A Texas-based railway company must pay some US$400 million to a Native American community after it transported crude oil through the group’s reservation without authorisation, a US judge in Seattle ordered on Monday.

According to German news agency (dpa), the Seattle Times reported that Railway company BNSF has had permission from the indigenous Swinomish Indian Tribal Community to use tracks that run through the community’s territory in Washington state since 1991.

However, the agreement stipulates that a maximum of 25 wagons are allowed to pass through per day, and the community must be informed of the type of cargo.

The Swinomish people sued in 2015 after BNSF sent significantly more train cars carrying crude oil to nearby refineries without having received specific permission for the freight or the quantity.

A previous ruling had already deemed the company to have acted in violation of the 1991 agreement. In the current case, the court was to determine how much the company earned from the transportation of crude oil as well as the proportion owed to the indigenous community.

The judge said that it is unclear how BNSF invested its “ill-gotten” profits and what returns were generated as a result. He assumed that those responsible made far more profit from their misconduct.

“The court finds that, in the interest of justice and equity, a supplemental enhancement in an amount that approximates the money market return is appropriate here,” the judge added.

The Swinomish people’s territory is situated on the Pacific coast in the north-west of the US. Fishing holds significant cultural and economic value for the community. AGENCIES

Three people, including the shooter, were killed in a shooting incident in Toronto, the largest city in Canada.According to local media, police were called to an office building in the Don Mills area for reports of gunshots at approximately 3:25 p.m. local time (1925 GMT) on Monday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Two men and a woman were found dead at the scene, with one of the men identified as the shooter, said the police, adding that they believe an altercation took place before the shooting.

A daycare center and an elementary school located near the scene were placed in lockdown as police investigated the shooting.

By 6:30 p.m. local time (2230 GMT) Monday, all children from the two facilities had been returned to their parents, CBC News reported. AGENCIES

In FY24, Indian red chilli exports hit a record $1.5 billion, driven by robust demand from China and Bangladesh. With a 15% increase in volume and an 18% rise in value, India emerges as a key player in the global spice trade, particularly catering to the preferences of major markets like China, Thailand, Bangladesh, and the USA.

Highlights

Record Red Chilli Exports in FY24: Indian red chilli exports reached a record $1.509 billion in FY24, a 15% increase from the previous year’s $1.30 billion. In rupee terms, exports totaled ₹12,492 crore, an 18% growth over ₹10,564 crore in FY23. The significant rise was driven by robust demand from China and Bangladesh.

Volume and Value Surge in Exports: According to Spices Board data, red chilli export volume increased by 15% in FY24 to 6.01 lakh tonnes from 5.24 lakh tonnes the previous year. Red chilli exports, worth $1.50 billion, comprised about 34% of India’s total spices exports, which were valued at $4.46 billion in FY24.

China: The Largest Buyer: China was the top importer of Indian red chillies in FY24, purchasing over 1.79 lakh tonnes valued at ₹4,123 crore. This represents a 14% increase in volume and a 21% increase in value from FY23’s 1.57 lakh tonnes worth ₹3,408 crore. China’s imports rebounded due to growing demand in oleoresin and culinary sectors.

Thailand’s Rising Demand: Thailand emerged as the second-largest buyer of Indian chillies by value in FY24, with imports valued at ₹1,404 crore, a 10.6% increase from ₹1,269 crore the previous year. Volume-wise, exports to Thailand grew by about 10% to 59,838 tonnes, up from 54,512 tonnes in FY23.

Significant Growth in Exports to Bangladesh: Chilli exports to Bangladesh surged by 67% in FY24, reaching 90,570 tonnes, up from 53,986 tonnes the previous year. In value terms, exports to Bangladesh increased by 35% to ₹1,210 crore, compared to ₹892 crore in FY23. This marked a significant rise in both volume and value.

Increased Shipments to the USA: Exports to the USA also saw substantial growth in FY24, with a 24% increase in volume to 36,413 tonnes from 29,173 tonnes in FY23. In value terms, chilli exports to the USA rose by 42% to ₹1,141 crore, compared to ₹803 crore the previous year, highlighting the increasing demand.

