LIVE: Who Will Be Canada's New PM- Liberal Carney Or Conservative Poilievre

Canadian Election 2025 LIVE: Canadians are set to vote today (Monday) to decide whether to extend the Prime Minister Mark Carney-led Liberal Party's decade in power or hand over the country's control to Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives. The initial results of the poll race will start coming after 7:30 pm EST (5:00 am IST), after voting ends in the four Atlantic provinces. The clear picture will emerge after 9:30 pm EST (7:00 am IST), when voting ends in most of the country, including in seat-rich Ontario and Quebec. 

This time, Canadians are not just electing their next Prime Minister, but the polls are also seen as a referendum of sorts on someone who isn't even Canadian-- US President Donald Trump. The Liberal Party looked set to lose easily to the Conservatives until Trump won a second term and began threatening Canada's economy and sovereignty, even suggesting the country should become the 51st state.

The American President's truculence not only infuriated many Canadians but also put Poilievre and the Conservative Party on the back foot due to his similarities with Trump.

Forty-five-year-old  Poilievre is a career politician who campaigned with Trump-like bravado. During campaigning, he tried to keep the focus on domestic concerns that made Trudeau deeply unpopular toward the end of his decade in power, especially soaring living costs. 

However, final polls indicate a tight race, but Carney has emerged as a favourite. Carney, 60, has never held elected office and had a lucrative career as an investment banker before serving as the central bank governor in both Canada and Britain. He only replaced Justin Trudeau as prime minister last month. 

But, surveys have consistently shown voters view the ex-central banker as the best candidate to deal with Trump. 

If the Liberals win today, it would mark one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history. Public broadcaster CBC's poll aggregator on Sunday put the Liberals' national support at 42.8 per cent, with the Conservatives at 38.8 per cent.

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Telangana Transfers IAS Officer Who Reshared AI Image In Hyderabad Land Row

Senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Smita Sabharwal, who was recently summoned by the police for reposting an AI-generated Ghibli image on social media regarding the cutting of trees on 400-acre land near Hyderabad Central University, is among 20 officers transferred by the Telangana government on Sunday.

Ms Sabharwal, who had appeared before Cyberabad police a week ago, had questioned the "selective targeting". The 2001-batch IAS officer had asked if the same action was initiated against 2,000 individuals who reshared the same post.

Ms Sabharwal, currently Special Chief Secretary, Youth Advancement, Tourism & Culture (YAT&C) and Director, Archaeology, has been transferred and posted as Member Secretary, Telangana Finance Commission, a post she was holding before her transfer to YAT&C in November 2024.

As the secretary to the Chief Minister, she was a powerful officer under the previous BRS government. After the Congress came to power, she was transferred out of the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) and posted as Member Secretary, Telangana Finance Commission.

Jayesh Ranjan, Special Chief Secretary, ITE&C and Sports Department, has been transferred and posted as Special Chief Secretary & CEO, Industry & Investment Cell in the CMO and Smart Proactive Efficient and Effective Delivery (SPEED).

The 1992-batch IAS officer has also been given additional charge of the post of Special Chief Secretary, YAT&C Department and Director, Archaeology.

Sanjay Kumar, Special Chief Secretary, Labour, Employment, Training & Factories (LET&F) Department is transferred and posted as Special Chief Secretary, Industries & Commerce Department and ITE&C and Sports Department.

Dr. Shashank Goel, Director General, Dr MCR HRD Institute, has been transferred and posted as Vice Chairman, Centre for Good Governance. He is also placed in full additional charge of the post of Director General, EPTRI, relieving Ahmad Nadeem from full additional charge.

M. Dana Kishore, previously Principal Secretary of the Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MA&UD) Department, has been posted as Principal Secretary of the Labour, Employment, Training & Factories Department. He has also been placed in full additional charge of Commissioner, Labour; Director, Insurance Medical Services; and Director, Employment & Training.

Dana Kishore will continue in full additional charge of the post of Principal Secretary to the Governor.

Ilambarithi K., who was the Commissioner of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), has been posted as Secretary, Metropolitan Area & Urban Development Department, which covers the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) limits.

RV Karnan, Director of Health and Family Welfare, will take over as the new Commissioner of the GHMC.

