Russia Demands Ukraine Hand Over Head Of Security Service, Others

Russia is demanding that Ukraine hand over all persons connected with terrorist acts committed in Russia, including the head of the country's SBU Security Service, the foreign ministry said on Sunday.

"Russia has turned over to Ukrainian authorities its demands...for the immediate arrest and extradition of all those connected to the terrorist acts in question," a ministry statement said, after listing a number of violent incidents in the country.

The ministry statement said those to be handed over included SBU head Vasyl Maliuk, who has acknowledged his service was behind attacks on the bridge linking Crimea to the Russian mainland since the Kremlin's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

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Trump Posts Video Showing Biden 'Hog-Tied' On Pickup Truck, Draws Criticism

Donald Trump drew criticism Saturday for a video on his Truth Social platform that featured an image of President Joe Biden "hog-tied," as if he were being kidnapped.

The video, posted Friday afternoon, shows two pickup trucks driving down a highway, each displaying multiple pro-Trump signs and flags. On the tailgate of the second truck is an image of a prone Biden tied with his hands behind him.

Biden's reelection campaign said the post by Republican candidate Trump -- whose language has become increasingly caustic as he campaigns against Biden for the presidency -- could lead to violence.

"This image from Donald Trump is the type of crap you post when you're calling for a bloodbath or when you tell the Proud Boys to 'stand back and stand by,' Biden spokesman Michael Tyler told AFP, referring to the far-right militia involved in the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol by Trump supporters.

He went on: "Trump is regularly inciting political violence and it's time people take him seriously -- just ask the Capitol police officers who were attacked protecting our democracy on January 6."

The Trump campaign was unapologetic.

"Democrats and crazed lunatics have not only called for despicable violence against President Trump and his family, they are actually weaponizing the justice system against him," spokesman Steven Cheung said.

The US Secret Service, charged with protecting present and former presidents, did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment. 

Trump has a long history of using dark and combative language and posting provocative images.

He warned earlier this month of a "bloodbath" for the US auto industry -- and, as some heard it, the nation as well -- if Biden wins in November.

Trump in December accused migrants of "poisoning the blood" of Americans.

In November, he lashed into his political rivals, vowing to "root out the communists, Marxists, fascists and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country."

That drew a response from Biden, who said Trump was using "language you heard in Nazi Germany."

Turning the tables on Trump's attacks, the 81-year-old Biden has recently mocked the Republican -- four years his junior -- as "old," "out of shape" and in cognitive decline.

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Pope Leads Easter Vigil After Skipping Good Friday Event At Last-Minute

Pope Francis took part in the Easter Vigil service at the Vatican on Saturday, a day after the last-minute cancellation of his presence at a major Good Friday procession revived questions about his health.    

The 87-year-old pontiff arrived to preside over the Easter Vigil at Saint Peter's Basilica in front of some 6,000 people from around the world shortly before 7:30 pm (1830 GMT).

A day after cancelling his appearance at the Stations of the Cross ("Via Crucis") ceremony, Pope Francis, clad in white, arrived in a wheelchair shortly before the two-hour service.

The Vatican had confirmed earlier in the day that he would attend. 

After the rite of light in a basilica plunged into darkness to symbolise the passage from death to life of Christ, Francis delivered a ten-minute homily in Italian, speaking without any undue difficulty.

He spoke out against "the walls of selfishness and indifference" in the world and lamented "all the aspirations for peace shattered by the cruelty of hatred and the ferocity of war".

Later in the service he was to baptise eight adults.

Sunday's Easter Mass and the "Urbi et Orbi" blessing that follows it will be broadcast live around the world.

In a brief statement Friday, the Vatican had said that "to preserve his health ahead of tomorrow's vigil and the Easter Sunday mass, Pope Francis will this evening follow the Way of the Cross at the Colosseum from the Santa Marta Residence", where he lives.

The last-minute decision -- the pope's chair was already in place for the procession -- and the lack of detail in the statement added to doubts about his health and questions as to how long he can continue to lead the Catholic Church and its 1.3 billion followers.

- Growing doubts -

"The Via Crucis of a fragile pope" was the Saturday headline in Italian daily La Stampa, while Il Messaggero spoke of a "renunciation of Francis".

A Vatican source told AFP on Friday that there was "no particular concern" about his health, and that the decision to pull out had been "simply a measure of caution".

The Argentinian Jesuit had also cancelled his participation in the "Via Crucis" in 2023, but that followed a three-day hospital stay for bronchitis, and was announced well ahead of time. Weeks later, he underwent a hernia operation. 

Holy Week is a pillar of the Catholic calendar, involving a series of ceremonies leading up to Easter Sunday itself.

Up until Friday, the pope had attended his various engagements across the week, but he has recently appeared tired and has sometimes delegated speaking roles to colleagues.

He notably skipped making a homily a week ago when presiding Palm Sunday mass in St. Peter's Square, replacing it with a moment of silence and prayer, although he did pronounce prayers before making an appeal for peace at the end of the mass.

Holy Week, culminating in Easter Sunday marking Christ's resurrection, is a major part of the Catholic calendar, and its numerous ceremonies are something of a marathon for an octogenarian who has been travelling to engagements in a wheelchair for two years.

Francis, who never takes holidays, made his last trip in September, to the southern French city of Marseille. In December, he cancelled a much-anticipated attendance at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai.

His next scheduled trip is to Venice on April 28. The Vatican has not yet confirmed a planned trip to Asia and Pacific Ocean nations for this summer.

Francis has previously left the door open to stepping down if he can no longer do the job. That would follow the example of his immediate predecessor, Benedict XVI, who in 2013 became the first pope since the Middle Ages to voluntarily step aside.

But in a memoir published this month, Francis wrote that he did "not have any cause serious enough to make me think of resigning".

Resignation is a "distant possibility" that would be justified only in the event of "a serious physical impediment", he wrote.

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Rescue Workers To Lift First Piece Of Collapsed US Bridge That Killed 6

Salvage crews were set to lift the first piece of Baltimore's collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge from the water on Saturday to allow barges and tugboats to access the disaster site, Maryland and U.S. officials said, the first step in a complex effort to reopen the city's blocked port.

The steel truss bridge collapsed early on Tuesday morning, killing six road workers, when a massive container ship lost power and crashed into a support pylon, sending much of the span crashing into the Patapsco River, blocking the Port of Baltimore's shipping channel.

Maryland Governor Wes Moore told a news conference that a section of the bridge's steel superstructure north of the crash site would be cut into a piece that could be lifted by crane onto a barge and brought to the nearby Tradepoint Atlantic site at Sparrows Point.

"This will eventually allow us to open up a temporary restricted channel that will help us to get more vessels in the water around the site of the collapse," Moore said.

He declined to provide a timeline for this portion of the clearance work. "It's not going to take hours," he said. "It's not going to take days, but once we complete this phase of the work, we can move more tugs and more barges and more boats into the area to accelerate our recovery."

Workers will not yet attempt to remove a crumpled part of the bridge's superstructure that is resting on the bow of the Dali, the 984-foot Singapore-flagged container ship that brought down the bridge. Moore said it was unclear when the ship could be moved, but said that its hull, while damaged, is "intact."

"This is a remarkably complex operation," Moore said of the effort to clear bridge debris and open the Port of Baltimore to shipping traffic.

The bodies of two workers who were repairing the bridge deck at the time of the disaster have been recovered, but Moore said efforts to recover four others presumed dead remain suspended because conditions are too dangerous for divers to work amid too much debris.

Coast Guard Rear Admiral Shannon Gilreath told reporters that teams from the Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy's salvage arm and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the debris from the Patapsco River's deep-draft shipping channel would have to be removed before the Dali could be moved.

Saturday's operation involves cutting a piece just north of that channel and lifting it with a 160-ton marine crane onto a barge. A larger, 1,000-ton crane also is at the bridge site.

The piece will be brought to Tradepoint Atlantic, the site of the former Bethlehem Steel Mill which is being developed into a distribution center for companies including Amazon.com, Home Depot and Volkswagen. The facility's port, which sits on the Chesapeake Bay side of the collapsed bridge, is fully operational.

Five days after the tragedy, the jobs of some 15,000 people whose work revolves around daily port operation are on hold. While logistics experts say that other East Coast ports should be able to handle container traffic, Baltimore is the largest U.S. port for "roll-on, roll-off" vehicle imports and exports of farm and construction equipment.