Major Producing States: Red chillies are a major commercial cash crop in India, with increasing production of both green and red varieties. Andhra Pradesh is the largest producer of red chillies, followed by Telangana, Madhya Pradesh, and Karnataka. This rise in production has contributed to the significant growth in exports.

Conclusion

In conclusion, India’s red chilli exports have reached unprecedented heights in FY24, fueled by escalating demand from key importing nations. The surge in exports, especially to China and Bangladesh, reflects the growing recognition and preference for Indian spices worldwide. With consistent efforts to enhance production and quality, coupled with strategic market positioning, India is poised to maintain its dominance in the global spice market, contributing significantly to the country’s economic growth and agricultural prosperity. AGENCIES

 Russia’s Pacific Fleet began deploying its forces as part of the exercises scheduled to take place from June 18 to 28, local media reported on Tuesday.

“The Pacific Fleet forces have initiated the deployment from their base locations to designated areas within the planned bilateral exercise, which will take place on June 18-28 in the Pacific Ocean, in seas of Japan and Okhotsk under the general management of the Pacific Fleet Commander Admiral Viktor Liina,” the fleet’s press service was quoted by TASS news agency as saying.

The drills will involve around 40 ships and vessels. Some 20 aircraft and helicopters of naval aviation, including Tu-142M3, Il-38, and Il-38N aircraft, Ka-29, and Ka-27 helicopters, will be part of the anti-submarine and search-and-rescue operations. Marine units and the Bal and Bastion coastal missile systems will also be in the maneuvers, reports Xinhua news agency.

For the first time, this year’s exercises will take the form of bilateral operations, involving the Primorye Flotilla of diverse forces and the unified command of the troops and forces in the northeast of Russia.

“Throughout various phases, the sailors will practice anti-submarine warfare, the organization of all types of defense for ship detachments during sea crossings, the execution of joint missile strikes against mock enemy ship groups, and drills to repel attacks by drones and unmanned boats,” the press service added. AGENCIES

Ahead of his visit to North Korea on Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Pyongyang for its support in Moscow’s fight against Ukraine.Putin praised North Korea’s “unwavering support for Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine,” using the Kremlin’s wording to refer to the war, in a letter published in Pyongyang’s official newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

The Russian leader also thanked North Korea for its solidarity on important international issues, adding that it was “committed and like-minded” and ready to counter the West’s aspiration to restrain the establishment of a multipolar world order.

According to Putin, both countries have plans to collaborate on building a security architecture in Eurasia, countering Western sanctions, and establishing independent transaction systems.  AGENCIES

Thirty-six lawmakers from across the European Union have called on member states to vote against plans by the bloc’s executive to require tech companies to monitor their platforms for child sexual abuse content, citing data security concerns.In an open letter made available to dpa, the politicians said they were convinced the proposed measures are incompatible with EU basic rights.

The European Commission in 2022 presented the proposed Regulation to Prevent and Combat Child Sexual Abuse, designed to curb the spread of material showing the sexual abuse of children.

The law would make it compulsory for social media platforms to scan private encrypted chats on social media platforms for certain identifiers that might flag child grooming or the sharing of child sexual abuse material (CSAM), and to report any suspicious activity. Under current law, this monitoring of online activity is voluntary.

Critics have slammed the proposed measure as “chat control.” They see it as an attempt to scan all online communication, including encrypted messages, raising fears of mass surveillance.

EU member states representatives are expected to discuss the issue on Wednesday.

The open letter calling on members to vote against the proposal was signed by lawmakers from national parliaments as well as the European Parliament, including from Germany and Austria.

In the letter, the lawmakers call for the protection of the right to anonymous and pseudonymous use of the internet as well as for a strengthening of end-to-end encryption.

In order to effectively combat child sexual abuse, more resources and targeted coordination among European law enforcement authorities are needed, they say.

“Instead of effectively protecting children from sexualised violence online, the compromise draft continues to massively encroach on the protection of everyone’s digital privacy,” co-initiator Tobias Bacherle, a lawmaker for the German Green Party, told dpa. AGENCIES

Patients nationwide in South Korea experienced increased healthcare disruptions on Tuesday, having to return home without treatment or endure long waits, as neighbourhood clinics closed as part of a general strike by doctors protesting the medical school quota hike.Some community doctors across the nation closed their clinics for the day to participate in a one-day walkout organised by the Korea Medical Association, a major lobby group for doctors, protesting against the government’s medical reform initiative, reports Yonhap News Agency.

