US President Donald Trump's border czar Tom Homan was set Thursday to present his plans at his first press conference as the new face of the immigration crackdown in Minneapolis, after the agents involved in the fatal shooting of a nurse were placed on leave. The two officers were on leave -- a move US officials said was "standard protocol" -- since Saturday, when 37-year-old Alex Pretti was shot multiple times after being forced to the ground by camouflaged agents in a scuffle captured on video. Trump has scrambled to stem outrage across the political aisle over the killing, saying Tuesday he wanted to "de-escalate a little bit" in Minneapolis. But the president backpedaled his conciliatory note Wednesday, accusing the city's mayor Jacob Frey of "PLAYING WITH FIRE" for refusing to rally local police to enforce the federal immigration crackdown. The political battle could soon move to Congress, where Democrats are threatening to hold up authorization for swaths of US government funding if reforms are not made to rein in the sprawling military-style immigration agencies. Frey responded Wednesday to Trump ramping up his rhetoric, writing on X: "The job of our police is to keep people safe, not enforce fed immigration laws." "I want them preventing homicides, not hunting down a working dad," he added, referring to the Ecuadoran father of five-year-old Liam Conejo Ramos, both of whom are being held in a Texas facility after being detained by federal agents in the suburbs of Minneapolis. The White House initially justified Saturday's fatal shooting of Pretti, an intensive care nurse whom Homeland Security chief Kristi Noem described as a "domestic terrorist." But the backlash that ensued has forced Trump to shuffle the leadership of immigration agents deployed in Minneapolis. He replaced the confrontational Greg Bovino, known for reveling in aggressive, televised immigration crackdowns, with the policy-focused Homan. Homan was set to hold a press conference at 7 am (1300 GMT) Thursday in Minneapolis, the White House said. Another high-ranking official, Attorney General Pam Bondi, was in Minneapolis on Wednesday as she announced the arrests of 16 Minnesota "rioters" for allegedly assaulting federal law enforcement. Fury While the White House insists it is targeting hardened criminals, the use of masked, heavily armed men to snatch people from streets, homes and workplaces has caused widespread shock. That turned to fury this month after immigration agents shot dead two Minneapolis protesters at point-blank range in separate incidents -- Pretti and Renee Good, both US citizens. Top Trump aide Stephen Miller initially justified Pretti's killing by branding him a "would-be assassin" -- despite video evidence clearly showing the nurse posed no threat as he was shot in the back while pinned down on the ground. Late Tuesday, Miller said the Customs and Border Patrol agents who killed Pretti "may not have been following that protocol." Meanwhile, US networks aired video reportedly showing Pretti in another violent scuffle with agents more than a week before his killing. The footage could not be immediately verified. Clashes between protesters and federal immigration officers who are deployed to Democratic cities are increasingly common. In Minneapolis, 39-year-old community activist Jennifer Arnold said little has changed since Trump's promise to ease tensions in the city. "The Trump administration is saying that they're going to change tactics...but we are not experiencing anything different on the ground, people are still being snatched off the streets," Arnold told AFP. Immigrant politician attacked Trump's focus on Minnesota is linked to a probe into alleged corruption by Somali immigrants in the state, which he and right-wing allies have amplified as an example of what they say is a fight against criminal immigrants. The president has persistently targeted Somali-born congresswoman Ilhan Omar for insults and mockery, saying she should be sent back to Somalia. In the latest sign of a deteriorating political climate, a man sprayed Omar with an unknown liquid while she was giving a speech late Tuesday, before being tackled by security. The suspect, 55-year-old Anthony Kazmierczak, was arrested on suspicion of assault. Speaking to reporters in Minneapolis Wednesday evening, Omar said Trump's attacks against her helped fuel the incident. "I wouldn't be where I am at today, having to pay for security, having the government to think about providing me security, if Donald Trump wasn't in office, and if he wasn't so obsessed with me," Omar said. She added, however, that such intimidation "hasn't worked thus far, and it's not going to work in the future." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
