Indian city faces curfew as Hindu groups target Muslim emperor’s tomb

An indefinite curfew was declared in Nagpur in the western Indian state of Maharashtra after clashes erupted over demands by Hindu groups to demolish the tomb of a 17th-century Mughal ruler.

A curfew remained in effect for the second consecutive day on Wednesday across 10 police jurisdictions of Nagpur, a day after more than 50 people were detained amid violence sparked by protests against Emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb.

State lawmaker Chandrashekhar Bawankule said 34 police personnel and five civilians were injured during the violence while several houses and vehicles sustained damage.

Senior police officer Ravinder Singal confirmed that at least 50 people had been arrested.

Police earlier said at least 15 officers were injured in the clashes and one of them was in serious condition.

The violence erupted after right-wing Hindu group Vishwa Hindu Parishad burned an effigy of Aurangzeb, demanding that the government raze his tomb in Khuldabad, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, formally called Aurangabad. They claimed the tomb was a reminder of “centuries of oppression, atrocities, and slavery” of Hindus during Muslim rule in India.

The agitation by Hindu groups started after the release of Bollywood film Chhaava, which portrayed Aurangzeb’s execution of a local Hindu king called Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj. The chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, said in the state assembly that “Chhaava has ignited people’s anger against Aurangzeb”.

In Nagpur, tension escalated when rumours spread that a Muslim holy book had been desecrated during the effigy burning. Muslim groups marched near a police station, leading to stone-pelting and attacks by masked individuals carrying weapons.

Mr Fadnavis condemned the violence and ordered strict action. “I have told the police commissioner to take whatever strict steps are necessary,” he said.

He had earlier said the violence looked like it was “a well-planned attack”.

On the second day of the curfew, shops and businesses in central Nagpur remained shut as security was heightened across the city.

Security was also tightened around Aurangzeb’s tomb in Khuldabad town.

Maharashtra’s deputy director general of police, Rashmi Shukla, instructed district police chiefs to watch carefully for even minor incidents that could spark unrest, according to The Indian Express.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad denied involvement in the clashes. The group’s general secretary, Milind Parande, said in a video message that they wanted a Maratha memorial to be built in place of the tomb.

China executes four Canadian nationals on drug-related charges

Canada has strongly condemned the execution of four Canadians despite urging clemency over drug-smuggling charges, in the latest case that has sparked diplomatic tension between the two countries.

Foreign minister Mélanie Joly said the four people had dual citizenship and were facing “charges linked to criminal activities, according to China, linked to drugs”.

They were executed earlier this year, she said.

“There are four Canadians that have been executed and therefore we are strongly condemning what happened,” she said. “I asked personally for leniency … They were all dual citizens.”

She said she and the former prime minister Justin Trudeau personally intervened in the cases of four citizens and added that she could not provide more details as the families requested privacy.

“Of course, our hearts and minds are with the families,” she said.

Global Affairs spokesperson Charlotte MacLeod said they are providing consular assistance to the families and requested that the media respect their privacy.

Canada “remains steadfast in its opposition to the use of the death penalty in all cases, everywhere”, she added.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa defended the executions and said they do not recognise dual citizenship. “China always imposes severe penalties on drug-related crimes,” a spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said.

“The facts of the crimes committed by the Canadian nationals involved in the cases are clear, and the evidence is solid and sufficient.”

The embassy said the four cases were handled “in strict accordance with the law” and that the rights and interests of the Canadians were “fully guaranteed”.

China-Canada relations have been strained in recent years, particularly since December 2018 when Canada arrested Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou at the request of the US. In apparent retaliation, China detained two Canadians, Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor, accusing them of espionage. This episode, often termed “hostage diplomacy”, severely damaged diplomatic ties.

The Michaels’ were released in 2021, however, the ongoing disputes over trade, human rights, and espionage allegations continue to keep Canada-China ties fragile.

Amnesty International condemned the latest executions and noted that China executed thousands of people in 2023.

“These shocking and inhumane executions of Canadian citizens by Chinese authorities should be a wake-up call for Canada,” the group’s head for English-speaking Canada, Ketty Nivyabandi, said Wednesday in a statement.

