Latest news with #Merc
Scottish Sun
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Scottish Sun
George Russell on verge of landing £30m-a-year mega deal with Mercedes as F1 rival Verstappen set to stay at Red Bull
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) GEORGE RUSSELL is on the brink of a new £30million-a-year Mercedes deal with Max Verstappen set to stay at Red Bull for another year. The British driver has been hashing out talks with Merc over the last few weeks, with just the final details to be fine tuned. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 3 George Russell is on the brink of a new £30million-a-year Mercedes deal Credit: PA 3 Max Verstappen is set to stay at Red Bull for another year Credit: Shutterstock Editorial Toto Wolff's team were keen for an agreement to be made after the final race in Hungary this weekend before the summer break. It is likely to be later though as Russell's team go over the details of the new deal. Mercedes had been keeping tabs on Verstappen but the Dutchman is set to stay put at Red Bull for 2026. Following Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix he is now unable to activate a release clause that relied on him being outside the top three by the summer break. READ MORE IN f1 ROSSED THE LINE Nico Rosberg in frosty exchange with Jos Verstappen over Christian Horner The four-time world champion or Mercedes could still buy himself out of his deal that runs until 2028 - but it would cost a pretty penny and this option is not on Verstappen's radar. Verstappen is third in the standings 28 points ahead of George Russell in fourth after winning the sprint race in Spa and coming fourth in Sunday's Grand Prix. The Dutchman and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton are the highest earners on the grid on around £60m-a-year. Meanwhile Russell's new deal will see him roughly on par with McLaren's Lando Norris and Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS Mercedes suffered a disappointing run in Spa with Russell finishing fifth and Kimi Anontelli coming in 16th. Frustrated Russell slammed the team's weekend and said crunch talks would be held this week to get to the bottom of the team's woes. Nico Rosberg in frosty exchange with Jos Verstappen over Christian Horner after Red Bull sacking He said: 'We really need to understand what is going on and why we've taken such a step backwards because these conditions (in Spa) are ideal for us and our car. 'It's been the worst performance of the season so we're going to have a big sit-down this week and try and figure it out. 'We need to sit down as a team. It may be as simple as reserving back to some of the old changes we've made. But in F1 it's never that simple. 'The car isn't feeling as nice to drive at the moment as it once did. Lacking rear stability. 'Kimi and I are collectively making more mistakes because the car is more challenging to drive. It seems quite strange how we've gone so far backwards.'
Daily Express
5 days ago
- Science
- Daily Express
One of 1st real-world data sets shows how tropical marine life cope with acidifying seas
Published on: Sunday, July 27, 2025 Published on: Sun, Jul 27, 2025 Text Size: ARMS (Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures) are stacked PVC plates that mimic the complex reef structures for marine organisms to colonise, which helps to monitor marine biodiversity of seabed at MERC, Gaya Island, over time. DRIVEN by climate change, oceans are absorbing more heat and carbon dioxide, causing a triple threat: warming waters, ocean acidification, and deoxygenation – a condition increasingly observed in coastal areas of Malaysia and across the tropics. In layman's terms: the oceans is getting Hotter, Sour and Breathless. The OA (Ocean Acidification) station at Merc (Marine Ecosystem Research Centre), launched on 1 February 2023, is pioneering long-term monitoring of reef changes linked to acidification. It fills a critical data gap in Southeast Asia and aligns with global efforts under the UN Decade of Ocean Science. On March 27, 2023, Merc was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records a s the first OA monitoring station for South China Sea. Researchers have deployed Autonomous Reef Monitoring Structures (ARMS) and Calcification Accretion Units (CAUs). These devices mimic reef habitats and passively collect sessile (attached to or fixed in one place) and mobile invertebrates, allowing scientists to assess biodiversity changes over time without disturbing the environment. Using innovative tools like ARMS and CAUs, researchers are tracking not only corals but also hidden reef dwellers, including sponges, molluscs, bryozoans, and mobile invertebrates, which are essential for