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Two ESA spacecraft successfully recreated solar eclipses from space to study the sun’s blazing corona.
Two spacecraft have achieved a rare milestone: recreating a total solar eclipse in space. The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Proba-3 mission released the first images on June 16 from a successful test where one satellite blocked the sun’s light, allowing the other to capture the blazing outer atmosphere—the corona. Unlike fleeting eclipses on Earth, this artificial version offers prolonged, repeated observations. “We could see the corona without any special image processing,” said Andrei Zhukov of the Royal Observatory of Belgium. “It was just visible there, like during a natural total solar eclipse.”

As per ESA reports, the Proba-3 spacecraft orbits Earth in an elliptical path, up to 60,000 kilometres at the far end. During alignment, they float a mere 150 metres apart, one satellite casting an accurate shadow on the other. This method allows scientists to block the sun’s brightly radiant disk and view the faint, million-degree corona, which is some 200 times hotter than the sun’s visible surface and can be observed only during total eclipses. The middle layer is where scientists think answers to why this outer region is so blisteringly hot may be found.

So far, the twin satellites have completed nine test eclipses, with the goal of performing two per week. While natural eclipses only happen every 18 months or so and last just a matter of minutes, Proba-3 could replicate an eclipse every 20 hours and prolong it for up to six hours. This capability gives scientists a unique opportunity to investigate in detail the solar corona’s dynamic and magnetic activity.

Fatima Sana Shaikh’s latest picture with Vijay Varma added more fuel to their dating rumours

Fatima Sana Shaikh’s latest Instagram post has everyone talking. The actress has shared pictures and a video from a fun night out at Umrao Jaan’s special screening. What caught everyone’s attention is that the album features Fatima’s rumoured beau, actor Vijay Varma. 

The opening frame features Fatima sitting on Rekha’s lap. Next, we see a selfie. Jackie Shroff, Tabu, Vijay Varma and Fatima making goofy faces as they pose for the lens. 

Sharing the pictures, Fatima Sana Shaikh wrote, “Watched Umrao Jaan on the big screen..and what a surreal experience it was. Every time Rekha ji appeared, all of us gasped. Her eyes, her stillness, her grace… uff! It’s impossible to look away. I am in love with her. She is magic. And it was beautiful to see the industry come together to celebrate her.”

Besides Brazil, PM Modi will visit Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia during the eight-day trip, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a five-nation tour beginning July 2 to participate in the BRICS Summit in Brazil and expand India’s ties with several key nations of the Global South.

Besides Brazil, PM Modi will visit Ghana, Trinidad and Tobago, Argentina, Brazil, and Namibia during the eight-day trip, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

In the first leg of the visit, PM Modi will undertake a visit to Ghana from July 2 to 3.

This will be the prime minister’s first ever bilateral visit to Ghana. It will be the first prime ministerial visit from India to Ghana in three decades.

During the visit, PM Modi will hold talks with the president of Ghana to review the strong bilateral partnership and discuss further avenues to enhance it through economic, energy, and defence collaboration, the MEA said.

From Ghana, PM Modi will travel to Trinidad and Tobago on a two-day visit from July 3 to 4.

It will be the first visit by an Indian prime minister to the country since 1999.

During the visit, PM Modi will hold talks with President of Trinidad and Tobago Christine Carla Kangaloo and Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar. He is also expected to address a joint session of the parliament of the island nation.

The visit of the prime minister to Trinidad and Tobago will impart fresh impetus to the deep-rooted and historical ties between the two countries, the MEA said.

In the third leg of his visit, PM Modi will visit Argentina from July 4 to 5.

The prime minister will hold wide-ranging talks with President Javier Milei to further enhance India-Argentina partnership in key areas including defence, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, trade and investment, according to the MEA.

