POSTED BY: GOPI MAY 30, 2025

New Delhi, May 30 (SocialNews.XYZ) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar on Friday lashed out at “new forms of dominations” for interfering in the politics of nations of the Global South, asserting that such agendas are encouraged even by some segments of society.

Addressing the Parul University Convocation in Gujarat’s Vadodara, EAM Jaishankar said that while the colonial era may be behind us but new forms of domination have emerged which are misusing the openings provided by globalisation. 

“They profess to judge us all and pronounce on our credentials. One example is the ill-concealed interference in the politics of nations of the Global South, often in the name of promoting democracy. Sadly, such agendas are encouraged even by some segments within our own society,” said EAM Jaishankar in his address.

He said that the world today is returning to its natural diversity and to its pluralism, adding that as colonial empires ended, many societies have regained their voice along with their freedom.

“The membership of the United Nations has itself quadrupled since its founding. It is essential that in our quest towards a more equitable and contemporary world order, there is mutual respect for cultures, traditions and heritage,” he said.

He pointed out that no country, however large and powerful, can manage alone, adding that it is the reality of interdependence and of globalisation, as also a statement about the limits of power.

“We may talk a lot about the promise of technology. But whether it is talent, whether it is data, or whether it is resources, everything cannot be just nationally generated or controlled. In fact, the very idea of a global order, or indeed of international relations, is the assumption that nations have to work with each other for their mutual and collective benefit. The rest is about setting optimal terms to do so,” he said.

He emphasised that India stands for openness, pluralism and diversity, adding that the country has a long tradition of growing with the world, instead of distancing itself from it.

“In many ways, we stand out by promoting commonness, rather than seeking uniformity. That you can see in our languages, in our faiths, in customs, traditions, cuisine and practices. Our openness to each other in India makes us just as open to the world. We therefore neither build walls – real or metaphorical – nor impose our ways on others,” he said.

EAM Jaishankar said that as a large polity in the international community of almost 200 nations, India does have national interests, which it seeks to advance.

“But this is sought to be done with mutual understanding and mutual benefit as its guiding principles. I am very confident that it is this understanding of India that all of you will take back home,” he said. 

Source: IANS (Social News)

A tourist train departed from northwest China’s Shaanxi Province on Thursday for Almaty, Kazakhstan, marking a new step in cultural and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. Carrying 234 passengers, the train left Xi’an around noon and is set to arrive in Almaty on Saturday. The return journey is scheduled to depart on 5 June and arrive back in Xi’an on 7 June, with each one-way trip taking about 57 hours.
This year marks the China tourism year in Kazakhstan. Upon arrival in Almaty, passengers will be welcomed with fun performances and local cuisine.
A four-day cultural and people-to-people exchange event will be held in Almaty, showcasing a diverse array of activities. Attendees can look forward to demonstrations of intangible cultural heritage skills, exhibitions of cultural relics and promotions of traditional Chinese medicine. Special events will include a youth football friendly match, a symposium on sports exchanges and a gathering of women entrepreneurs.
The special train service is one of the key outcomes of the first China-Central Asia Summit held in Xi’an in 2023. The second summit is scheduled to take place later this year in Kazakhstan. — Xinhua

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Heavy machinery like excavators and other earth-moving equipment is slowly but surely going electric. That’s great for cutting emissions from jobsites, which are usually dirty, smelly, and noisy places. Going electric is also good for business owners because, over time, running costs go down compared to diesel-powered machinery. 

But how do you go about recharging a 30-ton behemoth that has a maximum speed of 5 miles per hour? In a regular, road-going EV, a quick stop at a DC fast charger is the answer, but in a mine, not so much. But now, a Silicon Valley-based startup claims to have a solution. 

It’s called a Megawatt Mobile Charger, and it’s exactly what it says on the box. Developed by Dimaag-AI, a startup founded by one of Tesla’s co-founders, it’s basically a huge battery on wheels that can go almost anywhere without having someone behind the steering wheel. It doesn’t even have a steering wheel–it’s remotely operated from the warmth of a heated control center.

That’s cool and all, but it’s the charging capabilities that stand out. With a 295 kilowatt-hour battery pack on board, the four-wheel-drive machine can output up to 6 megawatts of power to multiple connected EVs, making recharging slow and heavy machinery a breeze. That’s thanks to a modular DC to DC con verter that can send a minimum of 1 MW of power through a Megawatt Charging System (MCS) connector. In this configuration, the driverless buggy can send a maximum of 1,000 Volts and 1,500 Amps.

 The vehicle itself is powered by four electric motors, one for each wheel, making it all-wheel drive. It also has four wheel steering for increased maneuverability, and can tackle inclines of up to 40 percent. The top speed is 22 miles per hour (35 kilometers per hour), and if the buyer is into high-tech vehicles, there’s the option of fitting an autonomous driving suite. 

