Vatican’s extensive multi-language media operations.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/pope-was-focused-vatican-finance-struggle-before-he-was-hospitalized-2025-02-27/

Earlier this month, Brazil’s state-controlled oil giant Petrobras couldn’t have found a bigger event to unveil a major new customer. At the Brazil Energy Forum in Rio de Janeiro, the company’s director of logistics, commercialization and markets, Claudio Romeo Schlosser, said an agreement had been reached with India’s Bharat Petroleum Corporation for the delivery of 6 million barrels of oil annually between 2025 and 2026.

“We are expanding our international customer base. Until now, it has been heavily concentrated on China,” Schlosser said in Rio, before traveling to India 10 days later where the deal was finalized and signed on February 12.

Bharat Petroleum, which is owned by the Indian state, is the world’s third-largest importer of oil, securing most of India’s oil supply — roughly 85% of which was imported from other countries last year. The deal will be a massive boost to Petrobras’ exports to India, currently only about 4%.

Petrobras signed the deal with Bharat in the hope of expanding exports to India to 24 million barrels per year, Schlosser said.

The deal comes as India and Brazil are seeking to intensify their economic ties as members of the BRICS group of nations, which also includes Russia, China and South Africa.

Latin America’s pivot to diversifying trade

With the oil agreement, the government of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva also wants to highlight the growing importance of India for Brazil’s foreign trade, after recently rejecting a chance to be part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

Rising geopolitical tensions make India an attractive partner for many countries in Latin America as it is perceived as independent and largely neutral in the power struggles between the US, China and Russia.

And India, too, is seeking new economic ties as part of its geopolitical realignment that includes expanding its presence in Latin American countries.

Similar developments are taking place in Argentina, where state-owned oil company YPF signed a deal with three Indian firms in January to export up to 10 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) annually. The agreement also covers cooperation in lithium, critical minerals, and hydrocarbon exploration and production, YPF said in a statement announcing the deal.

YPF CEO Horacio Marin sees the Asian market as being key to Argentina’s energy expansion plans. “We are convinced that the country has an opportunity to become an energy exporter and achieve the objective sought by the entire industry to generate revenues of $30 billion over the next 10 years,” said Marin.

In pursuit of ‘strategic autonomy’

Sabrina Olivera from the Argentine Council for International Relations (CARI) said India’s foreign policy had traditionally been characterized by “non-alignment” but was now evolving into what is now known as “strategic autonomy.”

“This means that India maintains relationships with as many players as possible without committing to alliances,” Olivera, the coordinator of CARI’s South Asia working group, told DW.

Now India is present at the negotiation table for all global issues, but it is not bound by military commitments.

Latin America holds significant growth potential for India, Olivera added, even though the country is less present in the region compared with, for example, the US, China, or the EU.

Olivera pointed to recent supplies of medical aid that India sent to Cuba following a devastating hurricane, saying that this strategy of forging closer political, economic, and cultural ties was well received across the Caribbean region.

And in Chile, which is known for its mineral wealth, she added, India’s ambassador to the country, Abhilasha Joshi, recently stated that the country was a “gateway to the rest of Latin America.”

India trusted as the world’s biggest democracy

India’s push into Latin America began two years ago with a widely noted visit by Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to Panama — the first in six decades of bilateral relations.

“Since Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi took office, our relations with Latin America and the Caribbean have taken a new direction,” Jaishankar said at the time, marking a shift toward greater Indian engagement in the region.

According to the Uruguay-based portal Dialogo Politico, trade between India and Latin America totaled $40 billion (€38.8 billion) in 2023. The region’s top trade partners with India are Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Colombia, and Peru.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/india-and-latin-america-tighten-ties-to-diversify-trade/a-71746866

TAIWAN has mobilised its sea, air and land forces in response to a surprise Chinese military invasion drill.

China deployed 32 aircraft alongside its warships and announced “live-fire exercises” just off the island’s coast.

The shocking military drill was conducted just a few miles off the island’s coast near Kaohsiung and Pingtung – where Taiwan has naval and air bases.

Taiwan’s military responded by sending sea, air and land forces to “monitor, alert and respond appropriately”, the country’s defence ministry said.

It added: “This move not only caused a high degree of danger to the safety of international flights and vessels at sea but is also a blatant provocation to regional security and stability.”

China has ramped up the deployment of fighter jets and warships around Taiwan in recent years to press its claim of sovereignty over the island, which Taipei rejects.

Just days ago, China launched shock war drills near Australia and New Zealand – forcing flights to dramatically divert.

The unusual appearance of Chinese naval ships in the Tasman Sea sparked fears, putting the area on high alert.

Airlines like Emirates, Qantas, and Air New Zealand flights reported changing their flight paths over the Tasman Sea.

China’s potential live-fire drills were a shock to Australian authorities who reportedly only learned about these exercises from surprised commercial pilots, Defense Minister Richard Marles revealed on Friday.

The drills come after Taiwan seized a Chinese-crewed cargo ship on Tuesday suspected of severing a subsea telecoms cable serving Taiwan’s Penghu island group.

There is growing concern in Taiwan over the security of its cables after a Chinese-owned cargo ship was suspected of cutting one northeast of the island this year.

SHOW OF STRENGTH

This has not been China’s first shock military exercise on the waters.

Xi Jinping’s military has increased its naval presence around its neighbours too.

China’s President issued a brutal New Year warning to Taiwan as the nation continues its war games against the self-ruled province.

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

A swarm of fighter jets and warships were launched to circle and intimidate the island in October 2024.

A damaged deep-sea cable, off the coast of Taiwan in January, launched fears of potential Chinese sabotage.

A telecommunications cable was reportedly damaged near Yehliu, New Taipei City.

Officials believed the cable was cut near the busy port of Keelung on Taiwan’s north coast.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13630805/taiwan-forces-china-surprise-live-fire-invasion-drills/

The US President says the card would offer residency and a path to citizenship and attract ‘wealthy people.’

Trump said the programme is set to begin in about two weeksImage: Yuri Gripas/Pool via CNP/AdMedia/picture alliance

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday revealed plans to sell new “gold card” US residency permits at $5 million (€4.8 million) a pop, replacing a 35-year-old visa for investors.

“We’re going to be selling a gold card. You have a green card, this is a gold card. We’re going to be putting a price on that card of about $5 million,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

Speaking about the target audience, Trump said: “They’ll be wealthy and they’ll be successful, and they’ll be spending a lot of money and paying a lot of taxes and employing a lot of people, and we think it’s going to be extremely successful.”

The Trump ‘gold card’

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick clarified that the new permit — dubbed the ‘Trump Gold Card’ by reporters — would replace the EB-5 visas in two weeks.

Created in 1990 by Congress, the EB-5 visas aimed at generating foreign investment and were made available to people who would spend $1 million on a US company that employs at least 10 people.

Lutnick said the gold card was ultimately a green card or a permanent residency card, which raised investors’ entry price in the US. He said it would do away with fraud and “nonsense” that plagues the EB-5 program, eventually leading to citizenship.

Some 8000 people have used the EB-5 visa to enter the US in the 12-month period ending September 30, 2022, according to government immigration data.

In 2021, a Congressional Research Service report said that the program posed a risk of fraud.

Source: https://www.dw.com/en/trump-touts-5-million-gold-card-visas-for-the-rich/a-71750538

Skywatchers are in for a treat this week as seven planets – Mars, Jupiter, Uranus, Venus, Neptune, Mercury, and Saturn will all be briefly visible in the evening sky.

This phenomenon, known as a ‘planetary parade’ is a rare sight, and it will be the last time seven planets can be seen simultaneously so well until 2040.

The best chance to see as many planets as possible will be just after sunset on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Four of the planets – Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, and Mars – will be visible to the naked eye. Saturn will be harder to see because it will be low in the horizon. You will need a telescope to spot the other two planets – Uranus and Neptune.

A good view of the horizon and clear skies will offer the best chance of spotting them all. However, the window to see all seven planets will be very brief.

Dr Edward Bloomer, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich said: “There’s a rare opportunity to have seven planets in essentially a convenient place for you to look for them.”

As the sun sets, Saturn and Mercury will also be setting, making them particularly difficult to see.

“You really only have a few minutes after sunset to catch them before they drop below the horizon. After that, you’ll still be able to see Venus, Jupiter, and Mars clearly for a much longer time,” Dr Bloomer added.

The planets in our solar system orbit the Sun within roughly the same flat plane as the Earth.

As they orbit at different speeds and distances from the Sun, there are moments when they appear to line up from Earth’s perspective creating a spectacular visual display, although the planets remain separated by vast distances in space.

Venus and Jupiter will be the easiest to spot due to their brightness, while Mars will have a distinct reddish hue.

“Uranus is technically visible with the naked eye, but you’d need perfect eyesight and ideal conditions,” Dr Bloomer explains.

To improve your chances of seeing as many planets as possible, Dr Bloomer advises heading to a location with a clear view of the horizon and minimal light pollution.

“If you just pop out of your kitchen into your back garden, you will take time to adjust to the light levels. Give it a bit of time – your eyes take about half an hour to fully adjust,” said Dr Bloomer.

“Avoid looking at your phone, get comfortable, and ensure you have an unobstructed view of the horizon.”

While this is an exciting opportunity, Dr Bloomer encourages people to make a habit of gazing at the night sky.

“See how things change,” he said, adding that observing the heavens is “a chance to witness the ongoing mechanics of the solar system at work.”

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c5yd4z15r54o

TERRIFIED Delta Air Lines passengers had to evacuate a plane by emergency slide during a scary landing at an airport in Atlanta.

The Boeing 717-200 was going to Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina when smoke suddenly filled the plane cabin.

The Delta flight was en route from Atlanta to South Carolina when it had to turn around.

When it landed, all 94 passengers, two pilots, and three flight attendants were forced to escape the aircraft using the emergency exit slides.

Shocking photos showed passengers standing on the left wing of the plane clutching their belongings as they tried to get to safety.

The Federal Aviation Administration said, “Delta Air Lines Flight 876 returned safely to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport around 9 am local time on Monday, February 24, after the crew reported possible smoke in the flight deck.”

Crew members reported the smoke shortly after takeoff, with an emergency declared to get priority handling from air traffic control.

A Delta spokesperson told The Sun: “The flight crew followed procedures to return to Atlanta when a haze inside the aircraft was observed after departure.

“Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, and we apologize to our customers for the experience.”

Footage showed passengers using their clothes to cover their faces as the terrifying haze filled the cabin.

The airline said teams brought customers to the terminal via ground transportation and were working to get them rebooked on other flights.

The incident had a “moderate impact to operations,” an air spokesperson told ABC News.

Travelers are on high alert when it comes to flying after a series of concerning plane crashes and mishaps.

Just over a week ago, a Delta plane from Minneapolis crashed and flipped before erupting into flames at Toronto Pearson Airport.

PLANE PANIC IN TORONTO

Panicked passengers were forced to crawl along the ceiling after the jet slammed into the icy runway in the near-disaster.

No one was killed as smoke surrounded the jet in the aftermath of the terrifying scene.

A passenger named John Nelson shared a video from the scary scene on Facebook on Monday.

“We just landed,” he said in a video showing the aircraft upside down.

“Our plane crashed, it’s upside down. The fire department is on site.

“Most people appear to be OK. We’re all getting off, [there’s] some smoke going on.”

Fellow passenger Peter Koukov told CNN they were “upside down hanging like bats” in the horror crash.

The fire department was shown spraying fire retardant on the plane.

“Several customers with injuries were transported to area hospitals. Our primary focus is taking care of those impacted,” Delta said in a statement to The U.S. Sun.

The airline confirmed the Toronto airport, YYZ, was closed “shortly after the incident occurred.”

“Delta is working to connect with customers traveling from, to or through YYZ who should also monitor the status of their flight via the Fly Delta app.”

DISTURBING TREND

More mid-air panic came this weekend when a flight that took off from JFK Airport in New York City had to make a U-turn.

It was on the way to New Delhi, India, but was grounded in Rome due to a “possible security issue” that turned out to be a bomb threat.

The emergency onboard the American Airlines flight was eventually found to be a false alarm.

Italian law enforcement checked and cleared the aircraft to re-depart, according to American Airlines.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13616892/delta-passengers-evacuate-plane-smoke-cabin/

Starbucks is cutting 1,100 jobs and simplifying its menu in the US as it tries to improve flagging business in its home market.

The first items to get the axe include the Royal English Breakfast Latte, White Hot Chocolate and several kinds of blended frappuccinos.

But Starbucks said more offerings would be cut, as it aims to shrink its menu by nearly a third over the next year, hoping to reduce wait times and improve quality and consistency.

The company has been wrestling with a sustained fall in sales since last year, which has been particularly pronounced in the US.

Chief executive Brian Niccol, who previously headed the Mexican food chain Chipotle, was brought into Starbucks last year to help turn the business around.

He has said he wants to see the company return to its roots as a coffee house.

The drinks set for the chopping block “weren’t commonly purchased, can be complex to make, or are like other beverages on our menu”, Starbucks said. The changes are due to go into effect on 4 March.

“We’re simplifying our menu to focus on fewer, more popular items, executed with excellence,” the company said on Monday.

“This will make way for innovation, help reduce wait times, improve quality and consistency, and align with our core identity as a coffee company.”

The job cuts announced on Monday are focused on corporate “support partner” roles and will not affect jobs or investments at stores, the company said.

The company said it would inform staff affected by the decisions by mid-day on Tuesday. It is also eliminating “several hundred” open and unfilled positions.

“Our intent is to operate more efficiently, increase accountability, reduce complexity and drive better integration,” Mr Niccol wrote in the announcement.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3rnq2lv1lzo

French President Emmanuel Macron appeared in humiliating scenes today during a live video meeting of G7 leaders to mark the third anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.

In awkward footage shared with global leaders, the premiere of France appeared perched on the edge of a desk next to Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House.

The 47-year-old looked ill-at-ease with the seating arrangement, which saw him sat to the right of Mr Trump who himself was positioned in the centre of the desk in a large comfortable-looking leather chair.

To Mr Trump’s left, his vice-president JD Vance sat with a nonchalant wide-legged stance with a long red tie passing below his navel.

Earlier it was reported the US President did not greet his French counterpart when Mr Macron arrived at the White House in Washington, instead leaving the greeting to his Chief of Protocol, Monica Crowley.

Macron and Trump also clashed as they discussed the war in Ukraine. The French President challenged his US counterpart over his demands for Ukraine to hand over £400bn’s worth of minerals.

Mr Trump said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky could sign the deal as early as next week.

Downing Street will no doubt be watching closely how Mr Macron was received by the Trump administration who have been at odds with European allies after an apparent warming of relations from Washington towards Moscow in recent days.

