Author: www.newsworldbird.com

NEW DELHI: A day after controversial statements on Supreme Court and Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey targeted former chief election commissioner S Y Quraishi, labelling him a ‘Muslim commissioner‘.
The incident occured following Quraishi’s criticism of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, which he described as a ‘sinister and evil plan of the government to grab Muslim lands.’
On April 17, Quraishi posted on X: “Wakf Act is undoubtedly a blatantly sinister evil plan of the govt to grab Muslim lands. I’m sure SC will call it out. Misinformation by the mischievous propaganda machine has done its job well.”
Responding on Sunday, Dubey accused Quraishi of facilitating Bangladeshi infiltrators’ voter registration in Jharkhand’s Santhal Pargana during his tenure. “You were not an election commissioner, you were a Muslim commissioner. The maximum number of Bangladeshi infiltrators were made voters in Santhal Pargana in Jharkhand during your tenure,” he wrote on X.
“Prophet Muhammad’s Islam came to India in 712. This land (Waqf) before that belonged to Hindus or tribals, Jains or Buddhists associated with that faith. My village, Vikramshila, was burnt by Bakhtiyar Khilji in 1189. Vikramshila University gave the world its first vice-chancellor in the form of Atish Dipankar,” added Dubey, who currently serves his fourth term as Lok Sabha representative from Godda, Jharkhand.
He concluded by stating: “Unite this country, read history; division created Pakistan, and there will be no more partitions now, will there?”
This incident occurred shortly after Dubey’s controversial comments about CJI Khanna and the apex court, which led the BJP to dissociate itself from his statements. Dubey had said that the Supreme Court was ‘inciting religious wars’ and questioned its authority, suggesting that the Parliament building should be closed if the apex court was to make laws.
“The top court has only one aim: ‘Show me the face, and I will show you the law’. The Supreme Court is going beyond its limits. If one has to go to the Supreme Court for everything, then Parliament and State Assembly should be shut,” Dubey told ANI.
Referring to past decisions of the court, Dubey criticised the judiciary for its handling of issues like the decriminalisation of homosexuality and religious disputes. “There was an Article 377 in which homosexuality was a big crime. The Trump administration has said that there are only two sexes in this world, either male or female…Whether it is Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh, all believe that homosexuality is a crime. One fine morning, the Supreme Court said that we abolish this case…Article 141 says that the laws we make, the judgments we give, are applicable from the lower court to the Supreme Court. Article 368 states that Parliament has the authority to enact all laws, and the Supreme Court has the power to interpret the law. The top court is asking the President and Governor to tell what they have to do regarding the Bills. When the Ram Mandir, Krishna Janmabhoomi, or Gyanvapi issue arises, you (SC) say, ‘Show us the paper’. Mughals ke aane ke baad jo Masjid banne hai unke liye keh raho ho paper kaha se dikhao,” he added.
Dubey further alleged that the Supreme Court wants to take this country towards “anarchy.”
“How can you give direction to the appointing authority? The President appoints the Chief Justice of India. The Parliament makes the law of this country. You will dictate that Parliament?… How did you make a new law? In which law is it written that the President has to make a decision within three months? This means that you want to take this country towards anarchy. When the Parliament sits, there will be a detailed discussion on this,” he had said.

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NEW DELHI: A 25-year-old man, already facing six cases related to “culpable homicide,” allegedly shot his mother in Delhi’s Dhul Siras village, according to police officials on Sunday.
Police said that they were alerted when a hospital reported admitting the 52-year-old woman with a gunshot injury, according to news agency ANI.
Initially, when officers arrived at the hospital, the victim and her husband attempted to deceive authorities by saying that, “she was shot by an unknown person.”
After further questioning of family members, her 25-year-old son Abhishek “confessed to having shot her.”
“Six cases of culpable homicide and outraging modesty of women are already registered against the accused,” the police said.
Further investigation is still underway, police said. More details awaited.

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A single-engine plane crashed in a field in central Illinois on Saturday (April 19, 2025), killing all four people on board.

Coles County Coroner Ed Schniers said the victims were two women and two men, but he could not release more details pending notification of next of kin.

The Cessna C180G aeroplane went down shortly after 10 am near the unincorporated community of Trilla, the National Transportation Safety Board said via email. Preliminary information indicated that it struck power lines, the NTSB said.

“Terrible news out of Coles County,” Governor JB Pritzker said on social media, adding that his administration “is monitoring the situation as we keep those impacted by the plane crash in our thoughts today.”

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said again Saturday (April 19, 2025) that Israel has “no choice” but to continue fighting in Gaza and will not end the war before destroying Hamas, freeing the hostages and ensuring that the territory won’t present a threat to Israel.

The Prime Minister also repeated his vow to make sure Iran never gets a nuclear weapon.

Mr. Netanyahu is under growing pressure at home not only from families of hostages and their supporters but also from reservist and retired Israeli soldiers who question the continuation of the war after Israel shattered a ceasefire last month. In his statement, he claimed that Hamas has rejected Israel’s latest proposal to free half the hostages for a continued ceasefire.

The Prime Minister spoke after Israeli strikes killed more than 90 people in 48 hours, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Saturday. Israeli troops have been increasing their attacks to pressure Hamas to release the hostages and disarm.

Children and women were among the 15 people killed overnight, according to hospital staff. At least 11 dead were in the southern city of Khan Younis, several of them in a tent in the Muwasi area where hundreds of thousands of displaced people stay, hospital workers said. Israel has designated it as a humanitarian zone.

Mourners cradled and kissed the faces of the dead. A man stroked a child’s forehead with his finger before body bags were closed.

“Omar is gone … I wish it was me,” one brother cried out.

Four other people were killed in strikes in Rafah city, including a woman and her daughter, according to the European Hospital, where the bodies were taken.

Later on Saturday, an Israeli airstrike on a group of civilians west of Nuseirat in central Gaza killed one person, according to Al-Awda Hospital.

Israel’s military in a statement said it killed more than 40 militants over the weekend.

Separately, the military said a soldier was killed Saturday in northern Gaza and confirmed it was the first soldier death since Israel resumed the war on March 18. Hamas’ armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, said it ambushed Israeli forces operating east of Gaza City’s al-Tuffah neighbourhood.

Israel has vowed to intensify attacks across Gaza and occupy indefinitely large “security zones” inside the small coastal strip of over 2 million people. Hamas wants Israeli forces to withdraw from the territory.

Israeli strikes kill at least 17 in Gaza; Huckabee makes first appearance as U.S. ambassador

Israel also has blockaded Gaza for the past six weeks, again barring the entry of food and other goods.

This week, aid groups raised the alarm, saying thousands of children have become malnourished and most people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle, according to the United Nations.

The head of the World Health Organization’s eastern Mediterranean office, Dr Hanan Balkhy, on Friday urged the new U.S. ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, to push the country to lift Gaza’s blockade so medicines and other aid can enter.

“I would wish for him to go in and see the situation firsthand,” she said.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas currently holds 59 hostages, 24 of them believed to be alive.

Israel’s offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. Around 90% of the population is displaced, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.

