US president has pitched initiative as populist attack on pharmaceutical companies, but analysts question if prices will be affordable for many people.
Published On 6 Feb 20266 Feb 2026
Share
United States President Donald Trump has launched a new website that he says will lower the cost of prescription medicines, which have long stood out for their sky-high prices in the US compared with similar products around the world.
Trump announced the launch of the new website called TrumpRx, which allows consumers to buy discounted drugs directly from pharma companies, at an event at the White House on Thursday.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
“People are going to save a lot of money and be healthy,” Trump said, stating that some of the world’s largest drug producers have agreed to bring down prices under “Most Favoured Nation” agreements in exchange for avoiding US tariffs.
The website is launching with savings on more than 40 popular drugs, the White House said.
Users can search the site for the medication they want, then print out a coupon and present it at a pharmacy to buy at the discounted price.
The Trump administration has pitched the initiative as a populist attack on powerful pharmaceutical companies amid growing discontent over the state of the economy.
A group of 16 drug companies have agreed to discount deals, under which they will offer lower prices for certain drugs to government programmes such as Medicaid and, via TrumpRx, to US consumers.
The TrumpRx site, which promises “the world’s lowest prices on prescription drugs”, showcases more than 40 medications, including weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy, and calls the effort “the most impactful prescription price reset in the history of our country”.
“Thanks to President Trump, the days of Big Pharma price-gouging are over,” the website states.
But analysts have questioned whether the effort will substantively address US drug prices or shake up the pharmaceutical industry.
“There is a real question about the value of this for people with insurance,” Juliette Cubanski, deputy director for Medicare policy at health policy organisation KFF, told the news agency Reuters.
“In some cases, we could be looking at out-of-pocket costs that are still relatively unaffordable for a lot of people,” Cubanski said.
TrumpRx is representative of the US president’s personalistic style of shaping policy, seeking to cut individual deals to advance his own priorities rather than using traditional regulatory and legislative means.
A previous analysis by KFF stated that the details of the Most Favoured Nation agreements with the firms “remain confidential, which means that very little is known publicly about what exactly has been agreed to”.
Pharmaceutical companies remain a powerful force in US politics, with the watchdog group Open Secrets reporting that pharmaceutical manufacturers spent a record-high $187m on lobbying activities in 2025.
Sir Keir Starmer has been made to look “weak, naive and gullible” by blaming Peter Mandelson’s “lies” for the crisis engulfing his premiership – and it could bring him down, a senior Labour figure has said.
The party’s former deputy leader Baroness Harman told Sky’s Electoral Dysfunction podcast the saga had become “so serious” for the prime minister, who will be toppled “unless he takes action”.
Sir Keir is under mounting pressure to shake up his Number 10 operation in light of the scandal. Some Labour MPs believe his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, must go.
Speaking to Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby, Baroness Harman said he should be “thinking about a real reset” inside his team, and reflecting on why he appointed Lord Mandelson as the UK’s US ambassador despite concerns about his record and ties to Jeffrey Epstein.
Image:The PM addressed the crisis in a speech in Hastings on Thursday. Pic: Reuters
Sir Keir used a speech in Hastings on Thursday to apologise to Epstein’s victims for believing the peer’s “lies” about his relationship with the paedophile financier.
But Baroness Harman said: “He’s got to stop blaming Mandelson and saying, ‘he lied to me’. Because, actually, he should never have been considering him in the first place.
“To say ‘he lied to me’ makes it look weak and naive and gullible. So it’s just completely the wrong thing.”
“Peter Mandelson was called the Prince of Darkness,” she added. “It’s not a secret that he was a bad person.
“I think that it is very, very serious for Keir Starmer because it goes to the values of the government.”
Rigby said it had left the prime minister “fighting for his political survival”.
Captivate
This content is provided by Captivate, which may be using cookies and other technologies.
To show you this content, we need your permission to use cookies.
You can use the buttons below to amend your preferences to enable Captivate cookies or to allow those cookies just once.
You can change your settings at any time via the Privacy Options.
Unfortunately we have been unable to verify if you have consented to Captivate cookies.
To view this content you can use the button below to allow Captivate cookies for this session only.
Lord Mandelson had been a senior figure within New Labour under Tony Blair, but was forced to resign from two ministerial posts in scandal. He was hired by Sir Keir in early 2025 as the prime minister sought to develop positive relations with the Trump administration.
