The Indian stock market opened in the green on Tuesday as heavyweight banking stocks continued to lead amid mixed global cues.
At 9.23 am, Sensex was up 152 points or 0.19 per cent at 82,359 and Nifty was up 38 points or 0.15 per cent at 25,129.
Banking stocks were leading the market. Nifty Bank was up 0.30 per cent, higher than the main indices.
Buying was also seen in the midcap and smallcap stocks. Nifty midcap 100 index was up 45 points or 0.08 per cent at 59,514 and Nifty smallcap 100 index was up 80 points or 0.42 per cent at 19,038.
Among the sectoral indices, PSU bank, financial services, metal, media, energy and private bank were in the green. Pharma, IT, auto and FMCG were in the red.
In the Sensex pack, Eternal, Trent, Tata Steel, ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, TCS, BEL, HCLTech, NTPC and SBI were top gainers. Tata Motors, Bajaj Finserv, Sun Pharma, M&M, Bharti Airtel, Maruti Suzuki, L&T, HUL and Asian Paints were top losers.
“The Nifty 50, after a strong rebound from its intraday low of 24,900, surged nearly 225 points to close above the 25,000 mark, forming a bullish candlestick pattern. The rebound from the 50-day EMA indicates a potential trend reversal, though confirmation through follow-up buying is awaited,” said Mandar Bhojane of Choice Equity Broking Private Limited.
On the upside, a sustained move above 25,150 could pave the way toward 25,250. Key support levels remain at 25,000 and 24,900, which may offer favourable risk-reward opportunities for long positions, he added.
Most Asian markets kept to a tight range. Tokyo and Seoul were in the red while Shanghai, Hong Kong and Jakarta were in the green. US markets closed in the mixed zone. Dow Jones was in the red and Nasdaq was in the green.
On July 21, foreign institutional investors (FIIs) were net sellers for the third consecutive session, offloading equities worth Rs 1,681 crore. In contrast, domestic institutional investors (DIIs) remained strong buyers for the 11th straight day, purchasing equities worth Rs 3,578 crore.
The ongoing Amarnath Yatra has witnessed an overwhelming turnout, with more than 3.21 lakh devotees having undertaken the pilgrimage in the last 19 days since it commenced on July 3. On Tuesday, another batch of 3,536 pilgrims departed from Jammu for the holy cave in Kashmir.
According to officials, “A fresh batch of 3,536 Yatris left the Bhagwati Nagar Yatri Niwas in Jammu today in two escorted convoys headed for the Valley. The first convoy of 48 vehicles, carrying 1,250 pilgrims, departed at 3:33 a.m. for the Baltal base camp, while the second convoy of 84 vehicles, with 2,286 pilgrims, left at 4:06 a.m. for the Pahalgam base camp.”
“There is a huge rush of Yatris, with thousands arriving daily from across the country at the twin base camps to undertake the Yatra,” added the officials.
Extensive multi-tier security arrangements have been put in place to ensure the safety of pilgrims. An additional 180 companies of Central Armed Police Forces (CAPFs) have been deployed to strengthen the existing presence of the Army, BSF, CRPF, SSB, and local police. The Army has stationed over 8,000 special commandos along the route to secure the pilgrimage.
The Amarnath Yatra 2025 will continue for 38 days, concluding on August 9, which coincides with Shravan Purnima and Raksha Bandhan.
South Korea’s new finance minister and the country’s top trade envoy will meet in Washington with U.S. counterparts on Friday for talks on U.S. tariffs, Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said on Tuesday.
The country’s foreign and industry ministers will also visit the U.S. for trade discussions as early as this week, Koo told reporters after a meeting of economic ministers.
Koo took office on Monday.
The four officials complete a new cabinet team under President Lee Jae Myung who was sworn in on June 4 after winning a snap election called after his predecessor’s ouster for trying to declare martial law.
The political turmoil that ensued delayed South Korea’s response to U.S. President Donald Trump’s punishing tariff regime imposed on dozens of trade partners, including key industrial powerhouses that are also security allies.
Koo and Minister for Trade Yeo Han-koo will hold talks with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Friday at the request of the U.S. officials, the finance minister said.
“We’ve had discussions from the perspective of national interest and pragmatism and we’ll do our best to prepare a meticulous strategy until we’re leaving,” Koo said, declining to say whether Seoul was hoping to push back the August 1 deadline before reciprocal tariffs set by Trump are due to come in.
Yeo said on Tuesday he would seek to base the talks around forming a manufacturing partnership with the United States.
On Monday, South Korea’s new Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan said tariff talks were in a critical phase that could result in a range of possible outcomes and pledged an all-out effort to wrap up negotiations by August 1.
Trump has vowed to slap tariffs on a range of countries including South Korea to reduce what he called unfair trade imbalances.
On Saturday, Japan’s top tariff negotiator, Ryosei Akazawa, said he planned to visit Washington this week to hold further ministerial-level talks, as Tokyo hopes to clinch a deal by its August 1 deadline.
The U.S. Justice Department on Monday released more than 240,000 pages of documents related to the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., including records from the FBI, which had surveilled the civil rights leader as part of an effort to discredit the Nobel Peace Prize winner and his civil rights movement.
Files were posted on the website of the National Archives, which said more would be released.
King died of an assassin’s bullet in Memphis, Tennessee, on April 4, 1968, as he increasingly extended his attention from a nonviolent campaign for equal rights for African Americans to economic issues and calls for peace. His death shook the United States in a year that would also bring race riots, anti-Vietnam war demonstrations and the assassination of presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump’s administration released thousands of pages of digital documents related to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and former President John F. Kennedy, who was killed in 1963.
Trump promised on the campaign trail to provide more transparency about Kennedy’s death. Upon taking office, he also ordered aides to present a plan for the release of records relating to the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and King.
The FBI kept files on King in the 1950s and 1960s – even wiretapping his phones – because of what the bureau falsely said at the time were his suspected ties to communism during the Cold War between the U.S. and Soviet Union. In recent years, the FBI has acknowledged that as an example of “abuse and overreach” in its history.
The civil rights leader’s family asked those who engage with the files to “do so with empathy, restraint, and respect for our family’s continuing grief,” and condemned “any attempts to misuse these documents.”
“Now more than ever, we must honor his sacrifice by committing ourselves to the realization of his dream – a society rooted in compassion, unity, and equality,” they said in a statement.
“During our father’s lifetime, he was relentlessly targeted by an invasive, predatory, and deeply disturbing disinformation and surveillance campaign orchestrated by J. Edgar Hoover through the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” the family, including his two living children, Martin III, 67, and Bernice, 62, said, referring to the then-FBI director.
James Earl Ray, a segregationist and drifter, confessed to killing King but later recanted. He died in prison in 1998.
King’s family said it had filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit in Tennessee in 1999 that led to a jury unanimously concluding “that our father was the victim of a conspiracy involving Loyd Jowers and unnamed co-conspirators, including government agencies as a part of a wider scheme. The verdict also affirmed that someone other than James Earl Ray was the shooter, and that Mr. Ray was set up to take the blame. Our family views that verdict as an affirmation of our long-held beliefs.”
Jowers, once a Memphis police officer, told ABC’s Prime Time Live in 1993 that he participated in a plot to kill King. A 2023 Justice Department report called his claims dubious.
Gita Gopinath, the No. 2 official at the International Monetary Fund, will leave her post at the end of August to return to Harvard University, the IMF said in a statement on Monday.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva will name a successor to Gopinath in “due course,” the IMF said.
Gopinath joined the fund in 2019 as chief economist – the first woman to serve in that role – and was promoted to first deputy managing director in January 2022.
No comment was immediately available from the U.S. Treasury, which manages the dominant U.S. shareholding in the IMF. While European countries have traditionally chosen the Fund’s managing director, the U.S. Treasury has traditionally recommended candidates for the first deputy managing director role.
Gopinath is an Indian-born U.S. citizen.
The timing of the move caught some IMF insiders by surprise, and appears to have been initiated by Gopinath.
Gopinath, who had left Harvard to join the IMF, will return to the university as a professor of economics.
Gopinath’s departure will offer Treasury a chance to recommend a successor at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to restructure the global economy and end longstanding U.S. trade deficits with high tariffs on imports from nearly all countries.
She will return to a university that has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs after it rejected demands to change its governance, hiring, and admissions practices.