China is believed to execute more prisoners each year than the rest of the world combined, though the total is a state secret. Executions are traditionally carried out by gunshot, though lethal injections have been introduced in recent years.

Thailand eyes hosting Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bangkok from 2028

The Thai government is considering hosting a Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bangkok from 2028, with prime minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra confirming plans for a feasibility study into the proposal.

It marks Thailand’s latest effort to establish itself as a premier destination for global sporting events and attract high-spending tourists.

Ms Shinawatra met with Formula 1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali on Tuesday at Government House in Bangkok, where they discussed the country’s potential to hold a race on a street circuit in the capital.

Following the meeting, she announced that the government would examine the investment required, assess possible race routes, and evaluate the economic benefits for Thailand.

“We had the opportunity to discuss the opportunity of Thailand to host the Formula 1 race, which is a great sport with a worldwide following,” Ms Shinawatra posted on X.

“The government confirmed that it will study this joint investment, including the study of the race route, the investment budget, and the value for Thailand to receive from hosting the race.”

Although Thailand already has an FIA-accredited circuit – the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, which hosts MotoGP races – the focus is on holding a Formula 1 street race in Bangkok.

The city’s traffic congestion is notorious, and Ms Shinawatra believes the event could serve as an impetus to upgrade infrastructure.

“I believe that all Thai people will benefit from organising this event, whether it is large-scale infrastructure investment, job creation, new income generation, and importing new technologies and innovations,” she said.

“I am confident that this project will be successful. It is another important opportunity for the country to organise a world-class event.”

Mr Domenicali also expressed optimism, calling Thailand’s plans “impressive” and stating that he looked forward to continuing discussions in the coming months.

If successful, Thailand would join an increasingly crowded Formula 1 calendar, which currently features 24 races worldwide.

A third of the scheduled events for 2025 will be held on street or hybrid circuits, including the Singapore Grand Prix, which takes place on the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Formula 1 has had two Thai drivers in its history: Alex Albon, who races for the British Formula One team Williams Racing under the Thai flag, and Prince Birabongse Bhanudej, who competed in the sport’s early years from 1950 to 1955.

While Thailand has expressed interest in hosting an F1 race before, this latest push builds on previous efforts to position the country as a hub for major international events.

The government has actively sought to host concerts and festivals, aiming to capitalise on its tourism-driven economy.

The feasibility study will determine whether Bangkok can meet the logistical and financial demands of hosting a Grand Prix, as Formula 1 continues to evaluate new venues amid surging global interest in the sport.

Additional reporting by agencies

Trump’s assault on Voice of America celebrated by Chinese state media

Donald Trump’s decision to slash funding for the government-run Voice of America and Radio Free Asia is being celebrated by Chinese state media for “eliminating fake news”.

The president signed an order last weekend ending grants to federally funded news organisations and instructing them to put almost the entire staff on leave. He accused VOA of being “anti-Trump” and “radical”.

The cuts were announced by the US Agency for Global Media, the parent company of VOA and similar media entities like Radio Free Europe and Radio Free Asia, which were set up to counter the propaganda and influence of communism.

VOA immediately put nearly 1,300 staff on leave in the wake of Mr Trump’s order.

The Global Times, the English-language mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist party, cheered the decision in an editorial, claiming VOA had long spread “malicious falsehood about China”.

“The so-called beacon of freedom, VOA, has now been discarded by its own government like a dirty rag,” the editorial said.

The newspaper criticised VOA’s track record when it came to China-related reporting.

From “smearing human rights” in Xinjiang to “hyping up disputes in the South China Sea” and “from fabricating the so-called China virus narrative to promoting the claim of China’s overcapacity”, it continued, “almost every malicious falsehood about China has VOA’s fingerprints all over it”.

“Voice of America has been paralysed! And so has Radio Free Asia, which has been as vicious to China,” former Global Times editor Hu Xijin said. “This is such great news.”

The Beijing Daily, another paper run by the Chinese Communist Party, said VOA was “notorious for spreading lies” and rumours about the Uyghur “genocide” in Xinjiang.

Beyond China, former Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen, who ruled his country for about four decades as an autocrat, welcomed Mr Trump’s move.