He was sacked in September after he featured in a number of Epstein-related files and photos released by a US Congressional committee. The latest revelations were revealed among a tranche of three million documents released by the US Department of Justice last week.
Gates, Mandelson – and Epstein’s covert message
Documents relating to his appointment to the Washington job will be published by the government after MPs passed a Conservative motion on Wednesday night.
But files deemed a risk to national security or international relations must first be reviewed by parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, which has said there is “no timetable” for how long it might take.
In the meantime, Sir Keir has suggested top adviser Mr McSweeney is safe in his post – and that any Labour MPs contributing to speculation about his own leadership are only helping the party’s opponents.
Every minute not spent talking about the cost of living and fighting against the “toxic division of Reform” is a minute wasted, the prime minister said on Thursday.
But many Labour MPs have privately expressed a lack of confidence in Sir Keir’s team, and a handful, including former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and Barry Gardiner, have publicly suggested he should consider his position.
Veteran Labour backbencher Graham Stringer told Sky’s chief political correspondent Jon Craighe does not think Sir Keir has “a very long future” as PM, calling the climbdown over the Lord Mandelson documents a “fiasco too far”.
“You always blame the person at the top, the prime minister,” Mr Stringer said.
“He got his tone wrong. He got the details wrong. And effectively the first amendment that he put down, which he had to change, was effectively – although not in name but in reality – a vote of no confidence in him.
“I don’t think he’s [Sir Keir] got a very long future.
“The discussion you could ask virtually any Labour MP is, it’s when and who, not whether [the PM goes].”
The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have called for a vote of confidence in the prime minister.
Speaking to Sky’s political correspondent Rob Powell, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch accused the PM of a “catastrophic error of judgement” and said either Sir Keir or Mr McSweeney should take responsibility.
Asked if that means that one of them should resign, Ms Badenoch replied: “Yes”.
Public in favour of change
New data from pollster YouGov suggests the public are in favour of a change, with 50% of Britons believing the PM would be best standing down.
Slightly less than a quarter – 24% – want him to remain in post, while 26% said they didn’t know what he should do.
YouGov’s Peter English told Sky News the Lord Mandelson story had “cut through” to the public.
It follows a YouGov poll earlier this week that found 95% of Brits were aware of the story, and that 44% of those surveyed were following it closely.
Mr English said: “This [the Mandelson story] is dominating the news cycle. People are paying attention. And the Mandelson thing specifically, it is definitely cutting through.”
However, Mr English added that the story is “probably not going to change too many minds… one-off stories rarely do change minds”.
Angela Rayner, the former deputy prime minister, and Health Secretary Wes Streeting are widely seen as the most likely candidates to replace Sir Keir.
However, allies of both insist they have no intention of moving against the PM.
Boxer Imane Khelif admitted to having the SRY gene, located on the Y chromosome which is found in biological males and undergoing hormone treatments to lower testosterone levels ahead of the 2024 Olympics, in an interview with the French sports publication L’Equipe.
“We all have different genetics, different hormone levels. I’m not transgender. My difference is natural. This is who I am. I haven’t done anything to change the way nature made me. That’s why I’m not afraid,” Khelif said. “I have taken hormone treatments to lower my testosterone levels for competitions.”
Imane Khelif (r) from Algeria and Luca Anna Hamori from Hungary fight each other. (Sina Schuldt/picture alliance via Getty Images)
Khelif committed to also taking a genetic sex test to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, which is likely to be required.
“For the next Games, if I have to take a test, I will. I have no problem with that, Khelif said.
The Independent Council on Women’s Sports (ICONS) has released a statement addressing Khelif’s admission.
“Algerian Olympic women’s gold medalist Imane Khelif has now confirmed he is male. With men no longer eligible for Olympic women’s boxing under World Boxing rules, Khelif reportedly plans to box professionally in Europe — though he inexplicably says he will still undergo sex screening for the LA 2028 Games in hopes of competing,” the statement read.
Algeria’s Imane Khelif, right, defeated, Italy’s Angela Carini in their women’s 66kg preliminary boxing match at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, Aug. 1, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Khelif won a gold medal in women’s boxing at the 2024 Paris Olympics under heavy scrutiny from the International Boxing Association (IBA), which was derecognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2023 amid concerns about the organization’s governance, financial reliance on Russian state energy firm Gazprom and the integrity of the bouts.
