THE United Nations (UN) World Population Prospects report released on the occasion of the World Population Day on Monday (11) projects a further two-and-a-half billion people to be added to the global population.
The world population is projected to peak 10.4 billion in the 2080s.
The population of the world is set to touch the eight-billion mark on November 15 this year.
Robin Maynard, director of UK-based international population campaigning charity Population Matters, responded to the projections, told UK-based charity Population Matters, “It is very welcome to see the UN projecting a lower and earlier peak in population growth. High population growth is a red flag for injustice and human suffering: occurring where people are poor, where infant mortality remains high, where too few girls finish school and where women cannot freely access and use modern contraception.
“The bending down of the population curve means better lives and greater choices for a greater proportion of people on a healthier planet.
“But these are projections, not predictions, and future progress is under grave threat. Redoubled efforts, investment and commitment to tackle the injustices that lead to high population growth are more critical than ever before.
“In high-income countries like the UK there will be grave mutterings of ‘sub-replacement’ fertility, ageing populations, dependency ratios, and ‘pension crises’. These are genuine but exaggerated, ‘first world’, challenges that are predictable and can be adjusted for.
“In the rich world, our environmental impact is the heaviest – in terms of our energy footprint, each UK citizen is equivalent to a 10-tonne King Kong stomping about the countryside. Old school ‘growth’ economists and short-termist politicians raise alarmist notions of ‘economic collapse’, but our planet will be breathing a sigh of relief that there are fewer such mega-consumers being born.
“Discussion about population growth must recognise and prioritise the challenges of the majority world, where women lack choice over their family size, where the evidence of ecosystem collapse is indisputable, and where people are currently least equipped to contend with it.”
The UN projects its population will increase from 67.4m in 2022 to a peak of 71.6m in 2073.
Campaigners, activists, health providers and experts from countries such as Nigeria, India, Guatemala and Uganda also spoke on the matter.
Chidera Benoit, executive director of Population Explosion Awareness Initiative in Nigeria, said, "Africa is the hotbed of massive population growth: Nigeria is on the front line. Despite efforts to increase family planning in Nigeria by donors, the number of women with unmet need is still high. There was no provision for funding meant for family planning in the Nigerian 2022 budget. Funding family planning in Nigeria and Africa will help slow the exponential growth rate and in turn help mitigate climate change."
The UN projects Nigeria's population to more than double this century, increasing from 215 million today to 374 million in 2050 and 545 million in 2100. It will overtake the US to become the world’s third-largest country in 2050.
Dr Suchitra Dalvie, co-ordinator, Asia Safe Abortion Partnership, said, “Future predictions of demographic figures may not be able to take into account water shortages, realities of upcoming issues and impacts of pandemics like COVID 19. We are looking at a future of water shortages, climate change as well as a possible change in migration patterns all of which would affect a population.
"We need to remember the commitments we made at ICPD 1994 to protect individual sexual and reproductive rights and not to put 'population' ahead of people, and see how each of the climatic changes are going to impact their lives as a whole.”
Asia’s population is projected to grow from 4.78 billion in 2022 to 5.3 billion in 2057, and then decline to 4.65bn by 2100.
Bernarda Jimenez, monitoring and evaluation coordinator at WINGS Guatemala, said, “Large families require more resources, while family planning allows for the possibility of considering if it’s better to have one or six children. People have to eat, they have to heat their food. That results in more deforestation. If there are fewer people, that gives the Earth a chance to regenerate. In the [Mayan] cosmovision, there is an integral respect for Mother Earth. Large international mining corporations also create damaging impacts to the environment and our health.
“So many children during the reproductive life of a woman undoubtedly has an impact on her development, her possibility to earn a better income and her quality of life. With a smaller family, you won’t need more land to cultivate corn, you won’t cut down the forest. There will be harmony. Our resources are connected to what we choose to do with our family size.
"In WINGS, we say that everything starts with reproductive rights and being conscious of choosing when to have children, as well as how many.”
Guatemala’s population is projected to increase from 17.7 million in 2022 to 24 million in 2050.
