Troy Jackson Picked to Replace Platner as Democratic Nominee in Maine Senate Race
Mr. Jackson, a progressive former State Senate president, clinched the nomination at a hastily arranged state party convention.
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India’s Education Minister Steps Down in Victory for Cockroach Party Protesters
The Cockroach Janta Party called an end to weeks of protests after the education minister resigned, a win for that movement even as deep-seated anger among young people remains.
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President Trump gave the keynote speech as relations between his administration and the press continue to deteriorate.
Live Updates: Hundreds of Thousands Flee as Fires Rage in Spain and France
Firefighters were racing to contain blazes that were moving closer to Madrid and Bordeaux.
Tech titan ordered to pay ex-wife $644m in divorce settlement
SEOUL – The chairman of corporate giant SK Group has been ordered by a South Korean court to pay his ex-wife 944bn won (£483m; $644m) in a case that local media has called the “divorce of the century”. The award, which still needs to be finalised, is below the initial 1.38tn won that chairman Chey Tae-won was told to pay Roh Soh-yeong in 2024. It comes more than a decade after his marriage to Roh – the daughter of a former president – fell apart following the revelation he had fathered a child with another woman. SK Group runs SK Hynix, the semiconductor giant that supplies chips to Nvidia and recently made a record-setting debut on the US stock market. Chey’s lawyers said “Chairman Chey Tae-won is deeply sorry in that [the divorce] proceedings so far have caused concern to many people. We will share specific response to the verdict after we closely review the ruling.”
SK Group is one of South Korea’s chaebols – family-owned conglomerates that dominate the country’s economy. The verdict comes after deliberation over the division of assets between Roh and Chey, who had been married for 35 years.
During the earlier trial in 2024, Roh’s legal team had successfully argued that Chey had received significant help from his ex-wife’s father, Roh Tae-woo, who had served as the country’s president between 1988 to 1993. The court had determined that the strongman had given Chey 30bn Korean won from his slush fund in 1991, and told Chey to pay 1.38tn to his ex-wife. But the Supreme Court overturned the verdict last year, ruling that the slush funds were illegally obtained and could not be considered as part of the couple’s assets. The case has gripped South Korea. SK Group began as a textile company in 1953 but quickly grew across a wide swath of industries to become one of South Korea’s biggest conglomerates. Today, it is the second largest chaebol after the Samsung group. South Korean people buy phone plans from SK Telecom and fill their vehicles at SK petrol stations. The group gained global prominence after its subsidiary SK Hynix found itself at the centre of the artificial intelligence (AI) boom. In May, the chipmaker surpassed $1tn (£750bn) on the South Korean stock market.
As SK Hynix’s value soared, the SK Group and its chairman Chey’s status also rose. Last month, President Lee Jae Myung commended Chey during the unveiling of a landmark AI investment plan, calling him and Samsung chairman JY Lee “Heroes of Korean People.” The company also raised $26.5bn in its New York share offering, marking the largest ever listing by a foreign firm in the US.
Dancing with Shakira at World Cup was ‘very, very, very, very, very good’
KAMPALA – Ugandan dance group the Ghetto Kids are celebrating another milestone after appearing at the football World Cup final half-time show on Sunday – a life-changing experience summed up by 10-year-old Sierra as “very, very, very, very, very good”. Despite critics bemoaning the addition of a Superbowl-style performance to the beautiful game’s biggest event, the children’s performance alongside global stars Burna Boy and Shakira was viewed by many millions around the world.
Speaking to the BBC’s Newsday programme, the young members of the dance troupe and their manager say that rising from humble beginnings in Uganda’s capital, Kampala, then finding fame while balancing it all with schoolwork has taken perseverance. “Never give up… pray to God. Listen to your parents, education is first, that’s all,” says Sierra. She and 11-year-old Josephine are still on a high, after their World Cup appearance midway through the game that saw Spain beat Argentina at the MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. “I saw Messi and Lamine Yamal!” says Josephine about the two team’s stars – Argentinian captain Lionel Messi and Spain’s teenage winger Yamal.
“I was so happy to see Messi and people watching us. I felt so excited and I was smiling, and a little bit nervous,” she recalls.