29 January,2026 03:08 PM IST | Minneapolis, United States | AFPGold prices soared to a fresh record near $5,600 on Thursday, while oil rallied after Donald Trump ramped up geopolitical tensions with his threatened military strike on Iran. The surge in safe-haven precious metals also saw silver hit another peak and has been helped by a softer dollar sparked by speculation that the US president is happy to see the world's reserve currency weaken. An uneventful policy announcement by the Federal Reserve did little to inspire buying, although observers said traders are optimistic interest rates will come down as Trump prepares to name his pick as the next governor. Bullion piled on more than $300 at one point to top $5,595 after Trump said Tehran needed to negotiate a deal over its nuclear programme, which the West believes is aimed at making an atomic bomb. "Hopefully Iran will quickly 'Come to the Table' and negotiate a fair and equitable deal -- NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS -- one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!" he wrote on his Truth Social platform. "The next attack will be far worse! Don't make that happen again," he added, referring to US strikes against Iranian targets in June. A US naval strike group Trump described as an "armada", led by aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln, is now in Middle East waters, with the president saying it was "ready, willing and able to rapidly fulfill its mission, with speed and violence, if necessary". CNN said he was mulling an attack after nuclear talks failed to advance. Iran's foreign minister Abbas Araghchi warned on Wednesday that Tehran would respond immediately and forcefully to any US military operation -- adding that its forces have their "fingers on the trigger" -- but did not rule out a new nuclear deal. 'Inverse of confidence' Stephen Innes said the surge in gold indicated deeper structural concerns. "After blowing through $5,500 in early Asia, bullion is no longer trading like a commodity. It is trading like a referendum. Not on inflation. Not on rates. On trust," he wrote. "Gold is the inverse of confidence. When belief in policy coherence weakens, gold ceases to behave like a hedge and instead acts as an alternative. That is what we are watching now. This is not fear of recession. There is doubt about fiat stewardship." Rising tensions sent oil prices up more than one percent -- with WTI at its highest since September and Brent at levels not seen since July -- amid supply worries. On equity markets Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Mumbai and Seoul rose, while Tokyo was flat. Sydney, Wellington, Taipei and Bangkok dropped. London and Frankfurt edged up at the open but Paris fell. Manila sank as data showed the Philippines economy grew last year at its slowest non-pandemic rate since 2011. Jakarta tanked eight percent, prompting a temporary halt and extending Wednesday's collapse that came after index compiler MSCI called on regulators to look into ownership concerns. Stocks later pared those losses to sit around three percent lower. MSCI also said it would hold off adding Indonesian stocks to its indexes or increasing their weighting, while there are concerns it could announce a downgrade from emerging market to frontier market, which could spark an outflow of foreign capital. "I think this sharp downward pressure may last one or two days," said Hans Kwee, a stock analyst at PasarDana. "It was yesterday and today; at most, tomorrow it starts to move sideways. "Then next week the market should be more normal." The dollar remained under pressure, even after Treasury Secretary Bessent told CNBC that "the US always has a strong dollar policy", a day after Trump appeared to welcome its recent weakness. The Fed's policy meeting ended with few surprises as boss Jerome Powell said officials were keeping tabs on data. But Matthias Scheiber and Rushabh Amin at Allspring Global Investments said attention was now on Trump's choice to take the helm when Powell steps down in May. "The big focus will remain on the announcement of the new Fed chair, with the race wide open though a general expectation of someone more dovish to succeed Jerome Powell," they wrote in a commentary. Hong Kong-listed property stocks surged on the back of a report saying Chinese leaders had rowed back on stringent measures aimed at reining in borrowing, which helped spark a chronic debt crisis in the country's real estate sector that is still weighing on the economy. Troubled developers soared, with Country Garden up around 17 percent, Sunac rocketing 30 percent and Agile Group 15 percent higher. Key figures at around 0815 GMT Tokyo - Nikkei 225: FLAT at 53,375.60 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: UP 0.5 percent at 27,968.09 (close) Shanghai - Composite: UP 0.2 percent at 4,157.98 (close) London - FTSE 100: UP 0.4 percent at 10,189.97 West Texas Intermediate: UP 1.6 percent at $64.24 per barrel Brent North Sea Crude: UP 1.5 percent at $69.43 per barrel Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.21 yen from 153.38 yen on Wednesday Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1974 from $1.1944 Pound/dollar: UP at $1.3829 from $1.3797 Euro/pound: UP at 86.58 pence from 86.56 pence New York - Dow: FLAT at 49,015.60 (close) This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
