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‘This is national dignity’: Russia on S Jaishankar retorts to West

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov recalled how External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar countered the West over New Delhi’s decision to purchase crude oil from Moscow amid the Ukraine war.

In Short

  • Russia recalls Jaishankar’s retort to West over ties with Moscow amid Ukraine war
  • Jaishankar counters how much Russian oil West and India purchased, Russia says
  • Moscow says India purchasing Russian oil is a matter of ‘national dignity’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has recalled how External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar gave a strong response to European leaders “to mind their own business” when they asked why New Delhi continued to align itself with Moscow amid the war in Ukraine.

He made the remarks at the World Youth Forum in Russia’s Sochi while responding to a query on why India was continuing to purchase oil from Russia amid the Ukraine war.

Describing Jaishankar as his “friend”, Lavrov said the former had questioned how much oil Europe had begun purchasing and stressed that India buying crude oil from Russia was a “national dignity”.

“My friend, Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar, was once at the UN, giving a speech. He was asked why they started buying so much oil from Russia. He advised them to mind their own business and reminded them at the same time how much oil the West had started buying and continued to buy oil from the Russian Federation. This is national dignity,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by Sputnik news agency.

Lavrov’s statement came amid criticism in Europe against India that its procurement of Russian crude oil is detrimental to the effectiveness of the Western sanctions imposed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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In a notable shift in its import patterns, India significantly increased its oil purchases from Russia following the geopolitical tensions arising from Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Despite global sanctions, India capitalised on discounted Russian oil prices, with imports growing from zero in January 2022 to 1.27 million barrels a day by January 2023.

Throughout 2023, India’s oil imports from Russia more than doubled to 1.79 million barrels a day, making Russia the dominant supplier, even as imports from traditional suppliers like Iraq saw a contraction.

In an interview with German economic daily Handelsblatt last month, Jaishankar said that India expanded its economic ties with Russia despite Moscow’s military aggression in Ukraine. He also said that Russia never violated India’s interests and the bilateral ties remain “stable and friendly”.

He said India’s energy suppliers in the Middle East gave priority to supply petroleum products to Europe that paid higher prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

“When the fighting started in Ukraine, Europe shifted a large part of its energy procurement to the Middle East — until then the main supplier for India and other countries,” Jaishankar said.

“What should we have done? In many cases, our Middle East suppliers gave priority to Europe because Europe paid higher prices. Either we would have had no energy because everything would have gone to them. Or we would have ended up paying a lot more because you were paying more,” he added.

“In a certain way, we stabilised the energy market that way,” he further said.

During a panel discussion at the Munich Security Conference, also held last month, Jaishankar doubled down on the continued purchase of oil from Russia and said it shouldn’t be a problem for others if India had “multiple options” and was “smart enough” to go with what works for it.

“Is that a problem? Why should that be a problem? If I am smart enough to have multiple options, you should be admiring me,” he said when asked about India’s balancing act between its growing ties with the US and continuing trade with Russia.

Jaishankar’s retort elicited smiles from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Affairs Minister Annalena Baerbock, who were also part of the panel.

This article is originally published on IndiaTV!

Also Read | ‘No Indian troops come May 10, not even in civilian clothing’: Maldives President!

‘No Indian troops come May 10, not even in civilian clothing’: Maldives President!

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Maldives President Mohamad Muizzu has asserted that no Indian troops, including those in civilian clothing, will be barred from entering the island nation after May 10.

In Short

  • Maldives President says Indian troops won’t be allowed after May 10
  • Says some people spreading rumours on Indian troops leaving Maldives
  • Says Indian troops in civilian clothes won’t be allowed to enter

A day after the Maldives signed an agreement with China to receive free military aid, Maldivian President Mohamad Muizzu said no Indian troops, including those in civilian clothing, will not be allowed to enter the island nation after May 10, Maldives’ news portal Edition.mv reported.

Muizzu’s remarks came after an Indian civilian team reached the Maldives to take charge of one of the three aviation platforms in the island nation, well ahead of the March 10 deadline agreed by the two nations for the withdrawal of Indian military personnel.

Addressing a community in Baa atoll Eydhafushi, Muizzu claimed that people were spreading rumours about his government’s ‘success’ in expelling Indian troops from the Maldives, according to Edition.mv.

“These people (Indian military) are not departing, and they are returning after changing their uniforms into civilian clothing. We must not indulge such thoughts that instil doubts in our hearts and spread lies,” the portal quoted Muizzu, widely regarded as a pro-China leader, as saying.

