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Russian missiles kill at least 16 people in the latest strike on southern Ukraine’s Odesa

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Russian missiles kill at least 16 people in the latest strike on southern Ukraine’s Odesa

Russian missiles kill at least 16 people in the latest strike on southern Ukraine’s Odesa

Kyiv, UKRAINE (AP) — A Russian ballistic missile attack blasted homes in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa on Friday, followed by a second missile that targeted first responders who arrived at the scene, officials said. At least 16 people were killed.

The attack occurred as Russians began voting in a presidential election that is all but certain to extend Vladimir Putin’s rule by another six years after he crushed dissent, and as the war in Ukraine stretches into its third year.

The dead included a paramedic and an emergency service worker. At least 53 other people were wounded by the Iskander-M missiles, officials said.

READ MORE : US, G-7 allies warn Iran to back off deal to provide Russia ballistic missiles or face new sanctions

At least 10 houses in Odesa and some emergency service equipment were damaged in the strike, which started a blaze, according to emergency officials and regional Gov. Oleh Kiper.

The tactic of firing a second missile at the same location, aiming to hit rescuers, is known in military terms as a double tap. Such strikes often hit civilians.

Kiper announced that a day of mourning in Odesa would be held on Saturday — the second such observance in less than two weeks.

On March 2, a Russian drone struck a multistory building, killing 12 people, including five children.

Moscow has repeatedly claimed that its forces do not target civilian areas, despite substantial evidence to the contrary.

Since last summer, Russia has intensified its attacks on Odesa, a southern port city with a population of around 1 million.

The attacks have primarily targeted port infrastructure, aiming to disrupt the export of goods after Ukraine managed to restore maritime navigation with a series of successful operations in the Black Sea.

In this photo provided by the Ukrainian Emergency Service, an emergency serviceman sits shocked after a Russian attack in Odesa, Ukraine, Friday, March 15, 2024. Photo : Emergency Service via AP

Moscow officials have also claimed they are aiming at facilities where Ukrainian sea drones are stored for attacks on Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.

The Odesa region’s ports were key to last year’s international agreement that let Ukraine and Russia ship their grain to the rest of the world.

Odesa residents largely speak Russian, and the city’s past is intertwined with some of Russia’s most revered figures, including Catherine the Great, author Leo Tolstoy and poet Anna Akhmatova.

Its Orthodox cathedral belongs to Moscow’s patriarchate and — at least until the Kremlin illegally annexed the nearby Crimean Peninsula in 2014 — its beaches were beloved by Russian tourists.

Meanwhile, in the Russian border region of Belgorod, regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said a member of the regional territorial defense forces was killed and two people were injured in Ukrainian shelling Friday.

Overnight in Ukraine, two people were also killed and three wounded in the central Vinnytsia region after Russia struck a building with a drone, according to regional Gov. Serhii Borzov.

The Ukrainian air force said it shot down all 27 Shahed drones that Russia launched over the Kharkiv, Vinnytsia, Kirovohrad, Mykolaiv, Khmelnytskyi and Kyiv regions.

BY HANNA ARHIROVA FOR ASSOCIATE PRESS

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A plan to find new leadership for Haiti is moving forward, Caribbean officials say

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A plan to find new leadership for Haiti is moving forward, Caribbean officials say

A plan to find new leadership for Haiti is moving forward, Caribbean officials say

Port-Au-Prince, HAITI (AP) — A plan to create a transitional presidential council is moving forward after a majority of Haitian parties and coalitions submitted the names of those charged with finding new leaders for the country, Caribbean officials said Thursday.

The names were provided to a regional trade bloc known as Caricom that is helping lead the transition.

“It is all up now to the Haitians as they are the ones who want a Haitian-led solution,” Surinamese Foreign Minister Albert Ramdin told The Associated Press. “It is for them to pick up the ball and run with it, being responsible for their own destiny.”

READ MORE : Gangs in Haiti try to seize control of main airport in newest attack on key government sites

He spoke a day after Haitian politicians and influential figures bickered publicly about the plan and what names to submit, seemingly putting creation of the council at risk.

Caribbean leaders had announced plans to create the council after meeting in Jamaica Monday behind closed doors with officials including U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Shortly after the meeting, Prime Minister Ariel Henry pledged to resign once the council is created.

The council will be responsible for choosing an interim prime minister and a council of ministers, as well as help organize general elections, which haven’t been held in nearly a decade.

“We hope this is a breakthrough for Haiti,” Ramdin said.