29 January,2026 03:06 PM IST | Hong Kong | AFPDonald Trump lost his bid for reelection in 2020. But for more than five years, he's been trying to convince Americans the opposite is true by falsely saying the election was marred by widespread fraud. Now that he's president again, Trump is pushing the federal government to back up those bogus claims. On Wednesday, the FBI served a search warrant at the election headquarters of Fulton County, Georgia, which includes most of Atlanta, seeking ballots from the 2020 election. That follows Trump's comments earlier this month when he suggested during a speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, that charges related to the election were imminent. "The man has obsessions, as do a fair number of people, but he's the only one who has the full power of the United States behind him," said Rick Hasen, a UCLA law professor. Hasen and many others noted that Trump's use of the FBI to pursue his obsession with the 2020 election is part of a pattern of the president transforming the federal government into his personal tool of vengeance. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Georgia Democrat, compared the search to the Minnesota immigration crackdown that has killed two U.S. citizen protesters, launched by Trump as his latest blow against the state's governor, who ran against him as Vice President Kamala Harris' running mate in 2024. "From Minnesota to Georgia, on display to the whole world, is a President spiraling out of control, wielding federal law enforcement as an unaccountable instrument of personal power and revenge," Ossoff said in a statement. It also comes as election officials across the country are starting to rev up for the 2026 midterms, where Trump is struggling to help his party maintain its control of Congress. Noting that, in 2020, Trump contemplated using the military to seize voting machines after his loss, some worry he's laying the groundwork for a similar maneuver in the fall. "Georgia's a blueprint," said Kristin Nabers of the left-leaning group All Voting Is Local. "If they can get away with taking election materials here, what's to stop them from taking election materials or machines from some other state after they lose?" Georgia has been at the heart of Trump's 2020 obsession. He infamously called Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Jan. 2, 2021, asking that Raffensperger "find" 11,780 more votes for Trump so he could be declared the winner of the state. Raffensperger refused, noting that repeated reviews confirmed Democrat Joe Biden had narrowly won Georgia. Those were part of a series of reviews in battleground states, often led by Republicans, that affirmed Biden's win, including in Michigan, Wisconsin and Nevada. Trump also lost dozens of court cases challenging the election results and his own attorney general at the time said there was no evidence of widespread fraud.His allies who repeated his lies have been successfully sued for defamation. That includes former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who settled with two Georgia election workers after a court ruled he owed them USD 148 million for defaming them after the 2020 election. Voting machine companies also have brought defamation cases against some conservative-leaning news sites that aired unsubstantiated claims about their equipment being linked to fraud in 2020. Fox News settled one such case by agreeing to pay USD 787 million after the judge ruled it was "CRYSTAL clear" that none of the allegations were true. Trump's campaign to move Georgia into his column also sparked an ill-fated attempt to prosecute him and some of his allies by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, a Democrat. The case collapsed amid conflict-of-interest charges against the prosecutor, and Trump has since sued Willis for the prosecution. On his first day in office, Trump rewarded some of those who helped him try to overturn the 2020 election results by pardoning, commuting or vowing to dismiss the cases of about 1,500 people charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. He later signed an executive order trying to set new rules for state election systems and voting procedures, although that has been repeatedly blocked by judges who have ruled that the Constitution gives states, and in some instances Congress, control of elections rather than the president. As part of his campaign of retribution, Trump also has spoken about wanting to criminally charge lawmakers who sat on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack, suggesting protective pardons of them from Biden are legally invalid. He's targeted a former cybersecurity appointee who assured the public in 2020 that the election was secure. During a year of presidential duties, from dealing with wars in Gaza and Ukraine to shepherding sweeping tax and spending legislation through Congress, Trump has reliably found time to turn the subject to 2020. He has falsely called the election rigged, said Democrats cheated and even installed a White House plaque claiming Biden took office after "the most corrupt election ever." David Becker, a former Department of Justice voting rights attorney and executive director of The Center for Election Innovation & Research, said he was skeptical the FBI search in Georgia would lead to any successful prosecutions. Trump has demanded charges against several enemies such as former FBI Director James Comey and New York's Democratic Attorney General, Letitia James, that have stalled in court. "So much this administration has done is to make claims in social media rather than go to court," Becker said. "I suspect this is more about poisoning the well for 2026." