Mother hanged herself in front of her two year old son – Photo: Amar Ujala
Washington wants Beijing to join a new nuclear weapons treaty after expiration of the New START accord between the US and Russia.
Published On 7 Feb 2026
An international monitor said it has seen no evidence to support the claim by a senior United States official who accused China of carrying out a series of clandestine nuclear tests in 2020 and concealing activities that violated nuclear test ban treaties.
US Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Thomas DiNanno made the assertions about China at a United Nations disarmament conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Friday, just days after a nuclear treaty with Russia expired.
“I can reveal that the US government is aware that China has conducted nuclear explosive tests, including preparing for tests with designated yields in the hundreds of tonnes,” DiNanno said at the conference.
China’s military “sought to conceal testing by obfuscating the nuclear explosions because it recognised these tests violate test ban commitments,” he said.
“China conducted one such yield-producing nuclear test on June 22 of 2020,” he said.
DiNanno also made his allegations on social media in a series of posts, making the case for “new architecture” in nuclear weapons control agreements following the expiration of the New START treaty with Russia this week.
“New START was signed in 2010 and its limits on warheads and launchers are no longer relevant in 2026 when one nuclear power is expanding its arsenal at a scale and pace not seen in over half a century and another continues to maintain and develop a vast range of nuclear systems unconstrained by New START’s terms,” he said.
Robert Floyd, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, said in a statement on Friday that the body’s monitoring system “did not detect any event consistent with the characteristics of a nuclear weapon test explosion” at the time of the alleged Chinese test, adding that that assessment remains unchanged after further detailed analyses.
China’s ambassador on nuclear disarmament, Shen Jian, did not directly address DiNanno’s charge at the conference but said Beijing had always acted prudently and responsibly on nuclear issues while the US had “continued to distort and smear China’s national defence capabilities in its statements”.
“We firmly oppose this false narrative and reject the US’s unfounded accusations,” Shen said.
“In fact, the US’s series of negative actions in the field of nuclear arms control are the biggest source of risk to international security,” he said.
Later on social media, Shen said, “China has always honored its commitment to the moratorium on nuclear testing”.
Diplomats at the conference said the US allegations were new and concerning.
China, like the US, has signed but not ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans explosive nuclear tests. Russia signed and ratified it, but withdrew its ratification in 2023.
US President Donald Trump has previously instructed the US military to prepare for the resumption of nuclear tests, stating that other countries are conducting them without offering details.
The US president said on October 31 that Washington would start testing nuclear weapons “on an equal basis” with Moscow and Beijing, but without elaborating or explaining what kind of nuclear testing he wanted to resume.
He has also said that he would like China to be involved in any future nuclear treaty, but authorities in Beijing have shown little interest in his proposal.
For a largely sedate and elegant spectacle, the Winter Olympics opening ceremony still became an outlet for rage in Milan.
Pleas from International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry to be respectful were ignored when four Israelis entered the San Siro in the athlete parade.
You had to listen carefully, but boos could be heard over the music in the vast stadium.
Simultaneous parades were held at Games clusters across northern Italy – while jeering was reported in Predazzo, there were cheers when Israelis marched in the mountain resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Israel has endured more harrowing days at the Olympics, with 11 of their athletes murdered by Palestinian terrorists in a massacre at Munich in 1972.
For these Olympics, the IOC faced pressure to ban Israel from competing over the thousands killed in the post-7 October war in Gaza, but rejected those calls.
The jeering demonstrated the animosity of some in the crowd towards the Jewish state, with hostility over conflict and geopolitical tensions hard to escape in the ceremony.
Read more: Best pictures from Winter Olympics opening day
Fractures between Europe and the United States were also evident.
While American athletes entered to cheers, the brief appearance of vice president JD Vance, waving Stars and Stripes flags with wife, Usha, did prompt more booing and whistling.
Anger against the Trump administration has been evident in the buildup to the Games, with protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents being here to protect the US delegation, weeks after their personnel killed two American citizens.
But if you were watching on television, you probably didn’t hear the booing – drowned out by music or commentators.
Italians will have revelled in hearing Mariah Carey paying homage to the hosts by singing iconic 1950s hit Volare in Italian.
