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Iran says Bushehr nuclear facility nearly hit; guard killed, building damaged

'Nothing will be left of the Left Front after Kerala elections': Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi sharpened his criticism of the Left Democratic Front during a rally in Alappuzha, arguing the alliance has drifted from its ideological roots. He said, “Frankly, there is nothing ‘Left’ about the Left front, and after the elections, there will be nothing ‘Left’ of the Left front,” framing the contest as one over principles rather than just power.

He accused the LDF of aligning, indirectly, with forces it once opposed, claiming a “hidden hand” tied to the BJP and RSS was influencing governance in Kerala. According to him, this shift has unsettled long-time party workers who feel abandoned.

Rahul questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political focus, noting his frequent criticism of Congress but silence toward the state government. “I fight the BJP. I fight the RSS… but I never backed down,” he said, positioning himself as a consistent opponent.

With elections nearing, the remarks underscore an intensifying three-way contest in Kerala’s evolving political landscape.

Three-day police custody for director Ranjith

A court on Saturday granted three-day police custody of Malayalam director Ranjith, who was arrested in connection with an alleged sexual harassment incident at a film shooting set.

Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate Selmath RM allowed the petition filed by the police seeking custody of Ranjith for three days. The court granted custody till Monday evening.

Ranjith was produced before the court on Saturday morning from the Ernakulam sub jail, where he had been lodged for the past three days.

He also filed a bail petition in the case, claiming that he is innocent. Ranjith’s counsel argued that the arrest was carried out without following due procedure and cited his health condition while seeking bail. The court said it would consider the bail plea later.

Ranjith was arrested on Tuesday night from Thodupuzha after an actress approached the police alleging that he had sexually harassed her inside a caravan during a film shoot in Fort Kochi. 

US-Iran race on to locate downed jet, crew

Iranian and American forces were locked in a frantic race Saturday to reach the crew of the first US fighter jet downed over Iranian soil since the war began, a report in The Guardian said.

Iran claimed its air defenses had shot down the F-15 Eagle, while US media reported that American special forces had extracted one of its two crew members — the other remained unaccounted for. Iranian officials called on residents of the country's rugged southwestern region to assist in the search, as state television aired footage of what appeared to be the aircraft's twisted wreckage.

Tehran separately claimed to have downed a US A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack aircraft over the Gulf, though US media reported that pilot had been safely recovered.

US Central Command had yet to confirm the loss of the F-15. The White House said President Donald Trump had been briefed on the situation.

Minister Sivankutty welcomes PM Modi to 'developed Nemom'

PM Modi in Kerala today for election campaign

 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Kerala on Saturday as part of the NDA's election campaign.

The PM is scheduled to attend a public meeting in Thiruvalla and take part in a roadshow in Thiruvananthapuram, they added.

Modi will arrive at Thiruvananthapuram airport at around 2.30 pm and will travel by helicopter to Changanassery NSS College ground in Kottayam district, where he is expected to land at 3 pm. From there, he will travel by road for a public meeting at the Thiruvalla stadium where party leaders and NDA candidates from nearby constituencies are expected to be present, the sources said.

After the public meeting, the PM will travel to Thiruvananthapuram, where he will hold a road show from Killipalam to Karamana Junction, covering a distance of around 1.5 kilometers, in the evening, they said.

The roadshow is expected to draw a large number of party workers and supporters.

Senior BJP leaders, including Rajeev Chandrasekhar and V Muraleedharan, will also take part. Modi is expected to meet NDA candidates from the district before returning to Delhi at around 7 pm, according to his itinerary.

Kerala will go to the polls on April 9.

Maharashtra: Nashik accident kills 9 of a family

Nine members of a family, including six children, were killed after their car fell into a well in Maharashtra's Nashik district, police said on Saturday.

The accident occurred in the Shivaji Nagar area of Dindori town around 10 pm on Friday, an official said. The victims were heading home after attending a function at a banquet hall in the area when their car fell into a well near the venue, he said.

Personnel from the local police and emergency services arrived at the scene and retrieved the car and its occupants with the help of two cranes and swimmers around midnight.

The victims were members of the Dargude family from Indore village in Dindori taluka, the official said.

According to the police, the deceased were identified as Sunil Dattu Dargude (32), his wife Reshma, Asha Anil Dargude (32), and six children from the family, five girls in the age group of seven to 14 years and an 11-year-old boy.

Their bodies were brought to the government hospital in Dindori, the official said, adding that a case has been registered and a probe is underway to ascertain the cause of the accident. 

