Elon Musk says he’s terminating $44bn Twitter buyout deal, board to fight
Elon Musk announced he will walk away from his tumultuous $44 billion offer to buy Twitter, leaving the deal on he verge of collapse. The Tesla CEO sent a letter to Twitter’s board Friday saying he is terminating the acquisition. But Twitter isn’t accepting Mr. Musk’s declaration. The chair of Twitter’s board, Bret Taylor, tweeted in response that the board is “committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery.”
Former Japanese PM Shinzo Abe assassinated, India declares state mourning
Former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe passed away on Friday after being shot in the chest twice while delivering a speech in Nara around 11.30 a.m. local time. Mr. Abe, 67, was making an election campaign speech ahead of Sunday’s election for the Japan Parliament’s upper house. He collapsed and was bleeding as people heard two gunshots and was then rushed to a hospital.
Several world leaders condemned the attack and expressed their condolences. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his shock at Mr. Abe’s death and hailed him as “a towering global statesman, an outstanding leader and a remarkable administrator”. Further, Mr. Modi also announced that a day of national mourning will be observed on July 9 as a “mark of deepest respect”. President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Congress’ Rahul Gandhi and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal were among others who also expressed their condolences towards Mr. Abe’s passing.
At least 13 dead after flash floods hit Amarnath yatra base camp in J&K’s Baltal
At least 13 people, mainly Amarnath pilgrims, have died and dozens went missing after flash floods caused landslips near the Baltal base camp in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal area on Friday. An official said the flash floods occurred around 5.30 p.m. and washed away scores of tents. “At least 13 people are feared dead. The bodies are being retrieved and the missing being located,” a senior official said.
PAN, address of Alt News donors not shared with police, says Razorpay
After fact-checking website Alt News said its payments gateway Razorpay had shared its donor data with the Delhi Police without informing it, company CEO and co-founder Harshil Mathur on Friday issued a statement explaining their position on the matter. Mr. Mathur added that the “specific data we shared was only restricted to what was within the scope of investigation”. He said, “In this case, the specific scope was to determine whether there were any foreign donations or not and therefore donors’ PAN, address, pin code, etc. were not shared, which we believed were outside the scope of investigation.”
ED records statements of top officials of Bennett, Coleman under FEMA: report
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has recorded the statements of top functionaries of Bennett, Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL), which owns multiple media and entertainment brands and is the publisher of the Times of India Group of publications, under the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA), The Indian Express has reported.
Former U. K. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak bids to replace Boris Johnson
Former British Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said on Friday he was running to replace Boris Johnson after he announced the previous day he would stand down as Prime Minister. “Someone has to grip this moment and make the right decisions. That’s why I’m standing to be the next leader of the Conservative Party and your prime minister,” Mr. Sunak said in a campaign video released on Twitter.
Maharashtra politics: Eknath Shinde and Devendra Fadnavis meet Amit Shah
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and his deputy Devendra Fadnavis met Home Minister Amit Shah here on Friday, amid the buzz over expansion of the council of ministers after the formation of the new government earlier this week. Mr. Shinde and Mr. Fadnavis, who arrived here late Friday evening, are also scheduled to meet President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and BJP chief J. P. Nadda during the visit.
Supreme Court grants interim bail to Mohammed Zubair in Sitapur case
The Uttar Pradesh Police had registered a case against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair on the basis of a complaint that he had tweeted “offensive words towards mahants of religious places symbolising our faith and thereby hurting our religious sentiments”. Mr. Zubair had appealed to stay the investigation into the “absurd” charges and subsequently quash the FIR registered at Sitapur. He will however remain in judicial custody in a separate FIR registered by the Delhi Police.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Friday issued helpline numbers of the Bajrang Dal “to save Hindus from jihadi threats”. The numbers were initially issued for 35 regions in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa, Karnataka, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Ladakh, Punjab, Maharashtra, Telangana, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
Delhi High Court allows urgent listing of Vivo’s plea challenging freezing of bank accounts by ED
The ED filed the money laundering case after taking cognisance of a recent FIR of Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing against a distributor of an agency based in Jammu and Kashmir where it was alleged that a few Chinese shareholders in that company forged their identity documents.
Addressing reporters at his residence ‘Matoshree’ in suburban Bandra, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray also dared the party rebels and the BJP to face mid-term elections in Maharashtra, saying that people should be allowed to take a stand on the toppling of the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government led by him. He said if people do not favour his party in the elections, he would accept it.
Djokovic to face Kyrgios in blockbuster Wimbledon final
Record-breaking Novak Djokovic hit top form after a sluggish start against Britain’s Cameron Norrie on Friday, reaching an eighth Wimbledon final, where he will face Nick Kyrgios .The Serbian top seed was uncharacteristically off-colour in the first set but roared back to win 2-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-4, playing near-flawless tennis.
Sindhu once again fails to crack Tai Tzu code, this time in Malaysia Masters
Two-time Olympic medallist shuttler P. V. Sindhu went all out but couldn’t find a way to get past her nemesis Tai Tzu Ying, suffering yet another defeat in the quarterfinals to bow out of the Malaysia Masters Super 500 tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Friday. The seventh seed Sindhu once again finished short against the world no. 2, losing 13-21 21-12 12-21 in a 55-minute clash. It was Sindhu’s 17th career defeat to the Tokyo Olympics silver medallist, who has prevailed over the Indian in all their last seven meetings. The last time Sindhu had defeated Tzu Ying was en route to her 2019 World Championship gold in Basel.