U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen of Maryland said the Small Business Administration has approved the state's request for a disaster declaration that allows small firms affected by the disaster to apply for emergency low-interest loans of up to $2 million through the end of 2024.

The federal government on Thursday awarded Maryland an initial $60 million in emergency funds to clear debris and begin rebuilding the Key Bridge, an extraordinarily fast disbursement. President Joe Biden has pledged that the federal government would cover all costs of removing the debris and rebuilding the bridge.

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US Has Agreed To Send More Bombs, Warplanes To Israel: Report

The US in recent days authorized the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel, two sources familiar with the effort said on Friday, even as Washington publicly expresses concerns about an anticipated Israeli military offensive in Rafah.

The new arms packages include more than 1,800 MK84 2,000-pound bombs and 500 MK82 500-pound bombs, said the sources, who confirmed a report in the Washington Post.

Washington gives $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to Israel, its longtime ally.

The package comes as Israel faces strong international criticism over its continued bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza and as some members of President Joe Biden's party call for him to cut US military aid.

The United States has been rushing air defenses and munitions to Israel, but some Democrats and Arab American groups have criticized the Biden administration's steadfast support of Israel, which they say provides it with a sense of impunity.

Biden on Friday acknowledged "the pain being felt" by many Arab Americans over the war in Gaza and over US support for Israel and its military offensive.

Still, he has vowed continued support for Israel despite an increasingly public rift with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The White House declined comment on the weapons transfers.

The Israeli embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The decision on weapons follows a visit to Washington by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant this week when he discussed Israel's weapons needs with US counterparts.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Gallant, apparently seeking to cool US-Israeli tensions, said he stressed the importance of US ties to his country's security and of maintaining Israel's "qualitative military edge" in the region, including its air capabilities.

The war erupted on Oct. 7 after Hamas militants attacked Israel and killed 1,200 people and seized 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Israel has retaliated by launching an air and ground assault on Hamas in the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 32,000 people, health authorities in Gaza say.

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Russia Detains Another Suspect Over Concert Hall Attack That Killed 144

A Russian court on Friday ordered another suspect charged with "terrorism" over the deadly attack on a Moscow concert hall to be held in pre-trial detention.

Russia has detained 12 people in connection with the massacre.

They include the four men accused of having shot dozens of concert-goers and then set the Crocus City Hall venue on fire last week in the deadliest attack in Russia for two decades.

The Basmanny district court in Moscow said Friday it had ordered Nazrimad Lutfulloi, a Tajik citizen, to be held in pre-trial detention until 22 May.

Nine of the 12 people arrested by the Russian authorities have been sent to pre-trial detention. There has been no update on the other three.

The suspects face life in prison.

The Islamic State (IS) group has repeatedly claimed responsibility for the attack, its deadliest on European soil.

But Russian President Vladimir Putin has alleged a Ukrainian and Western connection.

Russia's Investigative Committee has said it has evidence that "Ukrainian nationalists" were behind the attack and had funded the gunmen with crypto currency payments from Ukraine. 

It did not provide details of the allegations.

On Friday, it claimed the attackers had received orders from an unidentified coordinator via the Telegram messaging app, and that the gunmen had planned to flee to Ukraine to collect a reward.

Ukraine and the West have repeatedly dismissed the claims, accusing Moscow of seeking to exploit the tragedy for their own ends.

Russia's health minister said Friday that another victim had died in hospital, taking the death count from the attack to 144.

IS on Friday issued its latest claim of responsibility when it said four of its members had been arrested after the attack.

In the latest issue of its weekly Al-Nabaa magazine published Friday on Telegram channels, the group said its fighters had been hunted down by ground and air forces and captured.

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China Joins Probe Into Pak Suicide Attack That Killed 5 Chinese Nationals

Chinese investigators arrived in Pakistan on Friday to join a probe into the killing of five Chinese nationals in a suicide attack, Pakistan's interior ministry said, seeking to stem assaults threatening Islamabad's drive to modernise the economy.

Tuesday's incident was the third major attack in little over a week on China's interests in the South Asian nation, where Beijing has invested more than $65 billion in infrastructure projects as part of its wider Belt and Road initiative.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi met the Chinese team of investigators at Beijing's embassy and briefed them on the investigation so far, the statement said.

In late 2022, the two allied countries started a joint investigation into an attack that year on China's nationals and its interests, which have seen a rise in recent months.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack, in which a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle into a convoy of Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project at Dasu in Pakistan's northwest, killing six people.

The bombing followed a March 20 attack on a strategic port used by China in the southwestern province of Balochistan, where Beijing has poured billions of dollars into infrastructure projects, and a March 25 assault on a naval air base, also in the southwest. Both attacks was claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most prominent of several separatist groups in Balochistan.

Dasu, the site of a major dam, has been attacked in the past, with a bus blast in 2021 killing 13 people, nine Chinese among them, although no group claimed responsibility.

Chinese contractors suspended work on three hydropower projects in view of security concerns after Tuesday's attack, a government official said, adding that it was a routine practice after such incidents.

Pakistan is home to twin insurgencies, one mounted by Islamist militants and the other by ethnic separatists who seek secession, blaming the government's inequitable division of natural resources in southwestern Balochistan province.

Chinese interests are under attack primarily by ethnic militants seeking to push Beijing out of mineral-rich Balochistan, but that area is far from the site of Tuesday's bombing.

Pakistan has set up a dedicated force of police and military to ensure security for Chinese activities, officials say.

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Lufthansa Ground Staff Wins Pay Rise Of 12.5% After Several Strikes

Lufthansa's ground staff will get average pay rises of 12.5 percent under a deal reached after a series of crippling strikes, the German airline giant said Thursday.

The carrier and union Verdi, which represents some 25,000 ground staff, finally reached an agreement Wednesday, averting the threat of fresh walkouts over the Easter break.

The 12.5-percent increase was in line with Verdi's demands, and will be implemented in two stages over two years.

Employees will also receive bonuses to help combat high inflation of 3,000 euros, and improvements in other areas including extra holiday pay and flexible working hours.

Several rounds of direct talks between Lufthansa and Verdi had failed, but they finally achieved a breakthrough after agreeing to outside arbitration.

"We fought hard for this compromise and we can now be very satisfied," Verdi negotiator Marvin Reschinsky said.

"We have achieved real increases in real wages, which will make up for the shortfall of recent years."

Verdi members still need to take part in a survey to decide whether they accept the deal, but the union has recommended they do so.

The ground staff walked out in early March and in February, on both occasions leading to almost Lufthansa's entire flight schedule being cancelled.

Lufthansa cabin crew, who went on strike at major airports earlier this month, have by contrast still not reached a pay deal with the carrier.

The group -- whose carriers include Lufthansa, Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines -- had to be bailed out by the German government during the coronavirus pandemic.

But it has since bounced back strongly as travel has recovered, prompting unions to argue the airline is not passing on enough of its bumper earnings to its staff.

This week's deal brings some much-needed good news for employers in Europe's top economy, who have faced a tough season of wage negotiations as workers push for higher pay to offset inflation.

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Nearly 100 Still Missing After Moscow Attack: Report

As many as 95 people are still missing after last week's attack near Moscow when gunmen sprayed concertgoers with automatic weapons and set the venue on fire, a Russian news outlet reported on Wednesday.

The official toll from the attack on Crocus City Hall now stands at 140 dead and 182 wounded. But the Baza news service, which has good contacts in Russian security and law enforcement, said 95 more people appeared in lists compiled by the emergency services based on appeals from people about missing relatives.

"These lists include people with whom relatives have not been able to get in touch since the terrorist attack, but who are not on the lists of wounded and dead," Baza said. "Some of these people died, but have not yet been identified."

Russian investigators said the attack was carried out by four shooters using Kalashnikov automatic weapons. More than 500 rounds were found at the scene.

The shooting began shortly before the Soviet-era rock group "Picnic" was set to play to a full house of 6,200 people. More than 200 people could have been in the blazing building moments before the roof collapsed, Baza reported on Saturday, citing emergency service sources who reviewed surveillance footage.

Russian social media channels have been flooded in the days since the shooting with appeals to help find victims.

Gathering in a Telegram chat called "Crocus. Help Centre," friends and relatives shared names of missing concertgoers and offered support.

"Was there anyone on the list named Igor Valentinovich Klimenchenko?," one user wrote on Saturday night. "Can someone send the list of victims?"

The name Klimenchenko was not on the list of confirmed dead published by Russia's emergencies ministry.

