Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar told officials to guard power infrastructure across four North Andhra districts as a Bay of Bengal depression brings heavy rain. Andhra Pradesh Energy Minister Gottipati Ravi Kumar has ordered officials to stay on high alert as heavy rain lashes the North Andhra districts, warning that a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal could severely damage the region's power supply network. He issued the directions on Wednesday during a tele-conference with senior officers of the Energy Department, including staff of the AP Eastern Power Distribution Company Limited (APEPDCL). Mr. Ravi Kumar said widespread rain was already being reported from Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam and Visakhapatnam districts under the influence of the deep depression. He cautioned that heavy rain and strong gales could bring down electricity poles and lines and damage transformers, cutting off power supply to affected areas. The Minister told officials to anticipate the conditions in advance and put preventive measures in place rather than waiting for damage to occur. He said the department had to stay especially watchful because weather systems forming over the Bay of Bengal have the potential to badly disrupt power infrastructure. While the rain was welcome for farmers and the wider public, he said, the Energy Department could not lower its guard. He asked officials to pay particular attention to low-lying areas and coastal regions, which he described as the most vulnerable to extensive damage. Restoration work, he directed, should be carried out on a war-footing wherever supply was interrupted. To make that possible, Mr. Ravi Kumar instructed officers to keep staff, vehicles, equipment, spare poles and other materials ready in advance so repairs could begin without delay. He ordered the formation of special teams that could move in immediately to handle any contingency. The Minister said the highest priority must go to preventing deaths from electrocution caused by damaged power lines and other equipment. He directed that special teams be formed to respond at once to any emergency in the field. Gottipati Ravi Kumar, North Andhra heavy rain, APEPDCL power supply, Bay of Bengal deep depression, Andhra Pradesh Energy Department, Visakhapatnam rain alert, electrocution prevention, power infrastructure damage

News National

0 7 0

Shrinking landfill space and the shutdown of Glasgow's Polmadie incinerator have left Scotland's waste sector facing crisis, industry experts warn. Scotland's waste industry is approaching a breaking point that could leave uncollected rubbish sitting on streets, specialists have warned. They point to two problems arriving at once: a sharp fall in available landfill space and the failure of Glasgow's largest incinerator, a combination one figure described as a "perfect storm." David Balmer, an industry representative, warned that discarded waste will shortly have nowhere left to go and will end up abandoned across Scotland. Sector representatives are scheduled to meet Scottish ministers to raise their concerns, but say no quick fix is available to head off the situation. The Scottish government said it was engaging with stakeholders to keep the system resilient and to work out contingency plans if they become necessary. The amount of space left to bury waste has been falling as site operators run down their businesses ahead of a planned ban on sending black bag rubbish to landfill. That ban was originally set to begin at the start of this year but has been pushed back to January 2028. The delay followed a Disclosure investigation, which found that meeting the deadline would have required around 100 lorry loads of waste to be driven to England every day. The scale of the contraction is stark. In the previous year, ten facilities handled the bulk of Scotland's residual waste - what remains once recyclable and compostable material has been taken out. That number has since dropped to three, and one of those is in administration. Polmadie shutdown pushes waste to Mount Vernon The strain has been made worse by the collapse of Glasgow's principal incinerator at Polmadie, which has stood idle since April. Routine inspections uncovered cracks in welding at the plant, and it is not expected to return to service until March next year. With the incinerator down, much of Glasgow's household rubbish is now being sent to the sizeable Mount Vernon landfill. Its operator, Patersons, says only a few months of burial space remains there. The volume arriving has jumped from roughly 2,000 tonnes each week to about 5,000 tonnes. A bid to enlarge the site was turned down on appeal by the Scottish government, and the operator expects it to be completely full by the close of the year. Recycling rates stall as incinerators sit half-used The landfill ban was intended to drive up recycling. Under the plan, leftover waste would go to incinerators instead, where burning it generates electricity. That prospect triggered a surge of proposals for new waste-to-energy plants. By 2022, the volume of applications prompted a freeze on new ones, over fears that Scotland could build more burners than it would need - especially if recycling climbed. But recycling has not climbed. The share of household waste being recycled has stayed almost flat over the past ten years. A report issued last month by Zero Waste Scotland found that most incinerators are running well under their full capacity, raising the possibility that the projected shortfall in disposal capacity was overestimated. More plants are being built, among them the South Clyde Energy Centre at North Cardonald. None, however, are expected to come online soon enough to relieve the immediate pressure. Options for shifting the overflow elsewhere have also narrowed. Several facilities in the north of England - some understood to have taken in waste from Scotland - have been closed down by the Environment Agency, cutting off a route that operators had relied on. Scotland waste crisis, Polmadie incinerator, Mount Vernon landfill, black bag waste ban, Zero Waste Scotland, Glasgow rubbish, landfill capacity, waste to energy