Nyombi Morris, Ugandan climate campaigner and CNN Environmentalist of Tomorrow, said, “Global North countries continue to put pressure on our biodiversity and human communities, exacerbating food and water shortages, reducing resilience in the face of climate change, and making it harder for vulnerable groups to rise out of intergenerational poverty.
"Meanwhile, with this growing population and the demands that come with it we need to put plans in place to make sure we remain self-reliant. Here in Uganda, we are seeing inflation, more protests over salaries and unemployment, more deforestation, mining, pollution, unsustainable human settlements, biodiversity loss and all the consequences of climate change.
“This is the time when the population conversation matters most. When laws on women's rights are being broken and women have no say on their bodies, then we need more support in gender empowerment, especially sexual and reproductive healthcare, and equitable life opportunities for young girls and women. We also need to start addressing the connection between human population pressure and the extinction crisis. We need an economy that doesn’t rely on endless growth, and a societal commitment to improve living conditions for all species.”
The UN projects Uganda’s population will almost double over the next 30 years, rising from 46.6 million in 2022 to 86.9 million in 2050 and 131 million in 2100.
Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of the Population Foundation of India, said, “These numbers are not drastically different from the UN's earlier projections in World Population Prospects 2019. They add to the mounting evidence that there is no ‘population explosion’ here, and that India should continue to steer clear of coercive methods of population control. Instead, our approach should be that of protecting the reproductive rights of women, for which it is essential to educate and empower them.
Currently, about 9.4 per cent of Indian women have an unmet need for contraception, which means that approximately 22 million women want to stop or delay childbearing but do not have access to a method of contraception. Our focus should be on providing women of all communities access to family planning services while maintaining quality of care.”
The UN projects that India's population will rise from 1.4 billion today to 1.67 billion in 2050 and peak in 2064 at just under 1.7 billion.
Neha Saigal, an Indian climate and gender activist, said, “India's recent National Family Health Survey, revealed that our Total Fertility Rate for the first time was below replacement level for the first time, at 2.0. That was definitely historic in some sense. It was an important time to reflect that moving forward, the bigger problem that India will have to deal with is not its population growth but growing inequalities based on caste, class and gender. The same survey that celebrates India's TFR also points out that only 41% of women had access to 10 or more years of schooling.
“India will see its population growth reverse later this century, and the challenge for us will be ensuring equitable development for that population, especially education and opportunities for girls from vulnerable communities to reach their full potential which will be critical to mitigate and adapt to the climate crisis.”
INDIA has moved some of its citizens, including students, to safer locations in Iran following days of deadly Israeli strikes. The Indian embassy in Tehran is monitoring the situation and coordinating with local authorities to help Indian nationals amid the ongoing conflict between Iran and Israel.
"The Indian embassy in Tehran is continuously monitoring the security situation and engaging Indian students in Iran to ensure their safety," said a statement from the ministry of external affairs. "In some cases, students are being relocated with (the) embassy's facilitation to safer places within Iran."
The ministry said there are around 10,000 Indian nationals in Iran, including more than 2,000 students, according to government data from last year and 2022, respectively.
Iran closed its airspace after the Israeli attacks began on Friday. India, which maintains diplomatic relations with both Iran and Israel, has urged restraint. "Existing channels of dialogue and diplomacy should be utilised," said foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. On Friday, India said it was ready “to extend all possible support” to both sides.
Casualties reported on both sides
Iran's health ministry reported that at least 224 people had been killed in Israeli strikes since Friday, while Israeli authorities confirmed more than a dozen deaths following retaliatory Iranian attacks. Israel's Magen David Adom emergency service said five people had been killed and 92 wounded in the latest Iranian missile barrage.
Iran launches missile strikes on Tel Aviv
Iran launched missile strikes early Monday on Israeli cities, including Tel Aviv and areas near Haifa, in retaliation for Israeli attacks on Iranian military targets over the weekend. Israeli military officials said the strikes targeted missile sites in central Iran. AFP images showed damage to residential areas in Tel Aviv, while explosions were reported in Jerusalem.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they had “successfully” struck Israeli targets and warned of “effective, targeted and more devastating operations” if attacks continued.