Sir Keir Starmer is due to fly to the US on Thursday for talks at the White House.

Mr Trump sparked anger and public rebuke from fellow Western leaders after he recently branded the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “dictator”.

Mr Zelensky, who was on the video call with G7 leaders from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, had said Mr Trump lived in a “disinformation space”.

President Macron had said he intended to tell Mr Trump it was in the joint interest of Americans and Europeans not to show weakness to Putin during US-led negotiations to end the war in Ukraine.

He also suggested he’ll make the case that how Trump handles Putin could have enormous ramifications for US dealings with China, the United States’ most significant economic and military competitor.

Taking to social media after a serioes of White House statements slamming Ukraine, Mr Macron said: “You can’t be weak in the face of President Putin. It’s not you, it’s not your trademark, it’s not in your interest.

“How can you then be credible in the face of China if you’re weak in the face of Putin?’”

Source : https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/2018800/donald-trump-brutally-humiliates-emmanuel-macron

Pope Francis, battling double pneumonia, remains in a critical condition for a second day running and has shown an “initial, slight insufficiency” in his kidney function, the Vatican said on Sunday.
The prognosis for the 88-year-old pope, who required a transfusion of two units of blood on Saturday after experiencing a “prolonged asthma-like respiratory crisis,” remains “guarded”, according to the latest medical update.

Francis was admitted to Rome’s Gemelli hospital on February 14. The Vatican first described his condition as critical on Saturday.
“The condition of the Holy Father remains critical; however, since last night he has not experienced further respiratory crises,” the Vatican said on Sunday.
Blood tests also indicated “an initial, slight renal insufficiency, which is currently under control,” it said, referring to the functioning of the kidneys, which filter waste products in the blood.
“The complexity of the clinical picture, and the necessary wait for the pharmacological therapies to show some effect, require that the prognosis remains guarded,” said the statement.

The statement described the pope as “alert and well-oriented” and said he was receiving “high-flow oxygen therapy” through a tube under his nose.
Double pneumonia is a serious infection that can inflame and scar both lungs, making it difficult to breathe. The Vatican has described the pope’s infection as “complex”, saying it is being caused by two or more microorganisms.
Francis, who has been pope since 2013, has suffered bouts of ill health in the past two years. He is particularly prone to lung infections because he developed pleurisy as a young adult and had part of one lung removed.
The Vatican said on Saturday the pope had needed the blood transfusions because tests showed he had a low platelet count, which is associated with anaemia. Platelets are cell fragments in the blood that form clots and stop or prevent bleeding.

On Sunday, the Vatican said the transfusion had shown benefit and resulted in an increase in the pope’s levels of haemoglobin, a protein that helps carry oxygen in the body.

PILGRIMS PRAY FOR POPE

The Trump administration sent emails on Saturday evening to U.S. federal government employees telling them to detail their work accomplishments from the previous week by Monday night or risk losing their jobs.
The emails came shortly after Elon Musk, the billionaire head of the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, posted on the social media site X that not responding to the email request would be viewed as a resignation.

“All federal employees will shortly receive an email requesting to understand what they got done last week,” Musk posted on X. “Failure to respond will be taken as a resignation.”
Musk issued his post just hours after President Donald Trump posted on his own social media network, Truth Social, that DOGE should get more aggressive in its attempts to downsize and reshape the 2.3 million-strong federal workforce.
As of Saturday evening, emails were sent to employees across federal agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others with the subject line, “What did you do last week?”

The email, seen by Reuters, asks employees to reply with five bullet points summarizing “what you accomplished at work last week,” and to copy their managers.
It was sent from a human resources address from the Office of Personnel Management, and gives employees until 11:59 p.m. EST on Monday to respond.
It is unclear what legal basis Musk has to terminate federal workers if they fail to respond to his request and what would happen to employees that cannot detail confidential work.
Some federal judiciary employees received the email on Saturday from OPM, even though the court system is not part of the executive branch, people familiar with the matter said. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the judiciary’s administrative arm, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Workers at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau also received the email, according to people with knowledge of the matter. However, most agency staff had been ordered not to perform any tasks since early this month, creating a conundrum. The agency is also under temporary court order not to resume mass firings pending the outcome of legal proceedings.

A spokesperson for DOGE did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

UNION PROMISES FIGHT

The AFGE, the union representing federal employees, said in a statement it will challenge any “unlawful terminations.”
“Once again, Elon Musk and the Trump administration have shown their utter disdain for federal employees and the critical services they provide to the American people,” said Everett Kelley, the AFGE’s president.
The Trump administration’s fast-paced and controversial process to reduce government spending by shrinking the federal workforce spearheaded by Musk and his young aides at the cost-cutting DOGE has led to haphazard firings that resulted in numerous mistakes and forced several agencies to quickly rehire vital employees, such as those working on nuclear safety, defense and power generation.
The first wave of job cuts has targeted workers who are easier to fire, such as probationary employees on the job for less than two years or those who have started new roles within an agency.
The indiscriminate firings have led to DOGE terminating people whose jobs are not funded by taxpayers and have begun to anger people across the country who are concerned about a loss of services and the impact of federal job losses on local economies.
Trump has repeatedly talked about Musk as the functional leader of DOGE, which is not a cabinet-level department, but the White House said in a court filing this month that Musk had no authority over DOGE and was not an employee of the program.
Some federal agencies sent follow-up emails to employees advising staff not to respond to the email over the weekend as they assess its validity and devise a protocol for responding to the message.
“To be clear, this is irregular, unexpected and warrants further validation by management,” said one email sent to NOAA employees and seen by Reuters.
The Executive Office for United States Attorneys also sent an email, seen by Reuters, to employees, advising them to wait to respond until they verify the validity of the emails.
Some federal employees, already on edge after two weeks of mass firings, expressed outrage after receiving the email.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-orders-us-federal-workers-report-work-or-get-fired-2025-02-22/

Indian-origin Kash Patel on Friday was sworn in as the ninth director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), taking oath on the sacred Hindu text of Bhagavad Gita.

Kash Patel’s girlfriend and family members were present at the Eisenhower Executive Office Building as he was sworn in by US Attorney General Pam Bondi following his confirmation as the FBI director by the US Senate. He succeeded Christopher Wray.

Kash Patel is not the first Indian-American to have taken his oath of office on the Gita. Earlier, Congressman Suhash Subrahmanyam also took his oath on the Gita.

‘The American dream’

Kash Patel called this opportunity to lead the nation’s premier federal law enforcement agency as the “greatest honour” of his life.

He also said he was living the American dream, “and anyone who thinks the American dream is dead, look right here. You are talking to a first-generation Indian who is about to lead the law enforcement agency of the greatest nation on earth. That can’t happen anywhere else”.

Patel also made a strong commitment towards his work within the FBI and promised that there would be accountability both inside and outside of the federal agency.

After Patel’s oath ceremony, the White House posted on its X account, “It’s time we restore integrity and justice at the FBI. MAKE AMERICA SAFE AGAIN!”

US President Donald Trump, while speaking to reporters ahead of Patel’s oath ceremony, said, “I think he’ll go down as the best ever at that position,” adding that the “agents love this guy”.

“Turned out he was very easy to get approved. He is a tough and strong guy. He has his opinions. Trey Gowdy came out with an incredible statement and said that Kash is an incredible person and people’s don’t realise it. When he said that, there was no doubt left. It was a big statement made by someone who is respected and is on the moderate side,” Trump added.

However, the Democrats did not seem very happy with Patel’s appointment, sounding alarms that they fear he will work as a Trump loyalist and abuse the FBI’s powers to go after the adversaries of the president. They even cited past comments from before Patel’s nomination where he had said that he would “come after” anti-Trump “conspirators” in the government and media.

At his confirmation hearing, Patel sought to clarify all these concerns and said that he intended to follow the Constitution, with no intention in pursuing any retribution. Patel also said at his oath ceremony that some reports about him were “fake, malicious, slanderous and defamatory”.

Notably, Patel has also expressed his desire to implement severe changes at the FBI, including a reduced footprint in Washington and renewing emphasis on the bureau’s traditional crime-fighting duties rather than the intelligence-gathering work that has come to define its status over the past two decades.

On Friday, Patel also said that the FBI’s “national security mission” was as important as its efforts to fight violent crimes and drug overdoses.

“Anyone that wishes to do harm to our way of life and our citizens, here and abroad, will face the full wrath of the DOJ and FBI,” Patel said, adding that “if you seek to hide in any corner of this country or planet, we will put on the world’s largest manhunt and we will find you and we will decide your end-state”.

Patel, a former Justice Department counterterrorism prosecutor, was nominated to replace Christopher Wray as the FBI director in November.

Source : https://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/kash-patel-sworn-in-as-9th-fbi-director-takes-oath-on-bhagavad-gita-watch-101740182758204.html

U.S. negotiators pressing Kyiv for access to Ukraine’s critical minerals have raised the possibility of cutting the country’s access to Elon Musk’s vital Starlink satellite internet system, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Ukraine’s continued access to SpaceX-owned Starlink was brought up in discussions between U.S. and Ukrainian officials after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy turned down an initial proposal from U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the sources said.

Starlink provides crucial internet connectivity to war-torn Ukraine and its military.
The issue was raised again on Thursday during meetings between Keith Kellogg, the U.S. special Ukraine envoy, and Zelenskiy, said one of the sources, who was briefed on the talks.
During the meeting, Ukraine was told it faced imminent shutoff of the service if it did not reach a deal on critical minerals, said the source, who requested anonymity to discuss closed negotiations.
“Ukraine runs on Starlink. They consider it their North Star,” said the source. “Losing Starlink … would be a massive blow.”

Zelenskiy has rejected demands from President Donald Trump’s administration for $500 billion in mineral wealth from Ukraine to repay Washington for wartime aid, saying the U.S. has offered no specific security guarantees.
On Friday, the Ukrainian president said the U.S. and Ukrainian teams were working on an agreement and Trump said he expects a deal will be signed soon.
Musk rushed thousands of Starlink terminals to Ukraine to replace communications services destroyed by Russia after its February 2022 invasion. Hailed as a hero in Ukraine, Musk later curtailed access at least once before in the fall of 2022 as he became more critical of Kyiv’s handling of the war.

U.S. lawmakers are divided over Trump’s efforts to find a quick end to the Ukraine war and some have raised questions about Musk’s rapid-fire efforts to cull thousands of federal workers and shut down Federal agencies.
Melinda Haring, a senior fellow with the Atlantic Council, said Starlink was essential for Ukraine’s operation of drones, a key pillar of its military strategy.
“Losing Starlink would be a game changer,” Haring said, noting that Ukraine was now at 1:1 parity with Russia in terms of drone usage and artillery shells. Ukraine has a wide range of different drone capabilities, ranging from sea drones and surveillance drones to long-range unmanned aerial vehicles.
The Ukrainian embassy in Washington, the White House and the U.S. Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

SpaceX, which operates Starlink, also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Last fall, Ukraine floated the idea of opening its critical minerals to investment by allies. This was part of a “victory plan” that sought to put it in the strongest position for talks and force Moscow to the table.
Trump has embraced the idea, saying he wants Ukraine to supply the U.S. with rare earths and other minerals in return for financially supporting its war effort.
Zelenskiy rejected a detailed U.S. proposal last week that would have seen Washington and U.S. firms receiving 50% of Ukraine’s critical minerals, which include graphite, uranium, titanium and lithium, a key component in electric car batteries.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/business/us-could-cut-ukraines-access-starlink-internet-services-over-minerals-say-2025-02-22/

VOLODYMYR Zelensky should flee Ukraine “immediately” amid escalating tensions between Washington and Kyiv, insiders in the White House have warned.

US-Ukraine relations exploded this week, with military intelligence suggesting Russia is just days from declaring victory over the almost three-year war.

Donald Trump and Zelensky have been waging a war of words with the US President openly criticising the Ukrainian leader and branding him a “dictator.”

In response, Kyiv slammed his attempts at peace talks with Russia and accused him of being “in a disinformation bubble”.

As the relationship between the two leaders continues to deteriorate, a source close to the American President told the New York Post “the best case for [Zelensky] and the world is that he leaves to France immediately.”

Asked about the growing tensions between the US and Kyiv, another source close to the White House said the public spat was a long-time coming.

They said: “It’s nothing new to me.

“I heard months ago it’s time for an election and new leadership,”

The “real question is, has anyone told [Trump] they really, really like him?”

Meanwhile, Ukraine’s military intelligence agency says the Kremlin is only days away from declaring victory in Vladimir Putin’s war.

The Russian leader may portray it as a triumph over NATO as well, amounting to a defeat for the West, according to the GUR.

The agency said: “Russia is preparing to declare an alleged ‘victory’ in the war against Ukraine by the ‘round date’ – 24 February 2025, the third anniversary of the beginning of the full-scale war.

“Moreover, these plans may also include a ‘Russian victory over NATO’, as Muscovite propaganda has long described the war against Ukraine as a war with the Alliance.”

A key aim is to “cover the status of an aggressor and war criminal isolated by the civilised world with the cloak of a supposedly ready for peaceful settlement ‘constructive side of the conflict”.

Countries hostile to Russia gaining territory through its war of aggression will be branded “enemies of peace”.

Lt-Gen Kyrylo Budanov said Putin’s propaganda machine and intelligence services “on instructions from the Kremlin, are stepping up efforts to incite disbelief among Ukrainian society, destabilise the situation inside our country and discredit Ukraine among partner states that provide critical military assistance to our Security and Defence Forces in the fight against the occupiers.”

The diplomatic turmoil escalated after Kyiv rejected the US’s proposed mineral deal as a repayment for military aid.

On Thursday the US cancelled last minute a joint press conference with Zelensky after he met with one of Trump’s envoys.

Kash Patel, a longtime loyalist to President Donald Trump, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday as director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation — an agency he has talked about drastically restructuring while echoing Trump’s claims of the “weaponization” of the bureau’s powers in its Capitol riot investigations and other recent cases.

Patel was opposed by a pair of Republican senators: Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski and Maine’s Susan Collins. But he won support from every other Republican, including Sen. Mitch McConnell, of Kentucky, who had opposed some of Trump’s other nominees. The final vote was 51-49, with all Senate Democrats opposing Patel.

Patel’s confirmation comes at time of significant turmoil and turnover at the FBI. Since Trump took office a month ago, an Elon Musk affiliate was among those brought into the bureau, sparking worries about partisan political figures taking the reins of the powerful law enforcement agency. The head of the Washington Field Office — which oversaw the sprawling Jan. 6 probe — was forced out, as were six of the FBI’s most senior executives and multiple heads of FBI field offices around the country.

