Author: admin@primenews

Prison officials in the Indian capital have given Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal an insulin jab after his sugar level shot up, his party told the BBC. Mr Kejriwal has been lodged in Tihar jail since his arrest on 21 March. The authorities accuse the former anti-corruption crusader of being involved in a money laundering case – he has denied the charges. His arrest just weeks before India began voting in a key general election shocked many Indians. Critics say the action against Mr Kejriwal and several other opposition parties in the run-up to the election is politically motivated and denies them…

How fair is the electoral landscape in India’s general election? Not very, says the opposition alliance. It accuses the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government of denying it a level playing-field. The BJP, seeking a third consecutive term, is ahead in opinion polls, and the opposition, which has been short of vote-winning national leaders in recent years, appears to have much ground to make up. Formed last July and made up of the main opposition Congress and smaller and regional parties, the coalition named itself INDIA, an acronym for Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance. Its more than two dozen members…

Protests against the war in Gaza have spread from Columbia and Yale to other universities as officials scramble to diffuse a burgeoning protest movement. On Monday night, police moved to break up a protest at New York University and made a number of arrests. Dozens of students were arrested at Yale earlier in the day while Columbia cancelled in-person classes. Similar “encampments” have sprung up at Berkeley, MIT and other colleges across the country. Demonstrations and heated debates about the Israel-Gaza war and free speech have rocked US campuses since the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October. About 1,200…

Ten people have died after two navy helicopters collided in mid-air during a military rehearsal for a Royal Malaysian Navy parade. One of the choppers clipped the rotor of the other before the two crashed into the ground, footage published on local media show. The incident took place in the Malaysian town of Lumut, which is home to a navy base. There are no known survivors. One of the helicopters, a HOM M503-3 with seven people on board, is believed to have crashed onto a running track. The other, a Fennec M502-6 carrying the other three victims, crashed into a…

Officials at Columbia University, facing surging tensions on campus that raised safety concerns, have announced all classes will be virtual on Monday as Passover begins. Columbia President Minouche Shafik said in a statement the decision was made to “deescalate the rancor and give us all a chance to consider next steps.” The move underscores how tense the situation has become at the Ivy League school and the enormous challenge facing Shafik to get the situation under control. At Yale University, at least 16 people had been arrested — including some students – after police blocked off entrances during response to a protest at…

The world’s oceans, lakes and rivers are under mounting pressure from climate change, growing demand, urbanization, and pollution, threatening their ability to sustain life. Without better data to understand the health of increasingly stressed waterways, the fight to save these most precious of resources will be ineffective, says Simeon Pieterkosky, co-founder of the technology company Aquaai. “Virtually every waterway is polluted to an extent where the ecosystem just can’t balance back anymore,” he explains. Aquaai is aiming to fill that information gap using fishlike drones that collect data from underwater environments. Powered by batteries, they are designed to look and swim…

German authorities say they have arrested three people on suspicion of spying for China. The main suspect, named as Thomas R, is accused of spying for the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS). Prosecutors allege his network operated a front company which co-operated with German research organisations. The accused are said to have collected sensitive information, including designs for an engine suitable for use on combat ships, to pass on to China. German prosecutors allege Thomas R obtained “innovative technologies for military use” on behalf of an MSS employee. They allege he used a front company – run by the…

India’s opposition has accused PM Narendra Modi of Islamophobic remarks after he claimed his opponents would distribute people’s wealth to “infiltrators” if they won power. Mr Modi told a rally the opposition Congress wanted to distribute wealth to “those who have many children”. His remarks were widely seen as referring to India’s Muslim minority. The Congress party has rejected the claim, which came days after the general election began. Mr Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has often been accused of singling out India’s minority communities, especially Muslims. Rights groups say that they face discrimination and attacks, and have been forced to…

A student with cerebral palsy has found a new voice with a Walsall accent after a two-year search. Daniel Challis, who uses a communication device to speak, appealed on social media in 2022 for people with a regional accent to help. The 20-year-old, from Aldridge, in the West Midlands, has relied on the equipment since the age of nine and said he was fed up of “sounding like a robot”. Eli Lane was chosen by Daniel after people were asked to submit a recording of themselves reading the first page of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Mr Lane, who…

Tesla has cut its prices again in a number of major markets – including the US, China and Germany – as the electric car giant run by multi-billionaire Elon Musk faces falling sales. The move comes after it reported a sharp fall in its global vehicle deliveries in the first three months of this year. A price war has been intensifying between electric vehicle (EV) makers, with particularly fierce competition coming from Chinese firms. Tesla is due to report financial results for the first quarter of 2024 after the US market close on Tuesday. In a post on social media platform X,…