a healthy reef ecosystem. The ARMS and CAUs deployed by Centre For Marine & Coastal Studies (Cemacs), Universiti Sains Malaysia in 2023 (led by Prof. Dato' Dr Aileen Tan) two sets each (ARMS & CAUs) were retrieved on 17 July 2025 – 2.5 years after deployment, offering valuable insights into how marine communities have responded to ongoing acidification, warming, and other stressors over a multi-year period. This long-term monitoring is rare in the region and will provide one of the first real-world data sets on how tropical marine life is coping with acidifying seas. The retrieval process involves carefully collecting each structure to analyse colonised organisms, from tiny snails and worms to sessile sponges and bryozoans. This long-term observation is crucial for detecting early signs of biodiversity shifts linked to ocean acidification, particularly among calcifying species such as barnacles, polychaetes, and jewel box clams (Chama spp.). The project examines both mobile organisms (e.g. crabs, worms, shrimp) and sessile organisms (e.g. sponges, bryozoans, Chama bivalves). These often-overlooked species are crucial to reef function and can serve as early indicators of environmental stress. This research could reveal which reef organisms are winners and losers in a changing ocean. Many species found in ARMS are cryptic, meaning they look identical but are genetically distinct. This includes encrusting sponges and bryozoans that blend into the reef structure. DNA barcoding helps researchers detect this hidden biodiversity. The ARMS deployed at Pulau Gaya, Sabah, reveal a distinctly different assemblage of marine organisms compared to those found in the Straits of Malacca. This variation likely reflects the broader biogeographic transition between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean. Sabah lies within the Coral Triangle and is influenced by Pacific biodiversity, while the Straits of Malacca are more closely aligned with Indian Ocean faunal patterns. The macro-invertebrate community observed here is noticeably different from what we typically see in the Straits of Malacca, featuring species like crinoids, cemented bivalves (Chama sp.), and various types of brittle stars. However, when it comes to cryptic species such as bryozoans and sponges, it is still difficult to distinguish them at this stage. We hope that the upcoming eDNA analysis will provide better resolution and help clarify their diversity. Succession has started with the presence of Chama sp. (Overall, the ARMS looks like already entering later successional phases because of the presence of Chama which is a slow-growing species). Mercs plans to gradually retrieve remaining ARMS units over the next 2.5 years, creating a multi-year time series to understand trends in biodiversity and calcification under changing ocean conditions. Ongoing monitoring is essential to capture the full picture of ocean acidification's impacts, especially as marine conditions continue to shift. Each ARMS unit is like a time capsule of biodiversity, helping researchers track slow but significant changes in the marine ecosystem. Various organisms found on ARMS: Brittle star Chama bivalve (Jewel box clam) Six-legged starfish Crustacean larvae (not identified)
Deccan Herald
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Deccan Herald
Bengaluru: Now, Ferrari & Mercedes owners pay Rs 1 cr in fines, unpaid road tax
Bengaluru: Transport authorities on Friday penalised the owners of two more luxury cars that were registered outside Karnataka but regularly used within the state without paying applicable road tax. .A Jayanagar RTO team collected nearly Rs 1 crore in fines and unpaid road tax from the car owners. .The cars include a Ferrari 812 Superfast registered in Jharkhand (JH 10 BS0099) and a Mercedes-Benz G-Class AMG G 63 registered in Puducherry (PY 05 K 6309). .The Ferrari owner had to fork out Rs 61,94,494 and the Merc owner Rs 37,03,644. .The two cars were being regularly used in Karnataka for more than two years, a Transport Department official told said. .Bengaluru bizman fined Rs 38 lakh for unpaid road tax on luxury cars bought from Amitabh Bachchan, Aamir on Wednesday, transport authorities fined scrap dealer-turned-real-estate businessman Yousuf Shariff, popularly known as KGF Babu, nearly Rs 40 lakh for using two Maharashtra-regitered Rolls-Royce cars in Bengaluru without paying the required road tax. .One of the cars (MH 02-BB-0002) was bought from Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan, and the other (MH11-AX-0001) from actor Aamir Khan. .As per transport department rules, any vehicle registered outside Karnataka and used continuously in the state for over a year must pay the applicable road tax.
