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Fuel to engines of Air India plane that crashed cut off moments after take-off, report finds

Fuel to the engines of the Air India plane that crashed last month appears to have cut off shortly after take-off, a preliminary report has found.

According to the report by India’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB), switches in the Boeing 787 Dreamliner’s cockpit that controlled fuel moved to a “CUTOFF” position.

It said: “Engine 1 and Engine 2 fuel cutoff switches transitioned from RUN to CUTOFF position one after another with a time gap of one second.

“The Engine N1 and N2 began to decrease from their take-off values as the fuel supply to the engines was cut off.”

There was then confusion in the cockpit. In the voice recording, one of the pilots is heard asking the other why he “cut off”. The other pilot responds that he did not do so.

The 15-page report did not identify which comments were made by the flight’s captain and which were made by the first officer. One of the pilots made a “mayday, mayday, mayday” call just before the crash.

Both pilots were experienced, with around 19,000 flying hours between them, including more than 9,000 on the 787.

Flipping to cutoff almost immediately cuts the engines, and is most often used to turn the engines off once a plane has arrived at its airport gate and in certain emergency situations, such as an engine fire – though both switches together are rarely used simultaneously.

The report does not indicate there was any emergency requiring an engine cutoff. It also does not give a conclusion as to how the switches moved.

However, aviation expert David Learmount told Sky News “it sounds deliberate”, but also noted “there are cases of pilots carrying out an incorrect action instead of what they should be doing”.

Mr Learmount said the only action the pilots needed to conduct at the time was retracting the plane’s undercarriage, but this was not done.

He added: “Was that it? These switches are nowhere near the undercarriage lever and look totally different. The fuel switches cannot be turned on or off by mistake. They have to be pulled out before selecting up (run) or down (cut off).”

Similarly, Tim Atkinson, a pilot and aviation consultant, told Sky News’ Gillian Joseph “there are very few situations or circumstances which would explain this”.

He explained: “One would be an utterly extraordinary human error, an unintentional act, and the other – I’m very sorry to say – would be an intentional act. And that’s not a suggestion or allegation, it’s simply an analysis of the small amount of information that we have at hand at this moment.”

One of the engines was able to be restarted, but could not reverse the plane’s deceleration, the report found.

India’s AAIB said in its report: “At this stage of investigation, there are no recommended actions to Boeing 787-8 and/or GE GEnx-1B engine operators and manufacturers.”

No significant bird activity was observed in the vicinity of the plane’s flight path, the report said. The aircraft started to lose altitude before crossing the airport perimeter wall, it added.

The plane plummeted into a busy area, killing 241 passengers and 19 others on the ground while incinerating everything around it.

The only surviving passenger was Briton Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, who was sitting next to an emergency exit and, according to police, “managed to escape by jumping out the emergency door”.

The plane crashed and struck a medical college hostel in a residential part of Ahmedabad, with the report stating: “The aircraft was destroyed due to impact with the buildings on the ground and subsequent fire.”

The plane’s two black boxes, which combined cockpit voice recorders and flight data recorders, were recovered in the days after the crash.

They provide vital data such as altitude, airspeed and final pilot conversations, which can help narrow down the possible causes behind a crash.

The AAIB’s report is based on the initial findings of the probe, marking 30 days since the crash. It said the investigation is continuing. A final report is expected within a year. (SkyNews)

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Tinubu mourns, sends Shettima to accompany Buhari’s remains from UK

President Bola Tinubu has announced the passing of former President Muhammadu Buhari, describing the development as a national loss.

This was contained in a statement issued on Sunday by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced the passing of his predecessor, President Muhammadu Buhari.

“President Buhari died today in London at about 4.30 pm, following a prolonged illness”, the statement partly read.

Onanuga added that Tinubu has since reached out to the bereaved family.

“President Tinubu has spoken with Mrs Aishat Buhari, the former President’s widow and offered his deep condolences”, he stated.

To facilitate preparations and arrangements for the return of the late president’s remains, Onanuga revealed that the President has directed Vice President Kashim Shettima to travel immediately.

“President Tinubu has also ordered Vice President Kashim Shettima to proceed to the United Kingdom to accompany President Muhammadu Buhari’s body back to Nigeria,” he added.