'VERY WORRIED'

Another person wrote in the same chat that their uncle worked not far from Crocus and hadn't been in touch since the attack. "I'm very worried," the nephew wrote on Saturday night.

Local media in the Bryansk region, southwestern Russia, reported on Wednesday that a woman was still searching for her son, Dmitry Bashlykov, a schoolteacher in Moscow who went to the "Picnic" concert with a friend who managed to escape.

Bashlykov's name was not on the emergencies ministry list.

Several missing persons have since been confirmed dead, like 15-year-old Arseny, who went to the concert with his mother, Irina Vedeneyeva.

The SHOT Telegram channel on Sunday published a photo of Arseny that it said he sent his grandmother shortly before the concert began, along with appeals from the "grief-stricken pensioner" to help find him. His mother had already been confirmed dead, SHOT said.

In the photo, Arseny stands in a black hooded sweatshirt in front of a poster for Picnic, which SHOT said was his favourite band. On Monday, the channel wrote that Arseny's body had been found and identified by his relatives.

The names of both mother and son are on the list of confirmed dead published by Russia's emergencies ministry.

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"Palestinians Have Been Denied Their Homeland": S Jaishankar

In a strong statement on the Israel-Palestine issue, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that whatever the rights and wrongs in the whole conflict between Israel and Palestine, the underlying fact is that the Palestinians have been denied their rights and homeland.

He stated that what transpired on October 7 was a 'terrorist attack' but also acknowledged, in reference to the Israeli counteroffensive in Gaza, that every response must take into account something called international humanitarian law.

Mr Jaishankar, who is on a visit to Malaysia, was interacting with the Indian community during an event.

"How different pulls and pressures can be. On one hand, what happened on October 7 was terrorism. On the other hand, nobody would countenance the death of innocent civilians. Countries may be justified in their own minds in responding, but you cannot have a response that...every response must take into account something called international humanitarian law," Jaishankar said.

"The fact is whatever the rights and wrongs of the issue, there is underlying issue of the rights of the Palestinians and the fact that they have been denied their homeland," he added.

Hamas launched a horrific terror attack in Israel on October 7 killing more than 1200 people and holding more than 250 people as hostages, out of which over 100 are still in captivity.

In response, Israel launched a strong counteroffensive in the Gaza Strip targeting the Hamas units. However, the operation has also resulted in civilian casualties. According to Gaza ministry, more than 32,000 people have been killed in Gaza including women and children.

Notably, PM Modi was one of the first global leaders to condemn the horrific terror attack on Israel by Hamas on October 7.

However, India has also continued with its weight behind the 'two-state solution' to the long-running Israel-Palestine conflict.

Meanwhile, Mr Jaishankar is on an official visit to Malaysia, followed by his visits to Singapore and the Philippines.

Earlier in the day, he called on Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and expressed admiration for his vision aimed at fostering stronger ties between India and Malaysia. He also emphasised that this vision will serve as a catalyst for crafting a more ambitious agenda to advance the relationship between the two nations.

He also held a round-table meeting with CEOs in Malaysia and appreciated their growing interest in partnering with Indian industries.

"A productive round-table meeting with CEOs in Malaysia. Glad to hear about growing interest in partnering with Indian industries. Encouraged them to join in India's growth story. Discussed geopolitical developments that can provide more opportunities in business interactions," the EAM posted on X.

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Saudi Arabia To Participate In Miss Universe Pageant For 1st Time Ever

Saudi Arabia will participate in the Miss Universe pageant for the first time, making it a historic event for the Islamic country.

Rumy Alqahtani, a beauty pageant veteran and an influencer on Monday announced this news on her Instagram handle that she will be representing the kingdom in one of the most popular pageants in the world.

She shared glamourous pictures of herself. In the picture, model can be seen wearing a strapless sequined gown.

Along with the photos, she wrote, "I am honoured to participate in the Miss Universe 2024 competition. This is the first participation of Saudi Arabia in the Miss Universe competition," she wrote in Arabic on Instagram.

According to the Khaleej Times, born in Riyadh, Alqahtani is no stranger to the spotlight. She has joined numerous global pageants, with the latest one being Miss and Mrs Global Asian in Malaysia a few weeks ago.

Last year, Miss Nicaragua Sheynnis Palacios was crowned Miss Universe 2023.

For the first time, a contestant from Nicaragua became the winner of the contest while Antonia Porsild from Thailand and Moraya Wilson from Australia secured the second and third positions respectively.

The organizers of the event had announced last year that the next edition will be held in Mexico.

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Majority Of Migrant Deaths Over The Last 10 Years From Drowning: UN

Drowning has been the biggest cause of recorded migrant deaths over the past 10 years, the UN's migration agency said Tuesday, with victim numbers topping 36,000.

Of the 64,000 migrant deaths recorded over the last decade, nearly 60 percent were linked to drowning, according to a report by the UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Of those deaths at sea, over 27,000 occurred in the Mediterranean -- a route followed over the years by many migrants trying to reach southern Europe from northern Africa.

The figures in the report were likely a "fraction of the actual number", the IOM said, while much of the data was incomplete.

The Mediterranean was an "extremely dangerous region and the journeys are extremely risky", IOM data analyst Andrea Garcia Borja told journalists in Berlin.

But relatively larger totals in the region in part reflected more intense monitoring efforts, Garcia said.

The figures for the Mediterranean were most likely "closer to reality" than other, harder to monitor regions, such as the Sahara Desert, where reliable data was hard to come by, she said.

Of the deaths and disappearances recorded, two in three remained unidentified, according to the IOM.

And in over half of all cases, the IOM was unable to even establish the sex or age of the migrant.

For those cases where the migrant's origin could be identified, just over one-third came from "countries in conflict or with large refugee populations".

The figure highlighted "the dangers faced by those attempting to flee conflict zones without safe pathways", it said.

Over 8,500 people died on migration routes worldwide in 2023, making it the deadliest year since the IOM started collecting data a decade ago.

So far in 2024, the figures were "no less alarming", the organisation said.

For the Mediterranean route, the number of arrivals had declined relative to 2023, but "the number of deaths are nearly as high as last year".

The IOM said there was an "urgent need for strengthened search and rescue capacities", as well as "safe, regular migration pathways" to prevent further deaths.

At sea, greater assistance was needed for migrants in distress "in line with international law and the principle of humanity", the IOM said.

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"Terrible Accident": Joe Biden On Baltimore Bridge Collapse

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday called the collapse of a Baltimore bridge a "terrible accident," and pledged to get the major East Coast port up and running as soon as possible after a cargo ship struck one of the span's support pylons.

Biden said he would send "all the federal resources" needed to handle the incident, which occurred in the early hours of Tuesday. Six people -- all of them construction workers repairing the Francis Scott Key Bridge -- were missing, authorities said. 

"I'm directing my team to move heaven and earth to reopen the port and rebuild the bridge as soon as humanly possible," Biden said in a brief address from the White House, while acknowledging: "This is going to take some time."
 

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Florida Passes Law Restricting Social Media For People Under 16

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a bill that bans children aged under 14 from social media platforms and requires 14- and 15-year-olds to get parental consent, a measure supporters say will protect them from online risks to their mental health.

The measure requires social media platforms to terminate the accounts of people under 14 and those of people under 16 who do not have parental consent. It requires them to use a third-party verification system to screen out those who are underage.

The state's Republican-led legislature passed a bill in February that would have banned children under 16 from social media entirely. DeSantis, a Republican, vetoed that bill earlier this month, saying it limited parents' rights.

The amended version allows for parents to provide consent for older children to engage on social media platforms. It will become law on July 1.

"Social media harms children in a variety of ways," DeSantis said in a statement. He said the legislation "gives parents a greater ability to protect their children."

Supporters have said the legislation will stem the harmful effects of social media on the well-being of children who use such platforms excessively and may experience anxiety, depression and other mental illnesses as a result.

Critics have said the bill violates the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment protections for free speech and that parents, not the government, should make decisions about the online presence of their children of all ages.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, opposed the legislation, saying it would limit parental discretion and raise data privacy concerns because of the personal information users would have to provide to be age-verified. Meta has said it supports federal legislation for online app stores to secure parental approval for downloads by children.

The bill does not name any specific social media platforms, but states that its targets are social media sites that promote "infinite scrolling," display reaction metrics such as likes, feature auto-play videos and have live-streaming and push notifications. It would exempt websites and apps whose main function is email, messaging or texting between a particular sender and recipient.