Time of India
24-07-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
‘Baron' who ran ‘Westarctica embassy' in Ghaziabad for 9 years held
1 2 Ghaziabad: A man who plucked out from obscurity names of micronations like Westarctica and Ladonia and declared himself their ambassador was arrested on Wednesday by the Noida unit of UP's special task force from his 'embassy' in Ghaziabad. Harshvardhan Jain, whose portfolio of gobbledegook included calling himself a diplomat from Seborga and Paulovia apparently found takers for this tripe, enabling the 47-year-old to perpetuate a fraud that went on for nine years. He bestowed on himself the titles of 'Honorary Consul Baron Westarctica', engraved on the number plate of a Merc found parked on the premises, and 'Honorary Consigliere Principato Di Seborga', which adorned the blue diplomatic plate of a Hyundai Sonata. Fake country stamps, passports, four cars with diplomatic registration plates, and foreign currency were recovered from the lavish Kavi Nagar bungalow that Jain rented six months ago for Rs 1.8 lakh per month. Police also found two forged press cards, indicating the 'diplomat' and 'baron' may also have pretended to be a journalist. Jain, according to police, was born into a wealthy family and studied MBA at a London college. The 'embassy' was allegedly the front of a hawala racket he ran. You Can Also Check: Noida AQI | Weather in Noida | Bank Holidays in Noida | Public Holidays in Noida Special superintendent of police (STF) Sushil Ghule said central agencies were on the lookout for Jain, but it was an anonymous tipoff that took the STF to bungalow number KB-45 in Kavi Nagar at 10pm on Tuesday. Over the next seven hours — the raid continued till 3pm on Wednesday — the team scanned and seized volumes of documents, allegedly linked to an elaborate job scam and the hawala money network. "Jain had morphed photos to show him in the company of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and former President APJ Abdul Kalam. He had padded the house with flags of foreign nations. The cars parked in front embellished the appearance of the house as an important compound." SP (Noida STF) Raj Kumar Mishra told TOI that during interrogation, Jain claimed that he was appointed an adviser to the 'principality of Seborga', which is a self-proclaimed principality in the Italian riviera, in 2012. He also claimed that in 2016, the Grand Duchy of Westarctica — another micronation in western Antarctica — appointed him honorary ambassador. Jain made similar claims for Ladonia, a micronation in Sweden, and Paulovia, which seems to be a name cooked up by him. Micronations, to be clear, are not sovereign countries and aren't recognised entities. Micronations are distinct from microstates, such as Liechtenstein or Vatican City, whose sovereignty over extremely small territories and populations is internationally recognised. According to investigators, Jain started to operate his 'embassy' from his parents' property — bungalow number KB-35 — in the same colony in 2016. "For nine years, he operated out of this house before shifting to KB-45, which is owned by a person called Sushil Kumar," Mishra said, adding cops were yet to ascertain how many people Jain may have cheated during this period and what his exact modus operandi was. "He used the fake designations to draw people into conversations and gradually offered them jobs in foreign companies. He would later charge them by offering help to open overseas bank accounts or purchase properties. We are investigating his connections with gangsters abroad," Mishra added. The STF indicated he had contacts abroad, but it's yet to be ascertained how many people, if he indeed did, send abroad. The STF found in his possession 18 fake diplomatic number plates, 12 forged diplomatic passports from these micronations, fake documents carrying the seal of the foreign ministry, two forged PAN cards and 34 rubber stamps of various countries and organisations. "We also found Rs 44 lakh in cash, assorted foreign currencies, and 12 imported luxury watches," Ghule said. An FIR has been registered against Jain at Kavi Nagar police station under BNS Sections 318 (4) (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 336 (3) (forgery for purpose of cheating), 338 (forgery of valuable security, will, etc.) and 340 (2) (using as genuine a forged document or electronic record). He was sent to police custody by a local court.