Portrait of Palestinian boy who lost both arms in Israeli strike wins World Press Photo 2025

Frustration has been growing on both sides, with rare public protests against Hamas in Gaza and continued weekly rallies in Israel pressing the government to reach a deal to bring all hostages home.

Thousands of Israelis joined protests Saturday night pressing for a deal.

“Do what you should have done a long time ago. Bring them all back now! And in one deal. And if this means to stop the war, then stop the war,” former hostage Omer Shem Tov told a rally in Tel Aviv.

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Opponents of President Donald Trump’s administration took to the streets of communities large and small across the U.S. on Saturday, decrying what they see as threats to the nation’s democratic ideals.

Also Read| ‘Hands Off!’ protests: Thousands rally against Trump and Musk across U.S

The disparate events ranged from a march through midtown Manhattan and a rally in front of the White House to a demonstration at a Massachusetts commemoration of “the shot heard ’round the world” on April 19, 1775, marking the start of the Revolutionary War 250 years ago.

Thomas Bassford was among the demonstrators at the reenactment of the Battles of Lexington and Concord outside Boston. The 80-year-old retired mason from Maine said he believes Americans are under attack from their own government and need to stand up against it.

“This is a very perilous time in America for liberty,” said Bassford, who was with his partner, daughter and two grandsons. “I wanted the boys to learn about the origins of this country and that sometimes we have to fight for freedom.”

In Denver, hundreds of protesters gathered at the Colorado State Capitol with banners expressing solidarity with immigrants and telling the Trump administration: “Hands Off!” People waved U.S. flags, some of them held upside down to signal distress.

Thousands of people also marched through downtown Portland, Oregon, while in San Francisco, hundreds spelled out the words “Impeach & Remove” on a sandy beach along the Pacific Ocean, also with an inverted U.S. flag. People walked through downtown Anchorage, Alaska, with handmade signs listing reasons why they were demonstrating, including one that one that read: “No sign is BIG enough to list ALL of the reasons I’m here!”

Elsewhere protests were planned outside Tesla car dealerships against billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk and his role in downsizing the federal government. Others organized more community service-oriented events such as food drives, teach-ins and volunteering at local shelters.

The protests come just two weeks after similar nationwide demonstrations.

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Attacks continue despite Putin’s ‘Easter truce’ pledge, Zelensky says

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Russia of creating an “impression” of a ceasefire while still taking military actions in some places in Ukraine.

In the first six hours of the “Easter truce” – as ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin – Zelensky said there had been 387 shellings and 19 assaults by Russian forces, and drones used 290 times. There are no reports of casualties.

Putin ordered his forces to “stop all military activity” in Ukraine from 18:00 Moscow time (16:00 BST) on Saturday until midnight on Sunday. Kyiv said it would also adhere.

The BBC in Ukraine reports that it has been quieter on the front lines.

Because Putin’s ceasefire was announced minutes before it was due to take effect, an immediate, complete pause was always unlikely, but it has been quieter.

Before Zelensky said there had been continued attacks in some areas, at midnight on Saturday there were no reported Russian drones or fighter jets in Ukrainian skies.

That is very rare.

The only report was that a Russian ship with missile launchers had been deployed to the Black Sea.

In the southern city of Odesa, it was silent. On Friday, before Moscow’s announcement, air defences crackled throughout the night as Russian drones flew in from the direction of occupied Crimea.

On Sunday morning, Zelensky said Moscow was “trying to create a general impression of a ceasefire, but in some places it does not abandon individual attempts to advance and inflict losses on Ukraine.”

Accusing Russia of specific military actions, Zelensky added that “everywhere our warriors are responding as the enemy deserves, based on the specific combat situation.”

Late on Saturday – hours into the truce – Zelensky had said: “If Russia is now suddenly ready to truly engage in a format of full and unconditional silence, Ukraine will act accordingly – mirroring Russia’s actions.”

“Our actions are and will be symmetrical. The proposal for a full and unconditional 30-day silence remains on the table — the answer to it must come from Moscow,” he wrote on X.

Zelensky said Ukraine would be ready to extend a truce beyond 20 April, seemingly referring to an earlier proposal from the US for a 30-day ceasefire which Ukraine had already agreed to.

It seems now both Moscow and Kyiv want to show Washington they are serious about peace. The question of whether the Kremlin accepts Zelensky’s offer to turn this truce from a 30-hour one to a 30 day one is central to any potential path to peace.

Few Ukrainians think that is remotely possible.

Putin announced the temporary truce at a meeting with his chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov.

“Based on humanitarian considerations… the Russian side announces an Easter truce. I order a stop to all military activities for this period,” Putin told Gerasimov.

“We assume that Ukraine will follow our example. At the same time, our troops should be prepared to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations by the enemy, any aggressive actions.”

The Russian defence ministry said its troops would adhere to the ceasefire provided it was “mutually respected” by Ukraine.

It is not the first time a pause in fighting has been suddenly announced – a previous attempt at a ceasefire during Orthodox Christmas in January 2023 fell apart after both sides failed to agree on a proposal.

Reacting to Putin’s truce announcement, a Foreign Office spokesman in the UK said: “Now is the moment for Putin to truly show he is serious about peace by ending his horrible invasion and committing to a full ceasefire, as the Ukrainian government has called for – not just a one day pause for Easter.”

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. It is estimated that hundreds of thousands of people – the vast majority of them soldiers – have been killed or injured on all sides.

The US has been directly talking to Russia as part of its efforts to end the war, but has struggled to make major progress.

Last month, Moscow rejected a proposal for a full and unconditional ceasefire that had been agreed by the US and Ukraine.

US President Donald Trump on Friday warned Washington would “take a pass” on brokering further talks on ending the war in Ukraine unless there was quick progress.

He was speaking after Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the US was not “going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end”, as it had “other priorities to focus on”.

“We need to determine very quickly now – and I’m talking about a matter of days – whether or not this is doable,” he added.

“If it’s not going to happen, then we’re just going to move on.”

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After fleeing Silicon Valley for political and business reasons, Elon Musk is building a corporate campus in rural Texas – but his new neighbours have mixed views.

Half an hour east of Austin, past the airport, the clogged-up traffic starts to melt away and the plains of Central Texas open up, leaving the booming city behind.

Somewhere along the main two-lane highway, a left turn takes drivers down Farm-to-Market Road 1209. It seems like an unlikely address for a high-tech hub, but that’s exactly what Elon Musk, the world’s richest man and one of President Donald Trump’s closest allies, hopes it will become.

Court filings indicate that a large metal building finished in the last few months will be the new headquarters of X, his social media platform.

A short distance away, a large logo of the Boring Company, Musk’s infrastructure company, is plastered on the side of another headquarters. And across FM 1209 is a rapidly growing SpaceX facility which manufactures Starlink satellite internet equipment.

Like most technology tycoons, Musk had long made Silicon Valley his home and headquarters. Once a supporter of the Democrats, his move to Texas is part of a larger tech world trend and also appears to reflect his own transformed ideological views.

Here the land is (relatively) cheap, skilled tech workers from nearby Austin are plentiful, and local laws are favourable to development.

Of course, there are also specific political angles to the move.

In July 2024, Musk said he was quitting California after the state passed a law prohibiting teachers from enforcing rules about notifying families when students’ gender identity changes.

