Trump Speaks To Putin, Says Ukraine Talks To Start "Immediately"

US President Donald Trump said he had a "lengthy and highly productive" call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday in which they agreed to "immediately" start negotiations to end the Ukraine war.

Trump said on Truth Social that both leaders had extended invitations of "visiting each other's nations," while the US leader said he would be calling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky "right now" to inform him about the call.

In an extraordinary thaw in relations between Washington and Moscow, the Kremlin separately said the call lasted one and a half hours and that Putin and Trump had agreed that the "time has come to work together."

Putin also told Trump that a "long-term settlement" of the Ukraine conflict sparked by Russia's 2022 invasion of its pro-Western neighbor was possible, and invited the US president to Moscow, the Kremlin said.

The Trump-Putin call came after a prisoner swap this week that saw Moscow free US teacher Marc Fogel while Washington released Russian cryptocurrency kingpin Alexander Vinnik.

Trump heaped praise on the Russian president in his Truth Social post, saying that Putin "even used my very strong Campaign motto of, 'COMMON SENSE.'"

He said they "both agreed, we want to stop the millions of deaths taking place in the War with Russia/Ukraine" -- with Trump using an unconfirmed figure for the toll in the war.

"We agreed to work together, very closely, including visiting each other's Nations," said Trump.

"We have also agreed to have our respective teams start negotiations immediately, and we will begin by calling President Zelensky, of Ukraine, to inform him of the conversation, something which I will be doing right now."

Trump said he had asked US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff "to lead the negotiations which, I feel strongly, will be successful."
 

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$10 Million Settlement For Family Of Black Woman Shot Dead By US Police

The family of a Black woman shot dead in her home by a police officer in the US state of Illinois has reached a $10 million settlement with the local sheriff's department and county board.

Sonya Massey, 36, a mother of two, was killed by a sheriff's deputy last July in a case that drew national attention and prompted then-president Joe Biden to say she "should be alive today."

Massey, who had received treatment in the past for mental health issues, called the 911 emergency line to report a possible intruder in her home and two Sangamon County sheriff's deputies arrived shortly after midnight.

Police body camera footage showed Massey talking to the officers and searching through her purse after they asked her for identification.

Sheriff's deputy Sean Grayson then asked her to check on a pot of boiling water on the stove, saying "we don't need a fire while we're here."

When Grayson stepped back into the living room, Massey asked why, and he responded with a laugh: "Away from your hot steaming water."

Holding the pot, Massey calmly responded "Oh, I rebuke you in the name of Jesus" -- prompting the deputy to draw his weapon and say: "You better fucking not. I swear to God I'll fucking shoot you in your fucking face."

Apologizing, Massey crouched behind a counter as the officer screamed "drop the fucking pot" and fired three shots, killing Massey with a bullet to the face.

The Sangamon County Board approved a $10 million settlement with Massey's estate at a meeting on Tuesday.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who has represented the families of other African American victims of police violence, welcomed the agreement at a Zoom press conference on Wednesday, calling it a "first step in getting full justice for Sonya Massey."

"It is very bittersweet that on what would have been her 37th birthday, we announce this historic settlement, which is only the first step in the journey for justice," Crump said.

Antonio Romanucci, another family attorney, said "Sonya reached out to law enforcement for help and instead received brutal, horrific treatment.

"When Sonya called 911 she didn't know it but that was her death sentence," Romanucci said. "She called in her own death when she called for help."

Grayson, who is white, faces murder charges and has pleaded not guilty.

The United States was rocked by protests in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minnesota.

Floyd's death revived scrutiny of race relations and sparked calls for police reform.

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Tulsi Gabbard Confirmed As Trump's Director Of National Intelligence

The US Senate has confirmed Tulsi Gabbard as the new Director of National Intelligence (DNI) under the Trump administration.

Although she has never served on an intelligence committee, as a former Representative from Hawaii, Gabbard brings a distinctive combination of legislative and military experience to the role. Her service in the US House of Representatives, which spanned from 2013 to 2021, was marked by her commitment to various causes. Additionally, her time in the Hawaii Army National Guard, including deployments to Iraq and Kuwait, has earned her recognition.

In her new position, Gabbard will oversee the United States' intelligence community, coordinating operations among various agencies to ensure national security and effective information-sharing. This role comes with significant responsibility, as the DNI plays a critical part in advising the President on intelligence matters.

Gabbard's appointment has raised some eyebrows due to her lack of direct experience in intelligence oversight. Furthermore, her past remarks on US adversaries, including Russia and Syria, have sparked controversy.

Some senators have expressed concerns about Gabbard's stance on Russia's invasion of Ukraine and her 2017 visit to Syria, where she met with then-President Bashar al-Assad while he was under US sanctions. Her previous defence of former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has also been cited as a point of contention.

