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O'Connor targets biggest titles after European gold
Kate O'Connor knows she is capable of winning a world and Olympic title after producing a superb performance to clinch a European gold medal. O'Connor targets biggest titles after European gold
Kalyana Lakshmi scheme row: BRS to stage protests across Telangana
BRS working president KT Rama Rao has accused the Congress government of conspiring to scrap the Kalyana Lakshmi scheme under the pretext of a High Court verdict. He urged party leaders and cadres to stage protests across the state, warning that any attempt to halt the scheme would invite strong public backlash.
Rockets crush Sunrisers for first women's Hundred title
Trent Rockets win their first women's Hundred title with an eight-wicket win at Lord's after bowling Sunrisers Leeds out for just 91. Rockets crush Sunrisers for first women's Hundred title
BJP rebukes Chidambaram over 'dimagi naxal' remark, demands explanation over remark
Patna, Aug 16 (IANS) Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday launched a scathing attack at senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram over his 'diamagi Naxal' comments and demanded from the former Home Minister as to what he meant by his objectionable assertions. Chidambaram's retort on Prime Minister Narendra Modi's call for identifying and isolating 'dimagi Naxals' during Independence Day speech, triggered a sharp political clash between the BJP and Congress with the former firing volleys at the grand old party. BJP MP and former Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad addressed a press conference in Patna on Sunday over Chidambaram's "I am proud to be dimagi naxal" remark, dubbing it as "highly irresponsible" and "in bad taste". Prasad said that despite being a former Home Minister and a senior advocate, Chidambaram failed to understand the context of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement. The BJP leader said that PM Modi presented a roadmap for 'Developed India' (Viksit Bharat) by 2047 during the Independence Day speech and while speaking about the youth, farmers, and all sections of society, the Prime Minister mentioned that the government succeeded in eliminating Naxalism but there were some who still harbour a 'Naxalite mindset'. It was in response to this remark that Chidambaram took to his X account and wrote, "I am proud to be a dimagi naxal!". Prasad demanded that the Congress leader explains what he meant by this statement. He said that Chidambaram is a Rajya Sabha MP, senior Supreme Court lawyer, and former Union Home Minister and therefore, a greater degree of responsibility and seriousness was expected of him. Recalling his own experiences as the Chhattisgarh Congress In-charge, the BJP spokesman said that he observed the 'changing ground' situation first-hand. Prasad claimed that an entire ecosystem within the Congress has maintained a soft stance towards Maoism and Naxalism. He added that 'Dimagi naxal' and 'Urban Naxal' are merely different manifestations of the same mindset. He alleged that Chidambaram's remarks show how Congress-led UPA government functioned. "During Manmohan Singh government tenure, 76 BSF and CRPF personnel were murdered by Maoists. Yet, Chidambaram said that he was willing to hold talks. An event was organised in jail where plans were laid out to welcome those who carried out the attacks," the senior BJP leader claimed. He also targeted Congress over the issue of 'Vande Mataram', calling it unfortunate that the party leadership objected to the singing of national song at the party headquarters. He remarked that it is a serious matter for the Congress leadership, which claims to have played a pivotal role in the freedom movement, to show such disrespect towards the national song. He demanded that the Congress apologises to the nation for insulting 'Vande Mataram'. --IANS mr/khz
When Jaya Bachchan revealed to KJo whose decision it was behind her acting sabbatical
Mumbai, Aug 16 (IANS) The veteran actress once revealed that it was her husband, megastar Amitabh Bachchan, who objected to her working in films after marriage. An old clip from Bollywood multi-hyphenate Karan Johar’s chat show ‘Koffee With Karan’ has resurfaced on the Internet, and is shows the host probing her in order to understand whose decision it was behind her choosing to stay away from films until her kids reached a certain age. Karan asked her, “When you just stopped acting and you were at the peak of your career, you were a big big star and even super hits, a professional part of your life. Was that decision completely yours and you took it one day?”. Responding to the same, the actress said, “He (Amitabh Bachchan) said that you know I don't want a 9-5 wife. What happened was that he got so busy I felt that it's very important that one parent should be home with the kids”. She further mentioned, “I remember Shweta once telling me when I was getting ready for it. I was going for shooting and I you know I'd started doing my makeup at home. I'd try and spend a little more time and she said where are you going? I said I'm going for shooting. Don't go, let Papa go, you don't go”. KJo said, “I mean and that's when you decided?”. She added, “Yes, it was terrible”. Big B and Jaya Bachchan married on June 3, 1973, in a private ceremony attended by close family and friends. Their relationship began after they worked together in films. As per reports, Amitabh later recalled that they decided to marry after ‘Zanjeer’ succeeded. The couple has two children, daughter Shweta Bachchan Nanda, born in 1974, and son Abhishek Bachchan, born in 1976, who followed his parents into acting. --IANS aa/
Blueprints of Tomorrow
Young Indian STEM prodigies are pushing the boundaries of science, tackling global challenges and imagining a more innovative world for the generations to come
Toddler Critical After Falling From 3rd Floor Of Building In Bengaluru
The child had been left playing outside the house.