‘A heavy price’ for targeting civilians, says Netanyahu
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Iran of targeting civilians and warned of consequences. “Iran will pay a very heavy price for the premeditated murder of civilians, women and children,” he said during a visit to a missile-hit residential building in Bat Yam, near Tel Aviv.
Iranian state media said five people were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in central Tehran on Sunday. Iran’s armed forces spokesperson Colonel Reza Sayyad warned Israel to evacuate the occupied territories, saying they “will certainly no longer be habitable in the future”.
Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian called for national unity in response to Israeli attacks. “Stand strong against this genocidal criminal aggression with unity and coherence,” he said while addressing parliament.
Tensions rise as global leaders call for restraint
Former US president Donald Trump said the United States was not involved in the Israeli strikes but warned of consequences if American interests were attacked. “Sometimes they have to fight it out, but we’re going to see what happens,” Trump told reporters on Sunday.
A senior US official told AFP that Trump had discouraged Israel from targeting Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. “President Trump was against it and we told the Israelis not to,” the official said.
Israeli defence minister Israel Katz said Tehran would “pay the price” for attacks on Israeli civilians. Iranian foreign minister Abbas Araghchi claimed Tehran had “solid proof” of US support for the Israeli attacks and said Iran’s response was to “aggression”.
“If the aggression stops, naturally our responses will also stop,” Araghchi said in a meeting with foreign diplomats.
Iran cancelled nuclear talks with the US and called negotiations “meaningless” during active hostilities. The Iranian judiciary announced on Monday that a convicted Mossad agent had been executed. Meanwhile, Israel said it had detained two individuals with alleged links to Iranian intelligence.
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US law enforcement officials in Minnesota caught the suspected killer of a Democratic state lawmaker and her husband on Sunday, authorities said, ending a two-day manhunt.
The suspect, 57-year-old Vance Boelter, allegedly disguised himself as a police officer, then shot and killed Democratic state representative Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark at their home early Saturday.
Boelter was captured in Sibley County, a rural area where the murders had occurred about an hour southwest of Minneapolis, police and state officials said.
"After (a) two-day manhunt, two sleepless nights, law enforcement have apprehended Vance Boelter," Minnesota Governor Tim Walz told a late-night news conference.
Police described the search as the "largest manhunt in (the state's) history", with 20 SWAT teams and several agencies working to find him.
Jeremy Geiger, assistant chief of the Minnesota State Patrol, told reporters that Boelter had been "taken into custody without the use of force."
Before the murders, Boelter also allegedly attacked two others nearby -- Senator John Hoffman and his wife Yvette, who survived and were treated for serious injuries, authorities said.
"The latest news is Senator Hoffman came out of his final surgery and is moving toward recovery," Walz told reporters.
Hoffman was shot nine times and Yvette eight times, according to US Senator Amy Klobuchar.
Political motive suspected in targeted killings
A notebook containing the names of other lawmakers and potential targets was found inside a car left by Boelter at the Hortmans' home, which Drew Evans, head of the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, said earlier Sunday was not a "traditional manifesto."
"I am concerned about all our political leaders, political organizations," Klobuchar said Sunday.
"It was politically motivated, and there clearly was some throughline with abortion because of the groups that were on the list, and other things that I've heard were in this manifesto. So that was one of his motivations."
As speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 2019 to January 2025, Hortman was committed to legislation that protected reproductive rights in the state, local media reported.
Leaders warn violence must not become the norm
The United States is bitterly divided politically as President Donald Trump embarks on his second term, implementing hardline policies and routinely insulting his opponents. Political violence has become more common.
Trump himself survived an assassination attempt last year, with a second attempt foiled by law enforcement.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro's home was set on fire this year.
An assailant with a hammer attacked the husband of then-US House speaker Nancy Pelosi in 2022.
"(This is) a moment in this country where we watch violence erupt," Walz said after the arrest.
