Heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorms lashed Bengaluru, leading to waterlogging in several low-lying areas on Saturday night.
According to the India Meteorological Department, the city received about 40 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours.
Tree branches came down crashing in some parts of the state capital. Sai Layout in the city bore the brunt of the downpour with severe inundation.
Household belongings in the flooded houses were soaked, vehicles partially submerged and electronic items damaged.
Affected families shifted to safer places nearby.
According to residents, clogged drains were to blame and claimed repeated complaints to the authorities were ignored.
Several parts of the state have been receiving good rainfall, especially Malnad region and coastal Karnataka.
The weather department has sounded yellow alert in Uttara Kannada, Udupi, Belagavi, Dharwad, Gadag, Haveri, and Shivamogga districts.
In its daily bulletin on Sunday, the department said light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by lightning and gusty wind reaching speeds of upto 30-40 km ph is likely to occur at isolated places in the next three hours.
There could be temporary disruption of electricity in some areas, minor traffic snarls and possible uprooting of weak trees.
It has advised people in these districts to stay indoors, close windows and doors and avoid travel if possible.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
Jyoti Malhotra, the travel YouTuber who has been arrested for spying for Pakistan, attended an Iftar dinner at the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi last year and posted a video in which she is seen gushing about the arrangements, repeatedly expressing an interest in visiting the country and asking almost everyone she meets to help her get a visa.
In the video, the 33-year-old, who runs the travel YouTube account ‘Travel With Jo’, is also seen meeting a Pakistan High Commission official, Ehsan-ur-Rahim alias Danish, who had reportedly been declared persona non grata and asked to leave India within 24 hours for committing espionage and leaking sensitive information regarding the movements of the Indian Army. Malhotra also meets Rahim’s wife and it is clear from her interactions with him that they have met several times before and know each other well.
The video, posted on March 30 last year, begins with Malhotra saying she had been invited for the Iftar party and then entering the High Commission, describing the decoration as “superb”.
She greets Rahim warmly, asks him how he is doing, and tells him how happy she is to see him. A man, whose face is not seen but appears to be Rahim, introduces her to officials and tells them she runs the ‘Travel With Jo’ YouTube channel.
Describing the atmosphere at the high commission, Malhotra tells her viewers in a mix of Hindi and English, “I am mesmerised. I have no words. I am excited, super duper excited. Bhaisahab, main to hil gayi (I am so impressed).”
House Invite
Rahim introduces Mallhotra to his wife and they exchange pleasantries, after which he tells the YouTuber about Pakistan Day, which is celebrated on March 23. “I am very happy after getting such a grand welcome and these arrangements,” Malhotra says, to which Rahim responds, “This is how Pakistanis are.”
Malhotra also extends an invitation to Rahim and his wife to visit her house in Haryana’s Hisar. “Come see the hospitality in our village. It’s very similar.”
The YouTuber then goes around asking several attendees whether they have visited Pakistan, saying “I want to go, too” when they answer in the affirmative. “Hopefully I will get a visa, we’ll go together,” she tells a fellow YouTuber.
Malhotra also meets some officials from China and asks them for a visa for the country as well. “Give me visa!” she says.
She runs into Rahim again and remarks that he appears very busy taking care of all the people attending the dinner.
Earlier Visits
Meeting another Pakistani official, Malhotra says he handles everything at the embassy. “The three or four times I have come, he has recorded the entry and asked for my phone and other belongings to be kept aside. He is a very nice man,” she says.
“Give me a visa this time,” she tells another Pakistani official who has joined the high commission in February.
She goes on to praise the spread, appreciating the food that has been served, before speaking to Rahim again before leaving and telling him how happy she was to have been invited.
Arrest
Malhotra was arrested from Hisar for sharing Indian military information with Pakistan. She got her wish to travel to the country and went there at least twice. Officials said she confessed to having met Pakistani security and intelligence officials during at lease one of the visits and staying in touch with them after that, sharing “anti-national” information.
On Saturday, she was sent to police custody for five days.
Northern Army Commander Lieutenant General Pratik Sharma visited the Poonch and Naushera districts of Jammu and Kashmir and reviewed the prevailing security situation and operational readiness, the Army said.
