US President Donald Trump on Monday said the United States and Iran have held “very good and productive” talks over the past two days and announced a five-day pause on planned military strikes, signalling a possible de-escalation in the ongoing conflict.In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “I am please to report that the United States of America, and the country of Iran, have had, over the last two days, very good and productive conversations regarding a complete and total resolution of our hostilities in the Middle East. Based on the tenor and tone of these in depth, detailed, and constructive conversations, witch will continue throughout the week, I have instructed the Department of War to postpone any and all military strikes against Iranian power plants and energy infrastructure for a five day period, subject to the success of the ongoing meetings and discussions. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”Meanwhile, Iranian embassy in Kabaul said, “Trump backs down from attacking energy infrastructures after iran’s firm warning.”The announcement comes a day after Trump issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Iran, warning of strikes on its energy infrastructure if Tehran failed to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz.“If Iran doesn’t fully open, without threat, the Strait of Hormuz, within 48 hours from this exact point in time, the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various power plants, starting with the biggest one first!” Trump said earlier.Following the ultimatum, Iran said the Strait of Hormuz would remain open to all shipping except vessels linked to its “enemies,” referring to the United States and Israel.“We are ready to cooperate with the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to enhance maritime safety and protect seafarers in the Gulf. Ships not linked to Iran’s ‘enemies’ can transit the strait by coordinating security and safety arrangements with Tehran,” Iran’s permanent representative to the IMO, Ali Mousavi, was quoted as saying.“Diplomacy remains Iran’s priority. However, a complete cessation of aggression, along with the rebuilding of mutual trust and confidence, is essential. The Israeli and US attacks against Iran are at the root of the current situation in the Strait of Hormuz,” he added.The conflict has intensified in recent weeks, with Iran disrupting traffic through the Strait of Hormuz in response to joint US-Israeli strikes on February 28. Tehran has also launched attacks on Israeli territory and targeted Gulf states hosting US military bases.Iran’s Unified Combatant Command has warned that any attack on its energy infrastructure would trigger retaliatory strikes across the region. According to Iranian media, it said that if Iran’s facilities are targeted, “all energy infrastructures belonging to the U.S. in the region will be targeted.”The situation has entered a more volatile phase, with Israel confirming that Iran has deployed long-range missiles for the first time. Israeli military chief Eyal Zamir said two ballistic missiles with a range of 4,000 kilometres were launched towards the US-UK military base on Diego Garcia.“These missiles are not intended to strike Israel. Their range reaches European capitals – Berlin, Paris, and Rome are all within direct threat range,” Zamir said.The conflict has resulted in rising casualties, with more than 2,000 people reported killed in Iran since US and Israeli strikes began, while Iranian attacks have claimed at least 15 lives in Israel. Recent missile strikes hit southern Israeli cities including Dimona and Arad, injuring several civilians.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the country would continue its military operations, stating, “This has been a very difficult evening in the battle for our future.”“We are determined to continue striking our enemies on all fronts,” he added.

Claims have emerged that Joe Kent leaked Charlie Kirk’s private messages to Candace Owens through an internal chain involving Turning Point USA figures. The texts, sent shortly before Kirk’s death, revealed tensions over donor pressure and political direction. Kent denies leaking them, but the controversy has intensified scrutiny and sparked backlash across conservative and pro-Israel circles.

The scandal of Joe Kent and Candace Owens has intensified after their allegations that they were associated with a leak of personal messages of Charlie Kirk. What started as a mere speculation has now become a wider discussion of trust, intentions and responsibility on the right wing. The purported messages have cast fresh doubts on what Kirk went through during his last days, as well as unveiling internal strains. The chain of custody of the leak is now being posited to be in some way checked by those in the know, and those who have access to the leak are now more on the spot. With the emerging details, the situation is no longer a rumour, but a serious test of credibility, and there may be political and reputational repercussions in all directions.

