Month: June 2025

More than 240 people were killed when an Air India plane bound for London crashed moments after taking off from the city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, in what authorities called the world’s worst aviation disaster in a decade. Ahmedabad police chief G.S. Malik said among the dead included Vijay Rupani, the former chief minister of Gujarat state, of which Ahmedabad is the main city.

Police in Ahmedabad also said at least one person survived the crash of an Air India plane; that survivor has been identified as a British citizen named Vishwash Kumar Ramesh. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner, with 242 people on board, lifted off from Ahmedabad Airport at about 1:38 p.m. local time en route to London Gatwick Airport. It gave a Mayday call, signaling an emergency, but there was no response from the aircraft before it crashed onto a medical college hostel after reaching an altitude of 625 feet shortly after takeoff.  The passengers included 217 adults, 11 children and two infants, with Air India confirming that 169 were Indian nationals, 53 were Britons, seven Portuguese, and one Canadian. Parts of the plane’s body were scattered around the smouldering building into which it crashed. The tail of the plane was stuck on top of the building.

Part of the plane struck the dining area of B.J. Medical College. Federation of All India Medical Association Vice President Dr. Divyaansh Singh announced in a X post that reports indicate there are 10 to 20 casualties from its student body and resident doctors.

U.S. aerospace safety consultant Anthony Brickhouse told Reuters that videos of the aircraft show that the landing gear was down at a phase of flight when it would typically be up. India’s Civil Aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu said that a formal investigation has been initiated by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau.

According to the Aviation Safety Network database, it was the first crash of a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, which was introduced in 2009 and has more than 1,000 planes operating globally (according to Boeing). The plane that crashed on Thursday flew for the first time in 2013 and was delivered to Air India in January 2014, per Flightradar24.

The National Transportation Safety Board said Thursday morning on X that it will be leading a team of U.S. investigators going to India to assist in the crash investigation: “The government is constituting a high-level committee comprising experts from multiple disciplines to examine the matter in detail.”

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg said that he has spoken with the Air India chairman to offer full support and a team stands ready to support the investigation.

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California Senator Alex Padilla was forcibly escorted out of a news conference in Los Angeles on Thursday and briefly taken into custody, after attempting to pose a question to Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem. Noem was in the city addressing public concerns related to protests against President Trump’s immigration policies, particularly those involving ICE operations in Southern California.

Padilla said to Noem, “I am Sen. Alex Padilla. I have questions for the secretary,” which prompted several men to physically push him out of the room;nit was unclear who the men were as several were dressed in plainclothes. Footage released by Padilla’s office and shared with NBC News shows the senator being pushed into a hallway, where he was forced to the ground by individuals wearing FBI-marked vests. He was then handcuffed as agents instructed him to place his hands behind his back.

Before the interruption, Noem was discussing increasing immigration operations in the area and claimed that Homeland Security agents were staying to “liberate the city socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and that this mayor have placed on this country.”  When asked by a reporter about the incident, Nom clarified that she does not know the senator and that he did not request a meeting with her: “when I leave here, I’ll have a conversation with him and find out really what his concerns were,” Noem said. “I think everyone in America would agree that wasn’t appropriate.”

According to a statement from Padilla’s team, the senator was in Los Angeles conducting official congressional oversight of federal activity in the region. They confirmed he is no longer in custody, with his office stating: “he was in the federal building to receive a briefing with [Air Force] General [Gregory] Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem’s press conference. He tried to ask the Secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., denounced the incident on the Senate floor: “I just saw something that sickened my stomach. The manhandling of a United States Senator, we need immediate answers to what the hell went on.”  Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., wrote on X that Padilla “represents the best of the Senate. The disgraceful and disrespectful conduct of DHS agents, pushing and shoving him out of a briefing like that, demands our condemnation. He will not be silenced or intimidated. His questions will be answered. I’m with Alex.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a post on X that Padilla “is one of the most decent people I know. This is outrageous, dictatorial, and shameful. Trump and his shock troops are out of control. This must end now.”

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus, of which Padilla is a member, said on X that the matter was “unacceptable …we demand a full investigation and consequences for every official involved in this assault against a sitting US senator.”