Musk has an estranged transgender daughter and has spoken out against what he calls “woke mind virus” – which he describes in interviews as divisive identity politics – along with anti-meritocratic and anti-free speech ideas.

And so Musk upped sticks and headed to Texas, a Republican stronghold and the fastest-growing state in the US.

In addition to the cluster of buildings near Bastrop in central Texas, he has built a SpaceX facility in Cameron County, on the southern tip of Texas near the border with Mexico. SpaceX employees there have filed a petition to create a new town called Starbase. The measure will go to a vote in May.

Locals in Bastrop have mixed feelings about the development.

“It’s almost like we have a split personality,” says Sylvia Carrillo, city manager of Bastrop, which has a growing population of more than 12,000. “Residents are happy that their children and grandchildren will have jobs in the area.

“On the other hand it can feel like we are being overwhelmed by a third party and that the development will quickly urbanise our area,” she says.

Although the Musk development is technically outside of the city’s limits, it’s close enough that Texas laws give Bastrop’s government sway over development. And, Ms Carrillo stresses, the Musk buildings are just one example of many developments springing up in a booming area.

“He’s faced a backlash that is not entirely of his own creating,” she says.

“But now that he’s here and things are changing quickly, it’s a matter of managing” issues like house and land prices and the environment, she says.

The Musk compound is still fairly bare-bones. The grandly named Hyperloop Plaza sits in the middle of the corporate buildings, and is home to the company-owned Boring Bodega, a bar, coffee shop, hairdresser and gift shop.

On a recent windy Sunday afternoon, a video game console sat unplayed in front of a couch near a display of company T-shirts, while a few children scurried back and forth to a playground outside.

The developments in Bastrop fit right into the quickening pace of activity across central Texas, where cranes perpetually loom above the Austin skyline and the housing market is a perpetual topic of conversation.

The area has gone through various industry booms and busts over the years, including lumber and coal mining, says Judy Enis, a volunteer guide at the Bastrop Museum and Visitor Center.

During World War Two, tens of thousands of soldiers – and around 10,000 German prisoners of war – poured in to Camp Swift, a US Army facility north of the town.

“That probably had more of an impact than Elon Musk,” Ms Enis notes.

Views of the tycoon are mixed, to say the least, and inseparable not only from his politics but also opinions on economic development, in what still is a predominately rural area.

Judah Ross, a local real estate agent, says the development has supercharged population growth that started as a result of the Austin boom and accelerated during the Covid pandemic.

“I’m always going to be biased because I want the growth,” Mr Ross says. “But I love it here and I want to be part of it.

“If nothing else, what’s good is the amount of jobs that this is bringing in,” he says. “In the past year, I’ve sold to people working at Boring and SpaceX.”

Alfonso Lopez, a Texan who returned to the state after working in tech in Seattle, says he initially picked Bastrop figuring he would make a quick buck on a house purchase and move on.

Instead, he quickly became enamoured with the town, its mix of local businesses and friendly people, and wants to stay.

Mr Lopez is no big fan of Musk and is critical of some of his management practices and politics, but admires the technology his companies have built and is happy to live nearby as long as the companies are good neighbours.

“As long as they don’t ruin my water or dig a tunnel beneath my house and create a sinkhole, this isn’t bad,” he says, gesturing around the metal shed housing the bodega, coffee shop and bar. “I’ll come here and watch a game.”

His concerns about water are more than theoretical. Last year The Boring Company was fined $11,876 (£8,950) by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality after being cited for water pollution violations.

The Boring Company initially planned to dump wastewater in the nearby Colorado River but, after local pressure, signed a deal to send the sludge to a Bastrop wastewater treatment plant.

The water issues appear to have delayed housebuilding, which reportedly could include more than 100 homes for Musk employees. The planned development of homes has so far failed to materialise, however. For now, the extent of living quarters is a handful of temporary trailers behind the bodega building, surrounded by a wall, acres of Texas plain and a few horses munching grass. Ms Carrillo, the city manager, says any large-scale home building is at least a year off.

In November, SpaceX applied for a free trade zone designation, which would allow it to move materials and finished products in and out of the Bastrop factory without being subject to tariffs – one of Donald Trump’s signature policies.

It’s a common practice for manufacturers, and there are hundreds of similar zones across the country.

Local officials in Texas have endorsed the proposal, saying it will boost the local economy, despite costing the county an estimated $45,000 (£34,800) in revenue this year.

The company is also getting an injection of $17.3m (£13.4m) from the Texas government to develop the site, a grant that officials say is expected to create more than 400 jobs and $280m in capital investment in Bastrop.

Few local residents wanted to directly criticise Musk when standing face-to-face with a visiting reporter. But it’s a different story online, where sharper feelings shine through.

“They will ruin everything nearby,” one resident posted on a local online forum. “Nothing good comes with him.”

The BBC contacted SpaceX, The Boring Company and X for comment.

Ms Carrillo, the city manager, says she hasn’t picked up on much personal anger on the part of locals prompted by Musk’s activities in Washington.

But to protect Bastrop, she says, the city has recently enacted laws limiting housing density and providing for public parks – measures that she says will keep the “historic nature” of the well-preserved downtown while allowing for growth on the outskirts.

Bastrop, she says, is a conservative, traditionally Republican place.

“His national stuff doesn’t really register,” she says. “His companies have been good corporate citizens, and we hope it can stay that way.”

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Miliband accuses net zero opponents of ‘nonsense and lies’

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has said the government will “double down” on its environmental agenda and accused those against the move to net zero of “making up nonsense and lies”.

Political opponents in the Conservatives and Reform UK – and some trade unions – have argued that his agenda is putting jobs in traditional industries at risk and have urged a change of course.

The UK is legally committed to moving to net zero carbon emissions by 2050 – a goal set under a previous Conservative government.

Writing in the Observer, Miliband warned that an anti-net zero agenda would not only risk “climate breakdown” but “forfeit the clean energy jobs of the future”.

A green power transition will help secure social justice and national security, Miliband argued.

He said that the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels meant “markets went into meltdown and prices rocketed” after Russia waged its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

“The cost of living impacts caused back then still stalk families today,” he said.

“So the argument for the clean energy transition is not just the traditional climate case but the social justice case too – it is working people who pay the greatest price for our energy insecurity.”

On his opponents, he said there are “siren voices that want to knock us off course” and added “they will also make up any old nonsense and lies to pursue their ideological agenda”.

Despite her party committing to net zero while in government, current Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said this cannot be achieved without potentially bankrupting the country.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who has criticised what he calls “net-zero lunacy”, told the Sun on Sunday that the policy could become “the next Brexit – where Parliament is so hopelessly out of touch with the country”.

Miliband has been concerned that his green policies will be blamed for the well-publicised difficulties at British Steel.

The government passed an emergency law to take control of British Steel amid accusations that its Chinese-owner Jingye was planning to switch the furnaces off.

Beijing has accused the government of “politicising trade co-operation” and said this situation had raised doubts about Chinese investment in the UK.

Parts of the labour movement, including unions such as the GMB and Unite, have warned of risks to thousands of well-paid jobs in the oil and gas sector.

