NEW DELHI: The semi-government agency behind India’s national identity card project on Saturday denied a report by news website ZDNet that the program has been hit by another security lapse that allows access to private information.
ZDNet reported that a data leak on a system run by a state-owned utility company, which it did not name, could allow access to private information of holders of the biometric “Aadhaar” ID cards, exposing their names, their unique 12-digit identity numbers, and their bank details.
But the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), which runs the Aadhaar program, said “there is no truth in this story” and that they were “contemplating legal action against ZDNet.”
“There has been absolutely no breach of UIDAI’s Aadhaar database. Aadhaar remains safe and secure,” the agency said in a statement late on Saturday.
“Even if the claim purported in the story were taken as true, it would raise security concerns on database of that utility company and has nothing to do with the security of UIDAI’s Aadhaar database,” it said.
Earlier, experts warned on Saturday that India risks a national security disaster unless the country’s identity database is made more secure.
The security analysts were commenting in the wake of a claim made by ZDNet that there was a new leak in the Aadhaar database, which stores the identity and biometric details of more than a billion citizens.
In a report late on Friday night, technology news website ZDNet claimed there was a data leak on a system run by a state-owned utility company.
ZDNet did not name the utility, but in a detailed explanation of the flaw said the leak allowed anyone to download private information on all Aadhaar holders. That includes names, unique 12-digit identity numbers, and information about services, such as the bank accounts and utilities.
All companies require Aadhaar to first match the account holder with the names in the Aadhaar database through an API to verify identity.
According to the ZDNet report, the utility failed to secure the API. Based on this, the report claimed that it was possible to retrieve private data on each Aadhaar holder, regardless of whether they are a customer of the utility provider or not, it said.
“There is a flaw in the system and the first step has been breached,” said Tarun Wig, co-founder Innefu Labs, a security services company in Delhi.
Any agency that deals with Aadhaar, including service providers such as mobile phone companies, has an API so it can match the customer’s identity with the database, Wig said.
“There is no way you can protect that first step since there’s no way to stop companies from storing the information,” he said. “What you can protect is the information associated with the number that you’re giving to external agencies.”
Banks should only know the Aadhaar number of their registered accounts and, similarly, mobile phone companies should know only the Aadhaar number of their users and not have access to their biometrics, Wig said.
He said another way to secure the system is to not let any companies hit the Aadhaar database directly — as is the case now. The browser-based API should be moved to the client’s server, he advised.
“The government has come too far to go back on Aadhaar,” said Wig. “And its benefits outweigh the cons, so now the focus should be to remove the vulnerabilities and make it more secure.”
In January, India’s Tribune newspaper reported that for 500 rupees it had bought unrestricted access to the entire Aadhaar database from anonymous sellers on the messaging app Whatsapp.
For an extra 300 rupees, it could get a software to print Aadhaar cards.
The government has maintained that the Aadhaar database is completely secure.
Aadhaar, or the unique identity number, was introduced by India’s previous UPA-led government. Initially, the idea was that all accounts that receive government subsidies should be linked with their unique identity number, a step toward plugging leaks in the system and ensuring that the subsidies went to the correct beneficiaries.
However, the current Narendra Modi-led government decided to extend that idea to all sectors — as a result, every service provider from mobile phones to bank accounts and e-wallets required consumers to link their respective accounts to Aadhaar.
That exercise is on hold while India’s top court decides on its legality.
Indian agency denies reported security lapse in ID card project
Indian agency denies reported security lapse in ID card project
‘Stranded’ NASA astronaut backs Musk in rescue row
- Musk recently clashed online with Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen, who accused him of lying in a Fox News interview
- Musk’s response to Mogensen included a slur for people with intellectual disabilities, sparking backlash from the space community
Wilmore and fellow astronaut Suni Williams were originally scheduled for an eight-day mission, but their return was complicated when the Boeing Starliner spacecraft they were testing was deemed unsafe for the journey home.
Their prolonged stay has recently become a point of contention, with Musk and President Donald Trump accusing Biden’s administration of abandoning the pair to avoid making Musk look like a savior.
“I can only say that Mr. Musk, what he says is absolutely factual,” said Wilmore, a former Navy test pilot. He admitted he wasn’t privy to the ins and outs of the drama, but added, “I believe him. I don’t know all those details.”
Musk recently clashed online with Danish astronaut Andreas Mogensen, who accused him of lying in a Fox News interview when he claimed the astronauts were abandoned for “political reasons.”
