Ahmedabad, June 9: A high-level delegation from Gujarat, led by State Sports Minister Harsh Sanghavi, on Monday, held a series of key meetings in London aimed at forging new partnerships in sports, health and infrastructure.

The delegation met with Catherine West, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State at the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, to discuss collaboration opportunities.

The Gujarat delegation extended an invitation to Catherine West to visit the state to further strengthen the UK–Gujarat ties.

During a detailed session with officials from Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences, the team explored four specific collaboration areas: academic sports curriculum development with faculty and student exchange, training of sports coaches, sports event management, and podium strategies for selected disciplines.

The possibility of Loughborough University establishing a city campus in Ahmedabad was also discussed.

To gain insights into the infrastructure side, the delegation visited iconic venues such as the O2 Arena and Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

The focus was on studying multi-use sports facility models and the growing “concert economy”, exploring how live music events can drive local economic growth.

Sustainability in stadium design and operations was another key area of interest.

Meanwhile, speculations about Ahmedabad potentially hosting the Olympics in the future have been gaining traction in recent years, especially after the city was chosen to host the 2036 National Games and with India officially bidding for the 2036 Summer Olympics.

The Narendra Modi Stadium — the world’s largest cricket stadium — and the development of the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Sports Enclave have positioned Ahmedabad as a serious contender for the mega sporting event.

Government officials and sports authorities have hinted at the city being the centerpiece of India’s Olympic aspirations, citing its infrastructure readiness, international connectivity, and the Central government’s backing.

If selected, Ahmedabad could become the first Indian city to host the Olympics, marking a major milestone in the country’s sporting and urban development history.

However, the final decision rests with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the competition remains stiff with several other countries in the fray.

Washington, June 7: US President Donald Trump planned to sell the red Tesla car he said he bought in March, according to local media reports.

Citing the New York Times, the media reported that Trump had bought the car to show his support for Elon Musk amid criticism of his role in the administration.

“Administration officials said Mr Trump showed little interest in engaging with Mr Musk, even after the billionaire signalled he would be open to de-escalating the fight” they currently have, the report added.

Late Thursday, Musk backed off a threat to “immediately” decommission SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft, which transports NASA astronauts and supplies to and from the International Space Station.

A short time later, when Bill Ackman, the hedge-fund billionaire, posted on social media that the two men “should make peace for the benefit of our great country,” Musk responded, “You’re not wrong.”

“For Musk, a prolonged feud with Trump could be hugely expensive,” noted the report. His companies, including SpaceX, have benefited from billions of dollars in government contracts and were positioned to receive billions more.

On Thursday, Trump threatened to end those contracts.

The feud is risky for Trump as well, it added. Musk, the world’s richest person, who spent about 275 million US dollars to help elect Trump in 2024, had promised to give 100 million dollars to groups controlled by the president’s team before the 2026 midterms.

Those funds have yet to be delivered and are now very much in doubt.

This also comes against the backdrop of Elon Musk’s threat, which he later retracted, to cut off NASA’s use of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft would be a huge blow to NASA, depriving the space agency of the only American vehicle capable of transporting astronauts to the International Space Station and dramatically changing how NASA would access the $100 billion orbiting laboratory, The Washington Post has reported.

The threat, posted on X, came during an escalating fight between the wealthiest man in the world and President Donald Trump, after Trump had threatened to cancel all of Musk’s company’s federal contracts.

“Given SpaceX’s importance to multiple federal programs, severing those relationships could leave NASA as well as the Pentagon and intelligence agencies in a lurch,” noted the report.

Several hours after making the threat, Musk relented, saying in response to a post on X that he should cool off and reconsider: “Ok, we won’t decommission Dragon.”

Sydney, June 6: A man has been hospitalised with serious injuries following a targeted shooting in the Australian state of Queensland.

The Queensland Police Service said on Friday that emergency services were deployed to a house in Parkwood, 65 kilometres southeast of Brisbane, around 7:50 p.m. on Thursday in response to reports that a man had sustained gunshot wounds to his leg and other injuries to his hand.

According to media, the 21-year-old man was found at the scene with serious injuries and was taken to hospital in a stable condition.

A police statement said that initial inquiries indicated that the incident was a targeted shooting and that there was no ongoing threat to the public.

An investigation into the attack was ongoing and police commenced a search for the perpetrator.

In a separate incident, Australian police are investigating a fatal stabbing in a remote outback mining town west of Sydney.

Emergency services were called to conduct a welfare check at a home in Broken Hill, over 900 kilometers from Sydney in the far west outback of the state of New South Wales (NSW), just after 11:50 p.m. on Thursday.

Police officers arrived at the scene where they found a man, believed to be aged in his 40s, with stab wounds to his neck.

He was treated by ambulance paramedics but could not be revived and was declared deceased.

Local police established a crime scene at the house and have commenced an investigation into the man’s death with assistance from the NSW Homicide Squad.