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US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that imports from India will face 25 percent tariffs, while also announcing an unspecified “penalty” over New Delhi’s purchases of Russian weapons and energy.The measures will kick in on Friday, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, adding to a bevy of other tariff hikes — some up to 50 percent — set to take effect the same day.In a separate post, Trump said the August 1 deadline “stands strong, and will not be extended.” He had previously issued multiple delays to his so-called “reciprocal” tariffs since first announcing them in early April, while instituting an interim 10 percent baseline.The 25 percent tariff on India would be marginally lower than the rate announced in April, but is higher than those of other Asian countries that have struck preliminary trade agreements with Washington.India, the world’s most populous country, was one of the first major economies to engage the Trump administration in broader trade talks.But six months later, Trump’s sweeping demands and India’s reluctance to fully open its agricultural and other sectors have so far prevented New Delhi from sealing a deal.”Remember, while India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their Tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the World, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any Country,” Trump said Wednesday morning.He added that India has “always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of ENERGY, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to STOP THE KILLING IN UKRAINE.”In addition to the 25 percent tariff, India will face “a penalty for the above,” Trump said, without any specification.Later Wednesday he told reporters that talks on the tariffs were ongoing and “we’ll see what happens,” but he did not elaborate on the penalty.The measure comes as the 79-year-old Republican has signaled he intends to tighten US pressure on Moscow to halt fighting in Ukraine and negotiate a peace deal.On Tuesday, Trump said he was giving Russian President Vladimir Putin 10 days — which would mean the end of next week — to change course in Ukraine or face new tariffs.He had previously threatened to impose “secondary tariffs” that would target Russia’s remaining trade partners — such as China and India — seeking to impede Moscow’s ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions.Despite the tariff threat, New Delhi said it was committed to continuing negotiations on “a fair, balanced and mutually beneficial bilateral trade agreement.”- China trade talks -Shortly after announcing the tariffs on New Delhi, Trump said he had struck a deal with India’s archrival Pakistan to jointly develop its oil reserves.”Who knows, maybe they’ll be selling oil to India some day!” he posted on Truth Social.Trump has set out to upend the global economy by trying to leverage US economic power to squeeze trading partners with tariffs and force foreign companies to move to the United States.He has already announced deal outlines with five countries — Britain, Vietnam, Japan, Indonesia and the Philippines — as well as the one with the 27-nation EU.US and Chinese officials held talks this week in Stockholm on extending a trade truce that has temporarily lowered tariffs from soaring triple-digits.While no deal was announced at the meetings, both sides are eyeing an extension ahead of the August 12 deadline.Meanwhile Trump announced 50 percent tariffs on Brazil — in part to pressure the South American ally to shut down the trial of far-right former president Jair Bolsonaro on coup charges.He has also instituted separate levies targeting specific sectors, including steel, copper and automobiles.Trump has imposed many of his sweeping tariffs citing emergency authorities, which are being challenged in US court.