He said Caricom officials met Wednesday night for an update on the situation.

The names haven’t been made public, although a senior Caribbean official not authorized to speak to the media told the AP that the Dec. 21 Agreement group, which backs the current prime minister, has not submitted a name.

In addition, Jean-Charles Moïse, who leads the Petit Desalin party and has allied with former rebel leader and convicted money launderer Guy Philippe, announced Wednesday that his party would not join the council despite the offer of a voting position.

The others awarded a spot on the council are EDE/RED, a party led by former Prime Minister Claude Joseph; the Montana Accord, a group of civil society leaders, political parties and others; Fanmi Lavalas, the party of former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide; the Jan. 30 Collective, which represents parties including that of former President Michel Martelly; and the private sector.

Of the remaining two nonvoting positions, one would go to a representative of Haiti’s civil society and the other to its religious sector.

It wasn’t immediately clear what would happen to the position rejected by Moïse and his party.

Front table from left, Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Guyana’s President Irfan Ali and Jamaica’s Prime Minister Andrew Holness attend meeting on Haiti at the conference of Heads of Government of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in Kingston, Jamaica, on Monday, March 11, 2024. Photo : Andrew Caballero-Reynolds, via AP

U.N. spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Thursday that the U.N. special envoy for Haiti, María Isabel Salvador, remains in contact with many key political and civil society representatives and is “encouraging them to act in the best interest of the people of Haiti to resolve this crisis as quickly as possible.”

The push to create a council comes as Haiti’s capital and other areas become increasingly overrun by powerful gangs that control around 80% of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

On Feb. 29, gunmen launched a series of attacks on key state institutions, including police stations, the main international airport and Haiti’s two biggest prisons, where more than 4,000 inmates were freed. Scores of people have died in the attacks, and more than 15,000 people have been left homeless.

The violence has somewhat subsided, although a fire was reported Thursday at the National Penitentiary in downtown Port-au-Prince, one of two prisons attacked more than a week ago. It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was injured or killed in the blaze or how it started.

Dujarric said some of the U.N.’s 267 international staff whose presence in Haiti is not essential are being moved to the neighboring Dominican Republic to work remotely, given “the volatile security situation.” He added that other U.N. staff needed to deal with the ongoing humanitarian crisis will be going to Haiti.

The U.N. political mission announced that an air bridge was being established between Haiti and the Dominican Republic including to bring in some supplies and staff, but Dujarric said it isn’t operational yet.

When the attacks began, Prime Minister Henry was in Kenya to try and secure a U.N.-backed deployment of a police force from the East African country. The deployment, however, has been put on hold. Meanwhile, Henry remains in Puerto Rico, unable to return home.

Schools, gas stations and airports remain closed in Port-au-Prince and beyond, although public transportation has resumed, and a growing number of Haitians have been seen on previously empty streets.

Wilkinson reported from Georgetown, Guyana. Associated Press reporter Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.

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Thousands of Indian farmers protest in New Delhi demanding a law guaranteeing minimum crop prices

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Thousands of Indian farmers protest in New Delhi demanding a law guaranteeing minimum crop prices

Thousands of Indian farmers protest in New Delhi demanding a law guaranteeing minimum crop prices

New Delhi, INDIA (AP) — Thousands of farmers protested in India’s capital on Thursday to press their demand for a new law that would guarantee minimum crop prices, after weeks of being blocked from entering the city.

They rode crowded buses and trains instead of their tractors to New Delhi after authorities barricaded highways into the capital with cement blocks and barbed wire. Police also banned use of farm vehicles as a condition for granting permission for the rally in the city. Participants were also barred from carrying sticks or swords to avoid clashes with police.

READ MORE : Indian farmers orchestrate a ‘tractor chain’ to encircle the capital

The protesters held placards demanding free electricity for farming. They contended that without minimum price guarantees for their crops, they would be at the mercy of the markets and that would spell disaster, especially for the more than two-thirds of them who own less than 1 hectare (2 1/2 acres) of land.

The rally, organized by the United Farmers Front, was held at Ramlila Ground, which is used for religious festivals, major political meetings and entertainment events.

Police also set a condition for the rally that no more than 5,000 people would participate, the Press Trust of India news agency said. The rally was scheduled to end later Thursday.

Chitwant Singh, a protester, said farmers didn’t earn enough to cover their costs. “The traders and middlemen take away all our profits,” he said.

