A Friday air strike in Sheikh Radwan killed one Palestinian and left a child critical, as Gaza officials warned the health system is near collapse. One Palestinian was killed and several others were wounded on Friday when an Israeli air strike hit a motorcycle in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood, west of Gaza City, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency. A child caught in the blast was left in critical condition. The same day, Israeli forces opened fire on the Nuseirat and al-Bureij refugee camps in the central Gaza Strip, Wafa reported. Gunfire struck tents housing displaced families in both camps, leaving multiple people injured. Strikes have continued across the sealed-off territory despite a ceasefire announced in October 2025. At least 1,381 Palestinians have been killed in the period since that announcement. The wider death toll from the war that began in October 2023 stands at a minimum of 73,795 people killed and 174,869 wounded. The Friday attacks followed a series of deadly incidents earlier in the week. In one, an Israeli "double-tap" air strike - a tactic that hits the same site twice - killed a paramedic and a 15-year-old schoolboy in Gaza City. The Israeli military said it had been aiming at Hamas fighters. Collapsed building in Gaza City On Wednesday, a building in Gaza City that had already been damaged caved in, killing at least 21 people. Twelve of the dead were children. Rescue teams from the Palestinian Civil Defence agency have been unable to pull all the bodies from beneath the debris, hampered by tight Israeli limits on the heavy machinery allowed into the enclave. The difficulty of clearing collapsed structures reflects a broader breakdown in basic services. Families across Gaza are now packed into roughly a third of the territory, according to UNICEF, living among wrecked buildings, piles of rubble and waste that has not been removed. The UN children's agency reported last month that, on average, one child was being killed every day. Those still alive are sheltering in what remains of neighbourhoods reduced to ruins. Health sector near breaking point Gaza's Health Ministry issued a stark warning on Wednesday, saying the territory's medical system was close to "total collapse." Officials tied the crisis to restrictions on how much medical aid and fuel Israel permits to cross into the enclave. With supplies squeezed and infrastructure in ruins, hospitals and clinics have struggled to treat the steady flow of wounded arriving from strikes like the one in Sheikh Radwan. The shortage of fuel threatens the equipment and generators that keep emergency care running. The combination of continued strikes, blocked equipment and dwindling medical resources has left rescue workers and medics with fewer means to respond to each new attack. The child injured on Friday joins a long list of young casualties recorded across Gaza since the fighting began. Gaza City strike, Sheikh Radwan, Palestinian casualties, Gaza ceasefire, Nuseirat refugee camp, al-Bureij, Gaza health system, UNICEF Gaza children

News National

0 4 0

Washington has denied Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas a visa for the UN General Assembly, extending sanctions on Palestinian officials into a second year. The United States has refused an entry visa to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, blocking him from attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York next week, two Palestinian sources said. The decision, reported on 17 September 2026, marks the second consecutive year that Washington has shut Abbas out of the world body's flagship gathering of leaders. The move followed a US announcement that it was widening visa penalties against Palestinian officials. Washington did not name Abbas directly but said the restrictions targeted those it accused of breaking commitments made under the peace process. The State Department charged that the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization had been "glorifying terrorism" and working to "internationalize" the dispute with Israel. The penalties date back to August of last year, when 80 Palestinian officials were turned away from the same annual summit. Both bodies now under sanction trace their standing to the Oslo agreements. The Palestinian Authority was created through those accords, while the PLO won recognition as the official voice of the Palestinian people after agreeing to accept Israel and abandon armed struggle. The Palestinian foreign ministry pushed back in a statement on Thursday, describing the visa curbs as a step without justification. It said the measure worked against attempts to restore confidence, strengthen ties between Palestinians and Washington, and build the conditions needed to reach a two-state settlement and lasting calm. Palestinian representatives dismissed the charges leveled by the Trump administration and Israel, arguing they were entitled under international law to pursue accountability against a power they describe as an occupier. When the visa ban was first imposed last year, an aide to Abbas said the action clashed with both international law and the agreement governing the UN's presence in New York. That agreement obliges the United States, as host, to grant foreign diplomats entry to reach the UN. Washington counters that it retains the authority to withhold visas on grounds of security, extremism or foreign policy. Denied a place in the hall last year, Abbas delivered his remarks to the assembled heads of state by video link. A similar arrangement may be arranged again: all 193 members of the General Assembly are due to vote on Thursday on whether he will be permitted to speak remotely at this year's session. The standoff underscores how isolated the US position has become on Palestinian statehood. Roughly three-quarters of the UN's 193 members now recognize the State of Palestine, among them the United Kingdom, France, Canada and Australia. On the Security Council, the US stands alone among the five permanent members in withholding that recognition. Gaza Strikes Continue Despite Ceasefire The visa ruling landed as the UN cautioned that conditions in Gaza remain severe, even with the ceasefire reached last October. Israeli air raids and other operations are still striking populated districts, the world body said, killing and wounding people, wrecking buildings and forcing more residents to flee their homes. On Tuesday, at least five Palestinians were killed in Israeli air strikes, among them two children and a Hamas commander, according to health officials and Hamas sources. The Israeli military said it had killed one Hamas commander in the south of the territory and another combatant in the north. In each case, it was reported that a child died as well. Separately, the British charity Medical Aid for Palestinians said a patient had been killed by an Israeli drone at a health facility it backs in Jabalia, in northern Gaza. An Israeli military spokesperson told reporters the army had no knowledge of the reported strike. The humanitarian warnings and the fresh casualties frame the diplomatic clash now unfolding in New York, where the question of whether Abbas will address the assembly, and by what means, rests with a vote of the full membership. Mahmoud Abbas visa, UN General Assembly, Palestinian Authority, US visa sanctions, two-state solution, PLO, Gaza ceasefire, Israeli-Palestinian conflict