“This is a major contribution to eliminating fake news, disinformation, lies, distortions, incitement, and chaos around the world coming from the propaganda machine that President Trump has stopped funding,” he said on Monday.

Margarita Simonyan, editor of the Russian state broadcaster RT, hailed the “awesome decision by Mr Trump. Today is a holiday for me and my colleagues at RT and Sputnik. This is an awesome decision by Trump!”

Ms Simonyan accused the American state-funded media outlets of spreading fake news and brainwashing Russians. “We couldn’t shut them down, unfortunately, but America did so itself,” she said on RT’s weekly talk show.

Clayton Weimers, US executive director of the press advocacy group Reporters Without Borders, said that authoritarian regimes were “the biggest winners” of Mr Trump’s decision.

“Many of them, like China, are looking forward to filling the gap left by American leadership in media freedom with their own propaganda,” Mr Weimers said.

Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, claimed the Trump administration’s move would “severely weaken our ability to compete” with Beijing and “ultimately make us less safe”.

Media outlets funded by the American government “provide real reporting to millions living under authoritarian regimes, countering CCP distortion”, Mr Krishnamoorthi said, and allowing Chinese people to “question the CCP’s propaganda and aggression towards the US and our allies and partners”.

VOA was established in 1942 to counter Nazi propaganda during World War II and promote American perspectives around the world. After the war, it was put to use countering communist influence and expanded to operate in around 50 languages, including English, Mandarin, Russian, Persian, Urdu, Hindi, and Swahili. At its height, it reached some 360 million people per week.

Radio Free Europe was established in 1949 to counter Soviet influence during the Cold War.

Radio Free Asia was founded in 1996 and focused on countries with authoritarian governments such as China, North Korea, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos.

It stood out for its reporting on China’s Xinjiang, where authorities were accused of holding more than one million Uyghur Muslims in detention camps without trial.

Beijing denied the accusations of rights abuses and claimed the detention facilities were “re-education camps” for suspected extremists.

Bay Fang, the president and chief executive of Radio Free Asia, said Mr Trump’s order gutting his organisation was a “reward to dictators and despots, including the Chinese Communist Party, who would like nothing better than to have their influence go unchecked in the information space”.

Scientists warn of ‘frightening’ future after 1.5C breach

Record heat, melting glaciers, and oceans warming at an unprecedented pace made 2024 the hottest year ever recorded, delivering consequences that scientists warn are now irreversible for hundreds of years.

Global temperatures soared past the critical 1.5C threshold above pre-industrial levels in 2024, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has confirmed. Earlier, a report from the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service also confirmed it in January this year.

But new details from the WMO’s State of the Global Climate report show how this heat reshaped the planet, unleashing permanent damage to oceans, glaciers, and ecosystems, and displacing millions from their homes.

“It’s frightening to see our climate report looking so dire yet again,” said Dr Linden Ashcroft, a senior lecturer in climate science at The University of Melbourne.

“I’ve been providing comments like these for my entire career, and honestly, I’m not quite sure what to do next. Scream these findings from the tops of buildings? Write my comments in capitals? Saying all this while dancing on TikTok? I don’t know. But unless we see real climate leadership from governments and businesses, I will save this response and send it through again next year.”

Crossing 1.5C for a single year doesn’t mean the Paris Agreement, which uses long-term averages to track warming, has failed. But scientists warn this year’s extreme heat is a clear sign the planet is heading toward dangerous territory.

Dr Paul Read, director of the Future Emergency Resilience Network at UTS, said the world needs to brace for a “1.5 world,” with a third of the Arctic nearing tipping points and permafrost melting three times faster than elsewhere.

“Your average five-year-old now faces a future with seven times more heatwaves, triple the floods, droughts and crop failures, double the wildfires,” he said.

However, WMO secretary-general Celeste Saulo stressed the difference between one-year spikes and longer-term trends.

“While a single year above 1.5C of warming does not indicate that the long-term temperature goals of the Paris Agreement are out of reach, it is a wake-up call that we are increasing the risks to our lives, economies and to the planet.”