TK Sreedevi, Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration, has been posted as Secretary in the Municipal Administration Department for areas outside HMDA limits. She will also continue to hold full additional charge as Commissioner and Director of Municipal Administration for municipalities and corporations outside the Outer Ring Road (ORR) area.

EV Narsimha Reddy, Director, School Education, has been posted as Additional CEO, Industry & Investment Cell & SPEED. He is also placed in full additional charge of the post of Managing Director, Musi River Development Corporation Ltd (MRDCL), relieving Dana Kishore.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Rishabh Pant Handed More Bad News Amid Poor IPL Form, Punished By BCCI For...

Lucknow Super Giants skipper Rishabh Pant was on Sunday fined Rs 24 lakh for maintaining a slow over-rate during his team's 54-run loss to Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League. "As this was his team's second offence of the season under Article 2.22 of the IPL's Code of Conduct, which pertains to minimum over-rate offences, Pant was fined INR 24 lakhs," the IPL said in a release. "The rest of the members of the Playing XI, including the Impact Player, will be fined either INR six lakhs or 25 per cent of their respective match fees, whichever is lesser." Mumbai Indians scored 215 for 7 and then bowled out LSG for 161 to record their fifth consecutive victory in the IPL.

Meanwhile, Lucknow Super Giants mentor and former India fast bowler Zaheer Khan on Sunday exuded confidence that express pacer Mayank Yadav's bowling speed will improve as he plays more matches in the IPL.

The right-arm tearaway pacer Mayank made his comeback after a long injury layoff. He had to deal with issues related to his back and toe after making his India debut in the shortest format in October last year.

On Sunday, Yadav returned with figures of 4-0-40-2, accounting for Mumbai Indians mainstays Rohit Sharma (12) and Hardik Pandya (5) but bowled in the range of 140kmph, a few clicks down from the earlier highs of 150-155kmph in the past.

“The wait was long and for anyone who is playing after so many months to get back into the game, (it) is always that one hurdle which one needs to cross as a bowler,” Zaheer told the media after LSG lost the game to MI by 54 runs here.

“I am happy with the way he has bowled. It's important that he had to get through the game.

“He stayed on (for) the (full) 20 overs. He has bowled four overs. The execution is only going to get better. The speed is only going to get better as he plays more, that's the way I am looking at it.” Zaheer explained the process of Mayank's return, saying LSG were cautious to not rush him through processes and wanted to create a conducive environment around him.

“Even though he had joined the team, we were taking our time just to create that comfort around him. I know that fast bowling is never easy, especially in this format when the batters are coming so hard at you. So, that was the thought process,” he said.

“I am glad that he has got through the game. That one hurdle is crossed, I am hopeful that with the scheduling which we have, there will be enough breaks also for him to recover and then go again."

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Drug Dealer Apologises For Poor-Quality Heroin, Offers Gifts To Customers

Christopher Duckworth, a 30-year-old from Newton-le-Willows, operated a drug supply line named "Ducky", selling heroin and crack cocaine, according to The Metro. After customers complained about the substandard quality of the drugs, Duckworth apologised and distributed free samples as compensation.

On July 29, 2023, police observed Duckworth engaging in suspected drug dealings at a residence on Junction Lane in St Helens. Upon searching him, officers found 260 Pounds in cash and two mobile phones, one of which was continuously receiving messages requesting drugs.

Following his arrest, Duckworth was released but continued his drug activities. He was apprehended again, despite attempting to destroy evidence by smashing mobile phones. At Liverpool Crown Court, Duckworth expressed remorse, stating he "needs to change his ways". 

According to The Metro, Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday that Duckworth had been seen dealing drugs from a home on Junction Lane, St Helens, last summer.

When he was searched, he had 260 Pounds in cash and two mobile phones, one of which was 'ringing constantly' as messages requesting drugs popped up.

Prosecutor Iain Criddle said messages advertising heroin, crack cocaine and class C substance pregabalin for sale were found on the phone, but added: 'On occasions, some users were complaining about the quality and or quantity of that which had been supplied to them.

