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Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. “THE ACTION that is needed has to be bold and determined," declared Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, this week. She was talking about how the European Union should respond to Donald Trump’s habit of tearing up supposedly “ironclad commitments", thereby threatening “European values".

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. When it comes to the world of wristwatch designs, every watch enthusiast has their favourite. Many would go for the more robust sports watch designs—solid stainless steel cases, big, legible, lume-filled hour markers, attached to robust stainless steel bracelets, and boasting of an at least 100m of water resistance.

(Bloomberg) — Canada’s second-biggest supermarket company said a boycott of US goods is quickly taking hold in reaction to President Donald Trump’s tariffs and his threats of “economic force” to make the country the 51st US state.

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on Thursday mentioned that poor air quality in Byrnihat “may be attributed to industrial and other activities along the Assam side.” Recently, the World Air Quality Report 2024 released by Swiss air quality technology company IQAir has named Byrnihat as the world’s most polluted town. In a suo moto statement in the Assembly, Sangma said Byrnihat’s (Meghalaya) air quality has been found “satisfactory” by the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB). He said, “out that as per data generated from the four manual ambient air quality monitoring stations of the Meghalaya State Pollution Control Board (MSPCB) located at Byrnihat town, the annual average PM2.5 concentration for 2024 is 50.1 microgram per cubic meter (µg/m3). Further, as per MSPCB’s data from January to March (first week),2025, the overall Air Quality Index (AQI) of Byrnihat was observed to be ‘Satisfactory.” He added, “The MSPCB conducted surprise inspections at industrial units in EPIP and 13th Mile on 24th, 27th, and 31st January 2025, and 5th February 2025.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. India’s insurance industry is growing rapidly, supported by robust economic growth, an expanding middle class, innovation and strong regulatory support. According to data from the Swiss Re Institute, total insurance premium collections are projected to grow by 7.1% over the next five years (2024–2028).

dollar rebounded slightly on Thursday thanks to a rise in U.S. Treasury yields, though currencies traded in tight ranges as investors struggled to determine the impact of an escalating global trade war on U.S. inflation and growth. U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday threatened further tariffs on European Union goods, as major U.S. trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers already erected by him.

tariffs on imports like cocoa and fruit, according to a letter seen by Reuters. PepsiCo, Conagra and J M Smucker, are requesting that Trump exempt ingredients not available from U.S. sources to protect manufacturers who otherwise buy from domestic farmers and suppliers, according to the letter, sent on Monday by a consumer products trade group representing the companies, the Consumer Brands Association. Coffee, oats, cocoa, spices, tropical fruit and tin mill steel, used for specialty food and household goods, are among the imports listed as unavailable domestically in the letter. «We believe targeted and carefully calibrated removal of these ingredients and inputs from tariffs is appropriate to best protect U.S. manufacturers and support (Trump's) efforts to lower consumer inflation,» the letter said. PepsiCo and Smucker, which have executives sitting on the executive committee of the Consumer Brands Association, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

India. Byrnihat, a small but heavily industrialised town in Meghalaya, tops the list, according to the World Air Quality Report 2024 by Swiss air technology firm IQAir. Delhi, already infamous for its hazardous air, retains its place as the most polluted capital city on the planet. India, while improving slightly, is still among the worst-hit nations. Ranking as the world’s fifth most polluted country in 2024—down from third place in 2023—the nation recorded an average PM2.5 concentration of 50.6 micrograms per cubic metre, still ten times higher than World Health Organization (WHO) safety limits.

Chad and Bangladesh were the world's most polluted countries in 2024, with average smog levels more than 15 times higher than WHO guidelines, according to figures compiled by Swiss air quality monitoring firm IQAir. Only Australia, New Zealand, the Bahamas, Barbados, Grenada, Estonia and Iceland made the grade, IQAir said.

global trade war led investors to safe havens, lifting the yen and the Swiss franc. Markets have been fixated on simmering trade tensions across the world as U.S. President Donald Trump slapped tariffs on top trading partners only to delay some of them for a month amid growing signs and fears of the U.S. economy slowing down.

