Great Wall of China may be centuries older than previously thought

Archaeological excavations in eastern China‘s Shandong province suggest that some of the oldest sections of the Great Wall were built 300 years earlier than previously thought.

Recent digs in the Changqing area show that the engineering marvel wasn’t a single construction project, but a series of fortifications built during multiple dynasties.

The Great Wall was built to secure ancient China’s northern borders against nomadic groups from the Eurasian Steppe. Historical records suggest the construction of the Unesco World Heritage monument spanned centuries. However, extant documentation of the wall lacks details that could reveal its true origins.

It was believed that the largest portions of the first walls were constructed around the 7th century BC and joined together under the Qin dynasty around the third century BC.

However, new excavations undertaken last year and covering over 1,000 square meters found sections of the wall dating back to the late Western Zhou Dynasty, which ruled from 1046BC to 771BC, and to the early Spring and Autumn Period of 770-476BC.

The findings shed light on advanced engineering of the ancient Chinese to expand the wall to about 30 meters at the peak of Qi State likely during the Warring States Period.

Some ancient texts suggest that sections of the wall went through many phases of development, use, sometimes collapse and abandonment, and attempts at restoration.

Researchers reportedly used a multidisciplinary approach to date these sections of the wall, including analysis of traditional artefacts collected at the site as well as specimens of plant remains and animal bones.

Archaeologists found buried sections of roads, house foundations, trenches, ash pits, and walls at the site, Zhang Su, the project leader from the Shandong Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology, told Global Times.

One particularly well-preserved section was built during the Warring States Period from 475BC to 221 BC and is the best preserved, researchers said.

This section is the “earliest known Great Wall in China”, said Liu Zheng, a member of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics.

The latest research also establishes the proximity of the Great Wall of this time to the ancient Pingyin city mentioned in historical texts, suggesting the wall was not just a fortification against invasion but also served a strategic role in controlling trade and transportation.

Man caught with 51 grams of heroin gets last-minute stay of execution

A Malaysian man convicted of trafficking 51 grams of heroin was granted a last-minute reprieve from execution by a Singapore appeals court on Wednesday.

Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, 37, was granted a stay of execution just a day before he was set to be hanged by the Singapore Prison authorities on Thursday, human rights activists fighting against his capital punishment said.

He was arrested in 2014 for carrying 51.8 grams of diamorphine, some strapped to his groin and some concealed in his motorcycle, into the city state. He was sentenced to death in 2017 by a high court judge, who said he was the “courier” involved in transporting the prohibited drug inside Singapore.

Singapore has a zero-tolerance policy for drug-related offences and regards them as the “most serious crime”. The government says the death penalty is a deterrent against drug trafficking and that most of its citizens support capital punishment.

However, critics say the law only targets low-level traffickers and couriers.

The appeals court allowed the stay of execution at the eleventh hour on the grounds that there is an ongoing constitutional challenge by other death row prisoners to a section under the drug law, said Kirsten Han, a Singaporean anti-death penalty activist.

While Pannir is not directly involved in the case, he has argued in the court that this case could potentially change the outcome of his conviction.

The appeals court also allowed his bid to mount another appeal against his conviction.

“This is a huge relief and very good news, but a stay of execution is not a complete stop,” Ms Han said. “What Singapore needs now is an immediate moratorium on the use of the death penalty, with a view to full abolition. Pannir lives tomorrow, but as Singaporeans we must keep fighting to make sure no one is killed in our names ever again.”

Pannir claimed he didn’t know he was carrying drugs, but the court had to sentence him to death as prosecutors refused to issue the Malaysian man a certificate of substantive assistance stating he had helped their investigation which would have spared him the noose.

Singapore carried out nine executions between 1 October 2024 and 7 February 2025, including eight of individuals convicted of drug trafficking.

Who is Delhi’s unexpected new leader Rekha Gupta?

Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has named Rekha Gupta, a former student leader, as Delhi’s chief minister after winning the legislative assembly election earlier this month.