“Shakira, she’s very kind,” chimes in Sierra. The children gave Colombian pop star Shakira and Nigerian musician Burna Boy a big hug on stage as their performance ended – a moment their manager, Dauda Kavuma, insists was a natural show of affection, rather than clever choreography. Learning they had been picked to perform was a dream come true. The children “ran around in a circle, banging and shouting” when they learned the news, says Kavuma.
“They had already danced to Waka Waka in Britain’s Got Talent,” he explains about Shakira’s remake of the 1980s Cameroonian classic Zangaléwa by Golden Sounds. “But it was now a great moment to see that Shakira invited us… to perform with her. “It means a lot and it’s life-changing.” Kavuma’s philosophy is that there is so much talent in the ghetto, you just have to polish it. As a child he lived on the streets of Uganda’s capital before the kindness of a teacher changed his life. He wanted to give back and later became a teacher himself before creating the Ghetto Kids dance troupe – formed of homeless children and those who could not afford school fees. Combining a multitude of African dance styles, comedy and pure joy, they soon caught the attention of Ugandan musicians including Eddy Kenzo, who asked them to feature in some of his videos. The group’s strategy has involved harnessing the viral-making powers of the internet, and their biggest break followed in 2017 when they appeared in the music video for French Montana’s song Unforgettable – which at the time of writing has amassed more than 1.9 billion views on YouTube.
That recognition opened yet more doors, leading the Ghetto Kids to the final of Britain’s Got Talent in 2023, before also competing in America’s Got Talent the following year. It has also enabled Kavuma to expand his project offering housing, food and tuition to many children across Uganda.
This year’s football World Cup final may have been the Ghetto Kids’ biggest stage yet, but it was not their first major sporting event.
Back in 2023, the Ghetto Kids were thrilled to meet Kylian Mbappé and perform at a football half-time match in France between rivals Paris Saint-Germain and Reims.
Another recent career highlight was a film being made about their story, called Ghetto Kids Documentary: No Plan B. Despite their fame, the children’s parents and manager have instilled in them an “education-first” mentality. Videos for their vast social media following are filmed at weekends, so that weekdays are largely kept free for school, Kavuma says. If they have to travel for performances, the children connect online to their teachers while away and catch up on any missed work once back in Kampala.
Both Sierra and Josephine tell the BBC they plan to become doctors when they grow up but will never give up their passion for dance.
“Dancing changed my life – I went to school because of dance,” says Sierra.
Josephine agrees: “Dance is what I know and that makes me happy because that’s my talent.” So, what do they want to say to other children who, like them, might be talented but have not had the easiest start in life?
“To love themselves, believe in God, and pray. Be with their talents – don’t deny them,” answers Josephine.
“And we love them.”
FIA sets up dark web investigation unit to trace criminals hiding in shadowy realm
ISLAMABAD: The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has set up a dedicated dark web investigation unit to track and prosecute criminals operating in the shadowy realm, to effectively counter threats to the country’s interests emanating from encrypted online platforms, officials said on Saturday.
Housed in the state-of-the-art National Command and Control Centre (NC3) at FIA headquarters, the unit will use modern technology to overcome obfuscation techniques employed by criminals to identify them, track dubious transactions usually carried out through cryptocurrency, and execute enforcement actions, FIA Director General Dr Usman Anwar told Dawn.
He said the unit will focus on tracing criminal networks involved in creating illegal documents that facilitate human trafficking and illegal migrant smuggling and other similar subjects within the ambit of the FIA.
The dark web refers to websites that are not indexed by search engines, and are usually encrypted, only accessible through specialised browsers. It can be an effective cloak for criminals because it leverages cutting-edge technologies to hide their identity.
Criminals take advantage of its decentralisation and anonymity to indulge in numerous illegal activities, including hiring a hitman for assassination, trading drugs and weapons, selling stolen classified data and credentials, terrorism, piracy, malware, and hacking tools.
There is no clear path for conducting investigations and enforcement action on businesses that operate on the dark web. These businesses are not only decentralised, but the criminal activities they facilitate tend to be transnational. The only way for authorities to respond is to fight technology with technology and forge greater international cooperation.