As you begin to prepare your 2024 tax return in the days ahead, you should pay close attention to a seemingly innocuous question on page 2 of the return. The question asks whether you owned or held “specified foreign property” where the total cost amount of all such property, at any time in 2024, was more than $100,000. If the answer is yes, the return instructs you to complete Form T1135, Foreign Income Verification Statement.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. As international conflicts go, none did so little to disrupt the global order as the “whisky wars" that pitted Canada against Denmark for four decades. Flaring up in 1984, the unlikely spat involved a one-square-kilometre island in the middle of an icy Arctic channel marking the border between Greenland (now a self-ruling part of Denmark) and the Canadian territory of Nunavut.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Let’s not call this a crisis of confidence in the S&P 500 index—at most, it’s a hiccup amid hallelujahs. The index was recently down slightly year to date but has still more than tripled investor money over the past decade.

jobs data due later in the day. Another reprieve of levies aimed at Mexico and Canada announced by U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday offered little relief, keeping the safe-haven yen not far off its strongest against the greenback since early October.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Nestlé, the world's largest coffee company, has launched a Nespresso boutique in Delhi's Nexus CityWalk mall, targeting India's affluent consumers. The boutique offers Nespresso coffee machines, priced from ₹16,500, and coffee pods.

Donald Trump's Presidency, he has been talking about China's involvement in the Panama Canal and how he would like to reclaim the Panama Canal from the grips of the Asian country. However, it now looks like these talks and pressurizing are yielding some fruit as Asian investors are now agreeing to sell off their stakeholding to American and Swiss investors amid the ongoing controversy, according to an NBC News report.

Maharashtra Governor CP Radhakrishnan on Monday said the state is a preferred destination for foreign direct investment (FDI) and contributes more than 14 per cent to the country's gross domestic product (GDP). The governor, addressing the joint session of the state legislature on the first day of the budget session, asserted that Maharashtra was one of the leading industrial states in the country. He said the state government has signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) worth approximately Rs 15.72 lakh crore with 63 national and international companies during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January, and these investments will generate more than 15 lakh employment opportunities. Radhakrishnan said the state government is committed to resolving the Maharashtra-Karnataka border dispute and has appointed expert advocates to represent Maharashtra before the Supreme Court.

Ukraine’s war effort is fading fast, and Europe will need to pick up the slack. While Sunday’s gathering of European leaders in London included a commitment to keep military aid flowing and to formulate a peace plan, it’s the details that will matter. So far, the US peace strategy has seemed to rest on appeasing the Kremlin — promising territorial concessions, parroting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s talking points and trash-talking the transatlantic alliance. Zelenskiy, on the heels of the leaders of France and Britain, failed to elicit firm security guarantees from the White House last week. The rebuke he received after pressing the matter — “Have you said ‘thank you’ once?” exclaimed Vice President JD Vance — has left relations with the US uncertain. How exactly the White House intends to stop the fighting remains to be seen. But Europe ought to recognize the leverage it does have to shape the endgame, as well as the urgent need to develop more.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. On 25 February, the Avishkar Hyperloop student team from IIT-Madras and the railway ministry along with ArcelorMittal, Hindalco and Larsen & Toubro unveiled the Hyperloop test track. Once commissioned, it could cut Delhi-Jaipur travel (250km) to 30 minutes compared with 1 hour by air and 4–5 hours by road.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Luxury watchmakers are keeping a close eye on India as demand for premium timepieces rises, with several global watch company heads doing the rounds of the country in the past year or so. From Panerai to Rado to Hublot, India is becoming the new playground for luxury brands, driven by a rising class of affluent consumers.

TVS Motor are set to be in focus on Friday after the Indian automaker launched two new three-wheeler models—TVS King Duramax Plus and TVS King Deluxe Plus—in Mexico, marking its latest push into the Latin American market. The company unveiled the vehicles in Oaxaca, with plans to make them available to consumers next month through Motomex, its official distributor in the region. The TVS King Duramax Plus features a 225 cc liquid-cooled engine, LED headlamps, tubeless tires, and additional storage options, while the TVS King Deluxe Plus is equipped with a 200 cc engine and one-touch starting functionality.