The prime minister’s party returned to power in Delhi after 27 years, taking 48 of the state’s 70 legislative seats to oust the Aam Aadmi Party of Arvind Kejriwal.

Ms Gupta is set to be sworn in as chief minister on 20 February. “It is a miracle, it is a new motivation and a new chapter. If I can be the CM, this means ways are open for all the women,” Ms Gupta told the news agency ANI on Thursday.

Ms Gupta secured a decisive victory in this month’s assembly election, her first, winning the Shalimar Bagh constituency by 29,595 votes over AAP’s Bandana Kumari.

She thanked her party and pledged to work diligently to address Delhi’s many challenges such as air and river pollution and an urban infrastructure in urgent need of improvement.

In its campaign manifesto, the BJP promised to upgrade Delhi’s public schools, provide free healthcare and electricity and give a monthly stipend of Rs 2,500 ($29) to underprivileged women in the capital.

“There is only one priority: the commitments we have made to Delhi, the dream PM Modi has for Delhi, fulfilling it is my first and foremost priority,” Ms Gupta said. “We have staked claim to form government. Every single promise made to people of Delhi will be fulfilled in a time-bound manner.”

She also promised to combat corruption in government. “Anyone who has been corrupt will have to give an account of each and every rupee,” she said.

Ms Gupta, 50, was born in Nandgarh village of northern Haryana state’s Jind region and moved to Delhi with her parents when she was two. Her father worked for the State Bank of India.

Ms Gupta started her political career in 1993 at Daulat Ram College where she joined the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the mothership of Hindu nationalist organisations including the BJP.

She went on to serve as the general secretary of the Delhi University Students Union from 1995 to 1996, and as its president from 1996 to 1997.

After leaving university with a master’s in management and arts, she formally joined the BJP and went on to serve as the general secretary of its Delhi chapter’s Mahila Morcha, or women’s wing. She was later appointed vice chairperson of the party’s national Mahila Morcha.

Ms Gupta entered electoral politics in 2007, winning the Municipal Corporation of Delhi election and becoming chair of its women’s welfare and child development committee. She was re-elected in 2012 and became vice-chairperson of the corporation’s key financial decision-making body.

From 2012 to 2013, she also held the role of education secretary of the New Delhi Municipal Council.

Ms Gupta will be Delhi’s fourth woman chief minister, a milestone in Indian politics where women in senior leadership roles are rare. There’s currently only one other woman chief minister in the country – All India Trinamool Congress party leader Mamata Banerjee in West Bengal.

The BJP’s decision to pick Ms Gupta as chief minister over frontrunner Parvesh Verma surprised pundits and party members, the Business Standard reported.

In spite of being a first-time legislator, Ms Gupta has considerable political experience as student leader and municipal councillor which helped her selection, the paper noted.

At the same time, Mr Verma’s political lineage – he is the son of former chief minister Sahib Singh Verma – may have worked against him given the BJP’s stance on dynastic politics.

After Ms Gupta’s selection was announced, an old clip of her seemingly vandalising property inside the Municipal Corporation of Delhi office began circulating on social media.

“She just became the new CM of Delhi. Good luck to the people of Delhi,” a user mocked.

Hong Kong’s oldest pro-democracy party is shutting down

Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy party took an initial step toward dissolving Thursday, in the latest sign of the Chinese territory’s narrowing space for civil society groups following Beijing’s crackdown on dissent.

The Democratic Party’s central committee decided to set up a task force to look into the procedures involved in dissolving the party. A final decision would require approval of the party’s members.

Party chairperson Lo Kin Hei said at a news conference late Thursday that party leaders made the decision based the current political situation and social climate, and said the party did not have any acute financial burdens.

“When we have to move toward this direction, we, of course, feel it is a pity. I believe every member cherishes the existence of the Democratic Party in Hong Kong,” he said.