Khelif was previously disqualified from the IBA for failing a gender eligibility test. IBA President Umar Kremlev claimed at the time that unpublished DNA test results showed Khelif had XY chromosomes.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) defended the results of the Paris Games, stating that Khelif and another boxer that faced gender eligibility concerns were the victims of a “sudden and arbitrary decision by the IBA.”
World Boxing, the international governing body for the sport, announced a new policy in August that introduces mandatory sex testing to ensure only females compete in the women’s category. Khelif has appealed the new policy that will keep the athlete out of any competitions pending the results of genetic testing.
Imane Khelif of Team Algeria looks on against Anna Luca Hamori of Team Hungary during the Women’s 66kg Quarter-final round match on day eight of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at North Paris Arena on August 03, 2024 in Paris, France. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
Khelif did not compete in an international boxing tournament in the Netherlands last summer after failing to register in time before the applications closed.
President Donald Trump previously said there will be a “strong form of testing” when asked about potential genetic testing for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics at a press conference on Aug. 5.
Jackson Thompson is a sports reporter for Fox News Digital covering critical political and cultural issues in sports, with an investigative lens. Jackson’s reporting has been cited in federal government actions related to the enforcement of Title IX, and in legacy media outlets including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Associated Press and ESPN.com.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is facing the possibility it could run out of funding next week, as Democrats press for reforms to its immigration enforcement tactics.
But Republican leaders on Thursday pushed back against the Democratic proposals, rejecting them as moot.
Recommended Stories
list of 3 itemsend of list
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, for instance, called the demands “unrealistic and unserious”.
“This is not a blank check situation where Republicans just do agree to a list of Democrat demands,” Thune said, adding that the two parties appeared to be at an impasse.
“We aren’t anywhere close to having any sort of an agreement.”
Congress needs to pass funding legislation for the DHS by February 13, or else its programmes could be temporarily shuttered.
Demonstrators protest against immigration enforcement operations on February 4 in Nogales, Arizona [Ross D Franklin/AP Photo]
Ten demands from Democrats
Currently, Democrats are focused on changes to DHS’s immigration operations, particularly through programmes like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
But any funding shortfall stands to affect other Homeland Security functions as well, including the services offered by Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which conducts security screenings at airports.
Top Democrats, however, have argued that a Homeland Security shutdown is necessary, given the abuses that have unfolded under President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Just last month, two US citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Nicole Good, were killed at the hands of immigration agents in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in incidents that were caught on bystander video.
Their shooting deaths have since gone viral, prompting international outrage. Other footage shows masked agents deploying chemical agents and beating civilians who were documenting their activities or protesting – activities protected under the US Constitution.
To protect civil liberties and avoid further bloodshed, Democrats on Wednesday night released a series of 10 demands.
Many pertain to agent transparency. One of the demands was a ban on immigration agents wearing face masks, and another would require them to prominently display their identification number and agency.
Body cameras would also be mandated, though the Democrats clarified that the footage obtained through such devices should only be used for accountability, not to track protesters.
Other proposed rules would codify use-of-force policies in the Homeland Security Department and prohibit entry into households without a judicial warrant, as has been common practice under US law. They would also outlaw racial profiling as a metric for conducting immigration stops and arrests.
Political battle over funding
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said he was “astounded to hear” that Republicans considered the demands to be unreasonable.
“It’s about people’s basic rights. It’s about people’s safety,” Schumer said. He called on Republicans to “explain why” they objected to such standards.
In a joint statement with House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Schumer appealed to members of both parties to coalesce around what he described as common-sense guardrails.
“Federal immigration agents cannot continue to cause chaos in our cities while using taxpayer money that should be used to make life more affordable for working families,” Schumer and Jeffries wrote.
“It is critical that we come together to impose common sense reforms and accountability measures that the American people are demanding.”
Already, Democrats succeeded in separating Homeland Security funding from a spending bill passed on Tuesday to prevent a partial government shutdown.
Some Democrats and Republicans have pushed for a second split in order to vote on funding for ICE and CBP separately from FEMA and TSA spending.
But Republican leaders have opposed holding separate votes on those agencies, with Thune arguing it would amount to giving Democrats the ability to “defund law enforcement”.