"The defendant dealt with these complaints and was in a position, on occasion, to apologise for the poor quality or low quantity of the drugs and say, as a form of compensation, that next time they could have two extra wraps for free."

"Clearly, the defendant has some responsibility over the supply chain rather than being somebody who is simply told to go out and supply wraps of heroin and crack cocaine to users."

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Student, Retired Teachers, Lawyer Among 19 Arrested For Remarks On J&K Attack

At least 19 people have been arrested in three states in the northeast over remarks on the terror attack in Pahalgam, which claimed 26 lives, including those of a Navy officer and an officer from the Intelligence Bureau.

The people who have been arrested in Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura include an MLA, a journalist, students, a lawyer and retired teachers. Most of the arrests were from social media posts.

So far, 14 arrests have taken place in Assam alone.

The first arrest came on Thursday when Aminul Islam, an MLA from the All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) - an opposition party in Assam - was arrested and charged with sedition for his statement that the Pulwama attack in 2019 and Tuesday's Pahalgam attack were "conspiracies by the government". He was sent to police custody for four days on Friday.

The other arrests in Assam till Friday included Md Jabir Hussain from Hailakandi, Md AK Bahauddin and Md Javed Mazumder from Silchar, Md Mahahar Mia from Morigaon and Md Sahil Ali from Sivasagar. Md Musta Ahmed alias Sahel from Karimganj was arrested on Friday night for posting 'Pakistan Zindabad' on Facebook.

Among them, Hussain is a journalist, Bahauddin is a computer science student at the Assam University in Silchar and Mazumder is a lawyer.

On Saturday, the police arrested 25-year-old Md Jarif Ali and Anil Bania, the district secretary of a student body, Satra Mukti Sangram Parishad, from Biswanath. Sumon Mazumdar alias Bulbul Alom Mazumdar was arrested in Hailakandi, Mashud Azhar in Nagaon and another person was arrested from Hajo near Guwahati - all for making "anti-India comments" online.

The Cachar district police also arrested two more individuals for posting "content supporting Pakistan" on social media.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "If required, we will impose provisions of the National Security Act on them. We are examining all social media posts, and action will be taken against those who, we feel, are anti-national... There are no similarities between Bharat and Pakistan. The two countries are enemy nations and we must remain that way."

Tripura

In Tripura, there have been four arrests so far, including those of two retired teachers.

Jawhar Debnath, a retired teacher and one Kuldip Mandal were arrested for making "anti-national comments online" in the context of the Pahalgam terror attack in Dhalai district. Another retired teacher, Sajal Chakraborty, was arrested from Dharmanagar of North Tripura district and Jahirul Islam was taken into custody from Sonamura in Sepahijala district.

Meghalaya

In Meghalaya, a 30-year-old man named Simon Shylla was arrested on Friday from the East Khasi Hills district after he posted an "anti-national comment" on a video telecast by a news channel from Guwahati.

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'Fearing Future Without Babies', Students 'Race' Sperm In Los Angeles

A commentator yells excitedly as hundreds of spectators stand glued to a video of a racecourse -- but the athletes they are rooting for are actually tiny sperm cells.

The unusual sport was invented by 17-year-old high schooler Eric Zhu, who raised over a million dollars to organise the event to call attention to male infertility.

Zhu said he was inspired by social media posts that claim average sperm counts had halved over the past 50 years.

Fearing that "there could be this dystopian future where no one will be able to make babies," Zhu said he wanted to use the competition to highlight the importance of reproductive health.

Scientists have not reached a consensus on whether humanity has experienced a dramatic drop in sperm count, with studies showing conflicting results.

At the Los Angeles event on Friday night, a man in a lab coat used pipettes to place samples of semen -- collected from contestants ahead of time -- onto tiny two-millimetre long "tracks."

The race track was magnified 100 times by a microscope, then filmed by a camera that transferred the image to a 3D animation software before the final video was broadcast to the audience.

"There's no way to really tell if this is real, but I want to believe it is," Felix Escobar, a 20-year-old spectator, told AFP.

At the end of the brief race, the loser, 19-year-old University of California student Asher Proeger, was sprayed with a liquid resembling semen.

'Not Elon Musk'

Zhu's fears about fertility echo the talking points of many in the burgeoning pro-natalist movement, which include conservative and far-right political figures.

