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‘World’s most luxurious plane’: Trump unveils Qatari-gifted 747 Air Force One

Indian Express – World

12h ago

‘World’s most luxurious plane’: Trump unveils Qatari-gifted 747 Air Force One

Summary

US President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled a newly refurbished Air Force One, a Boeing 747-8i previously owned by Qatar, which will begin commissioning flights before taking over presidential travel duties early next month. The aircraft’s red, white and navy blue livery replaces the pale blue exterior that has marked Air Force One since the George H W Bush administration, a design that had been in use for nearly 40 years. Nobody even comes close.” The Express Global Desk at indianexpress.com which delivers authoritative, verified, and context-driven coverage of key international developments shaping global politics, policy, and migration trends. The desk focuses on stories with direct relevance for Indian and global audiences, combining breaking news with in-depth explainers and analysis. A major focus area of the desk is US immigration and visa policy, including developments related to student visas, work permits, permanent residency pathways, executive actions, and court rulings. The Global Desk also closely tracks Canada’s immigration, visa, and study policies, covering changes to study permits, post-study work options, permanent residence programmes, and regulatory updates affecting migrants and international students. All reporting from the Global Desk adheres to The Indian Express’ editorial standards, relying on official data, government notifications, court documents, and on-record sources. Core Team The Express Global Desk is led by a team of experienced journalists and editors with deep expertise in international affairs and migration policy: Aniruddha Dhar – Senior Assistant Editor with extensive experience in global affairs, international politics, and editorial leadership. Nischai Vats – Deputy Copy Editor specialising in US politics, US visa and immigration policy, and policy-driven international coverage. Mashkoora Khan – Sub-editor focusing on global developments, with a strong emphasis on Canada visa, immigration, and study-related policy coverage. ...

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‘World’s most luxurious plane’: Trump unveils Qatari-gifted 747 Air Force One

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Norway restricts AI use in schools, cites concerns over learning and cognitive skills

Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre on Friday said Norway is imposing a near-ban on the use of generative AI in elementary classes and restrictive usage for students admitted to higher education institutions, saying the measures are aimed at strengthening foundational learning skills and reducing excessive dependence on AI tools , impacting the learning curve of the students, news agency Reuters reported. To reverse the effects of the implementation of tablets and iPads, the legislation plans to use the funds to buy more books for the classroom, the government said. The Norwegian government plans to ban the usage of social media by younger children in April, following the framework implemented by Australia and other nations. (The article is curated by Salonee Kulkarni, who is an intern with The Indian Express) The Express Global Desk at indianexpress.com which delivers authoritative, verified, and context-driven coverage of key international developments shaping global politics, policy, and migration trends. The desk focuses on stories with direct relevance for Indian and global audiences, combining breaking news with in-depth explainers and analysis. A major focus area of the desk is US immigration and visa policy, including developments related to student visas, work permits, permanent residency pathways, executive actions, and court rulings. The Global Desk also closely tracks Canada’s immigration, visa, and study policies, covering changes to study permits, post-study work options, permanent residence programmes, and regulatory updates affecting migrants and international students. All reporting from the Global Desk adheres to The Indian Express’ editorial standards, relying on official data, government notifications, court documents, and on-record sources. Core Team The Express Global Desk is led by a team of experienced journalists and editors with deep expertise in international affairs and migration policy: Aniruddha Dhar – Senior Assistant Editor with extensive experience in global affairs, international politics, and editorial leadership. Nischai Vats – Deputy Copy Editor specialising in US politics, US visa and immigration policy, and policy-driven international coverage. Mashkoora Khan – Sub-editor focusing on global developments, with a strong emphasis on Canada visa, immigration, and study-related policy coverage. ...