Thune added that he would encourage Democrats to submit their reforms in legislation separate from Homeland Security funding.
It remains to be seen whether the two parties can agree to a compromise before the February 13 deadline. Democrats, meanwhile, have continued to push for other measures, including the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.
Domestic markets are likely to open weak on Friday amid a global melt down. The focus will be on the outcome of the RBI monetary policy and outlook on the Indian economy. Gift Nifty is ruling at 25,600 against the Nifty futures close of 25,725, signaling a gap-down opening of 125-130 points at open.
According to analysts, IT stocks will remain under pressure given the risk-off sentiment towards them following the artificial intelligence scare.
Basant Bafna, Head – Fixed Income, Mirae Asset Investment Managers (India) Pvt. Ltd., said: The MPC is expected to remain on status quo in terms of policy rates. As a reduction in policy rates has still not translated into market yields, focus is expected to remain on measures to ensure transmission of rate cuts aggregating 125 basis points over the past year.
“With the growth-inflation dynamics remaining well supported, RBI has been infusing liquidity in the form of Variable Rate Repo (VRR) Operations as well as Open Market Operations (OMOs) over the past quarter. Expectations remain for an RBI communication regarding continuity of the same in view of elevated Credit-Deposit (CD) ratios for banks. Further, in view of the Gross Borrowing Calendar for FY 2026-27, markets also look forward to RBI’s communication on OMOs to support the Government’s Borrowing Programme,” he said.
According to Ponmudi R, CEO of Enrich Money, the global equity markets are trading with a pronounced risk-off bias following sharp losses in the overnight US session.
Weakness in global technology stocks and commodities continues to weigh on sentiment, with selling pressure extending into Asian markets. Japan’s Nikkei is down nearly 0.8%, while South Korea’s Kospi is under significant pressure, sliding 3–4%, led by heavy tech stock liquidation.
“Against this backdrop, Indian equity markets are expected to open flat to mildly negative, with investors adopting a cautious stance ahead of today’s RBI Monetary Policy announcement. While the recent trade agreement continues to provide an underlying positive backdrop by easing external headwinds and supporting export-oriented sectors, the sharp multi-day rally has clearly entered a consolidation phase. Profit-taking at higher levels and the continued absence of sustained FII. Participation, despite the trade-led optimism, remain near-term drags on sentiment Domestic fundamentals such as capex momentum and macro stability remain supportive, but near-term market direction is likely to be driven primarily by cues from the RBI’s policy stance and external factors,” he added.
Donald Trump: United States President Donald Trump gave a big statement on Thursday. He said that America and Venezuela together hold about 68 percent of the world’s total oil reserves. Trump said this during his address at the 74th National Prayer Breakfast held in Washington.
Trump said that America had captured Venezuela in January this year and now its oil wealth would be used. Referring to Venezuela’s poor economic condition, he said, “They were in a lot of trouble. Yet they have the most oil in the world, except maybe us.” Trump reiterated that America and Venezuela together hold 68 percent of the world’s oil reserves.
America’s military operation on Venezuela
Citing a major military action in early January, Trump said that America entered Venezuela and captured President Nicolas Maduro and his wife there. He had described this action as a major military operation. During this, Trump said, ‘Our big American oil companies will go there, spend billions of dollars, fix the oil related system which is in poor condition and sell oil on a large scale.’
‘Will run Venezuela until the regime changes’
Trump also said that America will run Venezuela until the transition of power takes place safely. However, legal questions are also being raised regarding this entire claim and military action and there is controversy over it.
Trump’s statement regarding oil Trump said that America will further expand its oil business and will sell Venezuelan oil in the world market. Venezuela is believed to have the world’s largest oil reserves, which are about 17 percent of the world’s total oil.
Among all the 2026 California gubernatorial candidates, none appear to be a champion of reparations, even in the form of direct cash payments.
Per the San Francisco Chronicle, many of the candidates attended the “State of Black Bay Area Report & 2026 CA Gubernatorial Forum” hosted by the Urban League of Greater San Francisco Bay Area on Jan. 26, explaining what they would do for Black Californians.
The Democratic candidates vying to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, D., were asked what they would do to help Black Californians. Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond was the only candidate to include reparations in his response to Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee, a former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Instead of cash payments, Thurmond vows to give Black residents loans.