Georgieva said Gopinath joined the IMF as a highly respected academic and proved to be an “exceptional intellectual leader” during her time, which included the pandemic and global shocks caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Gita steered the Fund’s analytical and policy work with clarity, striving for the highest standards of rigorous analysis at a complex time of high uncertainty and rapidly changing global economic environment,” Georgieva said.
Gopinath has also overseen the fund’s multilateral surveillance and analytical work on fiscal and monetary policy, debt, and international trade.
Gopinath said she was grateful for a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to work at the IMF, thanking both Georgieva and the previous IMF chief, Christine Lagarde, who appointed her as chief economist.
“I now return to my roots in academia, where I look forward to continuing to push the research frontier in international finance and macroeconomics to address global challenges, and to training the next generation of economists,” she said in a statement.
Gita Gopinath, the No. 2 official at the International Monetary Fund, will leave her post at the end of August to return to Harvard University, the IMF said in a statement on Monday.
IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva will name a successor to Gopinath in “due course,” the IMF said.
Gopinath joined the fund in 2019 as chief economist – the first woman to serve in that role – and was promoted to first deputy managing director in January 2022.
No comment was immediately available from the U.S. Treasury, which manages the dominant U.S. shareholding in the IMF. While European countries have traditionally chosen the Fund’s managing director, the U.S. Treasury has traditionally recommended candidates for the first deputy managing director role.
Gopinath is an Indian-born U.S. citizen.
The timing of the move caught some IMF insiders by surprise, and appears to have been initiated by Gopinath.
Gopinath, who had left Harvard to join the IMF, will return to the university as a professor of economics.
Gopinath’s departure will offer Treasury a chance to recommend a successor at a time when U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to restructure the global economy and end longstanding U.S. trade deficits with high tariffs on imports from nearly all countries.
She will return to a university that has been in the Trump administration’s crosshairs after it rejected demands to change its governance, hiring, and admissions practices.
Georgieva said Gopinath joined the IMF as a highly respected academic and proved to be an “exceptional intellectual leader” during her time, which included the pandemic and global shocks caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Gita steered the Fund’s analytical and policy work with clarity, striving for the highest standards of rigorous analysis at a complex time of high uncertainty and rapidly changing global economic environment,” Georgieva said.
Gopinath has also overseen the fund’s multilateral surveillance and analytical work on fiscal and monetary policy, debt, and international trade.
Gopinath said she was grateful for a “once in a lifetime opportunity” to work at the IMF, thanking both Georgieva and the previous IMF chief, Christine Lagarde, who appointed her as chief economist.
“I now return to my roots in academia, where I look forward to continuing to push the research frontier in international finance and macroeconomics to address global challenges, and to training the next generation of economists,” she said in a statement.
The “Meri Panchayat” mobile application, a transformative digital governance initiative by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the National Informatics Centre (NIC), has been honored with the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2025 Champion Award. The accolade, awarded under the Action Line Category for Cultural Diversity and Identity, Linguistic Diversity, and Local Content, was presented at the WSIS+20 High-Level Event 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The WSIS Champion Certificate was formally handed over to Union Minister of Panchayati Raj, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, during a ceremonial event in New Delhi, attended by Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel, and Secretary MoPR, Vivek Bharadwaj, among other senior officials.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh praised the Meri Panchayat initiative for advancing citizen-centric governance through digital innovation. He highlighted the importance of leveraging such tools to enhance transparency, promote participatory democracy, and bridge the knowledge divide at the grassroots level. The app, recognized as a WSIS Prizes 2025 Champion Project, exemplifies India’s global leadership in digital governance.
The WSIS+20 High-Level Event, held from July 7 to 11 in Geneva, marked two decades since the original WSIS. Co-hosted by ITU and the Swiss Confederation, and co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP, and UNCTAD, the forum served as a platform to evaluate progress and address challenges in building inclusive information societies. Sunita Jain, Senior Director, NIC/MoPR, accepted the Champion Award on behalf of the Government of India on July 10 during the event.
The Meri Panchayat app empowers over 25 lakh elected representatives and approximately 950 million rural residents across India’s 2.65 lakh Gram Panchayats. It provides real-time access to panchayat budgets, receipts, payments, and development plans, along with details of elected representatives, public infrastructure, and civic services. The app also offers access to Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs), project tracking, weather forecasts at the Gram Panchayat level, social audit tools, fund utilization data, and grievance redressal with geo-tagged and geo-fenced features. Supporting over 12 Indian languages, the app ensures inclusivity through its multilingual interface. Citizens can propose new projects, review and rate implemented works, and access Gram Sabha agendas and decisions, fostering greater civic engagement and transparency in rural governance.
The “Meri Panchayat” mobile application, a transformative digital governance initiative by the Ministry of Panchayati Raj and the National Informatics Centre (NIC), has been honored with the prestigious World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Prizes 2025 Champion Award. The accolade, awarded under the Action Line Category for Cultural Diversity and Identity, Linguistic Diversity, and Local Content, was presented at the WSIS+20 High-Level Event 2025 in Geneva, Switzerland, organized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). The WSIS Champion Certificate was formally handed over to Union Minister of Panchayati Raj, Rajiv Ranjan Singh, during a ceremonial event in New Delhi, attended by Minister of State for Panchayati Raj, Prof. S. P. Singh Baghel, and Secretary MoPR, Vivek Bharadwaj, among other senior officials.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh praised the Meri Panchayat initiative for advancing citizen-centric governance through digital innovation. He highlighted the importance of leveraging such tools to enhance transparency, promote participatory democracy, and bridge the knowledge divide at the grassroots level. The app, recognized as a WSIS Prizes 2025 Champion Project, exemplifies India’s global leadership in digital governance.
The WSIS+20 High-Level Event, held from July 7 to 11 in Geneva, marked two decades since the original WSIS. Co-hosted by ITU and the Swiss Confederation, and co-organized by ITU, UNESCO, UNDP, and UNCTAD, the forum served as a platform to evaluate progress and address challenges in building inclusive information societies. Sunita Jain, Senior Director, NIC/MoPR, accepted the Champion Award on behalf of the Government of India on July 10 during the event.
The Meri Panchayat app empowers over 25 lakh elected representatives and approximately 950 million rural residents across India’s 2.65 lakh Gram Panchayats. It provides real-time access to panchayat budgets, receipts, payments, and development plans, along with details of elected representatives, public infrastructure, and civic services. The app also offers access to Gram Panchayat Development Plans (GPDPs), project tracking, weather forecasts at the Gram Panchayat level, social audit tools, fund utilization data, and grievance redressal with geo-tagged and geo-fenced features. Supporting over 12 Indian languages, the app ensures inclusivity through its multilingual interface. Citizens can propose new projects, review and rate implemented works, and access Gram Sabha agendas and decisions, fostering greater civic engagement and transparency in rural governance.
At least 27 people were killed after a Bangladesh Air Force training jet crashed into a college and school campus in Dhaka, officials said on Tuesday, with 88 people, including children, being treated in hospital.
The F-7 BGI aircraft crashed soon after it took off at 1:06 p.m. (0706 GMT) on Monday from the airbase in Kurmitola in the capital on a routine training mission. The military said the plane experienced a mechanical failure.
Sayedur Rahman, special assistant to the chief adviser on health, told reporters that 27 people had died and 88 were admitted to hospital with burn injuries.
The government announced a day of mourning, with flags at half-mast and special prayers at all places of worship.
The pilot was among those killed in the incident, the military said, adding that a committee had been formed to investigate what happened.
The F-7 BGI is the final and most advanced variant in China’s Chengdu J-7/F-7 aircraft family, according to Jane’s Information Group. Bangladesh signed a contract for 16 aircraft in 2011 and deliveries were completed by 2013.
The crash comes weeks after an Air India plane crashed into a medical college hostel in Ahmedabad in neighbouring India, killing 241 of the 242 people on board and 19 on the ground in the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade.
Six Northland students have been named as recipients of Northland Regional Council’s annual Tū i te ora Scholarship, each receiving $4000 and paid work experience with council this summer.
The recipients are Aakash Chatterji, Nehana Griffiths, Riana Lane, Isaac Morrow, Raine Ross, and William Trubshaw, who were selected from a pool of 26 applicants.