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
29 January,2026 11:47 AM IST | Denver | APBritish Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Thursday for a deeper relationship with China during what he called "challenging times for the world." The UK leader told China's leader Xi Jinping that their countries need to work together on global stability, climate change and other issues. "I have long been clear that the UK and China need a long term, consistent and comprehensive strategic partnership," he said. Starmer, the first British prime minister to visit in eight years, was holding talks with Xi in the Great Hall of the People in central Beijing as the two nations try to improve relations after several years of acrimony. The disruption to global trade under U.S. President Donald Trump has made expanding trade and investment more imperative for many governments. Starmer is the fourth leader of a U.S. ally to visit Beijing this month, following those of South Korea, Canada and Finland. The German chancellor is expected to visit next month. Starmer, who became prime minister in July 2024, is trying to expand opportunities for British companies at a time when the economy at home is slow. More than 50 top business executives have joined him on the trip, along with the leaders of some cultural organizations. The U.K. leader earlier met Zhao Leji, the chairman of China's legislature, the National People's Congress. Relations deteriorated in recent years over growing concern about Chinese spying activity in Great Britain, China's support for Russia in the Ukraine war, and the crackdown on freedoms in Hong Kong, the former British colony that was returned to China in 1997. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
29 January,2026 10:53 AM IST | Beijing | APUS Secretary of State Marco Rubio raised the possibility of preemptive action against Iran, telling lawmakers that Tehran's leadership is currently at its weakest point in decades, as Washington continues to reinforce its military posture across the Middle East. On Wednesday, testifying before the Senate, Rubio said the Trump administration's decision to strengthen US assets in the region, including the recent arrival of the USS Abraham Lincoln and its strike group in the US Central Command area, was a "prudent" step aimed at protecting more than 30,000 US service members stationed across the region. "And so I think it's wise and prudent to have a force posture within the region that could respond and potentially, not necessarily what's going to happen, but if necessary, preemptively prevent the attack against 1000s of American servicemen and other facilities in the region. And our allies," Rubio told senators during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing focused on Venezuela. "I hope it doesn't come to that, but that's I think what you're seeing now is the ability to posture assets in the region to defend against what could be an Iranian threat against our personnel," he added. Rubio's remarks come as regional allies, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, brace for the possibility that President Donald Trump could authorise strikes on Iran following Tehran's crackdown on anti-regime protests and amid concerns over potential retaliation. Addressing Iran's military capabilities, Rubio said the country is "weaker than it has ever been," but warned that it has accumulated "thousands and thousands" of long-range ballistic missiles "that they've built despite the fact that their economy is collapsing." Trump has publicly supported the protests, which began in late December but were largely suppressed, warning Iran's leadership that violence against demonstrators would trigger military consequences. Despite earlier pledges, the president has yet to announce concrete assistance for protesters, even as thousands were reportedly killed during the crackdown earlier this month. The president renewed his warning early Wednesday, saying any future action would be "far worse" than last summer's US strikes on Iran's nuclear facilities. "Hopefully Iran will quickly 'Come to the Table' and negotiate a fair and equitable deal - NO NUCLEAR WEAPONS - one that is good for all parties. Time is running out, it is truly of the essence!