News National

0 7 0

WashU scientists found lymph node-like immune structures in skull bone marrow that respond fast to brain tumors in mice, pointing to new glioblastoma therapies. Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found immune structures resembling lymph nodes tucked inside the bone marrow of the skull, and early experiments in mice suggest they act as a fast-acting defense against brain cancer. The work, published in the journal *Nature*, is the first to locate immune coordination centers of this type inside bone. The team, led by senior author Jonathan Kipnis, reported that these structures sit close enough to the brain to mount a response before signals of trouble reach lymph nodes elsewhere in the body. The researchers also detected comparable immune cells in samples of human skull bone marrow, an indication that the system is unlikely to be confined to mice. "This study reveals that the skull bone marrow is far more than just a structural framework -- it harbors previously unrecognized hubs for brain-specific immune responses," said Kipnis, the Alan A. and Edith L. Wolff Distinguished Professor of Pathology & Immunology and a BJC Investigator at WashU Medicine. He said the finding "changes how we view neuroimmune interactions and opens exciting new avenues for treating brain tumors and other neurological diseases." For decades, researchers assumed the brain operated apart from the immune system. That assumption has unraveled over the past several years, in part through earlier work from the Kipnis laboratory. His group previously identified lymphatic vessels running through the dura mater, the tough outer membrane that wraps the brain just under the skull. The team later described narrow physical channels linking the skull, the dura and brain tissue, forming a passage that lets immune cells and cellular waste move between the brain and the neighboring skull bone marrow. Tracking proteins into the bone In the new study, the scientists traced proteins as they exited the brain, passed through those channels and settled in the skull bone marrow. Inside, they found organized immune clusters that mirrored the architecture of lymph nodes. Such nodes act as command posts for the immune system, where T follicular helper cells assist B cells in churning out the antibodies the body uses to fight infection and disease. Uncovering that arrangement in otherwise healthy bone caught the researchers off guard. "We have never seen such structures in healthy bone marrow before," said first author Jang Hyun Park, a postdoctoral research fellow in the Kipnis lab who is launching his own laboratory at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology this fall. "It is an exciting discovery that points out that a complex brain requires its own specialized immune structures to defend it." Testing the hubs against glioblastoma To learn whether the structures do more than exist, the team turned to a mouse model of glioblastoma, one of the most aggressive brain cancers. Using a drug, the researchers switched off the skull immune hubs in some animals. In those mice, tumors advanced faster than in animals whose hubs were left working, and the affected mice did not live as long. The results tied the local immune centers directly to the body's response against the cancer. The scientists then asked whether the hubs could be pushed to work harder. They designed a treatment meant to ramp up antibody production inside the skull bone marrow, blending three immune-stimulating proteins into a gel and applying it directly under the scalp. The approach set off a wave of immune activity aimed at the tumors. Notably, that activity started in the immune hubs within the skull bone marrow and only spread outward afterward, matching the study's picture of the skull as a first line of defense positioned unusually close to the brain. The findings reframe the skull as an active participant in protecting the brain rather than a passive shell. Because the researchers delivered their experimental gel just beneath the scalp, the work also raises the prospect of treatments aimed squarely at the skull rather than the brain itself. Whether the strategy can be adapted for people remains to be tested, but the presence of similar immune cells in human skull bone marrow gives the researchers a concrete reason to keep looking. For now, the results add a new layer to a fast-shifting understanding of how the brain and the immune system stay in contact. skull immune organ, brain cancer immunity, glioblastoma treatment, skull bone marrow, Jonathan Kipnis WashU, neuroimmune research, brain tumor therapy, Nature study