But Miliband has attempted to reassure them by declaring that green energy generation will provide the good unionised jobs of the future.

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Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across the United States on Sunday in a fresh wave of anti-Trump protests, just two weeks after a similar nationwide mobilization. From Washington DC to San Francisco, the rallies were marked by a deep sense of urgency, anger, and fear over what protesters described as civil rights violations, executive overreach, and authoritarian tendencies under President Donald Trump.
Although turnout in some cities like New York and Chicago was smaller than the April 5 protests, more than 700 events were organized, according to advocacy group 50501. The demonstrations spanned from Jacksonville, Florida, to Anchorage, Alaska, making it one of the most widespread waves of protests since Trump returned to political prominence.

700+ protests across all corners of the US
More than 700 events were registered under the 50501 campaign, making Saturday’s protest one of the largest decentralized demonstrations against Trump since 2017.
While crowd sizes were smaller than the April 5 protests in some major cities, organizers highlighted the geographic spread as the true measure of momentum. Protests took place in small towns like Bisbee, Arizona, all the way to Anchorage, Alaska, where demonstrators braved freezing temperatures to raise signs reading “Democracy Not Dictatorship.”

Washington protests led by chants of “Shame!”
In Washington DC, protesters gathered in front of the White House and marched to the Department of Homeland Security to decry the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man sent to El Salvador despite a court ruling allowing him to stay.
Activists chanted “Shame!” and waved upside-down American flags. “It feels like we’re past the Constitution,” said Elena Rodriguez, a DC resident and immigration rights advocate.

Deportation of Garcia becomes national symbol of due process violations
Abrego Garcia’s case was cited in dozens of rallies across the country as emblematic of what critics call lawless deportation practices. In Chicago, protesters handed out flyers with Garcia’s face, labeling him “the canary in the coal mine.” Julia Fine, a Brooklyn resident, said, “The Salvadoran prison he’s in now is like Guantánamo without the cameras. This is what happens when executive power goes unchecked.”
Immigrant families and allies rally in NYC against ICE raids, fearing broader crackdown
In New York City, hundreds gathered in Washington Square Park holding signs like “First they came for the immigrants…” and “No ICE in our state.” The atmosphere was tense but resolute. “I’m a citizen,” said Aaron Burk, “but the way things are going, anyone who looks like me is fair game.” Speakers warned of a growing network of unaccountable immigration enforcement, including unauthorized raids and surveillance.

LGBTQ+ protections and environmental safeguards highlighted in Jacksonville protests
In Jacksonville, Florida, demonstrators condemned both the rollback of LGBTQ+ rights and the Trump administration’s decision to weaken the Endangered Species Act. “This isn’t just about one community,” said Sara Harvey, who held a rainbow flag and a cardboard cutout of a sea turtle. “They’re cutting protections for people and the planet.” The protest also drew attention to job cuts in the Department of Interior and Education, blamed on Trump’s alliance with business leaders like Elon Musk.

Federal job cuts and Elon Musk’s role fuel anger at Tesla protest sites
Some rallies specifically targeted Tesla dealerships and SpaceX offices, symbolically linking Elon Musk to Trump’s push for a smaller federal government. Protesters in Austin, Texas, and Palo Alto, California, accused Musk of enabling federal downsizing that resulted in job losses across education, science, and public welfare sectors. “He’s playing kingmaker while people lose their livelihoods,” said Tanya Boon, a former EPA worker.
Economic anxiety and veterans’ concerns dominate Chicago and midwestern rallies
In Chicago’s Daley Plaza, speakers emphasized how proposed Trump policies could dismantle key social programs. Signs read “Hands off Social Security” and “Veterans deserve better.” Fio Holloman, a 22-year-old protester, said her father—a Vietnam vet—recently lost a disability benefit. “It’s not just about Trump the man. It’s about Trumpism as policy,” she said.

Concord’s Revolutionary War commemoration turns into anti-Trump protest
In Concord, Massachusetts, site of the Revolutionary War’s start 250 years ago, what began as a historical reenactment turned into a symbolic protest. Activists held signs reading “Stop Fascism Now” and “No Kings, No Trump.” Marchers dressed as 18th-century patriots drew comparisons between King George III and Donald Trump. “Our forefathers fought tyranny—why wouldn’t we?” said Mark Aldrich, a local historian turned protester.
Boston protesters accuse Trump of ‘building a police state’ and bypassing courts
At Boston Common, hundreds rallied with signs condemning Trump’s alleged disregard for court rulings and checks on executive power. George Bryant, a teacher, said: “This is what fascism looks like: targeting students, flouting the courts, and threatening free speech.” One speaker called for the Justice Department to “intervene before it’s too late.”
Emotional release, community healing, and voter mobilization were key outcomes
Beyond policy demands, many protesters described the day as emotionally necessary. In Cincinnati, Mayor Aftab Pureval joined the crowd and led chants of “Vote them out!” Social worker Andrea Mallory described the protest as “group therapy.” “I came here to scream. To grieve. To remember I’m not alone,” she said. Organizers handed out voter registration forms and “Know Your Rights” guides.

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NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, reached the United States on Saturday as part of a scheduled visit to Brown University in Rhode Island.
He was welcomed at Boston Logan International Airport by members of the Indian Overseas Congress, with Overseas Congress chief Sam Pitroda personally greeting him.
“LoP Shri @RahulGandhi received a warm welcome at Boston Logan International Airport, Boston, USA,” the Congress posted on X.
Pitroda hailed Gandhi as “a voice for the youth, for democracy, and for a better future” in a post on X, writing, “Welcome to the USA, Rahul Gandhi! Let’s listen, learn, and build together”.
Gandhi will participate in interactions with students and faculty at Brown University on April 21 and 22. The Congress MP is also expected to engage with members of the NRI community, office bearers and functionaries of the Indian Overseas Congress during his visit.
Congress leader Pawan Khera had earlier announced the visit, stating that Gandhi would give a talk at the university and participate in interactive sessions on campus.
“Former Congress President Mr. Rahul Gandhi will be visiting Brown University, in Rhode Island, United States, on the 21st and 22nd of April. He will be giving a talk and interacting with faculty members and students. Prior to visiting Rhode Island, Mr. Gandhi will meet with members of the NRI community, as well as office bearers and members of the Indian Overseas Congress,” Pawan Khera, the head of the grand old party’s media and publicity department, wrote on X.
This is Rahul Gandhi’s second US visit in recent months. In September 2024, he embarked on a three-day tour that included engagements at the University of Texas in Dallas and Georgetown University in Washington, DC. That trip marked his first international visit after assuming the role of Leader of the opposition.
During the September visit, Gandhi stirred controversy with remarks on India’s reservation system. He had said that reservations could be reconsidered once India became a “fair place.”
He also pushed for a caste census, calling the lack of representation for OBCs, Dalits, and Adivasis the “elephant in the room.”
“When we talk about the capture of institutions, businesses, and the media, the elephant in the room is that 90 per cent of India, OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis—aren’t even part of the game. That’s really the elephant in the room,” Gandhi had said.

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Tributes to British couple killed in Naples cable car crash

Tributes have been paid to British couple Elaine and Graeme Winn who were among four people killed in a cable car crash near Naples.

