Violent weather brought on by Storm Claudia killed three people and injured dozens in Portugal, authorities there said on Saturday, while in Britain rescue workers were organising evacuations due to heavy flooding in Wales and England.

Portugal and parts of neighbouring Spain have faced days of extreme conditions brought on by Storm Claudia, which had reached parts of Britain and Ireland by Saturday.

Rescue workers found the bodies of an elderly couple inside their flooded home in Fernao Ferro, across the River Tagus from Lisbon, on Thursday. They had apparently been sleeping and were unable to flee as the water rose during the night.

Indian public sector oil companies have signed a one-year deal to import Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, from the United States. In a social media post, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said the companies will import around 2.2 million tonnes per annum of LPG, which will be sourced from the US Gulf Coast. He said the government has been diversifying its LPG sourcing to provide secure, affordable supplies of LPG to the citizens. Mr Puri informed that a team of officials from Indian Oil Corporation, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited and Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited had visited the US and engaged in discussions with major US producers over the last few months.

The Minister underscored that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian PSU oil companies have been providing LPG at the lowest global prices to people in the country. Mr Puri emphasised that even as global prices soared by over 60 per cent last year, Prime Minister Modi ensured that the Ujjwala consumers continued to receive LPG cylinders at just 500 to 550 rupees, whereas the actual cost of the cylinder was over one thousand one hundred rupees. The Minister said the government of India incurred the cost of over 40 thousand crore rupees last year to ensure that the women of the country did not feel the burden of rising international LPG prices.

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among persons of age 15 years and above increased for the fourth successive month to 55.4 per cent in October this year, hitting a six-month high. The LFPR in rural areas also increased to 57.8 per cent last month while in urban areas it dipped to 50.5 per cent. LFPR is an estimate of the number of people actively engaged in the workforce, in Current Weekly Status (CWS).

According to Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) monthly labour force and unemployment data, India’s Unemployment Rate (UR), remained unchanged at 5.2 per cent in October, for individuals aged 15 years and above. As per the data, a marginal decline in the rural unemployment rate, from 4.6 per cent in September to 4.4 per cent last month, coupled with a moderate rise in urban UR from 6.8 per cent to 7.0 per cent, resulted in overall stability in the unemployment rate. The overall unemployment rate for female declined marginally to 5.4 per cent while the male unemployment rate remained stable at 5.1 per cent.

The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for individuals aged 15 years and above continued to rise, standing at 52.5 per cent led by rise in the female workforce in rural areas.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated India’s Asian Archery Championships 2025 medal winners on Monday for delivering the country’s best-ever result at the tournament, finishing with a total of 10 medals.

India clinched six gold medals, including a historic gold in the men’s individual recurve — the first for the country in 18 years.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister said, “Congratulations to our Archery team on their best ever performance at the Asian Archery Championships 2025. They have brought home 10 medals, including 6 Golds. Notable among these was the historic Recurve Men’s Gold after 18 years. At the same time, there were strong showings in individual events and successful Compound title defenses too. This is indeed a very special feat, which will motivate many upcoming athletes.”

The final instalment of the “Sincaraz” rivalry for 2025 went to Jannik Sinner.

The second-ranked Sinner beat top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (4), 7-5 for the ATP Finals trophy on Sunday in the sixth meeting this year between the two players who are dominating men’s tennis.

Sinner defended the title before his home Italian fans for only his second victory over Alcaraz this year after also beating the Spaniard in the Wimbledon final.

“It was an incredible season,” Sinner said. “To finish it this way, before my Italian fans, is very special for me.”

Alcaraz had already secured the year-ending No. 1 ranking and was contesting his first final at the event for the year’s top eight players.

Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD) on Monday sentenced deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina to death after finding her guilty of alleged crimes against humanity committed during last year’s student-led agitation that led to the fall of her Awami League government.

The three-member tribunal also delivered its judgment against two of Hasina’s aides — former home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal and former police chief Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun — over the same charges. Al-Mamun was produced before the tribunal.

The former Bangladesh prime minister was "found guilty on three counts" of preventing justice, ordering the killing of protesters and failing to take measures to stop punitive killings.

The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has successfully developed a new generation of Man-portable Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (MP-AUVs) designed to strengthen India’s naval mine countermeasure capabilities. The breakthrough comes from the Naval Science & Technological Laboratory (NSTL), Visakhapatnam, which led the development of the advanced underwater systems.

The MP-AUV system features multiple compact AUV units equipped with Side Scan Sonar and underwater cameras as primary payloads for real-time detection and classification of mine-like objects. The vehicles leverage onboard deep learning-based target recognition algorithms that enable autonomous classification, significantly reducing operator workload and accelerating mission timelines.

India has unveiled an ambitious plan to build the world’s deepest underwater laboratory in the Indian Ocean, a project that could redefine the country’s scientific presence in the deep sea over the next 25 years. Designed to operate at a depth of 6,000 metres, the proposed habitat aims to enable long-duration stays, advanced experimentation, and direct monitoring of one of the least explored regions of the planet.

According to Dr Balaji Ramakrishnan, Director of the National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), the journey will begin with a demonstrator module placed at a depth of 500 metres. Three scientists will be able to stay in this initial station for more than 24 hours, as reported by TOI. The facility will include an advanced life-support system and a docking arrangement for deep-sea vehicles. Officials describe the concept as the marine equivalent of the International Space Station.

Union Minister of State for Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh today said that India has emerged as the world’s 6th largest patent filer with over 64 thousand patents, out of which more than 55 per cent are by resident Indian innovators. Addressing the Annual Tech Fest in New Delhi, Dr Singh highlighted that the country has climbed up from 81st rank to 38th in the Global Innovation Index. He also lauded the country’s milestones such as Chandrayaan-3, the development of the world’s first DNA vaccine, indigenous antibiotics and others.

Furthermore, the Minister emphasized that in the rapidly transforming India, entrepreneurship, start-ups, skilling, and applied sciences are offering more opportunities than traditional government jobs. He also added that the government has ensured accessible funding, mentorship, and skill development pathways even for those without advanced degrees. The Ministry of Science and Technology informed that during the visit, Dr Singh interacted with students, examined their prototypes, and encouraged them to pursue innovation with confidence and entrepreneurial spirit.