News National

0 6 0

A UN fact-finding mission says US strikes on a school in Minab and a sports hall in Lamerd killed at least 177 civilians in February. United Nations human rights investigators have concluded there are reasonable grounds to believe the United States carried out war crimes in two February attacks in Iran that left at least 177 civilians dead. The findings, released Thursday by the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran, centre on missile strikes that hit a primary school in the town of Minab and a sports complex in Lamerd. The mission's three independent experts told the UN Human Rights Council that both attacks amounted to indiscriminate strikes that killed civilians and wrecked civilian buildings. Washington has previously denied hitting Lamerd and said it was still looking into what happened at Minab. A State Department official said the United States placed no credibility in the report's conclusions. Both strikes took place on 28 February, the day the mission says the United States and Israel opened their war against Iran. Tomahawk missiles slammed into Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in the southern town of Minab, killing at least 156 people, among them 120 children, according to local officials. Hours of the same day, Precision Strike Missiles scattered clouds of tungsten pellets across a sports complex and nearby homes in Lamerd, leaving at least 21 civilians dead, seven of them children. Why the experts point to the US The school sat next to an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps naval facility that was also struck that day. But the investigators said the school building was easy to distinguish and that they found nothing to suggest it served any military function. They drew on media accounts describing a preliminary US military inquiry that reportedly attributed responsibility to American forces, and noted that the United States is the only participant in the conflict armed with Tomahawk missiles. Those two threads led the experts to their central judgement: that American forces most likely launched the missiles that destroyed the classroom block. They went further, ruling that the school itself was the deliberate aim point rather than a stray hit or accidental damage from the assault on the neighbouring IRGC compound. Survivors, they said, reported that the building was hit a second time. The US military has not yet published the outcome of its own examination of the Minab attack. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth has stated that American forces would "never target civilian targets." Iran accused of crimes against humanity The report did not confine its criticism to the United States. The same experts determined that Iranian authorities committed crimes against humanity while suppressing mass anti-government demonstrations in January. Security forces, they said, carried out killings on "a staggering and unprecedented scale," reaching into every one of the country's 31 provinces. Tehran has not responded to the latest conclusions. In the past it has dismissed claims that it commits systematic human rights abuses. The mission framed its work around the plight of ordinary Iranians squeezed on two sides. "Civilians in Iran are caught between gross human rights violations and crimes against humanity committed by their own government and the nation's deadly conflict with the United States and Israel," the panel said in its Thursday statement. For this submission to the Human Rights Council, the experts chose to examine two of the bloodiest episodes of the war against Iran's civilian population. The scale of the loss at Minab - more than a hundred children killed in a single school - has made it one of the defining images of the conflict. The Lamerd strike, delivered by a different class of weapon designed to spread lethal fragments over a wide area, struck a residential district alongside the sports venue. The report leaves several questions unresolved, chief among them the still-unreleased results of the American investigation into the Minab deaths. Until those findings appear, the fact-finding mission's account stands as the most detailed public reckoning of who was responsible and what was hit. Its authors have laid out a case that the school was chosen, not caught by accident - a conclusion the United States rejects but has yet to counter with evidence of its own. US Iran strikes, war crimes Iran, Minab school strike, Lamerd sports complex, UN Fact-Finding Mission Iran, Tomahawk missiles Iran, Iran civilian casualties, UN Human Rights Council

