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Europe and Russia are once again at the point of a face-off with leaks in the Nord Stream gas pipelines under the Baltic Sea emerging as the new flashpoint. Europe has said that the leaks are a 'deliberate act' aimed at exacerbating a looming energy crisis that has been a result of Russia's invasion of neigbouring Ukraine.

This week, three separate ruptures were reported to have impacted the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines following suspected explosions in the Baltic sea. The pipelines are meant to carry natural gas from Russia to Europe. While the pipelines were not in full operation (due the Russia-Ukraine war) at the time of the ruptures and the resultant leaks, they still contained natural gas.

While the Nord Stream leaks -- deliberate or not -- have been linked to the Russia-Ukraine war and Europe's dependency on Russian oil, larger questions are being raised about the damage that could be caused by the methane spewing from the undersea pipelines to the climate.

The Indian Union Muslim League thinks that banning the Popular Front of India is not the solution to the problem; instead, those involved in “terror” like them should be exposed publically during debates and finished off politically. The IUML’s Kerala state secretary KM Shaji told News18 in an exclusive interview that his three-decade-long fight against the PFI has been on since it came into existence as the National Democratic Front (NDF) in 1994.

The Centre on Wednesday banned the radical Islamic organisation PFI and several of its associates for five years under a stringent anti-terror law, accusing them of having “links” with global terror groups like ISIS.

“They (government) are banning it now. I have been saying this for years that they are not the National Democratic Party but an anti-democratic party,” Shaji said. “Personally, I do not approach banning any organisation as it is not the right way to counter the growth of an organisation. Take a look at the RSS. They have been banned thrice, but today they are ruling the country. The same with SIMI and NDF. They grow bigger under the banner of PFI and SDPI,” Shaji told media.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday will hear pleas challenging the centre’s decision to demonetise currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 in 2016.

Five Judge bench headed by Justice Abdul Nazeer will hear the matter tomorrow. Other judges on the bench include Justices BR Gavai, AS Bopanna, V Ramasubramanian and BV Nagarathna. The matter is listed for directions on September 28 2022.

Various petitions were filed arising from the decision of the Government of India to demonetise the old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000.

It's not a blow by the Supreme Court, Aaditya Thackeray told India Today TV after the top court said that there will be no stay on the Election Commission's proceedings to decide who commanded the "real" Shiv Sena - Eknath Shinde or Uddhav Thackeray - in Maharashtra. However, the decision is being celebrated as a big win by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's camp.

"They (the judges) have asked to start the process of hearing about the party symbol. We have full faith in the judiciary and law. We saw the Shinde camp dancing when Uddhav Ji resigned. So what can you expect from them?" the former Maharashtra minister asked.

"I want to ask them why they have not been able to bring any big projects to the state," he added.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought responses of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the state of Maharashtra to jailed activist Gautam Navlakha's plea that he be placed under house arrest instead of judicial custody in the Elgar-Parishad case.

The 70-year-old activist has appealed to the apex court against the April 26 order of the Bombay High Court dismissing his plea for house arrest over apprehensions of lack of adequate medical and other basic facilities in Taloja jail near Mumbai where he is currently lodged.

The petition came up for hearing before a bench of Justices K M Joseph and Hrishikesh Roy which issued notices to the NIA and the state seeking their responses. The bench has posted the matter for resumed hearing on September 29.