California was the first in the U.S. of many states and municipalities to establish a reparations commission to study history in order to issue recommendations on how to compensate Black Americans for slavery. (SAMUEL CORUM/AFP via Getty Images)
“I will sign as governor a reparations package that gives loans to Black folks who want to start a business, to go to college or to pay for a home,” Thurmond said. Lee, who endorsed Thurmond for governor, said that Thurmond is the only candidate understanding that reparations is a “key strategy to achieve racial economic equity.”
California was the first in the U.S. of many states and municipalities to establish a reparations commission to study history in order to issue recommendations on how to compensate Black Americans for slavery.
Newsom has outright rejected cash payments as a form of reparations, which could have been as high as $1.2 million for a single recipient, per recommendations by the state’s reparations task force. He also rejected a slate of reparation bills backed by the California Legislative Black Caucus. On the other hand, Newsom did approve funding for the university system to research methods for verifying descendants of people enslaved in the U.S. to identify who would get benefits.
Newsom rejected Assembly Bill 7, which would recommend universities, private and public to “consider providing an admissions preference to an applicant who is a descendant of a person who was subjected to chattel slavery in America.” Newsom called the bill “unnecessary” in a brief message sent in October, adding that “institutions already have the authority to determine whether to provide admissions preferences.”
The author of the bill, Democratic California Assembly Member Isaac Bryan, described Newsom’s veto of the bill as “more than disappointing.”
California Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond announced his candidacy for governor on Wednesday, seeking to replace outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom.(AP Photo/Denis Poroy, File)
Assembly Bill 7 was among five other reparations measures backed by the California Legislative Black Caucus, making supporters of the effort disappointed. The caucus also sought to create a process for compensating individuals whose property was taken through racially motivated eminent domain, expediting professional license applications for descendants of enslaved people, and dedicating at least 10% of a state-backed home loan program to descendants.
Now that Newsom will soon vacate his position, it’s unclear if his successor will fulfill the reparations objectives the task force put in place.
Former Secretary of Health and Human Services Xavier Becerra said he would appoint African Americans to his administration. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Becerra was asked to explain further his stance on reparations. He said he would “work with the legislature” and said he was in favor of it, but “the question there is, ‘What (legislation comes) first? And how do you fund it?’”
The other candidates did not specifically mention reparations in what they would do to help Black Californians but highlighted the importance of representation. Former hedge fund manager Tom Steyer also promised representation through establishing an “office of DEI.” Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa mentioned his record in appointing Black people to his administration.
He also said he would not support a reparations package. When he was pressed on why not, he responded, “I’m in favor of fixing our schools. That’s the best way to address past discrimination, but not a reparations package.”
The other candidates at the forum, Sen. Ian Calderon, former Rep. Katie Porter, and former state Controller Betty Yee, did not have a clear stance on reparations.
Calderon sent Fox News Digital saying “real repair means real resources.”
“Real repair means real resources — and pathways to generational wealth. I support dedicated funding streams that directly address racial and economic injustice through targeted, accountable investments that help close the economic gaps created by generations of inequality,” Calderon said.
Yee does not want a one-time distribution of cash payments, which is often associated with reparations efforts in the U.S., and would rather consider other forms of reparations. Many advocates of reparations say that it could be issued in many other forms other than direct cash payments.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has outright rejected cash payments as a form of reparations. (AP Photo)
“I don’t want a one-and-done, where it’s just like a cash payment,” Yee said. “It’s got to be about how we look at systems that are going to help create intergenerational wealth.”
Republicans Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco were invited but did not attend the event. They did not respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
The gubernatorial hopefuls met on Tuesday night in the Bayview for the first televised debate. None of the candidates mentioned supporting reparations.
None of the Democratic candidates responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment, including San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan, who did not attend the Urban League event.
Lisa Holder, a civil rights attorney and a former member of the state’s Reparations Task Force, reportedly said that advancing reparations would be a long process.
A Los Angeles resident holds up a pro-reparations sign as the Reparations Task Force meets to hear public input on reparations at the California Science Center in Los Angeles on Sept. 22, 2022.
“You can’t legislate yourself out of 400 years of inequality and injustice. You have to do an entire body of laws to change the systems that have been disparately affecting black folks for decades,” Holder told KQED on Jan. 19. “You now have to put many, many laws in place to change practically every system, whether you’re talking about systems of finance, housing. Laws that require equitable treatment, laws that require affirmative hiring sometimes in industries where Black people were affirmatively not hired.”