Acting FBI Director Brian Driscoll sparred with Trump-appointed Justice Department superiors over an order that he said would ultimately help them fire FBI agents involved in Jan. 6 cases. The FBI ultimately handed over the names of FBI employees who worked on Jan. 6 cases as requested, and Trump has said he will fire “some” FBI personnel who worked on Capitol riot cases.

Altogether, it adds up to what many within the FBI see as the largest crisis facing the organization since the Watergate era. It stems in large part from FBI investigations into Trump himself, including two separate felony cases that were dropped when Trump was re-elected: one involving Trump’s handling of classified documents, and the other his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Patel previously worked on Capitol Hill and in the first Trump administration, after working as a federal prosecutor in Washington and a federal public defender in Florida. He was considered to take over the FBI during the first Trump administration, but then-Attorney General Bill Barr, among others, vehemently opposed the plan, saying that Patel was unqualified.

Patel, a firebrand who appeared on a broad array of conservative media shows and has spoken about his desire to “come after the people in the media,” has attempted to walk back some of his more pugnacious comments from his podcast appearances.

At his confirmation hearing in late January, Patel distanced himself from Trump’s sweeping pardons of Capitol rioters, saying he disagreed with the commutations of individuals who assaulted law enforcement officers on Jan. 6. Democratic senators also confronted Patel about his repeated false contentions that the 2020 election was stolen.

Patel has a close relationship with a network of conservative former FBI agents who were pushed out over the past several years, one of whom said he was “screaming to the heavens” when Trump nominated Patel.

Source : https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/senate-confirms-kash-patel-fbi-director-rcna192842

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Thursday she will propose a constitutional reform aimed at further protecting Mexico’s national sovereignty, after the U.S. designated various Mexican cartels as foreign terrorist organizations.
“The Mexican people will under no circumstances accept interventions, intrusions, or any other action from abroad that are detrimental to the integrity, independence, or sovereignty of the nation… (including) violations of Mexican territory, whether by land, sea, or air,” Sheinbaum said during her regular morning news conference.

The United States on Wednesday designated the Sinaloa Cartel and other Mexican drug cartels as global terrorist organizations, a move that comes as concerns mount among some Mexican officials that U.S. President Donald Trump may be setting the stage to take unilateral military action inside Mexico, an idea floated repeatedly during his presidential campaign.
Sheinbaum said Mexico was not consulted by the United States about the decision to designate the groups as terrorist organizations.
Mexico has long opposed the move, arguing the cartels are not motivated by political ends like others on the terror list, but by profit.

The designation risks complicating international business in Mexico, including the operations of U.S. companies. It could also shift the legal landscape for U.S. asylum claims, potentially hurting migrants who are forced to pay extortion or ransoms to cartels, as they could be accused of supporting a terrorist organization.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/mexico-was-not-consulted-us-designation-cartels-terrorist-organizations-2025-02-20/

The Pentagon said on Wednesday it was directing military leaders to draw up a list of potential cuts totaling about $50 billion from the upcoming budget for fiscal year 2026 to be redirected into President Donald Trump’s priorities for national defense.
The review could set the stage for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to follow through with goals to invest more in the Asia-Pacific and prioritize securing the U.S. border with Mexico, along with other reforms.

It was unclear how the effort would square with other cost-savings initiatives led by Elon Musk’s government downsizing teams, which have started working from the Pentagon as civilian employees brace for job cuts.
Robert Salesses, performing the duties of the deputy defense secretary, said the military would develop a list of potential savings after examining the budget drawn up by the previous administration of President Joe Biden.
“The offsets are targeted at 8% of the Biden administration’s FY26 budget, totaling around $50 billion, which will then be spent on programs aligned with President Trump’s priorities,” Salesses said.

The statement clarifies a memo reported on Wednesday by Reuters from Hegseth, who asked some parts of the military to propose what could be cut as part of a potential 8% spending reduction for them over each of the next five years, U.S. officials said on Wednesday.
There was a long list of exemptions, including U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, funding for the military’s mission along the U.S. border with Mexico, as well as missile defense and autonomous weapons, one of the officials said.
The military’s commands that oversee operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa were not exempt.
The Pentagon’s budget is approaching $1 trillion per year. In December, then-President Joe Biden signed a bill authorizing $895 billion in defense spending for the fiscal year ending September 30.

Hegseth has said publicly that the Pentagon’s focus is on U.S. border security and threats posed by China. He has said the U.S. can no longer be “primarily focused on the security of Europe”.
As Musk’s teams start their review, some civilian employees in the military said they had started receiving emails on Thursday saying they could be separated from the government since they were hired less than a year ago.
Leaders from across the political spectrum have long criticized waste and inefficiency at the Defense Department. But Democrats and civil service unions have said Musk, the world’s richest person, lacks the expertise to restructure the Pentagon, and the efforts of his team risk exposing classified programs.
Attempting to cancel defense programs could trigger pushback from lawmakers to defend spending in their electoral districts, a fact defense contractors are well aware of.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-looks-8-defense-budget-cut-each-next-5-years-washington-post-reports-2025-02-19/

Turkey has begun exporting around 15,000 tonnes of eggs to the United States as a devastating outbreak of bird flu is slashing U.S. production and sending prices soaring, a leading sector official said on Wednesday.
Deaths of millions of laying hens imperil U.S. President Donald Trump’s pledge to bring down everyday costs, as grocery stores ration supplies and restaurants raise prices for egg dishes.

Shipments to the U.S. from Turkey began this month and will continue until July, said Ibrahim Afyon, chairman of the Egg Producers Central Union in Turkey.
“The export will take place through our member companies with the required authorizations, while two firms will coordinate the process,” Afyon said.
“A total of 15,000 tonnes of eggs — equivalent to 700 containers — will be shipped,” he added.
The U.S. has been working to contain bird flu, which was first detected in dairy cattle in Texas last March and has since spread to more than 970 herds in 17 states. The virus has infected nearly 70 people since April, primarily farm workers exposed to infected poultry or cattle. One person who was infected died.

The outbreak in poultry began in 2022 and has wiped out about 162 million chickens, turkeys and other birds, according to U.S. data. A surge in recent infections is fuelling egg shortages.
“We support the temporary import of egg products to help ease the strain on the U.S. egg supply,” said Chad Gregory, CEO of United Egg Producers, a cooperative that represents U.S. egg farmers.
Faced with supply constraints, U.S. companies have sought alternative import markets, leading to negotiations with Turkish producers, Afyon said. The deal is expected to generate around $26 million in export revenue, he added.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/turkey-export-15000-tonnes-eggs-us-amid-bird-flu-disruptions-2025-02-19/

U.S. President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he has instructed the Justice Department to terminate all remaining Biden-era U.S. attorneys, asserting that the department had been “politicized like never before.”
“We must ‘clean house’ IMMEDIATELY, and restore confidence. America’s Golden Age must have a fair Justice System – THAT BEGINS TODAY,” Trump said in a post on Truth Social.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, the White House sent termination notices to several U.S. Attorneys around the country who had been appointed by Democratic former President Joe Biden.
On Monday, several U.S. attorneys appointed by Biden announced they were stepping down. Others left the government last week.
While it is customary for U.S. Attorneys to step down after a change in the presidential administration, usually the incoming administration asks for their resignations and does not issue tersely worded termination letters, current and former Justice Department lawyers say.

The termination of the U.S. attorneys, who serve as the top federal law enforcement officers in their districts, is the latest in shake-ups at the Justice Department since Trump took office last month.
Career Justice Department officials normally remain in office from one administration to the next. Yet dozens in cities including Washington and New York have been fired or quit since Trump took office.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-has-instructed-doj-terminate-all-remaining-biden-era-us-attorneys-2025-02-18/

Donald Trump has taken aim at Ukraine after its President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said it was a “surprise” his country had not been invited to talks in Saudi Arabia on ending the war with Russia.

Saying he was “disappointed” by Ukraine’s reaction, he appeared to blame Ukraine for starting the war, saying the country “could have made a deal”.

A full-scale Russian invasion sparked the war in Ukraine almost three years ago.

Earlier on Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Riyadh for the first high-level, face-to-face talks between the two countries since the invasion.

They agreed to appoint teams to start negotiating the end of the war.

Lavrov said his country would not accept peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, a proposal raised at a meeting of European members of Nato in Paris on Monday.

European Nato states, who remain committed to supporting Ukraine against Russia, have been smarting at being sidelined by Trump’s unilateral peace initiative, which reversed the resolutely pro-Ukraine policy of his predecessor as president, Joe Biden.

Speaking to reporters at his Mar-a-Lago residence, Trump was asked by the BBC what his message was to Ukrainians who might feel betrayed.

“I hear that they’re upset about not having a seat, well, they’ve had a seat for three years and a long time before that. This could have been settled very easily,” he said.

“You should have never started it. You could have made a deal,” he later added.

“I could have made a deal for Ukraine,” he said. “That would have given them almost all of the land, everything, almost all of the land – and no people would have killed, and no city would have been demolished.”

After the meeting in Riyadh, Trump said he was “much more confident”.

“They were very good,” he said. “Russia wants to do something. They want to stop the savage barbarianism.”

“I think I have the power to end this war,” he added.

Asked about the prospect of European countries sending troops to Ukraine, Trump said: “If they want to do that, that’s great, I’m all for it. If they want to do that, I think that’d be fine. I mean, I know France has mentioned it, others have mentioned it, UK has mentioned it.”

However, he added: “We won’t have to put any over there because, you know, we’re very far away.”

After Monday’s meeting in Paris, British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said any Ukraine peace deal would require a “US backstop” to deter Russia from attacking its neighbour again.

Sir Keir said a “US security guarantee was the only way to effectively deter Russia”, and vowed to discuss the “key elements” of a peace deal with Trump in Washington next week.

Also at the talks in Riyadh were US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, as well as Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov and the head of Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, Kirill Dmitriev.

Stressing that Moscow would not agree to peacekeeping forces from Nato countries in Ukraine under any peace deal, Lavrov said: “Any appearance by armed forces under some other flag does not change anything. It is of course completely unacceptable.”

He said the US and Russia would appoint ambassadors to each other’s countries as soon as possible and create conditions to “restore co-operation in full”.

“It was a very useful conversation. We listened to each other, and we heard each other,” he said.

He reiterated Russia’s previous position that any expansion of the Nato defence alliance – and Ukraine joining it – would be a “direct threat” to Russia.

Rubio for his part said he was “convinced” Russia was “willing to begin to engage in a serious process” to end the conflict.

“There has to be concessions made by all sides. We’re not going to predetermine what those are.”

“Today is the first step of a long and difficult journey, but an important one”, he added.

Rubio said the European Union was going to “have to be at the table at some point because they have sanctions as well that have been imposed”.

On the absence of Ukraine at the meeting, he insisted “no-one is being sidelined”.

“Everyone involved in that conflict has to be OK with it, it has to be acceptable to them,” he added.

The talks in Paris, which were hastily arranged in response to the apparent rapprochement between Russia and the US under Trump, did not agree a unified position.

Germany’s Chancellor Olaf Scholz said discussing sending troops to Ukraine at present was “completely premature”.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk also said he did not intend to send troops while Italy’s Giorgia Meloni – the only European leader to attend Trump’s inauguration – expressed doubts.

She told the meeting in Paris that deploying European troops would be “the most complex and the least effective” way of securing peace in Ukraine.

Ukraine’s leader looked visibly tired and upset when he gave his reaction to the Roiyadh meeting during a news conference in Turkey.

“We want everything to be fair and so that nobody decides anything behind our back,” Zelensky said.

“You cannot make decisions without Ukraine on how to end the war in Ukraine.”

He will be alarmed by all the smiles on both American and Russian faces in Riyadh, but he will know that he can do little to change whatever they agree on over his head.

The Ukrainian president will also know that his country’s chances of resisting – let alone defeating – Russian troops without American help are very slim.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd0n5e1pdz9o

A Delta Air Lines jet flipped on its roof while landing Monday at Toronto’s Pearson Airport, but all 80 people on board survived and those hurt had relatively minor injuries, the airport’s chief executive said.

Snow was being blown by winds gusting to 40 mph (65 kph) when the flight from Minneapolis carrying 76 passengers and four crew attempted to land at around 2:15 p.m. Communications between the tower and pilot were normal on approach and it’s not clear what went so drastically wrong when the plane touched down.

Canadian authorities held two brief news conferences but provided no details on the crash. Video posted to social media only showed the aftermath with the Mitsubishi CRJ-900LR overturned, the fuselage seemingly intact and firefighters dousing what was left of the fire as passengers climbed out and walked across the tarmac.

“We are very grateful there was no loss of life and relatively minor injuries,” Deborah Flint, CEO of Greater Toronto Airports Authority, told reporters.

Toronto Pearson Fire Chief Todd Aitken said 18 passengers were taken to the hospital. Earlier in the day, Ornge air ambulance said it was transporting one pediatric patient to Toronto’s SickKids hospital and two injured adults to other hospitals in the city.

Emergency personnel reached the plane within a few minutes and Aitken said the response “went as planned.” He said “the runway was dry and there was no cross-wind conditions.”

The crash was the fourth major aviation accident in North America in the past three weeks. A commercial jetliner and an Army helicopter collided near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 29, killing 67 people. A medical transportation plane crashed in Philadelphia on Jan. 31, killing the six people on board and another person on the ground. And on Feb. 6, 10 people were killed in a plane crash in Alaska.

The last major crash at Pearson was on Aug. 2, 2005, when an Airbus A340 landing from Paris skidded off the runway and burst into flames amid stormy weather. All 309 passengers and crew aboard Air France Flight 358 survived the crash.

On Monday, Pearson was experiencing blowing snow and winds of 32 mph (51 kph) gusting to 40 mph (65 kph), according to the Meteorological Service of Canada. The temperature was about 16.5 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 8.6 degrees Celsius).

The Delta flight was cleared to land at about 2:10 p.m. Audio recordings show the control tower warned the pilots of a possible air flow “bump” on the approach.

“It sounds to me like a controller trying to be helpful, meaning the wind is going to give you a bumpy ride coming down, that you’re going to be up and down through the glide path,” said John Cox, CEO of aviation safety consulting firm Safety Operating Systems in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“So it was windy. But the airplanes are designed and certified to handle that,” Cox said. “The pilots are trained and experienced to handle that.”

The plane came to a rest at the intersection of Runways 23 and 15L, not far from the start of the runway. Just after the crash, tower controllers spoke with the crew of a medical helicopter that had just left Pearson and was returning to help.