The measure requires social media companies to permanently delete personal information collected from terminated accounts and let parents bring civil lawsuits against those failing to do so.

In March 2023 Utah became the first U.S. state to adopt laws regulating children's access to social media, followed by others including Arkansas, Louisiana, Ohio and Texas, according to a legislative analysis prepared for the Florida bill. The analysis said numerous other states were contemplating similar regulations.

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UK Blames China For "Malicious" Cyber-Attack On Voter Data

The UK on Monday accused China state-affiliated cyber organisations of at least two “malicious” and “reprehensible” cyber campaigns targeting Britain's voter data and parliamentarians.

In a statement in the House of Commons, the government revealed that the UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a part of its Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), concluded that the country's Electoral Commission systems were “highly likely” compromised by a Chinese entity between 2021 and 2022.

The NCSC also claims that it is “almost certain” that the China state-affiliated APT31 conducted reconnaissance activity against British parliamentarians during a separate campaign in 2021. All such attacks to interfere with UK democracy and politics are said to have been unsuccessful, but it has led to two individuals and one company linked to APT31 being sanctioned.

“The UK will not tolerate malicious cyber activity targeting our democratic institutions. It is an absolute priority for the UK government to protect our democratic system and values,” said Oliver Dowden, UK Deputy Prime Minister.

“I hope this statement helps to build wider awareness of how politicians and those involved in our democratic processes around the world are being targeted by state-sponsored cyber operations. We will continue to call out this activity, holding the Chinese government accountable for its actions,” he said.

Dowden told the Commons that the malicious cyber activity had not impacted electoral processes or affected the UK electorate's rights or access to the democratic process or electoral registration. The Electoral Commission has since taken steps to secure its systems against similar activity in the future.

“It is completely unacceptable that China state-affiliated organisations and individuals have targeted our democratic institutions and political processes. While these attempts to interfere with UK democracy have not been successful, we will remain vigilant and resilient to the threats we face,” stated Foreign Secretary David Cameron, who said he has raised the issue directly with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

“One of the reasons that it is important to make this statement is that other countries should see the detail of threats that our systems and democracies face,” he said.

The majority of the UK parliamentarians targeted include those calling out the malign activity of China, but the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said no parliamentary accounts were successfully compromised.

"It is reprehensible that China sought to target our democratic institutions. China's attempts at espionage did not give them the results they wanted and our new National Security Act has made the UK an even harder target,” said Home Secretary James Cleverly.

“Our upcoming elections, at local and national level, are robust and secure. Democracy and the rule of law is paramount to the United Kingdom. Targeting our elected representatives and electoral processes will never go unchallenged," he said.

The UK's statement is said to be supported by allies across its Five Eyes alliance, which includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. The British government said the international community is calling on the Chinese government to demonstrate its credibility as a responsible cyber actor and welcomed the expression of solidarity from across the Indo-Pacific and Europe.

Through the Defending Democracy Taskforce and National Security Act, the NCSC has also published guidance on its website to help high-risk individuals, including parliamentarians, to bolster their resilience to cyber threats, as well as advice to help organisations improve their security.

The UK's Elections Act 2022 also clarified the offence of undue influence, which it claims better protects voters from improper influences to vote in a particular way or to not vote at all, including activities which deceive an elector about the administration of an election or referendum. These electoral offences fall within the scope of the Online Safety Act's illegal safety duties, requiring online platforms to swiftly take down such content when they are alerted to it. 

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"TikTok Taoiseach": Simon Harris Set To Become Ireland's Youngest PM

Simon Harris, who is set to become Ireland's youngest ever prime minister after being appointed party leader on Sunday, will be hoping his social media skills and fresh face can save his party's flagging fortunes as elections loom.

The 37-year-old, who the media has already dubbed the "TikTok Taoiseach" -- the name for the Irish prime minister, pronounced "Tee-shock" -- beats the previous record holder, his predecessor Leo Varadkar, who was 38 when he took the top job in 2017.

After Varadkar's shock resignation Wednesday, Harris jumped into the race to lead the centre-right Fine Gael party and become prime minister by default.

By Thursday lunchtime he had secured the endorsements of a majority of his party colleagues, prompting all other rivals to rule themselves out, and his coronation was confirmed on Sunday.

Harris told party members that he would repay their faith with "hard work, with blood, sweat and tears, day in and day out with responsibility, with humility and with civility".

His focus would be on "law and order", crafting a "more planned and sustainable" immigration policy and fighting "against the dangers of populism", said the incoming leader.

Meteoric rise

Harris's inevitable election as taoiseach when the Dail -- the Irish parliament -- returns from recess on April 9 crowns a meteoric ascent.

Born in 1986, he grew up in the small coastal town of Greystones near Dublin, the son of a taxi driver.

He dropped out of a college course in journalism and French in Dublin after one year to concentrate on an already promising political career.

Harris entered politics by campaigning for autism services for his autistic younger brother, and later founded a charity.

He joined Fine Gael's youth wing at the age of 16 and quickly rose through the party's ranks.

A county councillor aged 22, he was elected to parliament as a 24-year-old in 2011 -- at the time the youngest MP and titled "Baby of the Dail".

He was appointed health minister in 2016, aged just 29.

"In many ways, my career has been a bit odd... life came at me a lot faster than I expected it to," he told Hot Press magazine in a 2022 interview.

Harris served as health minister for more than four years, including during the Covid pandemic -- in which his communication skills were praised despite heavy criticism over nursing home deaths and occasional gaffes.

He can be an "awful old idiot at times" he said, after remarking that Covid-19 refers to 18 previous coronaviruses rather than the year it first occurred.

Harris was also embroiled in controversy over new hospital projects, while a threatened no-confidence vote by the opposition over overcrowding in wards led Varadkar to call a 2020 election in which Fine Gael slumped to third place.

Social media savvy

A father-of-two and married to a cardiac nurse, Harris's prominence on social media, especially TikTok, has made him one of the most visible politicians in Ireland.

He has been higher education minister since 2020 and even critics concede he is a talented communicator.

With 1.4 million "likes" on TikTok, and hundreds of thousands of followers on both X and Instagram, Harris posts content almost daily to his audience.

But some of his videos and remarks have been seen as trying too hard to appeal to the younger generation.

During a stormy parliamentary committee meeting, Harris told the group: "Chillax -- I think everyone needs to take a step back here".

"All the young people know what 'chillax' is," he said in parliament the next day.

With his youth and slick communication skills his opponents jibe that he is "Leo 2.0", a continuation of a "metropolitan" style of politics that is out of touch with the wider electorate.

But for supporters, his enthusiasm could re-energise Fine Gael which still trails third in polls 10 weeks before local and European Parliament elections, and within a year from a general election.

"He has huge energy and huge ambition," one party colleague told the Irish Times paper.

"He's cute, crafty, and shrewd," said another.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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"Your Abysmal Track Record On Democracy Laughable": India Hits Out At Pak

India on Sunday hit out at Pakistan at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), saying lectures by a country with an abysmal track record of democracy is laughable and advised it to stop its terror factories from launching cross-border terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

Using his right of reply against Pakistan during the 148th Assembly of the IPU in Geneva, Switzerland, Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh said India is the largest democracy in the world and many consider it a model to be emulated.

"Lectures by a country which has an abysmal track record of democracy is laughable, to say the least. It would have been better if Pakistan did not undermine the importance of a platform like IPU by such absurd allegations and false narratives," he said.

Referring to allegations made by Pakistan on Jammu and Kashmir, the Rajya Sabha deputy chair said the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh have been and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.

"No amount of rhetoric and propaganda from anyone can override this fact. Instead, Pakistan would be well advised to stop its terror factories that continue to launch countless cross-border terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir while farcically claiming to champion the cause of human rights," he said.

Harivansh drew the attention of IPU members that Pakistan has an established history of harbouring, aiding and actively supporting terrorists.

"Let me recall that Osama Bin Laden, the face of global terror, was found in Pakistan. The country holds the ignoble record of hosting one of the largest number of terrorists proscribed by the UN Security Council," he reminded the audience.

He hoped that Islamabad would draw the correct lessons for the good of its own people.

Harivansh is leading the Indian delegation to the IPU.

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Stop Being "Stubborn": Maldives President Told To Fix India Ties

Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu must stop being "stubborn" and seek dialogue with neighbours to overcome the financial challenges, his predecessor Ibrahim Mohamed Solih has said. Solih made these remarks days after Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, urged India to provide debt relief to the archipelago nation.