Joshua Q. Nelson is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
Joshua focuses on politics, education policy ranging from the local to the federal level, and the parental uprising in education.
Joining Fox News Digital in 2019, he previously graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in Political Science and is an alum of the National Journalism Center and the Heritage Foundation’s Young Leaders Program.
Story tips can be sent to joshua.nelson@fox.com and Joshua can be followed on Twitter and LinkedIn.
New Delhi. The stage is set for the final of the Under-19 Cricket World Cup 2026. India and England will face each other this afternoon at Harare Sports Club. India achieved a record target of 311 runs against Afghanistan in the semi-finals and made it to the finals. This is the biggest successful run chase in Under-19 World Cup history. Aaron George’s brilliant inning of 115 runs and the fast start of Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Ayush Mhatre played an important role in this victory.
With this resounding victory, India confirmed its place in the finals and continued its excellent consistency at the youth level. By remaining unbeaten in the final, India will enter the 2026 tournament with the intention of increasing its winning streak and winning the Under-19 World Cup title for a record sixth time. Talking about history, India has been the most successful team in the Under-19 World Cup era, having won the trophy five times in 2000, 2008, 2012, 2018 and 2022. Last time in 2022, India won the title by defeating England by four wickets in the final.
Will England be able to beat India?
England has also shown strong performance and consistency throughout the tournament. They defeated the strong Australian team in a thrilling match in the semi-finals and made it to the finals. There was balance in both his batting and bowling. England has won the Under-19 World Cup only once (in 1998), so this 2026 team will aim to win the title for the second time and would like to make a big statement against a strong team like India.
Before the final, England’s record against India has not been that strong. So far, in 55 matches between the two teams, England has faced defeat 41 times. In such a situation, England will have to give its best performance to win. At the same time, India is full of confidence after brilliant batting against Afghanistan.
India U-19 vs England U-19 Head-to-Head
Total matches – 55, India – 41, England – 13, Tie – 1
Competition in Under-19 World Cup
Match – 9, India – 7, England – 2, Tie – 0
When to watch India vs England U-19 World Cup final?
The Under-19 World Cup final between India and England will start at 1 pm (Indian time) and 9:30 am local time.
Where to watch India vs England Under-19 World Cup final?
The broadcasting rights of the Under-19 World Cup are with Star Sports Network. Live streaming of the final between India and England will be available on JioHotstar.
England: Ben Dawkins, Joseph Moores, Ben Mayes, Thomas Ryu (wk/c), Caleb Faulkner, Ralphie Albert, Farhan Ahmed, Sebastian Morgan, James Minto, Manny Lumsden, Alex French, Alex Green, Isaac Mohammed, Luke Hands, Will Bennison, Ali Farooq.
The board of Stallion India Fluorochemicals has approved a rights issue to raise up to ₹364 crore at ₹99 a share. The capital raising exercise will offer existing shareholders the opportunity to subscribe to additional shares in proportion to their current holdings, the company said in a release to the stock exchanges.
Federal Bank Ltd said RBI has allowed Blackstone subsidiary, Asia II Topco XIII Pte Ltd, to acquire up to 9.99 per cent of the bank’s paid-up share capital or voting rights. Last year in December, the Competition Commission of India had cleared US-based Blackstone’s proposal to acquire 9.99 per cent stake through warrants in Federal Bank.
Fitch Ratings has revised the outlook on Axis Bank Ltd’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) to Positive from Stable, and affirmed the IDR at ‘BB+’. Fitch has also upgraded the bank’s Viability Rating (VR) to ‘bb+’, from ‘bb’, and affirmed the Government Support Rating (GSR) at ‘bb+’.
National Securities Depository Ltd will remain in focus due to a technical glitch in its system. NSDL was expecting all delayed equity trades to be settled by Thursday night after a technical network disruption affected inter-depository settlement flows earlier this week, according to a businessline report. The issue was caused by instability in NSDL’s network systems, which temporarily disrupted connectivity with Central Depository Services (India) Ltd. (CDSL), a key link used for transferring securities across depository platforms. Inter-depository functions are a routine, but critical part of India’s post-trade market infrastructure, used when securities move across different depository platforms.