Founded in 1994, the Democratic Party is one of the few pro-democracy parties in Hong Kong, where political activism has faced a stern crackdown from China‘s central government in Beijing following anti-government protests by Hong Kongers in 2019.

Its prominent party members include Martin Lee, nicknamed the city’s “Father of Democracy,” Albert Ho, former leader of a now-defunct group that organised Tiananmen vigils, and journalist-turned-activist Emily Lau.

Over the years, the party has long been seen as a moderate opposition party that once maintained friendly relationships even with Beijing officials. Some of its former members had become top government officials, while radical members had criticized the party for being too mild.

But following the massive protests that rocked the Chinese territory in 2019, the city’s political environment changed drastically. Months of social unrest triggered Beijing to impose a national security law, which authorities insist is necessary for the city’s stability.

Since the law took effect in 2020, dozens of civil society groups have shut down, including the city’s once second-largest pro-democracy party and a decades-old group that organized the annual vigil to commemorate Beijing’s Tiananmen crackdown in 1989. Many leading activists were prosecuted under the law, including members of the Democratic Party. Others were forced into self-exile or silenced.

Last year, some of the party’s former lawmakers were convicted and sentenced over their roles in an unofficial primary election in the city’s largest national security case. That verdict drew criticism from foreign governments though Beijing defended it.

In recent years, the party has had limited influence over the city’s politics after the authorities overhauled the electoral rules in changes they said ensured that “patriots” administered Hong Kong, and that effectively barred pro-democracy candidates from running for seats in district councils.

Despite the changing climate, the party pressed on with its work. It continued holding news briefings on livelihood issues and even submitted opinions on proposed national security legislation to the government before the law was enacted last March.

In Thursday’s news conference, Mr Lo said disbandment would require support from 75 per cent of the attending members of a general assembly. The party now has 400 members, but typically not all members attend general meetings. In the past, the party has had both successful and failed attempts to secure enough votes to change its constitution, he said.

When the former British colony was returned to China‘s rule in 1997, the governing principle of “one country, two systems” was supposed to guarantee Western-style civil liberties and autonomy not enjoyed by mainland Chinese territories.

But Mr Lo said his party’s interpretation of this governing principle may differ from that of the Beijing government. He said he hoped these different views could remain in society, saying that societies improve only with diverse voices.

“The path to democracy is always difficult,” Mr Lo said. “I have confidence in Hong Kongers and Hong Kongers can always find ways to handle different matters.”

Sri Lanka train derails after crashing into elephant herd

At least six elephants were killed in Sri Lanka after an express train got derailed after ramming into a herd near a wildlife reserve in the early hours of Thursday.

The Batticaloa-Colombo express train was running near a wildlife reserve at Habana, around 180km east of Sri Lanka capital Colombo, when it crashed into the elephants who were crossing the tracks.

Police officials said six elephants succumbed to their serious injuries and at least two other elephants were being treated for their wounds after surviving the crash.

Photos of the collision showed the front of the train off the track and halted while one elephant stood guard over a younger elephant lying injured beside the tracks.

The derailment did not have a serious impact on the passenger train. “The train derailed, but there were no casualties among the passengers,” police officials said.

The work to restore the train on the tracks is underway, according to officials at the railway operation and control centre.

Killing or harming elephants is termed as a criminal offence in Sri Lanka. The island nation has an estimated population of 7,000 wild elephants and considers the wild tuskers as a national treasure, owing to their significance in Buddhist culture.

This is not the first major train accident involving elephants.

In October last year, a train carrying thousands of gallons of fuel was left derailed after it hit a herd of wild elephants – killing two of the giants.

The crash happened in northeast Sri Lanka, leaving two elephants dead and injuring one, authorities said.

The collision happened in the town of Minneriya – about 200km (124 miles) from the capital, Colombo – renowned for its nature park and wildlife.

Though elephants are revered in the Indian Ocean island nation, they are endangered with their numbers dwindling from about 14,000 in the 19th century to 6,000 in 2011, according to the country’s first elephant census.