News National

0 4 0

Assam Police and the Government Railway Police detained 27 Bangladeshi nationals in Guwahati and Rangia, and have begun steps to send them back. Assam Police and the Government Railway Police (GRP) detained 27 Bangladeshi nationals in Guwahati and Rangia on Wednesday, accusing them of entering the state without authorisation, officials said on Thursday. The group included men, women and minors. Authorities have started the paperwork to return the detainees to Bangladesh. Early inquiries indicate they hailed from several Bangladeshi districts, among them Dhaka, Sunamganj, Gopalganj, Bagherhat, Khulna and Mymensingh. "They are citizens of Bangladesh and were travelling without valid documents, so we detained them. Now we'll examine how they entered Assam and where they were trying to go," a senior police officer said. Guwahati's deputy commissioner of police (border), Kulendra Nath Deka, said 12 people were picked up on Wednesday at the Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC) grounds in the city's Paltan Bazar area. Under questioning, those 12 told officers that a second group of 15 was aboard the Jammu Tawi Express. Border police relayed the tip to the GRP at Rangia, but the train had already pulled out of the station. "The GRP identified and detained them on the moving train and they were handed over to us at Bongaigaon Railway Station," Deka said. The detainees told police they slipped into India along a covert route through Meghalaya, aided by a paid trafficking network, according to officials. Deka said the border department had approached the relevant deputy commissioner with a request for an expulsion order as it moves to deport the group. Assam relies on the Immigrants (Expulsion from Assam) Act, 1950, to remove people suspected of being illegal migrants. Last September, the Assam Cabinet cleared a standard operating procedure under the 1950 law that lets district commissioners issue expulsion orders against anyone they judge to be a foreigner. Assam Police, Bangladeshi nationals detained, Government Railway Police, Guwahati, illegal migrants Assam, Immigrants Expulsion Assam Act 1950, Meghalaya border route, Jammu Tawi Express

News National

0 5 0

The Thirlwall inquiry's final report finds the Countess of Chester Hospital and the wider NHS failed to stop Lucy Letby, prompting reform pledges from Yvette Cooper. The public inquiry into the Lucy Letby case has concluded that failures ran far beyond a single hospital, finding that the culture of England's health system helped create the conditions that allowed criminality on a neonatal unit to go unchecked. The Thirlwall inquiry's final report, published on 15 September 2026, described a "complete failure" to protect the babies in Letby's care. Lady Justice Thirlwall, the inquiry chair, reserved her sharpest criticism for the Countess of Chester Hospital and its management. But roughly a third of the report examined the role of the wider NHS. Across more than 200 pages, Thirlwall set out how systemic weaknesses in regulation, employment practices and the ability to learn from past scandals left staff unable to raise the alarm effectively. Letby was convicted in 2023 of murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven more, and is serving 15 whole-life prison terms. She has twice been refused permission to appeal. Responding to the report in the House of Commons, Health Secretary Yvette Cooper said she "will not hesitate" to hold the system to account at every level. "This must be a turning point for the NHS," she told MPs. Cooper promised to establish a hub to monitor progress on the inquiry's recommendations and pointed to a newly created maternity and neonatal commissioner post as evidence of her commitment to raising standards. 'Blame engineering' and an exercise in spin The inquiry found that NHS managers have become preoccupied with avoiding blame, producing what it called an "over-focus on process and reputation management". One witness described the behaviour as "blame engineering". Thirlwall identified this as a defining feature of how senior figures at the Countess of Chester handled concerns about Letby, at one point describing their approach as an "exercise in spin". That culture, the report said, makes it far harder for staff to speak up - a problem repeatedly flagged in inquiries into other health scandals. Over the past decade, the NHS has tried to address the issue through the Freedom to Speak Up programme, which gives each organisation a "guardian" responsible for supporting staff who want to raise concerns. But the inquiry found that in a number of places the scheme had become a "box ticking" exercise. The result, according to Thirlwall, is a "toxic negativity" around whistleblowing, with staff discouraged from voicing problems. That conclusion is echoed by the most recent NHS staff survey, which recorded declining confidence among employees about speaking out. The 'donkey sanctuary' The report also identified a consistent failure within the NHS to deal with poor performance. The inquiry heard that failing managers are often moved to new roles - sometimes with the active help of NHS England - in a process described as "rehabilitation". Tony Chambers, the former chief executive of the Countess of Chester, referred to this practice as "the donkey sanctuary". Thirlwall noted that some managers who fail in their posts receive pay-offs and move elsewhere "with few questions asked", as NHS trusts seek to avoid the threat of employment tribunals. While the report acknowledged that the NHS employs many excellent managers, it concluded that profound change is needed in how the health service handles those who fall short. Cooper framed the government's response as the beginning of a broader effort to rebuild accountability across the health service. The tracking hub and the new commissioner role are intended to ensure that the inquiry's recommendations are implemented rather than shelved - a direct answer to Thirlwall's finding that the NHS and government repeatedly struggle to absorb the lessons of previous failures. The inquiry's verdict places the Letby case within a wider pattern of institutional weakness, arguing that the tragedy at the Countess of Chester was enabled not only by local management but by a health system whose instincts favoured process and reputation over patient safety. Whether the government's reforms mark the turning point Cooper described will depend on how far those systemic habits can be changed. Thirlwall inquiry, Lucy Letby, Countess of Chester Hospital, NHS neonatal care, Yvette Cooper, NHS whistleblowing, maternity commissioner, NHS management failures