“There will be no Indian troops in the country come May 10. Not in uniform and not in civilian clothing. The Indian military will not be residing in this country in any form of clothing. I state this with confidence,” he said.

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Highlighting that securing true independence is a concept he regards with utmost priority, Muizzu remarked that his government was exerting efforts with due importance “to regain the southern maritime area deprived of the country in addition to expelling Indian troops from the Maldives”.

“I am confident we can achieve this. The delay in concluding this task is due to the adverse procedures practiced during the implementation. It was done without even taking the matter to the Parliament in violation of the Constitution as well,” the portal quoted the President as saying.

Muizzu’s statement came amid a diplomatic row over Maldivian politicians’ derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Lakshadweep in January, which strained ties between the two countries.

There are 88 military personnel manning the three Indian platforms that have been providing humanitarian and medical evacuation services to the people of the Maldives for the last few years using two helicopters and a Dornier aircraft.

Following a high-level meeting in Delhi on February 2 between the two sides, the Maldivian Foreign Ministry said India would replace its military personnel operating the three aviation platforms in the Maldives by May 10 and the first phase of the process would be completed by March 10.

Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, was elected President in November last year, and had pledged to remove Indian military personnel in the island nation.

Edition.mv further reported that while the first troops to depart the country are the Indian military personnel operating the two helicopters in Addu City, the military personnel present in Haa Dhaalu atoll Hanimaadhoo and Laamu atoll Kahdhoo are also expected to leave ahead of May 10.

India had agreed to remove their troops from the Maldives under the condition that a number of their civilians equivalent to the military presence are brought to operate the aircraft.

The Maldives’ proximity to India, barely 70 nautical miles from the island of Minicoy in Lakshadweep and 300 nautical miles from the mainland’s western coast, and its location at the hub of commercial sea lanes running through the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) gives it significant strategic importance.

The Maldives has been India’s key maritime neighbour in the IOR and it occupies a special place in its initiatives such as SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First Policy.

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US Elections 2024: Nikki Haley beats Donald Trump in Washington DC for first primary win!

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Nikki Haley, the only remaining challenger to Donald Trump in the race, won 62.9% of the vote, versus 33.2% captured by the former president.

Presidential contender Nikki Haley won the Washington, D.C., Republican primary on Sunday, her first victory in the nominating process and a symbolic win for the former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Edison Research said.

Haley, the only remaining challenger to Donald Trump in the race, won 62.9% of the vote, versus 33.2% captured by the former president.

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She still faces near-impossible odds in her quest to win the Republican nomination to take on likely Democratic nominee President Joe Biden in November. Trump won the first eight nominating contests by significant margins before losing to Haley in America’s capital city.

The former president is also expected to win almost all nominating contests going forward, opinion polls show.

Washington, D.C., is 100% urban and a relatively high proportion of residents hold a college degree. The core of Trump’s base skews rural, and he is particularly strong in areas with low educational attainment.

The city also is home to a significant number of federal workers who Trump allies have pledged to fire en masse and replace with loyalists if he wins in November. Some categories of federal workers have seen an increase in death threats in recent years, and Trump often refers to the D.C. area as the “swamp.”

Also Read: BJP finalises 100 candidates, rigorous selection process: Sources

Haley will pick up 19 delegates from her win, a small portion of the 1,215 delegates needed to clinch the nomination.

Her victory could inoculate her from criticisms that she is unable to win a single nominating contest, though some Republicans will see her popularity in Washington as a negative. Many party leaders – Trump included – portray the city as crime-infested and run by out-of-touch elites.

Also Read: Nikki Haley (US Ambassador to the United Nations) Biography

This is not the first time Republicans in the capital have rejected Trump. During the last competitive Republican nominating contest in the District of Columbia, in 2016, Trump received less than 14% of the vote and no delegates, even as he went on to win the nomination nationally.

On Tuesday, voters in 15 states and one U.S. territory will caucus or go to the polls on the biggest day of nominating contests in the presidential primary. Known as Super Tuesday, 874 Republican delegates will be up for grabs.

The Democratic primary in Washington will be held in June.

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Canadian tourist accidentally drives jeep off Hawaii cliff, rescued

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A 27-year-old tourist from Canada accidentally drove his rented Jeep off a cliff but was able to swim to shore until firefighters pulled him up with a rope and helicopter.