The protests come at a crucial time for India, which has a national election in April-May in which Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s governing party is widely expected to secure a third successive term. Farmers are a particularly influential voting bloc because of their numbers. More than 60% of India’s 1.4 billion people depend on farming for their livelihoods.

The farmers are also pressing the government to keep its promises to waive loans and withdraw legal cases brought against them during earlier protests in 2021. Several rounds of talks have failed to break the deadlock.

Separately, thousands of farmers have been protesting in Shambhu, a town about 200 kilometers (120 miles) from the capital, since Feb. 13.

Authorities have barricaded highways leading to New Delhi with cement blocks, metal containers, barbed wire and iron spikes to prevent the farmers from entering the capital. The farmers have brought bulldozers and excavators to try and push through.

Indian farmers who have been protesting to demand guarnteed corp prices gather at Ramlila ground in New Delhi, India, Thursday, March 14,2024. AP Photo

On Feb. 21, clashes between farmers and police left one protester dead as the farmers tried to resume their march to the capital after talks with the government failed to end an impasse over their demands for guaranteed crop prices.

Police said 12 officers were injured after protesters attacked them with sticks and pelted them with stones.

The farmers paused their protest and have camped near Shambhu, close to the border between Punjab and Haryana states, as their unions engaged in discussions with government ministers.

They rejected a proposal offering them five-year contracts with guaranteed prices for certain crops including maize, grain, legumes and cotton.

Two years ago, tens of thousands of farmers camped out on the outskirts of New Delhi for months, forcing Modi to repeal new agriculture laws in a major reversal for his government.

Jagjit Singh Dallewal, one of the farmers leading Thursday’s protest, said they did not want any violence and condemned the government for the massive security measures.

Protest organizers say the farmers are seeking a law that would guarantee minimum prices for 23 crops to help stabilize their incomes.

The government protects agricultural producers against sharp falls in farm prices by setting a minimum purchase price for certain essential crops, a system that was introduced in the 1960s to help shore up food reserves and prevent shortages. The system can apply to up to 23 crops, but the government usually offers the minimum price only for rice and wheat.

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SpaceX Starship disintegrates after completing most of third test flight

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SpaceX Starship disintegrates after completing most of third test flight

SpaceX Starship disintegrates after completing most of third test flight

Boca Chica, TEXAS (Reuters) – SpaceX’s Starship rocket, designed to eventually send astronauts to the moon and beyond, completed nearly an entire test flight through space on its third try on Thursday, getting farther than ever before, but disintegrated on its return to Earth.

During a webcast of the flight, SpaceX commentators said mission control lost communication with Starship from two satellite systems simultaneously while the spacecraft was re-entering the planet’s atmosphere at hypersonic speed.

The spacecraft at that point was nearing a planned splashdown in the Indian Ocean, about an hour after launch from south Texas.

READ MORE : Japan’s ‘Moon Sniper,’ successfully lands on the moon but encounters a power-related issue

Contact with Starship cut out moments after a live video feed from a camera mounted on the vehicle showed high-definition images of a reddish glow enveloping the silvery spacecraft from the heat of re-entry friction as it plunged earthward.

SpaceX’s next-generation Starship spacecraft, atop its powerful Super Heavy rocket, lifts off on its third launch from the company’s Boca Chica launchpad on an uncrewed test flight, near Brownsville, Texas, U.S. March 14, 2024. REUTERS/Cheney Orr


A few minutes later, SpaceX confirmed that the spacecraft had been “lost” – meaning incinerated or broken apart – during the stress of re-entry.

For reasons that were left unclear, SpaceX opted to skip one of the test flight’s core objectives – an attempt to re-ignite one of Starship’s Raptor engines while it coasted in a shallow orbit. That milestone is considered key to its future success.
Still, completion of many of Starship’s intended flight objectives represented progress in the development of a spacecraft crucial to the growing satellite launch business of SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk in 2002, and NASA’s moon program.

NASA chief Bill Nelson congratulated SpaceX on what he called “a successful test flight” in a statement posted on social media platform X. The U.S. space agency is SpaceX’s biggest customer.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell wrote in an X post that the test marked an “incredible day.”
The two-stage spacecraft, consisting of the Starship cruise vessel mounted atop its towering Super Heavy rocket booster, blasted off from the company’s Starbase launch site near Boca Chica Village on the Gulf Coast of Texas. The upper-stage Starship reached peak altitudes of 145 miles (234 km).