Mogensen pointed out that, since the Boeing Starliner was deemed unsafe for return with people aboard, NASA had planned for months to bring Wilmore and Williams back on the SpaceX Crew-9 mission, which arrived at the ISS in September with two spare seats.
No alternative plan has been publicly discussed, and Crew-9’s return has been delayed by SpaceX itself due to setbacks in preparing the Dragon spacecraft for Crew-10, now scheduled for launch on March 12.
Interrupting the standard crew rotation would also be a deviation from protocol, and extended astronaut stays are not unprecedented.
In 2023, Frank Rubio became the first NASA astronaut to spend over a year in space after a meteoroid damaged the Russian Soyuz spacecraft he rode up on.
Similarly, after the Columbia disaster in 2003, when a shuttle disintegrated during re-entry, NASA suspended flights for two years, forcing astronauts to rely on Soyuz and extend their missions.
Musk’s response to Mogensen included a slur for people with intellectual disabilities, sparking backlash from the space community. Former NASA astronauts Scott and Mark Kelly defended Mogensen and criticized the SpaceX founder.
“Obviously, we’ve heard some of these different things that have been said,” Wilmore commented. “We have the utmost respect for Mr. Musk, and obviously respect and admiration for our president of the United States, Donald Trump. We appreciate them... and we’re thankful that they are in the positions they’re in.”
Wilmore’s remarks come just days after acting NASA administrator Janet Petro raised eyebrows by stating the agency aimed to put “America first,” echoing Trump’s political slogan.
“We’re going to be putting America first, we’re making America proud, we’re doing this for the US citizens,” she said before a private Moon lander touched down on Sunday — a notable shift from NASA’s longstanding stance that its space achievements were “for all mankind.”
Investigators will question a driver who allegedly rammed a car into a crowd in Germany, killing 2
- The suspect is a 40-year-old German man from the nearby state of Rhineland-Palatinate who was detained and is in a hospital after being injured
- Police and prosecutors said the driver shot himself in the mouth when he was arrested and had to undergo medical treatment at a hospital
MANNHEIM, Germany: Investigators on Tuesday will question a driver who allegedly rammed a car into a crowd in the southwestern German city of Mannheim, killing two people and injuring 11.
Andreas Stenger, head of the State Criminal Police Office, told German news agency dpa that police hope the interview with the perpetrator will lead to information about a motive for Monday’s attack.
Mourners, including Sara Stefini, left flowers in the city’s center Tuesday to honor the victims.
“It’s where I live, the center of my life,” a tearful Stefini told dpa at the impromptu memorial.
The suspect is a 40-year-old German man from the nearby state of Rhineland-Palatinate who was detained and is in a hospital after being injured, State Interior Minister Thomas Strobl of Baden-Württemberg, which includes Mannheim, told dpa on Monday.
Strobl later told reporters in Mannheim that “as far as the specific motivation of the crime is concerned, we have no indication of an extremist or religious background at the moment. The motivation could rather be based in the person of the perpetrator himself.”
German police and prosecutors said Monday at a joint news conference that the driver intentionally rammed his car into people and is being investigated for murder and attempted murder. Five of the 11 injured were seriously hurt.
Police and prosecutors said the driver shot himself in the mouth when he was arrested and had to undergo medical treatment at a hospital.
While the driver did not seem to be ideologically motivated, prosecutors said that the man, whose identity was not revealed in line with German privacy rules, has several previous convictions.
He served a short prison sentence for assault more than 10 years ago, and was convicted for drunken driving. He had also been investigated for a hate speech offense on Facebook in 2018, for which he was fined, prosecutors said without giving further details.
Investigators are also looking into the possibility that the driver may suffer from psychological problems.
Cars have been used as deadly weapons in several acts of violence in recent months in Germany.
Police spokesperson Stefan Wilhelm said a vehicle drove into people on Paradeplatz, a pedestrian street downtown, around noon, when workers come out for lunchbreaks. Local media reported a carnival market was taking place, meaning more visitors than usual in Mannheim, which has a population of 326,000.
Friedrich Merz, who likely will become Germany’s next chancellor, wrote on X that “the incident — as well as the terrible acts of the past few months — is an urgent reminder that we must do everything we can to prevent such acts.”
Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz wrote on X that “we mourn with the families of the victims of a senseless act of violence.”