Hawaii cliff

In Short

  • Canada tourist accidentally drives his rented jeep off Hawaii cliff
  • He swims to shore until firefighters pulls him up with rope and helicopter
  • He was treated for facial injuries and slight hypothermia after rescue

A tourist driving in the early morning dark on the southern tip of Hawaii’s Big Island accidentally drove his rented Jeep off a cliff but was able to swim to shore until firefighters pulled him up with a rope and helicopter.

The man was treated for facial injuries and slight hypothermia after Sunday’s rescue, the Hawaii County Fire Department said in a news release.

Firefighters, police and the US Coast Guard responded to the cliffs of South Point in Naalehu at about 3.45 am on Sunday to a report of a swimmer in distress in the ocean, the release said.

He swam about 100 yards to shore at the bottom of a cliff the fire department estimated to be 50-60 feet.

Big Island resident Michael Moody was camping nearby to go spearfishing when the commotion from the rescue woke him up. By then, the tourist was already in the water, Moody said on Thursday.

The road there is dangerous for those who aren’t familiar with it, he said.

“It goes from a big major road to a dirt road,” he said. “And that’s only about 100 feet (30.48 meters) long, and then it gets really steep, and that’s only about 20 feet (6 meters) long. And then that’s the edge.”

Police told KITV the man, 27, was visiting from Canada.

“We have terrible things that happen because tourists don’t know what they’re doing,” Moody said.

The rescue required 16 people and could have been dangerous for those involved because of the high surf in the area, said Mayor Mitch Roth.

“A lot of resources,” Roth said. “It sounds like a careless act.”

While it’s known among locals as a fishing spot, it’s not a popular destination for tourists — especially at that hour, Roth said.

This article was originally published on India Today.

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North Korea first spy satellite is ‘alive’, can manoeuvre, expert says!

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After two fiery failures, North Korea’s successfully launched the Malligyong-1 satellite into orbit in November.

North Korea’s first spy satellite is “alive”, space experts said on Tuesday, after detecting changes in its orbit that suggested Pyongyang was successfully controlling the spacecraft – although its capabilities remain unknown.

After two fiery failures, North Korea successfully launched the Malligyong-1 satellite into orbit in November. Pyongyang’s state media claimed it has photographed sensitive military and political sites in South Korea, the United States and elsewhere, but has not released any imagery. Independent radio trackers have not detected signals from the satellite.

“But now we can definitely say the satellite is alive,” Marco Langbroek, a satellite expert at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, wrote in a blog post.

From Feb. 19-24, the satellite conducted manoeuvres to raise its perigee, or the lowest point in its orbit, to 497 km from 488 km (308.8 miles from 303.2 miles), Langbroek said, citing data from the U.S.–led Combined Space Operations Center.

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“The manoeuvre proves that Malligyong-1 is not dead, and that North-Korea has control over the satellite – something that was disputed,” he said.

South Korea’s Defence Ministry said it too had assessed that the satellite was in orbit, but said it would not comment further on individual analyses. On Monday, Defence Minister Shin Won-sik said the satellite was not showing any signs of performing other tasks or engaging in reconnaissance.

“While we indeed currently cannot be sure whether the satellite does successfully take imagery, it at least performs orbital manoeuvres, so in that sense it is functional,” Langbroek wrote of Shin’s comments.

The orbit-raising manoeuvre was a surprise as the presence of an onboard propulsion system was unexpected and previous North Korean satellites never manoeuvred, he said.

“Having the capacity to raise the satellite’s orbit is a big deal,” Langbroek said.

That meant that as long as there was fuel in the satellite, North Korea could prolong the satellite’s lifetime by raising its altitude when it got too low because of orbital decay, he concluded.

Harvard astronomer and orbital tracker Jonathan McDowell said the satellite appeared to be correcting its position in space as it moved to where it was shortly after launch, instead of making a hostile move toward another country’s satellite – a capability for which he said the satellite was “much too small.”

The United States, Russia and China, the world’s top space powers, have in recent years launched satellites increasingly capable of manoeuvring and inspecting other orbital objects as space grows as a critical arena for communications, commerce and military activity.

But companies and countries often manoeuvre their satellites to improve the object’s position in orbit. A variety of other reasons to manoeuvre include dodging other satellites or a piece of space debris or – depending on the satellites’ capability – wading above a region of interest on Earth.

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U.S. Space Command, which tracks all active objects in orbit and sometimes assesses their function, did not immediately comment on the North Korean satellite.