The school Mrs Winn worked at in Market Harborough described the 58-year-old as “much-loved and highly respected”, and tributes were also left for the couple on social media.

The mountain cable car cabin plunged to the ground after one of the cables supporting it snapped on Thursday, local officials said.

The cable car operator said it had passed a safety inspection just two weeks ago and that a criminal investigation has been opened.

The two other victims include the driver of the cable car, named by authorities as 59-year-old Carmine Parlato, and an Israeli woman identified as Janan Suliman.

A fifth person in the cabin, Ms Suliman’s brother, was “extremely seriously injured” in the crash and airlifted to hospital, where he remains in a critical condition, officials said.

Authorities in Torre Annunziata have opened an investigation into the cause of the crash.

A spokesperson for Welland Park Academy said Mrs Winn worked at the Leicestershire secondary school as a business manager and that it was “deeply saddened” by her death.

“Elaine was a much-loved and highly respected member of our school community,” they said. “Her professionalism, warmth, and unwavering dedication to school life touched the lives of students, staff, and families alike.”

They added: “The care and kindness she showed to everyone in our community means her loss will be felt deeply by us all.”

The mayor of Castellammare di Stabia – where the cable car is located – said it was believed a traction cable had snapped.

“The emergency brake downstream worked but clearly not the one on the cabin that was about to reach the top of the hill,” Luigi Vicinanza told Italian media on Thursday.

He added that there had been regular safety checks on the cable car line which runs the two miles (3km) between the town to the top of Mount Faito.

Vicinanza’s spokesman told PA news agency that 10 people were rescued from a second cabin which was also on the line near the bottom of the valley at the time of the incident. They were winched to safety.

The investigation into the incident will examine the possibility that strong winds could have been among the causes of the incident.

The cable car service had been suspended on Tuesday and Wednesday due to adverse weather conditions and had only resumed full operations on Thursday morning.

British tourist Megan Pacey was near the site of the incident on Thursday with her husband and their two young children when they saw the suspended cable car.

Ms Pacey said: “We were within a minute or two of [the incident] happening.”

“We watched the first couple of people come down in a harness, and as we left, there was a sense of urgency that had kicked in.”

She said flowers and candles had been left as tribute on the railway station steps on Friday.

A day of mourning will be held in the town, which is between Pompeii and Sorrento, and all local events for the Easter holiday have been cancelled.

The president of the region, Vincenzo De Luca, said it was a “truly tragic and painful” day.

Shortly after the crash, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who was on a trip to Washington, expressed her “sincere condolences” to the families of the victims.

The Mount Faito cable car has been operating since 1952. A similar accident on the line in 1960 left four people dead.

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Man admits dangerous driving in police crash

A personal trainer who caused a pile-up of police cars as he fled from them while he was taking a woman home from a first date has admitted dangerous driving.

Seven officers were injured and five police cars damaged when the force vehicles crashed into each other on the A1 near the Newcastle and Gateshead border at about 02:30 BST on 9 April.

Mazyar Azarbonyad, from Stanley in County Durham, admitted a series of driving offences when he appeared at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court.

The 20-year-old also admitted driving again in the days after the crash despite being given an interim ban.

The court heard Azarbonyad sped away from officers who tried to stop him in Swalwell, Gateshead, after they had noticed a defective rear light on his BMW.

Jack Lovell, for Azarbonyad, said: “He tells me at that point it is immediate panic.”

He said his client had been aware of the fact he had no insurance and that the woman he was with had made reference to being in “possession of cannabis”.

Mr Lovell said Azarbonyad, who came to the UK from Iran aged 15 or 16 and had no previous convictions, was later seen approaching the A1 and was pursued by police.

The serious collision involving five police vehicles and another car happened near the Denton roundabout.

The court heard Azarbonyad had eventually slowed down after being surrounded by police vehicles.

Helicopter footage showed his vehicle was “essentially at a stop” when an unmarked police Volvo, which had earlier reached speeds of 135mph, hit them at about 80mph.

“From there, there is something of a domino effect – it flips over and then the other police vehicles are also involved,” Mr Lovell said.

“I am not in any way trying to excuse – he should not have been driving the vehicle, it is his driving that has led to the incident on the A1.

“He accepts that by way of his guilty plea.”

He added Azarbonyad, who is self-employed, had shown genuine remorse for his actions and had been “very foolish” to get back behind the wheel just two days after the original incident.

Magistrates were told he had continued to drive on four further occasions, despite being told not to as part of his bail conditions, as he also admitted driving without insurance and a licence after his arrest.

The court heard he had driven a red Hyundai i10 to work at a gym in Newcastle city centre.

Police spotted Azarbonyad on a garage forecourt and arrested him before he told them about other times he had driven since the crash.

Simon Worthy, prosecuting, said: “One would have thought as a matter of common sense… that you would have been a bit more sensible about your activities, having been so lucky to get out of an accident only two days before.

“But no, no, you continue to stick two fingers up.”

Azarbonyad, of Sylvia Terrace, was granted conditional bail and is due to be sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court on 20 May.

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U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance went to the Vatican on Saturday to meet senior Catholic Church officials who have been sharply critical of his administration’s policies, in the first such in-person talks of the second Trump presidency.

Mr. Vance, a Catholic who has clashed with Pope Francis over U.S. President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, and his chief deputy.

The two sides had “cordial talks” that included “an exchange of opinions on the international situation,” according to a Vatican statement after the meeting.

Mr. Vance and Mr. Parolin spoke “especially regarding countries affected by war, political tensions and difficult humanitarian situations, with particular attention to migrants, refugees, and prisoners,” the statement read.

Pope Francis, who is limiting his public appearances on doctors’ orders as he recovers from double pneumonia, did not take part in the meeting. Mr. Vance is visiting Italy over the Easter weekend.

The pope, Mr. Parolin and other Vatican officials have criticised several Trump administration policies, including Mr. Trump’s plans to deport millions of migrants from the U.S. and his widespread cuts to foreign aid and domestic welfare programmes.

“This visit takes place in a delicate moment,” said Massimo Faggioli, an Italian academic at Villanova University who has followed the papacy closely. “This relationship with the U.S. is a very high priority right now for the Vatican.”

Pope Francis has called the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown a “disgrace”. Mr. Vance, who became Catholic in 2019, has cited medieval-era Catholic teaching to justify the immigration crackdown.

The pope rebutted the theological concept Mr. Vance used to defend the crackdown in an unusual open letter to the U.S. Catholic bishops about the Trump administration in February, and called Mr. Trump’s plan a “major crisis” for the U.S.

“What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly,” the pope said then.

Church-state relations

Mr. Vance first visited the Vatican on Thursday (April 17, 2025) to attend a religious ceremony in St. Peter’s Basilica with his family.

The Catholic Church’s worldwide charity arm has called the Trump administration’s funding cuts to U.S. foreign aid programmes “catastrophic” in terms of its impact on the developing world.

The U.S. Catholic bishops’ conference announced this month that, due to Trump administration cuts, it would end a half-century of partnerships with the federal Government to provide services to migrant and refugee populations.