Democrats moved Wednesday to force Donald Trump to release files from the investigation into notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, invoking an obscure law to keep up the pressure on an issue that has roiled the US president’s administration.The White House has been facing increasingly intense demands to be more transparent about the case of the disgraced financier, who died in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.The president raised further questions about his past relationship with Epstein on Tuesday when he told reporters he fell out with his former friend after he “stole” female employees from the spa at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.The Justice Department angered Trump supporters earlier this month when it confirmed that Epstein had died by suicide and had no secret “client list” — rebuffing conspiracy theories held by Trump’s far-right supporters about supposedly high-level Democratic complicity.Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wrote to the Justice Department asking for the materials under a section of federal law known as the “rule of five.””The public has a right to know who enabled, knew of, or participated in one of the most heinous sex trafficking operations in history,” Schumer told reporters at the Capitol.”Let me remind everyone of what’s happened in recent months. Donald Trump campaigned on releasing the Epstein files. He broke that promise.”The measure — introduced a century ago but rarely used — requires government departments to provide relevant information if any five members of the Senate’s chief watchdog panel request it.- Republicans divided -It is not clear if it could be enforced in court, but even if the effort fails it keeps the spotlight on an issue that has upended Trump’s summer, dividing Republicans and leading to the early closure of the Republican-controlled House of Representatives.Trump has urged his supporters to drop demands for the Epstein files, but Democrats in Congress — with limited Republican support — have also been seeking a floor vote to force their release.House Oversight Committee Democrats, backed by some Republicans, approved a subpoena last week for the Justice Department to hand over the documents, although the demand has yet to be sent. Lawmakers have also been seeking testimony from Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison for her role in his alleged crimes.Maxwell’s lawyer has said she would speak to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee if granted immunity for her testimony.”The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,” a spokesman for the panel said.Democrats have tried to attach votes on the Epstein files to unrelated bills multiple times, prompting Speaker Mike Johnson to send lawmakers home for the summer a day early last week, shutting down the efforts.Senate Democrats launched a separate effort to get the files released via a bill called the Epstein Files Transparency Act, but this cannot even be taken up until the House reconvenes in September.Meanwhile the Supreme Court’s justices are expected to consider at a September 29 conference ahead of their October term whether to hear an appeal by Maxwell of her sex trafficking conviction.”This crime by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell was not a victimless crime…. It was about exploiting women, in fact, girls — girls who were mercilessly and repeatedly subject to abuse and trafficking,” said Senator Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat from Connecticut. 

US Secretary of the Army Dan Driscoll on Wednesday directed West Point to rescind an offer for a former cybersecurity agency chief to hold a prestigious position at the elite military academy.The announcement came a day after far-right conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer took aim at the hiring of Jen Easterly, a former US Army officer and West Point graduate who served as director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) during president Joe Biden’s administration.”The United States Military Academy terminates the gratuitous service agreement with Ms. Jen Easterly. She will no longer serve as the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair in the Department of Social Sciences,” Driscoll wrote in a memo he posted on X.The memo requested