India hopes Mahakumbh will bring in investors, but economists are sceptical
Uttar Pradesh state has pumped in millions for the 45-day festival, which is largest gathering of Hindus every 12 years.
Origin Energy fined $1.6m after sharing private details of family violence victims
Company apologises over disclosure of information and collection of debts from vulnerable people
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Human error has been blamed after a major energy retailer shared family violence victims’ private details without their consent and for chasing other survivors for unpaid power bills.
Origin Energy has coughed up $1.6m after it was served penalty notices by Victoria’s Essential Services Commission for breaching rules designed to protect the vulnerable cohort.
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Continue reading...California officials deny Trump’s claim that US military ‘turned on the water’ in state
State water officials say military ‘did not enter California’ and ‘federal government restarted federal water pumps’
California water officials said this week there’s no truth to Donald Trump’s assertion that the US military has entered California and “turned on the water”.
Trump’s comments, made on Monday on his social media platform Truth Social, are the latest in a series of remarks he’s made and actions he’s taken related to the state’s water policy following devastating wildfires that ripped through the Los Angeles area this month. He’s often offering an incomplete or incorrect assessment of the state’s water policies or tying together unrelated issues.
Continue reading...How Trump tariffs could upend car markets in Europe, the US and China
Levies threaten exporters to US market, while scrapping of subsidies will hit EV sales – and Tesla could gain
The internal combustion engine appears to hold a special place in Donald Trump’s psyche. During his inauguration speech last week, he made a “sacred pledge” to raise US car production to “a rate that nobody could have dreamt possible just a few years ago”.
Car making and the oil industry – not AI, computer chips, or even cryptocurrencies – were the only two industries the new US president highlighted as he promised to make America a “manufacturing nation once again”.
Continue reading...Special counsel prosecutors were fired on instructions of White House
Press secretary Karoline Leavitt says late-night dismissals came after White House’s personnel office issued memo
The justice department fired more than a dozen federal prosecutors involved in the two criminal prosecutions against Donald Trump after receiving instructions to do so from the White House, indicating the late-night purge was a political directive that deputized the justice department.
The termination of the career prosecutors were ostensibly at the direction of the acting attorney general, James McHenry, according to the notices sent to anyone remaining on the trial team of 18 who had worked for former special counsel Jack Smith.
Continue reading...US Senate blocks bill sanctioning ICC over Israeli arrest warrants
UN experts have warned that US sanctions over Benjamin Netanyahu's arrest warrant would erode international order.
Fighting between DRC army and M23 rebels rages in eastern city of Goma
At least 100 people killed and 1,000 wounded in three days of heavy fighting in North Kivu
Dead bodies lay on the streets and explosions and gunfire echoed across the largest city in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) on Tuesday, as fighting continued to rage between the army and Rwanda-backed M23 rebels.
Residents reported continuing gun and mortar fire in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province and a regional humanitarian hub for displaced people, after M23 fighters entered the city on Sunday.
Continue reading...Caroline Kennedy sends letter to US senators calling RFK Jr a ‘predator’
The former ambassador denounces Trump's cabinet nominee as preying 'on the desperation of parents of sick children'.
AI on the Vatican on AI – The Pillar
- AI on the Vatican on AI The Pillar
- New Vatican document examines potential and risks of AI Vatican News - English
- The Catholic Church condemns the use of AI in war — ‘No machine should ever choose to take the life of a human being’ Yahoo! Voices
- Citing ‘Shadow of Evil,’ Vatican Warns About the Risks of A.I. The New York Times
- New Vatican document offers AI guidelines from warfare to health care The Associated Press
Passengers and crew evacuated as plane catches fire on South Korean runway
All 176 people onboard escaped safely after blaze began inside Airbus jet preparing to take off from Gimhae airport
An Airbus plane belonging to South Korean carrier Air Busan has caught fire on a runway at Gimhae international airport in the country’s south while preparing for departure to Hong Kong, fire authorities said on Tuesday.
All 169 passengers and seven crew members were evacuated, with three having minor injuries, fire authorities in Busan said.
Continue reading...Doomsday Clock moved closest ever to destruction
The symbolic clock is set at 89 seconds to midnight, with nuclear threats, AI misuses and climate change being the key factors.
Doomsday Clock Moves One Second Closer to Catastrophe – The New York Times
- Doomsday Clock Moves One Second Closer to Catastrophe The New York Times
- Scientists update their prediction of how close we are to the end of the world CNN
- The Doomsday Clock Is Getting Widely Mocked Forbes
- 2025 'Doomsday Clock': This is how close we are to self-annihilation, scientists say ABC News
- Doomsday clock ticks one second, closest ever to midnight Fortune
Passengers and crew evacuated as plane catches fire on South Korean runway – The Guardian
- Passengers and crew evacuated as plane catches fire on South Korean runway The Guardian
- South Korean airliner destroyed by blaze before flight Yahoo! Voices
- Air Busan Airbus plane catches fire at South Korea's Busan airport Reuters
- Air Busan Airbus A321 Catches Fire, All Crews and Passengers Evacuated Aviation A2z
- Plane catches fire on runway at South Korean airport Sky News
A big, beautiful Trump deal with China? – The Economist
- A big, beautiful Trump deal with China? The Economist
- As Trump's tariffs loom, analysts say China is better prepared than ever for a trade war with the U.S. CBS News
- Live Q&A: How Trump’s Presidency Is Already Affecting China Bloomberg
- ‘That Would Give Trump Pause’: How to Game Out the Next Trade War POLITICO
- Can Trump Strike a Grand Deal With Beijing? Foreign Policy
Exhausted Palestinians arrive in Gaza City to no homes, killed family
Thousands of Palestinians have returned to northern Gaza for the second day, walking kilometres to reach home.
Breaking with Biden, Trump envoy expresses support for Israeli laws targeting UNRWA – The Times of Israel
- Breaking with Biden, Trump envoy expresses support for Israeli laws targeting UNRWA The Times of Israel
- Israel Urged to Reverse UNRWA Ban The New York Times
- “Huge consequences” for Palestinians if Israel bans UNRWA Al Jazeera English
- Israel to cease all contact with UNRWA Palestinian aid agency FRANCE 24 English
- Middle East live updates: Israel gives UNRWA 48 hours to cease operations ABC News
Danish PM says received European backing against Trump’s Greenland push
Mette Frederiksen says 'no reason to believe that there is a military threat to Greenland or Denmark'.
Serbian PM quits after months of mass protests
Milos Vucevic's resignation follows months of nationwide demonstrations over the collapse of a station roof which killed 15.
What might be the fallout of forcing Palestinians from their land?
US President Donald Trump's plan to relocate Palestinians is rejected by Jordan and Egypt.
IDF chief said to hail approval of ‘painful’ Gaza deal, stress war can resume if needed – The Times of Israel
- IDF chief said to hail approval of ‘painful’ Gaza deal, stress war can resume if needed The Times of Israel
- Palestinian family was eating dinner when IDF sprayed bullets, killing two-year-old Haaretz
- Israeli forces kill more Palestinians during West Bank raids Middle East Eye
- IDF troops eliminate terrorists in Jenin, destroy weapon-production lathe The Jerusalem Post
- Middle East Latest: 2 Palestinians Killed by Israeli Fire in Occupied West Bank, Officials Say U.S. News & World Report