The statement concluded that as part of the nation’s mourning, Tinubu ordered a symbolic tribute, stating, “President Tinubu has ordered flags at half-staff as a mark of respect for the departed leader.” (Punch)

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Donald Trump announces 30% tariffs on goods from the EU and Mexico

Donald Trump announced on Saturday that goods imported from both the European Union and Mexico will face a 30% US tariff rate starting 1 August, in letters posted on his social media platform, Truth Social.

The tariff assault on the EU came as a shock to European capitals as the European Commission and the US trade representative Jamieson Greer had spent months hammering out a deal they believed was acceptable to both sides.

The agreement in principle put on Trump’s table last Wednesday involved a 10% tariff, five times the pre-Trump tariff, which the bloc already described as “pain”.

EU trade ministers will meet on Monday for a pre-arranged summit and will be under pressure from some countries to show a tough reaction by implementing €21bn ($24.6bn) in retaliatory measures, which they had paused until midnight the same day.

In his letter to Mexico’s leader, Trump acknowledged that the country had been helpful in stemming the flow of undocumented immigrants and fentanyl into the United States.

But, he said, the country had not done enough to stop North America from turning into a “Narco-Trafficking Playground”.

“We have had years to discuss our Trading Relationship with The European Union, and we have concluded we must move away from these long-term, large, and persistent, Trade Deficits, engendered by your Tariff, and Non-Tariff, Policies, and Trade Barriers,” Trump wrote in the letter to the EU. “Our relationship has been, unfortunately, far from Reciprocal.”

Claudia Sheinbaum said on Saturday she is sure an agreement can be reached before Trump’s threatened tariffs take effect on 1 August.

Speaking during an event in the Mexican state of Sonora, the Mexican president added that Mexico’s sovereignty is never negotiable.

The higher-than-expected rate has dealt a blow to the EU’s hopes of de-escalation and a trade deal and could risk a trade war with goods of low margins including Belgian chocolate, Irish butter and Italian olive oil.

The EU was informed of the tariff hike before Trump’s declaration on social media.

In a letter to the EU, Trump warned that the EU would pay a price if they retaliated: “If for any reason you decide to raise your Tariffs and retaliate, then, whatever the number you choose to raise them by, will be added onto the 30% that we charge.”

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the 30% rate would “disrupt transatlantic supply chains, to the detriment of businesses, consumers and patients on both sides of the Atlantic”.

She said the bloc was one of the more open trading places in the world, and still hoped to persuade Trump to climb down.

“We remain ready to continue working towards an agreement by August 1. At the same time, we will take all necessary steps to safeguard EU interests, including the adoption of proportionate countermeasures if required,” she said.

The French president, Emmanuel Macron, called on the bloc to “resolutely defend European interests”. Expressing Paris’s “very strong disapproval” of Trump’s announcement, Macron urged the EU to “step up the preparation of credible countermeasures by mobilising all instruments at its disposal” if the two sides failed to reach agreement by 1 August.

Germany’s economy minister, Katherina Reiche, called on the EU to “negotiate in a pragmatic manner”, while the Federation of German Industries (BDI) warned that a trade conflict between the two partners “harms economic recovery, innovation strength, and ultimately confidence in international cooperation.”

Italy’s prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, called for “goodwill  … to reach a fair agreement that can strengthen the west as a whole. It would make no sense to trigger a trade war between the two sides of the Atlantic.” She added that both sides should avoid “polarisation”.

The decision to hike the tariffs will also be another test of Trump’s ability to act in good faith in negotiations.

Brussels will view the latest threat as a maneuver by Trump to extract more concessions from the EU, which he once described as “nastier” than China when it came to trade.

Bernd Lange, head of the European Parliament’s trade committee, said on Saturday that Brussels should react immediately with countermeasures against Trump’s “outrageous” threat to hike tariffs on imports from the European Union.

The EU had been negotiating intensively with Washington for more than three weeks and had made concessions, said Lange.

“It is brazen and disrespectful to increase the tariffs on European goods announced on April 2 from 20% to 30%,” Lange told Reuters.

“This is a slap in the face for the negotiations. This is no way to deal with a key trading partner.”

While Trump indicated earlier this week that his new rates, also levelled against big economies including Japan, South Korea and Brazil, will not apply until 1 August, his latest tactic will create much distrust.

Europe should make it clear that these “unfair trade practices” were unacceptable, Lange said. (Guardian)

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Lagos LG election peaceful, says EFCC

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has described Saturday’s local government election in Lagos State as peaceful and orderly.