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., criticized Padilla for interrupting the news conference: “If you come to my press conference, yeah, you need to be respectful. What he ought to be doing, in my view, is making sure that we have rational immigration policy. And Senator Padilla, who’s a nice man, sat on the sidelines for four years, watch the border completely be blown apart.”

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President Donald Trump announced that the United States and China have come to an agreement over trade and the acquisition of rare earth minerals. Rare earth elements and magnets widely used by the automotive and defense sectors has been a key sticking point between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday: “OUR DEAL WITH CHINA IS DONE, SUBJECT TO FINAL APPROVAL WITH PRESIDENT XI AND ME. FULL MAGNETS, AND ANY NECESSARY RARE EARTHS, WILL BE SUPPLIED, UP FRONT, BY CHINA. LIKEWISE, WE WILL PROVIDE TO CHINA WHAT WAS AGREED TO, INCLUDING CHINESE STUDENTS USING OUR COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES (WHICH HAS ALWAYS BEEN GOOD WITH ME!). WE ARE GETTING A TOTAL OF 55% TARIFFS, CHINA IS GETTING 10%. RELATIONSHIP IS EXCELLENT! THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!”

The agreement is subject to final approval by Trump and China President Xi Jinping, with the President stating that he intends to work closely with Xi to open up China to American trade, describing the prospect as “a great WIN for both countries!!!”

Representatives from both sides had previously revealed that a deal had been reached on trade after a second day of high-level talks in London. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told reporters that “we have reached a framework to implement the Geneva consensus and the call between the two presidents,” and only awaited presidential approval from both nations.

China’s vice commerce minister Li Chenggang said Wednesday: “The two sides have, in principle, reached a framework for implementing the consensus reached by the two heads of state during the phone call on June 5th and the consensus reached at the Geneva meeting.” 

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A curfew of downtown Los Angeles went into effect, after being imposed by LA Mayor Karen Bass in order to prevent vandalism and looting during the ongoing immigration protests in the area.

Bass’ decision to implement the curfew followed an emergency motion for a temporary restraining order filed by the state in its lawsuit to block further deployment of troops. It runs for one-square mile in the downtown area from the 5 Freeway to the 110 Freeway and from the 10 Freeway to where the 110 Freeway and 5 Freeway merge.  Bass said that “the curfew will be in place tonight [Tuesday] from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m.  We certainly expect for it to last for several days. The city of Los Angeles is a massive area, 502 square miles. The area of downtown, where the curfew will take place, is one square mile … Some of the imagery of the protest, of the violence gives the appearance as though this is a citywide crisis and it is not.”

Per NBC News, more than 200 people were arrested after police said they failed to leave the downtown area in compliance with the mayor’s curfew, and face charges of failure to disperse. In addition, 17 people were arrested on a charge of curfew violation, per the Los Angeles Police Department said. Others were taken into custody on charges of possessing a firearm, assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer, and discharging a laser at a police airship.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom delivered a statewide address earlier in the week, regarding the deployment of hundreds of National Guard and U.S. Marines troops to the area by President Trump. Newsom said in part: “Trump, without consulting California leaders, commandeered 2,000 of our state’s National Guard members to deploy on our streets illegally and for no reason. This brazen abuse of power by a sitting president enflamed a combustible situation, putting our people, our officers and even our National Guard at risk ..The President, he did it on purpose. As the news spread throughout L.A., anxiety for family and friends ramped up and protests started again. By night, several dozen lawbreakers became violent and destructive, they vandalized property, they tried to assault police officers. This situation was winding down and was concentrated in just a few square blocks downtown. But that, that’s not what Donald Trump wanted.”

Pres. Trump stood firm in his decision to send in the National Guard and Marines, writing on his Truth Social platform Wednesday that, “If our troops didn’t go into Los Angeles, it would be burning to the ground right now, just like so much of their housing burned to the ground. The great people of Los Angeles are very lucky that I made the decision to go in and help!!   The INCOMPETENT Governor of California was unable to provide protection in a timely manner when our Ice Officers, GREAT Patriots they are, were attacked by an out of control mob of agitators, troublemakers, and/or insurrectionists. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”

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