Maybe you did hear the cheers for Ukraine, a show of solidarity four years into the full-scale invasion by Russia, whose team remains banned.
There were enthusiastic roars, too, for Venezuela following Trump’s military interventions.
The IOC wanted to show a world uniting through sport, hoping these Games are a platform for compassion to shine rather than conflict.
“You’ll show us that strength isn’t just about winning,” Ms Coventry told athletes in her address. “It’s about courage, empathy and heart.”
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It is about a vast Olympics. For the next two weeks, five sporting clusters across northern Italy will be in the sporting spotlight.
An Olympic Games has never been as sprawling across such a large footprint. It is an even wider platform-to-platform.
But Ms Coventry told her first opening ceremony leading the Olympics that “when we see rivals embrace at the finish line, we are reminded that we can choose respect”.
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Former Major League Baseball outfielder Yasiel Puig was found guilty by a jury in a federal gambling case, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Friday.
The verdict followed a weekslong trial that included testimony from MLB officials and Donny Kadokawa, a Hawaii baseball coach tied to Puig and the illegal gambling operation.
Puig played for three major league teams, spending the bulk of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He has not appeared in an MLB game since 2019. Puig, 35, now faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
His sentencing is scheduled for May 26.
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Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Yasiel Puig reacts after the third inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks during Game 3 of the 2017 NLDS playoff baseball series at Chase Field in Phoenix, Ariz., Oct. 9, 2017. (Mark J. Rebilas/USA Today Sports)
Puig’s attorney, Keri Curtis Axel, argued the government failed to prove key elements of its case and that she plans to raise post-trial motions.
“We look forward to clearing Yasiel’s name,” Axel said.
Puig initially pleaded guilty to a felony charge of lying to federal agents investigating an illegal gambling operation.
He acknowledged in an August 2022 plea agreement that he wracked up more than $280,000 in losses over a few months in 2019 while wagering on tennis, football and basketball games through a third party who worked for an illegal gambling operation run by Wayne Nix, a former minor league baseball player.
GUARDIANS’ EMMANUEL CLASE ARRESTED BY FBI AT JFK AIRPORT FOR ALLEGED ROLE IN GAMBLING SCHEME
Nix pleaded guilty in 2022 to conspiracy to operate an illegal gambling business and subscribing to a false tax return. Authorities said Puig placed at least 900 bets through Nix-controlled betting websites and through a man who worked for Nix.
Prosecutors said that, during a January 2022 interview with federal investigators, Puig denied knowing about the nature of his bets, who he was betting with and the circumstances of paying his gambling debts.
But he changed his tune months later, announcing that he was switching his plea to not guilty because of “significant new evidence,” according to a statement from his attorneys in Los Angeles.
“I want to clear my name,” Puig said in the statement. “I never should have agreed to plead guilty to a crime I did not commit.”
Yasiel Puig of Tiburones de La Guaira of Venezuela reacts after leaving a game due to injury in the fourth inning during a game against the Dominican Republic at loanDepot park as part of Series del Caribe 2024 Feb. 9, 2024, in Miami, Fla. (Luis Gutierrez/by Norte Photo/Getty Images)
The government argued he intentionally misled federal investigators. They played in court audio clips of Puig speaking English and brought expert witnesses to testify on Puig’s cognitive abilities, The New York Times reported.
His attorneys said Puig, who has a third-grade education, had untreated mental health issues and did not have his own interpreter or criminal legal counsel with him during the interview with federal investigators when he allegedly lied.
Yasiel Puig of Tiburones de la Guaira of Venezuela reacts in the fifth inning of a game against the Dominican Republic at loanDepot Park as part of the Serie del Caribe 2024 Feb. 1, 2024, in Miami, Fla. (Luis Gutierrez/Norte Photo/Getty Images)
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Puig made his MLB debut with the Dodgers in 2013 and finished his major league career with 132 home runs and 415 RBIs. He was selected to the MLB All-Star team in 2014. Last year, he played for the Kiwoom Heroes, a professional baseball team based in Seoul.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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valentine week special – Photo: Amar Ujala
This has never happened before in Bihar politics. Pappu Yadav, who was an independent in the Lok Sabha elections, could not become a Congressman even during the Bihar Legislative Assembly elections. But whatever happened in Bihar politics from late Friday night till now, has made Pappu Yadav a typical Congressman. Congress leaders one by one expressed their support for him. It is a different matter that he did not get anything like this from Rashtriya Janata Dal, but in the Congress party, first the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, then Bihar state president Rajesh Ram strongly supported him on social media.