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "As I told Iran once before, MAKE A DEAL! They didn't, and there was "Operation Midnight Hammer," a major destruction of Iran," Trump added. "The next attack will be far worse! Don't make that happen again." Iran's mission to the United Nations responded by warning it would retaliate "like never before," while also signalling openness to talks. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi echoed that stance on social media, saying, "Our brave Armed Forces are prepared--with their fingers on the trigger--to immediately and powerfully respond to ANY aggression against our beloved land, air and sea." When asked by Senator John Cornyn about a potential post-regime scenario in Iran, Rubio said, "I don't think anyone can give you a simple answer as to what happens next in Iran if the Supreme Leader and the regime were to fall, other than the hope that there would be some ability to have somebody within their systems, that you could work towards a similar transition." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
29 January,2026 09:45 AM IST | Washington DC | ANIWith a partial government shutdown looming, Senate Democrats laid out a list of demands Wednesday for the Department of Homeland Security, including an enforceable code of conduct for federal agents conducting immigration arrests and a requirement that officers show identification as the country reels from the deaths of two protesters at the hands of federal agents in Minneapolis. It remained unclear if President Donald Trump and Republicans would be willing to meet those demands, even as funding for DHS and a swath of other government agencies was at risk of expiring Saturday. Irate Democrats have pledged to block a spending bill unless their demands for reforms are met. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said Wednesday that the legislation won't pass until US Immigration and Customs Enforcement is "reined in and overhauled." "The American people support law enforcement, they support border security, they do not support ICE terrorising our streets and killing American citizens," Schumer said. With an uncertain path ahead, the standoff threatened to plunge the country into another shutdown just two months after Democrats blocked a spending bill over expiring federal health care subsidies, a dispute that closed the government for 43 days as Republicans refused to negotiate. That shutdown ended when a small group of moderate Democrats broke away to strike a deal with Republicans, but Democrats are more united this time after the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good by federal agents. There's a lot of "unanimity and shared purpose" within the Democratic caucus, Minnesota Sen. Tina Smith said after a lunch meeting Wednesday. "Boil it all down, what we are talking about is that these lawless ICE agents should be following the same rules that your local police department does," Smith said. "There has to be accountability." Democrats lay out their demands As the administration's aggressive immigration enforcement surge goes on, Schumer said Democrats are asking the White House to "end roving patrols" in cities and coordinate with local law enforcement on immigration arrests, including requiring tighter rules for warrants. Democrats also want an enforceable code of conduct so agents are held accountable when they violate rules. Schumer said agents should be required to have "masks off, body cameras on" and carry proper identification, as is common practice in most law enforcement agencies. The Democratic caucus is united in those "commonsense reforms" and the burden is on Republicans to accept them, Schumer said. He has asked Republicans to separate out the Homeland Security bill from the others to avoid a broader shutdown. Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., has said he was waiting for Democrats to outline what they want, and he suggested that they need to be negotiating with the White House. He indicated that he might be open to some of their demands, but encouraged Democrats and the White House to talk and find agreement. Many obstacles to a deal It was unclear whether Trump would weigh in, or how seriously the White House was engaged - or whether the two sides could agree on anything that would satisfy Democrats. The White House had invited some Democrats for a discussion to better understand their positions and avoid a partial government shutdown, a senior White House official said, but the meeting did not happen. The official requested anonymity to discuss the private invitation. With no serious negotiations underway, a partial shutdown appeared increasingly likely starting Saturday. The House passed the six remaining funding bills last week and sent them to the Senate as a package, and that makes it difficult to strip out the homeland security portion as Democrats are demanding. Republicans could break the package apart with the consent of all 100 senators, which would be complicated, or through a series of votes that would extend past the