The spacecraft far exceeded its two past performances, both of which were cut short by explosions minutes after launch. The company had acknowledged in advance a high probability that its latest flight might similarly end with the spacecraft’s demise before the mission profile was finished.

SpaceX’s engineering culture, considered more risk-tolerant than many of the aerospace industry’s more established players, is built on a flight-testing strategy that pushes spacecraft to the point of failure, then fine-tunes improvements through frequent repetition.

ENGINEERING GOALS

Thursday’s flight achieved many of the engineering goals set for the mission: a repeat of successful stage separation during initial ascent; the first test of Starship’s ability to open and close its payload door in orbit; and the transfer of super-cooled rocket propellant from one tank to another during spaceflight.
What SpaceX failed to demonstrate on top of Starship’s re-entry failure and the skipped engine re-ignition test was an attempt to fly the Super Heavy rocket back to Earth, part of SpaceX’s routine strategy of recovering its launch boosters for re-use.
SpaceX officials have said they plan to conduct at least six more test flights of Starship this year, subject to regulatory approval.
The company is required to investigate each test mission failure and deliver its findings and corrective actions to the Federal Aviation Administration for the agency’s approval before the vehicle can fly again.

On the whole, Thursday’s test encompassed a fraction of the remaining demonstrations and missions the vehicle must get through before it is proven safe enough to fly people to space.

Still, Musk is counting on Starship to fulfill his goal of producing a large, multipurpose next-generation spacecraft capable of sending people and cargo to the moon later this decade, and ultimately flying to Mars.

Closer to home, Musk also sees Starship as eventually replacing the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as the workhorse in the company’s commercial launch business. It already lofts most of the world’s satellites and other payloads to low-Earth orbit.

NASA also has a lot riding on the success of Starship, which the agency is giving a central role in its Artemis program, successor to the Apollo missions that put astronauts on the moon for the first time more than 50 years ago.
While NASA executives have embraced Musk’s frequent flight-testing approach, agency officials in recent months have made clear their desire to see greater progress with Starship’s development as the United States races with China to the lunar surface.

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Mamata Banerjee sustains injury after falling at home, receives stitches on forehead

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Mamata Banerjee sustains injury after falling at home, receives stitches on forehead

Mamata Banerjee sustains injury after falling at home, receives stitches on forehead

New Delhi, INDIA (NDTV) – West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee suffered a “major injury” to her forehead after a fall at her home. The chief minister received stitches and was later discharged from the hospital.
The chief minister was taken to her residence after necessary tests were conducted. Ms Banerjee’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee and other family members accompanied her.

READ MORE : India China trade barbs over Modi’s visit to disputed region

The All India Trinamool Congress today shared photos of Ms Banerjee on a hospital bed with a deep cut in the middle of her forehead and blood on her face. The Chief Minister suffered a fall at her home and was taken to the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata.

“Our chairperson Mamata Banerjee sustained a major injury. Please keep her in your prayers,” the party said in a post on X. 

Mamata Banerjee sustains injury after falling at home, receives stitches on forehead. Photo @AITCofficial

“Wishing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee a speedy recovery. Our prayers are with her for a quick return to good health,” Sukanta Majumdar, state president of Trinamool Congress said in a post on X.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished Ms Banerjee a quick recovery and said, “I pray for a quick recovery and the best health for Mamata Didi.”

Vice President of India, Jagdeep Dhankar inquired about the health of the Chief Minister expressing his deep anguish and wishing a speedy recovery.

In a video, the Chief Minister was being seen taken to the Neurosciences Department of the hospital in a wheelchair and a bandage on her forehead.

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North Korea’s Kim test drives a new tank and orders troops to prepare for war

Um Kwang Ho
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North Korea’s Kim test drives a new tank and orders troops to prepare for war

North Korea’s Kim test drives a new tank and orders troops to prepare for war

Seoul, SOUTH KOREA (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un joined troops training on a new tank model and drove one himself, state media reported Thursday, as his rivals South Korea and the U.S. wrapped up their annual military exercises.

U.S. soldiers participate in a joint live fire exercise at a military training field in Pocheon, South Korea Thursday, March 14, 2024 as part of the annual Fredom Shield joint military exercise between South Korea and the United States. Photo : Jung Yeon-je/via AP

It’s the third time Kim was reported to have observed military exercises since the start of the 11-day South Korean-U.S. drills, which he views as rehearsals for an invasion. That’s a less provocative option than missile tests. North Korea has intensified launches since 2022 and ramped up belligerent rhetoric this year.