Speaking at another event, Nagarjuna had called Rashmika Mandanna a “powerhouse of talent”

Rashmika Mandanna was flooded with compliments by industry stalwarts like Nagarjuna and Chiranjeevi at the success meet of her latest release Kuberaa. Nagarjuna compared her to the versatile Sridevi, while Chiranjeevi called her “crush”.

• Rashmika’s latest film Kuberaa minted Rs 50 crore in three days within its release. The makers organised a special event to celebrate the feat.
• The Kuberaa cast Dhanush, Rashmika, Nagarjuna, Jim Sarbh were present at the event. Chiranjeevi was also a part of the event.
• “Watching Rashmika on screen made me think of Sridevi Garu from Kshana Kshanam. Really, so many frames and so well,” Nagarjuna said. 
• He added, “I mean it’s no wonder that Pushpa has earned her the nickname National Crush. Because of this movie, she is in fact, now Nag’s crush also. I loved you. You look amazing in the movie. We all love you.” 
• Videos from the event have gone already viral. Rashmika is seen blushing as she’s showered with such compliments. 
• Chiranjeevi, meanwhile, shared, “Nag, you quoted my dialogue. In addition to being your crush, Rashmika is also my crush.” 
• Speaking at another event, Nagarjuna had called Rashmika Mandanna a “powerhouse of talent”. He said, “None of us are 2000-3000 crore actors, guys. This is the one. This is the one who beat all of us!”

Kuberaa had an overall 28.37% Telugu Occupancy on June 24.

Dhanush’s latest offering, Kuberaa, arrived in the theatres on June 20. After an impressive weekend collection of more than Rs 45 crore, the film showed signs of a dip in working days. 

Kuberaa minted Rs 5.50 crore on its first Tuesday, reported Sacnilk. With this, the total collection of the crime drama now stands at Rs 60.90 crore. 

According to the report, Kuberaa had an overall 28.37% Telugu Occupancy on June 24. It received the maximum occupancy from the night shows at about 35.84%, followed by the evening shows at 32.21%, afternoon shows at 28.12%, and the lowest from the morning shows saw just 17.31%.

Earlier this week, the makers hosted Kuberaa‘s success meet and invited Chiranjeevi as the Chief Guest. In his speech, the veteran actor showered praise on the entire team but singled out Dhanush for his performance in the film.

“With this visit, my journey to all twelve Jyotirlinga temples comes to a divine close,” the actor wrote

Actor Vishnu Manchu, who plays the lead in director Mukesh Kumar Singh’s upcoming magnum opus, Kannappa, has now announced that the journey he had undertaken to visit all the 12 holy Jyothirlingas, situated across the country, had come to a divine close with his darshan at the Sri Sailam Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple.

Taking to his social media timelines to make the announcement, he wrote, “Twelve Jyotirlingas. One journey. Eternal peace. Just completed the sacred darshan at Sri Sailam Mallikarjuna Swamy Temple — one of the twelve revered Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva. With this visit, my journey to all twelve Jyotirlinga temples comes to a divine close.”

Rashmika wrote, “A character I have never played before, a world have never stepped into”

Rashmika Mandanna announced the title of her Pan-India film Mysaa on Friday. A blood-smeared Rashmika’s fierce look will surely make an impact on your mind.

• After teasing her viewers with an oblique image of herself in the first poster, Rashmika Mandanna announced the title of her new film with another gripping poster.
• In the poster, a blood-smeared Rashmika Mandanna is seen sporting a sword (with bloodstains on it) and looking into the camera fiercely.
• She described her character and wrote, “I always try to give you something new… something different… something exciting.. And this… This is one of those…
• “A character I’ve never played before… a world I’ve never stepped into… and a version of me that even I hadn’t met till now..
• “It’s fierce.. it’s intense and it’s extremely raw.. I am so nervous and super excited, I genuinely cannot wait for you to see what we’re going to be creating.. This is just the beginnin.”

Kajol Can’t Save Maa From a Weak NarrativeFronted solidly by Kajol in the guise of a woman who fights fiercely to prevent her daughter from falling prey to an old curse that hangs over the family and their village, Maa is a confused concoction. Faith, fear and feudalism flow into a feminine fable both fantastical and feeble.  

