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Study finds warming world increases days when weather is prone to fires around the globe

WASHINGTON, February 19, 2026 (AP) — The number of days when the weather gets hot, dry and windy — ideal to spark extreme wildfires — has nearly tripled in the past 45 years across the globe, with the trend increasing even higher in the Americas, a new study shows. And more than half of that increase is caused by human-caused climate chang e, researchers calculated. What this means is that as the world warms, more places across the globe are prone to go up in flames at the same time because of increasingly synchronous fire weather, which is when multiple

Rupee rises 5 paise to close at 90.67 against US dollar

Mumbai, Feb 18 (PTI) The rupee rose 5 paise to close at 90.67 (provisional) against the US dollar on Wednesday driven by inflow of foreign funds and positive domestic equity markets. However, higher global crude oil prices and a strengthening greenback capped sharp gains in the local unit, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.60 against the US dollar and traded in a narrow range of 90.60-90.71 before settling at 90.67 (provisional), higher by 5 paise against its previous close. The rupee gained 2 paise to settle at 90.72 against the US dollar on

Stock markets close higher on fag-end buying in bank, metal shares

Mumbai, Feb 18 (PTI) Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty extended their gains for the third straight session on Wednesday, driven by last-hour buying in bank, metal, and FMCG shares. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 283.29 points, or 0.34 per cent, to settle at 83,734.25 in a volatile trade. During the day, it touched an intraday high of 83,770.05. The 50-share NSE Nifty gained 93.95 points, or 0.37 per cent, to close at 25,819.35. Among the Sensex firms, Tata Steel, ITC, Axis Bank, Reliance Industries, Mahindra & Mahindra, Larsen & Toubro, Bajaj Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Hindustan Unilever, State Bank of

EC officials flouting SC directives, issuing instructions on WhatsApp, alleges TMC’s Abhishek

Kolkata, Feb 18 (PTI) Hitting out at the Election Commission, senior TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee on Wednesday alleged that poll officials were continuing to flout Supreme Court directives by issuing directions to their subordinates through WhatsApp during the SIR exercise in West Bengal. Sharing purported screenshots of a WhatsApp group chat on X, Banerjee said SC has repeatedly emphasised transparency, due process, and adherence to official channels of communication. “Yet we are witnessing instructions being circulated over WhatsApp rather than through formal, traceable, and accountable mechanisms,” he said. He also questioned instructions sent by Special Roll Observer C Murugan directly

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