Despite these concerns, Gabbard has pledged to bring transparency and efficiency to the intelligence community. Her military background and congressional experience will undoubtedly influence her approach to this complex role. As she assumes the position of Director of National Intelligence, Gabbard will oversee 18 intelligence agencies with a budget of approximately $100 billion, advising President Trump on critical intelligence matters.
 

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Scientists Warn Of Climate Threat To Chocolate

Climate change drove weeks of crop-withering temperatures last year in the West African countries that underpin the world's chocolate supply, hitting harvests and likely further stoking record prices, researchers said Wednesday.

Farmers in the region -- which account for some 70 percent of global cacao production -- have struggled with heat, disease and unusual rainfall in recent years, which have all contributed to falling production.

That has caused an explosion in the price of cocoa, which is produced from the beans of the cacao tree, and is the main ingredient in chocolate.

A new report found that "climate change, due primarily to burning oil, coal, and methane gas, is causing hotter temperatures to become more frequent" in Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon and Nigeria.

The study, by the independent research group Climate Central, found the trend was particularly marked in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two biggest cacao producers.

Using observational data from 44 cacao-producing areas in West Africa and computer models, the researchers compared today's temperatures with a counterfactual of a world without the effects of climate change.

They looked at the likelihood of these regions facing temperatures in excess of 32 degrees Celsius (89.6 Fahrenheit) -- above levels considered optimum for cacao trees.

The report calculated that over the last decade, climate change had added an extra three weeks of above 32C heat in Ivory Coast and Ghana during the main growing season between October and March.

Last year, the hottest year globally on record, they found that climate change drove temperatures above 32C on at least 42 days across two thirds of the areas analysed.

Researchers said that "excessive heat can contribute to a reduction in the quantity and quality of the harvest".

Many other factors were also potentially harming cacao trees and boosting prices, they noted, including mealybug infestations, rainfall patterns, smuggling and illegal mining.

Christian Aid published separate research on Wednesday on the vulnerability of chocolate and cacao farmers to weather changes and extremes driven by global warming.

The UK charity said conditions in West Africa have whiplashed from extreme rainfall and spoiled crops during the dry season in 2023 to drought in 2024.

"Growing cocoa is a vital livelihood for many of the poorest people around the world and human caused climate change is putting that under serious threat," said Osai Ojigho, director of Christian Aid's policy and public campaigns.

'Existential threat'

Failed harvests helped drive a meteoric rise in cocoa prices since late 2023 on the London and New York markets where this commodity is traded.

New York cocoa prices were above $10,000 a tonne on Wednesday, below a peak of over $12,500 in mid-December.

New York prices have largely hovered between $2,000 and $3,000 a tonne for decades.

In January, Swiss chocolate maker Lindt & Spruengli said it would raise prices again this year to offset rising cocoa costs.

Narcisa Pricope, a professor at Mississippi State University, said the crop faces an "existential threat" largely because of increasingly dry conditions in cacao-producing regions.

Pricope was part of recent research from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification that found more than three-quarters of the Earth's landmass has become drier over the past 30 years.

The emissions of planet-heating greenhouse gases are the biggest driver of this aridity, she said in a commentary on the Conversation on Monday, but practices that degrade soils and nature also play an important role.

"Collective action against aridity isn't just about saving chocolate -- it's about preserving the planet's capacity to sustain life," she said.

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Water From Toilet Tap Used For Cooking At Medical College? Video Sparks Outrage

A video from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College in Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur has sparked outrage after it allegedly showed water from a toilet tap being used for cooking during a national medical conference last week.

A national-level medical conference, attended by doctors and medical experts from across the country, was held at the medical college on February 6. During the event, food was arranged for participants. However, a viral video now circulating on social media appears to show water being filled from a toilet tap and then being used for cooking.

Amid the uproar, the medical college's administration has issued a clarification. The college's dean, Navneet Saxena said that the water was only being used to clean dirty utensils and not for cooking. He claimed that the context of the video was being misrepresented.

The health department has called for an investigation. Dr Sanjay Mishra, Chief Medical Officer, said, "The conference was organised in the New Academic Block and food is sometimes cooked in open spaces behind it. While the video shows water from a toilet tap being used, the information we have suggests it was meant only for washing utensils. However, since this has been brought to our notice, I have written to the dean for an official investigation."
 

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'Remove Any Kuki Tribes From ST List, Help Organise Peace Talks': Thadou Body Meets Manipur Governor

A top body of Manipur's Thadou tribe met Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla and requested for deletion of 'Any Kuki Tribes' from the Scheduled Tribes' (ST) list in the violence-hit state.

In a memorandum, which included suggestions for a peace restoration roadmap, the Thadou Inpi Manipur said the government must remove the "vague and ambiguous 'Any Kuki Tribes' from the Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur, as it is not only a threat to the integrity and unity of Manipur, but also a threat to national security from illegal immigrants."

The Thadou Inpi Manipur in the memorandum said the Manipur government "in a significant step forward to right a wrong" wrote to the Tribal Affairs Ministry in February 2023 to delete 'Any Kuki Tribes' from the ST list.