DG Anwar said that working hand in hand with the cryptocurrency investigation unit under the same roof, the dark web investigation unit would use its blockchain forensic capability to connect pseudonymous addresses to real-world identities using open-source intelligence (Osint) as an additional tool for better investigative outcomes with documentary evidence.
“We will leverage advanced tools and methodologies to meticulously investigate individuals on the dark web, cross-referencing aliases, usernames, and pseudonyms across marketplaces, forums and sites,” the FIA DG said.
He added that the investigative process would help build detailed profiles of criminal actors, enabling authorities to bring them to justice.
FIA’s NC3 Director Dr Athar Waheed explained that the internet was often described in three layers: the surface web, the deep web, and the dark web. These layers differ in visibility, accessibility and intended use.
The surface web consists of publicly accessible websites indexed by standard search engines like Google. It includes news sites, blogs, online stores, and social media platforms. Anyone with a browser and internet connection can access these pages without special tools or permissions.
The deep web refers to all web content that is not indexed by search engines. This includes databases, academic journals behind paywalls, webmail accounts, online banking, and intranet systems. Although not visible to search engines, these resources are typically legitimate and require credentials, subscriptions, or specific queries to access.
The dark web is a subset of the deep web that is intentionally hidden and accessible only through specialised anonymity-preserving software, such as Tor (The Onion Router).
The NC3 director explained that Tor was an open-source overlay network built on free and open-source software run by over 7,000 volunteer-operated relays worldwide, as well as by millions of users who route their internet traffic via random paths through these relays, enabling anonymous communication.
Unlike the deep web, which primarily consists of private but conventional web content, the dark web includes hidden services that use encryption and obscure IP addresses to protect identities. Accessing it requires knowledge of its specific tools and protocols.
Latest updates.
Firefighters were scrambling to contain blazes that were moving toward major cities. Some 200,000 people have evacuated or sheltered at home.
'Cockroaches won': India's education minister resigns after days of youth protests
India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday he has resigned from his position, handing a major victory to youth protesters nationwide who demanded that he quit to take responsibility for examination paper leaks.
The anti-government protests represented the biggest youth challenge to India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi since he came to power in 2014. Opposition parties have echoed the movement’s demands and have disrupted the monsoon session of parliament that began this week.
The minister announced his resignation on X just as police fired tear gas to scatter young protesters in Delhi, hours before their leaders were set to hold another round of talks with ministers to push for the move.
In a two-page statement shared on X, Pradhan said he has sent his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Considering the situation that has developed at Jantar Mantar and across the country — that anti-national forces should not take advantage of this situation, that the unity of the country should be preserved, that not even a single Indian student’s future should get entangled in legal complications, and that our children should devote their time to studies and focus on building their careers — I have sent my resignation to the honourable prime minister,” The Times of India quoted the letter as stating.
The self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) youth movement, which has been at the helm of the protests, welcomed the resignation by stating on its X account, “Cockroaches won.. Democracy won!”
A statement by CJP Founder Abhijeet Dipke said, “This is democracy. He has resigned.”
However, he added, “We have two more demands. We won’t go like this.”
Addressing youth protesters, Dipke demanded that the families of all students who reportedly took their own lives after the exam leak should receive 10 million Indian rupees in compensation.
“This [resignation] is for them,” he said, pointing towards a banner with the pictures of 20 students whom activists say died following the exam leak.
Secondly, he demanded that action be taken against police officials involved in the July 20 crackdown on protesters. “Remember, do not mess with cockroach,” he cautioned.
Dipke also called for all cases registered against students to be withdrawn.
“We are cockroaches. Once it enters, it does not leave,” he quipped.
Another post by CJP listed three demands as “pending”, with the third being a public apology from the Rapid Action Force (RAF) and Delhi Police.
Dipke also urged his supporters not to turn him into a “hero” because of Pradhan’s resignation.
“Do not make this mistake. Do not make me a hero because of Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation. The country has been ruined because of making one person a hero.”
He further said, “When we rise above Hindu and Muslim politics and talk about issues, then it will be good for the country.”