The report shows atmospheric carbon dioxide reached 420 parts per million, the highest level in at least 800,000 years, with no signs of slowing down. This rising concentration is driving global heating, sea-level rise, and ocean acidification, and threatening marine ecosystems and fisheries globally.

Dr Xuebin Zhang, principal research scientist at CSIRO Environment, warned that these past emissions mean some changes are now unavoidable.

“Ocean heat content will continue to increase, leading to long-term sea-level rise even if emissions are significantly reduced,” Dr Zhang said.

“This committed response, driven by past greenhouse gas emissions, must be accounted for in any long-term climate adaptation planning.”

WMO documented an unprecedented surge in ocean temperatures in 2024, which reached record highs for the eighth consecutive year. Ocean heat content is now rising twice as quickly as the average from 1960 to 2005. This heat trapped in the ocean is expected to drive sea-level rise for centuries, even if emissions drop sharply today.

Sea levels rose 4.7 mm per year between 2015 and 2024, more than double the rate recorded in the decade after satellite measurements began, according to the WMO. This rapid rise now poses existential threats to low-lying coastal communities around the world.

“Data for 2024 show that our oceans continued to warm, and sea levels continued to rise. The frozen parts of Earth’s surface, known as the cryosphere, are melting at an alarming rate: glaciers continue to retreat, and Antarctic sea ice reached its second-lowest extent ever recorded. Meanwhile, extreme weather continues to have devastating consequences around the world,” said Ms Saulo.

Temperatures were boosted in the first half of 2024 by the natural El Niño climate phenomenon, but remained very high in the second half of the year even when El Niño dissipated.

The WMO report says the largest three-year loss of glacier mass ever recorded was from 2022 to 2024. Antarctic sea ice shrank to its second-lowest extent on record, compounding the rapid loss of Arctic ice, where the 18 lowest extents have all occurred in the past 18 years.

Dr Andrew King, associate professor in climate science at the University of Melbourne, said the impacts of this warming are now unmistakable.

“Not only was 2024 the hottest year on record for the planet but we also saw record warm oceans and record high sea levels. Humanity’s fingerprint can also be seen in the loss of sea ice and glacier mass, in the acidification of the ocean, and in the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme heat events.”

Extreme weather events linked directly to the climate crisis led to the highest number of people displaced since 2008. Communities around the world faced destructive storms such as Typhoon Yagi in Vietnam and the Philippines, Hurricanes Helene and Milton in the United States, and Cyclone Chido in Mozambique and Malawi, all of which were found to be influenced by climate crisis.

Earlier reports have also found how global heat driven by greenhouse gas emissions intensified rainfall in Spain and led to monstrous flash floods.

Food security in 18 countries deteriorated significantly due to these compounded impacts, exacerbated by floods, droughts, and severe heatwaves.

“This year’s WMO report makes it clear: climate change is no longer a distant threat – it is a lived reality, displacing record numbers of people, straining food systems, and disrupting lives,” said associate professor Michele Barnes, an expert in climate adaptation at The University of Sydney.

These warnings come ahead of crucial international climate negotiations in November 2025, where countries are expected to submit new, stronger emissions targets to the UN amid United States president Donald Trump’s decision to pull his country out of the Paris Agreement and rollbacks of environmental regulations to boost fossil fuel production.

Scientists warn that current political responses are falling dangerously short of what’s required. Professor James Renwick from Victoria University of Wellington said despite alarming evidence, there’s little sign political leaders are taking climate commitments seriously.

“All extremely worrying, yet apparently of little concern to the world’s policy-makers, since there is no sign the world is living up to the Paris Agreement to limit warming to 1.5-2°C,” he said. “Our busy day-to-day activities have consequences that will last for centuries, even millennia.”

Experts say the world needs an immediate shift from recognition to decisive action.

“Incrementalism is no longer an option,” professor Martina Linnenluecke, director of the centre for climate risk and resilience at the University of Technology Sydney, said.

Dr Linnenluecke added that insurance companies are already retreating from high-risk areas, showing “that climate risks are no longer hypothetical but economic realities.”