Chieko Noguchi, a spokesperson for the U.S. bishops, told Reuters that Mr. Parolin, the Vatican cardinal, is “well-informed of the challenges faced by the Church and her institutions here” in the U.S.

“We pray that the meeting yields positive and engaging dialogue,” she said.

The Vatican statement said that, during the Mr. Vance and Mr. Parolin meeting, “hope was expressed for serene collaboration” between the U.S. church and Government.

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Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister expressed “deep concern and disappointment” to his Pakistani counterpart on Saturday (April 19, 2025) over the forced deportation of tens of thousands of Afghans since the start of April.

Pakistan has launched a strict campaign to evict by the end of the month more than 8,00,000 Afghans who have had their residence permits cancelled, including some who were born in Pakistan or lived there for decades.

Pakistan’s top diplomat, Ishaq Dar, flew to Kabul for a day-long visit on Saturday (April 19, 2025), where he held discussions with Afghan Taliban officials, including Prime Minister Hasan Akhund and Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi.

“Mr. Muttaqi expressed his deep concern and disappointment over the situation and forced deportation of Afghan refugees in Pakistan,” the Afghan Foreign Ministry’s deputy spokesperson Zia Ahmad said on X. “He strongly urged Pakistani authorities to prevent the suppression of the rights of Afghans living there and those coming here,” she added.

Ms. Ahmad added that Dar reassured officials that Afghans “will not be mistreated”.

Afghans in Pakistan have reported weeks of arbitrary arrests, extortion and harassment by authorities as they ramp up their campaign to expel migrants.

Islamabad has said nearly 85,000 have already crossed into Afghanistan, with convoys of Afghan families heading to border crossings each day fearing raids, arrests or separation from family members.

On Friday (April 18, 2025), Pakistan’s deputy interior minister Tallal Chaudhry told a news conference that “there will not be any sort of leniency and extension in the deadline”.

Thousands of Afghans depart Pakistan under repatriation pressure

“When you arrive without any documents, it only deepens the uncertainty of whether you’re involved in narcotics trafficking, supporting terrorism, or committing other crimes,” he added.

Analysts, however, say it is a politically motivated strategy to put pressure on Afghanistan’s Taliban Government over escalating security concerns.

The relationship between the two neighbours has soured as attacks in Pakistan’s border regions have soared, following the return of the Taliban government in Kabul in 2021.

Last year was the deadliest in Pakistan for a decade, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of allowing militants to take refuge in Afghanistan, from where they plan attacks.

The Taliban government denies the charge.

Second phase of deportations

Mr. Chaudhry said on Friday (April 18, 2025) that nearly 85,000 Afghans have crossed into Afghanistan since the start of April, the majority of them undocumented.

More than half of them were children, according to the United Nations refugee agency, entering a country where girls and women are banned from education after secondary school and barred from many sectors of work.

Afghanistan’s refugees ministry spokesman told AFP on Saturday (April 19, 2025) the Taliban authorities had recorded some 71,000 Afghan returnees through the two main border points with Pakistan between April 1 and 18.

In the first phase of returns in 2023, hundreds of thousands of undocumented Afghans were forced across the border in the space of a few weeks.

The rebounding of Pakistan’s Afghan strategy

In the second phase announced in March, the Pakistan Government cancelled the residence permits of more than 800,000 Afghans and warned thousands more awaiting relocation to other countries to leave by the end of April.

Millions of Afghans have poured into Pakistan over the past several decades to flee successive wars, but tensions with the Afghan community have risen as Pakistan’s economic and security concerns have deepened.

The move to expel Afghans is widely supported by Pakistanis.

“They are totally disrespectful towards our country. They have abused us, they have used us. One can’t live in a country if they don’t respect it,” said Ahmad Waleed, standing in his shop on Friday (April 18, 2025) in Rawalpindi, near the capital.

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As the world enters an age of biotechnology, there is emerging evidence that China is “distorting” biotechnology markets and is quickly ascending to “dominance” in this field, having made this a strategic priority for the last 20 years, according to the U.S. National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology.

Also read: Trump signals tit-for-tat China tariffs may be near end; TikTok deal on ice

In a report submitted to the U.S. Congress, the Commission warned that China is likely to weaponise the technology and may create genetically enhanced super-soldiers, powered by artificial intelligence, or AI.

“To remain competitive, the U.S. must take swift action in the next three years. Otherwise, we risk falling behind, a setback from which we may never recover,” said the report, which was released earlier this week, and is based on two years of research and consultations with private and public experts.

Also read: Beijing boosts AI startup Manus, as China looks for the next DeepSeek

It is certain that a biotechnology revolution is coming, the Commission reiterated. “There will be a ChatGPT moment for biotechnology, and if China gets there first, no matter how fast we run, we will never catch up,” it warned.

‘Steal, scale, strangle’

The world is entering the age of biotechnology, a time when biology is the basis of innovation, the report says in a sober analysis, stressing that every strategic sector — including defence, healthcare, agriculture, energy, and manufacturing — can be advanced by biotechnology, but also breached by it.

The Commission’s research indicates that China is likely to follow the same playbook with biotechnology as it has with other strategic technologies, the report said. “First, they steal. Then, they scale. Once they have cornered the market, they strangle,” it said, pointing to the Chinese restrictions on gallium and germanium in 2024 that had disrupted U.S. semiconductor production.

Noting that U.S. allies and partners offer unique capabilities, the report referred to India which it says is “prioritizing” cost-effective bio-manufacturing, particularly of vaccines. “We must do more to take advantage of our partners’ unparalleled strengths, which could include entering into reciprocal data-sharing agreements or pooling demand for biotechnology products,” it said.

AI-powered super-soldiers

Particularly focussing on biotech in the defence domain, the Commission said it has every reason to believe that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) will “weaponize” biotechnology. Now, with its Military-Civil Fusion strategy, the CCP aims to use biotechnology-powered troops — terming this “intelligent warfare” — to make the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) a “world-class military” by 2049. “Drone warfare will seem quaint if we are faced with genetically enhanced PLA super-soldiers with fused human and AI,” the report warned.

China says it will increase support for AI, science and tech innovation

Giving an example of how China is distorting the biotechnology markets, the report delved into how the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) and MGI Tech have financed their growth in an “atypical manner” that indicates “undisclosed” state involvement and “subsidization,” undermining their foreign competitors in the genomic sequencing market. “China’s ability to manufacture active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) at disproportionately low prices led India to impose a unilateral anti-dumping duty on certain APIs from China in 2022 to protect its domestic manufacturing industry,” it observed.

Recommendations for the U.S.

The Commission’s main recommendation is that the U.S. government should dedicate a minimum of $15 billion over the next five years to unleash more private capital into the national biotechnology sector.

After an extensive study, including more than 1,800 stakeholder consultations, the Commission listed out a set of top-priority recommendations for the U.S. government. These include suggestions to: prioritise biotechnology at the national level; mobilise the private sector to get U.S. products to scale; maximise the benefits of biotechnology for defence; out-innovate strategic competitors; build the biotechnology workforce of the future; and mobilise the collective strengths of allies and partners.