Friday deadline. Even if the Senate could resolve the issue, House Republicans have made clear they do not want any changes to the bill they have passed. In a letter to Trump on Tuesday, the conservative House Freedom Caucus wrote that its members stand with the president and ICE. "The package will not come back through the House without funding for the Department of Homeland Security," according to the letter. Republican opposition Several Republican senators have said they would be fine with Democrats' request to separate the Homeland Security funds for further debate and pass the other bills in the package. But it was unlikely that Democrats would find broad GOP support for their demands on ICE. North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis said he's OK with separating the bills, but opposed to the Democrats' proposal to require the immigration enforcement officers to unmask and show their faces, even as he blamed Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem for decisions that he said are "tarnishing" the agency's reputation. "The thing about the masks, I really do disagree," Tillis said. "You know, there's a lot of vicious people out there, and they'll take a picture of your face, and the next thing you know, your children or your wife or your husband are being threatened at home. And that's just the reality of the world that we're in." Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas said that "what happened over the weekend is a tragedy," but Democrats shouldn't punish Americans with a shutdown and a "political stunt." Democrats say they won't back down. "It is truly a moral moment," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. "I think we need to take a stand." This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
29 January,2026 09:41 AM IST | Washington | AP | PTIA small plane crashed Wednesday in a rural area of Norte de Santander province in northeast Colombia, killing all 15 people on board, authorities said. Satena, the state-owned airline that operated the flight, said local officials in the community of Curasica notified authorities about where the plane had gone down and a rescue team was deployed to "assess the condition of the passengers." Colombia's Transportation Ministry later released a statement saying that "once the aircraft was located on site, authorities regrettably confirmed that there were no survivors." The aircraft, which has a registration number of HK4709, took off at 11:42 am local time from the airport in Cucuta, the department's capital, bound for Ocana, a municipality surrounded by mountains, on a flight that typically lasts about 40 minutes. The aircraft's final contact with air traffic control came minutes after takeoff, according to a statement released by Satena. The small plane was carrying two crew members and 13 passengers, including Diogenes Quintero, who represents the victims of the internal armed conflict in his region, the airline said. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
29 January,2026 09:32 AM IST | Bogota | APResearchers have developed a low-cost, portable radiation dosimetry system that turns a smartphone into an on-site radiation detector. The system combines a small piece of radiochromic film with a foldable, battery-powered scanner and a smartphone camera. At the core of the system is Gafchromic EBT4 film, which changes color instantly when exposed to radiation. The color shift is visible to the naked eye, but the system goes further by allowing users to quantify radiation doses by scanning the film and capturing its image with a smartphone. Mobile image-processing applications are then used to analyse the change. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
29 January,2026 06:42 AM IST | Tokyo | AgenciesA 57-year-old Indian-origin man appeared in a UK court on Wednesday charged with the murder of a woman at a home in Ilford, east London. Dalip Chadha was arrested at the scene at Applegarth Drive in Ilford in the early hours of Tuesday, the Metropolitan Police said. The victim, believed to be his wife, is yet to be formally identified. “At around 4.00 am on Tuesday, January 27, officers were called to an address in Applegarth Drive. Upon arrival, they found a woman dead at the property,” the Met Police said in a statement. “Formal identification has yet to take place, but the victim is believed to be 58-year-old Vanessa Puntney-Chadha. Her next-of-kin have been informed, and are being supported by specially trained officers. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