This is the sixth year council has awarded the scholarship, which recognises, encourages and supports student to undertake study that relates to council’s environmental and regulatory functions, whilst contributing to council’s vision ‘Tiakina te taiao, tuia te here tangata – Nurture the environment, bring together the people’.
Pou Manawhakahaere – Group Manager, Governance and Engagement Auriole Ruka says the scholarship provides value for both the recipients and council, with the recipients able to gain hands-on experience and council benefiting from the extra support during the busy summer period.
“It’s a great opportunity for the recipients to apply what they’ve learned through their tertiary study to real life scenarios, and our teams really value the different experiences and perspectives the recipients bring.”
Nehana Griffiths, who will join council’s Climate Action and Natural Hazards team, is passionate about learning how land has been utilised and the impacts of this over time.
“I enjoy looking at environmental management cases and learning how different communities in different contexts and situations tackle environmental problems, and what we can learn from those results for the future.”
Riana Lane will join council’s Biosecurity Partnerships team to help support community projects aimed at managing plant and animal species. She is determined to help protect the environment for future generations to enjoy and treasure.
“I want to apply my love for our flora and fauna in a career in conservation, breeding programmes, and zoology to work with and study our native species, and to support them to survive and thrive in our changing world.”
Ruka says the scholarship also enables council to tap into talent early and create a valuable pipeline for future employees.
“The scholarship offers students an incredible chance to gain valuable experience and discover if a career at council aligns with their career goals. We’ve had several previous recipients return to council after graduating or remained in casual and fixed-term roles.”
“We’re really looking forward to having this year’s recipients join us this summer and hope they enjoy the experience so much that they also return to council once they’ve completed their studies to enrich the region and its people with their knowledge and skills.”
The six winners (in alphabetical order by surname) are:
Aakash Chatterji, from Whangārei (Te Uriroroi, Te Parawhau, Te Mahurehure ki Whatitiri, Te Taoū. Ngāti Whātua, Ngā Puhi, and Varanasi India). Diploma in Environmental Management (Level 6) at NorthTec.
Nehana Griffiths, from Whangārei and Dunedin (Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Rehua, Te Rarawa, Te Waiariki, Ngāti Korora, Ngāpuhi). Bachelor of Arts, majoring in History and minoring in Geography and Māori Studies at University Otago.
Riana Lane, from Whangārei. Bachelor of Science, majoring in Biological Science and minoring in Psychology at University of Canterbury.
Isaac Morrow, from Kerikeri (Te Aupōuri). Bachelor of Marine Science at University of Otago.
Raine Ross, from Mōtatau (Ngāti Te Tarawa, Ngāti Hine). Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science) at Massey University.
William Trubshaw, from Whangārei. Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science conjoint, majoring in Biological Sciences and Geography, and minoring in Mathematics at University of Canterbury.
Ruka says the recipients will join NRC from mid-November 2025 to mid-February 2026 in the Biosecurity Partnerships, Climate Action and Natural Hazards, Hydrology, Te Tiriti Partnerships and Engagement Team, and Water Quality teams.
The UN World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Monday that more intense downpours and glacier outburst floods are becoming increasingly frequent, with deadly consequences for communities caught off guard.
“Flash floods are not new, but their frequency and intensity are increasing in many regions due to rapid urbanization, land-use change and a changing climate,” said Stefan Uhlenbrook, WMO Director of Hydrology, Water and Cryosphere.
Each additional degree Celsius of warming enables the air to hold about 7 per cent more water vapour.
“This is increasing the risk of more extreme rainfall events. At the same time, glacier-related flood hazards are increasing due to enhanced ice melting in a warmer climate,” he added.
Thousands of lives lost every year
Floods and flash floods claim thousands of lives each year and cause billions of dollars in damage. In 2020, severe flooding across South Asia killed more than 6,500 people and caused $105 billion in economic losses.
Two years later, catastrophic floods in Pakistan left over 1,700 people dead, 33 million affected and losses exceeding $40 billion, reversing years of development gains.
This year, the onslaught has continued. In July alone, South Asia, East Asia and the United States have seen a string of deadly events, from monsoon rains to glacial lake bursts and sudden flash floods.
Each year, extreme weather and climate events take a massive toll on lives and economies worldwide.
Asia reels from monsoon onslaught
In India and Pakistan, heavy monsoon rains have severed transport links, washed away homes and triggered landslides. Pakistan declared a state of emergency in its worst-hit areas, deploying military helicopters for rescue missions after forecasters warned of exceptional flood risk along the upper Jhelum River.
The Republic of Korea suffered record-breaking downpours between 16-20 July, with rainfall exceeding 115 mm per hour in some locations. At least 18 people were killed and more than 13,000 were evacuated.
In southern China, authorities issued flash flood and landslide alerts on 21 July, just a day after Typhoon Wipha battered Hong Kong, underscoring the compound risks of sequential storms.
Texas flash flood strikes overnight
Overnight 3 into 4 July, a sudden deluge turned Texas Hill Country into a disaster zone, killing more than 100 people and leaving dozens missing. In a few hours, 10-18 inches (25–46 cm) of rain swamped the Guadalupe River basin, sending the river surging 26 feet (8 metres) in just 45 minutes.
1-day precipitation totals from NASA’s IMERG multi-satellite precipitation product show heavy rainfall over central Texas on July 4, 2025.
Many of the victims were young girls at a summer camp, caught unaware as floodwaters tore through sleeping quarters around 4 AM. Although the US National Weather Service issued warnings ahead of time, local sirens were lacking and the final alerts came when most were asleep.
Glacier outburst floods surge
Not all floods this month were caused by rain.
In Nepal’s Rasuwa district, a sudden outburst from a supraglacial lake – formed on a glacier’s surface – swept away hydropower plants, a major bridge and trade routes on 7 July. At least 11 people were killed and more than a dozen are reported missing.
Scientists at the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD), a WMO partner, say glacial-origin floods in the Hindu Kush-Himalaya region are occurring far more often than two decades ago, when one might strike every five to 10 years.
In May and June 2025 alone, three glacial outburst floods hit Nepal, Afghanistan and Pakistan, with two more in Nepal on 7 July. If warming continues, the risk of such floods could triple by the century’s end.
Aftermath of a flood that swept through a high-altitude village in Nepal.
Closing the warning gap
The WMO is stepping up efforts to improve flood forecasting through its global initiative and real-time guidance platform, now used in over 70 countries.
The system integrates satellite data, radar and high-resolution weather models to flag threats hours in advance and is being expanded into a country-led, globally interoperable framework.
A 2022 World Bank study estimated that 1.81 billion people – nearly a quarter of the world’s population – are directly exposed to 1-in-100-year flood events, with 89 per cent living in low- and middle-income countries.
The UN’s Early Warnings for All initiative aims to ensure that everyone, everywhere, is protected by early warning systems by 2027.
Company Announcement Jewel Osco stores in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa are voluntarily recalling select items containing tuna salad supplied by Reser’s Fine Foods. This action follows a recall initiated by Reser’s Fine Food due to possible contamination with Listeria monocytogenes in breadcrumbs used as an ingredient in their tuna salad. Listeria monocytogenes is an organism which can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections in young children, frail or elderly people and others with weakened immune systems. Although healthy individuals may suffer only short-term symptoms such as high fever, severe headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea, Listeria infection can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women. Consumers who have purchased these items are urged not to consume these products and to dispose of them or return the items to their local store for a full refund. The FDA recommends in these cases that anyone who purchased or received any recalled products to use extra vigilance in cleaning and sanitizing any surfaces and containers that may have come in contact with these products to reduce the risk of cross-contamination. Listeria monocytogenes can survive in refrigerated temperatures and can easily spread to other foods and surfaces. There have been no reports of injuries or adverse reactions due to consumption of these products. Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a healthcare provider. The items containing tuna salad were available for purchase at Jewel Osco in Illinois, Indiana and Iowa. Consumers with questions should contact Albertsons Companies’ Customer Service Center at 1-877-723-3929 Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. PST. Product Recall Details:
Product Name
UPC
Size
Sell Thru Dates (if applicable, Or Lot Code/Est. Number)
Store Banners
States
CLUB SANDWICH ES WITH SALAD FS
29125900000
EA
Jul 16 25 Thru Jul 18 25
Jewel Osco
IL, IN, IA
RM DUO TUNA SALAD W/CRACKER S
27183000000
EA
Jul 17 25 Thru Jul 19 25
Jewel Osco
IL, IN, IA
RM QUAD TUNA SALAD
21500300000
EA
Jul 17 25 Thru Jul 19 25
Jewel Osco
IL, IN, IA
RM SALAD TUNA SS /td>
29486900000
1 LB
Jul 17 25 Thru Jul 19 25
Jewel Osco
IL, IN, IA
RM SNDWCH CROISSNT SSTBL TUNA SALAD SS
21372500000
EA
Jul 17 25 Thru Jul 19 25
Jewel Osco
IL, IN, IA
RM SNDWCH TUNA SALAD CROISSANT SS COLD
21788400000
EA
Jul 16 25 Thru Jul 18 25
Jewel Osco
IL, IN, IA
TUNA SALAD
21680700000
Variable Weight
Jul 17 25 Thru Jul 19 25
Jewel Osco
IL, IN, IA
Company Contact Information
Consumers: Albertsons Companies’ Customer Service Center 1-877-723-3929
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Paul M. Collins Jr., Professor of Legal Studies and Political Science, UMass Amherst
Emil Bove, Donald Trump’s nominee to serve as a federal appeals judge for the 3rd Circuit, is sworn in during a confirmation hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 25, 2025. Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, via Getty Images
On June 24, 2025, Erez Reuveni, a former Department of Justice attorney who worked with Bove, released an extensive, 27-page whistleblower report. Reuveni claimed that Bove, as the Trump administration’s acting deputy attorney general, said “that it might become necessary to tell a court ‘fuck you’” and ignore court orders related to the administration’s immigration policies. Bove’s acting role ended on March 6 when he resumed his current position of principal associate deputy attorney general.