Earlier in the day, CJP supporters had been continuing their sit-in at Jantar Mantar, the same key protest site where Indian police had fired tear gas and baton-charged demonstrators on Monday.
‘Not a matter of personal reputation’
“From day one, I took responsibility for this and never turned away from this situation,” the education minister asserted in his letter.
Pradhan said the government took immediate notice when irregularities emerged in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) held on May 3.
“The Government of India took immediate cognisance of this, handed over the investigation to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), cancelled the exam, and announced a new date for re-examination. Alongside this, it was also decided to conduct the exam in CBT (Computer-Based Test) mode from next year,” he highlighted.
In his letter, the minister also accused “certain individuals occupying positions of responsibility” of trying to mislead students and create obstacles.
Pradhan stated: “I have always been an unwavering believer in the strength of our democracy and I have always held deep respect for the aspirations, dreams and expectations of the youth. They are not only the future of India, but also the bearers, builders, and architects of a new and developed India.
“Watching the events of the last 10 days has saddened me. This is not a matter of personal reputation for me.”
Pradhan concluded his letter saying, “My resolve is that we will not let the country’s youth get caught in a web of confusion.”
‘Victory of democracy’
Supporters of CJP, including the opposition Congress party, welcomed Pradhan’s resignation.
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, who ended his 26-day hunger strike yesterday, hailed the resignation as a “victory of democracy”.
“It’s a victory of peace, patience & persévérance,” he wrote, congratulating CJP and the Gen Z of India.
“Thank you all citizens for shedding fear and the fear of fear and rising up from every corner of the nation,” he added.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, a Lok Sabha member and sister of opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, expressed Congress’s support for the youth movement.
“The youth of India have started to take our country back from those who tried to suppress their voice… today is the day an undemocratic and oppressive government was forced to bend to the will of the people of India,” she wrote on X.
Additional input from Reuters
India's education minister resigns after youth protests
India’s Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said on Saturday he had resigned from his position, handing a major victory to youth protesters nationwide who demanded that he quit to take responsibility for examination paper leaks.
The minister announced his resignation on X just as police fired tear gas to scatter young protesters in Delhi, hours before their leaders were set to hold another round of talks with ministers to push for the move.
In a two-page statement shared on X, Pradhan said he has sent his resignation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“Considering the situation that has developed at Jantar Mantar and across the country — that anti-national forces should not take advantage of this situation, that the unity of the country should be preserved, that not even a single Indian student’s future should get entangled in legal complications, and that our children should devote their time to studies and focus on building their careers — I have sent my resignation to the honourable prime minister,” The Times of India quoted the letter as stating.
The self-named Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) youth movement, which has been at the helm of the protests, welcomed the resignation by stating on its X account, “Cockroaches won.. Democracy won!”
The anti-government protests represented the biggest youth challenge to Modi since he came to power in 2014. Opposition parties have echoed the movement’s demands and have disrupted the monsoon session of parliament that began this week.
Earlier in the day, CJP supporters had been continuing their sit-in at Jantar Mantar, the same key protest site where Indian police had fired tear gas and baton-charged demonstrators on Monday.
‘Not a matter of personal reputation’
“From day one, I took responsibility for this and never turned away from this situation,” the education minister asserted in his letter.
Pradhan said the government took immediate notice when irregularities emerged in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) held on May 3.
“The Government of India took immediate cognisance of this, handed over the investigation to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), cancelled the exam, and announced a new date for re-examination. Alongside this, it was also decided to conduct the exam in CBT (Computer-Based Test) mode from next year,” he highlighted.
In his letter, the minister also accused “certain individuals occupying positions of responsibility” of trying to mislead students and create obstacles.
Pradhan stated: “I have always been an unwavering believer in the strength of our democracy and I have always held deep respect for the aspirations, dreams and expectations of the youth. They are not only the future of India, but also the bearers, builders, and architects of a new and developed India.
“Watching the events of the last 10 days has saddened me. This is not a matter of personal reputation for me.”
Pradhan concluded his letter saying, “My resolve is that we will not let the country’s youth get caught in a web of confusion.”
More to follow