Further cautioning that the window to act is closing, the Commission pitched a two-track strategy, to make America innovate faster, and slow China down. In this regard, it called for defending American biotechnology IP and data against Chinese state-sponsored corporate espionage, even if this means rejecting an attractive investment. “We must not treat Chinese state-run companies as ordinary competitors in our market, even if it means using more expensive alternatives. China does not have a right to American research—period,” it said.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is accelerating us toward the inflection point, the Commission said, noting that though the U.S.’s advantage was once thought “unassailable”, China has emerged as a powerhouse in AI-enabled biotechnology.

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NEW DELHI: After Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar questioned Supreme Court, a BJP leader has added fuel to the fire, saying Parliament should stop functioning if the apex court acts like it. Targeting Chief Justice of India, he said, “Sanjiv Khanna is responsible for all the civil wars happening in this country.”
Taking aim at Supreme Court on Friday, seasoned BJP parliamentarian Nishikant Dubey in a cryptic post on X wrote, “Kanoon yadi Supreme Court hi banayega to Sansad Bhavan bund kar dena chahiye (Parliament should be closed down if the Supreme Court has to make the laws).”
Later today, Dubey said that the Supreme Court is responsible for inciting religious wars in the country. “The Supreme Court is going beyond its limits. If one has to go to the Supreme Court for everything, then Parliament and State Assembly should be shut,” he added.
“How can you give direction to the appointing authority? The President appoints the Chief Justice of India. The Parliament makes the law of this country. You will dictate that Parliament? How did you make a new law? In which law is it written that the President has to take a decision within three months? This means that you want to take this country towards anarchy. When the Parliament sits, there will be a detailed discussion on this,” he further said.
The BJP leader also criticised the apex court over Article 377, saying, “there was an Article 377 in which homosexuality is a big crime. The Trump administration has said that there are only two sexes in this world, either male or female. Whether it is Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain or Sikh, all believe that homosexuality is a crime. One fine morning, the Supreme Court said that we abolish this case.”
“Article 141 says that the laws we make, the judgments we give, are applicable from the lower court to the Supreme Court. Article 368 says that Parliament has the right to make all laws and the Supreme Court has the right to interpret the law,” he added.
Opposition slams Dubey’s statement
Congress MP slammed Dubey’s remark saying that “BJP is trying to weaken the Supreme Court.” “Constitutional functionaries, ministers, BJP MPs are speaking against the Supreme Court as the Supreme Court is saying one thing that when a law is made, you should not go against the basic structure of the constitution and if the law is against the constitution, we will not accept it. Deliberately, the Supreme Court is being targeted as in many issues like electoral bonds, the Supreme Court has said that what has been done by the government is unconstitutional,” he added.
‘His attack on the Supreme Court is not acceptable’
“This is a defamatory statement against the Supreme Court. Nishikant Dubey is a person who continuously demolishes all other institutions. Now, he has attacked the Supreme Court. I hope that the Supreme Court judges will take this into notice as he is not speaking in Parliament but outside it. His attack on the Supreme Court is not acceptable,” Congress leader Manickam Tagore told ANI.
Congress MP Imran Masood also criticised BJP leader’s statement and said it was “unfortunate.”
“The kind of statements that are coming against the Supreme Court are very unfortunate…This is not the first time that the Supreme Court has given a decision against the full majority government…This frustration is incomprehensible,” Masood said.
Advocate and Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, “It is a matter of great sadness if an MP questions the Supreme Court or any court. In our legal system, the final word is not of the government, it is of the Supreme Court. If someone does not understand this, then it is a matter of great sadness.”
AAP spokesperson Priyanka Kakkar said, “He has made a very shoddy statement. I hope that tomorrow only, the Supreme Court will initiate suo-moto contempt proceedings against BJP MP Nishikant Dubey and send him to jail. Whenever any judge gives a judgment in favour of the BJP, they are sent to the Rajya Sabha, and now, when a judge gave an instruction that the law should be followed and governors should not sit indefinitely on bills, the BJP has used all its resources to defame the judges and attack the Supreme Court.”
BJP defends Nishikant’s remark
BJP’s Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Manan Kumar Mishra said, “On the Manipur issue, the Supreme Court took a suo motu cognisance, but we are seeing that several parts of West Bengal are burning, but the eyes of the Supreme Court are closed. The entire country is looking at the Supreme Court that the SC would give direction to the Govt to impose President’s rule in West Bengal, but the Supreme Court is silent.”
Dubey’s remarks came amid hearings on several pleas ongoing in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the Waqf (Amendment) Act. Parliament passed the Bill in the first week of April.
Meanwhile, Centre has decided not to implement some of its contentious provisions till the next date of hearing after court raised several concerns over them.
The timing of Dubey’s remark is also noteworthy as Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar recently voiced strong disapproval of Supreme Court’s judgement after it set a timeline for the President to take decision on the bills sent to her.
“We cannot have a situation where you direct the President of India and on what basis?” Dhankhar questioned SC while speaking to the sixth batch of Rajya Sabha interns at the Vice-President’s Enclave on Thursday.
“There is a directive to the President by a recent judgement. Where are we heading? What is happening in the country? We have to be extremely sensitive. It is not a question of someone filing a review or not. We never bargained for democracy for this day. President being called upon to decide in a time-bound manner, and if not, becomes law,” Dhankhar added.
“President being called upon to decide in a time-bound manner, and if not, it becomes law. So we have judges who will legislate, who will perform executive functions, who will act as super Parliament, and absolutely have no accountability because law of the land does not apply to them,” he further said.
However, opposition parties lauded court’s observation over the Waqf Act and direction to President.

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Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday announced an Easter truce in the war with Ukraine starting this evening and lasting till midnight on Sunday, reported news agency AFP.
“Today from 1800 (1500 GMT) to midnight Sunday (2100 GMT Sunday), the Russian side announces an Easter truce,” Putin said in televised comments, while speaking to Russian chief of staff Valery Gerasimov. Both nations also swapped hundreds of prisoners in the largest exchange since the war.
Russia’s ministry of defense said that 246 Russian service members were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv, and that “as a gesture of goodwill” 31 wounded Ukrainian prisoners of war were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr said that 277 Ukrainian “warriors have returned home from Russian captivity.”
Putin’s announcement comes a day after US secretary of state Marco Rubio warned that Washington could walk away from its push to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine within days, unless progress becomes visible soon.
Speaking in Paris after high-level discussions with European and Ukrainian leaders, Rubio said the Trump administration was assessing whether the effort remains viable. “We’re not going to continue with this endeavour for weeks and months on end,” Rubio said.
“So we need to determine very quickly now, and I’m talking about a matter of days whether or not this is doable in the next few weeks. If it is, we’re in. If it’s not, then we have other priorities to focus on as well”, he added.
The Russia-Ukraine war, which began with Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, has become Europe’s largest military conflict since World War II. Rooted in longstanding tensions over Nato expansion, Ukraine’s growing ties with the West, and Russia’s desire to assert control over what it considers its historical sphere of influence, the conflict has led to widespread destruction, civilian casualties, and a deepening global geopolitical divide.
While initial rounds of peace talks were held in the early months of the war, including meetings in Belarus and Turkey, they failed to produce lasting outcomes, largely due to disagreements over territorial sovereignty, security guarantees, and Russia’s demands regarding Ukraine’s neutrality. International efforts, including mediation attempts by Turkey, China, and the United Nations, have made limited progress amid continued hostilities.
Occasional humanitarian ceasefires, prisoner exchanges, and grain export agreements—such as the Black Sea Grain Initiative brokered by the UN and Turkey—have provided temporary relief but not a path to comprehensive peace. As of now, both sides remain entrenched, with Ukraine demanding full territorial restoration and Russia holding on to occupied regions, making a negotiated resolution elusive.