When asked about this statement at his June 25 Senate confirmation hearing, Bove said, “I don’t recall.”
And on July 15, 80 former federal and state judges signed a letter opposing Bove’s nomination. The letter argued that “Mr. Bove’s egregious record of mistreating law enforcement officers, abusing power, and disregarding the law itself disqualifies him for this position.”
A day later, more than 900 former Department of Justice attorneys submitted their own letter opposing Bove’s confirmation. The attorneys argued that “Few actions could undermine the rule of law more than a senior executive branch official flouting another branch’s authority. But that is exactly what Mr. Bove allegedly did through his involvement in DOJ’s defiance of court orders.”
On July 17, Democrats walked out of the Senate Judiciary Committee vote, in protest of the refusal by Chairman Chuck Grassley, a Republican from Iowa, to allow further investigation and debate on the nomination. Republicans on the committee then unanimously voted to move the nomination forward for a full Senate vote.
As a scholar of the courts, I know that most federal court appointments are not as controversial as Bove’s nomination. But highly contentious nominations do arise from time to time.
Here’s how three controversial nominations turned out – and how Bove’s nomination is different in a crucial way.
Robert Bork testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee for his confirmation as associate justice of the Supreme Court in September 1987. Mark Reinstein/Corbis via Getty Images
Robert Bork
Bork is the only federal court nominee whose name became a verb.
“Borking” is “to attack or defeat (a nominee or candidate for public office) unfairly through an organized campaign of harsh public criticism or vilification,” according to Merriam-Webster.
In opposing the Bork nomination, Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts took the Senate floor and gave a fiery speech: “Robert Bork’s America is a land in which women would be forced into back-alley abortions, blacks would sit at segregated lunch counters, rogue police could break down citizens’ doors in midnight raids, schoolchildren could not be taught about evolution, writers and artists could be censored at the whim of government, and the doors of the federal courts would be shut on the fingers of millions of citizens for whom the judiciary is often the only protector of the individual rights that are the heart of our democracy.”
Ultimately, Bork’s nomination failed by a 58-42 vote in the Senate, with 52 Democrats and six Republicans rejecting the nomination.
Republican Sen. John Ashcroft, from White’s home state of Missouri, led the fight against the nomination. Ashcroft alleged that White’s confirmation would “push the law in a pro-criminal direction.” Ashcroft based this claim on White’s comparatively liberal record in death penalty cases as a judge on the Missouri Supreme Court.
However, there was limited evidence to support this assertion. This led someto believe that Ashcroft’s attack on the nomination was motivated by stereotypes that African Americans, like White, are soft on crime.
Even Clinton implied that race may be a factor in the attacks on White: “By voting down the first African-American judge to serve on the Missouri Supreme Court, the Republicans have deprived both the judiciary and the people of Missouri of an excellent, fair, and impartial Federal judge.”
White’s nomination was defeated in the Senate by a 54-45 party-line vote. In 2014, White was renominated to the same judgeship by President Barack Obama and confirmed by largely party-line 53-44 vote, garnering the support of a single Republican, Susan Collins of Maine.
Ronnie White, a former justice for the Missouri Supreme Court, testifies during an attorney general confirmation hearing in Washington in January 2001. Alex Wong/Newsmakers
Estrada, who had earned a unanimous “well-qualified” rating from the American Bar Association, faced deep opposition from Senate Democrats, who believed he was a conservative ideologue. They also worried that, if confirmed, he would later be appointed to the Supreme Court.
Miguel Estrada, President George Bush’s nominee to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, is sworn in during his hearing before Senate Judiciary on Sept. 26, 2002. Scott J. Ferrell/Congressional Quarterly/Getty Images
However, unlike Bork – who had an extensive paper trail as an academic and judge – Estrada’s written record was very thin.
Democrats sought to use his confirmation hearing to probe his beliefs. But they didn’t get very far, as Estrada dodged many of the senators’ questions, including ones about Supreme Court cases he disagreed with and judges he admired.
Democrats were particularly troubled by allegations that Estrada, when he was screening candidates for Justice Anthony Kennedy, disqualified applicants for Supreme Court clerkships based on their ideology.
According to one attorney: “Miguel told me his job was to prevent liberal clerks from being hired. He told me he was screening out liberals because a liberal clerk had influenced Justice Kennedy to side with the majority and write a pro-gay-rights decision in a case known as Romer v. Evans, which struck down a Colorado statute that discriminated against gays and lesbians.”
When asked about this at his confirmation hearing, Estrada initially denied it but later backpedaled. Estrada said, “There is a set of circumstances in which I would consider ideology if I think that the person has some extreme view that he would not be willing to set aside in service to Justice Kennedy.”
Unlike the Bork nomination, Democrats didn’t have the numbers to vote Estrada’s nomination down. Instead, they successfully filibustered the nomination, knowing that Republicans couldn’t muster the required 60 votes to end the filibuster. This marked the first time in Senate history that a court of appeals nomination was filibustered. Estrada would never serve as a judge.
Bove stands out
As the examples of Bork, Estrada and White make clear, contentious nominations to the federal courts often involve ideological concerns.
This is also true for Bove, who is opposed in part because of the perception that he is a conservativeideologue.
This makes Bove stand out among contentious federal court nominations.
Paul M. Collins Jr. does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Headline: Battleship North Carolina Hosts Announcement: North Carolina Named CNBC’s ‘Top State for Business’
Battleship North Carolina Hosts Announcement: North Carolina Named CNBC’s ‘Top State for Business’ jejohnson6
WILMINGTON
Governor Josh Stein’s announcement Thursday that the state was named CNBC’s “Top State for Business” — its third time earning the title in the last four years — was revealed from the deck of one of the state’s most iconic landmarks, the BattleshipNorth Carolina.The BattleshipNorth Carolina, a State Historic Site and part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, symbolizes North Carolina’s continued forward momentum and attracts more than 200,000 visitors annually.
“North Carolina’s recognition as the ‘Top State for Business’ echoes the legacy of excellence embodied by the BattleshipNorth Carolina,” said Executive Director Jay Martin. “We’re proud that this historic site could serve as the backdrop for such a meaningful moment in our state’s story.”
Gov. Stein celebrated the ranking as a testament to North Carolina’s skilled workforce, strong infrastructure, world-class education system, and high quality of life.
“This confirms what we have known for a long time — that North Carolina is the best state in the country for business,” said Gov. Stein. “I am proud of the progress our state has made, and we are just getting started.”
North Carolina earned top scores in Economy, Workforce, and Business Friendliness, scoring 1,614 out of a possible 2,500 points in CNBC’s nationwide analysis.
Since taking office in January, Gov. Stein has announced nearly $17 billion in new capital investment and more than 20,000 new jobs. His administration has launched initiatives to expand workforce training, reduce degree barriers to state jobs, and invest in small business recovery, particularly in western North Carolina.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.