READ MORE : South Korea says presumed North Korean hackers breached personal emails of presidential staffer

At the tank drills Wednesday, Kim praised the country’s latest tank as “the world’s most powerful” and told his troops to bolster their “fighting spirits” and complete “preparations for war,” according to the official Korean Central News Agency. The other two drills he inspected recently were dedicated to artillery firing and maneuvering exercises.

The tank was first unveiled during a military parade in 2020, and its rolling during Wednesday’s drill indicates that it’s ready to be deployed, South Korean experts say.

Photos of the tank released by North Korea show it has a launch tube for missiles, a weapons systems the former Soviet Union already operated in the 1970s. The new tank could pose a threat to South Korea, said Yang Uk, an analyst at Asan Institute for Policy Studies, but it remains to be seen whether it can be mass produced.

The North’s Defense Ministry last week threatened “responsible military activities” in reaction to the South Korea-U.S. military drills, which involved a computer-simulated command post training and 48 kinds of field exercises, twice the number conducted last spring. The U.S. and South Korea have been expanding their training exercises in a tit-for-tat response to the North’s weapons testing spree.

Concerns about North Korea’s military preparations have deepened since Kim vowed in a speech in January to rewrite the constitution to eliminate the country’s long-standing goal to seek peaceful unification of the Korean Peninsula and cement South Korea as its “invariable principal enemy.” He said the new constitution must specify North Korea would annex and subjugate the South if another war breaks out.

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The reunion of Season 6 of “Love Is Blind” doesn’t shy away from confrontation

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The reunion of Season 6 of “Love Is Blind” doesn’t shy away from confrontation

The reunion of Season 6 of “Love Is Blind” doesn’t shy away from confrontation

ENTERTAINMENT (THR) – After a season that ended with just two couples making it to the altar — and only one pair saying “yes” — Netflix aired the highly anticipated reunion special for the sixth iteration of Love Is Blind Wednesday night.

Hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey, the episode reunited season six cast members Amber Desiree, aka “AD,” Amy, Brittany, Chelsea, Jessica, Sarah Ann, Clay, Jeramey, Jimmy, Johnny, Kenneth and Trevor in person with Laura joining from Barcelona via satellite. Some of the series’ past success stories — Brett and Tiffany, Chelsea and Kwame, Alexa and Brennon, and Colleen and Matt — were also in attendance in the audience along with past cast members Micah, Izzy and Gianna (Gigi).

READ MORE : Krystyna Pyszková from the Czech Republic has been crowned Miss World 2024

Gigi shared the first big news of the night, announcing her pregnancy with her current partner, Blake, with whom she’s expecting her first child. And Amy and Johnny, the only couple to marry this season, showed up holding hands as steady as they were throughout the entire season of the show. But there were a number of far less happy surprise details to follow during the episode. Read below for the top revelations about the cast from the Love Is Blind season 6 reunion.

Jeramey and Sarah Ann

At the end of episode nine, Laura and Jeramey’s engagement came to an end when he returned home at 5:00 a.m. after claiming to have only been talking with another cast member whom he’d connected with in the pods, Sarah Ann.

Their reunion was prompted by a DM Sarah Ann sent to Jeramey while he was still engaged saying she would love to meet him, and at a lake party with the cast in the following episode, Jeramey and Sarah Ann went riding off into the sunset on jet skis together and haven’t separated since. After joining the rest of the season six cast on stage, Sarah Ann told Nick, “We’ve been dating for almost a year now; We live together.”

Jeramey’s status with Sarah Ann wasn’t the only relationship he had to answer to, however. When questioned about a woman on social media whose mother said they were engaged while he was on the show, he said, “It’s not true. Yes, I was previously engaged. Everybody I dated was well aware of that. I sold my house and I did go ahead and apply [for the show] after I was out on my own doing my own thing.”

Sarah Ann had to answer to her own interrogation, as Jessica and Laura took her to task for not being a “girl’s girl” and “making a mockery” out of Laura and Jeramey’s engagement with her inappropriate contact with Jeramey. In the end, Sarah Ann apologized to Laura, and Jeramey finally took the accountability for his actions that his ex-fiancé had been seeking.

Trevor

Trevor was another cast member who had to answer for a relationship he allegedly had in the real world while he was dating in the pods. Confronted with screenshots of text messages he sent to the woman telling her that he loved her and was going to marry her, Trevor, seemingly embarrassed, confessed, “I guess I’ll start by saying that I was not dating her technically, like I never said, ‘Will you be my girlfriend?’ before the show started but, obviously, we were close. She was the typical girl I’d go for in real life and I told her before, ‘I want to go on this to try to experiment with something else.’”