Elephant-train collisions have gone up in recent years in Sri Lanka, with wild elephants attempting to cross over railway tracks in search of food and water. They are increasingly vulnerable because of the loss and degradation of their natural habitat and many venture closer to human settlements in search of food. Some are killed by poachers or farmers angry over damage to their crops.

SpaceX rocket debris crash lands on man’s lawn

A chunk of SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket made an “uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere” over Poland and crash-landed into a man’s lawn, the Polish space agency said on Wednesday.

The debris, about 1.5m by 1m wide, is from a SpaceX rocket launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on 1 February carrying a payload of Starlink satellites, the agency suspects.

“The Team of the Department of Space Security (DBK) confirms that at about 4.46am to 4.48am on 19 February 2025, an uncontrolled entry into the atmosphere of a member of the Falcon 9 reusable launch vehicle over Polish territory,” the Polish space agency Polsa said.

The mysterious object “resembling a tank” crash-landed into the lawn of Adam Borucki’s warehouse in Komorniki, Poland.

“We are securing the scene… explaining the circumstances of how this object ended up on the premises of the company. We know that parts from a Falcon rocket had flown over Poland,” local police told Poland’s news agency.

A second identical container was found in the forest of Wiry Village about 30km (19 miles) away, Reuters reported, citing local police.

Earlier in the day, the Polish news agency said flashes could be seen in the sky over many parts of Poland.

Witnesses posted videos on social media of spectacular luminous trails as debris entered the atmosphere over western Poland.

Local police said no injuries were reported as a result of this incident.

“The part of the rocket, weighing about 4 tons, came from the Space X Starlink Group 11-4 mission, which took off from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California on 1 February 2025,” the Polish space agency said in a statement.

“We already have photos of the objects that fell near Poznan. The Polsa Space Security Department will verify the object with SpaceX,” it said.

Harvard astronomer and space observer Jonathan McDowell said the Falcon 9 rocket’s second stage from the Starlink satellite launch “failed to deorbit itself”.

“This image claims (and it’s very likely correct) to show a pressure vessel from the reentered Falcon 9, fallen near Poznan in Poland,” said Dr McDowell, who tracks rocket movements, citing a photograph of the object.

“It reentered over Northern Europe last night, with entry over the Irish Sea at 0343 UTC Feb 19 and the reentry track extending to Poland and Ukraine a couple of minutes later,” he said in a post on X.

SpaceX did not immediately respond to The Independent’s request for comment.

Rocket debris crashing onto Earth could pose increasing risk for aircraft, according to a recent study.

Last year, a giant ring part suspected to be part of a rocket crash landed in Kenya’s Mukuku village.

In 2021, Nasa condemned China for its “irresponsible” attitude towards space safety after debris from one of its rockets fell to Earth.

Briton accused of bribery given bail after years detained in India

A British citizen accused of bribery in India has been given bail, six years after he was first detained.

Arms consultant Christian James Michel was extradited from Dubai in 2018 and has since applied for bail more than a dozen times. The Supreme Court finally granted it on Tuesday, after he challenged a Delhi High Court order last September that refused it.

The Supreme Court cited delays in the trial as a key reason for granting 64-year-old Mr Michel’s latest request, with Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta expressing concern over its slow progress. Justice Mehta questioned the delay in the trial and said on Tuesday: “[The way you are going on right now], you will not be able to conclude [this] trial in 25 years.”

The court said: “Considering facts and circumstances and that [the] petitioner was extradited in 2018 and has been in custody for more than six years now, and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filing two chargesheets and supplementary chargesheet, we are inclined to grant bail on condition as set by trial court.”

The CBI alleges that Mr Michel paid bribes to senior Indian government officials to secure the chopper deal for Agusta in 2010. He has denied the accusations.

Signed in 2010 under the Congress-led UPA government, the deal, valued at Rs 3,600 crore (approximately £360m), was for helicopters meant to transport high-profile individuals, including military commanders and heads of state.

