Israel’s crimes will speed up its ‘certain annihilation’: Houthi

The leader of Yemen’s Ansarullah popular resistance movement says the Israeli regime’s crimes against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who are enduring a genocidal war by Tel Aviv, will speed up the regime’s “certain annihilation.”

Abdul-Malik al-Houthi made the remarks during his weekly address on Thursday, calling the regime’s crimes in Gaza “a source of disgrace for the humanity.”

Addressing the Zionists, however, he asserted, “Do not rejoice over your crimes, since your measures lead you faster towards the course of certain annihilation and will expel you from the land of Palestine.”

Israel launched the war on the coastal sliver on October 7 after Palestinian resistance groups carried out a surprise retaliatory operation against the occupied territories.

Concomitantly with the war, the regime has been enforcing a near-total siege on Gaza, which has reduced the flow of foodstuffs, medicine, electricity, and water into the Palestinian territory into a trickle.

So far during the military onslaught, the regime has killed more than 32,500 Gazans, most of them women, children, and adolescents.

The regime, though, has fallen short of realizing any of the goals that it has been seeking to achieve through the war, including occupation of Gaza and defeating the resistance.

“The Israeli regime is on course towards defeat in Gaza,” Houthi said. “Of course this defeat also belongs to the United States, which is a partner to this genocide,” he added, referring to Washington’s all-out political, military, and intelligence support for the war.

The Yemeni leader, meanwhile, considered the US and Israel to be partners in the many attacks that have been targeting aid-seeking Palestinians in the coastal territory.

“The enemy first designates an area as safe for collecting aid, and then bombs the people, who would go there to receive food,” he said.

‘US to inherit UK’s defeat in Yemen’

Elsewhere in his remarks, Houthi pointed to the strikes that Yemen’s armed forces have been carrying out against targets belonging to the Israeli regime and those associated with the regime in the Red Sea in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

So far, as many as 63 ships have been targeted, including Israeli, American, and British vessels, he said, calling the number “impressive,” and also referring to several attacks that the Yemeni forces have conducted against the port of Eilat in the occupied territories using cruise missiles.

Addressing the US, Houthi said, “The damage you will be dealt in this battle will be heavy.” He went on to warn that “if you go overboard, the consequences will become [even] greater and more dangerous.”

The Yemeni leader cited an American officer as saying that the US Navy had not been “humiliated” so much at the hands of the Yemeni forces since the nineteenth century.

“We say this to the Americans that ‘you will inherit the UK’s defeat in Yemen,” he noted, pointing to Britain’s withdrawal from southern Yemen in 1967 that led to the Arab Peninsula nation’s independence.

Houthi described the only means of cessation of the Yemeni strikes as enforcement of an end to the Israeli regime’s attacks and siege on Gaza.

He finally cautioned that the defeat that the US and the UK had been dealt at the hands of Yemen was the result of their “engaging against [only] a part of our armed forces.”

“They should envision what situation they are going to end up in if they face hundreds of thousands of our forces on the ground.”

Industry entry not easy for many: Fatima Sana Shaikh

Fatima Sana Shaikh, known for her debut in ‘Dangal’ alongside Aamir Khan, has appeared in subsequent films like ‘Ludo’, ‘Ajeeb Daastaans’, ‘Thar’, ‘Dhak Dhak’, and ‘Sam Bahadur’.

Updated On – 28 March 2024, 04:06 PM


Industry entry not easy for many: Fatima Sana Shaikh


Mumbai: Fatima Sana Shaikh has been a part of Hindi cinema for eight years and she is having a dream run.

The actress said she was fortunate to get an opportunity in the industry as it is not very easy for a lot of people to make it.


Fatima made her debut in the Aamir Khan-starrer ‘Dangal’ in 2016, she was then seen in films such as ‘Ludo’, ‘Ajeeb Daastaans’, ‘Thar’, ‘Dhak Dhak’ and ‘Sam Bahadur’.

In her slate of upcoming work, she has ‘Metro..In Dino’ and ‘Ul Jalool Ishq’.

How does she see her journey?

Fatima told IANS: “I feel very blessed. It’s not very easy for a lot of people to make it into the industry and I feel fortunate and blessed that I got that opportunity because I was a newcomer. I auditioned and I got the films because of my hard work.”