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New Delhi. The Indian team will start its campaign in the ICC T20 World Cup today with a match against America. India’s preparations have been hampered by many fitness related problems. There is news that fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah will not be able to play the first match against America due to viral fever. According to The Indian Express, Bumrah attended the team’s training session at Wankhede Stadium on Friday, but did not participate in the practice.
In the absence of Jasprit Bumrah, India is left with only 13 fully fit players before the start of the tournament. All-rounder Washington Sundar has not yet joined the World Cup squad as he is awaiting fitness clearance at the BCCI Center of Excellence in Bengaluru. On Friday night, BCCI officially confirmed that Harshit Rana has been dropped from the tournament at the last moment. Rana suffered a knee injury during the warm-up match against South Africa earlier this week.
BCCI Secretary Devjit Saikia said in a statement, “Team India’s fast bowler Harshit Rana has been ruled out of the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 after suffering a knee injury during the warm-up match against South Africa in Navi Mumbai on 4 February 2026. After expert consultation and scans, the BCCI medical team has declared him unfit for the tournament. The team management wishes him a speedy recovery.”
Mohammad Siraj has been included in the team in place of Harshit Rana and in the absence of Bumrah, Siraj is likely to join India’s playing eleven tonight. Rana was seen holding his knee during the warm-up match held at DY Patil Stadium. He bowled only one over and gave 16 runs, after which he left the field. India is eyeing to become the team to win three T20 World Cup titles for the first time.
Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Tilak Verma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel (vice-captain), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakraborty, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj.
Active in sports journalism for more than 15 years. Worked in cricket website of Etv Bharat, ZEE News. Was the sports head of Dainik Jagran website. Covered the Olympics, Commonwealth, Cricket and Football World Cups. October…read more
New South Wales police have fined an American social media personality and issued two traffic infringement notices for alleged negligent driving after a swarm of ebike riders converged on the Sydney Harbour Bridge in peak-hour traffic on Tuesday.
A group of about 40 people riding ebikes and motorcycles travelled along the bridge’s main deck, where cycling is prohibited. The group then turned around and rode through the city’s CBD and Haymarket.
At the time, police said the so-called ride-out was “incredibly irresponsible, stupid and downright dangerous”.
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“This had potential for people to be injured and killed,” NSW police assistant commissioner David Driver said on Wednesday. Police said they did not immediately pursue the riders out of safety concerns but instead located the group at Mrs Macquarie’s Chair near Sydney’s Botanic Gardens, where they dispersed.
On Saturday police said they had issued the US social media influencer known as Sur Ronster, 26, with two traffic infringement notices for negligent driving (with no death or previous bodily harm), with a penalty of $562 and three demerit points each, in relation to the bridge ride-out. They added that inquiries were continuing.
Ronster has more than 3.4m followers on the platform and more than 1.2m on Instagram.
The Guardian has emailed Ronster for comment.
The content creator spoke with the Sydney Morning Herald this week after the incident spread rapidly on news sites and social media, saying he regretted giving “bike life” a bad reputation.
“I’ll probably take responsibility. That was one of the safest ride-outs I’ve ever seen,” he told the Herald. “I’m coming here as a guest, so I’m going to come here respecting the rules and standards of Sydney. So when I decided to do a meet and greet it did not involve a ride-out, it was just to say hi to people under the bridge.
“I’m unfamiliar with the city, it was my fault we ended up on the bridge and I had two choices: either the group completes the entirety of the bridge and turns around and does it all the way back, which is a crime. Or we turn around, basically, before we’re on the bridge. And I made the decision at the time to turn around.”
The spate of ebikes on streets across the country has prompted growing calls for regulation. The federal health minister, Mark Butler, said on Friday that illegal ebikes were a “total menace on the road”.
“Kids have done stupid things on bikes ever since the penny-farthing [but] the injuries that are coming into our hospital emergency departments are absolutely devastating,” Butler said. “We’ve got to make sure we stop these things coming into the country [and] police are given the powers to crack down, to take them away, to crush them, to destroy them.”