Last month, a 2-year-old girl and her mother died two days after they were injured in a car-ramming attack on a union demonstration in Munich. A 24-year-old Afghan man who came to Germany as an asylum-seeker was arrested, and prosecutors said he appeared to have an Islamic extremist motive.
Smoke grenades tossed in Serbian parliament, lawmaker suffers stroke
- A live TV broadcast showed black and pink smoke billowing inside the parliament
- Vucic later said authorities would hold all those deputies involved in the fracas to account, calling it “hooliganism“
BELGRADE: Serbian opposition lawmakers threw smoke grenades and used pepper spray inside parliament on Tuesday to protest against the government and to support demonstrating students, with one legislator suffering a stroke during the chaos.
Four months of student-led demonstrations, sparked by the deaths of 15 people when a railway station roof collapsed, have drawn in teachers, farmers and others to become the biggest threat yet to President Aleksandar Vucic’s decade-long rule, with many denouncing rampant corruption and incompetence in government.
At the legislative session, after the ruling coalition led by the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) approved the agenda, some opposition politicians ran from their seats toward the parliamentary speaker and scuffled with security guards.
Others tossed smoke grenades and used pepper spray. A live TV broadcast showed black and pink smoke billowing inside the parliament, which has seen brawls before, in the decades since the introduction of multi-party democracy in 1990.
Vucic later said authorities would hold all those deputies involved in the fracas to account, calling it “hooliganism.”
Under Serbian law, parliamentary deputies enjoy immunity from prosecution but can lose it if they commit serious crimes.
POLITICIAN HURT
Speaker Ana Brnabic said three lawmakers were injured and one, Jasmina Obradovic of the SNS party, had suffered a stroke and was hospitalized.
Zlatibor Loncar, the Health Minister later said Obradovic was in a serious condition.
As the session continued, ruling coalition politicians debated while opposition lawmakers whistled and blew horns.
Opposition deputies also held signs reading “general strike” and “justice for those killed,” referring to those who died when the station roof collapsed in the city of Novi Sad last November.
Outside parliament hundreds of protesters stood in silence to honor those killed. Protest leaders called for a major rally in the capital Belgrade on March 15.
The ruling coalition says Western intelligence agencies are trying to destabilize Serbia and topple the government by backing the protests.
“We have a proposal ... to have a transitional government,” Radomir Lazovic of the opposition Green-Left Front told supporters in front of the parliament.
The opposition says a transitional government should secure conditions for free and fair elections, but Vucic and his allies have so far rejected that demand.
“This was a failed attempt of the ruling coalition to show it is in control ..., and (there’s) a potential for an escalation,” Radivoje Grujic, a Warsaw-based consultant told Reuters, commenting on the parliamentary session.
Parliament was due to adopt a law increasing funds for universities — one of the main demands of protesting students.
But other items put on the agenda by the ruling coalition including the one about noting the resignation of Prime Minister Milos Vucevic angered the opposition.
The session has been adjourned and is due to resume on Wednesday.
Pope stable with no new respiratory crises but will sleep with ventilation mask, Vatican says
- In its late update, the Vatican said Francis had no further respiratory episodes during a day spent praying, resting and undergoing respiratory physiotherapy
- Doctors said that they would put the noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask back on him while he sleeps
ROME: Pope Francis was in stable condition Tuesday and breathing with just the help of supplemental oxygen after respiratory crises a day earlier, but will resume using a ventilation mask at night, the Vatican said.
In its late update, the Vatican said Francis had no further respiratory episodes during a day spent praying, resting and undergoing respiratory physiotherapy.
Doctors said that they would put the noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask back on him while he sleeps, but that during the day he was only using high flows of supplemental oxygen.
Doctors said his prognosis remains guarded, meaning he is not out of danger.
Pope Francis stabilized enough after two respiratory crises to resume using a nasal tube for oxygen, rather than a ventilation mask, as he continued to fight pneumonia, the Vatican said earlier on Tuesday.
The 88-year-old pope, who has chronic lung disease and had part of one lung removed as a young man, woke up after sleeping through the night. The fact that Francis no longer needed the mask by Tuesday morning was a sign of some improvement after crises that required doctors to extract “copious” amounts of mucus from his lungs.
But the doctors’ prognosis remained guarded, meaning he was not out of danger.
The Vatican said as of Tuesday morning, Francis no longer needed to wear the noninvasive mechanical ventilation mask that covers his nose and mouth to pump oxygen into his lungs and was just receiving high flows of supplemental oxygen through a nasal tube.