News National

0 4 0

BCCI has arranged separate accommodation for its full-strength men's cricket team at the Asian Games in Japan, secretary Devajit Saikia confirmed. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has arranged separate accommodation for its men's cricket team at the Asian Games in Japan, secretary Devajit Saikia has confirmed. The decision came as reports of a crisis over housing arrangements emerged from the Games. Saikia said the board acted because the men's contingent exceeds the number of members permitted by the organisers. "BCCI has arranged its own arrangement for the men's team since the contingent is much bigger than the permissible number of members because of the size of the support staff. We don't want to segregate the men's team during the tournament," he said. The women's team, by contrast, is staying in the facilities provided by the local organising committee. Saikia explained that its contingent falls within the cap of 20 members, so no separate booking was needed. Despite the housing move, Saikia backed the organisers on match-day facilities, even as other Asian cricket boards raised objections about the quality of the ground. "We fully trust the organising committee to give the best facilities. This is a big event and I am sure they will do what is required," he said. He added that he would reach Japan on October 1 and could only give a clear assessment of the situation after arriving. Full-strength squad with Bumrah and Iyer The BCCI's choice to send a full-strength Twenty20 international side has drawn contrasting views within Indian cricket. The tournament overlaps with the start of preparations for next year's ODI World Cup, and India are scheduled to play a home ODI series against the West Indies during the same window. At least seven first-choice ODI players are travelling to the Asian Games. The approach marks a change from the previous edition. India won gold at the 2023 Asian Games with a second-string team, with the leading players held back to prepare for the 2023 ODI World Cup. This time the squad includes fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and regular captain Shreyas Iyer. Saikia defended the selection by pointing to the weight the board attaches to an Asian Games gold. "We are eyeing a gold medal which is very important. We all know India can field three strong teams at a time. We see Asian Games as a very important assignment which can't be given secondary treatment. That's why our full-strength team including Bumrah and regular captain Iyer is going. An Asian Games gold is as important as any other big tournament," he said. Asked about the different strategy used in 2023, Saikia declined to weigh in. "I wasn't the secretary when the last Asian Games happened. So, I can't comment on it," he said. T20I against Japan on September 22 The BCCI has also announced a Twenty20 international against Japan on September 22 to mark 75 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Saikia said the fixture was the initiative of ICC chairman Jay Shah, who wants to expand the game's reach. "It's the initiative of ICC chairman Jay Shah who wants to take cricket to every nook and corner of the world. He made me sit with my Japanese counterpart during the last ICC meet in Edinburgh in July this year. Japan is a country where cricket is growing gradually. Mr. Shah took this initiative and we agreed to the idea," Saikia said. With the men's team housed separately and its stars committed to the campaign, the BCCI is treating the Games as a priority assignment while keeping one eye on its packed international calendar at home. BCCI, Asian Games cricket, Devajit Saikia, India men's cricket team, Jasprit Bumrah, India vs Japan T20I, Jay Shah, T20I team