Nuclear-armed North Korea has vowed to launch three more spy satellites in 2024.

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This article was published on Hindustantimes.com!

‘Thank You PIA’: Pakistani air hostesses fly to Canada, and ‘vanish’

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Maryam Raza, a cabin crew member of Pakistan International Airlines, flew to Canada and didn’t board the return flight. She left behind a note thanking PIA. Maryan Raza is one of the several PIA staffers who have sought asylum in Canada in recent years.

In Short

  • Maryam Raza is the second PIA crew member to disappear in Canada this year
  • In 2023, seven PIA staffers disappeared in Canada to seek asylum
  • PIA spokesperson blames it on Canada’s ‘liberal’ asylum programme

A note saying, “Thank you, PIA (Pakistan International Airlines),” was found in a Toronto hotel room after a search.

An appreciation note, like this, is what a flight attendant would expect to find from a flyer after a nice and cosy flight.

However, the note saying, ‘Thank you, PIA’, was actually written by an air hostess, and not a satisfied flyer.

The note was from Maryam Raza, who worked with the PIA and had landed in Toronto on a flight from Islamabad on Monday (February 26) but didn’t report for duty on her return flight to Karachi a day later.

When authorities looking for Maryam opened her hotel room, they found her PIA uniform with the ‘Thank you, PIA’ note, reported Dawn.

Maryam Raza isn’t the lone example of a PIA crew member landing in Canada and vanishing into thin air. In fact, she was just following a trend.

Maryam’s disappearance comes just a month after PIA flight attendant Faiza Mukhtar’s disappearance in Canada in January 2024.

Faiza Mukhtar, who was rostered to fly back to Karachi a day after landing in Canada “did not board the flight and disappeared”, said PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan.

PIA CREW MEMBERS SEEKING CANADA ASYLUM SINCE 2018

The disappearances of crew members, Maryam and Faiza, actually follow a worrying trend for the PIA, which is itself battling financial and credibility losses.

The disappearance of Maryam marks the second such instance in 2024.

It’s probably no longer the PIA that Jacqueline Kennedy called, “Great people to fly with”, in 1962. That has become the slogan of PIA since then.

In fact, Pakistan isn’t the same Pakistan of the 60s. Surviving on loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and international doles, Pakistan has seen record brain drain in 2023. Unsure about their future in Pakistan, skilled professionals have been leaving the Islamic Republic in hordes.

The trend of Pakistani flight attendants disappearing after crewing a flight to Canada started back in 2019 and has picked up recently, according to aviation news website Simple Flying.

However, The Media Line, a ‘Mideast ‘-based news website, claims to have received information about PIA flight attendants seeking asylum in Canada and other countries as early as 2018.

7 PIA CABIN CREW MEMBERS ‘VANISHED’ IN CANADA IN 2023

Last year, 2023, at least seven flight attendants of the PIA are said to have disappeared after landing in Canada, according to media reports.

Two PIA cabin crew members, who landed in Toronto from Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International failed to report to duty for their flight back home in December 2023, according to PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan.

“The flight was on its scheduled return to Islamabad, the steward did not show up in Toronto. The flight of the national flag carrier had to return to Islamabad without the crew members,” said spokesperson Khan.

PIA crew members, Ayaz Qureshi, Khalid Afridi and Fida Hussain Shah reportedly slipped away after landing in Canada, in November and December 2023.

PIA BLAMES WOES ON CANADA’S ‘LIBERAL’ ASYLUM POLICY

“The reason for this [disappearance] is an overly liberal asylum and asylum programme of the Canadian government,” PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan told ArabNews in November 2023.

Khan said four PIA cabin crew members disappeared in the same way in 2022, while four more managed to vanish in 2023.

While the PIA officials point to Canada’s relaxed asylum norms, experts believe the low salaries of crew and lingering fear of the airline’s future, are prompting the crew members to escape after landing in Canada, rather than coming back home.

The cash-starved PIA’s privatisation was approved by Pakistan’s caretaker cabinet in February, two days before the elections in Pakistan, as a measure to revamp the loss-making airline, reported news agency PTI.

The annual average of Pakistani flight attendants who have slipped into Canada is five, reported SamaaTV. The employment period of PIA employees, who requested political asylum in Canada after slipping in five years, is 15 to 17 years, while their age is 35 to 40 years, added the report.