Admitting to behavior he labeled as “toxic,” Trevor later added, “There’s no justifying it. I wanted to do this. I wanted to meet somebody I wouldn’t go for in real life.”

Chelsea, who’d connected with Trevor in the pods, took the news in stride, noting there was a reason she didn’t choose him that she couldn’t put her finger on and now she knew what it was.

Clay and AD

Clay and AD made it to their wedding day in the final episode of Love Is Blind, but after AD said “yes” to tying the knot, Clay shockingly told her he wasn’t ready at the altar. Asked whether he would’ve done anything differently, Clay confessed he’s been in therapy since appearing on the show, and told Nick, “I couldn’t get out of my own way. I just kept looking at myself in the mirror like, ‘I’m not the guy that deserves love and marriage,’ and AD really seen me through. She’s honestly the love of my life and I will tell you honestly, I did make a mistake going to the altar and saying ‘no.’”

Visibly upset as he talked, when AD was asked how she felt about what Clay shared, she responded, “It’s like what am I supposed to do with that information?” She then confronted her former fiancé, telling him, “You played in my face, Clay, because you knew you didn’t want to get married.”

Despite her anger in the moment, when asked if she’d be open to dating again, AD playfully answered, “Next question.” Clay, on the other hand, responded without hesitation, “One thousand percent.”

Jessica and Jimmy

Though Jimmy chose Chelsea over Jessica in the pods, the two have remained friends since the show, or so Jessica thought, as she tells Jimmy during the reunion, calling him out for a recent interview in which she felt he threw her under the bus about their past dating relationship. Jimmy, still struggling to express himself, which was a source of frustration for Jessica in the pods, claimed to simply be answering questions about why he didn’t choose her, noting, “The way you talk to me,” as one of the reasons, which was met with a response of rolled eyes from Jessica. The two went back and forth on their differing opinions regarding the details of their final date, to the point producers had to play back parts of the footage. Still, in the end, they came to no resolution on the cause of their demise.

Kenneth and Brittany

Kenneth and Brittany were the first couple to call it quits during season six after Brittany called out Kenneth’s lack of affection, and he failed to put up a fight to stay together and work on their connection. Addressing accusations from viewers that he didn’t care about their relationship, Kenneth said he called Clay “in shambles” after breaking up with Brittany, explaining his lack of emotion on-screen by saying, “Everyone processes things differently.”

The pair have been seen on social media together in recent days, prompting speculation of a romantic reunion. However, after sharing they talk to each other on the phone every day, Brittany said, “Although we’re no longer in a relationship together, the bond we have is going to last for an eternity and I’m happy with that.”

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Nitin Gadkari, ML Khattar, and Anurag Thakur Included in BJP’s Second List for Lok Sabha Election

Shasi Kumar
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Nitin Gadkari, ML Khattar, and Anurag Thakur Included in BJP’s Second List for Lok Sabha Election

Nitin Gadkari, ML Khattar, and Anurag Thakur Included in BJP’s Second List for Lok Sabha Election

New Delhi, INDIA (NDTV/DT) – The BJP unveiled its second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha elections today, following a brief delay due to a seat allocation issue in Bihar. The list features 72 names, including seasoned leaders like Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal, who is contesting elections for the first time, along with Anurag Singh Thakur.

Another notable inclusion is Manohar Lal Khattar, who stepped down from the post of Haryana Chief Minister recently. Additionally, former Chief Ministers Trivendra Singh Rawat and Basavaraj Bommai are also among the candidates fielded by the party.

READ MORE : India’s Supreme Court orders state bank of India to share names of political donors

Sources said there was an eleventh-hour negotiation over one seat in Bihar.

Candidates have been declared for two seats in Delhi, seven seats in Gujarat, six seats in Haryana, two seats in Himachal Pradesh, 20 seats in Karnataka, 5 seats in Madhya Pradesh, 20 seats in Maharashtra, 6 seats in Telangana, one seat in Tripura and two seats in Uttarakhand. Candidates have also been announced for Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

In Delhi, the BJP has nominated two fresh candidates: Harsh Malhotra for the East Delhi constituency and Yogendra Chandolia for North West Delhi.