Be it Geeta Phogat from ‘Dangal’ or her ‘Dhak Dhak’ role of Shashi Kumar Yadav and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in ‘Sam Bahadur’, Fatima has always portrayed women of substance on screen.

“Those are the roles that excite me so I want to experiment and want to explore but if I am not excited about a role or a character or the graph then I don’t spend a lot of time on it,” said the actress on the sidelines of LFW x FDCI.

Neeraj Chopra To Begin Season With Doha Diamond League In May

Reigning Olympic and world champion javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra will begin his season in the Doha leg of the prestigious Diamond League series on May 10 in a star-studded field. The 26-year-old Chopra, who closed his past season with a gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China last year, is aiming to defend his Olympic gold in Paris later this year. Chopra’s compatriot Kishore Jena, who finished fifth in the 2023 Budapest World Championships and won silver in Hangzhou with a personal best of 87.54m, will be making his Diamond League debut at the Qatar capital.

Chopra will be up against his well-known rivals like Czech Republic’s Jakub Vadlejch, who won silver in Tokyo Olympics and bronze in 2023 World Championships and former world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada.

“This year, my personal goal is to defend my Olympic title, but it would also mean a lot to me to break the 90m barrier. The Doha Meeting, with good conditions and a great atmosphere, is a perfect opportunity to get my season off to the best start,” Chopra, who has a personal best of 89.94m, said.

“I’m always overwhelmed by the warm support I get from Indians across the world and in Qatar that is particularly special. I feel privileged that so many people come out to support me and I hope I can repay their faith in me with a good performance.” Others to take the field at the Qatar Sports Club include European champion Julian Weber of Germany (PB 89.54m), Oliver Helander of Germany (PB 89.83m), Qatari record holder Ahmed Bader Magour (PB 85.23m), Lithuanian record holder and World University Games champion Edis Matusevicius (PB 89.17m) and Asian Games bronze medallist Roderick Genki Dean of Japan (PB 84.28m).

Chopra had taken the top spot here in the 2023 season with a throw of 88.67m, ahead of Vadlejch and Peters.

The javelin event has built a reputation for its high quality in recent years and conditions permitting, much will be expected of the key protagonists on May 10.

Peters, who finished third 12 months ago, delivered a national record and the fifth-longest throw in history in 2022 (93.07m), while reigning Diamond League champion Vadlejch, who was runner-up to Chopra in 2023, recorded a personal best in the memorable 2022 meeting with his first ever throw over 90m (90.88m).

Chopra’s continued excellence has raised the bar for Indian athletes.

“Last year my dream was to win the World Championships, but to have three Indian athletes competing in the final – that shows we’re progressing as a nation,” he said.

The Doha Meeting is the third meeting of the 2024 Diamond League series which comprises 15 legs in total across four different continents, starting with Xiamen on April 20 and concluding with a single final across two days in Brussels (September 13-14).

The first two meetings in Xiamen and Shanghai do not have men’s javelin throw as Diamond League event.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Song Lyrics Are Getting Simpler, Angrier and More Repetitive: Study

Song Lyrics Are Getting Simpler, Angrier and More Repetitive: Study

Lyrics have also become much more self-obsessed, said study. (Representational)

Paris, France:

You’re not just getting older. Song lyrics really are becoming simpler and more repetitive, according to a study published on Thursday.

Lyrics have also become angrier and more self-obsessed over the last 40 years, the study found, reinforcing the opinions of cranky ageing music fans everywhere.

A team of European researchers analysed the words in more than 12,000 English-language songs across the genres of rap, country, pop, R&B and rock from 1980 to 2020.

Before detailing how lyrics have become more basic, the study pointed out that US singer-songwriting legend Bob Dylan — who rose to fame in the 1960s — has won a Nobel Prize in literature.

Senior study author Eva Zangerle, an expert on recommendation systems at Austria’s University of Innsbruck, declined to single out an individual newer artist for having simple lyrics.

But she emphasised that lyrics can be a “mirror of society” which reflect how a culture’s values, emotions and preoccupations change over time.