"This cannot be the norm. It cannot be the way that we deal with our political differences."
US Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, who was attacked by a neighbor in 2017, told NBC that "nothing brings us together more than... mourning for somebody else who's in political life, Republican or Democrats."
The shootings came on the day a dramatic split screen showed a country divided: hundreds of thousands of protesters across the United States took to the streets to rally against Trump as the president presided over a military parade in Washington -- a rare spectacle criticized as seeking to glorify him.
Trump has condemned the attacks in Minnesota on the lawmakers and their spouses.
The president was asked in a Sunday interview with ABC News if he planned to call Walz, who was Kamala Harris's running mate in the election Trump won last year.
"Well, it's a terrible thing. I think he's a terrible governor. I think he's a grossly incompetent person," Trump said.
"But I may, I may call him, I may call other people too."
Leena Nair, the India-born CEO of Chanel, was honoured with a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) by Prince William at a ceremony held at Windsor Castle. The recognition, part of the 2025 King’s New Year Honours list, acknowledges her outstanding work in the global retail and consumer industry, particularly her strong leadership in steering one of the world’s most iconic fashion houses into a new era.
Nair’s rise to the top has been anything but conventional. When she was appointed as Chanel’s global CEO in 2022, she became the first non-white person to lead the 112-year-old French luxury brand. What made her journey even more unusual was her background, not in fashion, but in human resources. Before joining Chanel, she spent nearly 30 years at Unilever, eventually becoming its youngest-ever and first female Chief Human Resources Officer.
Chanel CEO Leena Nair smiles after receiving the prestigious UK honourGetty Images
Driving growth and redefining Chanel’s future
Under her leadership, Chanel has posted impressive growth despite wider industry challenges. In 2023, the brand reported a 16% rise in revenue and nearly 11% increase in operating profit, expanding its footprint and hiring more than 36,000 people worldwide. She has also brought in new creative leadership, appointing designer Matthieu Blazy to shape Chanel’s next chapter.
Nair’s focus hasn’t just been on sales. She has championed sustainability through the company’s Mission 1.5° climate goals and increased the Fondation Chanel’s annual philanthropic budget to £80 million (₹8.5 billion).
British Asian trailblazer Leena Nair recognised for global leadershipGetty Images
From Kolhapur to Chanel: a story of grit and vision
Born in the small town of Kolhapur in Maharashtra, Nair was raised in a middle-class Indian household. She studied engineering before discovering her passion for human resources at XLRI Jamshedpur. At Unilever, she broke multiple barriers and led major inclusion efforts before taking the leap into fashion.
Leena Nair’s CBE adds to her growing influence in global luxury fashionGetty Images
Receiving the CBE places her alongside prominent British Asians like London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was also recognised recently. As Chanel prepares to move into its new London headquarters in 2026, Nair’s leadership is already being seen as a model for the next generation, proof that it’s possible to honour tradition while building a more inclusive future.
The UK government has appointed Blaise Metreweli as the first-ever woman to head its MI6 spy service as the country faces "threats on an unprecedented scale", Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Sunday.
The MI6 Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) achieved global fame through Ian Fleming's fictional agent James Bond.
Metreweli will be the 18th head of the service, Starmer's Downing Street office said in a statement.
"The historic appointment of Blaise Metreweli comes at a time when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital," Starmer said.
"The United Kingdom is facing threats on an unprecedented scale -- be it aggressors who send their spy ships to our waters or hackers whose sophisticated cyber plots seek to disrupt our public services," he added.
The MI6 chief is the only publicly named member of the organisation and reports directly to the foreign minister.
The person in the post is referred to as "C" -- not "M" as in the James Bond franchise, which already had a woman, played by Judi Dench, in the role.
Metreweli will take over from outgoing MI6 head Richard Moore in the autumn.
Currently, she is MI6's director general -- known as "Q" -- with responsiblity for technology and innovation at the service, the statement said.
She is described as a career intelligence officer who joined the service in 1999 having studied anthropology at Cambridge University.