Leak claims ignite political storm around Joe Kent and Candace Owens

During a recent media appearance, Rabbi Pesach Wolicki laid out a sequence that has since gained traction. According to him, the screenshots originated within a private WhatsApp group before being passed along through multiple hands. The path allegedly ran from Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet to Joe Kent, and ultimately to Candace Owens. Kolvet himself later confirmed the authenticity of the messages, stating he shared them with officials “to leave no stone unturned.”The texts, sent roughly two days before Kirk’s death, paint a complicated picture. They reportedly show him venting frustration over donor pressure and internal disagreements. One message claimed he had lost a major financial backer after refusing to cancel Tucker Carlson. Another line suggested deeper tensions, with Kirk writing that “Jewish donors play into all of the stereotypes,” while also weighing whether to bring Owens into the conversation as a counterbalance.Kent has publicly rejected accusations that he leaked the material, even as the claims gain momentum. He has instead framed the messages as “data points” tied to broader questions surrounding Kirk’s death. Still, the renewed attention comes at a difficult moment, as Kent already faces scrutiny over separate allegations involving classified information.Conservatives and pro Israel people have responded in various ways ranging to concern to overt anger. The last thing people expected was to see the personal issues of Kirk, who was always considered a good ally. Meanwhile, the messages have been abused by Owens and her supporters to advance larger agendas and aggravate an already tense situation.

Bihar Board Inter Science Toppers 2026

The Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) has declared the Class 12 Inter results 2026. This year, Aditya Prakash Aman from Samastipur topped the Science stream with 481 marks (96.20%), while Sakshi Kumari of Sitamarhi and Sapna Kumari of Nawadah shared the second rank with 479 marks (95.80%) each. The BSEB Inter exams, conducted from February 2 to 13, 2026, were evaluated in just 25 days, covering over 6 lakh answer sheets. Girls continued to outperform boys, reflecting the impact of government initiatives promoting female education. Students can now check and download their Science marksheets from bsebexam.com or other authorised portals using their roll code and roll number.

BSEB Class 12 Science Toppers 2026

Check list of Bihar Board Intermediate toppers for Science stream below:

BSEB science stream performance highlights

A total of 6,14,710 candidates appeared in the Science stream, including 3,67,798 boys and 2,46,912 girls. Out of them, 3,04,307 students passed in first division, 2,27,694 in second division, and 5,608 in third division, making the overall pass percentage 87.46%.Girls outperformed boys in the Science stream, with 88.79% of girls passing, compared to 86.56% of boys. The strong results reflect the effectiveness of state initiatives promoting girl education and the high academic standards maintained in Bihar’s Science stream.

Girls vs boys performance in Science stream

Girls once again outperformed boys in the Science stream. 88.79% of girls cleared the examination, compared to 86.56% of boys. The strong performance of female students highlights the success of government initiatives promoting girl education, including the Chief Minister Girl Child Bicycle Scheme, CM Girl Child Dress Scheme, and CM Girl Child (Intermediate) Incentive Scheme. The results demonstrate consistent academic excellence among girls and reflect Bihar’s focus on equitable education across genders.

Air Canada crash (Images/X)

An audio clip from the cockpit has revealed the final moments before an Air Canada Express plane collided with a fire truck at New York’s LaGuardia Airport. The accident killed both the pilot and co-pilot and forced the airport to shut down.The air traffic control recording captures a series of urgent and confused instructions as ground vehicles and aircraft moved on the runway shortly before the crash late Sunday night. In the audio, controllers can be heard repeatedly warning a vehicle to halt. “Stop. Stop. Stop,” the controller says multiple times, moments before informing another aircraft that a collision had occurred on the runway.According to officials, the Air Canada Express CRJ-900, operated by Jazz Aviation, struck a Port Authority aircraft rescue and firefighting vehicle around 11.40 pm (local time) while landing on Runway 4. The truck had been responding to a separate incident involving another aircraft that had reported an issue.Seconds after the impact, the controller is heard telling the aircraft, “I see you collided with the vehicle… hold position”.Emergency responders were immediately dispatched and the runway along with the entire airport, was shut down to manage the situation. “I repeat, Runway 422 is closed at this Time. Tower car 90, LaGuardia Airport is closed at this time,” the audio ended with this message.Authorities confirmed that the pilot and co-pilot of the aircraft were killed in the collision. Several others were injured, including personnel inside the fire truck, though passengers on board the flight largely avoided major injuries. The aircraft was carrying 72 passengers and four crew members.The audio also reveals the rapid escalation of the situation, with repeated announcements that the runway and eventually LaGuardia Airport had been closed, as emergency vehicles rushed to the scene.Initial reports suggest the fire truck had been cleared to cross the runway, but the exact sequence of events leading to the collision remains under investigation. The US Federal Aviation Administration issued a ground stop shortly after the crash, while the National Transportation Safety Board has launched a probe into the incident.Visuals from the scene showed significant damage to the aircraft’s nose, while passengers were evacuated and transported by bus. Flights were diverted or delayed as authorities worked through the night to respond to the emergency.