BJP terms Chidambaram's ‘proud to be dimagi Naxal' remark ‘utterly irresponsible’
The BJP on Sunday termed P Chidambaram's "proud to be 'dimagi Naxal'" remark "utterly irresponsible", and said it showed how the Congress-led UPA government used to function.
GB women narrowly defeated in Olympic qualifier
Great Britain's women's flag football team suffer defeat at the World Championships as they miss out on qualifying for the 2028 Olympics. GB women narrowly defeated in Olympic qualifier
SentinelOne chief accounting officer Robin Tomasello sells $109,799 in stock
SentinelOne chief accounting officer Robin Tomasello sells $109,799 in stock
Global
Top political stories from around the world.
Hungary bus crash kills 12, injures 10 others
BUDAPEST — A passenger bus traveling on a highway in Hungary early Sunday went off the road and into a ditch where it overturned, killing 12 and injuring others, police said. The bus, which carried Polish license plates, was traveling on eastbound lanes near the town of Mezokeresztes when it overturned on the M3 motorway around 140 kilometers east of Hungary’s capital, Budapest, at around 1 a.m. on Sunday. In a statement, police said it was likely that the driver fell asleep, causing the accident, and that the driver had been taken into custody. Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski wrote Sunday in a post on X that a “tragic bus accident involving Polish tourists” had occurred in Hungary and that his ministry was in contact with Hungarian authorities. Polish President Karol Nawrocki expressed his “deep sorrow” over the accident. “I join the families and loved ones of the victims in prayer and deep sympathy,” he wrote in a post on X. Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar wrote in a statement on Facebook that at least 10 people were seriously injured in the crash. He offered his condolences to the families of the victims and thanked rescue workers who were dispatched to the scene.
Japan aims for moons of Mars
TANEGASHIMA SPACE CENTER, Japan — Japanese scientists are preparing for a mission to Mars’ moons to retrieve samples that may unlock the origins of the Solar System and life on Earth, although a rival Chinese mission aims to make it back first. The unmanned Martian Moons exploration (MMX), set to blast off from Tanegashima Space Center in the coming months, could also lay the groundwork for humans visiting the red planet. The spacecraft, revealed to media last Thursday, will stay in Mars’ orbit for around three years and will attempt to land on Phobos. It will collect at least 0.35 ounces of material from the surface of Phobos, while the Idefix rover — the French name for comic hero Asterix’s dog — will conduct surface observations. Impact or capture The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) hopes that the mission will reveal how Mars and its moons formed, a key piece of knowledge in working out how the Solar System was born. One theory for the origin of the Martian moons — the “giant impact” hypothesis — is that they formed after a celestial body collided with Mars. The “capture” hypothesis, meanwhile, postulates that the moons are asteroids from the outer Solar System that were captured by Mars’ gravity. Determining which is right will help reveal “how a habitable environment for life might have arisen on the terrestrial planets”, JAXA said, referring to the four rocky worlds closest to the Sun — Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. “MMX will shed light on the transport mechanisms that delivered water, volatiles, and organic compounds from the outer Solar System to the inner rocky planet region — processes that may have played a key role in making these worlds habitable,” said Patrick Michel, a French astrophysicist working on Idefix. JAXA said that the mission will also explore the possibility of using Phobos as a “natural space station” by establishing the technology required for a round trip to Mars — something “essential for crewed Mars exploration.” Martian legs MMX is a collaboration with France’s National Center for Space Studies (CNES), the German Aerospace Center (DLR), NASA and European Space Agency (ESA) as well as a score of universities and tech companies. “We have to prevent the (probe) from falling down, by having the legs cushion the impact of landing,” Uehara said. Japan’s unmanned Smart Lander for Investigating Moon (SLIM) — the “Moon Sniper” — tipped over after touching down on Earth’s Moon in 2024, but still transmitted data and survived several two-week lunar nights. Perseverance MMX is not the only Mars mission trying to bring back material. NASA’s Perseverance rover, which has been roaming the red planet since 2021, has already collected samples ready to be taken back to Earth. China has also announced its Tianwen-3 spacecraft is scheduled for launch around 2028 and will return Mars samples to Earth around 2031 — potentially earlier than MMX’s sample return. China’s Tianwen-1 mission already landed a rover named Zhurong on the surface of Mars in 2021, in one of the most spectacular successes of Beijing’s space program.
NKorea ‘proud’ of strong ties with Russia – Kim
SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un told Russian President Vladimir Putin he was “proud” of their countries’ strong ties, state media reported Sunday, after providing military support for Moscow’s war against Ukraine. Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, North Korea has become a key ally of the Kremlin, sending troops to support Moscow’s war effort in return for economic benefits and military technology, analysts said. “I am always proud to be able to expect more excellent future of the bilateral relations by leading, together with you, the DPRK-Russia ties that has carried forward the history of common struggle,” Kim said in his letter to Putin, according to an English-language dispatch by the official Korean Central News Agency. DPRK is the acronym for the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Kim added that he had a “firm belief” that Russia would thrive and defend its “territorial integrity” under Putin’s “wise leadership.” In a letter to Kim delivered on Friday to mark Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule at the end of World War II, Putin said relations between the two countries had reached the “unprecedentedly high level of comprehensive strategic partnership.” “Our states are actively cooperating in all the sectors while making concerted efforts to ensure the regional security and stability,” the Russian leader said. The exchange of letters follows Ukraine’s accusation this month that Moscow had launched North Korean ballistic missiles in a strike that killed at least nine people and wounded dozens. Kyiv has also recently said that up to 50,000 North Korean troops are due to deploy to Russia, although it has provided no evidence to back the claim or a timeframe for the deployment. In making the claim, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy asked Seoul to supply air defense systems to protect against Russian missiles, a request that has gone unanswered by the South.