News National

0 5 0

Odisha deploys 33 ODRAF units and evacuates over 3,500 people as a deep depression brings heavy rain to Kalahandi, Koraput, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri. The Odisha government positioned disaster response forces across southern and western districts on Wednesday (September 23, 2026) as heavy rain driven by a deep depression caused water-logging and landslides in several areas. The India Meteorological Department issued a heavy-rain warning for four districts - Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri. The deep depression lay over the west-central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal and was moving slowly. It was expected to cross the north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coasts close to Kalingapatnam on Wednesday night. Officials said there was no possibility of a cyclone, but the administration was told to keep the highest level of preparedness and take all precautionary measures. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi reviewed the situation and directed all departments to work in coordination and ensure zero casualties. He said officials had been asked to move people out of waterlogged areas to safer locations and to provide them with relief. More than 3,500 people had already been evacuated to safer places. 33 ODRAF units deployed A total of 33 units of the Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force were sent to the affected districts, according to government sources. Six teams were deployed in Ganjam, six in Koraput, three each in Gajapati, Malkangiri and Rayagada, two in Kalahandi and one in Balangir. In addition, nine ODRAF teams stationed at Chhatrapur in Ganjam were kept in reserve. The deployment concentrated forces in the districts flagged by the IMD and in coastal and southern areas expected to feel the strongest effects as the system approached land. The reserve teams gave the administration a buffer to respond quickly if conditions worsened after the system crossed the coast. Where the rain fell hardest The state recorded widespread rain during the day. Baleshwar district saw the highest fall, 126.4 mm in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday. Paralakhemundi followed with 119.4 mm and Koraput with 116.4 mm. Koraput was among the four districts under the IMD warning and also carried a heavy share of the response effort, with six ODRAF teams assigned to it. Berhampur, a town in southern Odisha, witnessed water-logging as the heavy rain came down. The combination of steady rainfall and the slow-moving system raised the risk of further inundation and landslides in low-lying and hilly parts of the affected belt. The warning districts of Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Koraput and Malkangiri sit across southern and western Odisha, the same zone where the government focused its evacuations and rescue teams. With the depression forecast to make its closest approach to the coast overnight, the administration held its forces in place to manage flooding, clear affected areas and shift residents to safety.Odisha deep depression, Odisha red warning, IMD heavy rain Odisha, Mohan Charan Majhi, ODRAF deployment, Bay of Bengal depression, Koraput rainfall, Odisha flooding 2026

News National

0 6 0

Manchester United striker Benjamin Šeško says he will fully dedicate himself to recovery after suffering an injury setback. Manchester United striker Benjamin Šeško has pledged to "fully dedicate" himself to his recovery after suffering an injury setback, the forward said in comments that quickly drew attention from fans in India and beyond. Šeško framed the layoff as a challenge he intends to meet head-on, stressing his commitment to returning to fitness. His remarks became one of the most-searched sports topics on Google Trends in India, reflecting the growing following Manchester United and its players command among Indian audiences. The striker gave no timeline for his return in the comments made public, and the specific nature of the injury was not detailed. His focus, by his own account, is squarely on the rehabilitation process rather than on when he will next feature. The setback is a blow for a player who arrived at Manchester United carrying high expectations as a central figure in the club's attack. His message signalled an attempt to reassure supporters that he is approaching the recovery with determination. For now, the club and its followers face a wait to see how quickly Šeško can work his way back to full match fitness. The forward's public vow to commit himself entirely to that effort is the clearest indication yet of how he intends to handle the period on the sidelines. Manchester United have not been reported as providing further specifics in the material available, leaving the striker's own words as the central update on his condition. Šeško's statement underlines his intent to return as soon as his recovery allows.Benjamin Šeško, Manchester United, Šeško injury, Man United striker, Premier League, Šeško recovery, Man United news