North Carolina Zoo Grieves Giraffe Leia jejohnson6
The North Carolina Zoo is grieving the loss of Leia, a 15-year-old giraffe, who has been a beloved part of the Zoo family since 2010. Grief counselors have been on site to support staff members during the grieving process. Leia’s death is especially raw as she passed away Tuesday, only a day after the Zoo’s long-time Director and CEO Pat Simmons.
On the morning of her death, Leia underwent a planned medical procedure to address a foot injury. Medical staff expected Leia to make a full recovery before she experienced acute aspiration following the procedure. Aspiration is a recognized complication that can sometimes occur with the use of anesthesia in both humans and animals, and is generally considered the most common complication with giraffe surgical procedures. A necropsy, or animal autopsy, was performed on Leia and results confirmed aspiration as the official cause of death.
Zoo team members, particularly the caretakers, the Zoo’s medical staff, entertainment staff and volunteers who formed a special bond with Leia over the years are heartbroken. The Zoo respectfully requests privacy and compassion for affected staff as they continue to mourn.
“We are so grateful to the community and our loyal supporters for the outpouring of love during this incredibly challenging time,” says Deputy Director Diane Villa. “Your warmth and kind words are a comfort to us all as we navigate loss and begin our journey toward healing.”
About the North Carolina Zoo At the North Carolina Zoo, we celebrate nature. As the world’s largest natural habitat Zoo, we inspire a lifelong curiosity about animals in the hundreds of thousands of people who visit our Zoo each year. Our dedicated team of experts provides exceptional, compassionate care for the more than 1,700 animals and 52,000 plants that call our Park home. We also lead efforts locally and globally to protect wildlife and wild places because we believe nature’s diversity is critical for our collective future. The North Carolina Zoo invites all of our guests to witness the majesty of the wild in the heart of North Carolina and welcomes everyone to join in our mission to protect nature’s diversity. Visit NCZoo.org to begin your life-changing journey.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.
Headline: Mountain Gateway Museum to Host Historical Book Club Meeting July 30
Mountain Gateway Museum to Host Historical Book Club Meeting July 30 jejohnson6
Mountain Gateway Museum, in partnership with the McDowell County Public Library, has launched a new monthly book club exploring regional history through literature.
The second gathering of the Mountain Stories Book Club will be held Wednesday, July 30, from 6-7:30 p.m. at the museum’s new location (78-C Catawba Ave., Old Fort). The featured book is “My Old True Love” by Sheila Kay Adams, a historical novel set in Madison County during the 1860s.
This free event is open to the public and will highlight a different book each month that connects to western North Carolina’s rich and complex history.
Copies of “My Old True Love” are available through McDowell County Public Library in multiple formats. The Old Fort Library reopened at the beginning of July. For more information, call 828-619-5100 or visitmgmnc.org.
About Mountain Gateway Museum A regional branch of the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh, the Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage Center (MGM) is the westernmost facility in the N.C. Department of Natural & Cultural Resources’ Division of State History Museums.
Nestled at the foot of the Blue Ridge Mountains along the banks of historic Mill Creek in downtown Old Fort (McDowell County), the museum uses artifacts, exhibitions, educational programs, living history demonstrations, and special events to teach people about the rich history and cultural heritage of the state’s mountain region, from its original inhabitants through early settlement and into the 20th century.
As part of its education outreach mission, MGM also assists non-profit museums and historic sites in 38 western NC counties with exhibit development and fabrication, genealogical research, photography archives, traveling exhibitions, and consultations.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.
Headline: Rehabilitation of Sea Turtle Captures Hearts and Exemplifies N.C. Aquarium Mission
Rehabilitation of Sea Turtle Captures Hearts and Exemplifies N.C. Aquarium Mission jejohnson6
The newest sea turtle patient at the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island is quickly capturing hearts across the Outer Banks. In late June a small juvenile green sea turtle, nicknamed “Lucky Duck,” arrived at the Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation (S.T.A.R.) Center at the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island with visible injuries from an apparent shark bite. The mission of the Aquarium, to inspire appreciation and conservation of our aquatic environments, is lately exemplified by Lucky’s Duck’s survival and rehabilitation. The Aquarium is part of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
On June 25 a radiograph revealed a fractured carapace and additional health complications for Lucky Duck. Upon closer inspection, Aquarium veterinarians and sea turtle aquarists at the S.T.A.R. Center discovered Lucky Duck’s intestinal tract was flooded with ingested micro-plastics. To demonstrate the severity and amount of plastic Lucky Duck ingested, the striking variety of defecated debris was placed on display at the Aquarium to raise public awareness about the damage single-use plastic can cause for wildlife.
Contending with difficulties caused by both natural and man-made encounters, Lucky Duck came by its nickname naturally having survived these difficulties and being rescued oceanside by a visitor to the Outer Banks by notifying Aquarium partner, N.E.S.T. (Network for Endangered Sea Turtles).
Since arriving at the Aquarium, Lucky Duck has been on a steady diet of protein and lettuce—roughage—to help it defecate the ingested plastic. When plastics enter a sea turtle’s environment, it presumes the plastics to be part of the environment. Plastic grocery bags in water, for example, appear as jellyfish to a sea turtle. A sea turtle with a belly full of micro-plastics will expend energy trying to digest the plastic, which wastes valuable nutrients and weakens the sea turtle. At the Aquarium, Lucky Duck is receiving quality food and nutrients to restore its health, which is especially important as it recovers from trauma wounds due to the apparent shark bite. Lucky Duck is healing nicely, swimming, and navigating excellently. The Aquarium is pleased to share this progress report with the public.
Responding to the impact of Lucky Duck’s story, Leslie Vegas, husbandry curator at the Aquarium said, “Working with the team that cares for the animals is so rewarding, whether the animals are rehab patients or permanent residents at our facility. Lucky Duck’s story is one of many that can inspire folks to appreciate all the animals we are lucky enough to care for at the Aquarium. They each have unique stories that teach us the importance of conservation work.”
The S.T.A.R. Center, founded at the Aquarium in 2014, rehabilitates rescued sea turtles year-round. In recent years, sea turtle patients have been treated at the Aquarium for assorted problems, including cold-stunning, eye injuries, kidney failure, pneumonia, frostbite, infections, and injuries from boat strikes and ingested fishing hooks. When sea turtle patients are cleared by Aquarium veterinarians, the Aquarium releases recovered sea turtles back into their natural environment. Sea turtles have been released by the Aquarium oceanside, offshore into the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, and into the Croatan Sound—the Aquarium’s aquatic backyard. Dedicated in 1976, the Aquarium is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2026.
About the North Carolina Aquarium on Roanoke Island Located on the Outer Banks in Manteo, N.C., the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island is part of N.C. Aquariums, which includes four attractions along North Carolina’s coast and is a division of the N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources. The 63,000 square-foot facility on 16 acres overlooks the Croatan Sound and houses over 2,200 animals. Over 319,000 guests visit the Aquarium each year to see the 285,000-gallon “Graveyard of the Atlantic” shark and ocean habitat, visit the Sea Turtle Assistance and Rehabilitation (S.T.A.R.) Center, and learn why North Carolina’s waterways are so special. As an educational attraction, the mission of N.C. Aquariums is to inspire appreciation and conservation of our aquatic environments. The Aquarium is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas. For more information, please visitwww.ncaquariums.com/roanoke-island.
About the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources The N.C. Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR) manages, promotes, and enhances the things that people love about North Carolina – its diverse arts and culture, rich history, and spectacular natural areas. Through its programs, the department enhances education, stimulates economic development, improves public health, expands accessibility, and strengthens community resiliency.
The department manages over 100 locations across the state, including 27 historic sites, seven history museums, two art museums, five science museums, four aquariums, 35 state parks, four recreation areas, dozens of state trails and natural areas, the North Carolina Zoo, the State Library, the State Archives, the N.C. Arts Council, the African American Heritage Commission, the American Indian Heritage Commission, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Office of State Archaeology, the Highway Historical Markers program, the N.C. Land and Water Fund, and the Natural Heritage Program. For more information, please visit www.dncr.nc.gov.