News National

0 2 0

Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an and the Mainland Affairs Council traded public jabs after Taiwan barred a Shanghai official from the December Twin City Forum. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an and Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) exchanged sharp public criticism this week after the central government refused to let senior Chinese officials enter Taiwan for the Shanghai-Taipei Twin City Forum. The event is scheduled for December. The MAC on Tuesday turned away Li Xiaodong (李驍東), deputy director of the Shanghai Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO), marking the second straight year the council has blocked his entry. A year earlier, the MAC said TAO personnel would be kept out because of Beijing's ongoing antagonism toward Taiwan, pointing to Chinese steps aimed at what it labels "Taiwanese independence separatists" and to acts of transnational repression. Speaking a day after the entry was denied, Chiang defended the gathering as a durable channel for exchanges between the two cities. He said his administration had always run it on a footing of equality, mutual respect, goodwill and shared interest. Relations across the Taiwan Strait, he argued, require more conversation rather than less, and he saw no justification for the government to curb straightforward contacts at the city level. Chiang made those remarks one day after TAO spokeswoman Zhu Fenglian (朱鳳蓮) charged the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) with imposing unwarranted curbs on cross-strait ties and "going against the mainstream opinion of the island." Liang dismisses the forum's value At a regular briefing, MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said the mayor raises the same complaint through the press every time Taipei stages the forum with Shanghai. He described the meeting as offering nothing toward easing tensions with China. "The Twin City Forum is an event of no value when it comes to facilitating peace with China," Liang said. He added that the Taipei City Government "must stop imagining its relationship with Shanghai to be more important than it really is." Liang said the TAO's own statements showed that Beijing would press ahead with provocative military drills near Taiwan whether or not the Taipei-Shanghai meeting took place. The forum, he stressed, falls under the same rules that govern every cross-strait activity organized by Taiwan's local authorities, and Taipei receives neither special favor nor extra penalties. To underline that point, he cited other municipal-level contacts, including exchanges linking Nantou with Hangzhou and Miaoli with Hubei. None of those, he said, shifted Beijing's approach to Taiwan. APEC and travel to China Asked about footage of Chiang's wife, Jane Shih, describing herself as coming from "Chinese Taipei" during the APEC leaders' summit, Liang said the wording is the standard designation used within that body. He noted that more than 300 Taiwanese officials, drawn from 25 government ministries, had traveled to China for the summit between December last year and Aug. 31 without any problems, and he said the council hoped that pattern would hold. Naturalization figures released Separately, the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) said that 400 foreign "high-level" professionals have obtained Republic of China (Taiwan) citizenship over the past decade, a total reached as officials loosened nationality requirements to draw skilled people from more fields. The 400th such professional, who works in the electronics sector, received approval on Aug. 26, the ministry said. The MOI quoted the new citizen as calling Taiwan a front-runner in areas including semiconductors, electronics manufacturing, artificial intelligence and energy technology. Warning over US arms sales The disputes came against a backdrop of wider tension. China has cautioned that it could scrap a planned summit between the US and Chinese leaders should Washington sign off on fresh arms sales to Taiwan, Japan's Kyodo News reported, citing sources. According to the report, US President Donald Trump, keen to point to diplomatic wins before the November midterm elections, attaches significant weight to meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平). As it lays the groundwork for Xi's planned trip, Beijing has repeated its stance that the Taiwan question is a "red line" in its dealings with Washington. Twin City Forum, Chiang Wan-an, Mainland Affairs Council, Shanghai Taipei, cross-strait relations, Li Xiaodong, Taiwan Affairs Office, Liang Wen-chieh