With the Middle East conflict now stretching into its fourth week, the impact is rippling across global markets, triggering a fresh wave of selling in cryptocurrencies and pulling Bitcoin below the $70,000 mark. Bitcoin fell to around $68,000 and was hovering near $68,627 after about $243 million in rapid liquidations hit the market, with most losses coming from long positions. The broader crypto space also saw declines. Ethereum dropped 2%, while Bitcoin eased 0.9% over the past 24 hours. Among altcoins, BNB, XRP, Solana, Dogecoin, Hyperliquid and Cardano declined by up to 2%, while TRON managed a marginal gain of 0.3%.However, even as prices soften, market positioning indicates that investors are still eyeing higher levels, with call interest concentrated near $75,000 and $80,000, and a support base forming around $60,000. According to the CoinSwitch, macroeconomic pressures, including elevated oil prices and reduced expectations of US rate cuts, continue to weigh on both equities and digital assets. The desk added that short-term volatility is likely to persist, especially as weekend trading typically sees thinner liquidity, with clearer trends expected once full participation returns during the week. The total crypto market capitalisation slipped by 1% to $2.35 trillion, data from CoinMarketCap showed. Over the past week, Ethereum has declined 8.5%, while Bitcoin has fallen 7%. Among altcoins, BNB, XRP, Solana, Dogecoin and Cardano have dropped by as much as 11%, whereas TRON and Hyperliquid have risen 4% and 0.5% respectively.Here’s what analysts are projecting Riya Sehgal, as cited by ET, said that the market is currently in a cautious consolidation phase amid macro uncertainty. She highlighted that Bitcoin is holding support near $66,000–$67,000, while Ethereum is testing the $2,000 level, pointing to a fragile near-term structure. Vikram Subburaj, CEO at Giottus told the financial daily that the market remains confined to a narrow range and continues to be driven more by oil prices, interest rates and geopolitical developments than by internal crypto dynamics. He added that unless Bitcoin moves back above $70,000–$72,000 with stronger participation and steady ETF demand, the current rebound should be treated with caution.

Artificial intelligence is changing how engineers work at tech companies, but it has also created what analysts are calling an “expensive status game”. According to a report by New York Times, engineers at Meta, OpenAI and other big tech firms are now competing based on how much they use AI tools, measured in “tokens,” which are units of data processed by AI systems. This trend, being referred to as “tokenmaxxing,” is leading to high costs as employees use large amounts of AI resources to show productivity and stay competitive at work.“A.I. was supposed to help tech companies boost productivity and cut costs. But it has also created an expensive new status game, known as “tokenmaxxing,” among A.I.-obsessed workers who are desperate to prove how productive they are,” NYT report says.

What is tokenmaxxing

Tokenmaxxing is a trend where engineers try to maximize their use of AI tools by processing large amounts of data, known as tokens. In this trend, workers run multiple AI agents or tools at the same time to increase their output and show higher productivity. This often leads to higher usage of computing resources and costs.At companies like OpenAI, Meta and Shopify, AI usage is being increasingly tracked. So much so that some teams use internal leaderboards to show how many tokens each employee consumes. “Generous “token budgets” are becoming a job perk for coders, like dental insurance or free lunch, and some are spending thousands of dollars a month trying to automate as much of their own work as possible,” the report states.“If you have some continuously running agents, you’ll do 700 million tokens a week from a single full-time agent,” said Ege Erdil, a co-founder of Mechanize, an AI start-up, who estimated his own token consumption at between one billion and 10 billion a week. “It doesn’t really take that much.”

Rising costs and competition due to AI

Heavy AI usage is leading to high expenses. At Anthropic, one user reportedly generated a bill of over $150,000 in a month. Some engineers are also spending large amounts to automate their work.Max Linder, a software engineer in Stockholm says “I probably spend more than my salary on Claude”.However, some employees have raised concerns about whether this trend is sustainable. “It doesn’t seem sustainable,” said one OpenAI employee speaking anonymously to the publication. At the same time, experts say not using AI tools could become a career risk.“Inside large tech companies, it’s becoming a career risk to not use A.I. at an accelerated pace, regardless of output quality,” said Gergely Orosz, a software engineering analyst.