Speaking on the repercussions faced by the absconding crew members, PIA spokesperson Khan said, “We normally terminate the services of such individuals and penalize them by denying them of any benefits”.

PIA FLIGHT ATTENDANT HELPING OTHERS SEEK ASYLUM

A flight attendant, Mahira, who disappeared after landing in Toronto in 2018, provided legal assistance to Fareha Mukhtar when she applied for asylum, reported TheMediaLine in January 2024.

A crew member who went missing a few years ago has settled in Canada and is now “offering guidance” to fellow crew members considering seeking asylum, added PIA spokesperson Khan.

However, PIA spokesperson Abdullah Hafeez Khan tried to downplay the severity of the trend in December 2023, saying, “Crews seeking asylum are common throughout South Asia and other developing countries, therefore this situation is not exclusive to PIA.”

However, that justification isn’t a face-saver for officials of Pakistan International Airlines. “The national airline’s management has to face embarrassment from Canadian authorities over such incidents of escape,” an unnamed PIA official told Pakistan-based SamaaTV.

It is actually mid-senior members of the airline who are seeking asylum in Canada. Maryam, the PIA attendant to go missing on Monday (February 26), worked with the PIA for 15 years.

Pakistan is seeing record-high inflation because of a tattered economy and political instability. It isn’t unusual for its citizens to be looking for better prospects abroad. Whoever can, tries to fly out of the mess. The PIA cabin crew members can at least fly out free of cost.

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Euphoria actor Hunter Schafer arrested for pro-Palestine protest in New York.

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Hunter Schafer of Euphoria fame arrested for participating in a pro-Palestine protest aimed at disrupting Joe Biden’s Late Night with Seth Meyers appearance.

Amid calls for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, Hunter Schafer, known for the teen drama television series Euphoria, was detained at a pro-Palestine protest on Tuesday. As per a report by BNN Breaking, Hunter, along with 50 activists from the Jewish Voice for Peace, were detained during a protest at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Center in New York. 

Hunter Schafer’s arrest

Their demonstration, reportedly aimed at disrupting US President Joe Biden’s appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers, spotlighted the urgent pleas for a ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine conflict. Hunter’s arrest brought to light the escalating pressures on the Biden administration to reconsider its stance and push for a ceasefire.

More about Hunter Schafer

After making her acting debut as trans teen Jules Vaughn in HBO’s hit series Euphoria in 2019, Hunter Schafer was seen as Tigris Snow in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes in 2023. She has also modelled for Prada, Dior, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Rick Owens, Helmut Lang, Tommy Hilfiger, Thierry Mugler, Coach, Maison Margiela, Vera Wang, Marc Jacobs, Versus Versace, Emilio Pucci, Ann Demeulemeester and Erdem, among other designer labels.

This is not the first time the actor made news for standing up for a social cause. For her activism against an anti-LGBT legislation HB2, Teen Vogue listed Hunter on its 21 Under 21 list in 2017. In 2021, Time named her on its Next list of ‘100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future’, with a tribute written by Euphoria co-star Zendaya.

Other celebs at pro-Palestine protests

In December 2023, veteran Hollywood actor Susan Sarandon apologised via an Instagram post for the comments she made at a pro-Palestine rally in New York in November 2023.

At the rally, the actor had said, “There are a lot of people that are afraid, that are afraid of being Jewish at this time, and are getting a taste of what it feels like to be a Muslim in this country, so often subjected to violence.” UTA or United Talent Agency, one of Hollywood’s premiere talent agencies, had subsequently dropped Susan as a client over the remarks.

This article was published on Hindustantimes.News!

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Chris Gauthier dies at 48: Actor was known for roles in Once Upon a Time, Eureka!

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With over 100 credits to his name on IMDb, Gauthier was a well-known figure in the industry.

Chris Gauthier dies at 48

English-born Canadian actor Chris Gauthier died aged 48 on Friday, February 23. The Once Upon a Time star died from an “unspecified short illness,” his management revealed. On Sunday, a statement confirming the news of his death was shared on Facebook by Chad Colvin of TriStar Appearances/Event Horizon Talent. “We can confirm that our dear friend and client, Chris Gauthier, passed away on Friday morning, February 23, at the age of 48,” the statement reads.

Chris Gauthier dies at 48

While the news about his death was confirmed, an accurate cause of death hasn’t yet been revealed, per Deadline. “A world without you in it is a much darker place. So much so that when his wife reached out to me yesterday with the news, I wept tears of disbelief for hours. It’s taken me til now to fully mentally and emotionally steel myself to write this,” Colvin’s statement adds.