“Just so you’re aware, there’s people outside walking around the aircraft there,” a controller said.

“Yeah, we’ve got it. The aircraft is upside down and burning,” the medical helicopter pilot responded.

Cox, who flew for U.S. Air for 25 years and has worked on U.S. National Transportation Safety Board investigations, said the CRJ-900 aircraft is a proven aircraft that’s been in service for decades and does a good job of handling inclement weather.

He said it’s unusual for a plane to end up on its roof.

“We’ve seen a couple of cases of takeoffs where airplanes have ended up inverted, but it’s pretty rare,” Cox said.

Among the questions that need to be answered, Cox said, is why the crashed plane was missing its right wing.

“If one wing is missing, it’s going to have a tendency to roll over,” he said. “Those are going to be central questions as to what happened to the wing and the flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. They will be found, if not today, tomorrow, and the Transportation Safety Board of Canada will read them out and they will have a very good understanding of what actually occurred here.”

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement that the Transportation Safety Board of Canada would head up the investigation and provide any updates. The NTSB in the U.S. said it is leading a team to assist in the Canadian investigation.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a statement that “the hearts of the entire global Delta family are with those affected by today’s incident at Toronto-Pearson International Airport.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said he has been in touch with Delta about the crash.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/delta-toronto-airport-minneapolis-4ab235ef49b2d3757c9bd5fd8c6606ce

Benjamin Netanyahu has unveiled a vision for the future of Gaza, following closely on the heels of Donald Trump’s contentious plans for the region.

The Israeli Prime Minister shared a blueprint, complete with striking CGI renderings, proposing the transformation of Gaza into an urban oasis. This plan mirrors Trump’s idea to convert Gaza into “the Riviera of the Middle East” which the former U.S. President announced last week during a press conference with Netanyahu.

According to The Sun, speculation is rife that Trump may have been briefed on Netanyahu’s AI-enhanced vision of Gaza. Nadav Shtrauchler, a previous strategist for Netanyahu, commented to the publication: “I think it’d been shown to Trump one way or another.

“Trump didn’t wake up in the morning and come up with the idea, there would have been routes to this, probably from Israel. It was planted somehow.”

The futuristic designs, labeled “Gaza 2035” potentially influencing Trump, depict the area adorned with avant-garde skyscrapers and connected by a 132-mile railway to NEOM.

The ambitious proposal touts “US dominance” and aims to elevate Gaza “from crisis to prosperity” by completely reconstructing the territory “from nothing”.

This revelation comes amidst the furor caused by Trump, who infamously pledged to “take over” the Gaza Strip and transform it into a luxurious Middle Eastern “Riviera”. The Republican, aged 78, faced global backlash after suggesting that displaced Palestinians should be resettled elsewhere.

Trump claimed his strategy would generate “thousands of jobs” and turn the area into a “magnificent” destination inhabited by “the world’s people”.

Trump remarked: “The US will take over the Gaza Strip, and we will do a job with it too. We’ll make that into an international unbelievable place. The potential in the Gaza Strip is unbelievable. You have to learn from history, you just can’t let it keep repeating itself.”

Among the numerous leaders to criticise these comments was Sir Keir Starmer, who reiterated his support for a two-state solution as the key to resolving the region’s issues.

Source : https://www.the-express.com/news/world-news/163924/benjamin-netanyahu-donald-trump-gaza-s-transformation-2035

South Korean actress Kim Sae-ron has been found dead at her home in Seoul, according to the Yonhap news agency.

A friend discovered the Netflix actress after going to her house.

They called the police who found no signs of foul play, according to Yonhap.

Kim, 24, was one of South Korea’s most promising actresses and starred in a number of box-office hits, most recently in the 2023 hit Netflix series Bloodhounds.

Her career took a hit, however, after she crashed her car while driving drunk in 2022.

She was fined 20 million won (£11,000) over the incident and largely withdrew from acting.

She attempted to return to acting last year but later removed herself again over health issues, according to Yonhap.

Kim rose to prominence in 2009 with her role in A Brand New Life, which saw her appear at the Cannes Film Festival.

Source : https://news.sky.com/story/popular-south-korean-actress-found-dead-in-her-home-13311185

JD Vance has taken aim at the UK and Europe over what he claimed was “backsliding” free speech and democracy.

The US vice president pulled no punches when addressing European leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Germany on Friday.

“When I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the Cold War’s winners,” he said, during a speech that roamed across Europe targeting perceived infringes on free speech.

Speaking with unusual directness to some of the US’s closest allies, he added: “Perhaps most concerningly, I look to our very dear friends, the United Kingdom, where the backslide away from conscience rights has placed the basic liberties of religious Britons, in particular, in the crosshairs.”

Mr Vance criticised the country for the conviction of 51-year-old Adam Smith-Connor, who was given a conditional discharge for breaching a safe zone around an abortion clinic in Bournemouth.

“After British law enforcement spotted him and demanded to know what he was praying for, Adam replied simply, it was on behalf of the unborn son he and his former girlfriend had aborted years before,” Mr Vance said.

He then went on to talk about “safe access zones” in Scotland – a 200m wide area (150m in England) outside abortion clinics to stop anti-abortion campaigners leafleting, holding vigils, or showing graphic images to people near the sites.

‘New sheriff in town’

UKRAINE’S brave President Volodymyr Zelensky has today called for the creation of an “Army of Europe” to take on Russia.

Zelensky spoke about his ambitions to create a continental military force at the Munich Security Conference – as he blasted Vladimir Putin a “liar, weak and predictable”.

The 47-year-old Ukrainian leader made the comments as he notably left out Washington’s involvement in his European army dream.

It comes amid Donald Trump urging Ukraine to find a resolution to end the war quickly.

President Trump has already shared a phone call with both Zelensky and Putin with all three men looking to agree to a peace deal.

Tyrant Putin is expected to make a number of deranged demands when he finally meets Trump for Ukraine peace for talks.

Whereas Zelensky has said he won’t accept any peace deal unless his country is given security guarantees.

Speaking in Germany today, Zelensky proposed a new plan to achieve safety for Ukraine going forwards.

He said: “Many leaders have talked about Europe and that needs its own military, an army of Europe and I believe the time has come.

“The Armed Forces of Europe must be created.

“Without Ukraine’s army, Europe’s army’s will not be enough to stop Russia.

“Only our army in Europe has real, modern battlefield experience but our army alone is not enough too.

“And we need what you can provide weapons, training, sanctions, financing, political pressure and unity.”

The Ukrainian president said Europe should be looking to create such a military separate from Nato in case “America might say no to Europe on issues that threaten it”.

He added that after three years of fighting, Ukraine has managed to build up the foundations of a European army and should now act on it.

“As we fight this war and lay the groundwork for peace and security we must build the Armed Forces of Europe so that Europe’s future depends only on Europeans and decisions about Europe are made in Europe,” he said.

“Europe has everything it takes but it needs to come together.

“We need confidence in our own friends so that others have no choice but to respect Europe’s power and without a European army that is impossible.”

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk appeared to support Zelensky’s calls as he said Europe urgently needs a plan over security.

He said he fears “global players will decide” Europe’s future if they don’t prepare.

The calls for a united force on the continent comes as disagreements over Ukraine’s potential Nato membership continues to rage on.

Ukraine has wanted to be a part of Nato for years – an issue that helped spark Vlad’s initial invasion three years ago.

This would give them protection from any foreign forces as an attack on a Nato country would result in a counter strike conducted by the remaining nations.

Moscow has constantly said they will not allow Ukraine to join the alliance with Putin vowing to continue his assault until he is given these assurances.

The US has also been accused of rolling over to Russia before negotiations had even started following on from Putin and Trump’s positive chat.

Over the past few days, those close to The White House have said Ukraine won’t be allowed to go back to its 2014 borders before the annexing of Crimea.

US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has also been adamant that there is no chance Ukraine would be allowed to join Nato.

Zelensky told global leaders in Munich he is refusing to accept that Ukraine won’t be allowed a Nato membership.

He even said the organisation needs to stop allowing Putin to dictate things on his terms and instead help Ukraine to prevent a wider war breaking out in Europe.

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/news/13550475/zelenksy-army-europe-russia-putin/

Australia will ban foreign investors from buying existing homes in the country for two years, its government said on Sunday, in an effort to boost under-pressure housing supply.
“We’re banning foreign purchases of established dwellings from April 1, 2025, until March 31 2027,” treasurer Jim Chalmers said in a statement with housing minister Clare O’Neil. It added that a review would be undertaken on whether the ban would be extended.

Dissatisfaction with housing in Australia reached an all-time high last year and it is an issue that is expected to dominate a general election due by May.
O’Neil said in comments televised by the Australian Broadcasting Corp that the ban would likely free up around 1,800 properties per year for local buyers.
“These initiatives are a small but important part of our already big and broad housing agenda which is focused on boosting supply and helping more people into homes,” the ministers’ statement said.

Housing is the largest contributor to the rising cost of living in Australia and is set to be a key issue at the upcoming election. A recent poll had the centre-left Labor government lagging its main conservative political opposition.
The government recently passed housing reforms including a shared equity scheme and tax incentives for developers, to ease cost pressures and achieve a target of building 1.2 million new homes by 2030.\

Source: https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/australia-put-two-year-ban-foreigners-buying-existing-homes-amid-housing-crunch-2025-02-16/

The UK must be prepared to go to war with Russia if Vladimir Putin decides to escalate his war in eastern Europe, a senior MP has said.

European leaders are scrambling to respond to Donald Trump’s announcement yesterday that he discussed a plan to end the war in Ukraine with the Russian president.

In the House of Commons on Thursday, MPs sharply criticised the move, comparing it to Neville Chamberlain’s ill-fated appeasement campaign that failed to stop the Second World War.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has also drawn a stark line between the US president’s position and his own, saying: ‘There’s no negotiation about Ukraine which doesn’t include Ukraine.’

Directing questions at defence minister Maria Eagle in the chamber this afternoon, MPs made clear their concerns over the potential repercussions of Trump’s move.

Sir Julian Lewis, the Conservative former head of the defence select committee, asked: ‘Will the Government impress on President Trump at every possible opportunity that the reason why appeasement led to World War Two was that it left a vacuum in Europe? ‘

He continued: ‘Whereas the reason why the occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of that war did not lead to World War Three was the United States filled any possible vacuum and contained further aggression.

‘So if he is going for a settlement against the wishes of the Ukrainian people, the least he can do is to guarantee directly the security of that part of Ukraine which remains unoccupied.’

Johanna Baxter, the Labour MP for Paisley and South Renfrewshire, echoed his sentiment, saying ‘if reports of the call between President Trump and Moscow are to be believed, then this is less the Art of the Deal and more a charter for appeasement’.

Eagle responded: ‘I’ve already said quite clearly that the fate of Ukraine in these negotiations can’t be determined without Ukraine being fully involved, and that is our priority.

‘At the moment to put them in the strongest position, war fighting is still happening, to put them in the strongest possible position to negotiate from strength.’

Tory MP Sir Bernard Jenkin told the minister ‘some of the defence chiefs have been expressing this, that we must be ready to fight a war with Russia if necessary, in order to be able to deter Russia’.

He added that this would be necessary ‘if we are to be in any position to guarantee the security of an independent and sovereign Ukraine, after whatever is agreed between President Trump and President Putin’.

Speaking to ITV’s Robert Peston, Sir Keir said his ‘position is the NATO position’.

The PM said: ‘Ukrainians want this conflict to end. It could end tomorrow if Russia stopped the aggression and withdrew its troops, and we must never lose sight of that.

‘But Ukraine needs to be in the strongest possible position. Ukrainians want peace. Those that have had to flee their country want to go back to their country.

‘But this has to be led by Ukraine.’

On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer said Britain is committed to Ukraine being on an ‘irreversible path’ to joining Nato after the US stated Nato membership for Kyiv is not a realistic prospect.

Britain has so far sought to strike a delicate balance between supporting Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and keeping Donald Trump, who says he has agreed with Vladimir Putin to start ‘negotiations’ to end the conflict, on side.

But David Lammy, the UK Foreign Secretary, has told broadcasters: ‘We are still some way from a negotiated peace.’

In a readout of the Prime Minister’s conversation with Mr Zelensky, a Downing Street spokeswoman said: ‘The Prime Minister began by reiterating the UK’s concrete support for Ukraine, for as long as it’s needed.

‘He was unequivocal that there could be no talks about Ukraine, without Ukraine.

‘Ukraine needed strong security guarantees, further lethal aid and a sovereign future, and it could count on the UK to step up, he added.

‘The Prime Minister reiterated the UK’s commitment to Ukraine being on an irreversible path to Nato as agreed by allies at the Washington Summit last year.’

Source : https://metro.co.uk/2025/02/13/britain-warned-must-ready-go-war-russia-22554454/

THIS is the ultra-luxury UFO submarine that can dive 650ft under the ocean and host 12-hour undersea parties.

The posh pod can be rented out for all-night bashes – and you can even get married hundreds of metres underwater.

The Triton 660/9 AVA is kitted out with surround sound, mood lighting and climate control for the ultimate custom experience.

The Florida-based engineers Triton Submarines said they “threw out the rule book” when designing the new model.

It can transform into anything from a casino to a cocktail bar during its 12-hour cruises.

The makers promise that “activities are limited only by the owner’s imagination”.

Guests on board are treated to stunning 360-degree views of the ocean, fine dining, spa treatments and subsea gaming experiences.

The swanky sub is oval-shaped and 3 metres long by 5 metres wide.

The space inside is 2.3 metres, leaving plenty of room for even the tallest of passengers.

Eight guests can fit in the plush leather seats alongside the pilot – or six if you plump for the smaller version.

The underwater craft also weighs a hefty 11 tonnes.

That’s because a lot of tough material is needed for the sub to endure the extreme conditions of the deep ocean.

The sub dives to depths where the pressure is 20 times greater than we experience on land.

The all-important controls for the sit in the middle of the vessel, in a space known as the Halo Cockpit.

This sub is also the first to feature the new wireless Hammerhead Controller, which can be used to drive the vessel from any seat in the pod.

Passengers can even have a crack at driving the thing around, under the watchful eye of the pilot.

Triton says the secret to creating such a roomy sub is their “world-first free-form acrylic hulls”.

They add: “As the shape remains constant across its width, so much more of the space is realised as additional headroom, legroom and usable space.”

The Triton sub can be booked for locations around the world, with past dive spots including the Great Barrier Reef, Antarctica, Japan, the Galapagos and the Red Sea.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13537124/inside-ultra-luxury-ufo-submarine/

The U.S. government needs to “delete entire agencies” in a cost and efficiency drive, tech billionaire and Tesla
co-founder and CEO Elon Musk said Thursday when asked about whether the changes he is implementing as part of President Donald Trump’s administration will last beyond Trump’s term.