The mythological drama pans out in a remote Bengal village – its name is a Punjabified ‘Chandarpur’ and not ‘Chandrapur’ as it would be pronounced and spelled by a Bengali – off a forest that nobody dares to enter.   

Maa forgets what it wants to be – a straight up horror movie or a mish-mash of many things ranging from a good-versus-evil tale to a celebration of a benign, doting mother’s power to be destructive when her child is threatened by a force she can barely comprehend. 

Forty years ago, twins, a male and a female, are born in an aristocratic home on the night of Kali Puja. The birth of the boy is greeted with joy all around. The girl is taken away and done to death under a massive banyan tree that is destined to become a key ‘character’ in the story and spread its tentacles way beyond the jungle.  

The killing of the girl unleashes a curse that casts a shadow on all young village girls on the cusp of adulthood. They are hounded by a daitya (demon), a personification of a fearsome giant tree that spreads terror around the zamindar’s mansion that is now up for sale.  

Javed Akhtar extended his support and said the Censor Board and government should be a little more sympathetic towards the film’s release in India

Indian screenwriter, lyricist, and poet Javed Akhtar recently in conversation with NDTV Creators Manch, addressed the ongoing Diljit Dosanjh controversy over his Punjabi film Sardaar Ji 3,

When asked about Diljit Dosanjh starring alongside Pakistani actress Hania Aamir in Sardaar Ji 3, and the backlash he received, Javed Akhtar said that he wasn’t aware when the movie was shot.

On being told that the makers say it was shot before the Pahalgam attack earlier this year, he said, “Ab kya karein bechara. The movie was shot earlier. Usko pata toh nahi tha ki aisa hoga. 

He adds, “Usko pehle pata hota yeh hone wala hain, toh woh thodi na leta Pakistani actress. I think the government and the censor board should look at the situation with a little sympathy. And say that don’t do this again, but since you made this film before, then release it. But it should not happen again.”

The White House signaled trade progress with China on Thursday, with an official saying both sides have reached an understanding on issues including expediting rare earth shipments to the United States.

After talks in Geneva in May, Washington and Beijing had agreed to temporarily lower steep tit-for-tat tariffs on each other’s products.

China also committed to easing some non-tariff countermeasures, but US officials later accused Beijing of violating the pact and slow-walking export license approvals for rare earths.

Both sides eventually agreed on a framework to move forward with their Geneva consensus following talks in London this month.

On Thursday, a White House official told AFP that President Donald Trump’s administration and China have “agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement.”

This clarification came after Trump told an event that Washington had “just signed” a deal relating to trade with China, without providing further details.

Asked about Trump’s remarks on Bloomberg TV, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick referred to the London negotiations, saying the framework deal — which needed top-level approval — has now been “signed and sealed.”

Separately on Thursday, the White House also indicated that Washington could extend a July deadline when steeper tariffs impacting dozens of economies are due to kick in.

While Trump imposed a sweeping 10 percent levy on most trading partners this year, he unveiled — then halted — higher rates on dozens of economies while negotiations took place.

That pause is set to expire July 9.

“The deadline is not critical,” she said. “The president can simply provide these countries with a deal if they refuse to make us one by the deadline.”

This means Trump can “pick a reciprocal tariff rate that he believes is advantageous for the United States,” she said.

Lutnick told Bloomberg TV that Washington will announce some deals in the next week or so.

“Those who have deals will have deals, and everybody else who’s been negotiating with us, they’ll get a response from us,” he said.

“July 9 will go forward. And as the president said, if people want to come back and negotiate further, they’re entitled to, but that tariff rate will be set, and off we’ll go,” Lutnick added.

On the progress of trade negotiations, Leavitt added that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer is “working very hard” and has had “good and productive discussions with many of our key trading partners.”