Francis suffered two respiratory crises a day earlier. Doctors performed two bronchoscopies, in which a camera-tipped tube was sent into his airways with a sucker at the tip to suction out fluid. The pope remained alert, oriented and cooperated with medical personnel during the crises, the Vatican said.
His medical team has not provided an in-person update on his condition since Feb. 21, a sign of the up-and-down nature of his hospitalization, the longest of his 12-year papacy.
Argentines pray for the pope at hospital
On Tuesday, a group of Argentines from the country’s embassies in Rome brought a statue of Our Lady of Lujan to the Gemelli hospital to pray for Francis. The Argentine pope is particularly devoted to the blue veiled Lujan Madonna, which has been revered in Argentina since the 17th century.
“I am very happy to be now close to him,” said the Rev. Fernando Laguna, parish priest of the Argentine church in Rome. “I would like to hug him, but it’s not possible, but he told us that a prayer is like a hug So I am happy despite the pain.”
Vatican prepares for Lent without Francis
Francis’ treatment comes as the Vatican prepares for Lent, the solemn period leading up to Easter on April 20. As it is, a cardinal has been designated to take Francis’ place this week on Ash Wednesday, which opens Lent with a traditional service and procession in Rome. The pope was also supposed to attend a spiritual retreat this coming weekend with the rest of the Holy See hierarchy.
On Tuesday, the Vatican said the retreat would go ahead without Francis but in “spiritual communion” with him. The theme, selected weeks ago and well before Francis got sick, was “Hope in eternal life.”
Francis, who is not physically active, uses a wheelchair and is overweight, had been undergoing respiratory physiotherapy to try to improve his lung function. The accumulation of secretions in his lungs was a sign that he doesn’t have the muscle tone to cough vigorously enough to expel the fluid.
Doctors often use noninvasive ventilation to stave off intubation or the use of more invasive mechanical ventilation. Francis has not been intubated during this hospitalization. It’s not clear if he has provided any instructions on the limits of his care if he declines seriously or loses consciousness.
Catholic teaching holds that life must be defended from conception until natural death. It insists that chronically ill patients, including those in vegetative states, must receive “ordinary” care such as hydration and nutrition, but “extraordinary” or disproportionate care can be suspended if it is no longer beneficial or is only prolonging a precarious and painful life.
Francis articulated that in a 2017 speech to a meeting of the Vatican’s bioethics think tank, the Pontifical Academy for Life. He said there was “no obligation to have recourse in all circumstances to every possible remedy.” He added: “It thus makes possible a decision that is morally qualified as withdrawal of ‘overzealous treatment.’”
Zelensky calls Oval Office spat with Trump ‘regrettable,’ says he’s ready to work for peace
- Zelensky’s remarks — an apparent attempt to placate Trump — came in a social media post on X
- Comments came hours after the White House announced a pause in military aid to Ukraine that is critical to fighting Russia’s invasion
KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Tuesday the Oval Office blowup with US President Donald Trump last week was “regrettable,” adding that he stands ready to work under Trump’s “strong leadership” to get a lasting peace.
Zelensky’s remarks — an apparent attempt to placate Trump — came in a social media post on X, hours after the White House announced a pause in military aid to Ukraine that is critical to fighting Russia’s invasion,
He also said Ukraine is ready to sign a lucrative deal on rare-earth minerals and security with Washington.
In an apparent reference to Trump’s criticism following the contentious White House meeting on Friday that Zelensky does not want a peace deal, the Ukrainian leader said: “None of us want an endless war.”
“Ukraine is ready to come to the negotiating table as soon as possible to bring lasting peace closer. Nobody wants peace more than the Ukrainians. My team and I stand ready to work under President Trump’s strong leadership to get a peace that lasts,” he said.
The meeting “did not go the way it was supposed to be,” Zelensky said. “It is regrettable that it happened this way. It is time to make things right. We would like future cooperation and communication to be constructive.”
The US decision to pause military aid catapulted his country into alarm and apprehension. Zelensky’s statement came before Trump was expected to address the US Congress later Tuesday.
“Regarding the agreement on minerals and security, Ukraine is ready to sign it in any time and in any convenient format,” Zelensky said. “We see this agreement as a step toward greater security and solid security guarantees, and I truly hope it will work effectively.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer spoke to the Ukrainian leader Tuesday and “welcomed President Zelensky’s steadfast commitment to securing peace.”