Israel vows to go after Hezbollah if threatened
JERUSALEM — Israel vowed Sunday it would hit Hezbollah again if threatened, as it identified what it described as a commander killed in strikes a day earlier that also left several children dead. Israeli strikes on Saturday killed 11 people in southern Lebanon, according to authorities, in the deadliest attacks since a deal was reached in June aimed at ending hostilities. Israel said the strikes were a response to Hezbollah setting off explosive drones inside a so-called “security zone” in southern Lebanon, seriously injuring three Israeli troops, including an officer. “No score will be left unsettled in any arena. We’ll defend our soldiers and our civilians with full power,” Defense Minister Israel Katz wrote on X. The Israeli military identified one of those killed on Saturday as Abu Hassan Alaa, saying he was a senior commander of Hezbollah’s Badr unit who had been involved in firing drones at Israeli troops. Israel earlier said that the strike killed a commander in Hezbollah’s elite Radwan Force, Ali Samir Al-Haj Hassan. The Israeli military acknowledged that Hassan’s family was present but defended the strike by saying they were not the target. Lebanese President Joseph Aoun said a “whole family” had been killed in the strike in the village of Ansar, with Lebanon’s health ministry reporting that three children and two women died. Imran Riza, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon, condemned the strike. “Children and civilians continue to pay an unacceptable price. International humanitarian law is clear: civilians must be protected at all times,” he said. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office accused Hezbollah of deliberately placing civilians in harm’s way. Hezbollah denied the account, saying that “another entire family has been wiped out following orders issued by Netanyahu.” “Netanyahu, who is the subject of proceedings before the International Criminal Court over war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Gaza, is once again presiding over the killing of Lebanese civilians,” Hezbollah said in a statement. Lebanon and Israel signed a US-brokered deal in which Lebanon’s army will gradually take over security in southern areas occupied by Israel, but Hezbollah has refused to disarm.
Eastern Japan rainfall kills
TOKYO — Heavy rain that battered eastern Japan has left nine people dead, public broadcaster NHK said Sunday, after an “unprecedented” deluge that flooded over a thousand homes and snarled up roads and rail services. Torrential downpours starting late Thursday triggered landslide warnings and power outages, with forecasters issuing the highest-level heavy rain warning for the Chiba region for the first time. A weather station in the prefecture recorded 30 centimeters of rain in 24 hours, making it the area’s wettest August in six decades. By Friday morning, the city of Chiba logged more than three times the rainfall typically seen in the whole of August, Tokyo’s land ministry said. Nine have since died in the rains, NHK reported Sunday morning, citing its own tally. Chiba’s disaster management office as of Saturday evening listed eight dead, some trapped inside submerged cars and others found on flooded streets. Over 70 houses across the Chiba region were partially destroyed by the rain, the prefecture’s latest tally showed. Over a thousand households reported being flooded, nearly 600 of which saw water surge above the floorboards. An estimated 1,200 cars also remain abandoned on roads, local media said, with authorities working on towing them away or using jacks to move them. An official from Japan’s Meteorological Agency told a news conference on Thursday that it was “shaping up to be an unprecedented level of heavy rain.” Scientists say human-driven climate change is making extreme weather more frequent, prolonged and intense.
Should Israel supporters abandon the word ‘Zionism’?
Beyond confusion over the meaning of 'Zionism,' some academics and activists suggest that the word itself has outlived its usefulness. The post Should Israel supporters abandon the word ‘Zionism’? appeared first on World Israel News .
"Women have massively improved on their skill": Viren Rasquinha hails India's 2-2 draw against China at Hockey World Cup
Amstelveen [Netherlands], August 16 (ANI): Former India hockey captain Viren Rasquinha praised the women's team for their impressive 2-2 draw against China in the ongoing FIH Hockey World Cup, highlighting the significant progress they have made since their 0-4 defeat to the same opponents in the 2023 Asian Games semi-final. He credited the team's marked improvement in skills, strategy and, most notably, fitness
Turnpike Audit Flags $229 Million in Unpaid Tolls
HARRISBURG, PA — Pennsylvania’s Turnpike Commission has strengthened its financial position since a 2022 state audit but continues to face heavy debt obligations and hundreds of millions of dollars in ...
Cambridge University defends its mental health support for Jason Arday
Arday, 41, was pronounced dead at his London home on Friday, following widespread coverage of plagiarism accusations
NZX earnings season: What company results could reveal about the economy
Corporate results may show whether NZ's early economic recovery is real.