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HYDERABAD: Petbasheerabad police booked six people for allegedly stripping and assaulting a 26-year-old SC man in Gundlapochampally on March 26, when he went to broker peace between a couple. They even made him “lick their feet”. A video of the accused beating up victim Tarun Kumar is viral on social media. All six are on the run.
In the video, Tarun, a private employee, can be seen thrown at the accused’s feet, stark naked, and being mercilessly beaten. Following a complaint by Tarun, police booked a case under sections 118 (1) (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons), 352 (criminal intimidation) r/w 3 (5) of BNS and SC & ST (POA) Act against six accused on April 13.
In his complaint, Tarun stated he had gone to meet the husband of his family friend’s sister. “Vineeta, a resident of Bowenpally, had filed for divorce from her husband, K Kiran Kumar Yadav. Later, she changed her mind and requested me to talk to her husband to not sign the divorce papers. I went to Gundlapochampally to talk to Kiran Kumar,” Tarun stated, adding that the move upset Kiran. “He called his friends and together they assaulted me with sticks. They stripped me and, while recording videos on their cellphones, continued the assault. They also abused me referring to my caste,” Tarun alleged.
Apart from Kiran Kumar Yadav, a Rapido rider from Gundlapochampally, Tarun also named Pavan, Laddu (from Bowenpally), Jayanth Yadav (from Suchitra), Sohel (from KPHB Colony), and Tarun Goud (from Amberpet) in his complaint.
“They have been sharing my nude video with friends to insult me. Please initiate appropriate legal action against the accused,” the complainant urged the police, adding that he could not report the crime immediately as he fell sick due to the assault.
In the medico-legal record of CC Shroff Memorial Hospital in Barkatpura, where the victim was treated, it is mentioned that Tarun had “abrasions all over his back, both shoulders, left leg, chest, and abdomen”. He also had a laceration on his abdomen, the report added.
Maheshwar Reddy, SI, Petbasheerabad, said, they were trying to locate the accused.

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Donald Trump’s simmering discontent with the U.S. Federal Reserve boiled over this week, with the president threatening to take the unprecedented step of ousting the head of the fiercely independent central bank.

Mr. Trump has repeatedly said he wants rate cuts now to help stimulate economic growth as he rolls out his tariff plans, and has threatened to fire Fed Chair Jerome Powell if he does not comply, putting the bank and the White House on a collision course that analysts warn could destabilise U.S. financial markets.

“If I want him out, he’ll be out of there real fast, believe me,” Mr. Trump said Thursday, referring to Mr. Powell, whose second four-year stint as Fed chair ends in May 2026.

Mr. Powell has said he has no plans to step down early, adding this week that he considers the bank’s independence over monetary policy to be a “matter of law.”

Why rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve matter to world markets

“Clearly, the fact that the Fed chairman feels that he has to address it means that they are serious,” KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk told AFP, referring to the White House.

Stephanie Roth, chief economist at Wolfe Research, said she thinks “they will come into conflict,” but does not think “that the Fed is going to succumb to the political pressure.”

U.S. Fed Chair Powell warns tariffs likely to push up inflation, cool growth

Most economists agree that the administration’s tariff plans — which include a 10% “baseline” rate on imports from most countries — will put upward pressure on prices and cool economic growth, at least in the short term.

That would keep inflation well away from the Fed’s long-term target of 2%, and likely prevent policymakers from cutting rates in the next few months.

“They’re not going to react because Trump posted that they should be cutting,” Ms. Roth said in an interview, adding that doing so would be “a recipe for a disaster” for the U.S. economy.

Fed independence ‘absolutely critical’

Many legal scholars say the U.S. president does not have the power to fire the Fed chair or any of his colleagues on the bank’s 19-person rate-setting committee for any reason but cause.

Trumponomics deserves to be taken seriously

The Fed system, created more than a century ago, is also designed to insulate the U.S. central bank from political interference.

“Independence is absolutely critical for the Fed,” said Ms. Roth. “Countries that do not have independent central banks have currencies that are notably weaker and interest rates that are notably higher.”

Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi told AFP that “we’ve had strong evidence that impairing central bank independence is a really bad idea.”

‘Can’t control the bond market’

One serious threat to the Fed’s independence comes from an ongoing case in which the Trump administration has indicated it will seek to challenge a 1935 Supreme Court decision denying the U.S. president the right to fire the heads of independent government agencies.

The case could have serious ramifications for the Fed, given its status as an independent agency whose leadership believes they cannot currently be fired by the president for any reason but cause.

Cracks emerge in GOP unity amid Trump trade war

But even if the Trump administration succeeds in court, it may soon run into the ultimate guardrail of Fed independence: The bond markets.

During the recent market turbulence unleashed by Mr. Trump’s tariff plans, U.S. government bond yields surged and the dollar fell, signaling that investors may not see the United States as the safe haven investment it once was.

Faced with the sharp rise in U.S. Treasury yields, the Trump administration paused its plans for higher tariffs against dozens of countries, a move that helped calm the financial markets.

If investors believed the Fed’s independence to tackle inflation was compromised, that would likely push up the yields on long-dated government bonds on the assumption that long-term inflation would be higher, and put pressure on the administration.

“You can’t control the bond market. And that’s the moral of the story,” said Ms. Swonk. “And that’s why you want an independent Fed.”

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Dozens of people including journalists appeared before a court in Istanbul on Friday (April 18, 2025), accused of attending banned demonstrations and disobeying police orders to disperse during anti-government protests that were triggered by the jailing of the city’s opposition mayor, Ekrem Imamoglu.

Mr. Imamoglu, seen as the main challenger to President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s 22-year rule, was arrested on March 19 and jailed days later on corruption charges.

‘Politically motivated’

His imprisonment has been widely viewed as politically motivated and sparked nationwide protests. The government insists Turkiye’s judiciary is independent and that the courts operate independently.

A total of 189 defendants, most of them university students, began defending themselves over charges of participating in banned protests and non-compliance with orders to disperse. Some have also been charged with carrying arms. Four photojournalists and three reporters who were covering the demonstrations were also on trial. The court, however, on Friday decided to separate their case from the main trial.

The defendants are among more than 2,000 people were detained for taking party in the country’s largest mass demonstrations in more than a decade. During the opening hearing, lawyers demanded acquittal for all 189 defendants.

Among them was Derin Doga Kus, a 23-year-old Istanbul University student, who was detained from her home on March 24 and released from jail last week along with dozens of other students. Their release followed concerted efforts by parents to have their children set free, with many holding daily vigils outside Silivri prison, west of Istanbul.

“I spent 18 days in the Silivri prison,” Ms. Doga Kus said. “This is not a legal process. It is a process where the law is trampled on,” she said.

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