“I think we do need to delete entire agencies, as opposed to leave part of them behind. … It’s kind of like leaving a weed,” Musk said. “If you don’t remove the roots of the weed, then it’s easy for the weed to grow back. But if you remove the roots of the weed — it doesn’t stop weeds from ever going back, but it makes it harder.”

Musk, who also founded SpaceX and owns social media platform X, made the comments while speaking via video link to an audience at Dubai’s annual World Governments Summit, as part of a conversation hosted by the UAE’s artificial intelligence minister, Omar Sultan Al Olama.

“So we have to really delete entire agencies, many of them,” Musk said. “And that’s not to say there won’t be an increase over time of bureaucracy in some new administration, but it will be from a much lower baseline. So certainly it’s a step in the right direction.”

“Nothing’s forever,” he added, “but I think we can strengthen the foundations of the United States substantially.”

Trump appointed the South African-born engineer and tech entrepreneur as a “special government employee” and the head of a new advisory body called the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, under the administration. Musk has been vocal about his aims to improve government efficiency and reduce bureaucracy and regulations, and on Thursday said that such efforts could amount to a $1 trillion reduction in the federal deficit by 2026.

Source : https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/13/elon-musk-calls-for-the-us-government-to-delete-entire-agencies-remove-the-roots-of-the-weed.html

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after meeting US President Donald Trump at the White House, shared his vision of ‘Make India Great Again’. PM Modi said that the joint vision of MAGA and MIGA will become a mega partnership.
MIGA is a phrase inspired by Donald Trump’s famous slogan ‘Make America Great Again’. “In the language of America, it’s Make India Great Again – MIGA. When America and India work together, this MAGA plus MIGA becomes a ‘mega partnership for prosperity’ and it is this mega spirit that gives new scale and scope to our objectives,” said PM Modi while addressing a joint press conference alongside Trump.

“The people of America are well aware of President Trump’s motto ‘MAGA – Make America Great Again.’ The people of India too are focusing on heritage and development as they move forward at a fast pace and with a firm resolve towards the goal of Viksit Bharat 2047,” he added.

Sharing a glimpse from Modi-Trump joint press conference, Union Minister Piyush Goyal wrote on X, “Make America Great Again (MAGA) + Make India Great Again (MIGA) = MEGA Partnership for Prosperity.”

India and the US have decided to take a big leap in broad-basing their strategic ties in several critical areas, with President Trump announcing after talks with PM Modi that Washington is paving the way to provide New Delhi with F-35 fighter jets as part of increasing military supplies by billions of dollars.
After holding wide-ranging talks with PM Modi, Trump said there is a “special bond” between the world’s oldest and largest democracies and both sides decided to shore up cooperation in diverse areas such as energy, critical technologies and connectivity.

PM Modi is the fourth foreign leader to visit Trump in the weeks after the American leader’s inauguration as the 47th President of the US.

Source : https://www.timesnownews.com/india/maga-miga-mega-pm-modi-sets-new-manta-for-india-us-ties-after-meeting-with-donald-trump-article-118232223

Programmes to tackle HIV, polio, mpox and bird flu have been affected by the freeze on tens of billions of dollars of overseas aid from the US, says the head of the World Health Organization (WHO).

US President Donald Trump has taken steps to close the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), arguing that its spending is “totally unexplainable”.

However, WHO chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has urged the Trump administration to consider resuming aid funding until other solutions can be found.

HIV treatments and other services have been disrupted in 50 countries, he said at a briefing on Wednesday.

Speaking publicly for the first time about the freeze on US aid funding, at a virtual press conference in Geneva, Dr Tedros said: “There are actions that the US government is taking… which we’re concerned are having a serious impact on global health.”

In particular he pointed to the suspension of PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, which he said had halted HIV treatment, testing and prevention services in 50 countries.

He added that a reprieve for life-saving services had not stopped the disruption.

“Clinics are shuttered and health workers have been put on leave,” Dr Tedros said.

Experts in global health have warned of the spread of disease, as well as delays to the development of vaccines and new treatments as a result of the cuts.

Trump has argued that USAID is “incompetent and corrupt”.

He recently announced huge cuts to the agency’s 10,000-strong workforce and the immediate suspension of almost all of its aid programmes.

The agency spends about $40bn (£32bn) – about 0.6% of total US yearly government spending – on humanitarian aid, much of which goes towards health programmes.

The vast majority of USAID money is spent in Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and Europe, where it is primarily used for humanitarian efforts in Ukraine.

Elon Musk, the tech billionaire who is working on the White House’s effort to shrink the size of the federal government, has previously claimed that the aid agency is “a criminal organisation”.

Neither Trump nor Musk have provided clear evidence to support their claims.

As well as the freeze on USAID, President Trump has taken steps to withdraw the United States from the WHO.

Under the Biden administration the US was the largest funder of the UN’s health agency and in 2023 it contributed almost one-fifth of the agency’s budget.

Dr Tedros said Trump’s decision was affecting collaboration between countries on global health threats. He also said the US had reduced its reporting of bird flu cases in humans.

The WHO says it has employed emergency measures similar to those used during the Covid pandemic to fill the gaps where there are shortages – in life-saving antiretroviral medication, for example, which is used to treat people living with HIV.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czj3z290ngyo

Google has removed cultural events like Black History Month honoring African Americans as well as Pride Month from being listed as default holidays or national observances on Google Calendar.

Several other events and holidays like Women’s History Month, Holocaust Remembrance Day, National Hispanic Heritage Month and Indigenous People Month were also removed from Calendar.

Google has yet to list out the cultural events that it has removed. A spokesperson for the tech giant told the Associated Press agency that it first made the changes in the middle of 2024.

“Maintaining hundreds of moments manually and consistently globally wasn’t scalable or sustainable,” Google said in its statement to AP, adding: “So in mid-2024 we returned to showing only public holidays and national observances from timeanddate.com globally, while allowing users to manually add other important moments.”

It is not clear why the changes are being noticed now, but they come as tech companies publicly pull away from their commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives.

US President Donald Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office, terminating “illegal DEI and ‘diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility’ (DEIA) mandates, policies, programs, preferences, and activities in the Federal Government, under whatever name they appear.”

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/google-calendar-removes-black-history-month-and-pride-month/a-71580642

Google Maps has changed the Gulf of Mexico’s name to the Gulf of America for people using the app in the US.

Explaining the move, Google said it was making the change as part of “a longstanding practice” of following name changes when updated by official government sources.

It said the Gulf – which is bordered by the US, Cuba and Mexico – would not be changed for people using the app in Mexico, and users elsewhere in the world will see the label: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.

It comes after President Donald Trump ordered the body of water to be renamed in US government documents after he returned to office last month.

Mexico had decried the move, arguing that the US had no legal right to change the Gulf’s name.

The change was made by Google on Monday after the Geographic Names Information System, a US government database run by the Interior Department, listed an update to the Gulf’s name.

The listing reads: “The Gulf of America, formerly known as the Gulf of Mexico, with an average depth 5300 ft is a major body of water bordered and nearly landlocked by North America with the Gulf’s eastern, northern, and northwestern shores in the U.S. and its southwestern and southern shores in Mexico.”

It said the change was made in accordance with Trump’s executive order to “restore names that honor American Greatness”.

Following the signing of the order, President Trump proclaimed 9 February as “Gulf of America Day”.

“I call upon public officials and all the people of the United States to observe this day with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities,” a White House statement said.

Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum had asked Google to reconsider its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico.

She argued the US could not legally change the Gulf’s name because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea dictates that an individual country’s sovereign territory only extends up to 12 nautical miles out from the coastline.

The Associated Press, a global media organisation, said that it would not change the name of the Gulf of Mexico in its style guide – which is used by most US media outlets.

Because of the style guide decision, the White House said it was barring an AP reporter from covering an executive order signing in the Oval Office.

Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cp820m733p3o

Fifteen measles cases — mostly in school-aged children — have been confirmed in a small county in West Texas with one of the highest rates of vaccine exemptions in the state.

South Plains Public Health District Director Zach Holbrooks said Monday that his department was first notified in late January about the first two cases in Gaines County, which he said were “two children who had seen a physician in Lubbock.”

Some of the cases appear to be connected to private religious schools in the district, said Holbrooks, who cautioned that the investigation is ongoing.

“I wouldn’t say they’re all connected, but our teams are looking into exposure sites and the background of those cases,” he said.

Local health officials set up a drive-through vaccination clinic last week and are offering screening services to residents.

The U.S. saw a rise in measles cases in 2024, including an outbreak in Chicago that sickened more than 60. This month, health officials in metro Atlanta are working to contain a measles case that spread to two unvaccinated family members.

Texas law allows children to get an exemption from school vaccines for reasons of conscience, including religious beliefs. The percentage of kids with exemptions has risen over the last decade from .76% in 2014 to 2.32% last year, according to Texas Department of State Health Services data.

Gaines County has one of the highest rates in Texas of school-aged children who opt out of at least one required vaccine: Nearly 14% of children from kindergarten through grade 12 had an exemption in the 2023-24 school year, which is more than five times the state average of 2.32% and beyond the national rate of 3.3%.

But the number of unvaccinated kids in the county is likely significantly higher, DSHS spokeswoman Lara Anton said, because Gaines County has many children who are homeschooled and whose data would not be reported.

The measles, mumps and rubella vaccines is a two-shot series: The first is recommended at 12 to 15 months old and second between 4 to 6 years old. The vaccine is required to attend most public schools in the U.S.

But vaccination rates have declined nationwide since the COVID-19 pandemic and most states are below the 95% vaccination threshold for kindergartners — the level needed to protect communities against measles outbreaks. Lawmakers across the country have proposed various vaccine requirement changes at a time when anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is awaiting confirmation as the secretary of Health and Human Services.

One of the early Gaines County cases traveled to neighboring New Mexico while they were still infectious, Anton said, but there were no immediate reports of infection. New Mexico Department of Health spokesman Robert Nott said the agency has been in communication with Texas officials but there was no known exposure to measles in his state.

“We’re going to watch this very closely,” Nott said.

Two cases of measles were reported in early January in the Houston area, but Holbrooks said the West Texas cases don’t appear to be connected.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/measles-outbreak-gaines-county-texas-religious-exemptions-cacdae1843fa918964a1b8e01fe757f5

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing additional tariff cuts ahead of his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump that could boost American exports to India and avoid a potential trade war, government officials said.
Modi’s trip to the U.S. on Wednesday and Thursday comes as Trump plans to announce reciprocal tariffs on many countries, a move aimed at reshaping global trade relationships in favour of the United States.

Trump has not specified which countries would be hit but has previously called India a “very big abuser” on trade and stressed that India should buy more American-made security equipment to move toward a fair bilateral trading relationship.
India is considering tariff reductions in at least a dozen sectors, including electronic, medical and surgical equipment, along with some chemicals, to raise U.S. exports. These reductions align with New Delhi’s domestic production plans, three government officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that concessions are being considered for items that India primarily sources from the U.S. or has potential to buy more of, such as dish antennas and wood pulp. Modi is expected to discuss tariffs with Trump next week and India is open to discussing a possible mini trade deal.
The early visit hopes to avoid a “trade war-like situation that is happening between U.S. and China,” a third official said. Trump imposed sweeping 10% tariffs on Chinese imports, prompting Beijing to respond with duties on American energy.

The officials did not wish to be identified as they are not authorised to speak to media. India’s trade ministry, foreign affairs ministry and the Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to requests for comment e-mailed outside official work days.
The discussions on tariff concessions follow a reduction in India’s average import tariff rates to 11% from 13% on several items in the country’s annual budget, and a cut in taxes on high-end bikes and luxury cars.

India is also reviewing surcharges levied on more than 30 items, including luxury cars and solar cells.
The upcoming meeting between Modi and Trump will focus on trade, defense cooperation and technology, but has been overshadowed by the recent deportation of Indians from the U.S.
One of the three officials said the meeting will help offer political direction to ties between the two countries and detailed talks on tariffs will follow the trip.
Despite Trump’s criticism of India’s trade practices, the U.S. president has called Modi “fantastic”.
The U.S. is India’s largest trading partner and two-way trade surpassed $118 billion in 2023/24, with India posting a surplus of $32 billion.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/indias-modi-meet-trump-with-planned-tariff-concessions-2025-02-10/

There’s a new race in space, but it’s not where you might think. It’s happening close to home – in the nearest bit of space, right on the edge of Earth’s atmosphere.

High in the skies of Earth, a new space race is underway. Here, just above the boundary where space begins, companies are trying to create a new class of daring satellites. Not quite high-altitude planes and not quite low-orbiting satellites, these sky skimmers are designed to race around our planet in an untapped region, with potentially huge benefits on offer.

Roughly 10,000 satellites are orbiting our planet right now, at speeds of up to 17,000mph (27,000km/h). Every one of these delicate contraptions is in constant free-fall and would drop straight back down to Earth were it not for the blistering speeds at which they travel. It’s their considerable sideways momentum, perfectly stabilised against the Earth’s gravitational pull downwards, that keeps satellites in orbit.

A new class of satellites are aiming to push the limits of this balancing act and plough a much more precarious, lower orbit that would skim the top of Earth’s atmosphere. Known as Very Low Earth Orbit (VLEO), spacecraft at these altitudes have to battle against the significantly greater drag from the air in the upper reaches of the atmosphere than their loftier cousins, lest they get pushed out of the sky. Should they manage it, however, such satellites might achieve something even more jaw-dropping – they could potentially fly forever.

“When you start describing it to people, it starts to sound like a perpetual motion machine,” says Spence Wise, senior vice-president at Redwire, an aerospace firm in Florida. A perpetual motion machine is not meant to be possible. But it almost is, in this instance.

A handful of pioneering companies have begun work on designs for satellites that may be able to orbit the planet at these unusually low altitudes while simultaneously harvesting air and using it to make propellant – literally on the fly. This new generation of orbiters could enable ultra-high-definition surveillance of activities on the ground, or superfast satellite-based communications.

If you want to send something into orbit, you have to decide how high your satellite is going to fly. Earth orbits are generally described in terms of altitude and are categorised into different sections. The highest, at some 22,000 miles (36,000km) and above is called High Earth orbit. Here, satellites enter a geostationary position, meaning they are always above the same location on Earth below. This is useful for telecommunications and weather monitoring, for example. Next is Medium Earth orbit, which spans from roughly 22,000 miles (36,000km) down to 1,200 miles (2,000km) above the planet’s surface. Below this is Low Earth orbit, which stretches down to altitudes of 250 miles (400km), where the International Space Station (ISS) is found.