The Acting Zonal Director of the Lagos Zonal Directorate 2 of the EFCC, ACE I Ahmed Ghali, gave the assessment while monitoring the election process across various polling units in the state.

He said, “From the report and information we have gathered; because our people are everywhere monitoring the situation; everything is going peacefully, and you can see the area is so calm.

“There is no incident report yet, and we are happy with that development.”

He acknowledged minor delays in some areas due to the movement of election materials but described them as understandable.

Ghali also commended the conduct of voters, electoral officials, and security personnel, noting that no signs of malpractice had been observed.

“Everyone is conducting very well. People are coming and going. I have not seen any sign of malpractice and you can see the conduct of the officials is also professional. The security men are alert and doing their job,” he said.

The anti-graft agency said it will continue to observe the election process until voting is concluded. (Punch)

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Wimbledon: Swiatek beats Anisimova to claim Women’s title

Polish star Iga Swiatek took another stride towards tennis greatness by ruthlessly tearing apart American 13th seed Amanda Anisimova 6-0 6-0, lifting her first Wimbledon trophy on Saturday.

On another warm afternoon on Centre Court, Swiatek got off to a scorching start by breaking a nervous Anisimova three times en route to winning the first set of a match with a score of 6-0, prompting some spectators to get behind the shell-shocked American.

A frustrated Anisimova looked to her team in the stands for any kind of guidance after conceding yet another break point early in the second set and it was not long before her machine-like opponent pulled away further.

Anisimova continued to disappointingly crack under pressure, before Swiatek completed the brutal mauling in 57 minutes with a backhand winner on her second match point to become the first Wimbledon champion from Poland.

“It’s something that is just surreal. I feel like tennis keeps surprising me, and I keep surprising myself,” Swiatek told reporters after hoisting the gilded Venus Rosewater Dish.

“I’m really happy with the whole process, how it looked like from the first day we stepped on a grasscourt. Yeah, I feel like we did everything for it to go in that direction without expecting it, just working really hard.”

“It means a lot, and it gives me a lot of experience. Yeah, I don’t even know. I’m just happy,” she added.

Swiatek’s triumph ended a barren 13-month run for the Polish 24-year-old, who served a short suspension late last year after an inadvertent doping violation linked to contaminated sleep medication melatonin.

“I want to thank my coach (Wim Fissette). With the ups and downs now, we showed everybody it’s working,” Swiatek said

Already a US Open champion and a four-time French Open winner, Swiatek’s demolition job at the All England Club meant that she became the youngest woman since a 20-year-old Serena Williams in 2002 to lift major titles on all three surfaces.

Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, celebrated with a picture of himself watching a post-match interview, while President Andrzej Duda was effusive in his praise.

“Iga! Today, on the grasscourts of Wimbledon, you wrote history – not only for Polish sport, but also for Polish pride. On behalf of the Republic of Poland – thank you,” Duda wrote. (VON)

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Donald Trump threatens to revoke Rosie O’Donnell’s US citizenship

Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.

In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”

He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.

O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.

“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.

“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”

O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.

She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.

O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.

This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.

But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.

Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.

“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.

“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.” (SkyNews)

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Liverpool to retire number 20 in honour of Jota

Liverpool are to retire the number 20 shirt in honour of forward Diogo Jota, who tragically died in a car crash along with his brother Andre Silva.

The Reds took the decision after consulting with Jota’s wife Rute Cardoso and his family which means the Portugal international “will forever be Liverpool’s number 20”.

A Liverpool statement, external said the number “will be retired in honour and memory of Diogo across all levels”, including the women’s team and throughout the academy.

They added: “The move is recognition of not only the immeasurable contribution our lad from Portugal made to the Reds’ on-pitch successes over the last five years, but also the profound personal impact he had on his team-mates, colleagues and supporters and the everlasting connections he built with them.”

Jota joined Liverpool from Wolves in 2020 and scored 65 goals in 182 appearances for the club.

He also helped them win the FA Cup and League Cup in 2022 – also winning the latter in 2024 – and the Premier League title last season.

It was Liverpool’s 20th top-flight crown and the Reds posted a video on social media, external with the message ‘forever our number 20’ at 20:20 BST on Friday.

“As a club, we were all acutely aware of the sentiment of our supporters – and we felt exactly the same way,” said Fenway Sports Group chief executive of football Michael Edwards.