News National

0 8 0

CosmicWatch, a $100 handheld detector built by physicist Spencer Axani, lets students track muons from cosmic rays and could seed a global science network. Detecting particles that fall to Earth from space has long been the work of costly, room-sized instruments. A palm-sized device created by physicist Spencer Axani challenges that assumption. Built for roughly $100 in parts, the detector began as a student side project and now serves particle-physics research, classroom teaching and experiments carried to the edge of the atmosphere. The University of Delaware laid out its most recent progress in September, following earlier reporting in Physics Today and Symmetry, the magazine run by Fermilab and SLAC, which traced the tool's growth from Axani's time at MIT into a wider effort known as CosmicWatch. The instrument targets muons, fleeting subatomic particles created when high-energy cosmic rays strike atoms in the upper atmosphere. Each strike sets off a shower of secondary particles, and some of them reach ground level, slipping through walls, stone and living tissue. Muons move at nearly the speed of light, which makes them useful signals of what unfolds when cosmic radiation meets the air above us. They leave no visible trace, so CosmicWatch translates each one's passage into an electrical pulse that can be recorded. How the $100 build works CosmicWatch fits in one hand. At its core sits a plastic scintillator paired with a silicon photomultiplier, backed by electronics that read the faint flashes of light a muon produces as it dumps energy inside the detector. The newest model, called v3X, saves each event to a microSD card or sends readings over USB. It also tracks temperature, pressure and acceleration alongside the particle counts. The low cost matters because standard detectors tend to be bulky and expensive. The original research paper described the unit as a self-contained, portable instrument that students could put together on their own, with a first-time builder finishing in about four hours. Once assembled, a student can gather data and study how muon counts shift with altitude, with shielding placed around the device, or with other surrounding conditions. From a neutrino problem to a teaching tool Axani started the work as a graduate student at MIT. His early aim connected to large neutrino experiments, where spotting atmospheric muons helps researchers separate them from the neutrinos they actually want to measure. The effort then took a turn. Rather than adding another pricey machine for a single specialised lab, Axani and his colleagues designed a version cheap enough for students and modest research budgets. That design became CosmicWatch and has kept advancing. The v3X release adds environmental sensors, better data handling and coincidence features, which let several detectors run together to filter out stray background signals. Why muons are worth measuring Muons do more than confirm that cosmic radiation is streaming overhead. Because they carry high energy and pass through matter readily, they open a window on both cosmic-ray behaviour and the makeup of objects on the ground. Measuring them helps scientists examine the particle showers that cosmic rays trigger and work out the traits of whatever set the shower in motion. The same idea powers muography, a method that forms images by counting how many muons make it through a given object. Its uses span archaeology and geology. Since muons can push through thick material, they help where ordinary imaging cannot reach inside a dense structure. Reaching altitudes labs cannot Portability is one of CosmicWatch's strongest features. Detectors like it have already flown on high-altitude balloons, letting researchers watch cosmic-ray activity shift as the payload rises. Independent balloon flights have carried CosmicWatch units past 60,000 feet. The University of Delaware has described a newer flight in which a modified detector climbed to roughly 100,000 feet, where the shifting atmosphere offers a chance to chart how particle rates change with height. The hardware is also being applied in laboratory research, including experiments hunting rare particles and dark matter. A later version is under study for measuring primary cosmic rays aboard rockets and spacecraft. The project points toward something larger still: a spread-out network of cheap detectors feeding a shared database, rather than readings drawn from a few select facilities. Such a setup could resemble a citizen-science network, letting students and researchers across regions line up their cosmic-ray data for comparison. The device's value, then, goes beyond cutting the price of detection. Its small footprint lowers the entry barrier to a corner of physics that usually feels out of reach, putting particle detection on an ordinary desk. CosmicWatch detector, muon detector, Spencer Axani, cosmic rays, citizen science physics, particle detection, MIT physics project, muography