Even further below this lies VLEO, loosely defined as anything below the ISS and down to an altitude of about 60 miles (100km). Operating here is difficult because of the influence of Earth’s atmosphere. “The atmosphere will increase exponentially as you come down,” says Hugh Lewis, a professor of astronautics and a space debris expert at the University of Southampton in the UK.

That creates more drag on your satellite, which can spell doom. As molecules in the atmosphere smash into the satellite, they rob the vehicle of its momentum, causing the tug of our planet’s gravity to drag it towards the ground.

A satellite left in medium Earth orbit or above would carry on circling our planet for millennia. In VLEO, however, it would last barely months, weeks, or even days depending on its speed, shape and mass, dictating the amount of drag it produces and thus its lifetime. Once a satellite dips to an altitude of about 60 miles (100km), the end is imminent. The intense friction created by the thicker atmosphere subjects the satellite to temperatures of thousands of degrees, ultimately tearing it apart.

All satellites pass through VLEO on their way up or down, but not many have purposefully tried to stay there. One such spacecraft, however, was the European Space Agency’s Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) satellite. Launched in 2009, it orbited at an altitude of around 155 miles (250km), using an ion propulsion system to fire out charged particles behind the spacecraft. This gave it a constant level of thrust that could counteract the drag of the atmosphere.

GOCE was intended to measure Earth’s gravitational field with extreme precision, which it achieved. But it also demonstrated the design choices that were necessary for operating in VLEO. It had a sleek, elongated form that helped it to overcome atmospheric drag. “It looked like a dart,” says Lewis. GOCE ultimately ran out of fuel and burned up in the atmosphere on re-entry in 2013.

Several companies are now trying to do something even more impressive. They are developing technology to harvest molecules from the thin layer of air that is present in VLEO in order to actually propel satellites here. Such a system, called Air-Breathing Electric Propulsion (ABEP), has been made possible by advancements in electric and ion propulsion in recent years. In essence, it involves fixing a large bucket or opening to the front of the satellite, into which gas molecules from the atmosphere flow before they are ionised to create plasma that generates thrust.

“The idea is to use the same air slowing down your satellite as a propellant,” says Francesco Romano, a scientist at the Swiss Plasma Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, who has previously studied this technology. Using electric and magnetic fields, the engine would ionise gas from the atmosphere, taking away one electron from each molecule, to produce a free electron and an ion. Then, using magnets, the electrons and ions are pushed out the back of the spacecraft, producing thrust. “Theoretically, if you can generate a thrust that is the same as your drag, you stay at this altitude for an infinite amount of time,” says Romano.

To date, an assortment of experimental ABEP systems have been able to produce relatively small amounts of thrust at ground level, but their feasibility in orbit has yet to be properly tested.

One company investigating the potential of ABEP is Stellar Advanced Concepts in London. Together with another firm in the Netherlands and the University of Manchester, the company received a grant of £390,000 ($510,000) from the British government towards their efforts in July 2024. They hope to launch a demonstration of the technology into space by 2027. “That would be a small satellite with a small payload, maybe an Earth observation camera of some kind, as a proof of principle,” says Newsam.

A start-up called Kreios Space, based in Igualada, Spain, is also working on an ABEP prototype it aims to fly by 2026. In Kreios’s case, this would be a small satellite “that allows us to do all the testing in orbit in different altitudes,” says Adrián Senar Tejedor, the company’s CEO and co-founder. The optimal altitude for thrust and drag balancing is expected to be between 125 to 155 miles (200 to 250km). “That’s the sweet spot,” says Senar Tejedor.

But he points out that significant contracts for developing this technology are emerging on the other side of the Atlantic.

The US Department of Defense’s Otter program has already committed more than $20m (£16m) to help several companies develop air-breathing VLEO satellites. One of them, Redwire is designing a sleek “orbital drone” called SabreSat that could potentially achieve endless VLEO orbits. “That is the intent,” says Wise.

Redwire has a design for a satellite with solar panels facing edge-on to its motion, like the fins of a fish, in order to reduce drag on the spacecraft. The build would be modular, so that different versions of the satellite could fly with different instruments on board. “You can think of it like a ship,” says Wise. “It has bulkheads, and we’re able to add additional bulkheads to increase the length.”

The European arm of Redwire is concurrently developing its own VLEO satellite, called Phantom, as part of a European Space Agency (Esa) project called Skimsat. “We’re currently in the middle of the design stage, and the team is working towards a launch in 2027 or 2028,” says Juan Pablo Ramos, business development manager for Redwire in Antwerp, Belgium.

Phantom will not use air-breathing technology, however. Instead, it will rely on a specific blend of undisclosed materials on the satellite to reduce drag and an aerodynamic cone-shaped front. “The cone is designed to improve drag and protect the instruments,” says Ramos.

Getting to orbit soon is important. “I expect it to become increasingly popular,” says Newsam. “I do think it’s important to have first-mover advantage. Whoever gains the credibility of being able to produce an ABEP system, they would win the orders. But there should end up being a reasonably big market.”

There are some very good reasons for operating a satellite in VLEO. The first is Earth imaging – the closer you are to Earth, the higher resolution your images can be. “You could either have smaller cameras and gain the same quality of data, or the same camera and get a higher resolution,” adds Newsam.

That might be useful for the military, but also for civilian purposes too. “There are lots of applications in maritime, agriculture, wildfire monitoring,” says Senar Tejedor. And there could be scientific benefits from studying the atmosphere in VLEO. Putting sensors on satellites operating here “would be a dream”, says Sean Elvidge, an assistant professor of space environment at the University of Birmingham in the UK. “It would tell us an awful lot about the environment.”

The other major application of being in VLEO is that you are closer to the ground for communications. That is particularly useful for space internet services, like SpaceX’s Starlink network, which currently beams the internet to receivers on the ground from higher orbits. By using lower satellites in VLEO, the antennas can act like mobile phone towers and beam the internet straight to your phone. “Going direct to a cell phone is a challenging task to do from space,” says Tim Farrar, a satellite communications expert in California. “These lower [orbits] could enable a direct-to-cell constellation.”

The overall global market for VLEO satellite services could be vast. “We expect it to be around $15bn (£11.5bn) in 2032,” says Senar Tejedor.

An oft-touted benefit of VLEO, aside from the various novel applications, is that this kind of orbit is self-cleaning. Generally, defunct or dead satellites in VLEO will eventually fall back into the deeper atmosphere and break up, limiting the volume of space junk that would otherwise be left orbiting Earth.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20250207-sky-skimmers-the-race-to-send-satellites-into-very-low-earth-orbits

More than 200,000 protesters rallied in Munich, Germany, on Saturday against far-right extremism ahead of the country’s general election.

The far-right, anti-immigrant Alternative for Germany, or AfD, is in second place in recent polls and has prompted widespread protests across the country before voters cast their ballots on Feb. 23.

The protest at Munich’s Theresienwiese — where Oktoberfest takes place each year — brought a significantly larger crowd than expected, according to the German dpa news agency. The event’s organizer estimated the crowd could be up to 320,000 people, many of whom carried signs against the AfD with slogans like, “Racism and hatred is not an alternative.”

The protest was supported by activist groups as well as the Munich Film Festival, churches and Munich soccer clubs FC Bayern and TSV 1860, among others. Police told dpa that the demonstration was peaceful.

Similar protests attracted large crowds on Saturday in Hanover, Rostock, and elsewhere in Germany, mirroring other demonstrations that have occurred across the country in recent weeks.

Last month, at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a huge crowd blew whistles, sang anti-fascist songs and carried banners denouncing AfD. Activists said they hoped the rally also would draw attention to other far-right parties in Europe and the new administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

Demonstrators have recently also opposed Friedrich Merz, the center-right leader and front-runner in the upcoming election, and his Christian Democrats for last month sending to parliament proposals for tough new migration rules that received AfD’s backing.

The protesters say Merz and his party broke Germany’s unwritten post-Nazi promise by all democratic parties to never pass any rule or resolution in parliament with the support of far-right, nationalist parties like the AfD. Merz insists his position is unchanged and that he didn’t and won’t work with the party.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/germany-munich-election-afd-protests-29cdd1441e670a9f13394d2a44f035a5

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un criticised trilateral military cooperation among the United States, Japan and South Korea for raising tensions in the region and vowed countermeasures, including the further development of nuclear forces.
Kim said U.S. deployments of nuclear strategic assets, war exercises and military cooperation with Japan and South Korea were inviting military imbalance in the region and raising a grave challenge to the security environment, state media KCNA reported on Sunday.

“The DPRK does not want unnecessary tension of the regional situation but will take sustained countermeasures to ensure the regional military balance,” Kim said during a visit to the defence ministry on Saturday to commemorate the founding day of its Army.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
U.S. President Donald Trump, after a meeting on Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, said he would have relations with North Korea, as they expressed concern over its nuclear program.

But during the visit, Kim “clarified once again the unshakable policy of more highly developing the nuclear forces,” according to the report.
On Russia’s war with Ukraine, Kim said: “The army and people of the DPRK will invariably support and encourage the just cause of the Russian army and people to defend their sovereignty, security and territorial integrity in keeping with the spirit of the treaty on the comprehensive strategic partnership between the DPRK and Russia.”

Last month, South Korea said it suspected North Korea of preparing to send more troops to Russia, in addition to about 11,000 soldiers who had been dispatched for the three-year-long war.
In a separate commentary released later on Sunday, North Korea’s KCNA again criticised South Korea’s military activity with the United States this year and warned that aggressive actions would be met by undesired consequences.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/north-korean-leader-kim-jong-un-vows-further-develop-nuclear-forces-2025-02-08/

Blood-red waters that filled a winding waterway near the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, raised a stink as images circulated on social media on Friday.

The area is home to tanneries and other industries that process animal hides into leather using chemicals, but along part of its banks are numerous homes and an ecological reserve.

Photos and footage raised fears that industrial chemicals had been dumped into the Sarandi Stream, which flows into the Plate River on the city’s southern outskirts.

Officials in the Avellaneda municipality, some 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of the Argentine capital, said they suspected the presence of aniline, a toxic substance used in medicines and dyes.

‘The smell woke us up’

The river looks like “a river of blood,” resident Maraa Ducomls told the AFP news agency. “The smell woke us up. In the daytime, when we looked at this side of the river, it was completely red, all stained.”

The Environment Ministry for Buenos Aires province said it had taken samples from the river to determine which substance caused the water to turn red. The ministry said the coloration could have been caused by “organic” substances.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/argentina-alarm-as-river-runs-blood-red/a-71544607

Surgery is scary at the best of times, but what if your surgeon was controlling the scalpel from halfway across the world?

This could be the new reality within a matter of years as technology companies look roll out 6G networks worldwide, according to a senior figure involved in its development.

6G’s nanosecond fast speed could now make ‘online surgeries’ possible for the first time.

What will make 6G unlike any other previous mobile networks is its latency, which is the time it takes for data to travel from a device to the network.

‘6G is a game-changer,’ said Greg Flak, a senior manager in networking and planning at tech company AWTG.

AWTG were instrumental in the implementation of 5G across parts the UK and are working alongside universities in the testing of 6G.

Flak added: ‘6G will be ten times faster than 5G and have fifty times lower latency.’

6G will be as close to ‘real time’ you could get, as the latency will be nanoseconds, compared to the 10 milliseconds it is with 5G.

‘It would not be detectable for the user, that is a massive amount of time for equipment,’ Flak told Metro at TechEx Global Technology Conference in London.

The results could be revolutionary for the health industry, argues Flak, and could even lead to the very first ‘online surgeries’.

‘The doctor is remote somewhere in India, and doing the surgery in the US with a robot’

‘This requires no delay. A surgeon will have to react in real time, every single millisecond from machine to machine counts. That is why it is possible with 6G.’

The latency of 6G could also make automated, or self-driving cars, ‘way safer’ because it allows for faster decision making and environment analysis.

Flak says that 6G could hit our devices by as soon as 2026, or 2027, even though the technology ‘is not ready yet.’

In order to transmit larger amounts of data, the frequency at which the data travels will have to be higher.

The equipment needed to transmit this higher frequency is yet to be manufactured.

Flak said: ‘For a ten times higher frequency for 6G,the antennas will start to be really microscopic.

‘It’s very hard to manufacture the transmitters that will be generating those kinds of frequencies.

‘Consumer equipment still needs to be manufactured and tested.

‘There is no 6G network already populated in the world. There are only test networks in the lab.’

The higher frequency will also mean a shorter range 6G can reach, limiting how effective the coverage can be.

‘‘I don’t think that we should expect 6G to be widely populated, because of the higher frequency,’ added Flak.

‘It will first only be used in small areas where there is high demand.’

An equally ambitious vision of care in England was channeled by Jake Parkinson, Intelligent Automation Lead at Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.

Source : https://metro.co.uk/2025/02/07/surgeons-soon-operating-a-different-country-22510702/

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino on Thursday denied the U.S. State Department’s claim that his country had reached a deal allowing U.S. warships to transit the Panama Canal for free.

Mulino said he had told U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Wednesday that he could neither set the fees to transit the canal nor exempt anyone from them and that he was surprised by the U.S. State Department’s statement suggesting otherwise late Wednesday.

“I completely reject that statement yesterday,” Mulino said during his weekly press conference, adding that he had asked Panama’s ambassador in Washington to dispute the State Department’s statement. He was scheduled to speak with U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday.

On Wednesday evening, the U.S. State Department said via X that “U.S. government vessels can now transit the Panama Canal without charge fees, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars a year.”

The Panama Canal Authority put out its own terse statement later Wednesday night saying it had “not made any adjustments” to the fees.

Mulino said the U.S. statement “really surprises me because they’re making an important, institutional statement from the entity that governs United States foreign policy under the president of the United States based on a falsity. And that’s intolerable.”

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who met with Mulino and canal administrators and visited the critical trade route earlier this week, said on Thursday from the Dominican Republic that he had no confusion about his discussions with Panama, but “I respect very much the fact that Panama has a process of laws and procedures that they need to follow.”

“The United States has a treaty obligation to protect the Panama Canal if it comes under attack,” Rubio said. “That treaty obligation would have to be enforced by the armed forces of the United States, particularly the U.S. Navy. I find it absurd that we would have to pay fees to transit a zone that we are obligated to protect in a time of conflict.”

Rubio had carried a message from Trump that China’s influence at the canal was unacceptable.

Rubio had told Mulino that Trump believed that China’s presence in the canal area may violate a treaty that led the United States to turn the waterway over to Panama in 1999. That treaty calls for the permanent neutrality of the American-built canal.