“Lt Gen Pratik Sharma, Army Commander Northern Command, visited forward areas of Poonch and Naushera to review the prevailing security situation and operational readiness,” Northern Command, Indian Army posted on X on Friday.
“The Army Commander complimented all ranks for the successful execution of operations & exhorted them to maintain sharp vigilance, adopt proactive measures, and uphold exemplary professionalism at all times,” the post stated.
Lt Gen Pratik Sharma, Army Commander #NorthernCommand visited forward areas of #Poonch and #Naushera to review prevailing security situation & operational readiness.
The Army Commander complimented all ranks for successful execution of operations & exhorted them to maintain… pic.twitter.com/LIuWJHiXRc
— NORTHERN COMMAND – INDIAN ARMY (@NorthernComd_IA) May 16, 2025
Earlier on Friday, the Northern Army Commander complimented the Chinar Corps for their swift action and precise execution in the joint operation that neutralised three terrorists in Awantipora.
“Lt Gen Pratik Sharma, Army Commander #NorthernCommand, compliments #ChinarCorps for their swift action and precise execution in the joint operation that neutralised three terrorists in #Awantipora. The #IndianArmy stands by its commitment to keeping #JammuKashmir terror-free,” the post stated.
In Operation Nader, three suspected terrorists, Asif Ahmed Sheikh, Amir Nazir Wani and Yawar Ahmed Bhat, were eliminated. Three AK-series rifles, twelve magazines, three grenades and various other war-like stores were recovered too.
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir’s Director General of Police, Nalin Prabhat, also visited the border areas of Jammu district.
The DGP began his visit from the RS Pura sector and interacted with Border Security Force and Jammu Kashmir Police jawans at various BOPs, including Octroi (Suchetgarh) and Kharkola, as well as the Border Police posts of Baspur Bangla and Agra Chak in the RS Pura sector.
According to a statement, DGP Prabhat acknowledged the role of the police in the recent Indo-Pak conflict. He appreciated officers for their active role in handling the situation in the border villages, which ensured the timely shifting of people from border areas.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
US congressional Democrats on Thursday sought to block arms sales to the United Arab Emirates over its alleged involvement in Sudan’s civil war and concern about crypto currency ties, the same day Republican President Donald Trump announced $200 billion in new deals with the Gulf State.
Democrats Chris Murphy, Chris Van Hollen, Brian Schatz and Tim Kaine, and Bernie Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, introduced resolutions of disapproval in the Senate that would block three arms sales to the UAE.
Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, and Sara Jacobs, the top Democrat on the panel’s Africa subcommittee, introduced resolutions of disapproval in the House of Representatives.
The senators cited concerns that have been raised about Abu Dhabi arming Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitaries in Sudan’s civil war. The UAE has repeatedly denied such charges.
They also cited the announcement by MGX, an investment firm backed by the Emiratis, that it would use a stablecoin launched by Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto venture for its $2 billion investment in crypto exchange Binance.
A series of Trump family crypto-related ventures, including a “meme coin” launched in January, have drawn criticism from government ethics experts and political opponents over potential conflicts of interest.
In a statement, Murphy said he wanted to force a full Senate debate on what he termed “nuclear grade corruption.”
The House members said the Trump administration had decided to move ahead with the UAE sales despite Meeks’ hold on such transactions over of his concerns about the conflict in Sudan.
“The Trump administration’s end-run around Congress is irresponsible and will further embolden the UAE to violate the UN’s Darfur arms embargo and continue its support for the RSF and the killing of innocent civilians,” Meeks and Jacobs said in a statement.
Trump Expects Stronger UAE Ties
The White House and the UAE embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to requests for comment. However, both Republican and Democratic US administrations have long viewed the Gulf state as a vital security partner and the UAE has denied providing weapons to the RSF.
Trump pledged to strengthen US ties to the Gulf State as he announced the deals. “I have absolutely no doubt that the relationship will only get bigger and better,” he said in a meeting with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
US law requires congressional review of major arms deals, and lets members of the Senate force votes on resolutions of disapproval that would block such sales. Although the law does not let House members force such votes, resolutions must pass both chambers of Congress, and potentially survive a presidential veto, to go into effect.