News National

0 5 0

Saudi King Salman branded Yemen's Houthis a 'terrorist militia' and accused them of targeting Mecca, in a rare intervention amid escalating attacks. Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has denounced Yemen's Houthi movement as a "terrorist militia" and charged the Iran-aligned group with repeated attempts to strike the holy city of Mecca. The 90-year-old monarch delivered the remarks at a cabinet session on Tuesday, according to the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA). The statement stood out because the king rarely weighs in on unfolding events, having handed most routine governance to his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. King Salman described the reported attempts on Mecca as a "heinous crime" and an affront to Muslims everywhere, SPA said. The city is home to the Kaaba, the site Muslims face in prayer. The king's words followed a Saudi announcement last week that the kingdom had shot down a drone flown by the Houthis toward Mecca. The group rejected the claim outright, and its leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, dismissed it as "a heinous lie." The episode triggered a security alert in Mecca for the first time in close to a decade. King Salman praised the armed forces and security agencies for "defending the homeland and resolutely confronting any aggression against the holy sites, pilgrims, citizens and residents of the Kingdom," as quoted by the state agency. He also pointed to recent diplomacy, referencing a meeting the crown prince held in Cairo last week with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. The king noted his own exchanges with French President Emmanuel Macron, which centered on steadying the region and safeguarding the security and free movement of maritime traffic. Missiles Reach Riyadh The condemnation came against a backdrop of intensifying strikes. This month's Houthi assaults have amounted to one of the most serious challenges to Saudi security in years. Houthi missiles and drones have increasingly been aimed at Saudi cities, energy sites and vessels, forming a further front in a broader regional confrontation that erupted with the United States and Israel's war on Iran in February. On Saturday, forces from the Saudi-led coalition operating in Yemen said they had brought down a ballistic missile launched by the Houthis toward the capital, Riyadh. A plume of dark smoke rose from a fuel storage zone at King Khalid International Airport in the city. The fighting carries consequences beyond the kingdom's borders. Houthi forces have extended their reach across the whole of Yemen's Red Sea coastline. That stretch of water has served as a backup shipping lane for Saudi oil exports while the Strait of Hormuz has been blockaded, putting global energy flows at greater risk. A Three-Nation Pact Responding to the mounting pressure, Saudi Arabia joined Turkiye and Pakistan last month in signing the Mecca Joint Defence Agreement. Under its terms, an armed strike against any one of the three signatories is to be regarded as an attack on all of them. The pact ties the kingdom's security to two other major Muslim-majority states at a moment when its own defenses are being tested by cross-border fire from Yemen. King Salman's direct entry into the debate signaled the weight Riyadh now attaches to the threat, particularly where it touches the country's most sacred ground. King Salman, Houthis, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Mohammed bin Salman, Riyadh, Mecca Joint Defence Agreement

News National

0 14 0

A Bundibugyo virus outbreak has caused 695 confirmed cases and 138 deaths in Congo and Uganda, exposing gaps in preparedness for rare pathogens. A rare member of the Ebola family is spreading rapidly across the Democratic Republic of Congo, and its scale has already eclipsed every previously documented outbreak of the pathogen. The World Health Organization recorded 695 confirmed cases and 138 confirmed deaths in the DRC and Uganda as of June 11, a toll that far exceeds the two earlier events tied to the Bundibugyo virus. The surge is the focus of a review published in the New England Journal of Medicine by Nancy Sullivan, a professor of biology, virology, immunology and microbiology at Boston University. Sullivan argues that the world's approach to dangerous diseases leans too heavily on the pathogens that generate the most headlines, leaving health systems exposed when an obscure virus returns without warning. A filovirus with only two prior outbreaks Bundibugyo sits within the filovirus family, the same group that produces the Ebola virus. Until now it had been linked to just two recognized outbreaks: one in Uganda in 2007 and a second in the DRC in 2012. The current episode has overtaken both, in the number of people infected and in how quickly it has moved. The present outbreak was formally identified only after a nurse died. That detail underscores how the virus reaches the people closest to the sick. It passes from person to person through direct contact with infected bodily fluids, which places relatives, caregivers and medical staff at heightened risk, particularly in hospital wards that lack strong infection control. The illness it produces is brutal. Bundibugyo can trigger a severe hemorrhagic fever marked by sweeping inflammation, injury and collapse of the cells that line blood vessels, bleeding that cannot be stopped, and the failure of several organs at once. Symptoms that mimic malaria One reason the virus is difficult to catch early is that its opening signs look like far more ordinary infections. Early symptoms shadow those of malaria, typhoid fever and other common conditions, so a firm diagnosis cannot be made at the bedside. Only laboratory testing can confirm that a patient carries the virus. Sullivan describes containment as a set of steps that must click into place together and fast: confirming infections quickly, separating patients who test positive, tracking down anyone they may have exposed, tightening infection control and delivering supportive care. Each of those actions grows harder when a region has few laboratories and thin testing capacity. In parts of the DRC, that capacity is exactly what is missing. Sullivan found that specimens often have to be carried long distances to reach national reference laboratories, turning what should be a fast test into a drawn-out process. "Delays in specimen collection, transportation and testing can postpone confirmation by days or weeks, which hinders the isolation of infected persons, contact tracing and the initiation of outbreak-control measures," Sullivan wrote. Every day lost to a slow result gives the virus more room. During an active outbreak, speed in identifying cases is what allows responders to wall off the infected and locate the exposed before the chain of transmission widens. No vaccine built for Bundibugyo The outbreak also highlights a blind spot in how the world stocks its medical arsenal. Researchers have made real headway on vaccines and treatments for the Ebola, Sudan and Marburg viruses. Bundibugyo has drawn no comparable effort. Because it strikes so seldom, no vaccine or therapy has ever been licensed to target it specifically. For decades the virus registered barely a flicker of recognized activity, which is part of Sullivan's point. Its sudden reappearance as a serious threat shows how hard it is to forecast which infectious agent will drive the next crisis. She contends that countermeasures should be developed across a far wider range of pathogens capable of causing severe illness or death, rather than being concentrated on the handful already known for frequent outbreaks. The Bundibugyo emergency, in her reading, is a test of whether preparedness can stretch beyond the familiar. Limited testing, a hospital-borne death that first exposed the outbreak, and the absence of any approved vaccine have combined to let a long-dormant virus climb past its own historical records - and to warn that the next surprise may come from a name few have heard. Bundibugyo virus, Ebola outbreak, Democratic Republic of Congo, filovirus, hemorrhagic fever, WHO outbreak, Nancy Sullivan, outbreak preparedness