an “immediate top-down review” of the academy’s hiring practices and also directed it to “immediately pause non-governmental and outside groups from selecting employees,” without indicating if that had happened in Easterly’s case.The document did not specify why her job offer was being rescinded.But chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell responded to Driscoll’s post on X with one saying that “we’re not turning cadets into censorship activists. We’re turning them into warriors & leaders” — an apparent reference to allegations from some conservatives that CISA engaged in censorship on behalf of Biden’s administration.On Tuesday, Loomer — known for claiming that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were an inside job — described the hiring at the Defense Department as “horrendous” and asked why Easterly had been offered a job.”Why are Biden holdovers who worked to silence Trump supporters under Biden getting elevated to high level jobs under the Trump admin?” she wrote.Though she holds no official position, Loomer wields significant power, and is reported to have successfully pushed for the dismissal of several senior US security officials she deemed disloyal to the president.While serving as chief of CISA — the agency charged with ensuring the security of US elections — Easterly said that claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 vote were false, rejecting assertions by Trump and his allies.”We do have some portion of the American public that does not believe in the legitimacy of the 2020 election — despite all of the extensive evidence,” she said in 2022.Easterly also later stated there was no evidence that malicious actors “changed, deleted or altered votes or had any material impact on the outcome” of elections in 2018, 2020 or 2022.

Former US vice president Kamala Harris ruled out running for governor of California on Wednesday, in a statement that offered little explanation for her decision but warned that the nation was in “a moment of crisis.”The Democrat — defeated last year by Donald Trump in a tumultuous presidential election — had been mulling a run for the governorship of her home state in 2026, with Democratic incumbent Gavin Newsom stepping down.She had set an end-of-summer deadline for announcing her plans after leaving Washington in January.”I love this state, its people, and its promise. It is my home. But after deep reflection, I’ve decided that I will not run for governor in this election,” Harris said in a statement. Harris, 60, would have been the favorite had she thrown her hat in the ring — she was the state’s top choice, according to polling earlier in July from the University of California, Irvine — yet she offered no explanation for her decision.Her retreat from the gubernatorial contest means she could in theory decide to try again for the White House in 2028.The political world had been in suspense about the former vice president’s plans since her loss to Trump, when she came into the race late to replace an ailing president Joe Biden atop the Democratic ticket.While she was out of the limelight, Harris had been reaching out to longtime supporters and donors to gauge enthusiasm for her candidacy to run the country’s most populous state, and one of the world’s largest economies.She represented the Golden State in the Senate and has served as its attorney general, and was seen as having the advantage of wide name recognition that would help with setting up a deep campaign war chest.Harris said the country was in a “moment of crisis” caused by politics, government and US institutions failing the American people.She called for “fresh thinking — committed to our same values and principles, but not bound by the same playbook.” “I look forward to getting back out and listening to the American people, helping elect Democrats across the nation who will fight fearlessly, and sharing more details in the months ahead about my own plans,” she added.The election for the next California governor takes place on November 3 next year.Republican businessman Rick Caruso came a distant second to Harris in the UC Irvine poll — but 40 percent of respondents said they were not yet sure who they wanted to replace Newsom.The sitting governor cannot run again and is seen as a leading potential Democratic candidate for the next presidential election.