Muizzu, 45, defeated Solih, 62, in the presidential election held in September last year.

Speaking at an event in Male' to rally support for Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) parliamentary candidates contesting four constituencies in Maafannu, Solih said he had seen media reports that suggest Muizzu wants to talk to India for debt restructuring.

But the financial challenges are not caused by Indian loans, Solih was quoted as saying by Adhadhu.com news portal.

Maldives has a debt of MVR 18 billion owed to China compared to MVR 8 billion owed to India, Solih said, adding that the repayment period is 25 years.

"However, I am confident that our neighbours will help. We must stop being stubborn and seek dialogue. There are many parties that can help us. But he [Muizzu] doesn't want to compromise. I feel they [the government] are starting to understand the situation only now," Solih said.

The former president said the government was deceiving the public and relaunching projects initiated by the MDP government. He said ministers are now lying to cover up those lies.

Muizzu criticised India during and after the presidential election campaign and relations between the two countries have deteriorated since he assumed office in November.

He has demanded the complete withdrawal of 88 Indian military personnel manning three aviation platforms used for humanitarian and medical evacuations in the Maldives by May 10. The first batch of 26 Indian military personnel have already left the island nation and were replaced by civilians.

In his first media interview, Muizzu claimed that he has not taken any action or made any statements that may strain the relationship between the two countries.

India will continue to remain the Maldives' closest ally, he said and emphasised that there was no question about it, Maldives news portal Edition.mv said in a report on Thursday.

Muizzu's conciliatory comments towards India came ahead of Parliament elections in Maldives slated to be held on April 21.

He is yet to visit India although it has been four months since the new government took over. The first overseas trip by Maldivian presidents had always been to India, the report noted. However, Muizzu visited China in January, making his first state visit.

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Oil Tanker Hit By Projectile Off Yemen, None Hurt: UK Maritime Agency

A Panama-flagged crude oil tanker caught fire after being struck by an unidentified projectile off Yemen on Saturday, in the latest attack on commercial shipping in the Red Sea.

The incident happened 23 nautical miles northwest of the Red Sea port of al-Mukha, British maritime security firm Ambrey said.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency also reported the incident, saying the fire was extinguished by the crew.

"Vessel and crew reported safe. Vessel continuing to next port of call," UKMTO added in an advisory note.

Ambrey said the tanker was registered under Union Maritime Ltd, a UK company, in 2019 before changing its registration details, including name and operator, last month.

"At the time of writing, she had changed course to starboard and continued on her journey to New Mangalore, India," the Ambrey statement said.

Months of attacks in the Red Sea by Yemen's Houthi operatives following the Israel-Hamas war have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the war could spread to destabilise the wider Middle East.

The Houthis say their attacks are in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and they will not stop until Israel ends the war and withdraws from the enclave.

The United States and Britain have launched strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen and redesignated the militia as a terrorist group.

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Russian Spacecraft Launches For ISS, 2 Days After Last Minute Glitch

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian, a Belarusian and an American en route to the International Space Station (ISS) was launched on Saturday from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, live footage showed.

The original planned launch was aborted seconds before takeoff on Thursday because of a problem with a chemical power source.

The Soyuz, carrying Russian Oleg Novitsky, Belarusian Marina Vasilevskaya and American Tracy Dyson, is due to dock with the ISS at 1510 GMT on Monday.

Space is one of the last remaining areas where the United States and Russia continue to collaborate despite the dire state of their relations as a consequence of the war in Ukraine.

Novitsky and Vasilevskaya will return to Earth on April 6 with Loral O'Hara, a US astronaut currently aboard the orbital station.

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Canadian Tourist, 24, Dies After Falling From Moving Train In Thailand

A Canadian tourist in Thailand died on Wednesday after falling from a moving train en route to "Death Island". According to The Independent, 24-year-old Ryan Joseph Ralph was travelling with his British girlfriend Shona Morgan, 22, when he fell from the overnight locomotive from Bangkok on March 20. Ms Morgan had flown to Thailand to be with his boyfriend, who had been travelling in the country for just over a month, to celebrate his birthday. The couple were trying to reach Koh Tao island in the south of Thailand when the tragedy struck. 

A couple of hours into the journey, Mr Ralph had left his girlfriend sleeping while he went for a cigarette at the end of the carriage, many of which have no doors or barriers. As per The Independent, the tourist is believed to have been injured after falling off the train before being pulled briefly along the tracks. 

Ms Morgan said she raised the alarm when she woke up an hour later and he was missing. Nearly 200 police officers and rescuers then joined a search for the 24-year-old. Police believe that the tourist lost his footing while the train was still moving, before dragging himself underneath to escape the wheels. However, he later passed out and died from blood loss, the outlet reported. 

Also Read | UK Woman, 33, Scarred For Life And Left Wheelchair Bound After Hot Water Bottle Explodes

The couple had been planning to celebrate Mr Ralph's birthday at Koh Island, which has been dubbed "Death Island" following the 2014 murders of two British tourists. He was found dead on Thursday, under a newly built platform at a station in the Ratchaburi province. Cops said that he was found with severe injuries on both legs. 

"He had in his pocket a wallet containing various documents and Thai banknotes," Police Lieutenant Colonel Rathnont Kasemchaisit said. "From the preliminary investigation, there were no traces of assault," he added. 

Separately, a rail worker said he was shocked when he found the 24-year-old dead. 

Meanwhile, there have been a series of deaths on Thailand's trains which are often blamed for poor safety standards. In 2014, a 19-year-old died when he fell from a train on the same route, as per the outlet. In 2017, a 20-year-old British tourist was also left in intensive care after falling from a moving train on the same journey. 

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In Video Message, Kate Middleton Says Fighting Cancer After Surgery

Kate, Britain's Princess of Wales, said on Friday she was undergoing preventative chemotherapy after tests taken following major abdominal surgery in January revealed cancer had been present.

Kate, 42, the wife of heir-to-the-throne Prince William, spent two weeks in hospital in January after having what her office said at the time was successful, planned surgery for a non-cancerous but unspecified condition.

However, in a video message, Kate said subsequent tests had revealed cancer had been found, but she said she was well and getting stronger.

"My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment," Kate said in the video which was filmed on Wednesday.

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A post shared by The Prince and Princess of Wales (@princeandprincessofwales)

"This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family."

King Charles revealed in February that he too was to have treatment for cancer, meaning he has had to postpone his public royal duties.

Her office, Kensington Palace, said it would give no further details about the type of cancer. It said she was on a recovery pathway and the preventative chemotherapy had begun in February.

After her operation, the palace said Kate would not return to official duties until after Easter, but her absence from public life has provoked intense speculation on social media.

She and William had wanted privacy about the cancer until their children, Prince George, 10, Princess Charlotte, 8, and Prince Louis, 5, began their school holidays which started on Friday.

"It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok," she said.

"As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits."

Kate has not appeared at a public event since she joined other members of the royal family for a church service on Christmas Day.

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"A Huge Shock": Kate's Statement On Cancer Discovery

Kate, Britain's Princess of Wales, said on Friday that tests taken after a surgery she had in January had revealed cancer had been present and she was now undergoing a course of preventative chemotherapy.

Below is the full transcript of Kate's video message:

"I wanted to take this opportunity to say thank you, personally, for all the wonderful messages of support and for your understanding whilst I have been recovering from surgery.

"It has been an incredibly tough couple of months for our entire family, but I've had a fantastic medical team who have taken great care of me, for which I am so grateful.

"In January, I underwent major abdominal surgery in London and at the time, it was thought that my condition was non-cancerous. The surgery was successful. However, tests after the operation found cancer had been present. My medical team therefore advised that I should undergo a course of preventative chemotherapy and I am now in the early stages of that treatment.

"This of course came as a huge shock, and William and I have been doing everything we can to process and manage this privately for the sake of our young family.

"As you can imagine, this has taken time. It has taken me time to recover from major surgery in order to start my treatment. But, most importantly, it has taken us time to explain everything to George, Charlotte and Louis in a way that is appropriate for them, and to reassure them that I am going to be ok.

"As I have said to them; I am well and getting stronger every day by focusing on the things that will help me heal; in my mind, body and spirits.

"Having William by my side is a great source of comfort and reassurance too. As is the love, support and kindness that has been shown by so many of you. It means so much to us both.