News National

0 9 0

Microsoft's 12-inch Surface Pro and 13-inch Surface Laptop return October 13 with six-core Snapdragon X2 Plus chips, 16GB minimum RAM and steep price jumps. Microsoft is updating its two most compact Surface machines, the 12-inch Surface Pro and the 13-inch Surface Laptop, with Qualcomm's six-core Snapdragon X2 Plus processors. Both models keep the same chassis, screens and ports as their predecessors and gain new silicon inside, along with noticeably steeper starting prices. The 12-inch Surface Pro goes on sale on October 13th, starting at $1,149.99. A year ago the same tablet opened at $799.99. The 13-inch Surface Laptop follows a similar path, climbing to $1,199.99 from its earlier $899.99 entry point. Part of that increase comes down to memory. Microsoft has dropped the entry-level 8GB configuration entirely. Every unit now ships with at least 16GB of RAM, and buyers can order up to 24GB. What the X2 Plus delivers Microsoft frames the Snapdragon X2 Plus mainly around efficiency and speed. Compared with the previous generation, the company says the chip offers up to 18 percent better battery efficiency, more than 60 percent quicker graphics, and as much as 95 percent faster on-device AI processing through the built-in neural processing unit. In practical terms, those figures translate into longer runtimes. Microsoft brands the updated tablet the Surface Pro 12-inch Second Edition and rates it for roughly 13 hours of web browsing, an hour more than before. The Surface Laptop 13-inch Second Edition gains two hours, reaching about 18 hours of browsing on a charge. Screens and connections stay familiar The displays carry over almost unchanged. The Surface Pro 12-inch uses a 2196 x 1464 LCD panel at 220 pixels per inch, refreshing at up to 90Hz. The Surface Laptop 13-inch keeps its 1920 x 1280 screen at 178 pixels per inch and a 60Hz refresh rate. The one meaningful tweak is brightness: both panels now peak at 500 nits, up from 400 nits. Connectivity is also a repeat of last year. Each device carries two USB-C 3.2 ports, and the Surface Laptop 13-inch adds a USB-A 3.2 port plus a 3.5mm headphone jack. Both machines support Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. One omission stands out. Neither smaller Surface received a haptic trackpad, even though Windows 11 has added subtle haptic cues and the Surface Laptop Ultra already includes the feature. Separately, Microsoft is releasing a second-generation Surface Mouse with built-in haptics. Colors and configurations Buyers get a familiar palette with one addition: black returns for both models, joining platinum silver and violet. Microsoft is selling both devices to commercial customers as well, and the Surface Pro 12-inch can be ordered with an optional 5G configuration for cellular connectivity. The result is a straightforward internal upgrade. The look, the screens and the port layout are the same as the outgoing versions, while the new Qualcomm chips push battery life and performance forward and the higher memory floor pushes the price up with them. Microsoft Surface, Snapdragon X2 Plus, Surface Pro 12-inch, Surface Laptop 13-inch, Qualcomm, Windows 11 laptop, Surface price, Surface Second Edition