Metreweli held senior roles at both MI6 and the MI5 domestic intelligence service and spent most of her career in "operational roles in the Middle East and Europe", the statement added, without giving further biographical details.
The appointment comes over three decades after MI5 appointed its first female chief.
Stella Rimington held the position from 1992-1996, followed by Eliza Manningham-Buller from 2002-2007.
The UK intelligence and security organisation GCHQ appointed its first woman chief, Anne Keast-Butler, in 2023.
Soldiers carry the coffin of Vijay Rupani, former chief minister of India's Gujarat, who was killed in the Air India flight 171 crash, during his funeral ceremony in Ahmedabad on June 16, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)
INDIAN health officials have begun returning bodies to families after the Air India crash in Ahmedabad that killed 270 people, but most relatives were still waiting for confirmation through DNA testing as of Monday.
Of the 279 total deaths, including casualties on the ground, 87 DNA samples have been matched and 47 bodies handed over, according to officials. The Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner had 242 people on board when it crashed on June 12 shortly after takeoff from Ahmedabad for London, killing 241 of them. Another 29 people died on the ground, including five medical students.
“They said it would take 48 hours. But it's been four days and we haven't received any response,” Rinal Christian, 23, whose elder brother was a passenger on the jetliner, told AFP. “My brother was the sole breadwinner of the family. So what happens next?”
Authorities said victims were from different districts of Gujarat including Bharuch, Anand, Junagadh, Bhavnagar, Vadodara, Kheda, Mehsana, Arvalli and Ahmedabad.
Several families have begun holding funerals. In Anand district, crowds gathered for the procession of 24-year-old passenger Kinal Mistry. Her father Suresh Mistry said she had delayed her travel, adding, “She would have been alive” if she had taken her original flight.
In Ahmedabad, the funeral of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani was held with full state honours. His body was identified through DNA testing, and a day of state mourning was declared in Gujarat on Monday. His remains were taken to his hometown Rajkot, where chief minister Bhupendra Patel met the family.
“The DNA sample of former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani matched at 11.10 am,” said India's minister of state for home Harsh Sanghvi.
Among the British nationals, 42-year-old Elcina Alpesh Makwana became the first to be identified and her remains returned. Her funeral was held in Vadodara. Her husband and two children, aged seven and 11, attended a Roman Catholic service.
Air India said the passengers included 169 Indians, 53 British nationals, seven Portuguese and one Canadian. There were 12 crew members on board.
Investigators are working to determine the cause of the crash. The aircraft went down shortly after takeoff, crashing into a medical college complex and bursting into flames. At least 38 people were killed on the ground.
Witnesses reported seeing badly burnt bodies and scattered remains. An AFP photographer saw dozens of workers in yellow hard hats clearing debris from the site.
“This is a meticulous and slow process, so it has to be done meticulously only,” said Dr Rajnish Patel of Ahmedabad’s civil hospital.
One survivor, British citizen Vishwash Kumar Ramesh, was pulled from the wreckage. His brother was also on the flight.
Another person, Bhoomi Chauhan, said she survived after missing the flight. “The airline staff had already closed the check-in,” she told PTI. “If only we had left a little earlier, we wouldn’t have missed our flight.”
Black box recovery and aircraft inspections
Authorities announced on Sunday that the cockpit voice recorder — the second black box — had been recovered, offering potential insight into the crash. India's aviation minister Ram Mohan Naidu Kinjarapu said Saturday that decoding the flight data recorder should “give an in-depth insight” into the circumstances.
Indian authorities have not yet identified the cause and have ordered inspections of other Dreamliner aircraft in Air India's fleet.
One of Air India’s Dreamliners returned to Hong Kong airport on Monday after the crew “requested local standby” shortly after takeoff, the Airport Authority Hong Kong told AFP.
Imtiyaz Ali, who is still waiting for a DNA match for his brother, said the airline had not acted quickly enough.
“I’m disappointed in them. It is their duty,” he said. “Next step is to find out the reason for this accident. We need to know.”