"We hope that you will understand that, as a family, we now need some time, space and privacy while I complete my treatment. My work has always brought me a deep sense of joy and I look forward to being back when I am able, but for now I must focus on making a full recovery.

"At this time, I am also thinking of all those whose lives have been affected by cancer. For everyone facing this disease, in whatever form, please do not lose faith or hope. You are not alone."

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Several Injured As Blast, Shooting Reported At Concert Hall Near Moscow

Shooting broke out at a large concert hall near Moscow on Friday, Russian news agencies quoted emergency services as saying.

RIA news agency said at least three people in camouflage clothing had opened fire at the Crocus City Hall, and that some people had been wounded.

Police had arrived at the scene, RIA said.

Video footage published on Russian social media channels showed chaotic scenes, with a large crowd of concertgoers attempting to flee the hall, followed by gunshots.

Other video footage showed a number of people lying motionless in pools of blood outside the hall.

Reuters was unable immediately to verify the footage.

TASS news agency reported an explosion and a fire in the building where the shooting took place.

The Kommersant newspaper posted footage online showing smoke billowing from what it said was the concert venue building.

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"Sorry, Donald": Biden Takes Jibe At Trump Over Campaign Cash Lead

Joe Biden may be struggling against Donald Trump in the polls ahead of November's US presidential election but his numbers are looking good in one department: campaign cash.

The Democrat holds a widening lead over his Republican rival in the fundraising stakes, while Trump is burning through legal fees as he battles multiple criminal and civil cases.

The cash crunch has also given 81-year-old Biden a new line of attack on the campaign trail, as he mocks the self-proclaimed billionaire tycoon for his mounting financial woes.

"Just the other day, a defeated-looking guy came up to me and said, 'Mr President, I need your help, I'm being crushed with debt, I'm completely wiped out,'" he told a fundraising event in Dallas, Texas on Wednesday.

"Donald, I'm sorry, I can't help you," Biden said he responded, in a punchline that drew laughs and applause from an audience of supporters.

Biden's financial advantage may help calm Democratic nerves as America's oldest president suffers from record low approval ratings less than seven months from his rematch with Trump.

Biden's campaign boasted $71 million of cash in hand at the end of February -- more than double Trump's $33.5 million, filings with the US Federal Election Commission showed on Wednesday.

The incumbent's campaign raised $21.3 million in February alone, again nearly double Trump's $10.9 million. Biden meanwhile spent $6.3 million in the month but Trump spent more -- $7.8 million.

Those figures however don't show the complete picture for either candidate as filings from their various fundraising committees won't be made until April.

Biden's campaign said at the weekend that it had raised more than $53 million in February, leaving it with a "historic" total of $155 million, which it said was the most by any Democrat at this stage in the election cycle.

- 'Dumpster fire' -

Perhaps the most worrying element for Trump are his giant legal fees, as he faces criminal cases including for trying to subvert his 2020 election loss and keeping secret documents.

Lawyers' bills accounted for a huge $5.6 million of the money spent in February by Trump's Save America political action committee -- money that could otherwise be going towards campaigning and TV spots.

The figures add to Trump's woes as he struggles to raise a $464 million bond to appeal a fine by a New York court for fraudulently inflating his wealth.

The 77-year-old now faces having his assets seized in a humiliating blow to his carefully cultivated image as a dealmaker and self-made tycoon.

Trump cast the fraud case as a "witch hunt," seeking as he often does to use the legal cases against him to whip up his supporters -- and get them to open their wallets.

"I'm calling on ONE MILLION Pro-Trump patriots to chip in and say: STOP THE WITCH HUNT AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP!" a campaign message on Wednesday said.

The message was titled "KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF TRUMP TOWER," his flagship New York property that could be at risk from the court case.

Earlier this month Trump managed to put together a separate bond for $91.6 million as he appeals a sexual assault and defamation judgment in a lawsuit brought by New York writer E. Jean Carroll.

Biden's campaign described Trump's finances as a "dumpster fire."

"Trump's filings paint a bleak picture for Republicans," Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa wrote on Thursday.

But with a tight election looming and Trump leading Biden in key swing states in recent polls, Democrats will be trying to keep their war chest as full as possible.

Biden will be joined at a fundraiser in New York on March 28 by Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, the first event of its kind to feature three Democratic presidents and among the most lucrative in party history.

The gala show is set to raise $10 million for Biden's campaign, with guests having to fork out $100,000 each to pose in a photo with the 42nd, 44th and 46th US presidents, NBC News reported.

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US Attorney General's Full Speech On Suit Against Apple For iPhone Monopoly

The US Department of Justice on Thursday sued Apple for illegally maintaining a monopoly for its iPhone by stifling competition and imposing exorbitant costs on consumers.

The lawsuit, which was also brought by multiple US states, attacked the iPhone for raking in hundreds of billions of dollars by making it difficult for consumers to switch away to cheaper smartphones and devices.

Apple joins Amazon, Google and Facebook-owner Meta which are also facing antitrust lawsuits in the US.

What US Attorney General Merrick Garland Said On Lawsuit Against Apple

Earlier today, the Department of Justice, joined by 15 states and the District of Columbia sue Apple in the U.S. District Count for the District of New Jersey for violating Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act.

Over the last two decades, Apple has become one of the most valuable public companies in the world. Today, its net income exceeds the individual Gross Domestic Product of more than 100 countries. That is in large part due to the success of the iPhone, Apple's signature smartphone product.

For over a decade, iPhone sales have made up a majority of Apple's annual revenue. Today, Apple's share of the U.S. performance smartphone market exceeds 70%, and its share of the entire U.S. smartphone market exceeds 65%. Apple charges as much as nearly $1,600 for an iPhone.

But as our complaint alleges, Apple has maintained monopoly power in the smartphone market not simply by staying ahead of the competition on the merits, but by violating federal antitrust law.

Consumers should not have to pay higher prices because companies break the law.

We allege that Apple has employed a strategy that relies on exclusionary, anticompetitive conduct that hurts both consumers and developers.

For consumers, that has meant fewer choices; higher prices and fees; lower quality smartphones, apps, and accessories; and less innovation from Apple and its competitors.

For developers, that has meant being forced to play by rules that insulate Apple from competition.

And as outlined in our complaint, we allege that Apple has consolidated its monopoly power not by making its own products better - but by making other products worse.

Apple carries out its exclusionary, anticompetitive conduct in two principal ways: 

First, Apple imposes contractual restrictions and fees that limit the features and functionality that developers can offer iPhone users.

Second, Apple selectively restricts access to the points of connection between third-party apps and the iPhone's operating system, degrading the functionality of non-Apple apps and accessories.

As a result, for most of the past 15 years, Apple has collected a tax in the form of a 30% commission on the price of any app downloaded from the App Store as well as on in-app purchases. Apple is able to command these fees from companies of all sizes.

Apple has also suppressed the emergence of programs like cloud streaming apps - including gaming apps - as well as super apps that could reduce user dependence on Apple's own operating system and expensive hardware. 

And, as any iPhone user who has ever seen a green text message, or received a tiny, grainy video can attest - Apple's anticompetitive conduct also includes making it more difficult for iPhone users to message with users of non-Apple products.

It does this by diminishing the functionality of its own messaging app and by diminishing the functionality of third-party messaging apps.

By doing so, Apple knowingly and deliberately degrades quality, privacy, and security for its users.

For example, if an iPhone user messages a non-iPhone user in Apple Messages, the text appears not only as a green bubble, but incorporates limited functionality:

• The conversation is not encrypted;
• Videos are pixelated and grainy; and
• Users cannot edit messages or see typing indicators.

As a result, iPhone users perceive rival smartphones as being lower quality because the experience of messaging friends and family who do not own iPhones is worse - even though Apple is the one responsible for breaking cross-platform messaging.

And it does so intentionally.

For example, in 2013, a senior executive at Apple explained that supporting cross-platform messaging in Apple Messages, "would simply serve to remove [an] obstacle to iPhone families giving their kids Android phones."

In 2022, Apple's CEO was asked whether Apple would fix iPhone-to-Android messaging. The questioner added: "not to make it personal but I can't send my mom certain videos."

Apple's CEO responded, "Buy your mom an iPhone."

In addition to selectively controlling app distribution and creation, we allege that Apple is violating the law by conditionally restricting developers' access to the interface needed to make an app functional on the Apple operating system.