Professor Nick Golledge, also from Victoria University of Wellington’s Antarctic Research Centre, added that stabilising emissions at current levels won’t be enough, and much tougher policies are urgently required.

“Stringent mitigation is now critically important if we are to retain a habitable climate for our planet,” he warned.

Despite these warnings, the WMO says it is still possible to limit the damage by quickly scaling up climate services and early warning systems globally. Right now, only half the countries in the world have adequate protection against climate-related disasters.

“We are making progress but need to go further and need to go faster,” said WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo. “Investment in weather, water and climate services is more important than ever to meet the challenges and build safer, more resilient communities.”

Nobel peace prize winner says Duterte’s arrest sends powerful message

The arrest of former Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte by the International Criminal Court was a victory for justice, Nobel laureate Maria Ressa said.

“There’s a sense that impunity ends and that the idea of an international rules-based order can perhaps still exist,” she said at an event in Berlin.

Mr Duterte was dramatically arrested at Manila airport on 11 March and flown to The Hague to face the ICC.

The international court is investigating alleged crimes against humanity during the former president’s war on drugs in his country, which left thousands of people dead, mostly poor Filipinos.

Ms Ressa drew parallels between the Philippines under Mr Duterte and the state of democracy in the West, particularly in the US. She warned that the forces that enabled Mr Duterte’s rise – social media manipulation and disinformation – were now fueling democratic backsliding in the West.

“I joke all the time that the Philippines went from hell to purgatory,” the Filipino-American journalist said. “My only worry is that the West and America is at the stage we were at in 2016, when you’re descending to hell. To watch this deja vu twice, it is like a bad punishment for me.”

Her comments came a few days after Mr Duterte’s first appearance before the ICC.

Ms Ressa won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2021 for her fight for press freedom in the Philippines. She had co-founded and ran Rappler, an investigative website that exposed government corruption, disinformation campaigns and alleged extrajudicial killings during Mr Duterte’s war on drugs.

In spite of being harassed, arrested and slapped with multiple legal cases, Ms Ressa and Rappler continued to report on state-sponsored violence and the erosion of democracy in the country. The Duterte administration labelled her a threat, accusing her of spreading “fake news” and even linking her to an alleged coup plot.

Ms Ressa said the damage Mr Duterte’s brutal war on drugs had caused the Philippines should serve as a cautionary tale for other democracies.

“In 2016, when the drug war began, I was like, ‘Oh my god, this is going to affect a generation of Filipinos.’ And it has,” Ms Ressa said. “So yes, he’s arrested but there’s so much damage that now needs to get rebuilt.”

“What we learned in the Philippines is that you are at your greatest power when the attacks begin,” she added. “If you are silent, you give consent. If you are silent, you give up your rights. This is that moment where you have to ask yourself, what are you willing to sacrifice for the truth? Because if you don’t, if you bury your head in the sand like an ostrich, you will lose your rights.”

US and South Korea practise storming North Korean tunnels with robots

South Korean and American troops practised storming North Korea’s network of strategic and fortified underground tunnels with four-legged robot dogs and drones during military drills to train for potential combat with Kim Jong Un’s military.

Photos shared by the South Korean army of the drills showed the robot dogs navigating and searching a subterranean facility and detonating remote-controlled explosives to seal the tunnel shut.

The drill was part of the ongoing annual Freedom Shield exercises and involved some 370 US and South Korean troops. They were practising a war scenario with North Korea, which is believed to have a vast network of fortified tunnels stretching from key command centres to the border with the South.

The two armies practised blasting and sealing off tunnels to trap and kill occupants and fighting their way inside if needed, in Paju, Gyeonggi province, close to the border with North Korea.

South Korea’s Dronebot Combat Group used reconnaissance drones to detect tunnel openings while its mechanised military forces removed or neutralised any enemy forces or obstacles present on the surface near the tunnel entrances.

This was followed by the Special Mobility Support Brigade sending walking robot dogs to seal off the tunnel using explosives and to destroy the ventilation, water, and power supply apparatus.

“It was an invaluable opportunity for South Korean and US troops to be in one team and share underground combat strategies,” Lt Col Hwang Hyeon Jo, commanding the Engineer Battalion of the Special Maneuvers Support Brigade, a dedicated underground warfare force, told Korea JoongAng Daily. “We were able to accumulate diverse operational experiences and identify areas for improvement in underground warfare.”