Canada tightens citizenship-by-descent rules. Here’s who could be affected

Canada has tightened its citizenship-by-descent application standards under Bill C-3 (the “Lost Canadians” law), introducing new language in Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada’s (IRCC) Document Checklist (Form CIT 0014) on June 17, 2026 that bars applicants from relying solely on third-party genealogy records such as Ancestry.ca or FamilySearch printouts — a change that could affect tens of thousands of the 82,000 people currently in the processing queue. The Bill C-3 law, which received Royal Assent on November 20, 2025, and came into force on December 15, 2025, removed Canada’s first-generation limit on citizenship by descent, allowing Canadian citizens born abroad to pass citizenship to their children even when those children are also born abroad. The CIT 0014 update follows IRCC’s controversial issuance of surrender letters over the weekend of June 13-14, 2026, to “a few dozen” applicants who had already received Canadian citizenship certificates, a step that Immigration Minister Lena Metlege Diab has defended as necessary for documentary integrity, but which immigration lawyers have publicly contested, citing IRCC’s own checklist that explicitly permits “any other evidence” of citizenship and Federal Court precedents including Thompson v. The update formalises a standard IRCC had already been applying informally since at least mid-June, when the department ordered a number of recently approved citizenship certificates to be returned for review. The pause follows surrender letters sent to what IRCC described as “a few dozen” people who had already received citizenship certificates. As of June 10, 2026, approximately 82,000 people are waiting for citizenship certificate applications to be processed, up from 70,400 in May and 56,000 in April. How IRCC balances its tightened standards against its obligations to applicants who filed under the earlier rules is likely to shape the trajectory of the citizenship-by-descent programme going forward. Canada’s citizenship-by-descent route is closely watched by the large Indian-Canadian diaspora, many of whom have family members pursuing citizenship claims through Canadian-born or naturalised ancestors. Stricter documentary standards could particularly affect applicants relying on Indian civil registry records, which are not always centrally digitised, making certified original documents harder to source quickly. With inputs from Immigration News Canada, IRCC

General U.S. News3h ago

Trump’s DC makeover frenzy bewilders locals and visitors: ‘It’s like we’re under occupation’

From East Wing demolition and ‘restoration’ of reflecting pool to bridge and fountain renovations, US capital is ‘a different city right now’ On the edge of Lafayette Square, a landmark park near the White House, a scuffed sign proclaimed: “We are making DC safe and beautiful.” Julie, visiting Washington DC with her husband, Robert, to celebrate their recent marriage, was unconvinced. “The irony,” she said. “It’s neither safe, nor beautiful.” A chain-link fence surrounded the square, closing the site off from the public as it underwent refurbishment on the orders of Donald Trump . It is one of many locations across the city currently under renovation, or construction, as Trump tries to put his stamp on the capital in time for the US’s forthcoming 250th anniversary celebrations. Local preservationists say Julie’s withering verdict is widely shared. “It is a different city right now,” said Rebecca Miller, executive director of the DC Preservation League , a city heritage group. “There are visitors from out of town who are disappointed that they’re only here for a few days, and there’s so much construction going on at the moment. “This is a once-in-a-lifetime trip for some people, and to have it marred down with not being able to access certain sites can be really disappointing.” Among a flurry of expensive projects, the US president has ordered the East Wing of the White House demolished to make way for a massive ballroom. Recently disclosed figures reveal the work is projected to cost $600m, with half the bill footed by taxpayers, contradicting Trump’s claim that the price tag would be $400m and met by private donors. The National Park Service has been restoring fountains across the city, too, making them flow once again in time for the country’s birthday. The administration also commissioned a restoration of the reflecting pool on the National Mall, which links the Lincoln Memorial with the George Washington monument, to repair the effects of discoloring algae. And plans have been unveiled for a 250ft triumphal arch south of the Potomac River, near Arlington national cemetery, which critics say would transform Washington’s low-rise skyline for the worse. Wearing an “Elections Matter” T-shirt from a recent Bruce Springsteen concert, Roth called the exclusion area around the White House a denial of the free-speech values she taught her three children. “They didn’t like George W Bush, but my husband and I explained to them what was meant by freedom: that you are allowed to protest and speak your mind,” she said. “So they stood in front of the White House and gave the thumbs down. About 600 letters of objection have been sent to the US Commission of Fine Arts, while congressional Democrats have introduced legislation to defund the project on the ground that it does not seek approval of Congress. The White House argues that such approval is already granted under a 1925 report allowing for two 166-columns connected to the Arlington Memorial Bridge.

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‘World’s most luxurious plane’: Trump unveils Qatari-gifted 747 Air Force One

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Norway restricts AI use in schools, cites concerns over learning and cognitive skills

Canada tightens citizenship-by-descent rules. Here’s who could be affected

Trump’s DC makeover frenzy bewilders locals and visitors: ‘It’s like we’re under occupation’