News National

0 9 0

Delhi police arrested two staff at an Anand Vihar restaurant accused of extorting ₹25,000 from a man lured there by a woman he met on WhatsApp. Delhi police have arrested two restaurant employees accused of extorting ₹25,000 from a 28-year-old man who was drawn to an eatery in east Delhi's Anand Vihar by a woman he had contacted on WhatsApp. Officers named the arrested men as Mohammad Arshadullah Alam, 28, and Aman Gujja, 28, both of whom worked at the restaurant. The complainant, Ramkrishan, told investigators that a woman he did not know reached out to him over WhatsApp and asked him to meet her at Karkardooma metro station. From there, according to police, she led him to Kesar Fine Dining in Anand Vihar. The Anand Vihar police station learned of the incident on September 14, said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara) Rajendra Prasad Meena. Once inside the restaurant, staff handed the man a bill of roughly ₹21,000, police said. When he balked at paying, he was threatened and beaten. His statement to police says he handed over ₹8,000 in cash and transferred ₹6,000 by UPI to an account registered under the name Arun Kumar Sharma. The men then allegedly seized his ATM card, obtained his PIN and pulled out a further ₹11,000. The accused also warned the man not to go to the police and pressed him for an additional ₹25,000, officers said. A case was filed under Sections 308 and 3 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Anand Vihar police station. Police said CCTV footage and identification by the complainant led them to the two suspects, who were taken into custody the same day the case was reported. Under questioning, Aman said he worked as a bouncer at the venue, while Alam described himself as an organiser. Both are alleged to have taken part in assaulting and extorting the man. Investigators said the woman who lured the victim escaped before police reached the scene and remains untraced. Her phone records are being checked as officers work to locate her. According to the DCP, the pair operated alongside the woman, who approached potential targets on WhatsApp and steered them to the restaurant, where they were presented with padded bills and intimidated or attacked if they refused to pay. The DCP said the inquiry is still open, with checks under way into the suspects' financial dealings and the cash withdrawals. When contacted on the mobile number listed for Kesar Fine Dining online, the phone was switched off. Delhi extortion, Anand Vihar restaurant, WhatsApp scam, Kesar Fine Dining, Delhi police, inflated restaurant bill, BNS Section 308, east Delhi crime

News National

0 2 0

Spanish police fired warning shots while relocating thousands of migrants from Ceuta's beaches to a new tented port camp on Friday amid chaotic scenes. Spanish police began transferring hundreds of migrants in Ceuta to a newly built tented camp in the port district of the enclave on Friday, and gunfire was heard as officers tried to hold back crowds fighting for a spot. Reports said police discharged their weapons into the air during the confusion. The move started at around 07:00 local time (05:00 GMT), with more than 3,000 people relocated over the course of the operation, according to the Spanish state news agency Efe. The migrants had spent weeks sleeping on the enclave's beaches before authorities set up the new site, which can hold up to 1,700 people. Several hundred had reached the camp by the time the transfers were under way. More than 170 officers took part in the operation, among them drone specialists, Efe reported. As the migrants were moved along a designated route of about two kilometres (1.2 miles) to the port, some pushed past the police line. Footage from the scene showed young men sprinting through the pre-dawn darkness as officers scrambled to keep order. Efe said the disorder was contained within a short time and the transfer resumed. Ceuta, a Spanish territory bordering Morocco, covers just 18.5 square kilometres (7.2 square miles). It was overwhelmed in late July when 72,000 people crossed from Morocco. Most have since gone back. Local officials put the number still in the enclave at 13,000, though the central government in Madrid says the true figure is lower. Authorities say the camp is meant to bring the migrants together in one place where they can be registered and looked after while officials rule on each person's legal status individually. Anger among Ceuta residents The arrivals have unsettled the local population. Some residents have voiced fears for their safety, torn down makeshift shelters and stopped aid from reaching the migrants. Speaking to members of the European Parliament earlier this month, Ceuta's conservative mayor, Juan Jesus Vivas, said the crisis had turned the enclave into a "pressure cooker". "The city is completely different than it was before this event, Ceutans have lost their joy and their lifestyles have been completely shaken up," he told lawmakers. Political pressure on Sanchez The disorder at the beaches and the port has added to the difficulties facing Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has drawn heavy criticism over his response to the influx. Opposition figures have alleged that his government knew the surge was coming. Sanchez has maintained the events could not have been foreseen. But official documents indicate that Spanish intelligence services flagged online appeals for a mass crossing into Ceuta the day before it took place. Ester Munoz of the conservative People's Party accused the administration of being "directly responsible for the invasion of Ceuta and for those who died". Sanchez has pointed instead at trafficking networks and at false claims and rumours circulating on social media. He described the situation as "a humanitarian crisis and also an administrative challenge within the city itself". The episode has also complicated Spain's foreign relations. Sanchez is in dispute with Italy, and the two governments extended temporary border checks against each other earlier in the week. At the same time, he is working to preserve Spain's bilateral ties with Morocco, whose frontier with Ceuta was the point of the July crossings. Ceuta migrants, Spain migration, Pedro Sanchez, Ceuta port camp, Morocco border crossing, Juan Jesus Vivas, migrant relocation Spain

