Sandalwood actor Puneeth Rajkumar, 46, dies in hospital after cardiac arrest

Rafah, a city along the border of the Gaza Strip and Egypt, has entirely been “wiped off the map” by Israel’s brutal campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing, says the Gaza government media office.

The media office said Sunday in a statement on X that the southern city of Gaza has entirely been demolished to make way for Israel to turn it into a “closed military operations zone."

The statement said Israel’s military forces have been carrying out “horrific massacres against defenseless civilians” in Rafah, creating a “full-fledged humanitarian disaster.”

According to the officials, Israeli forces have destroyed over 90% of homes—more than 20,000 buildings in Rafah.

All of the historical buildings, archaeological sites, museums, modern homes, the civilian infrastructure, the shops, cafes, restaurants, hospitals, schools, and universities have been demolished.

The officials said the regime's forces have also demolished 22 of 24 water wells, including a large water treatment plant and facility that was built 25 years ago by the Canadian government.

“Tens of thousands of families” are now without safe drinking water, and over 85% of the sewage system has been destroyed, raising fears of disease outbreaks, said the statement.

At least 12 medical centers are out of service, including Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, which was reportedly blown up by an explosive robot.

Rafah is “uninhabitable,” now, the media office said.

The Israeli military’s goal, it said, is to “empty the land of its people and alter its geographic and demographic features.”

Rafah, a city that was built over 3,300 years ago, had a population of 171,889. As recently as February, 1.4 million Palestinians took shelter there as a result of Israel’s forced displacement of the population in northern parts of the besieged enclave.

The city, which was once designated as a "safe zone" by Israel's military, has now been reduced to rubble. The regime's military has now seized the ruins of Rafah and ordered every survivor out, to expand its "security buffer zone" along Gaza's borders.

Mangaluru: A seemingly harmless YouTube advertisement has cost a Mangaluru man his life savings, after he fell victim to an elaborate investment scam and lost a staggering ₹55 lakh.

According to the police complaint, the victim was lured in by a man named Shardul Jani, who claimed that a trading app called Abans Pro would deliver high returns. On February 11, the man made an initial investment of ₹15,000. A trading account was created for him, which soon began displaying encouraging profits.

Buoyed by these promising numbers and under constant persuasion from the accused, the man was convinced to invest more. Reassured that the money could be withdrawn at any time, he not only continued investing himself but also involved his relatives, who collectively transferred ₹39 lakh into his account for further investments.

Between February 11 and March 27, the victim transferred a total of ₹55 lakh to multiple bank accounts provided by the accused. But when he finally attempted to withdraw the funds, nothing came back. The profits were a mirage—his money had vanished.

Realising he had been conned, the man approached the Bajpe police, who have registered a case and begun an investigation into the fraudulent scheme.

Washington: In a move that stunned markets and political observers alike, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on his sweeping tariff regime—granting relief to all countries except China. Just a day earlier, such a reversal had seemed unimaginable.

Trump said the pause was prompted by the cooperative stance of over 75 nations, which had refrained from retaliating against his earlier tariffs. These countries, he claimed, chose negotiation over confrontation. During the pause, a reduced reciprocal tariff of 10% will be in place.

However, Trump made it clear that China would face no such leniency. Citing Beijing's alleged trade abuses and “lack of respect” for global markets, he announced an immediate hike in tariffs on Chinese imports to 125%, up from the earlier 104%.

“At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the US and other countries is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Despite repeatedly resisting pressure from within his own party and business circles to halt the tariff spree, Trump’s sudden pivot was reportedly triggered by alarm bells inside the US Treasury Department. According to CNN, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent raised red flags about a dramatic selloff in the bond market, which, if left unchecked, could spiral into a financial crisis.

Speaking to the media after the announcement, Trump seemed to suggest that the decision came from instinct rather than strategy.

“We didn’t have access to lawyers… We wrote it up from our hearts. You have to be flexible,” he said.

The markets responded instantly. The Dow Jones Industrial Average surged over 2,500 points, while the Nasdaq jumped 12.2%, its best day in 24 years. The S&P 500 rose 6%, oil prices climbed more than 4%, and the dollar strengthened.

Impact on India

India, which had been hit with a 26% customized reciprocal tariff, saw its markets rattled in recent weeks. The pause offers a much-needed breather, as New Delhi works to finalize a multi-sectoral trade deal with Washington.

Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal confirmed that talks are underway. “We hope to address these issues and conclude this agreement expeditiously,” he said, underlining the strong economic ties between the two nations.