
India, Russia discussed supply of missile systems, upgrades to fighter jets, New Delhi says
The defence ministers of both countries met on Thursday on the sidelines of the SCO meet in China.
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The Guardian
27 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ukraine war briefing: Zelenskyy praises Trump for trimming Putin deadline by about 25 days
Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Monday said Donald Trump showed a 'clear stance and expressed determination' after the US president said he would cut the 50-day deadline he set for Russia to negotiate peace in Ukraine. Trump on Monday set a new but still imprecise deadline of '10 or 12 days from today' for Russia to make progress towards peace or face consequences. Trump's previous deadlines to end the war have included 'one day … 24 hours' and 'about two weeks … within two weeks' as well as '50 days'. Two weeks had already passed since Trump threatened to act within 50 days, leaving 36 days remaining of the original deadline. The new ultimatum of '10 or 12 days' means the US president has given Putin about 25 fewer days to deliberate. Trump has threatened sanctions on both Russia and buyers of its exports unless progress is made. On Monday, Trump indicated he was not interested in talking directly to Putin. 'If you know what the answer is going to be, why wait? And it would be sanctions and maybe tariffs, secondary tariffs,' Trump said. 'I don't want to do that to Russia. I love the Russian people.' Zelenskyy said: 'I thank President Trump for his focus on saving lives and stopping this horrible war … Russia pays attention to sanctions, pays attention to such losses.' The Russian airline Aeroflot was forced to cancel dozens of flights on Monday after an established pro-Ukraine hacking group said it had carried out a cyber-attack. Dan Milmo reports how departure boards at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport turned red as flights were cancelled at a time when many Russians take their holidays. Irate passengers vented their anger on social media. One wrote: 'I've been sitting at the Volgograd airport since 3:30! The flight has been rescheduled for the third time!' Another posted: 'The call centre is unavailable, the website is unavailable, the app is unavailable.' A statement purporting to be from a hacking group called Silent Crow said it had carried out the operation with a Belarusian group called Cyber Partisans, and linked it to the war in Ukraine. 'Glory to Ukraine! Long live Belarus!' said the statement. Silent Crow said the cyber-attack was the result of a year-long operation that had deeply penetrated Aeroflot's network, destroyed 7,000 servers and gained control over the personal computers of employers including senior managers. It did not provide evidence. It threatened to shortly start releasing 'the personal data of all Russians who have ever flown Aeroflot'. Pjotr Sauer meanwhile reports how tens of thousands of passengers have seen their travel plans thrown into chaos in recent weeks, as Ukrainian drones repeatedly disrupt Russian airspace. The systematic Ukrainian campaigns aims to bring the war home to ordinary Russians, many of whom have otherwise experienced it only from their television screens. Pjotr Sauer writes that Ukrainian civilians live under the constant threat of being killed by missiles and drones, and Ukrainian officials have emphasised that life in Russia should not be comfortable for 'a population that, by and large, continues to support the war. The tactic seems to be bearing fruit: regular airport shutdowns and missed holidays have become a major talking point among the Russian public and a growing source of frustration.' Blackouts took place in parts of Russian-occupied Donetsk during a mass attack by Ukrainian drones on Monday, according to reports. The electricity distributor Donetskenergo said three substations were hit, leaving about 160,000 customers without power. The independent Russian-run Astra Telegram channel said the Donbas Palace Hotel in Donetsk city was also hit. Ukraine's Sumy region came under Russian attack on Monday into Tuesday evening, local officials reported. A man, 45, was injured by a drone while taking a cow out to pasture in the Krasnopil community, said Oleg Grigorov, head of the Sumy regional administration. A man, 66, was injured when his apartment was shelled. 'At around 5.45pm, the Russians attacked the Burynska community with four attack UAVs. The strike destroyed a local store,' Grigorov said. 'One of the saleswomen was injured – she was promptly provided with medical assistance and her life is not in danger. Damage was also recorded to residential buildings, a cultural centre, non-residential premises and cars.' The US-German defence company Auterion will provide 33,000 artificial intelligence guidance kits for Ukrainian drones funded by a $50m Pentagon contract. According to the company, the kits enable manually piloted strike drones to autonomously track and hit targets up to a kilometre away – one way of circumventing electronic jamming that can cut a drone off from its operator. 'We have previously shipped thousands of our AI strike systems to Ukraine, but this new deployment increases our support more than tenfold,' said the CEO of Auterion, Lorenz Meier.


Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Jane Street likely to argue retail demand drove its India trades, Bloomberg News reports
July 28 (Reuters) - New York-based trading firm Jane Street Group is likely to argue that its controversial Indian options trades were a response to outsized demand from retail investors, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter. In an interim order on July 3, the Securities and Exchange Board of India barred the company from trading securities in the Indian market, citing that some of its trading strategies were manipulative and led to losses for retail investors. The Indian market regulator alleged that Jane Street and its related entities manipulated the Bank Nifty index by purchasing large quantities of constituent stocks in the cash and futures markets to artificially support the index in morning trade, while simultaneously building short positions in index options. However, SEBI lifted the trading restrictions on Jane Street last week after the firm deposited $567 million in escrow. Jane Street said on Monday that it has sought an extension to respond to the interim order. Jane Street is expected to argue it was eager to facilitate options bets from the country's retail investors, knowing it would be largely unhedged, Bloomberg News reported. The firm is likely to argue that it hedged less aggressively in India compared with other markets and deliberately spread its hedging activity over several hours on January 17, 2024 - its most profitable day during the roughly two-year period under regulatory scrutiny - to reduce market impact, the report said. Reuters could not immediately verify the report, while Jane Street did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment.


Auto Blog
2 hours ago
- Auto Blog
Revolutionary New Tech Promises to Address EV Battery Fire Risks
By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Two iconic Italian brands want to team up once again on a limited-run supercar. A concept will be shown in the next two months, and production will begin within two years. There's no wonder police departments use them. They're sleek, comfortable, spacious, and surprisingly powerful. But is it worth almost $60k? How Covestro's new foam aims to increase trust in EV safety Covestro, a leading producer of advanced polymers and high-performance plastics, has introduced an advanced flame-retardant encapsulation foam for electric vehicle (EV) batteries, enhancing their safety. The world's largest EV market, China, is introducing a new battery safety standard in July 2026, requiring that batteries must not catch fire or explode, even in the event of a thermal runaway. Covestro's battery encapsulation foam aligns with this upcoming national standard, which is expected to influence policies in other countries. The technology, named the Baysafe BEF flame-retardant encapsulation foam series, encases battery cells for protection from mechanical, electrical, and thermal risks with electrical and thermal barrier properties. Public EV chargers — Source: Getty Chemical improvements have enabled the foam to form exceptional adhesion to the battery components, resulting in high torsional stiffness and improved force transmission, resisting twisting forces and enabling even transfer of mechanical forces throughout the battery. Still, this technology's abilities aren't limited to minimizing heat spreading from a battery cell to an adjacent cell. It also promotes higher cell packing density, helping optimize EV range. Baysafe BEF encapsulation foam series' low viscosity and tailored kinetics enable the filling of cell gaps without air inclusions, and foam processing is adjusted to cycle time during production. In other words, the battery pack becomes tighter and more solid, with more cells in the same space, thereby increasing range without enlarging the pack. Facts about EV battery fires Concerns about EV battery fires remain relatively common among consumers. One of the most common causes of EV battery fires is damage to the battery pack, which typically stems from a crash. A collision can cause ruptured battery cells to heat up increasingly through chemical reactions, resulting in a thermal runaway that leads to a fire spreading to the rest of the vehicle. Thermal runaway occurs when chemical reactions replace the normal electrochemical reactions of an abused battery cell. These new chemical reactions produce heat and toxic and flammable gases, which can affect adjacent cells. EVs have been confirmed as less likely to catch fire than their internal combustion engine (ICE) counterparts, but when they do, extinguishing the flames can take hours and tens of thousands of gallons of water. Since individual lithium-ion battery cells undergoing thermal runaway are contained within multiple layers of metal, typically aluminum casings, applying water directly onto the fire's seat can be nearly impossible, according to EV Fire Safe. Since these fires take longer to extinguish than those from gas-powered vehicles, they tend to receive more coverage, resulting in some consumers perceiving EVs as more hazardous. Autoblog Newsletter Autoblog brings you car news; expert reviews and exciting pictures and video. Research and compare vehicles, too. Sign up or sign in with Google Facebook Microsoft Apple By signing up I agree to the Terms of Use and acknowledge that I have read the Privacy Policy . You may unsubscribe from email communication at anytime. Hawthorne, California Tesla charging station — Source: Getty Final thoughts Alongside consumer sentiments like range anxiety, EV battery fire dynamics are one of the most common factors dissuading drivers from going electric. However, most of this fear is due to a misunderstanding of EV battery fires and their likelihood. Covestro's new foam technology is designed to make these instances even rarer than they already are and also aligns with China's new battery safety standard starting July 2026, mandating that EV batteries can't catch fire or explode, even in the event of a thermal runaway. This standard is expected to expand to other countries, alongside China's growing EV manufacturing presence. About the Author Cody Carlson View Profile