No block has ever succeeded and survived a veto.
Among the sales targeted in the resolutions were a $1.32 billion sale of helicopters and equipment, $130 million for F-16 aircraft components and accessories, and $150 million for Apache, Black Hawk and Chinook aircraft parts, logistics and support.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt posted about her conversation with a man from Jammu and Kashmir, who she claimed thanked US President Donald Trump for bringing the military actions between India and Pakistan to a halt.
Trump’s administration had earlier this week claimed that he had mediated a ceasefire between India and Pakistan, days after the May 7 Operation Sindoor kickstarted military actions between he neighbouring countries, resulting in loss of lives and infrastructure. India later said the ceasefire was arrived at after DGMO-level talks between the two countries.
Ms Leavitt recounted meeting a waiter in Qatar’s Doha today, who she claimed told her to thank Trump as the ceasefire as the closure of airspace and safety concerns kept him from returning home. “He said President Trump is not receiving enough credit for literally preventing a nuclear war – and he is right!” she wrote in a post on X.
The White House official said Trump inherited many global conflicts and “he is tackling them one at a time”. “Peace, through strength, is being restored!” she wrote.
This morning at breakfast in Doha, my waiter told me to thank President Trump for him.
I asked him why.
He told me he is from Kashmir, and he has been unable to return home in recent weeks due to the India-Pakistan conflict. But he was just notified that he’s now able to…
— Karoline Leavitt (@karolineleavitt) May 15, 2025
During his speech at al-Udeid Air Base in Qatar on Thursday, Trump reiterated his role of peacemaker, allowing the May 10 ceasefire between the countries that saw escalating tensions since the April 22 Palahlgam attack, in which 26 civilians had died.
“And by the way, I don’t want to say I did, but I sure as hell helped settle the problem between Pakistan and India last week, which was getting more and more hostile,” he said, making it the sixth instance when he took credit for the ceasefire.
Under Operation Sindoor, India had struck nine terror targets in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. This was followed by counter-attacks on infrastructure on both sides. The situation in border districts has been normal since the ceasefire, with 32 airports in northern and western India opening for civil operations.
A US judge ordered the release from custody on Wednesday of an Indian researcher at a top American university who is facing possible deportation for alleged Hamas ties.
Badar Khan Suri, a postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University in the US capital, was arrested by federal agents two months ago at his home in Virginia and has been held in Texas.
District Judge Patricia Giles ordered Suri’s immediate release on Wednesday and that he be allowed to return from Texas to his wife and three children in Virginia on his personal recognizance.
“Hearing the judge’s words brought tears to my eyes,” Suri’s wife, Mapheze Saleh, said in a statement released by the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR), which is among the groups representing her husband in court.
“Speaking out about what’s happening in Palestine is not a crime,” Saleh said. “Let’s show the world that this country is still a place where people can and do express their beliefs without fear.”
Giles, in ordering Suri’s release, said his detention violated his First Amendment rights to free speech.
“The court’s order today should send a clear message to the Trump administration that it cannot arrest someone, rip them away from their family, and incarcerate them just for standing in solidarity with Palestinians and against the genocide in Gaza,” said Astha Sharma Pokharel, an attorney at the CCR.
Suri’s release comes several days after another judge ordered the release from custody of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish Ph.D student at Tufts University in Massachusetts, who was detained in another high-profile case.
The arrests of Suri, Ozturk and others have sparked fears in the academic world that freedom of research and speech is being challenged under Republican President Donald Trump.
Tricia McLaughlin, a Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman, said on X at the time of Suri’s arrest that he was “actively spreading Hamas propaganda and promoting anti-Semitism on social media.”
McLaughlin also accused him of having “close connections to a known or suspected terrorist, who is a senior advisor to Hamas.”
According to The New York Times, Saleh, Suri’s wife, is the daughter of Ahmed Yousef, a former adviser to assassinated Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
McLaughlin said Suri was subject to deportation under a provision of immigration law that allows for expulsion if the visa holder’s presence in the United States is determined to threaten US foreign policy.
Hamas is a US-designated terror organization.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