The best thing about the Megawatt Mobile Charger is that it’s not just a concept. Heavy equipment giant Komatsu just partnered with Dimaag, meaning the driverless battery on wheels will make its way to jobsites across the world soon. 

“Despite the challenges in developing the market for electric construction equipment, primarily due to installation costs and the need for adequate power supply infrastructure, we remain committed to accelerating our efforts toward market development through collaboration with companies such as Dimaag, in pursuit of our challenge goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Tai suke Kusaba, Senior Executive Officer (Jomu), CTO, Supervising Research & Development at Komatsu.

IEV

Source: Myawady Daily Newspaper

Malaysia's labor productivity per hour worked grew 1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2025, registering 42.5 ringgit (9.98 U.S. dollars) per hour, official data showed Thursday.

Malaysia's economy expanded 4.4 percent in the first quarter of 2025 as compared to 4.9 percent in the fourth quarter of 2024, while the total hours worked increased 3.3 percent to register 9.8 billion hours, the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement.

According to the DOSM, the total number of employed persons was 16.9 million, indicating a year-on-year growth of 3 percent in the first quarter of 2025, while labor productivity per employment increased 1.3 percent to record value added per employment at 24,580 ringgit per person.

Meanwhile, the labor productivity measured as value added per hour worked for this quarter was driven by the growth in the construction sector at 11.3 percent, followed by the manufacturing sector at 2.8 percent.

"Propelled by sustainable labor market growth, thriving business activity and strengthening human capital, Malaysia's labor productivity is well positioned for a resilient positive outlook despite challenges in labor market reforms and economic uncertainties," the DOSM said.

Thus, the existence of strategic implementation and workforce development is crucial in ensuring the enhancement of labor efficiency, it added. (1 ringgit equals 0.23 U.S. dollar)

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Photo: KL Property

It might sound like something from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang - but flying cars could soon be jetting passengers around Europe by next year. 

Slovakia-based company Klein Vision claims its 'AirCar' – the world's first mass-produced flying car – will go on sale in early 2026. 

Styled like a sports coupe, the bizarre hybrid – which has four wheels and two wings – builds speed along a runway before lifting into the air. 

The two-seater can release its retractable wings in less than two minutes as it prepares for take-off, before stowing them away again at its destination. 

Stefan Klein, founder of Klein Vision, said AirCar 'fulfills a lifelong dream' to bring passenger flight 'into the hands of everyday people'. 

'With the launch of our production prototype, we are one step closer to transforming how the world moves – merging the road and the sky into a new dimension of personal mobility,' he said. 

Klein Vision estimates the vehicle will go on sale in the first three months of 2026 – but it won't come cheap. 

A company spokesperson told Mail Online that the vehicle will start at $800,000 (£600,000) but could go up to $1 million (£750,000) depending on specs.

For example, buyers would be able to choose between a 280, 320 and 340 horsepower engine. 

Following successful test flights, Klein Vision said the latest version of is AirCar prototype is now being worked on and tested.

But new promo images give an idea of what 'AirCar 2' will look like when it performs its first flight, due to happen in September. 

AirCar traverses about 980 feet (300 metres) of runway space reaching speeds up to 124mph but has a cruising speed of 155mph once in the air. 

It runs on regular petrol-pump fuel and can carry two people to a maximum altitude of 18,000 feet thanks to a propeller between the fuselage and tail. 

Although powered by petrol, AirCar will go electric 'as soon as the energy density of the batteries is good enough', co-founder Anton Zajac told The Next Web. 

When it does go on sale, AirCar will be suited for leisure trips or as a commercial Uber-style taxi service, its developers say. 

At the touch of the button, the pilot can unfold and release two wings in preparation for take-off in the space of two minutes, which are safely refolded and stored in the body of the vehicle upon landing. 

The original AirCar has already successfully completed over 170 flight hours and more than 500 takeoffs and landings. 

Last year, Klein Vision completed the first passenger flight of Air Car with none other than French musician Jean-Michel Jarre on board. 

While seated in the quirky hybrid vehicle, Jarre and a pilot travelled around two miles in the space of 10 minutes over Piešťany Airport in Slovakia.  

Jean-Michel Jarre, a pioneer in the electronic and ambient music genres, described the experience as like being in a 'Jules Verne book' – a reference to the 19th century novelist known for scifi works including 'Around the World in Eighty Days'.  

'One second you speak to the driver, and next, you are up there in the air – an amazing experience,' Jarre said. 

Also last year, James May, former host of Top Gear, visited Klein Vision and witnessed the AirCar in action at an international airport in Slovakia.

The broadcaster said: 'The AirCar has landed. Very rarely am I lost for words, but I am lost for words!' 