News National

0 3 0

Donald Trump says the US, Denmark and Greenland have agreed to give Washington permanent control over the Arctic island's security, at no cost to the US. US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Washington had struck a deal with Denmark and Greenland granting the United States lasting authority over security matters on the Arctic island. He described the arrangement as giving the US "permanent control" over Greenland's defence and related needs while leaving formal sovereignty with Denmark. Trump said the accord lets Washington step in whenever it judges action necessary to protect both American and Greenlandic interests. Crucially, he said, it bars US rivals from setting up military bases or channelling sensitive money into the island without written US consent. "There will be no cost to the United States," he added. The president framed the agreement as open-ended. He called it an "Infinite Life" deal with no expiry, and said he had directed representatives from Denmark and Greenland to secure a guarantee that the US would always retain the ability to do what it deemed needed to defend the territory and itself. Trump also laid out plans to widen the American footprint on the island. He said the US would move quickly to build up a sizeable military presence in a suitable location, and pledged to carry out that construction alongside Greenland's residents. He cast the outcome as something his predecessors had failed to deliver. Presidents had recognised Greenland's strategic value for more than a century, he said, but none had acted on it. He claimed the new deal settled the matter for good and served the interests of the United States, Denmark, Greenland and Washington's allies. Greenland and Denmark said in a statement that they expect to sign the agreement with the US on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly. Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen called the deal beneficial for NATO and Europe and said it bolstered shared security across the Arctic and the North Atlantic. Frederiksen stressed that the arrangement respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of both Greenland and Denmark, and upholds the right of both peoples to self-determination. Her comments underscored that the island remains an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark. The announcement follows months of friction. Greenland has sat at the heart of a diplomatic row since Trump began repeatedly pressing for the US to take control of the island. Denmark and Greenland had rebuffed those earlier demands. Trump has justified his push by pointing to American national security and rising Russian and Chinese activity across the Arctic. The US already operates a base on the island, the Pituffik Space Base, under existing defence understandings with Denmark. Trump's latest move would substantially enlarge the military and security role that Washington plays in Greenland. Greenland, Donald Trump, Denmark, US military Greenland, Arctic security, Mette Frederiksen, Pituffik Space Base, NATO

News National

0 2 0

Leaders at Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and X are publicly calling to "pace the frontier" of advanced AI development. Several leading US artificial intelligence companies are publicly suggesting it is time to slow the race toward superintelligence. Leaders at Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and X have all signalled support for the idea of "pacing the frontier" of the most advanced AI development, marking a shift in tone for an industry long associated with the mantra "move fast and break things." The change follows a summer in which rogue AI agents moved from hypothetical worry to reality, and in which researchers warned that AI could pose an existential threat to humanity. Against that backdrop, executives who once pushed for speed are now, at minimum, endorsing the language of restraint. How far that endorsement goes remains unclear. The companies making these statements are the same firms building the frontier systems in question, and there is no confirmation that any of them has actually slowed its work. For now, the shift is rhetorical. The stance also sits awkwardly against another argument these companies have advanced: that the United States must "beat China" to superintelligence. That framing has been used to justify moving faster, not slower, and it could undercut any push to ease off. Regulation is the other open question. AI firms have said for years that they want oversight, yet no framework has stepped in to govern how quickly these systems are developed or deployed. Whether policymakers act, or whether the companies police themselves, is still undecided. The coming months will test which impulse wins out. Executives are voicing caution in public, but the competitive pressure to build ever more capable systems has not gone away. Whether "pacing the frontier" becomes real practice or stays a talking point is the question now hanging over the industry. superintelligence, AI slowdown, Anthropic, OpenAI, AI regulation, rogue AI agents, pace the frontier, artificial intelligence safety

News National

0 6 0