Lavrov rules out immediate Ukraine ceasefire

Twelve years after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 disappeared without a trace, relatives of Chinese passengers returned to a Beijing court seeking answers they say they have been denied for more than a decade. The families insist that financial compensation alone cannot resolve their pain and are urging the court to focus on establishing the truth behind one of aviation’s greatest unsolved mysteries. The appeal comes after a Beijing court ruled in December that Malaysia Airlines should pay compensation of 2.9 million yuan to each of eight Chinese families. While the ruling acknowledged their loss, two families challenged the decision, arguing that it failed to address the airline’s responsibility or explain what happened to the aircraft and the 239 people on board. Flight MH370, a Boeing 777 travelling from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, 2014, disappeared from radar with 239 passengers and crew members. Nearly two thirds of those on board were Chinese nationals. Despite years of international search operations across the Indian Ocean, investigators have never located the aircraft’s main wreckage or recovered its flight recorders, leaving the fate of those on board unknown. The latest court hearing in Beijing was held behind closed doors, but family members gathered outside to express their frustration. Li Eryou, whose son was among the passengers, said the original court ruling left him feeling insulted because it focused only on financial compensation while ignoring the deeper questions surrounding the disappearance. Li said no one had apologized to the families during the past 12 years and argued that the case deserved to be treated as an international tragedy rather than a routine legal dispute. He believes the compensation awarded by the lower court does not reflect the seriousness of the disaster or the emotional suffering experienced by relatives who continue to live without closure. Over the years, aviation experts have proposed several possible explanations for the disappearance. Theories have included deliberate actions by the pilot, hijacking, a missile strike or a technical failure. Another widely discussed possibility suggests that a fire involving electronic equipment may have filled the cabin with smoke, causing everyone on board to lose consciousness before the aircraft continued flying on autopilot until it ran out of fuel and crashed into the Indian Ocean. However, none of these theories has been confirmed because investigators have never recovered enough evidence to determine exactly what happened. The absence of definitive findings has continued to fuel uncertainty and speculation, leaving many families convinced that important questions remain unanswered. Jiang Hui, whose mother was on the missing aircraft, said the appeal is not primarily about receiving more money. Instead, he said the families want the court to establish the facts surrounding the case and examine whether Malaysia Airlines responded appropriately after the aircraft disappeared. According to Jiang, determining responsibility and uncovering the truth are far more important than the compensation itself. People from 14 different countries were on board Flight MH370, including 50 Malaysian passengers and crew members. While legal proceedings continue in China, there are currently no similar cases pending against the airline in Malaysia. Last month, the Malaysian government announced that the search for MH370 would continue until June next year. The renewed operation is being carried out by private exploration company Ocean Infinity, which has previously led several unsuccessful search missions in the southern Indian Ocean. Although earlier efforts failed to locate the aircraft, relatives remain hopeful that new technology and expanded search areas could finally provide long awaited answers. Jiang welcomed Malaysia’s decision to extend the search and urged authorities to allow families to organize their own independent search missions alongside official efforts. For many relatives, discovering what happened to Flight MH370 remains their greatest priority, believing that only the truth can finally bring closure after more than a decade of uncertainty.

Indian digital rights activists and student leaders are challenging Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government in the Delhi High Court over the deployment of artificial intelligence-powered mass surveillance during recent youth protests in New Delhi. Student activist Aishe Ghosh filed a petition with the Delhi High Court seeking to declare the police’s mass surveillance of demonstrators unconstitutional. The lawsuit requests the immediate destruction of all personal and biometric data collected during the demonstrations and asks the court to establish clear binding guidelines governing the use of surveillance technologies at public gatherings. The controversy intensified after photographs circulated showing a mobile police surveillance unit, branded “Ikshana” and developed alongside security firm CP Plus, deployed at the main protest site. The vehicle featured telescopic masts providing 360-degree coverage, AI-powered cameras, and real-time facial recognition capabilities that displayed face accuracy metrics to match attendees against law enforcement databases. Furthermore, police officers were documented recording the social media handles of arriving participants. Digital rights organisations, including the Internet Freedom Foundation, have formally requested the Delhi Police Commissioner to delete all biometric data gathered during the events. Advocates emphasise that India currently lacks a dedicated legal framework governing police deployment of facial recognition systems, making such intrusive measures disproportionate and illegal. During court proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta defended law enforcement actions, arguing that expectations of privacy at a public gathering were misplaced and asserting that the security measures were absolutely necessary in the interest of public order. Delhi Police maintained that the technology was used solely to identify individuals with criminal histories and count crowd size without restricting freedoms. The court challenge continues despite the end of the student demonstrations, which were triggered by widespread examination paper leaks in national competitive tests. The protests culminated in the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and the announcement of a government panel tasked with overhauling the national examination system.