“What we have also been witnessing in the last 40 years is a drastic change in the music landscape — from how music is sold to how music is produced,” Zangerle told AFP.

Over the 40 years studied, there was repeated upheaval in how people listened to music. The vinyl records and cassette tapes of the 1980s gave way to the CDs of the 90s, then the arrival of the internet led to the algorithm-driven streaming platforms of today.

For the study in the journal Scientific Reports, the researchers looked at the emotions expressed in lyrics, how many different and complicated words were used, and how often they were repeated.

“Across all genres, lyrics had a tendency to become more simple and more repetitive,” Zangerle summarised.

The results also confirmed previous research which had shown a decrease in positive, joyful lyrics over time and a rise in those that express anger, disgust or sadness.

Lyrics have also become much more self-obsessed, with words such as “me” or “mine” becoming much more popular.

‘Easier to memorise’

The number of repeated lines rose most in rap over the decades, Zangerle said — adding that it obviously had the most lines to begin with.

“Rap music has become more angry than the other genres,” she added.

The researchers also investigated which songs the fans of different genres looked up on the lyric website Genius.

Unlike other genres, rock fans most often looked up lyrics from older songs, rather than new ones.

Rock has tumbled down the charts in recent decades, and this could suggest fans are increasingly looking back to the genre’s heyday, rather than its present.

Another way that music has changed is that “the first 10-15 seconds are highly decisive for whether we skip the song or not,” Zangerle said.

Previous research has also suggested that people tend to listen to music more in the background these days, she added.

Put simply, songs with more choruses that repeat basic lyrics appear to be more popular.

“Lyrics should stick easier nowadays, simply because they are easier to memorise,” Zangerle said.

“This is also something that I experience when I listen to the radio.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Russian Military Jet Crashes Into Sea Off Crimea, Says Governor

Russian Military Jet Crashes Into Sea Off Crimea, Says Governor

Footage on social media showed a plane in flames falling out of the sky. (Representational)

A Russian military plane crashed Thursday into the sea off Ukraine’s annexed Crimean peninsula, the Moscow-installed governor of the city of Sevastopol said.

“A military plane has fallen into the sea,” Mikhail Razvozhayev said in a post on Telegram, without giving the cause.

Footage on social media showed a plane in flames falling out of the sky.

Sevastopol, the historic headquarters of Russia’s Black Sea fleet, sits on the southern tip of Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

The region has come under frequent Ukrainian attack during the two-year conflict.

“The pilot ejected. He was picked up by rescuers from the Sevastopol Rescue Service at a distance of 200 metres from the shore. His life is not in danger,” Razvozhayev added.

Other videos appeared to show the pilot drifting down in a parachute after ejecting.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

"ED, CBI Are Independent. Nothing To Do With Us": Minister Anurag Thakur

'ED, CBI Are Independent. Nothing To Do With Us': Minister Anurag Thakur

New Delhi:

Refuting the opposition’s claims, Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Thursday said that the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) are independent agencies and the probe agencies have nothing to do with the BJP.

Speaking at the Times Now Summit, Mr Thakur emphasised that “no one can accuse Modi ji of corruption in these 10 years”.

“In 2013, Kejriwal used to say that he would swear by his daughter that he would not enter politics and would not join hands with Congress. They (congress and AAP) have no achievements of their own, they just abuse Modi ji in the morning and evening. More they abuse PM Modi, more people will elect us with much bigger mandate,” he said.

“The ED summoned Arvind Kejriwal nine times, why did he not come? He used to talk about great morality. When he didn’t come, ED arrived at his home. Just as AAP got zero seats in Delhi in 2014 and 2019, this time they will get zero in Punjab also,” he added.

Further, the Information and Broadcasting Minister highlighted that those who used to talk about morality are in jail today.

“ED and CBI are independent agencies. They take action in their own way. This has nothing to do with us,” Mr Thakur said.

Further attacking the INDIA bloc, Anurag Thakur said that the INDIA alliance is full of ego and pride.

“If they were so honest then why would they change its name? There was 2G scam, submarine, coal scam, there were so many scams, so they could not go in front of the public with that face. Then who was added to the alliance, Lalu Yadav of fodder scam, the party whose ministers, deputies are in jail,” he added.