'Any Kuki Tribe' was added to the ST list in 2003 under the then Congress government in Manipur.

"Moreover, it [Any Kuki Tribe] cannot be changed to Kuki tribe simply because there is no such thing as Kuki tribe. There is baseless, false and deceitful propaganda by some ignorant or unscrupulous people that this 'Any Kuki Tribe' of 2003 is the same as the already deleted 'Any Kuki Tribe' of 1951-56," the Thadou Inpi Manipur said in the memorandum.

"The fact is that the tribes of Manipur were broadly grouped into 'Any Naga Tribe', 'Any Kuki Tribe' and 'Any Lushai' in 1951 as a temporary arrangement for the time being only for five years during the process of the linguistic survey of individual tribes of Manipur...

"Whereas Thadou is an indigenous tribe with its own distinct language, costumes, culture, traditions and rich heritage and history, the fake Kuki tribe (Any Kuki Tribe) was created in 2002, and fraudulently added to the Scheduled Tribes list of Manipur in 2003, so that their leaders could exploit this separatist movement for their own personal wealth creation and political control," the Thadou Inpi Manipur, which says it is the highest body of Manipur's recognised distinct Thadou tribe, said in the memorandum submitted to Governor Bhalla on Saturday, a day before Chief Minister N Biren Singh resigned.

The Thadou tribe organisation said all indigenous ethnic groups and tribes that call Manipur home should live in harmony and respect one another instead of battling over who is an illegal immigrant and who is an indigenous person.

"People who identify as 'Any Kuki Tribe' but are not illegal immigrants need not be alarmed since they can return to their original tribe if they are Indian citizens or members of one of Manipur's indigenous tribes and are not illegal immigrants or foreigners," the Thadou Inpi Manipur said.

The Thadou Inpi Manipur also requested for insertion of a clause in the Suspension of Operations (SoO) agreement to include "respect for Thadou human rights", alleging an alarming rate of human rights violations and persecution faced by the Thadou tribe at the hands of Kuki militants, "which has significantly eroded, suppressed, and subdued distinct Thadou identity in Manipur."

"... Thadou Inpi Manipur seeks to include a clause in the SoO agreement, if extended, which had elapsed in February 2024, that would mandate that SoO groups, specifically the Kuki militant groups, respect the rights of the Thadou indigenous tribe as this would also promote a more inclusive and peaceful coexistence among communities in Manipur," the Thadou body said.

While submitting the memorandum, members of the Thadou Inpi Manipur conveyed to the Governor to facilitate a meeting of Meitei and Thadou tribe leaders for community understanding. It said warring groups have unintentionally impacted numerous non-Kuki tribes in the Manipur crisis. The Thadou Inpi Manipur appealed to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Manipur Governor and other leaders to facilitate holding a meeting between the Meitei community and the Thadou tribe as soon as possible.

"The Thadou tribe will be represented by the Thadou Inpi Manipur. The Thadous have suffered rampant persecution and human rights abuses and are being forced to reject our own identity, our indigenous tribal name, Thadou," it said in the memorandum.

The memorandum was signed by leaders of the Thadou Inpi Manipur, Thadou Students' Association, Thadou Chiefs' Council, Thadou Elders' Association, and Thadou Human Rights Advocacy.

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Want To Pursue Medical Education In US? Here's What You Need To Know

In India, students aspiring to become doctors must first clear the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET). Every year, millions of students take this exam, competing for nearly one lakh medical seats. For many, NEET is a daunting challenge, and they fear that failing to score well could shatter their dream of becoming a doctor.

However, several countries do not require NEET for medical admissions, and the United States is one of them. With a growing number of Indian students opting to study MBBS abroad, the US remains a top choice. American medical schools do not mandate NEET scores for admission, though students must clear local entrance tests to qualify.

How Long Does It Take To Become A Doctor In US?

In the US, students must complete a four-year undergraduate degree before applying to medical school. Admission is based on the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) score. Instead of an MBBS degree, students earn a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree, which takes around 4 to 4.5 years to complete. Overall, becoming a doctor in the US typically takes 7 to 8 years.

Top US Universities Offering Admission Without NEET

Harvard University

Ranked as the top medical university in the US by QS World Rankings.

Offers a 4-year MD programme at its Cambridge campus.

Annual tuition fee: Rs 73 lakh (approx).

Stanford University School of Medicine

Integrates medicine, technology, and business in its curriculum.
Graduates are trained as both doctors and innovators.

Annual tuition fee: Rs 61 lakh (approx)

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF)

Offers a 4-year MD programme in San Francisco.

More affordable compared to other private US medical schools.
Annual tuition fee: Rs 46 lakh (approx)

For Indian students looking to pursue medicine abroad without NEET, the US provides a structured pathway with globally recognized degrees and opportunities in cutting-edge medical research.

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