News National

0 7 0

US analysts Bonnie Glaser and Dennis Wilder expect Xi Jinping to raise Taiwan and arms sales when he meets Trump in Washington this week. Chinese President Xi Jinping is likely to bring up Taiwan when he sits down with US President Donald Trump in Washington this week, two US analysts said on Monday, with American weapons sales to the island expected to top his list of grievances. Bonnie Glaser, managing director of the Indo-Pacific program at the German Marshall Fund, a Washington-based think tank, said Xi would probably steer any discussion of Taiwan toward those arms transfers. In Xi's view, she said, the two leaders share an understanding that ties between their countries should rest on stable, constructive strategic footing, and that Washington should refrain from steps that erode that foundation. "Xi Jinping would say that arms sales to Taiwan would undermine that understanding and inject greater friction into the relationship," Glaser said. Dennis Wilder, a former director for China at the US National Security Council, offered a similar reading. He said Beijing would probably put the matter on the table and try to cast Taiwanese President William Lai as the party driving up tensions across the strait. Trump, by contrast, is highly unlikely to bring up Taiwan himself, Wilder said. The US president regards the current arrangement as entirely satisfactory and sees no cause to alter it. Should the topic come up anyway, Glaser said Trump would be wise to warn Xi against any military move on Taiwan and to back the preservation of the existing situation in the Taiwan Strait. She added that Trump should point out that the United States acts according to its own laws, as China does, and that the Taiwan Relations Act obliges Washington to supply the island with defensive weapons. Japan's worries and the Takaichi meeting Wilder said Japan may be feeling greater unease about the summit than Taiwan is. Tokyo's relations with Beijing are currently tense, and he expects Chinese officials to press Trump with complaints about Japan, among them claims of a resurgent "neo-militarism." "The Japanese will be eager for reassurance that the United States remains very committed to Japan, and that even though the relationship with Beijing is improving, that it isn't at the expense of Japan," Wilder said. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is due to hold her own talks with Trump in New York on Tuesday. Iran, tariffs and rare earths Beyond Taiwan, Glaser said Iran is likely to rank near the top of Trump's own priorities. She said the US president may want to gauge how far Xi is prepared to go, including whether Beijing could nudge Tehran back into talks or cut its imports of Iranian crude oil. Washington, she said, is plainly working to pressure Iran into concessions. Glaser also anticipates that tariffs, rare earth minerals and a proposed "Board of Trade" will feature in the conversation. Under a framework the two governments are drawing up, as much as US$30 billion worth of non-sensitive goods could see tariffs lowered. Both analysts expect artificial intelligence to be discussed as well. The subject carries weight for each side, and at their meeting in May the two leaders agreed to set up a dedicated AI dialogue. Wilder said that while intense rivalry between the two powers will persist, they could still work together to curb the dangers of AI, including the risk that hostile actors or terrorists gain access to and misuse advanced systems. Glaser said Trump might also raise the situation of Americans held in China, noting that he has taken personal credit for helping win the release of some detained US citizens. Hopes for the AI dialogue and mineral shipments Both experts said they hoped the meeting would yield movement on AI and on the supply of rare earths, a sector China dominates. That dominance leaves other economies exposed to Beijing's warnings that it could halt exports of the critical minerals. Glaser said she wanted the two leaders to settle on the aims and scope of the planned AI dialogue, while Wilder likewise looked for headway in those discussions. Glaser also said she would like Trump and Xi to prolong the current tariff arrangement and to secure Chinese follow-through on its pledges, including on rare earth shipments. Wilder said China had fallen short in delivering rare earths to the United States and voiced hope that Beijing would offer further commitments. Trump Xi summit, Taiwan arms sales, Bonnie Glaser, Dennis Wilder, Taiwan Relations Act, US China relations, rare earths, William Lai

