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Meteor explodes over US with blast equivalent to 300 tonnes of TNT

A meteor crashing toward Earth exploded over the northeastern United States on Saturday, Nasa said, setting off booms that echoed over the region with a blast equivalent to 300 tonnes of TNT. The fireball broke up over northeastern Massachusetts and southeastern New Hampshire at 2:06pm (11:06pm PKT), the US space agency’s deputy news chief Jennifer Dooren told AFP in a statement. “This fireball was not associated with any currently active meteor shower, but it was a natural object and not a re-entry of space debris or a satellite,” she said. “The energy released at breakup is estimated to be equivalent to about 300 tonnes of TNT, which accounts for the loud booms.” The meteor was travelling at 75,000 mph (more than 120,000 kph) at an altitude of 40 miles when it broke apart, Dooren said. Area residents were alarmed by the unexpected loud booms, with social media users reporting they were so powerful that ...
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Energy crunch fuels car pool growth in India

Rising fuel prices triggered by the Middle East war are driving a sharp increase in carpooling, with a ride-sharing platform reporting a surge in new users seeking cheaper ways to travel. The world’s largest carpooling platform BlaBlaCar said soaring energy costs have pushed 600,000 additional drivers onto the app this year — 20 per cent more than initially projected — as commuters look to offset the rising cost of fuel. In India, its single biggest market with more than 20 million users in 2025, the number of passengers has increased by 40pc since the start of the US-Israeli airstrikes against Iran on February 28. Last year, the global carpooling leader posted record-breaking figures in the world’s most populous country India — outpacing Brazil with 19m users and France with 7m, according to Benjamin Retourne, the platform’s product director. This trend has been more pronounced in countries where fuel price increases driven by the war have been sud...
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Trump claims Iran agreed to no nuclear weapons amid reports of 'tougher' terms sent to Tehran

United States President Donald Trump said he had secured guarantees from Iran that it would not develop nuclear weapons, as reports emerged he had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Tehran. Any tweaks to the proposal could prolong even further an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and open the Strait of Hormuz maritime route after weeks of efforts to secure a deal despite fractious rhetoric and the occasional flare-up of armed conflict. The New York Times and Axios media outlets reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though it was not immediately clear what that entailed. Trump has said his priorities for any deal include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Strait of Hormuz. “The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,”...
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Rescuers pull 4 from flooded cave in Laos, 2 still missing

Rescuers pulled four people from a flooded cave in Laos on Saturday, Thai volunteer rescuers said, hours after another man was brought out late on Friday. The five are among seven Lao nationals who had entered the cave in Xaisomboun province to prospect for gold, but were trapped for more than a week when rising water blocked their exit. Two others remain missing. Kengkard Bongkawong, a Thai cave diver involved in the mission, said in a Facebook post on Saturday that all four of the trapped people had emerged from the cave. Video footage from the volunteers showed rescuers bringing four Laotian men out of the cave with flashlights strapped to their heads and with muddy clothes. They had joyful expressions on their faces, and some were crying with relief. The five rescued people were found by rescuers on Wednesday, but had remained trapped. Rescue officials said they would continue searching for the two missing people. A team of volu...
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US, South Korea in talks over commander's remarks that drew sharp criticism from China

South Korea and the United States are in talks over recent public remarks by the commander of US Forces Korea (USFK), Seoul’s presidential office said on Saturday, after the comments drew sharp criticism from China. In a recent podcast interview, Xavier Brunson described South Korea as “the dagger in the heart of Asia” from China’s east coast, prompting the Chinese embassy in Seoul to say this week that he had “truly crossed the line”. The interview came amid growing speculation that Washington may seek to expand the role of USFK in countering the growing regional influence of China, a key ally of North Korea and Russia. Brunson last year also underscored South Korea’s strategic value in the broader Indo-Pacific, describing the US ally as a “fixed aircraft carrier” in the region, Yonhap reported. South Korea’s presidential Blue House said on Saturday that it was “aware of Commander Brunson’s recent series of public remarks” and that Seoul and Washington “have been maintaining co...
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The shrinkage of Pakistan’s aid chart

Measles in the US, a cholera outbreak in the DRC, TB patient registration drops in Cambodia, Kenya, and Mozambique and closer to home, HIV outbreaks in children have all been linked to what doctors have warned are cuts to programmes and disastrous policy changes. Global funding has shrunk for healthcare across countries that need it the most which is why experts in Pakistan are really getting worried. The effects are immediately clear on the ground. In the busy streets of Lyari, Karachi, Amna Sualeh once navigated confidently through her community as a health worker with the Greenstar Social Marketing’s Sitara Baji (star sister) programme. Women trusted her to provide affordable intrauterine devices (IUDs), counselling on how to space out their children, and basic reproductive health services. “Before, with donor support, we could perform IUD insertions for just Rs500,” she says. “Now it costs up to Rs10,000 in private clinics. Many simply can’t afford it anymore.” Her clients, most...
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Nato chief vows 'absolute solidarity' with Romania after Russian drone crash injures 2

Nato chief Mark Rutte said on Friday he had assured Romania’s president of the alliance’s “absolute solidarity” as he slammed Russia for a drone crash in the country bordering Ukraine. Nato member Romania said that a drone injured two people in a southeastern city during an overnight Russian attack on Ukraine , the first time in the war that a drone had hit a densely populated area in Romania and caused injuries. The incident in Romania, also a member of the European Union, was likely to increase tensions on Nato’s eastern flank at a time when Ukraine’s allies are worried about Russia’s war on its neighbour spilling over its borders. “Russia’s reckless behaviour is a danger to us all,” Rutte wrote on social media after a call with President Nicusor Dan. “I affirmed that Nato stands ready to defend every inch of Allied territory.” The drone hit the roof of a 10-storey block of flats in Galati and caused an explosion, the Romanian aut...
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