NSW recorded 226 injuries related to ebikes in 2024. But, in the first seven months of 2025, that figure surged to 233 injuries plus four deaths.
The Welsh Parliament stands in what was known as Tiger Bay – a multicultural melting pot during the 18-1900s, home to around 50 nationalities working the docks.
The area remains diverse.
Outside Togayo Cafe we get chatting to Somali-born friends Omar Mohammad and Abdiqadir Mohamoud, who settled in Cardiff in the 90s and early 2000s.
“They talk about immigration like every immigrant that comes here is a bad immigrant,” Omar tells me – as we discuss the opinion-poll rise of Reform UK in Wales.
The latest one puts Nigel Farage’s party second behind Plaid Cymru, with Greens third and the long-dominant Labour battling for fourth place with the Conservatives.
If it’s right, it’ll be a political earthquake for a country that has been led by Labour since devolution began – and long before that.
“We’re immigrants, we’re working, we pay our taxes, and most of the people who come here want a better life. They’re not here to destroy this country, they’re just here to make their families better.”
He says he’ll vote Labour – and definitely not Reform: “Because that’ll be the last time I’m here then – I’ll probably be sent back, sent back!”
But Abdiqadir feels the immigration debate has been blown out of proportion.
“They are fuelling the people who are against immigrants – that is a problem. I think there is an exaggeration in immigration in this country.”
‘Labour promised so much’
Forty-five minutes north into the heart of the Welsh Valleys – and you reach the Gurnos Estate in Merthyr Tydfil.
Nearly two years ago, Reform leader Nigel Farage came here; it is one of the most deprived areas of Wales.
He was launching his ‘contract’ with the British people – and chose the estate as an example of what he believes are failures by decades of Labour governance in Wales.
Friends John Hobby and Peter James are Merthyr born and bred.
I ask them if they feel it’s time for change.
“It’s got to be time for change, isn’t it? It can’t get any worse. It’s got to get better,” says Peter.
“People of Merthyr voted these people in. And for me they’re not doing anything for the people of Merthyr.”
John reveals he’ll vote Plaid.
“Because I got no trust in Labour. Because they’re not looking after the country – they’re bringing people in who’s not supposed to be here, taking money from people who are working and people on benefits – taking money from them and giving it to them and giving them houses and God knows what man – not giving us nothing.”
There is disillusionment here – but not just with Labour in Wales.
U-turns in Westminster are on people’s minds as they prepare to vote.
“Keir Starmer definitely impacts the way I vote in Wales,” Kevin Williams tells me.
He says Labour in Westminster has been a “disappointment” and he’s lost faith in the party.
“With Reform, they seem to have conviction. The Labour government doesn’t seem to have any convictions. He seems to be a weak prime minister.
“Labour promised so much, they were so encouraging, but they haven’t kept any of their promises. Not one.”
‘I think we’re looking for another identity’
This is a post-industrial land – where political loyalty is up for grabs.
But party allegiance is not what it once was, according to former miner Ceri Thompson, now a curator at the Big Pit Museum in Torfaen.
“It’s often difficult to think back to this, how powerful the trade union was and with that, then the politics and people actually believed, I think, perhaps more in politics than they do today,” he says.
“I think we’re looking for another identity because the identity was all about coal-tips, rugby clubs, headgears, coal, singing miners, and it’s got to change. I’ve noticed more of a Welshness creeping in.”
In the very north of Wales – on the island of Anglesey – is the political home of Rhun ap Iorwerth, Plaid Cymru’s leader, who hopes to become the next first minister of Wales.
Helen Holland has been a teacher in Llangefni, a town near the centre of the island, for 38 years. She’s a Plaid supporter who says Welsh identity and language is hugely important in this election.
“Well goodness me, that is what we are. We are Welsh and everything about us.
“Our language is part of our heritage and why can’t we do things in our own language like the French or the Spanish… then hopefully we have a chance that the language will continue with our children.”
Does she feel it is dying sometimes?
“Of course it is.”
There is a problem in Wales when it comes to young people leaving – census data shows more than half of the country’s local authorities lost more people aged between 18 and 29 years old than they gained.