Dues mounting: Maharashtra contractors threaten to stop work

The Maharashtra State Contractors' Association (MSCA) has written to the BJP-led Mahayuti government, threatening to stop work on development projects from April 7 if dues amounting to more than Rs 96,000 crore are not cleared soon.

The MSCA, in its letter on Friday, said that the state government had cleared around Rs 20,000 crore last year following protests, but fresh bills from ongoing and completed works have pushed the total pending amount back to Rs 96,000 crore.

The MSCA is a state-level body representing contractors engaged in development works across departments.

"In the last over one-and-a-half years, the pending bill amount went up to Rs 1.16 lakh crore. Now it is around Rs 96,400 crore, which means the state government only paid around Rs 20,000 crore. We hoped that in March there would be significant payments towards the pending bills, but it didn't happen," the letter stated.

As per the letter, major arrears include Rs 29,000 crore under the Public Works Department, Rs 35,000 crore under Jal Jeevan Mission and Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran, Rs 6,500 crore for rural development and water conservation works, Rs 3,800 crore under Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation, Rs 2,100 crore for urban development special fund works, Rs 9,000 crore under the water resources department, and Rs 11,000 crore under district development plans.

Pending payments for works executed by local and civic bodies have also affected small contractors, it said.

Contractors would halt work if payments do not begin soon, MSCA president Milind Bhosale said.

After March 31, the pending dues have gone up to Rs 96,000 crore, which has affected three lakh contractors involved in state government works, Bhosale added.

The state government has been facing a cash crunch due to high expenditure on welfare schemes and a shortfall in revenue collection.

Pressure on state finances increased in 2024 when the then Mahayuti government announced several welfare measures ahead of the assembly elections, including a provision of Rs 36,000 crore for the Ladki Bahin scheme and Rs 14,700 crore for free power to farmers.

Trump signs order intended to stabilise college sports, threatens lost federal funding

US President Donald Trump tried to put some teeth into his latest attempt to save college sports. The threat of cutting funding to cash-starved schools that don't comply is real, even if the stricter rules Trump wants to come out of the executive order he signed Friday could take a while to figure out.

In the order signed hours before the women's Final Four tipped off one of the biggest weekends in college sports, Trump went after eligibility rules, transfers and the spiralling costs associated with an industry that now pays its players millions of dollars per year.

He called on federal agencies to ensure schools are following the rules and threatened to choke off federal grants and funding — a similar approach his administration has taken to force universities around the country to alter policies involving diversity, equity and inclusion, transgender rights and even the kinds of classes they offer.

In some ways, forcing those changes might seem like child's play compared to making major changes to college sports. The NCAA, the newly created College Sports Commission, the four power conferences, dozens more smaller ones and hundreds of educational institutions all have a say here: It's a big reason Congress, which Trump instructed to act quickly, has been stuck for more than a year on this.

“I'm glad to know the President wants Congress to pass something,” said Sen Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., a key member of the Senate committee looking into changes, who mentioned ongoing bipartisan negotiations.

Trump's order was his second since last July and it included a laundry list of proposed fixes, many of which lawmakers and college leaders have been pushing for since the approval of a USD 2.8 billion settlement changed the face of games that were once played by pure amateurs.

In one of the more clear-cut demands in this order, Trump called for “clear, consistent and fair eligibility limits, including a five-year participation window," that limits athletes to one transfer with one more available once they get a four-year degree.

First time the US loses aircraft in Iranian territory

Prior to word of the rescue, social media footage showed American drones, aircraft and helicopters flying over the mountainous region where a TV channel affiliated with Iranian state television said earlier that at least one pilot bailed out of the fighter jet.

An anchor urged residents to hand over any “enemy pilot” to the police and promised a reward.

It was the first time the US has lost aircraft in Iranian territory during the conflict and could mark a new level of pressure on the US military.

Throughout the war, Iran has made a series of claims about shooting down piloted enemy aircraft that turned out not to be true. Friday was the first time that Iran went on television urging the public to look for a downed pilot.

Iranian state media said in a post on the social platform X that the military shot down a US F-15E Strike Eagle. The aircraft is a variation of the Air Force fighter jet that carries a pilot and weapons system officer.

Alan Diehl, a former investigator for the Air Force Safety Center, said the Strike Eagle has an emergency locator beacon in a survival kit that can be set to activate automatically or manually.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump had been briefed but did not offer additional information. The president subsequently posted messages on Iran to his social media site but made no mention of the downed aircraft or search-and-rescue efforts.