India Today
24-07-2025
- Politics
- India Today
Jain & the art of diplomatic immunity
The Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF) has just pulled the curtain on a plot so audacious it could make Sukesh Chandrashekhar man who invented multiple micro nations and appointed Shri Harsh Vardhan Jain as the ambassador or consul-general has been arrested from the Westarctica Embassy compound in Ghaziabad's ambassador of Ladonia and the Consul-General of Saborga had diplomatic number plates, passports, but, as it turned out, no diplomatic immunity. When the man identified himself as Harsh Vardhan Jain, it became clear that Gangadhar hi Shaktiman Meet Harsh Vardhan Jain, the man who turned a rented house into a diplomatic Disneyland for fictional nations like Westarctica, Saborga, Poulvia, and Ladonia, countries so obscure even Google Maps would shrug and say, "Bhai, yeh kahan hai?"It was a Tuesday, July 22, when the Noida unit of the UP STF, acting on a tip-off from central agencies, swooped in like a hawk on a particularly delusional pigeon. They found Jain, the mastermind of this micronation madness, strutting about as the "Ambassador" of these make-believe had four luxury cars decked out with fake diplomatic plates, because nothing screams "I'm legit" like a second-hand Merc with a dodgy licence plate. Add to that a haul of 12 "diplomatic passports" for his fantasy nations, forged documents stamped with the seal of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), two fake PAN cards, 34 rubber stamps of various countries and companies, and two counterfeit press also had Rs 44.7 lakh in cash just so minor inconveniences came knocking. A stash of foreign currency that could fund a small coup in Poulvia, if it were a real a Ghaziabad resident with a rap sheet that includes a 2011 case for possessing an illegal satellite phone, had a knack for playing dress-up. He allegedly morphed photos of himself with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former President APJ Abdul Kalam, and other global bigwigs to convince gullible folks he was a diplomatic heavyweight."Look, here I am with Modi ji, shaking hands like we're planning a G20 summit in Mordor Midlands!" you can almost hear him say. He targeted dreamers desperate for jobs abroad and companies chasing overseas deals. Jain promised them visas to the countries he had invented. STF suspects he ran a suspected hawala racket through shell companies to keep the cash let's look at some of his "micronations". Westarctica? Sounds like a rejected Marvel villain hideout. Saborga, Poulvia, Ladonia? They're not even on the dark web's travel itinerary. A micronation, for the uninitiated, is a self-declared "country" that no government or international body recognises. They are like a WhatsApp group declaring itself a sovereign however, sold these as real destinations, complete with "diplomatic" credentials. He even styled himself as Westarctica's "Baron," which is less a title and more a cry for a country where bureaucracy is a blood sport, Jain's hustle is both laughable and oddly admirable. He forged MEA seals, instead of some low-level patwari's. He knew few cops dare to stop and extort from diplomats so he got the vehicular equivalent of sticking a "VIP" sticker on your scooter. Jain's plan worked, at least for a while, because India loves a good someone you're an ambassador with a selfie next to Modi ji, and they'll hand over their life savings faster than you can say "visa approved."So, what's next? An FIR's been lodged at Kavi Nagar police station, and the STF is digging deeper. Jain's embassy of nowhere is crumbling, but the question lingers: how did he pull this off for so long?Maybe it's because, in Delhi, we're so used to embassies and CD numberplates, a fake embassy feels like just another problem is Jain opened one in Kavi Nagar, Ghaziabad. Had this been in South Delhi, he would be having a nice lunch at Habitat with a fellow diplomat. Because diplomats and consuls are all over the markets, only god and Delhi Police know how many are of countries invented by Jain's fellow diplomats.- EndsTrending Reel