A lack of industry and jobs is noticed by 38-year-old chief Adam Hughes.
“A lot of my friends have moved away. A lot of my close friends have moved to Australia. I got friends that went to university, got degrees, came back, couldn’t get work so have to emigrate abroad again. Unless you’ve got a solid trade, jobs are scarce around here.”
He seems disillusioned – and admits he probably won’t vote in May.
“From what I can see the end result is the same, particularly not here, maybe some parts of the country, but in North Wales, where I live here, I never see any change that affects our lives – so why bother is my general opinion.”
Back in the Valleys – and there is fresh hope among the next generation.
Scott James’ great-grandfather was a miner – now he has set up the Coaltown Coffee company in the town of Ammanford.
They have two branches and sell into Selfridges.
“Our ethos here is to prove a point. It’s trying to prove that anything can be done in the post-industrial towns – they shouldn’t be forgotten about.”
He says it’s “really important” to retain as much talent as possible.
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“We have some phenomenal people, phenomenal education around this area… and to see them leave from where they’re from, not because they’re not happy living here, just because they’re looking for opportunities, is really sad to see.”
‘I’m pessimistic that anything will actually change’
This is no normal election for Wales – there are big changes coming; a reformed voting system, a change in constituencies and an increase in the number of politicians.
For new mum Lauren from Cardiff, the NHS is her priority, with waiting lists remaining among the highest in the UK.
“I just think obviously health needs some more money invested into it, reduced waiting times for patients, access to GP appointments as well.
“I always vote, with the hope something is going to change. But I’m a bit pessimistic that anything will actually change.
“It would be nice, wouldn’t it, to vote for a party and they actually follow through with the plans which they said they were going to put in place.”
Peer into the Senedd building in Cardiff Bay and you can see the millions of pounds worth of building work under way to accommodate an extra 36 members of parliament being elected this May.
Who’ll take the most seats – what the shape of power will be – is all to be decided.
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Canada opened its consulate in Greenland’s capital and the first French consul to the Danish territory arrived on Friday, following the Trump administration’s efforts to acquire the island.
“I am en route to Nuuk for the opening of Canada’s new consulate — strengthening Canada’s presence, partnerships, and leadership in the Arctic,” Canadian Foreign Minister Anita Anand wrote on X Friday morning, later posting a video of the Canadian flag being raised in Nuuk.
She was joined by Governor General of Canada Mary Simon.
Canada had previously announced plans for the consulate in 2024, but its 2025 opening was delayed due to weather.
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Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, foreground center, helps raise the Canadian flag at the new Canadian consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
“The future of the Arctic belongs to the people of the Arctic. Tomorrow I will visit Denmark and then on to Greenland,” Simon said in a speech earlier this week. “Let me be clear, Canada stands firmly in support of the people of Greenland who will determine their own future.”
Jean-Noël Poirier also arrived in Nuuk to become the first French Consul General of Greenland on Friday, the French government said in a release.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced the Nuuk consulate in June, making it the first European Union country to set up a consulate in Greenland.
The physical French consulate doesn’t exist yet.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand, right, speaks to the media following the flag raising at the new Canadian consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday. (Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press via AP)
“Deep ties of friendship and key joint projects already link France, Denmark and Greenland, allowing all parties to look forward enthusiastically and confidently to the opening of this new consulate general,” the French government said.
It added, “France reiterates its commitment to respect for the Kingdom of Denmark’s territorial integrity.”
President Donald Trump has been insistent on acquiring Greenland, with administration officials claiming Denmark is unable to defend the semi-autonomous island.
“Greenland is one-fourth the size of the United States,” top White House aide Stephen Miller told Fox News last month. “With respect to Denmark, Denmark is a tiny country with a tiny economy and a tiny military. They cannot defend Greenland, they cannot control the territory of Greenland.”
Demonstrators in Greenland march in protest against the Trump administration’s effort to acquire the island in January. (Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
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In January, Trump threatened to impose 10% tariffs that would increase to 25% in June on eight European countries, including France and Denmark, unless they allowed the U.S. to acquire Greenland.
The president dropped the tariff threat following a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte in which Trump said a “framework” for a deal for security in the Arctic had been reached.
The U.S. reopened its consulate in Greenland in 2020 after closing it in 1953.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