Silver/Gold ETFs will remain in focus as metal prices fell sharply and remained volatile. Silver spot slumped 9 per cent below $65 a dollar. Gold prices fell over one per cent to $4,715.
SJVN on Thursday said it has started electricity supply from its 70 megawatt Dhubri solar power plant in Assam. In a statement, SJVN said the project has been executed through wholly-owned subsidiary SJVN Green Energy Limited (SGEL). The ₹367.44-crore 70 MW project has been developed on 330 acres of lease-based land.
KRBL Ltd has launched a low glycemic index rice variant under its health-oriented Uplife brand. India Gate Uplife Lite Everyday Rice targets consumers seeking blood sugar management and sustained energy levels, marking the latest expansion of the Uplife portfolio launched last year, the company said.
The traditional chief of a village in western Nigeria where jihadists massacred residents earlier this week has recounted a night of terror during which the attackers killed two of his sons and kidnapped his wife and three daughters.
Umar Bio Salihu, the 53-year-old chief of Woro, a small, Muslim-majority village in Kwara state, said that at about 5pm on Tuesday the gunmen “just came in and started shooting”.
“All those shops that are within the road, they burnt them … Some people have been burned inside their houses,” he told the Agence France-Presse news agency. “They killed two of (my sons) standing at the front of my house. They took away my second wife with some three (daughters). They are with them presently in the bush.”
Umar Bio Salihu, head of the village of Woro, said the attackers also took away his second wife and three daughters. Photograph: Light Oriye Tamunotonye/AFP/Getty Images
Salihu survived by hiding in a house, then fled to the neighbouring town of Kaiama, where he has a home, after the attackers left. The attack lasted until 3am, he said. “When the day breaks, the corpses we see, it’s too much,” he said.
Woro, a village of several thousand people, sits near a forest region known as a hideout for jihadist fighters and armed gangs.
Footage broadcast by local news stations after the attacks on Woro and the neighbouring village of Nuku showed bodies lying in blood on the ground, some with their hands tied, and burning houses.
Details are still emerging from the attack, the country’s deadliest so far this year. According to the Red Cross, the death toll stands at 162 people, and the search for bodies is ongoing.
Salihu said the jihadists had sent a letter saying they were coming to the village to preach, and went on the rampage when no one attended. Residents separately told Reuters that the attackers had long preached in the village, urging locals to abandon the Nigerian state and adopt sharia rule.
The Nigerian president Bola Tinubu has condemned the “beastly attack”, deployed an army battalion to the troubled region, and blamed the Islamist extremist Boko Haram movement – though the name is often used generically for jihadist groups in Nigeria.
The attack – described by Amnesty International’s Nigeria office as “a stunning security failure” – was the latest in a series of repeated and widespread acts of violence by jihadists and other armed groups in Nigeria. The country is experiencing a jihadist insurgency in the north-east and north-west, as well as a surge in looting and kidnapping for ransom by armed groups known as “bandits” in the north-west and north-central regions.
Experts say that Kwara is fast becoming a new frontier for armed groups seeking to expand in Africa’s most populous country. James Barnett, a researcher at the Washington-based Hudson Institute, told Associated Press armed groups have been going farther afield because they are finding a lot of competition from rival groups in the areas where they traditionally operated.
The armed groups in Nigeria include at least two affiliated with Islamic State: an offshoot of Boko Haram known as the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), and the lesser-known Islamic State Sahel Province, known locally as Lakurawa.
A motorcyclist rides past a burnt truck after the attacks in Woro. The Red Cross puts the death toll at 162 people. Photograph: Light Oriye Tamunotonye/AFP/Getty Images
The military has in the past said the Lakurawa has its roots in neighbouring Niger and that it became more active in Nigeria’s border communities after a 2023 military coup. Kwara borders Niger state, which is targeted increasingly by armed groups and is a hotspot where ISWAP and other armed groups have stepped up village attacks and mass kidnappings.
Insecurity in Nigeria has been under intense scrutiny in recent months since the US president, Donald Trump, alleged that there was a “genocide” against Christians in the country. The claim has been rejected by the Nigerian government and many independent experts, who say the country’s security crises claim the lives of Christians and Muslims, often without distinction.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, unknown gunmen killed at least 13 people in Doma village in the north-western state of Katsina, a police spokesperson said.
Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Associated Press contributed to this report