Canal administrators said they were open to discussing giving U.S. warships priority in crossing the canal, but did not say they had considered waiving fees.

Mulino said via X that he was scheduled to speak to Trump on Friday.

Since 1998, U.S. warships, including submarines, have transited the Panama Canal 994 times. They accounted for just 0.3% of the canal’s traffic during that period. The canal received $25.4 million in total fees for those crossings, according to data from the canal authority.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/panama-canal-trump-rubio-hegseth-b623a51ac94ef2a738195e8b894e2a8b

German voters are overwhelmingly concerned about foreign election interference according to a new poll published by the Brussels-based digital industry association Bitkom.

Overall, the poll found that 88% of those questioned — the survey polled just over 1,000 eligible voters — expressed fear that outside forces, whether governments, groups or individuals, would actively attempt to sway the vote through social media campaigns.

Ranked highest among those suspected of nefarious activity was Russia (45%), followed by the US (42%) and China (26%). There was also concern voiced over East European actors (8%).

Those voters polled also provided insight into how they form their political opinions, with 82% citing conversations with friends and family, 76% television and 69% the internet.

Some 80% of respondents felt the next government should address the problem of potential internet and social media misinformation by prioritizing digital policy.

Bitkom President Ralf Wintergerst picked up on a trend in which 71% of respondents called for a new independent ministry to be created to address the issue, saying, “The new digital ministry must be equipped with all the necessary rights and resources, needs its own budget and a digital proviso for new laws and projects.”

German voters already seeing disinformation

One-third of those voters who say they use the internet as a source of news and information told Bitkom that they had already seen misinformation online.

The biggest concerns expressed by voters overwhelmingly had to do with the threat of so-called deepfakes — or realistic but entirely fake videos, photos or audio — and targeted disinformation. Some 56% of respondents said German democracy was ill-prepared to counter such threats.

Another 30% of respondents said they had already run into misinformation about the coming election online.

“Voter awareness for disinformation is increasing,” said Bitkom’s Wintergerst. “That is an important first step against Fake News. Disinformation can dramatically influence Germany’s federal elections by generally skewing public opinion and defaming candidates or parties.”

Wintergerst called elections the “heart of or democracy,” but warned that “disinformation undermines trust in the democratic process.” On a positive note, he added that “an informed society is the best protection against digital manipulation.”

German voters suspicious of Russian, US meddling

Among those countries with a reputation for foreign election interference, Russia has earned a top spot. Its well-documented troll farms, its use of bots and its efforts in past US and European elections provide ample evidence thereof.

Russia also has an antagonistic relationship with most European countries, is interested in driving EU disunity and has plenty of axes to grind with all but the most extreme populist parties on the continent — both left and right.

One glaringly obvious source of active US interference is Elon Musk.

The world’s richest man, Donald Trump’s biggest single donor and the owner of the social media platform X, Musk has been brazen in his insults of German leaders and his backing of the far-right and in part extreme Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, calling it the country’s only hope.

In early January, Musk, who has 216 million followers on X, sat down with AfD leader Alice Weidel for a rambling one-hour live discussion on the platform. He has also made a name for himself by pushing far-right extremists in the UK, using his outsized media presence — and lack of accountability — to push for government change.

US social media companies have generally abdicated responsibility for keeping disinformation in check, arguing consumers need to be aware of what they read and shirking any gatekeeping responsibility for the masses of disinformation generated and distributed on their sites.

It remains an open question as to whether the EU, which generally has tougher Code of Practice on Disinformation standards than the US (as seen in the EU’S Digital Services Act, or DSA), is up to the task of holding those sites responsible.

Domestic threats cannot be ignored — social media and the far-right

China was the third entity mentioned in the study and is known for actively engaging in malign cyber activities. Beyond its digital acts, the country has also found its way into Germany’s political system by infiltrating political parties.

Specifically, questions have been raised about Chinese influence within the far-right AfD as well as an unholy Chinese-Russian alliance that has plagued the party.

Beyond party boss Weidel’s long and unclear relationship with China, the Kremlin-friendly AfD was most famously embroiled in a Chinese spy scandal when the party’s top EU candidate, Maximilian Krah, was found to have a Chinese spy working in his office.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/germany-nearly-90-of-voters-fear-foreign-manipulation/a-71528481

Thousands of protesters set fire to the home of Bangladesh’s founding leader, as his daughter, ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina delivered a fiery social media speech calling on her supporters to stand against the interim government.
Witnesses said several thousand protesters, some armed with sticks, hammers, and other tools, gathered around the historic house and independence monument, while others brought a crane and excavator to demolish the building.

The rally was organised alongside a broader call, dubbed “Bulldozer Procession”, to disrupt Hasina’s scheduled 9 p.m. online address on Wednesday.
Protesters, many aligned with the “Students Against Discrimination” group, had expressed their fury over Hasina’s speech, which they viewed as a challenge to the newly formed interim government.
Tensions have been escalating in Bangladesh since August 2024, when mass protests forced Hasina to flee to neighbouring India.

The interim government, led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, has struggled to maintain control as protests and unrest have continued. Demonstrators have attacked symbols of Hasina’s government, including the house of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, which was first set ablaze in August.
A symbol of the country’s establishment, the house is where Bangabandhu (friend of Bengal), as he is popularly known, declared Bangladesh’s independence from Pakistan in 1971.

A few years later it became the site of a national tragedy. Mujibur Rahman and most of his family were assassinated at the house in 1975. Hasina, who survived the attack, later transformed the building into a museum dedicated to her father’s legacy.
“They can demolish a building, but not the history. History takes its revenge,” Hasina said in her speech on Wednesday.
She urged the people of Bangladesh to stand against the interim government, accusing them of seizing power in an unconstitutional manner.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/bangladesh-protesters-torch-ousted-pm-hasinas-fathers-home-2025-02-06/

Indian opposition lawmakers questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and demanded a discussion in parliament on Thursday over what they said was ill-treatment of 104 Indian immigrants deported by the U.S.
A U.S. military plane carrying the immigrants landed on Wednesday in the Sikh holy city of Amritsar in Punjab state, part of President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. The deportation came a week before Trump is expected to meet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington.

All immigrants, barring children, were handcuffed during the flight, The Times of India and the Indian Express newspapers reported, quoting unnamed officials in Punjab who said they had spoken to the deportees.
The deportees underwent hours of scrutiny at Amritsar airport before police escorted them out in small groups in police vehicles. Reuters was unable to speak to the immigrants.
Some of them were flown on a regular flight to Ahmedabad in Gujarat state on Thursday, closer to their homes, said a police official, who did not want to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

They were escorted out of the Ahmedabad airport by security personnel, according to a Reuters witness. Most of the others are from Punjab or the neighbouring state of Haryana, police have said.
“Reports have surfaced of these individuals being shackled and treated in a degrading manner during their deportation process, raising serious concerns about their human dignity and rights,” opposition Congress party lawmaker Gaurav Gogoi said in a notice to the secretary general of the lower house of parliament.

In a separate notice by another Congress party lawmaker, Manickam Tagore urged Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar to make an immediate statement in parliament clarifying the Modi government’s stand and steps taken to address the issue.
The Indian foreign ministry and the U.S. embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Both houses of parliament were adjourned on Thursday as opposition lawmakers shouted slogans demanding a government response.

Migration has been among the key issues discussed by India and the U.S. since Trump assumed office last month, and is also expected to come up during Trump’s talks with Modi.
Although Indian immigrants have been deported by previous U.S. administrations, it was the first time Washington used a military aircraft to do so. It was also the farthest destination for such flights using a military aircraft.
The Trump administration has increasingly turned to the military to help carry out its immigration agenda, using military aircraft to deport migrants and opening military bases to house them.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-opposition-questions-modi-reported-us-mistreatment-deportees-2025-02-06/

PRESIDENT Donald Trump has vowed to take over the devastated Gaza Strip and “level” the site before looking to redevelop it.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the Republican’s clear plan to help rebuild the war-torn strip saying it will “change history”.

Trump said America “will do a job with it” if they own the Gaza Strip and take full responsibility to dismantle it safely after years of torment for the people of Palestine.

He added it is a “very dangerous place to be” at the moment and requires America’s help to rebuild completely.

Trumps Middle East envoy said they plan on creating a three to five-year timeline for the reconstruction of Gaza.

Detailed plans are yet to be revealed over the potential demolition plot but the newly-inaugurated President said it will involve a complete reconstruction.

He said they would destroy all of the buildings in the war zone before beginning to “create an economic development”.

This would create “unlimited numbers of jobs and housing”, he added.

Trump then urged as many countries as possible to take in the displaced Palestinians so the upheaval of Gaza could be completed peacefully.

The remarks were made in a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from The White House.

A smiling Netanyahu described Trump as the “greatest friend Israel has ever had”.

Trump added he has spoken to dozens of people who “love the idea” of the US taking over the strip.

Last week, Trump revealed radical plans to “clean out” the strip after he described Gaza as a “demolition site”.

He said: “You’re talking about probably a million and a half people, and we just clean out that whole thing.

“Almost everything is demolished and people are dying there.”

At the end of January, Trump called on neighbouring Arab nations to take in more Palestinians.

He echoed these thoughts again today and said places like Egypt and Jordan should offer to take in as many people as possible.

Gaza’s two million inhabitants should instead “go to other countries of interest with humanitarian hearts”, he said.

The move “could be temporary” or “long-term”, he said.

Both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority condemned Trump’s proposal last month.

Trump’s plans would also be a stark change from the US’s previous policy which promoted a two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

The pre-war population of Gaza was over two million people and over 45,000 people have been killed since October 7, 2023, according to the United Nations.

Source : https://www.the-sun.com/news/13455818/trump-gaza-strip-plan-netanyahu/

Hundreds of people left Santorini on ferries and planes on Tuesday to reach safety in Athens as a series of quakes kept shaking the famous Greek tourist island.
Hundreds of quakes have been registered every few minutes in the sea between the volcanic islands of Santorini and Amorgos, in the Aegean Sea, in recent days, prompting authorities to shut schools in Santorini and the small nearby islands of Ios, Amorgos and Anafi until Friday.

A tremor with a magnitude of 4.9 was recorded by the Athens Geodynamic Institute at 0246 GMT on the island, most of whose popular white and blue villages cling to steep cliffs over the sea.
Hundreds of permanent residents and workers rushed to a port early on Tuesday to embark for the Greek capital.
Flights out of Santorini to Athens were full, Greek air carrier Aegean Airlines said on Tuesday. A total of 2,500 to 2,700 people were expected to have flown out since Monday by the end of the day, it added.

“We are going to leave because I am afraid, there are constantly earthquakes, we have to leave for the kids, so the kids can calm down,” said Beni Ouklala, 38, who has temporary work on the island.

Others were unfazed. “We will stay here, why should we leave? If something happens it happens,” said Eftichis Diamantopouulos, 63, a tourist boat captain.
Santorini throngs with hundreds of thousands of tourists in the summer. It is much quieter at this time of the year, but with seismologists estimating that the intense seismic activity could take days or weeks to abate, local authorities have drafted an emergency accommodation plan.

“We have (planned for) places for shelters for the population without structures and on level surfaces, there are eight places that can accommodate people,” said Santorini Mayor Nikos Zorzos.
Emergency rescue crews were also on the ground, while people were advised to stay out of coastal areas due to the risk of landslides and avoid indoor gatherings.
Some hotels started emptying their pools as they were told that the water load made buildings vulnerable and construction activities have ceased.
Greece is one of the most earthquake-prone countries in Europe as it sits at the boundary of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates whose constant interaction prompts frequent quakes.

Source : https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/hundreds-flee-santorini-quakes-disrupt-life-2025-02-04/

A total of 205 Indian nationals, who had illegally entered the US, have been deported on a US military aircraft that took off from Texas about six hours back, sources have told NDTV. The sources said each deported Indian national is verified, indicating New Delhi’s involvement in the deportation process. This is likely the first of many such flights that will bring illegal Indian immigrants in the US back.

A C-17 US military aircraft is bringing the Indian nationals back home. Here is a trivia — unless fitted with an air-transportable galley, the US Air Force C-17 has a single toilet onboard for 205 passengers.

The deportation of illegal migrants is in line with US President Donald Trump’s hardline stand against illegal immigrants in the US. Earlier, US military aircraft flew illegal immigrants deported to Guatemala, Peru and Honduras.

The first round of deportation of illegal Indian nationals has taken amid reports that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would fly to the US next week. This will be his first visit after Trump took over as US President for the second time. External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar had earlier said New Delhi is open to the “legitimate return” of Indian nationals living ‘illegally’ abroad, including in the US.

“For the first time in history, we are locating and loading illegal aliens into military aircraft and flying them back to the places from which they came,” Trump told reporters last month.

The US President has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that India “will do what’s right” when it comes to taking back illegal Indian immigrants. According to a Bloomberg News report, India and the US have identified 18,000-odd Indian migrants who entered the US illegally.

The Ministry of External Affairs has said India is against illegal immigration because it is linked to several forms of organised crime.

“For Indians not just in the United States, but anywhere in the world, if they are Indian nationals and they are overstaying, or they are in a particular country without proper documentation, we will take them back, provided documents are shared with us so that we can verify their nationality and that they are indeed Indians. If that happens to be the case, we will take things forward and facilitate their return to India,” ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing.

Source : https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/205-indians-on-us-military-flight-carrying-deported-immigrants-from-texas-7629252

A car explosion in northern Syria on Monday has killed at least 20 people, the Syrian presidency said, vowing to hold those responsible “for this criminal act” to account.

The blast took place on a main road on the outskirts of Syria’s northern city Manbij, the civil defense said. Fourteen women and one man were killed, and fifteen other women were injured.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) put the death toll at 18 civilians, including 14 women.

Since the lightning rebellion which toppled the rule of Bashar Assad in December, Manbij has been the scene of fighting between the Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) and Turkish-backed fighters.

Spate of car bomb attacks in Manbij

Most of those killed were women farm workers who were being transported in a vehicle next to the exploding car, state news agency SANA reported, citing the civil defense, also known as the White Helmets. It added that the death toll was likely to climb.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The explosion is the second in three days. On Saturday, four civilians were killed and nine more were injured in another car bomb attack in Manbij.

Munir Mustafa, the deputy director of the White Helmets, said Monday’s car bomb explosion was the seventh in Manbij in just over a month.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/syria-car-bomb-explosion-kills-at-least-20/a-71489683

CANADA and Mexico breathed a sigh of relief after President Donald Trump shelved his punishing tariff plans for 30 days in a last-gasp deal.