He asserted that the investigative agencies used to take action against the corrupt and would continue to do so in future too.

Mr Thakur pointed out that if action has to be taken against corrupt people, then does the timing matter?

“If action is to be taken against corruption, then does timing matter? In a country where elections are held in eight states in one year, we talk about One Nation One Election which can save thousands of crores of rupees, then they oppose it,” he said.

Speaking on the investigation on 2G scam, he said that at time, the shelter was given by the then UPA government to protect A Raja and others who were involved in the 2G scam. If today the permission is granted, we can commit to the country that there will be a transparent probe and action will be taken as per the law.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Russia Jails Journalist For 2 Years For Opposing Ukraine War

Russia Jails Journalist For 2 Years For Opposing Ukraine War

Russia has launched hundreds of criminal cases against individuals who oppose Ukraine war.

Moscow:

A Russian court on Thursday sentenced a journalist to two years in prison for denouncing Moscow’s full-scale military offensive on Ukraine, as police in Moscow detained five other reporters over a 24-hour period.

Russia has made on-the-ground reporting increasingly dangerous and illegal since it sent troops into Ukraine two years ago, arresting and fining those who defy the Kremlin’s narratives.

A court in the western exclave of Kaliningrad said journalist Mikhail Feldman had discredited Russia’s armed forces in a series of posts on the VKontakte social network, the OVD-Info and Memorial rights groups said, citing his lawyer.

“This is exactly the punishment the prosecution asked for,” OVD-Info said. “In addition to being imprisoned, Feldman was banned from administering websites for two years.”

Russia has launched hundreds of criminal cases against individuals who oppose its campaign against Ukraine.

Under military censorship laws, Russians who criticise the offensive online or journalists that use information other than that provided by Russian officials can face years in prison.

The sentence came after police in Moscow detained five independent journalists over the past 24 hours, one of whom said he was beaten, OVD-Info reported Thursday.

SOTAvision journalist Antonina Favorskaya was taken for interrogation late Wednesday after serving 10 days’ jail for laying flowers at late opposition politician Alexei Navalny’s grave.

Her colleagues Alexandra Astakhova and Anastasia Musatova, who came to meet her at the detention centre where she was set to be released, were also detained by police, SOTAvision said.

Then, early Thursday, police arrested reporters Ekaterina Anikievich from SOTAvision and Konstantin Zharov from RusNews, who were filming near Favorskaya’s home.

“They kicked me, put a foot on my head, twisted my fingers, mocked me when I tried to get up, demanded to show my rucksack as if it might contain explosives,” Zharov said.

Since launching its assault on Ukraine, Russia has banned, blocked or attempted to censor almost all independent media organisations still operating in the country.

Many independent journalists fled in the wake of the offensive, and those that remain face risks. US reporters Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva are currently in jail awaiting trial.

Also on Thursday a court sent a Navalny associate to pre-trial detention on “extremism”-related charges.

Olga Komleva, who volunteered at Navalny’s Ufa headquarters in central Russia, was arrested earlier this week in the latest in a string of cases against Navanly’s allies who have stayed in Russia.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

PM's Scathing Tweet On Congress After 600 Lawyers Write To Chief Justice

PM Narendra Modi has taken a swipe at the Congress over a letter by lawyers

New Delhi:

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a strong attack on the Congress party today after hundreds of lawyers and some bar associations across the country wrote to the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, expressing concerns over attempts to undermine the judiciary’s integrity using political and professional pressure.

“To browbeat and bully others is vintage Congress culture. Five decades ago, they itself had called for a ‘committed judiciary’ – they shamelessly want commitment from others for their selfish interests, but desist from any commitment towards the nation,” PM Modi said in a post on the microblogging website X.

“No wonder, 140 crore Indians are rejecting them,” PM Modi said.

PM Modi’s comments came after over 600 lawyers, including Harish Salve and Bar Council chairperson Manan Kumar Mishra, wrote to Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, alleging that a “vested interest group” is trying to put pressure on the judiciary and defame courts, especially in cases of corruption involving politicians.

Union Minister and Arunachal West candidate Kiren Rijiju said sane voices are openly coming out now, referring to the letter by the lawyers.