Data from NISAR will map changes to Earth’s surface, helping improve crop management, natural hazard monitoring, and tracking of sea ice and glaciers. A new U.S.-India satellite called NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar) will provide high-resolution data enabling scientists to comprehensively monitor the planet’s land and ice surfaces like never before, building a detailed record of how they shift over time. Hailed as a critical part of a pioneering year for U.S.-India civil space cooperation by President Trump and Prime Minister Modi during their visit in Washington in February, the NISAR launch will advance U.S.-India cooperation and benefit the U.S. in the areas of disaster response and agriculture. As the first joint satellite mission between NASA and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), NISAR marks a new chapter in the growing collaboration between the two space agencies. Years in the making, the launch of NISAR builds on a strong heritage of successful programs, including Chandrayaan-1 and the recent Axiom Mission 4, which saw ISRO and NASA astronauts living and working together aboard the International Space Station for the first time. The information NISAR provides will help decision-makers, communities, and scientists monitor agricultural fields, refine understanding of natural hazards such as landslides and earthquakes, and help teams prepare for and respond to disasters like hurricanes, floods, and volcanic eruptions. The satellite will also provide key global observations of changes to ice sheets, glaciers, and permafrost, as well as forests and wetlands. The NISAR mission is slated to launch no earlier than July 30 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast aboard an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle. Here are five things to know about NISAR: 1. The NISAR satellite will provide a 3D view of Earth’s land and ice. Two synthetic aperture radars (SARs) aboard NISAR will detect changes in the planet’s surface down to fractions of an inch. The spacecraft will bounce microwave signals off Earth’s surface and receive the return signals on a radar antenna reflector measuring 39 feet (12 meters) across. The satellite’s ability to “see” through clouds and light rain, day and night, will enable data users to continuously monitor earthquake- and landslide-prone areas and determine how quickly glaciers and ice sheets are changing. It also will offer unprecedented coverage of Antarctica, information that will help with studying how the continent’s ice sheet changes over time. 2. Data from NISAR will provide critical insights to help governments and decision-makers plan for natural and human-caused hazards. Earthquakes, volcanoes, and aging infrastructure can pose risks to lives and property. Able to see subtle changes in Earth’s surface, NISAR can help with hazard-monitoring efforts and potentially give decision-makers more time to prepare for a possible disaster. For earthquakes, NISAR will provide insights into which parts of a fault slowly move without producing quakes and which are locked together and could potentially slip. The satellite will be able to monitor the area around thousands of volcanoes, detecting land movement that could be a precursor to an eruption. When it comes to infrastructure such as levees, aqueducts, and dams, NISAR data collected over time can help managers detect if nearby land motion could jeopardize key structures, and then assess the integrity of those facilities. 3. The most advanced radar system ever launched as part of a NASA or ISRO mission, NISAR will generate more data on a daily basis than any previous Earth satellite from either agency. About the length of a pickup truck, NISAR’s main body contains a dual-radar payload — an L-band system with a 10-inch (25-centimeter) wavelength and an S-band system with a 4-inch (10-centimeter) wavelength. Each system is sensitive to land and ice features of different sizes and specializes in detecting certain attributes, such as moisture content, surface roughness, and motion. By including both radars on one spacecraft — a first — NISAR will be more capable than previous SAR missions. These two radars, one from NASA and one from ISRO, and the data they will produce, exemplify how collaboration between spacefaring allies can achieve more than either would alone.
The radars will generate about 80 terabytes of data products per day over the course of NISAR’s prime mission. That’s roughly enough data to fill about 150 512-gigabyte hard drives each day. The information will be processed, stored, and distributed via the cloud — and accessible to all.
4. The NISAR mission will help monitor ecosystems around the world. The mission’s two radars will monitor Earth’s land and ice-covered surfaces twice every 12 days. Their near-comprehensive coverage will include areas not previously covered by other Earth-observing radar satellites with such frequency. The NISAR satellite’s L-band radar penetrates deep into forest canopies, providing insights into forest structure, while the S-band radar is ideal for monitoring crops. The NISAR data will help researchers assess how forests, wetlands, agricultural areas, and permafrost change over time. 5. The NISAR mission marks the first collaboration between NASA and ISRO on a project of this scale and marks the next step in a long line of Earth-observing SAR missions. The NISAR satellite features components developed on opposite sides of the planet by engineers from ISRO and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory working together. The S-band radar was built at ISRO’s Space Applications Centre in Ahmedabad, while JPL built the L-band radar in Southern California. After engineers from JPL and ISRO integrated NISAR’s instruments with a modified ISRO I3K spacecraft bus and tested the satellite, ISRO transported NISAR to Satish Dhawan Space Centre in May 2025 to prepare it for launch. The SAR technique was invented in the U.S. in 1952 and now countries around the globe have SAR satellites for a variety of missions. NASA first used the technique with a space-based satellite in 1978 on the ocean-observing Seasat, which included the first spaceborne SAR instrument for scientific observations. In 2012, ISRO began launching SAR missions starting with Radar Imaging Satellite (RISAT-1), followed by RISAT-1A in 2022, to support a wide range of applications in India. More About NISAR Managed by Caltech in Pasadena, JPL leads the U.S. component of the project and provided the L-band SAR. JPL also provided the radar reflector antenna, the deployable boom, a high-rate communication subsystem for science data, GPS receivers, a solid-state recorder, and payload data subsystem. NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center manages the Near Space Network, which will receive NISAR’s L-band data. The ISRO Space Applications Centre is providing the mission’s S-band SAR. The U R Rao Satellite Centre is providing the spacecraft bus. The rocket is from Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, launch services are through Satish Dhawan Space Centre, and satellite mission operations are by the ISRO Telemetry Tracking and Command Network. The National Remote Sensing Centre is responsible for S-band data reception, operational products generation, and dissemination. To learn more about NISAR, visit: https://nisar.jpl.nasa.gov/
News Media Contacts Andrew Wang / Jane J. LeeJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.626-379-6874 / 626-491-1943andrew.wang@jpl.nasa.gov / jane.j.lee@jpl.nasa.gov 2025-090
LEXINGTON, Ky. –Two Nashville, Tenn., men, Markwez Wynn, 26, and Stephen Hampton, 26, were sentenced on Friday, by U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell to 65 months and 60 months in prison, respectively, for bank robbery by intimidation and/or aiding and abetting bank robbery by intimidation.
According to their plea agreements, from May 2023 until May 2024, Wynn robbed four banks and Hampton participated in robbing three banks located in Tennessee, Indiana, and Kentucky. Wynn robbed one bank in Nashville alone, threatening to kill the teller if an alarm went off. In two of the robberies, while Wynn robbed the bank, Hampton acted as the getaway driver. Wynn was disguised and obtained access to the vault in each of these robberies, getting away with $81,500 and $109,500 in cash, respectively. The last of the series of robberies occurred on May 21, 2024, at a Forcht Bank in Lexington. Wynn and Hampton entered the bank in masks and demanded everyone put their hands up. They obtained access to the vault and took money both from the tellers and the vault. From this robbery, the defendants obtained $181,175 in cash.
As part of their sentencing, Wynn was required to forfeit $84,268 in cash and Hampton had to forfeit $82,037 in cash. Additionally, Wynn was ordered to pay $376,785 in restitution and Hampton was ordered to pay $372,175 in restitution.
Under federal law, Wynn and Hampton must serve 85 percent of their prison sentences. Upon their release from prison, they will be under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years.
Paul McCaffrey, Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; Olivia Olson, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Louisville Field Office; Joseph E. Carrico, Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Nashville Field Office; and Chief Lawrence Weathers, Lexington Police Department, jointly announced the sentence.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI Louisville, FBI Nashville, and Lexington Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney James T. Chapman is prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
TULSA, Okla. – The leader of a national catalytic converter theft ring pleaded guilty today in federal court and admitted to selling the stolen converters for more than $600 million, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.
Navin Khanna, 31, Holmdel, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of Conspiracy and five counts of Engaging in Monetary Transactions in Property Derived from Specified Unlawful Activity.
“Khanna’s theft ring took advantage of hard-working citizens in the Northern District of Oklahoma by stealing catalytic converters, rendering the vehicle unusable,” said U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson. “I would like to thank the Tulsa Police Department, and our law enforcement partners for their tireless efforts in bringing this senseless crime to justice.”
“Across the United States thousands of people have had the catalytic converters cut off their parked cars because they contain valuable precious metals,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Unable to extract the metals themselves, thieves sell the stolen parts to middlemen like the defendant and his co-conspirators, who use special equipment to crack the catalytic converters open. In the aggregate the value of the stolen goods is worth enormous amounts ─ here more than $600 million.”