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia’s sparsely populated Far East Wednesday, causing tsunamis that forced millions to evacuate homes across the Pacific rim, from Japan to Ecuador.The magnitude 8.8 quake struck off Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula, rattling the earth and generating waves of up to four meters (12 feet) in height.The initial quake caused limited damage and only light injuries, despite being the strongest since 2011, when 15,000 people were killed in Japan. But tsunami warnings were issued for more than a dozen countries, with millions of residents put on high alert.In Russia, a tsunami crashed through the port of Severo-Kurilsk submerging the local fishing plant, officials said.Russian state television footage showed buildings and debris swept into the sea.The surge of water reached as far as the town’s World War II monument about 400 meters from the shoreline, said Mayor Alexander Ovsyannikov.In Japan, almost two million people were told to head to higher ground, before the warnings were downgraded or rescinded.The Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan — destroyed by a huge quake and tsunami in 2011 — was evacuated, its operator said.One woman was killed as she drove her car off a cliff as she tried to escape, local media reported.A swathe of South America’s Pacific coast remained under a tsunami warning by 1800 GMT Wednesday.In the Galapagos Islands, national parks were closed, schools were shuttered, loudspeakers blared warnings and tourists were spirited off sightseeing boats and onto the safety of land.”As residents here, we really do feel scared: there’s this sense of uncertainty, we truly don’t know what’s going to happen” said Patricia Espinosa of Isabela Island, where inhabitants were taken higher to ground in requisitioned buses and dump trucks.”Once the wave train arrived… maximum heights of up to 1.3 m were observed”  according to the Ecuadoran navy’s oceanographic institute. “Disturbances are currently being recorded, which will continue for the next few hours.”Peru closed 65 of its 121 Pacific ports as the Navy warned that fishing should be suspended and people should stay away from the coast. Earlier, tsunami sirens blared near Hawaii’s popular Waikiki beach where an AFP photographer saw gridlocked traffic as Hawaiians escaped to higher ground.Hawaii governor Josh Green said flights in and out of the island of Maui had been cancelled as a precaution. “STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!” US President Donald Trump said on social media.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later downgraded the alert for Hawaii to an advisory and local authorities cancelled a coastal evacuation order.Russian scientists reported that the Klyuchevskoy volcano erupted shortly after the earthquake.”Red-hot lava is observed flowing down the western slope. There is a powerful glow above the volcano and explosions,” said Russia’s Geophysical Survey.- Pacific alerts -Wednesday’s quake was the strongest in the Kamchatka region since 1952, the regional seismic monitoring service said, warning of aftershocks of up to 7.5 magnitude.The USGS said the quake was one of the 10 strongest tremors ever recorded.The quake was followed by at least six aftershocks that further rattled the Russian far east, including one of 6.9 magnitude.In Taitung in Taiwan, hotel resort worker Wilson Wang, 31, told AFP: “We’ve advised guests to stay safe and not go out, and to avoid going to the coast.”Pacific nation Palau, about 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of the Philippines, ordered the evacuation of “all areas along the coastline”.Waves of up to four meters are expected overnight in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, authorities said in a press statement.burs-arb/sms

US President Donald Trump’s decision to slap harsh tariffs on Indian exports and a “penalty” on purchases of Russian weapons and energy will cost thousands of jobs and could fundamentally change the nature of bilateral ties, experts said Wednesday.Months of negotiations between the two countries over an interim trade deal had stalled in recent weeks over Trump’s sweeping demands and New Delhi’s reluctance to fully open its agricultural and dairy sectors to US imports.On Wednesday, two days before the deadline for the reintroduction of Trump’s so-called “reciprocal tariffs”, the US president announced that Indian shipments to the United States would be hit with a 25 percent tariff.He added that an unspecified “penalty” for acquiring military equipment and oil from Russia would also kick in from August 1.Kirit Bhansali, Chairman of India’s Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council, said the move was a “deeply concerning development” that would have “far-reaching repercussions across India’s economy” and threaten “thousands of livelihoods”.For his sector alone, the United States is India’s “single largest market, accounting for over $10 billion in exports — nearly 30 percent of our industry’s total global trade,” he said.”A blanket tariff of this magnitude will inflate costs, delay shipments, distort pricing, and place immense pressure on every part of the value chain — from small karigars (artisans) to large manufacturers,” he added. “We recognise the need to address trade imbalances, but such extreme measures undermine decades of economic cooperation.”Indian goods exports to the United States amounted to $87.4 billion in 2024, according to US data, with top sectors including pharmaceuticals, gems, textiles and smartphones.