Budget 2024 LIVE Updates: FM Nirmala Sitharaman announces revisions in new tax regime; Centre to review Income Tax Act

All eyes will be on whether Sitharaman provides the much-expected tax relief for the middle class, leaving more money in their hands, as there is tax buoyancy. Besides, the market also expects staying on the fiscal glide path to lower the fiscal deficit to 4.5 per cent of GDP by 2025-26. Fiscal Deficit: The budgeted…

Celebrities praise Joe Biden and rally round Kamala Harris

“There is nothing more important for our country than defeating Donald Trump at the ballot box,” said De Niro, a fervent Trump critic. Oscar-winning actress and singer Barbra Streisand praised Mr Biden, saying he would “go down in history as a man who accomplished significant achievements in his four-year term”, in a post on X….

‘Dark oxygen’ in depths of Pacific Ocean could force rethink about origins of life | Oceans

In the total darkness of the depths of the Pacific Ocean, scientists have discovered oxygen being produced not by living organisms but by strange potato-shaped metallic lumps that give off almost as much electricity as AA batteries. The surprise finding has many potential implications and could even require rethinking how life first began on Earth,…

Kamala Harris raises $81m after Biden’s presidential race exit

The party raised over $27.5m in the first five hours of Ms Harris’ presidential campaign. That number nearly doubled by the end of the day. In 24 hours, the sum broke a presidential fundraising record. The surge in donations in the last 24 hours is the single biggest for online contributions to Democrats since 2020,…

Japanese gymnastics star Shoko Miyata sent home from Olympics for smoking | Gymnastics

Shoko Miyata, the 19-year-old captain of the Japan women’s artistic gymnastics team, has withdrawn from the squad for the Paris Games after violating the team’s code of conduct by smoking, the Japanese Gymnastics Association (JGA) said on Friday. JGA officials said Miyata arrived in Japan on Thursday after leaving the team’s training camp in Monaco…

Barnsley mum, dad and daughters, 4 and 9, among crash dead

West Yorkshire Police Nine-year-old Rubie Morgan-Roller and four-year-old Lillie Morgan-Roller died in the crash on Sunday Two young girls killed alongside their parents in a crash involving a car and motorbike have been named by police. Nine-year-old Rubie Morgan-Roller and four-year-old Lillie Morgan-Roller died in the incident on the A61 between Wakefield and Barnsley on…

Joey Barton charged with making malicious online communications | UK news

The former footballer and manager Joey Barton has been charged with making malicious communications, police have said. The ex-Manchester City and Newcastle player is due to appear at Warrington magistrates court next week after the Crown Prosecution Service authorised the charge, Cheshire police said. On his X account, Barton, 41, said he had been charged…