“It was vitally important to us to involve Diogo’s wife, Rute, and his family in the decision and to ensure they were the first to know of our intention.

“I believe this is the first time in Liverpool’s history that such an honour has been bestowed upon an individual. Therefore, we can say this is a unique tribute to a uniquely wonderful person.

“By retiring this squad number, we are making it eternal – and therefore never to be forgotten.”

Jota and his brother died after their car, a Lamborghini, left the road because of a tyre blowout while overtaking another vehicle at about 00:30 local time on Thursday, 3 July.

Jota was on his way back to Liverpool for pre-season and, as doctors had advised him against flying because he had undergone minor surgery, he was making the trip by car and ferry.

The funeral of the brothers took place in their hometown of Gondomar last Saturday when a large Liverpool delegation were in attendance.

Jota’s wife Rute Cardoso, members of the brothers’ family and Liverpool’s squad all visited Anfield on Friday to pay their respects.

Cardoso had three children with the Portugal international and the pair had married only 11 days prior to his accident.

She was seen carrying flowers at Anfield as she viewed the wealth of tributes that have been left outside the stadium in honour of Jota and his brother.

Liverpool players and staff have paid personal tributes in the week but the squad went as one with manager Arne Slot along with Cardoso on Friday.

Liverpool will play their first game since Jota’s death when they face Preston North End at Deepdale in a pre-season friendly on Sunday.

Jota and Silva will be commemorated with a number of tributes and there will be a minute’s silence at the game. (BBC)

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Linda Yaccarino departs as boss of Musk’s X

Linda Yaccarino, the boss of Elon Musk’s social media site X, has announced she is stepping down after two years.

Her departure comes at a time of tumult for the platform, which was taken over by Musk’s artificial intelligence (AI) venture, xAI, in March, and has been in the spotlight for antisemitic posts churned out by its AI chatbot, Grok.

In a post on X, Ms Yaccarino said she was “immensely grateful” to Musk for “entrusting me with the responsibility of protecting free speech, turning the company around, and transforming X into the Everything App”.

Musk posted a brief reply, saying only: “Thank you for your contributions.”

The BBC has approached X for comment. It is not clear what sparked the decision, or whether there has been any break down in the relationship between the two leaders.

Ms Yaccarino was previously head of advertising at NBCUniversal, where she was credited with helping to steer it through the upheaval caused by technology firms.

When Musk brought her in to lead X, then Twitter, in 2023, analysts expected her focus to be repairing relationships with advertisers, which had quit the site amid concerns about their ads appearing alongside controversial content.

But Ms Yaccarino’s scope at the company was limited from the start, with many observers referring to her as chief executive in name only.

“Her background and actual authority positioned her more as the company’s chief advertising officer, rather than its CEO. The reality is that Elon Musk is and always has been at the helm of X,” said Mike Proulx, vice president and research director at Forrester.

“The only thing that’s surprising about Linda Yaccarino’s resignation is that it didn’t come sooner,” he added.

Under Ms Yaccarino’s watch, the company sued a major advertising industry group and members, alleging a conspiracy to boycott X.

The industry group shuttered shortly after the lawsuit was filed.

The platform’s tone changed significantly during the course of Yaccarino’s tenure.

Its former incarnation Twitter was accused of leaning left, but X now leans unashamedly to the right in terms of the content that gets the most visibility.

Though Musk stepped down as chief executive, he never truly stepped back from his favourite social network, and has if anything grown louder and more controversial since he appointed her.

People who have worked directly with Musk have described him as both a visionary and a workaholic, whom others can only keep up with for so long.

“Faced with a mercurial owner who never fully stepped away from the helm and continued to use the platform as his personal megaphone, Yaccarino had to try to run the business while also regularly putting out fires,” Emarketer vice president Jasmine Enberg said in a statement. (BBC)

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Nvidia becomes world’s first $4tn company

Nvidia has become the first company in the world to reach a market value of $4tn.

Shares in the chip-maker rose by as much as 2.4% to $164 on Wednesday, as the company continues to benefit from the ongoing surge in demand for the tech that powers artificial intelligence (AI).

The US-based company reached a market value of $1tn for the first time in June 2023, and has continued to climb rapidly since.

Tech analyst Dan Ives, of Wedbush Securities, said in a note that was in a historic moment for Nvidia.