The health ministry said that only 4 per cent of the country’s 36,371 community clinics, excluding dental and oriental medicine practices, have submitted mandatory reports for business suspension for Tuesday.

Healthcare service disruptions for patients were, however, pronounced as the walkout came amid significantly reduced services at general hospitals nationwide due to a monthslong strike by trainee doctors.

The previous day, Seoul National University Hospital in central Seoul and three of its affiliated hospitals also went on an indefinite walkout, demanding that the government reconsider the medical school quota increase and withdraw punitive measures against protesting trainee doctors.

A 33-year-old patient surnamed Kim, was taken aback after discovering that the otolaryngologist’s office in her neighborhood in Seoul’s southern Seocho district, where she visited for sudden deafness, was closed.

“I am in big trouble. I was told to preserve the ‘golden time’ for treatment because I can permanently lose my hearing if not treated promptly,” the patient said, as she urgently checked a nearby clinic for service availability.

Including Kim, seven patients visited the clinic in Seocho during a 20-minute period on Tuesday, only to walk away after discovering a notice of service closure posted on the office front.

A normally busy paediatrics office located in an apartment-crowded area in Suwon, south of Seoul, was also among the clinics that suspended services for the day.

A notice posted on its entrance said, “Hospital closed due to an internal situation. We are sorry for the inconvenience.”

Three of the four paediatrics clinics in another apartment-heavy area in Yongin, south of Seoul, were closed, resulting in a waiting list of more than a dozen patients at the clinic that remained open.

“I’ve heard a lot about the medical-government conflict, but I have never been so directly affected by it as I am today,” a resident told Yonhap News Agency.

“I am very disappointed with both the government and the medical sector for aggravating the issue to this extent,” the resident said.

University general hospitals nationwide, already experiencing disruptions due to the prolonged absence of trainee doctors, suffered further setbacks as senior doctors took the day off to join the general walkout.

No critical emergency medical situations were reported due to the one-day walkout, however, as only a fraction of the neighbourhood clinics across the nation participated in Tuesday’s collective action. AGENCIES

Nikhil Gupta, who has been accused of being involved in a ‘murder-for-hire’ plot against a Khalistani separatist, has told a federal court here that he is not guilty.

Appearing before Magistrate Judge James Cott on Monday, he made the “not guilty” plea through his lawyer Jeffrey Chabrowe. This was his first appearance before a US court after he was extradited on Friday from the Czech Republic.Outside the courtroom, Chabrowe told reporters that the case is a “complicated matter for India and the US” and there should be “no rush to judgment”. 

“We will pursue his defence rigorously,” he said.He added that information will come out that will call into question the prosecution version.Assistant Federal Prosecutor Ashley Nichols told the court that Gupta is charged in the murder-for-hire plot.Cott ordered to keep him in custody till the next court date on June 28, when a conference on the case is scheduled. Chabrowe did not ask for bail while reserving the right to ask for it later.According to the indictment — the chargesheet — Gupta, who also uses the name “Nick”, is accused of participating in a plot to assassinate the leader of a “US-based organisation that advocates for the secession of Punjab state” and the establishment of a “Sikh sovereign state called Khalistan”.

The group’s leader, who is not named in the court documents, is Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, a lawyer with US and Canadian citizenships, who lives in New York and runs a campaign for Khalistan. 

Designated as a terrorist by the Indian government, Pannun leads the organisation called Sikhs for Justice which is conducting what it calls a “referendum” on Khalistan among Sikhs. 

Gupta, a slightly-built 52-year-old, entered the courtroom dressed in black pants and a sweater and sat beside his lawyer at the defence table. 

He and his lawyer talked before the proceedings began, at one point both of them laughed during their conversation.

When the hearing was over, the marshals escorting him made him take off the sweater and give it to his lawyer because he was not allowed to have it.He was left with the T-shirt he wore underneath.

 Before entering the courtroom, his handcuffs had been removed.Chabrowe told the magistrate the conditions are bad at the Metropolitan Detention Centre where Gupta is being held and that he has not eaten because vegetarian food was not available.He said that it was a matter of religion for Gupta. 