  • The second list of candidates featured notable names such as Nitin Gadkari, ML Khattar, and Anurag Thakur. Photo : BJP X/twitter

In Karnataka, where the party holds significant influence, the BJP is introducing approximately 10 new candidates following its major setback in the recent state assembly election.

Among the prominent figures, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi will contest from Dharwad, while former Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa’s son, BY Raghavendra, will vie for the Shimoga seat.

Tejasvi Surya, the BJP’s youth wing chief, will seek re-election from Bengaluru South. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Wadiyar, from the former Mysore royal family, has replaced Pratap Simha as the candidate for the Mysore constituency.

In Maharashtra, the BJP has nominated Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal, along with former state minister Pankaja Munde, as its candidates. The party has revealed its choices for 20 out of the state’s 48 seats. After Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra contributes the second-highest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha.

Nitin Gadkari has been re-nominated from Nagpur, which serves as the headquarters of the BJP’s ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Among the eight new faces are Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, who will contest from Mumbai North, and Pankaja Munde, who will represent Beed. All Union ministers from Maharashtra have been renominated.

In Uttarakhand, BJP chief spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Anil Baluni has been nominated to contest from Garhwal.

Earlier this month, the BJP unveiled its initial list of over 190 candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, scheduled for this summer.

Among the prominent names announced in that list were Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will be contesting from Varanasi for the third consecutive time, as well as Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh, who will be contesting from Gandhinagar and Lucknow, respectively. In total, the list included 34 Union ministers.

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Vladimir Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war

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Vladimir Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war

Vladimir Putin warns the West: Russia is ready for nuclear war

Moscow, RUSSIA (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin told the West on Wednesday that Russia was technically ready for nuclear war and that if the U.S. sent troops to Ukraine, it would be considered a significant escalation of the conflict.

Putin, speaking ahead of a March 15-17 election which is certain to give him another six years in power, added that the nuclear war scenario was not “rushing” up and he saw no need for the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

“From a military-technical point of view, we are, of course, ready,” Putin, 71, told Rossiya-1 television and news agency RIA when asked whether Russia was really ready for a nuclear war.

READ MORE : Putin warns West of risk of nuclear war, says Moscow can strike Western targets

Putin said the U.S. understood that if it deployed American troops on Russian territory – or to Ukraine – Russia would treat the move as an intervention. Moscow claims to have annexed four regions of Ukraine and says they are now fully part of Russia.

“(In the U.S.) there are enough specialists in the field of Russian-American relations and in the field of strategic restraint,” said Putin.

“Therefore, I don’t think that here everything is rushing to it (nuclear confrontation), but we are ready for this.”
The Biden administration has said it has no plans to send troops to Ukraine but has stressed the need to approve a stalled security aid bill that would ensure Ukrainian troops got the weapons they need to continue the war, now in its third year.

Vladimir Putin speaks during an interview in Moscow, March 12, 2024. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool via REUTERS

It did not immediately respond on Wednesday to a request for comment on Putin’s remarks, but the White House has said in the past it has seen no sign that Russia is preparing to use nuclear weapons despite what it calls Putin’s “nuclear saber-rattling”.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior Ukrainian presidential official, told Reuters in a statement he viewed Putin’s nuclear warning as propaganda designed to intimidate the West.

“Realising that things are going the wrong way, Putin continues to use classic nuclear rhetoric. With the old Soviet hope – ‘be scared and retreat!’,” said Podolyak, who said he believed such talk showed Putin was afraid of losing the war.

The Ukraine war has triggered the deepest crisis in Moscow’s relations with the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Putin has often warned of the risks of nuclear war but says he has never felt the need to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine.

Nuclear Policy

In a U.S. election year, the West is grappling with how to support Kyiv against Russia, which now controls almost one-fifth of Ukrainian territory and is rearming much faster than the West and Ukraine.
Kyiv says it is defending itself against an imperial-style war of conquest designed to erase its national identity. Putin says he sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in Feb. 2022 to bolster Russia’s own security against a hostile West.

Putin reiterated the use of nuclear weapons was spelled out in the Kremlin’s nuclear doctrine, which sets out the conditions under which it would use such a weapon: broadly a response to an attack using nuclear or other weapons of mass destruction, or the use of conventional weapons against Russia “when the very existence of the state is put under threat”.
“Weapons exist in order to use them,” Putin said.
Putin’s nuclear warning came alongside another offer for talks on Ukraine as part of a new post-Cold War demarcation of European security. The U.S. says Putin is not ready for serious talks over Ukraine.