- ‘Completely unacceptable’ -Trump’s targeting of India with such a high rate of levies would complicate ongoing negotiations for a more comprehensive trade agreement, said Biswajit Dhar, of the Council for Social Development think tank. “It was already a difficult set of negotiations, but both sides said we were making progress. And there was no hard and fast deadline,” he said, referring to previous dates for the imposition of his tariffs that Trump had extended unilaterally.Dhar added that Trump’s threatened “penalty” for India’s ties with Russia was “completely unacceptable for a sovereign state”.”A sovereign state can’t be told who to maintain relations with. Whether it’s Russia or China or whoever. You can’t browbeat a country into accepting your conditions,” he said.Analysts warned that US-India relations may be entering new territory, after years of warming as Washington has cultivated New Delhi as a counterweight to rising Chinese power.”President Trump’s messaging has damaged many years of careful, bipartisan nurturing of the US-India partnership in both capitals,” said Ashok Malik, of business consultancy The Asia Group, in a social media post.”Politically the relationship is in its toughest spot since the mid-1990s.”Praveen Donthi of the International Crisis Group said the announcement underscored the fact that Trump did not “differentiate between friends and foes when it comes to tariffs”.”In the past when India purchased S400 missile system from Russia, there were no sanctions because of the bipartisan consensus that existed in the US about India because of its value as a democratic counterweight to China. “But now that’s gone.” The move could have far-reaching consequences, including seeing New Delhi attempt “to mend its relations with Beijing,” he said.

One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck Russia’s sparsely populated Far East on Wednesday, causing tsunamis up to four metres (12 feet) high across the Pacific and sparking evacuations from Hawaii to Japan.The magnitude 8.8 quake struck off Petropavlovsk on Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula and was the largest since 2011 when one of magnitude 9.1 off Japan caused a tsunami that killed more than 15,000 people.Almost two million people in Japan were told to head to higher ground and tsunami warnings were issued across the region, before being rescinded or downgraded — though scientists warned of the danger of powerful aftershocks.While the immediate area around the quake seemed to have been spared, people on the other side of the Pacific were gearing up for the impact of a tsunami expected to hit overnight.Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands off the west coast of South America closed visitor sites and schools, ushering tourists to dry land as a precaution.”The boats haven’t gone out to fish,” said a fisherwoman in Puerto Ayora on the islands who did not want to be named.”We’ve been warned through the loudspeakers that it’s best not to approach the coastline.”In Russia’s far east, a tsunami flooded the port town of Severo-Kurilsk, crashing through the port area and submerging the local fishing plant, officials said. Russian state television footage showed it sweep buildings and debris into the sea.Authorities said the population of around 2,000 people had been evacuated.The waves reached as far as the town’s World War II monument about 400 metres from the shoreline, said Mayor Alexander Ovsyannikov.Several people were injured in Russia by the quake, state media reported, but none seriously.”The walls were shaking,” a Kamchatka resident told state media Zvezda.”It’s good that we packed a suitcase, there was one with water and clothes near the door. We quickly grabbed it and ran out… It was very scary,” she said.Later Wednesday, the authorities in the Kamchatka peninsula announced the tsunami warning had been lifted.- Millions advised to flee -Officials from countries with a Pacific coastline in North and South America — including the United States, Mexico, Ecuador and Colombia — issued warnings to avoid threatened beaches and low-lying areas.In Japan, nearly two million people were advised to evacuate, and many left by car or on foot to higher ground.One woman was killed as she drove her car off a cliff as she tried to escape, local media reported.A 1.3-metre high tsunami reached a port in the northern prefecture of Iwate, Japan’s weather agency said.By Wednesday evening, the agency had downgraded its tsunami alerts — issued for much of the archipelago — to advisories.In Hawaii, governor Josh Green said flights in and out of the island of Maui had been cancelled as a precaution.The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center later downgraded the alert for Hawaii to an advisory and local authorities cancelled a coastal evacuation order.Earlier, tsunami sirens blared near Hawaii’s popular Waikiki surf beach where an AFP photographer saw gridlocked traffic as Hawaiians escaped to higher ground.”STAY STRONG AND STAY SAFE!” US President Donald Trump said on social media.- Pacific alerts -Wednesday’s quake was the strongest in the Kamchatka region since 1952, the regional seismic monitoring service said, warning of aftershocks of up to 7.5 magnitude.The USGS said the quake was one of the 10 strongest tremors ever recorded.The quake was followed by at least six aftershocks that further rattled the Russian far east, including one of 6.9 magnitude.The US Tsunami Warning Centers said waves exceeding three metres above the tide level were possible along some coasts of Ecuador, northwestern Hawaiian islands and Russia.Between one- and three-metre waves were possible along some coasts of Chile, Costa Rica, French Polynesia, Hawaii, Japan and other islands in the Pacific, it added.Waves of up to one metre were possible elsewhere, including Australia, Colombia, Mexico, New Zealand, Tonga and Taiwan.- Fukushima evacuated -At Inage Beach in Chiba prefecture in Japan, officials have set up a security perimeter. One rescue worker told AFP the seaside area was off limits until further notice.The Fukushima nuclear plant in northeast Japan — destroyed by a huge quake and tsunami in 2011 — was evacuated, its operator said.In Taitung in Taiwan, hotel resort worker Wilson Wang, 31, told AFP: “We’ve advised guests to stay safe and not go out, and to avoid going to the coast.”Pacific nation Palau, about 800 kilometres (500 miles) east of the Philippines, ordered the evacuation of “all areas along the coastline”.Waves of up to four metres are expected overnight in the Marquesas Islands, French Polynesia, authorities said in a press statement.burs-jxb/cw