“These Congress people coined the concept of committed judiciary and suspended Indian Constitution. The Congress and leftists want courts and constitutional authorities to serve them or else they immediately start attacking the very institutions,” Mr Rijiju said.

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge in a statement said it is not proper form for the Prime Minister to pass comments on the judiciary. “However, as you consider India’s institutions to be your personal property, I have some questions for you. Why did four senior-most Supreme Court judges hold an unprecedented press conference and warn against ‘destruction of democracy’ by your regime? Why was one of the judges nominated by your government to the Rajya Sabha…” Mr Kharge said in the statement.

Yesterday, the All Manipur Bar Association had also written to Chief Justice DY Chandrachud highlighting the need to speak out against “underhanded attacks” on the judiciary. The bar association in the letter had said it was extremely concerned about recent trends where vested interest groups were trying to defame the courts with “frivolous logic” and “stale political agendas”.

Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, responding to PM Modi, said the Prime Minister’s comments “is the height of hypocrisy”.

“The PM’s brazenness in orchestrating and coordinating an attack on the judiciary, in the name of defending the judiciary, is the height of hypocrisy. The Supreme Court has delivered body blows to him in recent weeks. The electoral bonds scheme is but one example…” Mr Ramesh said in a post on X.

“All that the Prime Minister has done in the last 10 years is divide, distort, divert, and defame. 140 crore Indians are waiting to give him a befitting reply very soon,” the Congress leader said.

In the other letter by over 600 lawyers, they said the tactics used by the vested interest group “are damaging to our courts and threaten our democratic fabric.”

Chief Justice Chandrachud’s leadership is crucial in these “tough times” and the Supreme Court should stand strong, they said, adding it is not the time to maintain dignified silence.

The letter also targeted a section of lawyers without naming them and alleged they defend politicians by day and then try to influence judges through the media at night.

Triptii Dimri reveals her ‘Animal’ character’s ‘innocence, boldness, ability to stay calm’ worked

In response to a question about Zoya’s popularity, Triptii told IANS, “Zoya’s inner strength, her ability to endure and confront her inner struggles, were all integral parts of her backstory.”

Updated On – 28 March 2024, 04:05 PM


Triptii Dimri reveals her ‘Animal’ character’s ‘innocence, boldness, ability to stay calm’ worked


Mumbai: Tritpii Dimri has brought to life several beautiful characters, including Laila from Sajid Ali’s ‘Laila Majnu’ and Qala Manjushree from the film ‘Qala’.

However, what gave her the crown of the national crush was Zoya from the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer ‘Animal’.


Asked the actress as to what made Zoya such a rage in the country, Triptii told IANS: “The fact that she had the inner strength, the ability to hold it all in, to be able to fight her inner battles and I think it was all part of her back story.”

The actress is glad to see that the audience could connect with Zoya.

“I think that is what made Zoya different from all the other characters I have played on screen. Her innocence, boldness, her ability to stay calm at difficult situations. That’s what worked in her favour,” she added.

Triptii is having a successful run post Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s ‘Animal’.

The actress has several films in her kitty including ‘Bad Newz’, ‘Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’.

RR Add Keshav Maharaj In Place Of Prasidh Krishna, KKR Get New Spinner

File photo of Keshav Maharaj© X (formerly Twitter)

Rajasthan Royals on Thursday added senior South African left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj to their squad in place of pacer Prasidh Krishna for the ongoing Indian Premier League.

Kolkata Knight Riders also named Afghan player Allah Ghazanfar — a 16-year-old off-spinner — as a replacement for the injured Mujeeb Ur Rahman, the IPL said on Thursday.

Ghazanfar has represented Afghanistan in two ODIs. The youngster has played three T20s and six List A matches and has five and four wickets respectively against his name. He joins KKR for his base price of Rs 20 Lakh.

Prasidh recently underwent a surgery on his left proximal quadriceps tendon and is currently recovering.

His replacement Maharaj has played 27 T20Is, 44 ODIs and 50 Tests and has scalped 237 wickets in international cricket.

Additionally, he has played 159 T20s, picking up 130 wickets, and can chip in with some handy runs down the order. RR have brought him on board for his base price of Rs 50 Lakh.

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