Cott told the lawyer and prosecutors to take it up with the prison officials and report to him if it was not resolved in 24 hours.Chabrowe also told the magistrate that arrangements should be made to allow Gupta to pray. 

During the proceedings when the lawyers and the defendants had to identify themselves, Cott greeted him, as is customary, when it was his turn, “Good afternoon, Mr Gupta”.The magistrate, seated on a podium with the US Seal and Flag behind him, read him his rights to a fair trial such as his right to remain silent if interrogated and the right to a lawyer. 

He also said that since he was a foreign citizen, the US government may have to inform consular officials.Nichols said that although it was not mandatory in this case, the government would do so.Cott reminded the prosecution of the rules for a fair trial that requires them to provide the defence with all information that is “favourable to the accused” as soon as it becomes available to enable the defence to make its case. 

Should the government fail to follow this, the case can be dismissed and disciplinary action can be taken against the lawyers, he said.He later put this in a written order.Jagjit Singh, an associate of Pannun in his law practice, was in the courtroom observing the proceedings.After the proceedings ended, he recorded videos outside the court about the case. 

Outlining the case against Gupta, the chargesheet said that he was recruited to “orchestrate the assassination”.Gupta, in turn, the document said, contacted a person he believed was a “criminal associate, but was, in fact, a confidential source working with US law enforcement”. 

That person introduced him to a “purported hitman” who was an undercover US law enforcement officer who was offered $100,000 to carry out the assassination, the document said. 

Gupta arranged for an advance of $15,000 to be delivered by an associate to the presumed “hitman”, who was also given details about Pannun and also told him that a Canada-based Khalistan leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was killed in British Columbia had been a “target”, according to the document.The prosecution said that Gupta had himself described his “involvement in narcotics and weapons trafficking”Gupta was arrested in the Czech Republic last June at the request of the US.His extradition was held up by his appeal to the Czech Constitutional Court earlier this year against his extradition, which was rejected last month clearing the way for him to be sent to the US.  AGENCIES

 New Zealand researchers use new algorithms to speed up response times to serious biosecurity and epidemic threats such as bird flu.

University of Canterbury Associate Professor of Data Science Alex Gavryushkin is co-leading work to develop technology that could provide real-time predictions in response to health and biosecurity events.

“Our algorithms can present a range of possible outbreak scenarios, rather than just the one that’s the most statistically plausible, as well as updating their predictions in real time,” Gavryushkin said on Monday.

Using the Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms to inform transmission tracking systems, the technology can use epidemiological and genetic data to track the transmission and spread of the disease, updating the likelihoods of these scenarios as new data emerges, in a situation like the Avian influenza, reports Xinhua news agency.

“With this new technology results can be updated in real-time, revising previous calculations,” Gavryushkin said, adding science can be applied at the scale needed to protect both biosecurity-sensitive industries and livelihoods.

“Once we have this efficient infrastructure for biosecurity algorithms in place, we will be in a far better position to prevent problems further down the track by doing the difficult, time-consuming pre-computations early on, including before outbreaks start and in parallel to them,” he said.

New Zealand is a small population with a high dependence on biology-rooted industries, he said, adding applying powerful AI algorithms supports health, growth and innovation in a large global economy.

Gavryushkin collaborates with researchers from the University of Auckland, Massey University, the University of Otago and the Environmental Science and Research on this project. AGENCIES

Israel’s military has said that its troops have defeated about half of the Hamas forces in Gaza’s Rafah. 

According to a statement issued on Monday by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), soldiers from the 162nd Division, which has been fighting in Rafah for more than 40 days, have killed about “550 militants in the city, while 22 Israeli soldiers lost their lives during the battles”, Xinhua news agency reported.

Two of the four Hamas battalions in Rafah are “on the verge of being defeated”, the army said, adding that ground battles are still ongoing against the other two battalions.

The Israeli forces gained “operational control” over the entire area between Gaza and Egypt, known as the Philadelphi Corridor, according to the army.

“Now the forces on the ground are working to continue and complete the mission. It is estimated that it will take a few more weeks to complete the mission in Rafah,” the army said.

About 200 tunnel shafts and 25 tunnel routes, some crossing to Egypt and suspected to be utilized for smuggling activities, have been located, according to the statement. AGENCIES