North Korea’s tunnels are suspected to be connected to the offices and residences of Mr Kim and his top officials, providing possible escape routes during war, South Korea’s Army Ground Operations Command said on Monday.

The tunnels were also believed to house nuclear and chemical weapons warheads near the border with South Korea, ready to be deployed in the event of war, the military said.

North Korea began digging tunnels following the Korean War, during which the US military relentlessly bombed 22 of the country’s major cities, killing an estimated 282,000 people.

Lt Col Jang Yun Seong, public affairs officer of the 25th Infantry Division, said last week that the drills involving “uncrewed systems” would change the way they operated in high-risk zones.

“By deploying robots alongside personnel, we aim to minimise human casualties while gathering critical intelligence in real time,” he said. “The integration of uncrewed systems is fundamentally changing how we approach high-risk operations.”

The 11-day Freedom Shield exercises, scheduled to conclude on Thursday, began on a disastrous note when South Korean military jets accidentally bombed a residential area, destroying buildings and injuring dozens of people.

The exercises have continued without incident since then and the media was given rare access to the drills as US and South Korean troops targeted weapons of mass destruction at a remote training site in the mountains.

Blobfish: From ‘ugliest animal’ to New Zealand’s fish of the year

The blobfish defied its reputation as the world’s ugliest animal to become New Zealand’s Fish of the Year, winning by about 300 votes over the orange roughy.

The competition, organised by the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, was aimed at raising awareness about freshwater and marine species and their fragile ecosystems.

Native to the deep waters around New Zealand and Australia, the blobfish lacks a skeleton and swim bladder, enabling it to survive at depths of up to 1,200m. The gelatinous fish grows up to 30cm long. In its natural habitat, the blobfish maintains a typical fish shape due to high water pressure. When brought to the surface, however, the lack of pressure causes its body to collapse into its signature mushy form.

Psychrolutes marcidus, known for its miserable expression, was made the mascot of the Ugly Animal Preservation Society in 2013. The society aims to protect “less attractive animals” such as the proboscis monkey.

Kim Jones, co-director of the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust, said it was “a battle of two quirky deep-sea critters, with the blobfish’s unconventional beauty helping get voters over the line”.

A late push from More FM radio station helped secure the victory for the blobfish, turning its “unconventional beauty” into a symbol of marine conservation and sparking a wider discussion about protecting deep-sea species in New Zealand.

Campaigning for the eventual winner, More FM hosts Sarah Gandy and Paul Flynn said: “He has been bullied his whole life, and we thought, ‘Stuff this, it’s time for the blobfish to have his moment in the sun.’”

After the blobfish’s win, the hosts said: “The blobfish had been sitting patiently on the ocean floor, mouth open waiting for the next mollusc to come through to eat. What a glorious moment it is!”

Ten fish species competed for the 2025 Fish of the Year title. The blobfish won with 1,286 votes against the orange roughy’s 1,009. The longfin eel got 646 votes, whale shark 596, big-bellied seahorse 386, great white shark 344, and lamprey 312.

The 2025 edition of the annual competition witnessed the highest turnout of 5,583 votes, up from 1,021 in 2024.

“In some ways it was fitting blobfish and orange roughy were close at the end. They both live in deep sea environments close to New Zealand, and the blobfish is often incidentally caught during bottom trawling for orange roughy,” Ms Jones said.

The orange roughly is also a deep-sea fish found in New Zealand and Australia.

“While the blobfish’s exact conservation status is unknown, orange roughy populations are struggling. Carefully managing orange roughy and its habitat will benefit the blobfish, too,” Ms Jones added.

A 2012 editorial in New Zealand’s Stuff noted that “the cuteness factor” of some animal species has been the subject of scientific analysis, “through which it was determined that cute animals always trump their more modest-looking fellow species when it comes to conservation”.

New Zealand has around 1,400 marine fish species, including 300 endemics and 54 freshwater species, many of which are declining or threatened, according to the Mountains to Sea Conservation Trust.