Gloria Cuevas thought she would live forever in her pink, century-old house on Puerto Rico’s west coast — but then her landlord decided to transform the home into an Airbnb.Cuevas left her home — now purple and split in two — and her beloved city for another further south, forced out by the rising cost of living and an explosion of short-term rentals on the US Caribbean island territory.Puerto Rico — long a draw for sun-worshipping tourists — is also a hotspot for foreign investment and offers tax incentives to attract outsiders.”At first, I couldn’t come back here,” Cuevas, 68, told AFP, gazing at the home she once made her own. “It made me feel sad and angry at the same time.”Cuevas’s experience is becoming an all too familiar tale across the island, where signs promote mansions for sale, and the Airbnb logo is plastered on homes where locals once lived.Intensifying Puerto Rico’s gentrification are laws that encourage primarily wealthy mainland Americans to move there in exchange for preferential tax treatment.The program originally enacted in 2012 was meant to spur economic growth and attract investment on the island, an unincorporated territory under US control since 1898.Those relocating must acquire residency and buy property to keep the significant incentives — but many Puerto Ricans as well as some US lawmakers say this is driving up housing prices and encouraging tax evasion. “Colonialism kills us, it suffocates us,” Cuevas said. “It’s a global theme. It’s a class war.”- ‘Unfair’ -Ricki Rebeiro, 30, moved to San Juan more than a year ago, bringing his packaging and marketing business that services cannabis companies with him. He told AFP that basing his work in Puerto Rico saves his company millions of dollars annually, and that he pays zero personal income tax — what amounts to the equivalent of “a whole second income” that he says he tries to reinvest locally.”I believe that the locals are probably upset that they’re not reaping the same benefits of somebody like me,” said the entrepreneur, whose family is based in Pennsylvania and Oklahoma.The system is “unfair,” Rebeiro said, “but I also don’t believe that I should be the one to blame for that. I didn’t structure the program.”Puerto Ricans in recent years have slammed their government for what they say is a hyperfocus on outsiders at the expense of locals, as the rich — including people like the famous content creator-turned-boxer Jake Paul — move in.- ‘This is ours’ -In Cabo Rojo, a seaside city about an hour’s drive south of Rincon on the island’s western coast, some residents are taking the matter into their own hands.During a recent canvassing effort, a group of activists urged their neighbors to protest a project called Esencia, which aims to build a $2 billion luxury resort and residential development on coastal land.Dafne Javier said her family goes back generations in this area — her great-grandfather was the last mayor in the municipality under Spanish occupation, and the first under US rule.The 77-year-old told AFP the Esencia project would “totally change the landscape,” saying it would create a gated town within a town and predicting that wealthy newcomers “won’t mix with us.”Protesters noted that the planned development would be in the vicinity of protected areas. They say it would destroy the natural habitat of some endangered species, while exacerbating problems with potable water, electricity supply and trash pick-up.Roberto Ruiz Vargas — COO of Three Rules Capital, the developer behind Esencia — disputes those notions, and told AFP that “from the outset, our intention has been to develop the land responsibly and sensitively, minimizing impact.”He pointed to plans to power the development primarily with solar energy. He also said developers were working with both the water authority and the Department of Natural Resources to “address concerns about our water sources” including “independent systems that will reuse rainwater and treated wastewater for irrigation uses.”Ruiz Vargas said developers estimate the project will directly create more than 4,000 jobs, and thousands more across the island. But protestors said an influx of wealthy new residents will exacerbate inequality.Christopher Powers is married to a Puerto Rican with whom he has children, and has lived in Cabo Rojo for 20 years. He vehemently opposes the project.”They have no idea what they’re destroying, and if they do have an idea what they’re destroying, then they should be ashamed,” he told AFP of the developers.”Not only is it ecologically destructive, not only will it be an economic disaster for those of us who live here, but it’s also against the sort of spirit or values of the Caborojinos.”Cuevas is hopeful her story and others like it will crystallize for her fellow Puerto Ricans what they stand to lose.”We have to keep fighting. We have to educate our youth. Have you heard of Bad Bunny?” she said, referring to the Puerto Rican global superstar whose music and current residency in San Juan has amplified discussion of gentrification and cultural dilution, on the island and beyond.”This is ours,” Cuevas said. “We’re not going to leave.”