Khanna admitted to being the owner and operator of D.G. Auto Parts, a criminal enterprise that bought and sold auto parts across the country. From May 2020 through October 2022, Khanna conspired with others to purchase and transport large quantities of stolen catalytic converters from Oklahoma, Texas, and other states to New Jersey. Khanna admitted to receiving more than $600 million in reselling the stolen catalytic converters to a metal refinery that extracted the precious metals.
Khanna further agreed to forfeit more than $3 million in cash, over $800,000 from various checking accounts, several luxury vehicles, his interest in several real estate properties, high-end jewelry, gold bars, and over 200 pallets of catalytic converters seized during the execution of a warrant.
In response to a drastic increase in catalytic converter thefts throughout Tulsa in 2020, the Tulsa Police Department initiated an investigation that soon uncovered a national criminal enterprise. During the investigation, search warrants were executed in Oklahoma, Texas, California, New Jersey, and New York. Federal grand juries in the Northern District of Oklahoma and the Eastern District of California indicted Khanna. Over twenty individuals throughout the country have been charged for their role in the conspiracy.
Khanna’s co-defendants in the Northern District of Oklahoma have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing to the following:
Tyler James Curtis, 26, of Wagoner, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering. He agreed to forfeit over $3 million and multiple vehicles;
Adam Sharkey, 26, of West Islip, New York, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy and agreed to forfeit nearly $1.2 million;
Robert Gary Sharkey, 57, of Babylon, New York, pleaded guilty to Misprision of a Felony and agreed to forfeit his interest in more than $1.2 million in currency seized by law enforcement;
Benjamin Robert Mansour, 24, of Bixby, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering;
Reiss Nicole Biby, 24, of Wagoner, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Misprision of a Felony and agreed to forfeit her interest in more than $1.1 million and seized catalytic converters;
Martynas Macerauskas, 28, of Leila Lake, Texas, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy and agreed to forfeit nearly $2.2 million;
Kristina McKay Macerauskas, 21, of Leila Lake, Texas, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy and agreed to forfeit nearly $1.1 million;
Parker Star Weavel, 25, of Tahlequah, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Receiving Stolen Property in Indian Country;
Shane Allen Minnick, 26, of Haskell, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy and agreed to forfeit $500,000;
Ryan David LaRue 29, of Broken Bow, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy;
Brian Pate Thomas, 25, of Choteau, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy; and
Michael Anthony Rhoden, 26, of Keifer, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty to Conspiracy.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma has agreed that Khanna’s sentencing will be transferred to the Eastern District of California, where he awaits further prosecution for related crimes.
Homeland Security Investigations, the IRS-Criminal Investigation, the Tulsa Police Department, the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office, the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Office, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the Wagoner County Sheriff’s Office, and the Wyandotte Nation Police Department led or contributed to the lengthy investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Nasar and Reagan Reininger lead the Northern District of Oklahoma’s prosecution with assistance from the Violent Crime and Racketeering Section’s Trial Attorney Cesar Rivera-Giraud and Assistant U.S. Attorney Veronica M.A. Alegría of the Eastern District of California.
The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.
The Centre is expanding its efforts to improve employability among Indian youth—particularly women—through focused skill development programmes under the Skill India Mission (SIM), the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) informed the Lok Sabha on Monday.
As part of SIM, the government is providing training through schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS), and the Craftsman Training Scheme (CTS) via Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs). These programmes aim to equip youth with future-ready, industry-relevant skills, the ministry said.
To increase women’s participation, the government has introduced special provisions for transport, boarding and lodging, and post-placement support. PMKVY 4.0 has prioritised projects that designate women as the primary beneficiaries. Courses in sectors such as electronics, retail, healthcare, beauty and wellness, handicrafts, and apparel have been structured to attract more women trainees.
The ministry said that Skill Hubs and Special Projects are actively designed to align with local skill demands and facilitate rural women’s access to training. As a result, female participation in apprenticeship schemes has risen—from 22.79% in 2024–25 to 25.80% in 2025–26.
Under the JSS scheme, more than 80% of beneficiaries are women. The government also runs 19 National Skill Training Institutes (NSTIs) and over 300 ITIs exclusively for women. A 30% reservation for women candidates has been approved across all ITIs—both government and private—allowing each state to implement its own reservation policy.
The MSDE has also launched several new initiatives. One of them is NAVYA, a pilot programme for adolescent girls (16–18 years) with at least Class 10 education. Developed in partnership with the Ministry of Women and Child Development (MoWCD), NAVYA focuses on providing vocational training in non-traditional roles.
Additionally, the Swavalambini programme—launched in February 2025 in collaboration with the Women Entrepreneurship Platform of NITI Aayog—aims to nurture entrepreneurial mindsets among young women in Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Uttar Pradesh, and Telangana. The initiative includes awareness and development training and is being implemented by NIESBUD (Noida) and IIE (Guwahati).
Canada’s policymakers are searching for new, sustainable sources of economic strength. One such source is already here and is being overlooked: the emerging Indigenous economy. It has the potential to boost Canada’s economy by more than $60 billion a year.
But Indigenous Peoples are still largely seen as an economic liability to manage instead of an opportunity for growth. It is time for a mindset shift. For it to happen, the federal government should remove unfair economic barriers and invest in closing the employment and income gap.
Compounding this challenge is Canada’s aging labour force. The number of people aged 65 and over is growing six times faster than the number of children aged 14 and under — those who will be entering the job market in the coming years. This demographic shift places additional pressure on pensions, the health-care system and the economy.
A BNN Bloomberg feature about the Indigenous economy in Canada.
If Indigenous Peoples could participate in the economy at the same rate as non-Indigenous Canadians, their GDP contribution could increase from about $55 billion to well over $100 billion annually.
Despite this potential, Canada has largely failed to invest in Indigenous Peoples and reform the colonial structures that create inequality.
While some progress has been made, such as the First Nations Fiscal Management Act that offers communities tools to strengthen their economies, progress is still too slow.
In contrast, First Nations communities are constrained by Canadian institutions. The Indian Act limits First Nations’ authority over their own affairs, segregating them from mainstream finance mechanisms. Unclear legal jurisdiction between federal, provincial and Indigenous governments and weak property rights discourage business investments.
Limited authority and fiscal powers mean First Nations governments cannot provide services at national standards and must depend on other governments.
Compounding these issues is the fragmented, insufficient and culturally inappropriate nature of federal support systems. First Nations people have economic advantages and an entrepreneurial spirit, but they are burdened with unfair economic barriers, such as inadequate infrastructure, limited access to capital and administrative hurdles.
The RoadMap Project, a national initiative led by the First Nations Financial Management Board and other Indigenous organizations, proposes a pathway to economic reconciliation. Investing in the Indigenous economy means supporting Indigenous training, providing access to capital for Indigenous organizations and reforming the institutions that continue to impose systemic barriers.
Online learning could help remote communities achieve educational goals, but its success depends on major investments in high-speed internet access, which remains lacking in many areas.
Internationally, development banks have been used to fill credit gaps when the private sector is unable to meet the needs of emerging economies.
In Canada, the First Nations Financial Management Board and other Indigenous organizations are calling for a similar solution: the creation of an Indigenous Development Finance Organization. By lending to Indigenous governments and businesses, this finance organization could bridge the gap between the financial markets and the Indigenous economy.
While investments in capacity and development finance are urgent needs, only the dismantling of economic barriers and increased access to effective institutions can assure Indigenous development.
Legislation such as the First Nations Fiscal Management Act and the Framework Agreement on First Nation Land Management can support Indigenous economies through taxation, budgeting, land codes and financial laws. They offer a pathway between the Indian Act framework and self-government, without waiting on lengthy negotiations.
Growing stronger together
Canada’s economic future will remain uncertain if short-term solutions keep being prioritized while ignoring the growth potential of the Indigenous economy. Improvements to the status quo are no longer sufficient.
The federal government must support Indigenous-led initiatives like the RoadMap Project to foster shared growth and prosperity for Indigenous Peoples and all Canadians alike. Investments are needed to narrow the employment and income gap through new supports for capacity, access to capital and institutional reform.
Mylon Ollila is a Senior Strategist for the First Nations Financial Management Board.