In its home country of Slovakia, AirCar received the Certificate of Airworthiness in January 2022, permitting commercial passengers and opening the door for mass production of the vehicle.

And in the UK, £20 million of government funding has been allocated for the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to make flying taxis a reality. 

Last week, Mike Kane, the UK government's Transport Minister, said there will be flying taxis over British skies in just three years' time – with the first piloted flying taxi flight by 2026. 

So if you purchase the AirCar, it might not be authorised to fly in the UK by next year. 

According to Morgan Stanley, the global market for flying cars is expected to hit $1 trillion in 2040, before jumping to a whopping $9 trillion in 2050. 

Widespread adoption of flying vehicles will make use of the vast empty space in the air while greatly reducing congestion on roads.

Mail Online

JAKARTA, May 12 (Xinhua)

At least 13 people were killed when the Indonesian army destroyed expired ammunition in West Java province on Monday, a military officer said.

The incident occurred at 09:30 a.m. Jakarta time in Sagara village, Garut Regency. The victims included four soldiers and nine residents, said Brigadier General Wahyu Yudhayana, spokesperson for the Indonesian Army.

"Four personnel of the Indonesian Army and nine members of the community were killed," he told a press conference.

"The detonations in two holes were successfully conducted. However, when the team was preparing detonators in the third hole, an unexpected explosion occurred, killing four soldiers and nine residents," he explained.

Yudhayana noted that the army team had previously inspected all equipment and confirmed they were in safe condition. Additionally, the site had been routinely used for disposing of expired ammunition.

All victims were taken to Pameungpeuk General Hospital, the spokesman said.

An investigation will be conducted to determine the cause of the fatal incident, Yudhayana added.

Ref : Xinhua

Chairman of the State Administration Council Prime Minister Senior General Min Aung Hlaing attended the military parade to mark the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 of the Russian Federation, together with Heads of State and officials from international countries, at the Red Square in Moscow yesterday morning.

President of the Russian Federation Mr Vladimir Putin warmly welcomed the Prime Minister and Heads of State from other countries at the Senate Place of the Kremlin Palace. The Russian President, together with the Prime Minister and Heads of State of international countries and officials, arrived on the dais where they will view the military parade to mark the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945.

Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces Army General Oleg Salukov took the position while the clock tower from the Kremlin Palace rang rings of 10 o’clock. The military parade was launched, and all participants saluted the flag of the Russian Federation and the flag to mark the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

Russian Minister of Defence Mr Andrei Ramovich Belousov took the salute of the parade units and inspected them in a motorcade. He delivered a speech in honour of the 80th Victory Day, and the parade units shouted Hooray three times. They all observed a one-minute silence in memory of heroes who were posthumous in the Great Patriotic War and the heroes who sacrificed their lives for Russia.

Supreme Commander-in-Chief Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin delivered a speech in honour of the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, while the military parade units shouted Hooray three times. The military band played the national anthem of Russia, and then, guns were fired.

Military parade units, including those from foreign countries, led by the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces, marched past the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of Russia. Also, tanks, armoured vehicles, artillery units, air defence units, and strategic ballistic missile corps marched past the Supreme Commander-in-Chief while aircraft from the air force flew over the parade. Meanwhile, the military band played the honorary song to mark the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War.

After the ceremony, Supreme Commander-in-Chief Mr Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin greeted leaders of parade units from the Russian Federation and foreign countries.

The Prime Minister, Heads of State of foreign countries and officials proceeded to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the wall of the Kremlin and waved to attendees to the parade.

The Prime Minister, Heads of State from foreign countries, officials and Russian President Mr Vladimir Putin laid wreaths at the Tomb. They all had documentary photos taken.

At the Office of President Putin of the Kremlin Palace, they had a luncheon hosted by President of the Russian Federation Mr Vladimir Putin.

While attending the military parade and related ceremonies, the Senior General cordially greeted Heads of State from foreign countries and officials and reciprocally discussed diplomatic relations, friendship and promotion of cooperation with these countries.

The Soviet Union participated in the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945 to drive out invasion of Fascist Nazis on 11 June 1941. On the morning of 9 May 1945, Nazi Germans signed the German Instrument of Surrender in Berlin of Germany, and the Second World War came to an end. At about 2 am on 9 May 1945, the people living in the Soviet Union learned of Nazi Germany’s defeat in the war. That afternoon, Soviet citizens gathered in Moscow’s Red Square to celebrate by singing songs, playing musical instruments, dancing, launching fireworks, and firing 36 celebratory salutes into the sky using guns. The Victory Day celebrations were filled with joy and enthusiasm. As a result, the Soviet Union officially designated 9 May as a public holiday known as Victory Day, commemorating their triumph over Fascist Nazi Germany. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, starting from the 60th Anniversary Victory Day celebration in 2005, the 9th May Victory Day has become one of the most popular ceremonies and a public holiday in the Russian Federation. It is commemorated as the day of victory in the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945, and military parades are held to mark the occasion. It is a tradition for military parade units from various countries to participate in these events. Military parade members from Myanmar also marched for the first time alongside contingents from other countries in this year’s military parade commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 of the Russian Federation. MNA/TTA

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

Monday night marked one of the world's biggest nights of fashion, as stars served up their most iconic looks for the annual Met Gala in New York City.