News National

0 14 0

A New York judge sentenced Harvey Weinstein to 15 years for a criminal sexual act against ex-assistant Miriam Haley, after a retrial reconviction. Harvey Weinstein has been ordered to serve 15 years behind bars after a New York jury last year found him guilty of committing a criminal sexual act against a woman who once worked as his assistant. Judge Curtis Farber delivered the sentence on Wednesday, telling the former film producer he had refused to answer for his conduct. "You took what you wanted by force and you have never accepted responsibility," the judge said. The case centred on Miriam Haley, who addressed the courtroom directly. In her victim-impact statement, she said the attack had left a "devastating effect on my life and sense of security that may never go away." Weinstein, 74, attended the hearing in a wheelchair. He rejected the accusations against him but offered an apology to "anyone I may have hurt by my actions." This marks the second time Weinstein has been sentenced over the same allegation. He was first found guilty and punished in 2020, but New York's top court threw out that conviction in 2024, ruling that he had not received a fair trial. The same decision also cancelled a separate conviction tied to actress Jessica Mann. Prosecutors put Weinstein on trial again, and jurors convicted him last year on a single count of a criminal sexual act involving Haley. Haley first gave evidence during the 2020 proceedings, telling the court that Weinstein had assaulted her in a bedroom of his Manhattan apartment in 2006. At the time, she was working as a production assistant on the television programme Project Runway. She returned to the witness stand for the retrial, later explaining that she felt she had no choice. "I just thought, I have to stand up for myself. I have to stand up for the truth," she said. The outcome of the retrial was mixed for prosecutors. While the jury convicted Weinstein over Haley, it could not agree on a verdict in the charges connected to Mann. He was cleared of a separate accusation brought by model Kaja Sokola. Weinstein has now faced three trials in New York over allegations of rape and abuse, and he has already spent several years in custody in the state. He is being held in a prison ward at Bellevue Hospital in New York, where he is being treated for a number of health problems that have emerged during his imprisonment. His legal troubles extend beyond New York. In a separate case in Los Angeles, a jury convicted him in 2022 of raping and sexually assaulting an actress in a hotel room in 2013. He has yet to be sentenced in that matter. An appeals court directed that he be re-sentenced there after the New York convictions were reversed. Weinstein rose to prominence as the driving force behind Miramax, the studio responsible for successes such as Shakespeare in Love. His standing collapsed in 2017, when the New York Times and the New Yorker published accounts from numerous women who accused him of sexual assault dating back decades. Those reports helped ignite the #MeToo movement, which encouraged people to speak publicly about sexual misconduct. Throughout the years of litigation, Weinstein has maintained his innocence and has said he expects to be cleared. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have had to work through repeated setbacks and reversals to secure and preserve convictions against him.Harvey Weinstein, Miriam Haley, sexual assault sentence, MeToo movement, Miramax, New York trial, Judge Curtis Farber, Weinstein retrial

News National

0 6 0

Bajaj Pulsar NS200 and NS400Z TFT variants have reached showrooms ahead of launch, adding a 5-inch TFT cluster, Google Maps mirroring and WP Apex forks. Bajaj Auto's updated Pulsar NS200 and Pulsar NS400Z have started arriving at dealerships ahead of their formal launch, giving buyers an early look at the changes both bikes carry. The two naked sport models now come with a new TFT instrument cluster and Google Maps mirroring, while the NS200 also gains WP Apex upside-down front forks. Both updates land close together. The Pulsar NS400Z was launched earlier with a downsized 350cc engine, and it has now been revised again. The NS200 receives a matching set of upgrades. Bajaj has an official launch and new prices expected to follow soon. The update sits within a wider refresh of the Pulsar range. The Classic Pulsar 125 and Pulsar 150 were recently rebuilt on a next-generation platform with a new engine. Other lines, including the Pulsar N and Pulsar NS families, have instead received smaller changes aimed at adding equipment and keeping the models current. The 5-inch TFT cluster The centrepiece of the update is the TFT screen. The same 5-inch unit first appeared on the Pulsar N160 4V, offering sharp resolution along with brightness that Bajaj positions as readable in sunlight. It supports both Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, which is what allows the connected features to work. That cluster was later fitted to the next-generation Classic Pulsar 150 and Classic Pulsar 125. Extending it to the NS200 and NS400Z brings it to the more performance-focused end of the range. Both bikes also get new switchgear designed to operate the display. The connectivity runs through a new Bajaj smartphone application, which unlocks Google Maps mirroring on the screen. For Android users, the mirroring continues to function even when the phone's own screen is off. The system also handles music control, notifications from third-party apps and call alerts. The cluster adds digital document storage, letting riders keep their driving licence, insurance and registration certificate on the display. There is also a strong chance that the NS200 and NS400Z TFT variants will support a lap timer and an acceleration timer. WP Apex forks for the NS200 The NS200 goes further than a screen upgrade. Bajaj has fitted it with WP Apex upside-down telescopic front forks, a component previously kept for KTM and Husqvarna motorcycles. Moving these forks onto the Pulsar marks a step up in the bike's hardware. Other changes to the NS200 remain unconfirmed. Bajaj may add wider radial tyres and sintered brake pads to give riders more grip and stopping confidence, though neither has been announced. The engines on both the NS200 and NS400Z are expected to carry over unchanged. With the TFT variants already reaching showroom floors, the formal launch and updated pricing for both models are likely to be confirmed in the near future. Bajaj Pulsar NS200, Pulsar NS400Z, TFT instrument cluster, WP Apex USD forks, Google Maps mirroring, Bajaj Auto, Pulsar N160 4V, motorcycle launch India