Hugo Asselin does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Over 34 crore people have gained employment through micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) since 2014 via the Udyam and Udyam Assist portals, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Responding to a question in the Upper House, the Minister of MSMEs said there is no shortage of funds or workers in the sector. He also cited examples of traditional workers, such as cobblers, who have received financial support under schemes like the PM Vishwakarma Yojana.
The government considers MSMEs the backbone of India’s industrial growth and has undertaken a series of measures to strengthen the sector. One major step was the revision of the MSME definition after 14 years, aimed at removing the fear of losing government benefits due to business expansion. The revised definition also makes access to credit easier.
The number of MSMEs in India has crossed 6 crore, the minister said, adding that lending to the sector has surged from ₹12 lakh crore a decade ago to around ₹30 lakh crore.
In his Budget speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the guarantee cover for MSME loans would be doubled to ₹20 crore. The government also plans to roll out customised credit cards with a ₹5 lakh limit to meet working capital needs.
Meanwhile, NITI Aayog has released a report suggesting systemic reforms in financing, skilling, innovation, and market access to unlock the sector’s full potential. It said MSMEs can become a key driver of sustainable growth through targeted interventions and stronger institutional support.
Between 2020 and 2024, the share of micro and small enterprises accessing credit through scheduled banks rose from 14% to 20%, while access among medium enterprises increased from 4% to 9%, the report noted.
Over 34 crore people have gained employment through micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) since 2014 via the Udyam and Udyam Assist portals, Union Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi told the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Responding to a question in the Upper House, the Minister of MSMEs said there is no shortage of funds or workers in the sector. He also cited examples of traditional workers, such as cobblers, who have received financial support under schemes like the PM Vishwakarma Yojana.
The government considers MSMEs the backbone of India’s industrial growth and has undertaken a series of measures to strengthen the sector. One major step was the revision of the MSME definition after 14 years, aimed at removing the fear of losing government benefits due to business expansion. The revised definition also makes access to credit easier.
The number of MSMEs in India has crossed 6 crore, the minister said, adding that lending to the sector has surged from ₹12 lakh crore a decade ago to around ₹30 lakh crore.
In his Budget speech, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced that the guarantee cover for MSME loans would be doubled to ₹20 crore. The government also plans to roll out customised credit cards with a ₹5 lakh limit to meet working capital needs.
Meanwhile, NITI Aayog has released a report suggesting systemic reforms in financing, skilling, innovation, and market access to unlock the sector’s full potential. It said MSMEs can become a key driver of sustainable growth through targeted interventions and stronger institutional support.
Between 2020 and 2024, the share of micro and small enterprises accessing credit through scheduled banks rose from 14% to 20%, while access among medium enterprises increased from 4% to 9%, the report noted.
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian – People’s Republic of China in Russian –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
NEW DELHI, July 21 (Xinhua) — Indian Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Monday resigned, citing health reasons.
In his resignation letter to President Draupadi Murmu, J Dhankhar said: “In view of the need to give top priority to my health and to follow medical advice, I hereby tender my resignation as Vice-President of India with immediate effect.”
J. Dhankhar became the country’s vice president in 2022. –0–
Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source of the information. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.
Russia and Ukraine appear close to agreeing to hold a new round of peace talks in Turkey this week, although the Kremlin said on Monday that the two sides held “diametrically opposed” positions on how to end the war.
Two days after Ukraine called for new talks in Istanbul this week, Russian state news agency TASS quoted an unidentified source as saying that negotiators – who have not sat down together for seven weeks – may meet there on Thursday and Friday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a gathering of his diplomats in Kyiv: “We need greater momentum in negotiations to end the war.”
He added: “The agenda from our side is clear: the return of prisoners of war, the return of children abducted by Russia, and the preparation of a leaders’ meeting.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is under increasing pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump to show progress towards ending the conflict, turned down a previous challenge from Zelenskiy to meet him in person.
Putin has repeatedly said he does not see Zelenskiy as a legitimate leader because Ukraine, which is under martial law, did not hold new elections when his five-year mandate expired last year.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that as soon as there was a definitive understanding of the date for the next round of talks, then Moscow would announce it.
“There is our draft memorandum, there is a draft memorandum that has been handed over by the Ukrainian side. There is to be an exchange of views and talks on these two drafts, which are diametrically opposed so far,” Peskov said.
Ukraine and Russia have held two rounds of talks in Istanbul, on May 16 and June 2, that led to the exchange of thousands of prisoners of war and the remains of dead soldiers. But the two sides have made no breakthrough towards a ceasefire or a settlement to end almost three and a half years of war.
Trump said last week he would impose new sanctions in 50 days on Russia and countries that buy its exports if there is no deal before then to end the conflict.
The Ministry of Tourism has rolled out operational guidelines for the ‘Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment – Development of Iconic Tourist Centres to Global Scale’ (SASCI) scheme, aimed at transforming select tourist destinations into globally competitive attractions.
Under the scheme, the Centre intends to provide funding support for comprehensive development of iconic sites, with a focus on enhancing the end-to-end tourist experience. This includes strengthening the entire tourism value chain—from infrastructure to branding, sustainability, and operations.
Project proposals submitted by state governments were evaluated based on parameters such as site connectivity, ecological sustainability, existing tourism infrastructure, carrying capacity, management models, potential impact, and marketing plans. Final selection and approval of projects have been made in line with the institutional framework laid out in the SASCI guidelines.
While the government will provide financial support for the projects until March 31, 2026, the implementation and management of the sanctioned projects will rest with the respective State Governments. Each project is expected to be completed within a two-year period.
The Ministry of Tourism will also support the promotion of these destinations through its ongoing domestic and international campaigns, including digital platforms, events, and social media.
Union Tourism and Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat shared this information in a written reply in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar resigned from office on Monday, citing health concerns and the need to follow medical advice. His resignation, addressed to President Droupadi Murmu, comes into effect immediately under Article 67(a) of the Constitution.
In his resignation letter, Dhankhar said, “To prioritise health care and abide by medical advice, I hereby resign as the Vice President of India, effective immediately.”
The 72-year-old, who also served as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, expressed gratitude to the President for her “unwavering support” and the “wonderfully harmonious working relationship” they shared during his tenure.
Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Council of Ministers, Dhankhar said, “Prime Minister’s cooperation and support have been invaluable, and I have learned much during my time in office.”
He also acknowledged the trust and warmth extended by Members of Parliament, calling it a “cherished memory.”
Reflecting on his time in office, Dhankhar said it had been a privilege to witness India’s economic growth and transformation. “Serving in this transformative era of our nation’s history has been a true honour,” he noted. “As I leave this esteemed office, I am filled with pride in Bharat’s global rise and phenomenal achievements and hold unwavering confidence in her brilliant future.”
His resignation came on the first day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Bihar has become the first state in the country to ensure that all polling stations have fewer than 1,200 electors, a move aimed at reducing overcrowding and enhancing voter convenience. The Election Commission has added 12,817 new polling stations across the state, raising the total number of polling stations from 77,895 to 90,712.
This development follows the State Instructional Representation (SIR) order issued on June 24, 2025, which revised the earlier ceiling of 1,500 electors per polling station to 1,200. The model is expected to serve as a template for other states and Union Territories ahead of future electoral exercises.
In preparation for the publication of the Draft Electoral Rolls on August 1, 2025, electoral officers at various levels—Chief Electoral Officers (CEOs), District Electoral Officers (DEOs), Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), and Booth Level Officers (BLOs)—have held extensive consultations with representatives of all 12 major political parties.
As part of the ongoing efforts to ensure inclusive voter registration, election authorities have shared detailed lists of 29.62 lakh electors whose application forms are yet to be received, as well as 43.93 lakh electors who were not found at their registered addresses. Political parties have been urged to coordinate with their respective District Presidents and nearly 1.5 lakh Booth Level Agents (BLAs) to reach out to these individuals and assist in updating the records.
The Election Commission has emphasized a “mission mode” approach to ensure that no eligible voter is excluded from the draft electoral rolls. Once the draft rolls are published on August 1, members of the public will be able to submit objections or requests for additions, deletions, or rectifications for a full one-month period, in line with provisions laid out in the June 24 SIR order.
This collaborative push involving election authorities and political stakeholders is part of a broader effort to strengthen the electoral process and improve voter accessibility ahead of the upcoming elections.