Gauthier is survived by his wife and children. However, since the Supernatural star kept his personal life private, not much is known about his family, including the identities of his spouse and kids. “Chris was the literal textbook definition of a character actor. You may not have known his name but you knew his face, you knew his voice, and you knew that if he was onscreen, you were in for a helluva ride,” the statement continues.

Tributes pour in for Chris Gauthier

With over 100 credits to his name on IMDb, Gauthier was a well-known figure in the industry. Some of his most famous works include Freddy vs. Jason, Watchmen, Sanctuary, Charmed, Once Upon a Time, Smallville, and Eureka. Following his death, tributes from celebrities and fans alike started pouring in for Gauthier.

Gauthier’s Once Upon a Time co-star who played Captain Hook, Colin O’Donoghue, wrote on Instagram, “Rest in Peace Chris! Heartbroken! My love and thoughts go out to Erin and the boys! You will be missed brother! You were the real captain!!” Co-showrunner Adam Horowitz wrote on X, “So sad to hear of the passing of Chris Gauthier. Such a kind, sweet, and talented person. You will be missed.”

This Article Was Originally Published on Hindustantimes.News!

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Love-bombs, use of AI: Indian woman “Shreya Datta” in US loses crores to scammer

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The con — which drained Shreya Datta, 37, of her savings and retirement funds while saddling her with debt -– involved the use of digitally altered deepfake videos and a script so sophisticated that she felt her “brain was hacked.”

Shreya Datta

In Short

  • Indian woman in US loses Rs 3.73 crore in cryptocurrency romance scam
  • The scam is commonly known as “pig butchering”
  • The scam involved use of digitally altered deepfake videos, tricking into fake crypto investment.

The “wine trader” wooed her online for months with his flirtatious smile and emoji-sprinkled texts. Then he went for the kill, defrauding the Philadelphia-based tech professional out of $450,000 in a cryptocurrency romance scam.

The con — which drained Shreya Datta, 37, of her savings and retirement funds while saddling her with debt -– involved the use of digitally altered deepfake videos and a script so sophisticated that she felt her “brain was hacked.”

The scam is commonly known as “pig butchering,” with victims likened to hogs fattened up by fraudsters with feigned love and affection before the proverbial slaughter — tricking them into a fake crypto investment.

The rapid growth of this fraud, thought to be run by crime syndicates in Southeast Asia, has resulted in losses worth billions of dollars in the United States, with victims saying there is little recourse to recover money.

As it has for many victims, Datta’s experience began on a dating app — Hinge, in her case, where last January she met “Ancel,” who introduced himself as a French wine trader based in Philadelphia.

Datta said she was “charisma bombed” as the conversation quickly moved to WhatsApp. The gym buff with a dreamy smile deleted his Hinge profile to give her “focused attention,” a refreshing experience in the age of fleeting online relationships.

They exchanged selfies, flirty emoticons and did brief video calls in which the suave but “shy” man posed with a dog, later determined to be AI deepfakes.

They texted daily, with “Ancel” enquiring about little things like whether she had eaten, preying on Datta’s desire for a caring companion after her divorce.

Plans to physically meet kept getting pushed back, but Datta was not immediately suspicious. On Valentine’s Day last year, she received a bouquet from “Ancel” sent from a Philadelphia flower shop, with the card addressing her as “Honey Cream.”

When she sent him a selfie, posing with the flowers, he sprayed her with red kiss mark emojis, according to WhatsApp exchanges seen by AFP.

Between the mushy exchanges, “Ancel” sold her a dream.

“The dream was, ‘I’m retiring early, I’m well off. What is your plan?'” Datta, an immigrant from India, told AFP.

“He’s like, ‘I’ve made all this money investing. Do you really want to work till you’re 65?'”

He sent her a link to download a crypto-trading app — which came with two-factor authentication to make it appear legitimate — and showed her what he called money-making trades through annotated screenshots seen by AFP.

Datta converted some of her savings into cryptocurrency on the US-based exchange Coinbase and the fake app initially allowed her to withdraw her early gains, boosting her confidence to invest more.

“As you make astronomical amounts of money trading, it messes with your normal risk perception,” Datta said in hindsight.

“You feel like, ‘Wow, I can do even more.'”

“Ancel” egged her on to invest more savings, take out loans and, despite her reluctance, liquidate her retirement fund.