News National

0 6 0

New US sanctions have shut Iranian airlines out of much of the world's airspace, cancelling most flights and forcing civilians onto costly land routes. Air travel has become sharply harder for Iranian civilians after United States sanctions locked domestic airlines out of much of the world's airspace, forcing many people onto slower and more expensive overland routes. Wednesday, September 23, 2026, marked the end of a short wind-down period that had allowed neighbouring countries to keep servicing Iranian carriers, and its expiry triggered the cancellation of all but a handful of Iranian flights to Turkiye, the United Arab Emirates and China. The latest squeeze traces to September 8, when the US Department of the Treasury designated 27 airlines, covering the remaining Iranian carriers that Washington had not already sanctioned. Larger names such as Iran Air and Mahan Air were already under heavy sanctions but had kept limited operations running. The newer round widened the net beyond aircraft operators, targeting individuals and entities tied to aviation support and procurement in the UAE, Turkiye, China, India, the United Kingdom, Malaysia and other countries. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Monday that airports and companies supplying Iranian-operated planes with fuel, landing services or ticket sales now risk secondary US sanctions that could sever them from the American financial system. The measures are part of a broader effort to pressure Tehran into concessions during the US-Israel war on Iran. Neighbouring airspace closes The most immediate effect came from neighbouring aviation authorities that had continued to open their airspace and airport services to Iranian airlines and have now stopped. Oman, Azerbaijan and Georgia are among those that said they would no longer provide such services. In Iraq, Baghdad Airport was declared off-limits to Iranian carriers, though flights to Najaf Airport were still running on Wednesday. Many connections between Iran and the major transit hubs of Turkiye and the UAE had already been halted because of the war and earlier sanctions. International carriers have also pulled back almost entirely. Turkish Airlines has suspended its flights until at least March 2027, while Qatar Airways, Emirates and Lufthansa have all suspended operations to the country. That combination leaves Iranian travellers with few remaining air links and pushes many towards land crossings, which are cheaper to reach but longer and costlier overall for those who once relied on direct flights. A 'new level of sanctions' Mohammadreza Ebrahimpour, an Iran-based aviation and transit expert, said years of US sanctions had already pushed Iranian airlines to lean on third countries and smaller firms to secure fuel and services. Sourcing spare parts to keep the country's ageing fleet in the air has grown steadily harder over the same period. But the formal refusal of services by aviation authorities in neighbouring states, he said, amounted to "a new level of sanctions in action" that could carry longer-lasting consequences than the earlier restrictions. Unlike informal workarounds, official closures are harder to route around. Ebrahimpour added that the US had effectively barred international airlines from crossing Iranian airspace as well. Washington did so by suspending authorisations for some US-origin aircraft to fly to Iran and by limiting US-linked payments for overflights. He described the loss of overflight revenue as "a big blow," noting that such payments had been one of the most lucrative parts of Iran's aviation sector. The overflight restrictions matter beyond passenger convenience. Fees paid by foreign carriers to cross a country's airspace are a steady source of hard currency, and cutting that stream removes income that Iran had continued to earn even as its own airlines struggled. For now, the practical picture on the ground is stark: most scheduled international service into and out of Iran has stopped, the handful of surviving Iranian flights operate under tight limits, and travellers face the choice of long overland journeys or waiting for routes that may not return soon. Iran aviation sanctions, US Treasury Iran airlines, Iran Air Mahan sanctions, Scott Bessent, Iran flight cancellations, US-Israel war on Iran, Iranian airspace overflight, Imam Khomeini airport

News National

0 6 0