The Independent has reached out to the lawyer representing Mr Michel for comment.

The CBI alleges that India suffered a loss of €398.21m (about £338.48m) due to the illegal transactions. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) also filed a chargesheet in 2016, alleging that Mr Michel received €30m (about £25.5m) in kickbacks from AgustaWestland.

Previously, Mr Michel has claimed his detention was politically motivated and alleged that he was pressured to testify against Indian opposition leaders. He has also previously alleged that senior CBI officials met him in Dubai before his extradition, offering a deal to spare him prison if he confessed and turned witness against Congress leaders, including “the Gandhi family” and the late MP Ahmed Patel, over the 2010 AgustaWestland deal.

The CBI charged Mr Michel as one of three middlemen in the AgustaWestland deal. The other two accused are Italian business partners Guido Haschke and Carlo Gerosa.

Tasmanian authorities begin euthanising stranded whales

Wildlife authorities in Tasmania have decided to euthanise the surviving false killer whales that stranded on a remote beach on the state’s northwest coast after rough ocean conditions made it impossible to refloat them.

More than 150 false killer whales were found stranded on a remote beach near Arthur River on Wednesday and wildlife officials confirmed on Wednesday that 90 of the 157 animals were still alive.

Brendon Clark, a liaison officer at the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service told reporters on Thursday that euthanasia was the only option. “The conditions that the team faced yesterday in attempts to refloat the whales proved very challenging and, in fact, dangerous to our staff.”

He added that the “forecasts over the forthcoming days show no likelihood of improvement in weather conditions, and so those challenging conditions trying to refloat animals into that exposed ocean will remain constant”.

Despite its name, the false killer whale is a highly sociable species of dolphin. These animals, which can grow up to 6m long, live in large pods, making them more susceptible to mass strandings.

On Wednesday afternoon, the team began euthanising animals, processing 27 on-site this morning, Mr Clark said. As of now, 38 animals remain alive, indicating that 25 more succumbed naturally overnight.

The euthanasia process is expected to conclude on Thursday, after which the authorities will assess “options for carcass disposal”.

Authorities decided to euthanise the stranded whales to prevent their further suffering, as they had become disoriented and distressed. While machinery is often used to relocate stranded whales for release, the remote location of the beach made it impossible to deploy equipment.

Marine biologist Kris Carlyon told the media that the site, located about 300km from Launceston, is highly inaccessible, making it difficult to transport rescue equipment. “This is possibly the trickiest location I have seen in 16 years of doing this role in Tasmania.”

He added: “We’re talking a very rough, steep, single lane road into the site. We can get four-wheel drives in there, but not a lot else.”

Shelley Graham, incident controller with Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service said: “It’s quite rough, and the animals just can’t get past the break to get out. They just keep turning around and coming back towards the beach.”

Aerial images revealed false killer whales scattered along the beach, some partially buried in sand, while others remained stranded in shallow waters near rocky outcrops.

The last mass stranding of false killer whales in Tasmania occurred 50 years ago, in June 1974, when a pod of 160 to 170 was found at Black River Beach on the island’s northern coast. It remains unclear how many survived.

Around 470 pilot whales stranded at Macquarie Harbour near Strahan in Tasmania’s west coast in 2020, followed by another 200 in the same area in 2022.

Dr Angus Henderson at the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, told CNN: “It’s not often clear why whales strand, but they have been stranding for many centuries across the world’s coastlines, including en mass.

“There are many natural causes such as lead animals getting sick, lost or disoriented, as well as other factors such as weather and magnetic anomalies… This is the third mass stranding in 5 years on the west coast of Tasmania, but whether this is a pattern with a discernible cause is yet to be determined.”

Meanwhile, Mr Clark added that, as part of standard procedure, postmortem investigations, “including full necropsies” would be conducted on several animals “to help try to gain additional information as to why these types of events may be occurring”.