Submit your Article

Spain and Portugal are reeling from a massive, unexplained power outage that knocked out traffic lights, caused chaos on roads and in airports, and prompted both countries to declare a state of emergency, CNN reported.

Portugal’s grid operator Redes Energéticas Nacionais (REN) said electrical supply was lost across the entire Iberian Peninsula, and in parts of France, shortly after midday. Hours later, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said authorities were still not sure what caused the blackout.

The outage took out lighting and power sockets, and caused subway systems to suddenly fail. In Madrid, traffic piled up on the roads after the lights went out.

“I was driving and suddenly there was no traffic lights … It was a bit of a jungle,” Luis Ibáñez Jiménez told CNN. “I saw a massive bus coming, and I had to accelerate a lot to go past it.”

The cause of the blackout was unclear, but its impact was dramatic: transport hubs were shuttered and governments in both countries, which share a population of around 60 million people, hastily arranged emergency meetings to co-ordinate a response, according to CNN.

The weeks since President Donald Trump returned to office have been a whirlwind of activity to show Americans that his administration is relentlessly pursuing his promises, Associated Press reported.

With a compliant Republican-controlled Congress, Trump has had a free hand to begin overhauling the federal government and upending foreign policy. 

As Trump hits his 100th day in office Tuesday, his imprint is everywhere. But the long-term impact is often unclear. 

Some of the Republican president’s executive orders are statements of intent or groundwork to achieve what has yet to be done. On Day 1, for example, he declared an energy emergency to spur production. But he’s not promising a payoff until next year, when he told voters to count on a big drop in their utility bills, according to Associated Press.

Trump’s goals occasionally conflict with each other. He promised both to lower the cost of living and to impose tariffs on foreign goods, which will most likely increase prices. Other issues are languishing.

The first 27 satellites for Amazon's Kuiper broadband internet constellation were launched into space from Florida on Monday, kicking off the long-delayed deployment of an internet-from-space network that will rival SpaceX's Starlink, Reuters reported.

The satellites are the first of 3,236 that Amazon plans to send into low-Earth orbit for Project Kuiper, a $10 billion effort unveiled in 2019 to beam broadband internet globally for consumers, businesses and governments - customers that SpaceX has courted for years with its powerful Starlink business.

Sitting atop an Atlas V rocket from the Boeingand Lockheed Martinjoint-venture United Launch Alliance, the batch of 27 satellites was lofted into space at 7 p.m. EDT pm from the rocket company's launch pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Bad weather scrubbed an initial launch attempt on April 9.

Kuiper is arguably Amazon's biggest bet under way, pitting it against Starlink as well as global telecommunications providers like AT&T and T-Mobile. The company has positioned the service as a boon to rural areas where connectivity is sparse or nonexistent, according to Reuters.

Iran has proposed meeting the European parties to a 2015 nuclear deal possibly in Rome this Friday if talks resume with the United States, four diplomats said on Monday, cautioning that there has yet to be a response from the Europeans to the idea, Reuters reported.

Iran is looking to build on the momentum of nuclear negotiations with the United States that resumed in Oman on Saturday and after talks with Russia and China last week.

Omani officials have said a new round of U.S.-Iran talks could be held on May 3 in Europe. No formal decision has been taken.

Iran's reach out to Britain, France and Germany, known as the E3, suggests Tehran is keeping its options open, but also wants to assess where the Europeans stand on the possible re-imposition of U.N. sanctions before October, when a resolution ratifying the 2015 accord expires, according to Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire in May in the war with Ukraine to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory of the Soviet Union and its allies in World War Two, Reuters reported.

Putin's move appeared aimed at signalling that Russia is still interested in peace - something that Ukraine and its European allies dispute - as President Donald Trump's administration in Washington grows impatient with stuttering efforts toward peace.

The Kremlin said the 72-hour ceasefire would run on May 8, May 9 - when Putin will host international leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping for lavish celebrations to commemorate victory over Nazi Germany - and May 10.

Kyiv questioned why Putin would not agree to its call for an immediate ceasefire lasting at least 30 days to pave the way for diplomacy, according to Reuters.

The 19th meeting of the Medical Education Commission held on Monday concluded that the private medical colleges should provide living allowance to residential doctors on par with government doctors..

Similarly, residential doctors who are agitating should get back to their duties and studies, the meeting stressed.    

It may be noted that the 16th meeting of the Commission on February 8 had decided that the private medical colleges should pay the residential doctors with living allowances equivalent to their counterparts in public institutions. It has decided that private residential doctors shall be paid with Rs 48, 737 of living allowances per month.    

The meeting also entertained a report by the 11-member taskforce to review the number of seats and fees structures of the private medical colleges for MBBS and BDS programs.. 

In the meeting held at the Office of the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers, task force coordinator Dr Deepak Kafely, the Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, handed over the report to Prime Minister and Commission Chair KP Sharma Oli. 

The report has paved the way for forming a technical committee and reviews the seats and fees structures on the basis of standards of the medical colleges in accordance with the Medical Education Act- 2075 BS. 

Based on the report, a technical committee led by Prof Dr Sujan Babu Marhatta of the Directorate of Planning, Coordination and Academic Upgradation within the Commission was formed. It shall comprise Pro Dr Dibya Singh Shah, senior chartered accountant Mahesh Guragain, charter accountant Santosh Khanal and under secretaries of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health and Population and the Ministry of Finance. 

Talking to media following the meeting, Commission Co-Chair and Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Raghuji Pant said the Commission's 16th meeting has already decided that the living allowance should be provided to residential doctors on par with the government facilities and agitating doctors are expected to get back to the work.

US President Donald Trump has said he thinks his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky is willing to give up Crimea to Russia as part of a peace deal - despite Kyiv's previous rejections of any such proposal, BBC reported.

Asked if he thought the Ukrainian president was ready to cede control of its southern peninsula, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014, Trump replied: "I think so."

Trump also urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to "stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal" to end the fighting, suggesting this could be achieved within two weeks. 

He made the comments to reporters after returning from the Vatican, where he held a brief meeting with Zelensky before Pope Francis' funeral, according to BBC.

Five years after COVID-19 restrictions prevented Liverpool fans from celebrating at Anfield their team's first top flight title triumph in 30 years, Reds faithful wasted little time on Sunday getting the party started on another Premier League success, Reuters reported.

With Anfield filled to the brim, Liverpool equalled Manchester United's record of 20 English top-flight titles with their 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur.

But it was after Alexis Mac Allister struck a blistering shot to put the Reds ahead for good in the 24th minute that the delirious crowd at the sun-drenched stadium erupted and they did not stop singing until well after the final whistle sounded.

"To win the Premier League here with the fans is special, it's an incredible feeling," said Liverpool talisman Mohamed Salah. "This is way better than five years ago, without a shadow of a doubt. To do it again after five years is something special," according to Reuters.