29 January,2026 06:37 AM IST | London | AgenciesAmazon is slashing about 16,000 jobs in the second round of mass layoffs for the e-commerce company in three months. The tech giant has said it plans to use generative artificial intelligence to replace corporate workers. It has also been reducing a workforce that swelled during the pandemic. Beth Galetti, a senior vice president at Amazon, said in a blog post Wednesday that the company has been "reducing layers, increasing ownership, and removing bureaucracy." The latest reductions follow a round of job cuts in October, when Amazon said it was laying off 14,000 workers. While some Amazon units completed those "organisational changes" in October, others did not finish until now, Galetti said. She said US-based staff would be given 90 days to look for a new role internally. Those who are unsuccessful or don't want a new job will be offered severance pay, outplacement services and health insurance benefits, she said. "While we're making these changes, we'll also continue hiring and investing in strategic areas and functions that are critical to our future," Galetti said. CEO Andy Jassy, who has aggressively cut costs since succeeding founder Jeff Bezos in 2021, said in June that he anticipated generative AI would reduce Amazon's corporate workforce in the next few years. The layoffs are Amazon's biggest since 2023, when the company cut 27,000 jobs. Meanwhile, Amazon and other Big Tech and retail companies have cut thousands of jobs to bring spending back in line following the COVID-19 pandemic. Amazon's workforce doubled as millions stayed home and boosted online spending. Hiring has stagnated in the US, and in December, the country added a meagre 50,000 jobs, nearly unchanged from a downwardly revised figure of 56,000 in November. Labour data points to a reluctance by businesses to add workers even as economic growth has picked up. Many companies hired aggressively after the pandemic and no longer need to fill more jobs. Others have held back due to widespread uncertainty caused by President Donald Trump's shifting tariff policies, elevated inflation, and the spread of artificial intelligence, which could alter or even replace some jobs. While economists have described the labour situation in the U.S as a "no-hire-no-fire" environment, some companies have said they are cutting back on jobs, even this week. On Tuesday, UPS said it planned to cut up to 30,000 operational jobs through attrition and buyouts this year as the package delivery company reduces the number of shipments from its largest customer, Amazon. That followed 34,000 job cuts in October at UPS and the closing of daily operations at 93 leased and owned buildings during the first nine months of last year. Also on Tuesday, Pinterest said it plans to lay off under 15 per cent of its workforce, as part of a broader restructuring that arrives as the image-sharing platform pivots more of its money to artificial intelligence. Shares of Amazon Inc., based in Seattle, rose slightly before the opening bell on Wednesday. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
28 January,2026 08:10 PM IST | New York | APCondolences continued to pour in from across the country on Wednesday following the tragic death of Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who was killed in a plane crash while travelling from Mumbai to Baramati earlier in the day. Speaking to ANI in Rapiur, Chhattisgarh Assembly Speaker Raman Singh described Pawar's death as a loss not just for Maharashtra but for the entire nation. "The sudden demise of Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar in a plane crash is a great loss for Maharashtra and the entire country. He was known as 'Dada' in Maharashtra politics. He started his political career at a very early age and served six times as Deputy CM," Singh said. BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad expressed deep shock over the tragedy, calling the timing particularly painful. "We are deeply saddened by his sudden demise. There was such a big victory in the recent civic elections. This is very painful. He had become a strong pillar of the NDA," he said in Delhi. Samajwadi Party chief and MP Akhilesh Yadav termed the incident heartbreaking and said his prayers were with the Pawar family. "This is a very painful hour for the Pawar family. I can only pray to the Lord that they are given the strength to bear this sorrow," he said. Union Minister Prataprao Jadhav remembered Pawar as a straightforward and disciplined leader. "I have known Ajit Dada closely since 1990. He valued time, spoke directly, and worked hard. This tragedy has shaken all of us," he said, paying heartfelt tribute. Meanwhile, the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau has dispatched a special team to Baramati to investigate the crash, which claimed five lives, including Pawar and crew members. The team will analyse flight recorders, aircraft systems, crew records, and ATC data. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a state holiday and three days of mourning. Pawar, 66, the longest-serving Deputy CM of Maharashtra, is survived by his wife Sunetra Pawar and sons Jay and Parth Pawar. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
28 January,2026 05:47 PM IST | New Delhi | ANIADVERTISEMENT
-1769665808055_d.png "Donald Trump uses federal power to pursue false 2020 election allegations. File Pic")
-1769595535345_d.png "State holiday declared as nation mourns Ajit Pawar's tragic demise. File Pic")