For a product like a smartwatch or a digital wallet to be useful to an iPhone user, it must be able to communicate with the iPhone's operating system. But Apple creates barriers that make it extremely difficult and expensive for both users and developers to venture outside the Apple ecosystem.

When it comes to smartwatches, Apple not only drives users to purchase an Apple Watch - which is only compatible with an iPhone - it also uses its technical and contractual controls to make it harder for someone with an iPhone to use a non-Apple smartwatch.

And when it comes to digital wallets, Apple's exclusionary conduct goes a step further. Digital wallets allow users to store and use passes and credentials in a single app - including credit cards, personal identification, movie tickets, and car keys. Apple Wallet is Apple's proprietary digital wallet on the iPhone.

Apple actively encourages banks, merchants, and other parties to participate in Apple Wallet. But it simultaneously exerts its monopoly power to block these same partners from developing alternative payment products and services for iPhone users.

For example, Apple has blocked third-party developers from creating competing digital wallets on the iPhone that use what is known as tap-to-pay functionality. That is the function that makes a digital wallet - well, a wallet.

Instead, Apple forces those who want to use the wallet function to share personal information with Apple - even if they would prefer to share that information solely with their bank, medical provider, or other trusted third party.

When an iPhone user puts a credit or debit card into Apple Wallet, Apple inserts itself in a process that could otherwise occur directly between the user and card issuer. This introduces an additional potential point of failure for the privacy and security of Apple users.

And that is just one way in which Apple is willing to make the iPhone less secure and less private in order to maintain its monopoly power.

The Supreme Court defines monopoly power as "the power to control prices or exclude competition."

As set out in our complaint, Apple has that power in the smartphone market.

Now, having monopoly power does not itself violate the antitrust laws.

But it does when a firm acquires or maintains monopoly power - not because it has a superior product or superior business acumen - but by engaging in exclusionary conduct.

As set out in our complaint, Apple has maintained its power not because of its superiority, but because of its unlawful exclusionary behavior.

Monopolies like Apple's threaten the free and fair markets upon which our economy is based. They stifle innovation; they hurt producers and workers; and they increase costs for consumers. 

If left unchallenged, Apple will only continue to strengthen its smartphone monopoly.

But there's a law for that.

The Justice Department will vigorously enforce antitrust law.

Enforcing the law protects consumers from higher prices and fewer choices. 

That is the Justice Department's legal obligation.  That is what the American people expect. That is what they deserve.

I am grateful to the attorneys and staff of the Department's Antitrust Division for their tireless work on this case on behalf of the American people. I will now turn the podium over to the Deputy Attorney General.

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Queen Camilla Gives Update On King Charles' Health Amid Silence On Kate

Britain's Queen Camilla said her husband King Charles who is being treated for cancer was doing "very well", as she greeted crowds on a visit to Northern Ireland on Thursday.

Charles has been absent from public duties since January while he undergoes treatment for an unspecified form of cancer, leaving Camilla and heir-to-the-throne Prince William to be the public face of the royal family.

Camilla, 76, joked with members of the public in Belfast, telling workers in a bakery that a smartly dressed small boy there was "a natural for the cameras" as he stole the limelight.

Handed a card by a schoolgirl outside a shop to wish her husband well, Camilla said: "Thank you. He'll be delighted."

Camilla and William have been out and about this week, meeting people and carrying out charity, holding the fort for the royal family while another of its star players, Kate Middleton, the Princess of Wales, also recuperates from a health problem.

Kate is not expected to return to official duties until after Easter on March 31, following abdominal surgery for a non-cancerous condition in January.

Interest in her health has kept Kate in the headlines. Britain's data watchdog said on Wednesday it was looking into a report that staff at the London hospital where she was treated had attempted to access her private health records.

Camilla, who loves books and has set up a reading charity, is due to attend an event later on Thursday celebrating Northern Ireland's literary history, at Hillsborough Castle, hosted by poet Paul Muldoon.

Last month Camilla said Charles was "doing extremely well under the circumstances."

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Nepal's Only Billionaire Investigated In Alleged Land Grab Case

Nepal's only billionaire, Binod Chaudhary, is under the lens of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) in connection with a government land-grab case. The matter came to light after CIB wrote a letter to Nepal's House Speaker, informing him of their ongoing investigation.

Mr Chaudhary, a lawmaker from the Nepali Congress in the lower house of the Nepal Federal Parliament, is being investigated for allegedly privatizing land belonging to the Bansbari Shoe Factory, a government entity.

Hobindra Bogati, a senior officer at CIB, submitted a letter at the Parliament Secretariat informing House Speaker Dev Raj Ghimire about the investigation against the lawmaker in the land embezzlement case.

The CIB has also given Mr Chaudhary a deadline until Thursday morning to provide an explanation of the case to the investigating authority, otherwise he might face arrest.

Mr Chaudhary is accused of illegally acquiring 10 ropani (54758.621 square feet) of land from the Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory, a government-owned company that is now defunct.

He is accused of transferring the land to Champion Footwear under an illegal agreement, and subsequently renamed the company to CG Chandbagh Residency Pvt, which is owned by him.

He later gave the land to his brother, Arun Chaudhary, who now operates CG Chandbagh School on the seized property. An investigation had found that the Nepali billionaire, like his brother Arun Chaudhary, holds shares in Champion Footwear Company, a venture implicated in acquiring government land from the Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory.

Documents also revealed that Arun, the younger brother, has 200 shares in Champion Footwear Limited.

Despite his brother's arrest in connection with this case, Binod Chaudhary was not arrested. The documents indicate that the 200 shares, valued at 2 lakh, are part of an agreement specifying that the company should hold 2,500 shares of Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory.

It is also noted in the document that Binod Chaudhary's 's father, Lunkarandas Chaudhary, owns more than 2100 shares in the Bansbari Leather Shoe Factory.

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Study Of "Twin" Stars Finds Evidence Of Planetary Ingestion

The planetary system that includes Earth and its sibling planets orbiting the sun has been remarkably stable during its roughly 4.5 billion years of existence. But not all planetary systems are so lucky, as shown in a new study involving "twin" stars.

An examination of 91 pairs of stars with matching sizes and chemical compositions showed that a surprising number exhibited signs of having ingested a planet, scientists said on Wednesday, likely after the planet was sent hurtling out of a stable orbit for any number of reasons.

The study looked at pairs of stars that formed within the same interstellar cloud of gas and dust - so-called co-natal stars - giving them the same chemical makeup, and were of roughly equal mass and age. These are the "twins." While the pairs are moving together in the same direction within our Milky Way galaxy, they are not binary systems of two stars gravitationally bound to each other.

A star's chemical composition changes when it engulfs a planet because it incorporates the elements that made up the doomed world. The researchers looked for stars that differed from their twin because they had higher amounts of tell-tale elements like iron, nickel or titanium indicating remnants of a rocky planet, relative to certain other elements.

"It's the elemental abundance differences between two stars in a co-natal system," said astronomer Fan Liu of Monash University in Australia, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.

In seven of the pairs, one of the two stars bore evidence of planetary ingestion.

Possible reasons for a planet making a death plunge into its host star include an orbital disturbance caused by a larger planet, or another star passing uncomfortably close, destabilizing the planetary system, the researchers said.

"This really puts into perspective our fortuitous position in the universe," said astrophysicist and study co-author Yuan-Sen Ting of the Australian National University and Ohio State University. "The stability of a planetary system like the solar system is not a given."

The researchers used the European Space Agency's Gaia space observatory to identify the twins and used telescopes in Chile and Hawaii to determine their composition. The stars were as close as 70 light years from our solar system and as far as 960 light years away. A light year is the distance light travels in a year, 5.9 trillion miles (9.5 trillion km).

The researchers said while it is most likely that their observations signaled whole planets being ingested, it was possible it was planetary building blocks consumed during the system's period of planet formation.

In their death throes, our sun and other stars like it dramatically puff up, ingesting any planets with close orbits, before collapsing into a dense, burned-out cinder called a white dwarf.

"We know that all stars like the sun will eventually become giant stars. The envelope of the sun will expand and eventually swallow Earth," Ting said.

But the stars in this study all were in the prime of their life, not nearing the end.

Instability in planetary systems may be more common than previously known, considering that about 8% of the stellar pairs studied had one star that apparently devoured a planet.

Most planetary systems should be stable because, as in our solar system, the planets are under the influence mainly of their host star, not their sibling planets, Ting said.

"But for other planetary systems with different initial conditions and configurations, this might break down, leading to very chaotic dynamics," Ting added.