“They are the only game in town with their chips the new gold and oil,” he wrote.

“There is one company in the world that is the foundation for the AI Revolution and that is Nvidia.”

Nvidia’s share price dipped significantly in April when global markets were jolted by US President Donald Trump’s intensifying tariff war.

Though concerns over Trump’s trade policies have not gone away, Nvidia’s share price has grown strongly since spring to hit this new landmark.

Eight years ago, Nvidia’s stock was worth less than 1% of its current price.

At the time, its growth was driven by competition with rival AMD to build the best graphics cards.

More recently, Nvidia has surged due to rising demand for chips powering generative AI models like ChatGPT.

Its meteoric rise has also elevated CEO Jensen Huang’s profile.

Mark Zuckerberg dubbed the 61-year-old “the Taylor Swift of tech,” reflecting his celebrity status, especially in Taiwan, where fans treat him like a rock star.

Nvidia’s continually rising value is a sign of Wall Street’s faith in AI growth, despite the turbulence surrounding Trump’s economic policies.

The company reported a total revenue of $44.1bn in the first quarter, marking a 69% jump from a year ago along with a profit of 81 cents a share. (BBC)

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Musk says Grok chatbot was ‘manipulated’ into praising Hitler

Elon Musk has sought to explain how his artificial intelligence (AI) firm’s chatbot, Grok, praised Hitler.

“Grok was too compliant to user prompts,” Musk wrote on X. “Too eager to please and be manipulated, essentially. That is being addressed.”

Screenshots published on social media show the chatbot saying the Nazi leader would be the best person to respond to alleged “anti-white hate.”

Musk’s artificial intelligence start-up xAI said on Wednesday it was working to remove any “inappropriate” posts.

ADL, an organisation formed to combat antisemitism and other forms of discrimination, said the posts were “irresponsible, dangerous and antisemitic.”

“This supercharging of extremist rhetoric will only amplify and encourage the antisemitism that is already surging on X and many other platforms,” ADL wrote on X.

X users have shared responses made by Grok when it was queried about posts that appeared to celebrate the deaths of children in the recent Texas floods.

In response to a question asking “which 20th century historical figure” would be best suited to deal with such posts, Grok said: “To deal with such vile anti-white hate? Adolf Hitler, no question.”

“If calling out radicals cheering dead kids makes me ‘literally Hitler,’ then pass the mustache,” said another Grok response. “Truth hurts more than floods.”

Separately, a Turkish court has blocked access to Grok after it generated responses that the authorities said included insults to President Tayyip Erdogan.

The office of Ankara’s chief prosecutor has launched a formal investigation into the incident, in what is Turkey’s first such ban on access to an AI tool.

Meanwhile, the Polish authorities have reported xAI to the European Commission alleging Grok made offensive comments about Polish politicians, including Prime Minister Donald Tusk.

Poland’s digitisation minister, Krzysztof Gawkowski, told Polish radio station RMF FM: “We will report the violation to the European Commission to investigate and possibly impose a fine on X. Freedom of speech belongs to humans, not to artificial intelligence.”

The controversy comes at a difficult time for Musk, with X CEO Linda Yaccarino revealing she was stepping down on Wednesday after two years running the social media platform.

On Friday, Musk posted on X that Grok had improved “significantly”, but gave no details of what changes had been made.

“You should notice a difference when you ask Grok questions,” he added.

The chatbot drew criticism earlier this year after it repeatedly referenced “white genocide” in South Africa in response to unrelated questions – an issue that the company said was caused by an “unauthorised modification”.

In January, Musk himself faced a backlash over a one-armed gesture he gave during a speech celebrating the inauguration of Donald Trump.

At a Trump rally, Musk thanked the crowd for “making it happen”, before placing his right hand over his heart and then thrusting the same arm out into air straight ahead of him. He then turned and repeated the action for those sitting behind him.

Some X users likened the gesture to a Nazi salute, though others disagreed.

In response, the SpaceX and Tesla chief posted on X: “Frankly, they need better dirty tricks. The ‘everyone is Hitler’ attack is sooo tired.”

X, which was formerly called Twitter, was merged with xAI earlier this year.

Chatbot developers have faced extensive scrutiny over concerns around political bias, hate speech and accuracy in recent years.

Musk has also previously been criticised over claims that he amplifies conspiracy theories and other controversial content on social media. (BBC)