The theme for this year's event was "Superfine: Tailoring Black Style," the first since 2003 to focus exclusively on menswear.

It was inspired by a newly unveiled exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art's costume institute featuring the "black dandy", which Vogue says "examines the importance of clothing and style to the formation of black identities in the Atlantic diaspora".

More: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c20xvd10xv5o

Source: BBC

CATHOLIC cardinals agreed on Monday to begin a conclave on 7 May to elect a new pope, and highlighted clerical sexual abuse as one of the key challenges facing Pope Francis’s successor.
So-called “Princes of the Church” under the age of 80 will meet in the Sistine Chapel to choose a new religious leader for the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
The date was decided at a meeting of cardinals of all ages early on Monday, two days after the funeral of Francis, who died on 21 April aged 88. The cardinals outlined the most pressing Church challenges including “evangelization, the relationship with other faiths (and) the issue of abuse”, the Vatican said.
“There was talk of the qualities that the new pontiff must possess to respond effectively to these challenges,” it added. The Church’s 252 cardinals were recalled to Rome after the Argentine’s death, although only 135 are eligible to vote in the conclave.
They hail from all corners of the globe and many of them do not know each other.
But they already had four meetings last week, so-called “general congregations”, where they began to become better acquainted. Cardinal Gualtiero Bassetti, 83, a former head of the Italian bishops’ conference, said there was a “beautiful fraternal atmosphere”.
“Of course, there may be some difficulties because the voters have never been so numerous and not everyone knows each other,” he told Italy’s Corriere della Sera newspaper.
On Monday, the Vatican closed the Sistine Chapel, where voting will take place under Michelangelo’s 16th-century ceiling frescoes, to begin preparations.
So far there are few clues as to who the cardinals might choose. “I believe that if Francis has been the pope of surprises, this conclave will be too, as it is not at all predictable,” Spanish Cardinal Jose Cobo told El Pais in an interview published on Sunday.
Francis was laid to rest on Saturday with a funeral and burial ceremony that drew 400,000 people to St Peter’s Square and beyond, including royalty, world leaders and ordinary pilgrims.
On Sunday, about 70,000 mourners filed past his marble tomb in the Santa Maria Maggiore Basilica in Rome, after the “pope of the poor” opted to be buried outside the Vatican’s walls. — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar

WORLD leaders remembered Pope Francis as “a beacon of compassion”, as the death on Monday of the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics prompted a global outpouring of grief. Here are some of the first reactions to the death of the 88-year-old pontiff:
‘Rest in Peace’: Trump
“Rest in Peace Pope Francis! May God Bless him and all who loved him!,” US President Donald Trump, who clashed with the Argentine pontiff on a number of issues, wrote on his Truth Social platform.
‘Prayed for peace in Ukraine’: Zelensky
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Francis “prayed for peace in Ukraine and for Ukrainians”. “We grieve together with Catholics and all Christians,” Zelensky wrote on social media.
‘Defender of justice’: Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Francis was a “wise” religious leader, a “statesman” and a “consistent defender of the high values of humanism and justice,” who “actively promoted dialogue between the Russian Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches”.
‘Consequential leader’: Biden
Former US president Joe Biden said Francis was “unlike any who came before him”, hailing his record of fighting for peace and equity. “Pope Francis will be remembered as one of the most consequential leaders of our time and I am better for having known him,” Biden, a staunch Catholic, wrote on X alongside a picture of him and the Pope.
‘Courageous’: Britain
“His leadership in a complex and challenging time for the world and the church was courageous, yet always came from a place of deep humility,” UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said.
King Charles, who is also the head of the Church of England, said he was “deeply saddened” by Francis’s death, adding: “Through his work and care for both people and planet, he profoundly touched the lives of so many”.
Wise despite ‘differences’: Argentina’s leader
“In spite of differences that today seem minor, to have known him in his goodness and wisdom was a true honor for me,” Argentine President Javier Milei posted on X of his countryman Francis.
‘Dialogue between faiths’: Turkey -
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan praised Francis as a “respected statesman”. The leader of the Muslim-majority nation also called Francis “a spiritual leader who placed great importance on dialogue between different faith groups”, who took “initiative in the face of humanitarian tragedies, especially the Palestinian issue”. — AFP

Source: The Global New Light of Myanmar