Reuters reported last month that Putin’s suggestion of a ceasefire in Ukraine to freeze the war was rejected by the U.S. after contacts between intermediaries.
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director William Burns said this week that, without more Western support, Ukraine would lose more territory to Russia which would embolden Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Burns, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia, told the Senate Intelligence Committee it was in U.S. interests to help Kyiv get into a stronger position before talks.

Putin said Russia would need written security guarantees in the event of any settlement.

“I don’t trust anyone, but we need guarantees, and guarantees must be spelled out, they must be such that we would be satisfied,” Putin said.

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Malaysia to correct gender bias with citizenship amendment promising equal rights for foreign-born children

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Malaysia to correct gender bias with citizenship amendment promising equal rights for foreign-born children

Malaysia to correct gender bias with citizenship amendment promising equal rights for foreign-born children

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA (SCMP) – Malaysia is rectifying a gender bias in its constitution next week according to Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, allowing foreign-born children to Malaysian mothers and their non-Malaysian spouse to automatically get citizenship, ending years of struggle for many.

Under the current law which goes back to 1963, only Malaysian men who marry non-citizens and have a child abroad can pass their citizenship to their children, while children born to Malaysian mothers under the same arrangement are deprived of the same right.

READ MORE : Malaysia’s new king is an outspoken billionaire in a role with growing political influence

The prime minister, who was in Berlin on an official visit, said the constitutional provision was wrong, and the cabinet had approved to table the amendment to parliament next week, saying the matter was “done”.

“The issue now is “parent” in the present constitution, for decades means father. We realise it is not right. Parent means father and mother,” Anwar said.

The amendment will affect Article 14 of the constitution which made no mention of mothers when it comes to conferring citizenship to a person born outside of Malaysia.

International rights group Equality Now cited Malaysia as one of the small group of six countries – alongside the Bahamas, Barbados, Iraq, Liberia and Mauritania – that continues to prevent women from passing their citizenship to their children on equal basis as men if the child is born abroad.

Anwar was asked on that matter by a Malaysian woman living in Berlin, whose children are not Malaysian citizens due to this provision, at a Ramadan dinner with the Malaysian diaspora in the German capital.

Such constitutional amendments require a two-thirds majority vote in parliament, a figure commanded by Anwar, that backs his confidence in it being passed.

Plaintiffs in a case challenging a law preventing women in Malaysia passing their citizenship on to children born overseas, stand outside the Kuala Lumpur High Court in April 2021. Photo: Family Frontiers/AFP

In 2020, the advocacy group Family Frontiers sued the government over the gender bias in the law and won when a Kuala Lumpur High Court judge ruled that foreign-born children of these mothers are entitled to citizenship.

The ruling, however, was overturned in 2022 by the appellate court after a legal challenge by the government, which wished to maintain the status quo.

Family Frontiers then pressed for the case to be heard by the Federal Court, the country’s apex court, which had set a date in June to hear the case.

In parliament on Monday, Home Minister Saifuddin Nasution said that despite the amendment not being tabled yet, his ministry had resolved all the citizenship cases, adding that Family Frontiers’ cause for struggle was “no more”.

“On the case of Malaysian mothers giving birth abroad with their [non-Malaysian] partners, all 3,000 [cases] have been resolved last week,” Saifuddin said.

His comment, understood to mean that all pending cases had been resolved, raised eyebrows among many Malaysian mothers who took to social media to show that their cases are still pending.

Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim with the Malaysian diaspora at the Grand Hyatt Berlin in Germany on Tuesday. Photo: Afiq Hambali/Prime Minister’s Office of Malaysia

On X, user Tee Li Li, a single mother, is one of many who showed screenshots of their citizenship applications to register their child which are currently still marked as “being processed”, with her application dating back to 2017.

“My child’s citizenship application has not been resolved,” she said in response to the home minister’s comment.

The discrepancy between the prime minister’s response and the home minister’s comment in parliament is causing further anxiety to these families, as the lack of citizenship sets up hurdles in their daily lives, including hospital visits and schooling, with the latter costing exorbitant sum for non-citizens compared to the token 1 ringgit (20 US cents) for citizens.

Non-citizens are also barred from attending government schools, forcing parents to spend money to have their children educated at private schools.

Family Frontiers’ lead coordinator Bina Ramanand said these children should be granted citizenship immediately, regardless of when the constitutional amendment was done.

“This should be done without further delay, they have suffered enough,” she said.

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