The study indicates that, Ting said, "a non-negligible fraction of planetary systems are indeed unstable, meaning there are always planets being ejected in or out."

Given that only a small fraction of these wayward planets might actually be gulped by their host star rather than simply wandering the cosmos, there may be more of these planetary exiles than previously suspected.

"Understanding which planetary systems are stable or not is a long-time goal of planetary dynamics theorists," said Ting.

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Gaza Hunger Warnings Grow Amid Ceasefire Talks

Tensions surged as Hamas's chief accused Israel on Tuesday of sabotaging talks for a Gaza truce after it raided the devastated Palestinian territory's largest hospital for a second time.

Months of war have pushed hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in the besieged territory to the brink of famine, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying everyone in Gaza was now in need of humanitarian aid.

A UN-backed assessment meanwhile said 300,000 people in the territory's north would face famine by May without a surge of aid.

UN rights chief Volker Turk said Israel was blocking aid and conducting the conflict in a way that "may amount to the use of starvation as a method of war".

Israeli troops on Tuesday were pressing an assault on Gaza's biggest hospital, which they allege is being used for military purposes, saying more than 50 fighters had been killed and around 300 suspects arrested and taken for questioning.

In response, Hamas's Qatar-based chief Ismail Haniyeh accused Israel of seeking to "sow chaos and perpetuate violence" and "sabotage ongoing negotiations in Doha".

"The actions of the Zionist occupation forces at Al-Shifa Medical Complex confirm their intent to obstruct the recovery of life in Gaza and dismantle essential aspects of human existence," Haniyeh said.

It came as negotiations on a ceasefire in Qatar had restarted, after weeks of talks failed to secure a truce for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began last week.

Israel's spy chief David Barnea kicked off a new round of talks with Egyptian and Qatari mediators on Monday.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari said he was "cautiously optimistic" but it was "too early to announce any successes".

Ansari said they were expecting a counter-proposal to be presented to Hamas after both sides rejected previous offers, adding that technical talks would continue.

- 'Screamed in fear' -

The bloodiest ever Gaza war broke out after an unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 resulted in about 1,160 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Militants also seized about 250 hostages, of whom Israel believes 130 remain in Gaza, including 33 who are presumed dead.

Israel has responded with a relentless offensive against Hamas that has killed at least 31,819 people, most of them women and children, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Blinken, who will travel to Saudi Arabia and Egypt this week to try to shore up support for the temporary truce and an increase in aid, highlighted that everyone in Gaza was now suffering "severe levels of acute food insecurity".

"That's the first time an entire population has been so classified," he said during a visit to the Philippines.

Underlining his point, AFPTV footage showed desperate crowds gathered at the Jabalia refugee camp to get a portion of carrot soup.

"We came to queue, but they threw us out," said Jabalia resident Musaab al-Masry, lamenting that there was not enough food for everyone.

Further south, a diplomatic storm continued to rumble around the city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands have sought refuge from fighting elsewhere in the territory.

US President Joe Biden is putting pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to pull back from a threatened full-scale ground operation.

But Netanyahu said he told Biden "we are determined to complete the elimination of these battalions in Rafah, and there is no way to do this without a ground incursion".

The city is already under bombardment, with AFPTV footage showing residents picking through debris of buildings on Tuesday after another night of strikes.

Torrential rains piled onto the misery overnight, with many displaced having nowhere to run but makeshift tents.

Oum Abdullah Alwan said her children "screamed in fear" because "we can't tell the difference between the sound of rain and the sound of shelling".

- Hospital raid -

For the past two months, much of the Israeli military effort has been focused on the south.

Officials declared in January that the Hamas command structure in northern Gaza had been dismantled.

But the assault on Al-Shifa threw the spotlight back on the north.

Israel has long accused militants of using hospitals as bases and troops previously raided Al-Shifa last November, sparking an international outcry.

Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said this week that Palestinian militants and commanders had since returned to Al-Shifa "and turned it into a command centre".

An army statement late Tuesday said "dozens of prominent terrorists" from Hamas and the Islamic Jihad were among those arrested in the operation.

Witnesses reported air strikes and tanks near the hospital compound, which is crowded with thousands of displaced civilians, as well as the sick and wounded.

Also on Tuesday, a Palestinian man was killed by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank, a local official said, with the Israeli army saying a soldier shot a suspect during a disturbance.

According to the health ministry in Ramallah, Israeli troops and settlers have killed at least 430 Palestinians in the West Bank since the Gaza war began.

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Presidential Immunity Invoked For Pak President In Corruption Case

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari's counsels on Tuesday invoked presidential immunity for him in a corruption case, commonly known as the Park Lane reference, in which he is accused of influencing authorities to release loans to front companies.

Judge Nasir Javed Rana of an Islamabad-based accountability court presided over the hearing in the Park Lane case.

The case is based on the allegation that Zardari influenced relevant authorities during his previous term as the president - from 2008 to 2013 - to release loans for his front companies.

During the hearing, Zardari's lawyers contended that after becoming the president, he enjoyed presidential immunity against court cases, and any proceedings against him could not continue.

Zardari was elected president of Pakistan for the second time on March 9.

Zardari, 68, his sister and several of their alleged business associates were being probed as part of the 2015 case involving fake accounts and fictitious transactions.

On being asked by the court if the case could progress against the co-accused, the lawyers responded affirmatively that legal action could proceed against the remaining defendants.

The court adjourned the hearing till April 17.

The case is based on the National Accountability Bureau's (NAB) claim that Zardari got a loan of Rs 1.5 billion released for his front company, Parthenon Private Limited, and the money was later transferred for his personal use through fake bank accounts.

The NAB accused the president of causing the national exchequer a loss of Rs 3.77 billion. 

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2023 Broke Every Single Climate Indicator: UN Weather Agency

Greenhouse gas levels, surface temperatures, ocean heat and acidification, and sea level rise all reached record highs in 2023, according to a new report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) released on Tuesday.

The report, titled "State of the Global Climate 2023", confirmed that 2023 was the warmest year in the 174-year observational record, with the global average near-surface temperature at 1.45 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial baseline (1850-1900).

"Sirens are blaring across all major indicators... Some records are not just chart-topping, they are chart-busting. And changes are speeding up," said United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

"Never have we been so close - albeit on a temporary basis at the moment - to the 1.5 degrees Celsius lower limit of the Paris Agreement on climate change. The WMO community is sounding the red alert to the world... The climate crisis is the defining challenge that humanity faces," WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said.

"Climate change is about much more than temperatures. What we witnessed in 2023, especially with the unprecedented ocean warmth, glacier retreat, and Antarctic Sea ice loss, is cause for particular concern," she added.

COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber said the world has no time to spare.

To limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, countries must deliver enhanced Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), economy-wide emissions reductions, and investments in nature and adaptation, he stressed.

Concentrations of the three main greenhouse gases - carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide - reached record-high observed levels, the report said.

At 417.9 parts per million (ppm), the global average concentration of carbon dioxide in 2022 was 50 per cent higher than in the pre-industrial era, trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Real-time data showed the CO2 concentration continued to rise in 2023 while the global mean sea level reached a record high.

The rate of sea level rise in the last 10 years (2014-2023) has more than doubled since the first decade of the satellite record (1993 - 2002), the WMO said.

Antarctic sea-ice extent reached an absolute record low in February. The annual maximum extent was around 1 million square kilometres below the previous record low maximum.

The global set of reference glaciers for the hydrological year 2022-2023 experienced the largest loss of ice on record (1950-2023), driven by an extremely negative mass balance in both western North America and Europe, the WMO noted.

Extreme weather and climate events had major socio-economic impacts on all inhabited continents, including major floods, tropical cyclones, extreme heat and drought, and associated wildfires, it said.

The WMO report also cited figures showing that the number of people who are acutely food insecure worldwide has more than doubled, from 149 million people before the COVID-19 pandemic to 333 million people in 2023 (in 78 monitored countries by the World Food Programme).

WFP Global hunger levels remained unchanged from 2021 to 2022.

However, these are still far above pre-COVID-19 pandemic levels: In 2022, 9.2 per cent of the global population (735.1 million people) were undernourished.

Protracted conflicts, economic downturns, and high food prices, further exacerbated by high costs of agricultural inputs driven by ongoing and widespread conflict around the world, are at the root of high global food insecurity levels, aggravated by the effects of climate and weather extremes.

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