A formidable new radar satellite jointly developed by the United States and India launched Wednesday, designed to track subtle changes in Earth’s land and ice surfaces and help predict both natural and human-caused hazards.Dubbed NISAR (NASA-ISRO Synthetic Aperture Radar), the pickup truck-sized spacecraft blasted off around 5:40 pm (1210 GMT) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on India’s southeastern coast, riding an ISRO Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle rocket.Livestream of the event showed excited schoolchildren brought to watch the launch and mission teams erupting in cheers and hugging.Highly anticipated by scientists, the mission has also been hailed by US President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a milestone in growing cooperation between the two countries.”Congratulations India!” Dr Jitendra Singh, India’s science and technology minister wrote on X, calling the mission a “game changer.””Our planet surface undergoes constant and meaningful change,” Karen St Germain, director of NASA’s Earth Science division, told reporters ahead of launch.”Some change happens slowly. Some happens abruptly. Some changes are large, while some are subtle.”By picking up on tiny shifts in the vertical movement of the Earth’s surface — as little as one centimeter (0.4 inches) — scientists will be able to detect the precursors for natural and human-caused disasters, from earthquakes, landsides and volcanoes to aging infrastructure like dams and bridges.”We’ll see land substance and swelling, movement, deformation and melting of mountain glaciers and ice sheets covering both Greenland and Antarctica, and of course, we’ll see wildfires,” added St Germain, calling NISAR “the most sophisticated radar we’ve ever built.”India in particular is interested in studying its coastal and nearby ocean areas by tracking yearly changes in the shape of the sea floor near river deltas and how shorelines are growing or shrinking.Data will also be used to help guide agricultural policy by mapping crop growth, tracking plant health, and monitoring soil moisture. In the coming weeks, the spacecraft will begin an approximately 90-day commissioning phase during which it will unfurl its 39-foot (12-meter) radar antenna reflector.Once operational, NISAR will record nearly all of Earth’s land and ice twice every 12 days from an altitude of 464 miles (747 kilometers), circling the planet near the poles rather than around the equator.- Microwave frequencies -As it orbits, the satellite will continuously transmit microwaves and receive echoes from the surface. Because the spacecraft is moving, the returning signals are distorted, but computer processing will reassemble them to produce detailed, high-resolution images. Achieving similar results with traditional radar would require an impractically large 12-mile-wide dish.NISAR will operate on two radar frequencies: L-band and S-band. The L-band is ideal for sensing taller vegetation like trees, while the S-band enables more accurate readings of shorter plants such as bushes and shrubs.NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and India’s ISRO shared the workload, each building components on opposite sides of the planet before integrating and testing the spacecraft at ISRO’s Satellite Integration & Testing Establishment in the southern Indian city of Bengaluru.NASA’s contribution came to just under $1.2 billion, while ISRO’s costs were around $90 million.India’s space program has made major strides in recent years, including placing a probe in Mars orbit in 2014 and landing a robot and rover on the Moon in 2023.Shubhanshu Shukla, a test pilot with the Indian Air Force, recently became the second Indian to travel to space and the first to reach the International Space Station — a key step toward India’s own indigenous crewed mission planned for 2027 under the Gaganyaan (“sky craft”) program.

Democrats moved Wednesday to force Donald Trump to release files from the investigation into notorious sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, invoking an obscure law to keep up the pressure on an issue that has roiled the US president’s administration.The White House has been facing increasingly intense demands to be more transparent about the disgraced financier, who died in federal prison in 2019 while awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges.The president raised further questions about his past relationship with Epstein on Tuesday when he told reporters he fell out with his former friend after the disgraced financier “stole” employees from the spa at his Mar-a-Lago resort.The Justice Department angered Trump supporters earlier this month when it said Epstein had died by suicide and had no “client list” — rebuffing conspiracy theories about the supposed complicity of high-profile Democrats that leading figures in Trump’s MAGA movement had been pushing for years. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and the Democrats on the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee wrote to the Justice Department asking for the materials under a section of federal law known as the “rule of five.”The measure — introduced a century ago but rarely used — requires government departments to provide relevant information if any five members of the Senate’s chief watchdog panel request it.It is not clear if it could be enforced in court but even if the effort fails it keeps the spotlight on an issue that has upended Trump’s summer, dividing Republicans and leading to the early closure of the House of Representatives.Trump has urged his supporters to drop demands for the Epstein files, but Democrats in Congress — with limited Republican support — have been seeking a floor vote to force their release.House Oversight Committee Democrats, backed by some Republicans, approved a subpoena last week for the Justice Department to hand over the documents, although the demand has yet to be sent. Lawmakers have also been seeking testimony from Epstein’s accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who is serving 20 years in prison for her role in his crimes.Maxwell’s lawyer has said she would speak to the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee if granted immunity for her testimony.”The Oversight Committee will respond to Ms. Maxwell’s attorney soon, but it will not consider granting congressional immunity for her testimony,” a spokesman for the panel said.Democrats have also sought to attach votes on the Epstein files to unrelated bills multiple times, prompting Speaker Mike Johnson to send lawmakers home for the summer a day early last week rather than risk them succeeding.”Donald Trump promised he would release the Epstein files while he was on the campaign trail. He made that promise, and he has yet to do it,” Schumer said in a speech Tuesday on the Senate floor.