By March, Datta’s nearly $450,000 investment had more than doubled on paper, but alarm bells went off when she tried to withdraw the amount and the app demanded a personal “tax.”

She turned to her London-based brother, who did a reverse image search of the pictures “Ancel” had sent her and found they were of a German fitness influencer.

“When I realized it was all a scam and all the money was gone, I had proper PTSD symptoms — I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat, couldn’t function,” Datta said.

“It was very traumatizing.”

Dating sites are rife with disinformation, with Facebook groups such as “Tinder swindler dating scams” and “Are we dating the same guy?” cropping up, and researchers calling out the growing use of AI-generated profile pictures.

But the use of romance as a hook to commit financial fraud is provoking new alarm.

The FBI told AFP that last year more than 40,000 people reported losses totaling well over $3.5 billion from cryptocurrency fraud, including pig butchering, to the agency’s Internet Crime Complaint Center.

But that estimate is likely low, as many victims tend not to report the crime out of shame.

“What’s horrific about this crime is it is meant to take every last penny from its victim,” Erin West, a California-based prosecutor, told AFP, adding that she is “deluged with victims every day.”

Self-harm among victims is a common concern, campaigners say, with most unable to recover their losses and some falling prey to another breed of scammers — fake recovery agents.

Datta, who is in therapy and has moved to a smaller apartment to manage her debt, said she had little hope of recovery after reporting the crime to the FBI and Secret Service.

Neither body responded to AFP’s queries about her particular case. Nor did Coinbase, which informed Datta in an email –- after she was conned — that she “may have sent cryptocurrency to a fraudulent investment platform.”

More agonizing, Datta said, was dealing with public judgments such as, “How could you be so stupid?”

“There should be no shame in becoming a victim of this absolutely masterful psychological scam,” West said.

“Victims are truly brainwashed.”

This Article Was Originally Published On India Today.

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US to impose sanctions on 500 targets in Russia to mark Ukraine war anniversary

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The United States will impose sanctions on over 500 targets on Friday in action marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Deputy US Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

US
The new penalties come as the US and its allies look to maintain pressure on Russia.

In Short

  • US to impose sanctions on over 500 targets on Friday
  • The action marks second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
  • The new penalties come as the US and its allies look to maintain pressure on Russia

The United States will impose sanctions on over 500 targets on Friday in action marking the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Deputy US Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

The action, taken in partnership with other countries, will target Russia’s military industrial complex and companies in third countries that facilitate Russia’s access to goods it wants, Adeyemo said, as Washington seeks to hold Russia to account over the war and the death of opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Alexei Navalny

“Tomorrow we’ll release hundreds of sanctions just here in the United States, but it’s important to step back and remember that it’s not just America taking these actions,” Adeyemo said.

The package will be the latest of thousands of sanctions targeting Moscow announced by the United States and its allies following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which has killed tens of thousands and destroyed cities.

The new penalties come as the US and its allies look to maintain pressure on Russia, despite doubts over whether the US Congress will approve additional security assistance for Kyiv.

President Joe Biden’s administration has exhausted money previously approved for Ukraine, and a request for additional funds is languishing in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.

“Sanctions and export controls are geared towards slowing Russia down, making it harder for them to fight their war of choice in Ukraine,” Adeyemo said.

“But ultimately, in order to speed Ukraine up, to give them the ability to defend themselves, Congress needs to act to give Ukraine the resources that they need and the weapons they need.”

Experts have warned that the sanctions are not enough to stop Moscow’s attacks.

“What Congress does to pass additional military assistance to Ukraine is going to matter far, far more than anything else they could do on the sanctions front,” Peter Harrell, a former National Security Council official, said.

The Treasury Department in December said Russia’s economy had been hit by the sanctions, contracting by 2.1% in 2022.

Putin

Russia’s economy is over 5% smaller than had been predicted prior, Rachel Lyngaas, the Chief Sanctions Economist, said on Treasury’s website, opens new tab.

Still, Russia’s economy has performed above expectations, with the International Monetary Fund in January forecasting, opens new tab 2.6% GDP growth for 2024 – a 1.5 percentage point upgrade from an October estimate – after solid 3.0% growth in 2023.

But IMF spokesperson Julie Kozack said on Thursday it was “clear that Russia is now in a war economy,” with military expenditures boosting weapons production, government social transfers propping up consumption and inflation that is rising, despite declines elsewhere.

This article was published on India today.

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