The Republican was left celebrating after he managed to secure a stronger border with his two neighbors through a $1.3billion plan and 10,000 troops.

Trump dramatically stopped entering a potential trade war with Canada and Mexico by pausing sweeping 25 per cent tax increases just hours before it was scheduled to be implemented.

Stock markets had gone into a tailspin on Monday as Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held last-minute calls with Trump.

The duo were left making a desperate bid to end any threat and halt a damaging world trade war.

Trump confirmed he’d decided to pause his plans for a month after both Mexico and Canada promised to keep 10,000 frontline personnel along their American borders.

The aim is to protect the US from illegal immigration and an influx of deadly drugs entering the country.

Trump praised his own negotiating skills by posting on Truth Social after his last call with Trudeau: “As President, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of ALL Americans, and I am doing just that.

“I am very pleased with this initial outcome.”

He also said Canada will implement their $1.3billion border plan and reinforce it with new helicopters, technology and personnel.

Trump added that the next 30 days will determine if he goes ahead with the tariffs or if a “final economic deal with Canada can be structured”.

Justin Trudeau later confirmed these changes in alignment with Trump’s wishes.

Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum also announced her administration and Trump had reached a series of similar agreements.

Sheinbaum said at a news conference she had a “long conversation” with Trump on the phone on Monday.

Among the series of agreements includes Mexico’s immediate action to reinforce the northern border with 10,000 members of the country’s National Guard.

The bolstered security presence will be tasked with preventing drug trafficking from Mexico to the United States, particularly fentanyl.

The United States said it would also commit to working to prevent the trafficking of high-powered weapons into Mexico, the Mexican president said.

“Our teams will begin working today on two fronts: security and trade,” Sheinbaum added.

Trump also gave Sheinbaum 30 days to “achieve a deal” between the two countries.

Thousands of people protested in Berlin on Sunday against plans to limit immigration proposed by opposition conservatives and supported by the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD).
Friedrich Merz, the conservatives’ leader who is tipped to become Germany’s next chancellor after a national election set for Feb. 23, sponsored a draft bill with AfD support, breaking a taboo against cooperating with the far-right party.

Around 160,000 gathered at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, next to the Bundestag lower house, according to the Berlin police. The protesters held banners reading “We are the firewall, no cooperation with the AfD” and “Merz, go home, shame on you!”.
Merz, the CDU/CSU’s candidate for chancellor, on Friday tried to push the immigration bill in the lower house but failed to secure a majority as some of the deputies from his own party refused to support it.

Their failure to endorse his draft dealt a blow to the authority of Merz, who had pushed for the law despite warnings from party colleagues that he risked being tarnished with the charge of voting alongside the far-right.
Mainstream German parties had previously joined forces to prevent the AfD, which is under surveillance by Germany’s security services, from achieving legislative power, something they call a firewall against the far-right.

The draft law would have restricted family reunifications for some refugees and called for more people to be refused at the border. Two-thirds of the public support stronger immigration rules, according to a recent poll.

Source: https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/tens-thousands-protest-berlin-against-proposed-german-immigration-crackdown-2025-02-02/

President Donald Trump on Saturday signed an order to impose stiff tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, drawing swift retaliation and an undeniable sense of betrayal from the country’s North American neighbors as a trade war erupted among the longtime allies.

The Republican president posted on social media that the tariffs were necessary “to protect Americans,” pressing the three nations to do more to curb the manufacture and export of illicit fentanyl and for Canada and Mexico to reduce illegal immigration into the U.S.

The tariffs, if sustained, could cause inflation to significantly worsen, threatening the trust that many voters placed in Trump to lower the prices of groceries, gasoline, housing, autos and other goods as he promised. They also risked throwing the global economy and Trump’s political mandate into turmoil just two weeks into his second term.

Trump declared an economic emergency in order to place duties of 10% on all imports from China and 25% on imports from Mexico and Canada. Energy imported from Canada, including oil, natural gas and electricity, would be taxed at a 10% rate. Trump’s order includes a mechanism to escalate the rates charged by the U.S. against retaliation by the other countries, raising the specter of an even more severe economic disruption.

“The actions taken today by the White House split us apart instead of bringing us together,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a somber tone as he announced that his country would put matching 25% tariffs on up to $155 billion in U.S. imports, including alcohol and fruit.

He channeled the betrayal that many Canadians are feeling, reminding Americans that Canadian troops fought alongside them in Afghanistan and helped respond to myriad crises from wildfires in California to Hurricane Katrina.

“We were always there standing with you, grieving with you, the American people,” he said.

Mexico’s president also ordered retaliatory tariffs.

“We categorically reject the White House’s slander that the Mexican government has alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention of meddling in our territory,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote in a post on X while saying she had instructed her economy secretary to implement a response that includes retaliatory tariffs and other measures in defense of Mexico’s interests.

“If the United States government and its agencies wanted to address the serious fentanyl consumption in their country, they could fight the sale of drugs on the streets of their major cities, which they don’t do and the laundering of money that this illegal activity generates that has done so much harm to its population.”

The premier of the Canadian province of British Columbia, David Eby, specifically called on residents to stop buying liquor from U.S. “red” states and said it was removing American alcohol brands from government store shelves as a response to the tariffs.

China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the country’s government “firmly deplores and opposes this move and will take necessary countermeasures to defend its legitimate rights and interests.”

China began regulating fentanyl-related drugs as a class of controlled substances in 2019 and conducted “counternarcotics cooperation with the U.S.,” the ministry said, calling on the U.S. government to correct what it considers wrongful actions.

The Ministry of Commerce in China said it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization for the “wrongful practices of the U.S.” and take measures to safeguard its rights and interests.

The tariffs will go into effect on Tuesday, setting up a showdown in North America that could potentially sabotage economic growth. A new analysis by the Budget Lab at Yale laid out the possible damage to the U.S. economy, saying the average household would lose the equivalent of $1,170 in income from the taxes. Economic growth would slow and inflation would worsen, and the situation could be even worse with retaliation from other countries.

Democrats were quick to warn that any inflation going forward was the result of Trump’s actions.

“You’re worried about grocery prices. Don’s raising prices with his tariffs,” Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York wrote in a series of posts on X. “You’re worried about tomato prices. Wait till Trump’s Mexico tariffs raise your tomato prices,” read another. “You’re worried about car prices. Wait till Trump’s Canada tariffs raise your car prices,” read another.

A senior U.S. administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to brief reporters, said the lower rate on energy reflected a desire to minimize disruptive increases on the price of gasoline or utilities. That’s a sign White House officials understand the gamble they’re taking on inflation. Price spikes under former President Joe Biden led to voter frustration that helped return Trump to the White House.

The order signed by Trump contained no mechanism for granting exceptions, the official said, a possible blow to homebuilders who rely on Canadian lumber as well as farmers, automakers and other industries.

The official did not provide specific benchmarks that could be met to lift the new tariffs, saying only that the best measure would be fewer Americans dying from fentanyl addiction.

The order would also allow for tariffs on Canadian imports of less than $800. Imports below that sum are currently able to cross into the United States without customs and duties.

“It doesn’t make much economic sense,’’ said William Reinsch, senior adviser at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and a former U.S. trade official. “Historically, most of our tariffs on raw materials have been low because we want to get cheaper materials so our manufacturers will be competitive … Now, what’s he talking about? He’s talking about tariffs on raw materials. I don’t get the economics of it.’’

With the tariffs, Trump is honoring promises that are at the core of his economic and national security philosophy. But the announcement showed his seriousness around the issue as some Trump allies had played down the threat of higher import taxes as mere negotiating tactics.

The president is preparing more import taxes in a sign that tariffs will be an ongoing part of his second term. On Friday, he mentioned imported computer chips, steel, oil and natural gas, as well as copper, pharmaceutical drugs and imports from the European Union — moves that could essentially pit the U.S. against much of the global economy.

Source : https://apnews.com/article/trump-tariffs-trade-china-mexico-canada-inflation-753a09d56cd318f2eb1d2efe3c43b7d4

The British government is intentionally “replacing the British nation with hostile, violent, aggressive migrants” who will vote for them, according to right-wing extremist Tommy Robinson, who also believes that Islam is “a mental health issue rather than a religion of peace.”

Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, has been in a British jail cell since October for contempt of court as well as spreading false claims about an underage Syrian refugee in a video titled, “Silenced.”

He was also convicted of several prior crimes, including assault and fraud. He was formerly a member of the British National Party, a fascist UK political party; as well as the leader of the far-right, anti-Islamist, English Defense League.

But Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and US President Donald Trump’s biggest supporter, regularly uses his account on his social media platform X as a soapbox to call for Robinson’s release from prison, ostensibly in the name of free speech. Robinson, Musk has said, is behind bars for telling the “truth.”

According to British media outlets, Musk is also helping Robinson financially. In a statement on X, Robinson’s team thanked Musk and his X team for their “unexpected and generous assistance” in two legal cases. Among other things, these involve a new court case in which Robinson has been accused of violating anti-terrorism laws. A DW request for comment from X’s press department went unanswered.

Musk elevating Robinson’s profile

But what’s behind Musk’s generosity? Robinson is unpopular in the UK. A recent poll by the research institute More in Common found that only 12% of respondents had a favorable view of the right-wing agitator, while 46% held a negative opinion. Musk hasn’t helped his popularity with his efforts either: A majority of Britons surveyed said they wanted the tech billionaire to stay out of politics and concentrate on ridding his social media platform of hate speech instead.

But Musk doesn’t appear to be interested in that — quite the opposite. He has helped elevate Robinson’s profile by restoring his Twitter account — which had been blocked by the company in 2018 — after he bought the platform in October 2022. Now Robinson, who has more than 1 million followers, can once again spread his message.

Robinson’s message got a further boost last summer when three young girls were killed in a knife attack in the northern English city of Southport. Robinson incited his followers to take to the streets; race riots ensued. Musk also got involved, criticizing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer for his response and saying that “civil war is inevitable.” Since then, Musk has gone further, accusing Starmer of turning the UK into a police state and calling for his resignation.

Is Musk intentionally spreading misinformation?

Imran Ahmed of the Center for Countering Digital Hate, a nongovernmental organization, said the X owner is intentionally spreading misinformation, giving extremist voices a platform to garner more clicks and thus increase his profits. Musk, as Ahmed told DW, has transformed X into a platform that accelerates the spread of hate and disinformation in British society.

Tim Bale, a political scientist at Queen Mary University of London, goes a step further. He thinks Musk is trying to undermine trust in the UK government because its politicians are attempting to rein in the power of the US tech giant with new laws.

The Online Safety Act, passed in October 2023, is indeed something that affects online platforms like X. The law requires them to remove all illegal or harmful content or face fines equivalent to up to 10% of their revenue.

Musk campaigning for Germany’s AfD

Is the European establishment a thorn in Musk’s side for the same reason? The EU wants to use its Digital Services Act to limit the spread of false information on social media platforms, and has placed the burden for ensuring this happens on the tech behemoths themselves — casting a particularly stern eye at Musk and X.

Many EU parliamentarians have called for immediate measures, even more so since Musk began openly championing Germany’s far-right AfD — which has in part been labeled extremist. In early January, Musk described AfD co-leader Alice Weidel as “Germany’s most popular chancellor candidate,” and spent more than an hour chatting with her live on X. A few days later, he made an appearance at the AfD’s party conference via video.

Musk regularly insults German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, referring to him as “Oaf Schitz.” And Vera Jourova, the former EU commissioner for values and transparency, was forced to sit by as he railed against her as “the epitome of banal bureaucratic evil.”

Parth Patel from the progressive think tank IPPR is concerned that conspiracy theories could eventually enter the British mainstream thanks to Musk’s efforts. “It’s plausible that he will be successful in indoctrinating people to that point of view, and if he does, it will be very dangerous,” he said.

Source : https://www.dw.com/en/is-elon-musk-aiding-a-british-right-wing-extremist/a-71440001

A person in a car was the seventh fatal victim of the fiery crash of an air ambulance onto a busy Philadelphia street, authorities said Saturday, as investigators sifted through burned cars, damaged homes and charred debris for clues to determine why the aircraft plummeted shortly after takeoff.

Carrying six people from Mexico, including a child who spent months in treatment at a hospital, the Learjet 55 went down just after departing from the Northeast Philadelphia Airport, creating what witnesses described as a massive fireball, shaking houses and leaving a chaotic street scene.

Authorities couldn’t yet say why the jet crashed, and Adam Thiel, the city’s managing director, said it could be days — or longer — until officials are able to fully count the number of dead and injured across a sprawling impact area in a densely populated residential area.

The plane took off, reached about 1,500 feet of altitude and then plummeted in a steep descent, crashing less than a minute after takeoff in what National Transportation Safety Board chair Jennifer Homendy called a “high-impact crash” that left the plane “highly fragmented.”

As of Saturday morning, officials said, there were seven dead — six on the jet and the person in the car — and 19 injured. Most of the injured had been treated and released, hospitals said.

There are “a lot of unknowns about who was where on the streets” when the plane crashed, and it is possible that the casualty figures will grow, Thiel said.

The crash scene was at least four to six blocks, and authorities were working to assess the damage, including going house to house to inspect the dwellings, Thiel said.

Homendy said her agency’s staff was working to collect debris from the plane, which could take days or weeks, and haul it away to a secure location to begin evaluating it.

Air traffic controllers didn’t hear anything concerning before the crash, and her agency was still looking for the cockpit voice recorder, a helpful piece of evidence in the investigation, Homendy said.

It is likely damaged and possibly fragmented because of the impact, although her agency’s researchers and engineers have significant expertise in repairing them, she said.

The plane hit the ground just after 6 p.m., during a busy Friday evening dinner hour less than 3 miles (5 kilometers) from the airport.

“All of sudden I heard like a ‘boom,’ and I thought it was a thunderstorm,” said Selkuc Koc, a waiter at the Four Seasons Diner on Cottman Avenue. “And I get up and look at the smoke and the fire, it was like a balloon. I thought it was a gas station that blew up.”

One diner patron was hit and injured by a small but heavy metal object that flew through the window, Koc said.

Child patient had just finished treatment for life-threatening condition

Of the six people on board the medical transport jet, one was a child who had just completed treatment at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia hospital, one was her mother and four were crew members, officials said.

A hospital spokesperson said the girl spent four months there receiving life-saving treatment for a condition not easily treated in Mexico. Shriners officials said they couldn’t give details about the girl or her family because of patient privacy rules.

“Her journey was one of hope and of aspiration,” spokesperson Mel Bower told The Philadelphia Inquirer. The relationships that the girl formed with staff “were true and were dear,” and she’ll be missed greatly by them, he said.