But Zhu distanced himself from the movement.

"I have nothing to do with this, I'm not like an Elon Musk, who wants to repopulate the Earth," the young entrepreneur told AFP.

Musk, a close ally of US President Donald Trump, has been vocal about his belief that population decline threatens the West and has fathered over a dozen children with multiple women.

Zhu insisted he simply wanted to raise awareness of how sperm quality goes hand in hand with overall health.

"It's your choice to sleep earlier. It's your choice to stop doing drugs. It's your choice to eat healthier, and all these different things have a significant kind of impact on your motility," Zhu said.

Shanna Swan, a reproductive epidemiologist at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine, co-authored a study that found the sperm count decline cited by Zhu.

She said the proliferation of "hormonally active chemicals" in recent years has had a negative impact on human fertility.

But beneath the scientific veneer, the sperm race may seem more like an opportunity for college students to display their adolescent humor and participate in a viral stunt.

Some attendees dressed in costumes, including one resembling male genitals, while the hosts made lewd jokes and roasted the competitors.

A YouTube livestream of the event attracted over 100,000 views.

"I can't say I learned stuff I didn't know before," 22-year-old student and audience member Alberto Avila-Baca told AFP.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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FBI Chief Kash Patel's 'Judge Arrested In Migrant Case' Post Vanishes From X

FBI chief Kash Patel finds himself in a spot after hastily posting about a judge's arrest on his social media handle on X. The case in question was about an undocumented migrant who was allegedly evading federal agents who were pursuing him.

The Trump administration has accused the sitting Judge of a federal court of allegedly "helping" the migrant. The judge's arrest comes amid growing struggle between the government and the judiciary in America.

President Trump's policy on immigrants, both legal and illegal - and the manner of their detention and deportation has been nothing short of being termed hardline, rights activists say.

'DELETED WITHIN MINUTES'

The tussle between the White House and courts saw a sharp escalation with the arrest of Hannah Dugan, a Milwaukee County circuit judge. She "intentionally misdirected federal agents away from the subject," claimed Mr Patel in a post on X, adding that agents were "intending to detain the migrant at the courthouse."

Mr Patel further wrote that "The FBI arrested Judge Hannah Dugan out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on charges of obstruction - after evidence of Judge Dugan obstructing an immigration arrest operation last week." But the FBI Director deleted his post within minutes.

The migrant was arrested shortly afterwards. "Thankfully our agents chased down the perp on foot and he's been in custody since, but the Judge's obstruction created increased danger to the public," Mr Patel said.

JUDGES BEING ARRESTED

However, Judge Dugan's whereabouts remained unknown. Her arrest status also remained unclear.

On Thursday, a former county magistrate judge in New Mexico and his wife were also taken into custody after federal agents raided their Las Cruces home over their harboring of an alleged undocumented migrant who is believed to be a member of Venezuela's Tren de Aragua gang, US media reported.

Several federal and state judges across America have issued rulings that put many of President Trump's executive orders on hold, particularly those where he exercised unprecedented powers in deporting migrants.

TRUMP vs THE JUDICIARY

The Trump administration is at loggerheads with judges, activists, rights groups, academics, universities, and to say the least, Democrats, who all say that the US President has blatantly ignored rights enshrined in the US Constitution and trampled on the justice system in a rush to deport migrants, who he treats as enemies and hardened criminals.

They say that migrants are being chased out with such intensity and viciousness, that most are not even getting to exercise their right to a hearing. At a recent press briefing at the Oval Office, Donald Trump has even said that he believes not everybody deserves a court hearing.

"We're getting them out, and I hope we get cooperation from the courts because you know, we have thousands of people that are ready to go out, and you can't have a trial for all of these people," President Trump had said.

Considering all migrants being deported as criminals and killers, Mr Trump had said, "Look, we are getting some very bad people, killers, murderers, drug dealers, really bad people, the mentally ill, the mentally insane, they emptied out insane asylums into our country, we're getting them out", adding that "A judge can't say, 'No, you have to have a trial.'"

"We are going to have a very dangerous country if we are not allowed to do what we are entitled to do," Donald Trump had said.
 

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