Zelensky’s post came as officials in Kyiv said they were grateful for vital US help in the war and want to keep working with Washington. Ukraine’s prime minister, though, said the country still wants security guarantees to be part of any peace deal and won’t recognize Russian occupation of any Ukrainian land. Those are potential stumbling blocks for Washington and Moscow, respectively.
Ukraine and its allies are concerned Trump is pushing for a quick ceasefire that will favor Russia, which Kyiv says cannot be trusted to honor truces.
A White House official said the US was “pausing and reviewing” its aid to “ensure that it is contributing to a solution.” The order will remain in effect until Trump determines that Ukraine has demonstrated a commitment to peace negotiations, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the assistance.
The pause in US aid isn’t expected to have an immediate impact on the battlefield. Ukrainian forces have slowed Russian advances along the roughly 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line, especially in the fiercely contested Donetsk region some 700 kilometers (400 miles) east of Kyiv. The Russian onslaught has been costly in troops and armor but hasn’t brought a strategically significant breakthrough for the Kremlin.
Ukraine needs help to fight Russia
Ukraine, which depends heavily on foreign help to hold back Russia’s full-scale invasion that began on Feb. 24, 2022, has feared that aid could be stopped since Trump took office.
US-made Patriot air defense missile systems, for example, are a pivotal part of protecting Ukraine. Just as vital is US intelligence assistance, which has allowed Ukraine to track Russian troop movements and select targets.
“I feel betrayed, but this feeling is not really deep for some reason. I was expecting something like that from Trump’s side,” said a Ukrainian soldier fighting in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a daring military incursion in August 2024 to improve its hand in negotiations. The soldier spoke by phone to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
On the front line, where Ukraine is struggling to fend off the much larger and better-equipped Russian army, another soldier said the US decision would allow further battlefield gains for Moscow.
“War is very pragmatic,” he told AP, speaking on condition of anonymity in compliance with military regulations. “If we have weapons, enough ammunition, infantry, armored vehicles and aviation — great. If not, then we’re done,” he said.
He recalled a seven-month delay in US aid that ended in April 2024 but opened a door for the Russian capture of the strategically important city of Avdiivka.
Olena Fedorova, 46, of the southern port city of Odesa, said she hoped Trump’s decision would be temporary because “we really need help.”
US support is vital because Europe cannot fully provide what Ukraine needs in air defense systems, said lawmaker Yehor Chernov. “As a result, this will lead to an increase in the number of casualties among civilians,” he said.
The US suspension of military aid is already being felt at a hub in eastern Poland that has been used to ferry Western weapons into neighboring Ukraine, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said.
The US-Ukraine relationship has taken a downturn since Trump took office and his team launched bilateral talks with Russia.
Trump had vowed during his campaign to settle the war in 24 hours, but later changed that time frame and voiced hope that peace could be negotiated in six months.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said US help is “vital” and has saved “perhaps tens of thousands” of civilian and military lives. But he emphasized that any peace agreement must be “on Ukraine’s terms, as the victim country.”
Ukraine wants “concrete security guarantees” from Washington, European countries and Group of Seven leading industrialized nations, he said. Giving up territory to Russia, which occupies nearly 20 percent of Ukraine, “is not possible” under the UN Charter, he said.
European allies stress support for Kyiv
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Washington’s decision could act as a spur to a peace agreement.
“The US has been the chief supplier in this war so far,” Peskov said. “If the US suspends these supplies, it will make the best contribution to peace.”
Poland’s Foreign Ministry said the US had not consulted with or informed NATO countries before announcing the pause.
Russia will likely try to use the halt in supplies to extend its territorial gains and strengthen its position in prospective peace talks.
Russia’s state RIA Novosti news agency quoted Andrei Kartapolov, a retired general who chairs the defense committee in the lower house of parliament, as saying Ukraine would exhaust its current ammunition reserves within months. “We need to keep up the pressure and continue to target their bases and depots with long-range precision weapons to destroy the stockpiles,” he said.
Ukraine’s European allies, meanwhile, reaffirmed their commitment to Kyiv.
The chief of the European Union’s executive proposed an 800 billion euro ($841 billion) plan to bolster defenses of EU nations and provide Ukraine with military muscle.
The British government, which has been leading European efforts to keep Trump from pushing to end the war on terms that could favor Moscow, said it remains “absolutely committed to securing a lasting peace in Ukraine.”
Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense think tank, said Washington’s move could encourage Russia to ask for more Ukrainian concessions, including demilitarization and neutrality.
