Incessant rains have wreaked havoc in Chhattisgarh's Bastar, claiming four lives after a car was swept away in Jheeram Ghati, officials said on Wednesday.

The victims -- a couple and their two children from Tamil Nadu -- died after their vehicle was washed away while trying to cross the swollen Jheeram Nala on National Highway 30.

According to officials, the incident occurred on Tuesday when a car carrying five people attempted to cross the flooded stretch. While the driver managed to save himself by jumping out, the family was trapped inside and swept away by the strong current.

After an 18-hour-long rescue operation by the district administration and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), the car was recovered on Wednesday with all four bodies inside.

Adults with cardiovascular disease must be immunised against conditions such as Covid-19, influenza, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), pneumonia, herpes zoster (shingles), and other diseases, according to new recommendations released by the American College of Cardiology (ACC).

The guidance also provides detailed evidence for each vaccine recommendation and answers to frequently asked questions to guide conversations between clinicians and patients.

“Vaccination against communicable respiratory diseases and other serious diseases is critical for people with heart disease, but barriers exist to ensuring people are educated on which vaccines to get, how often to get them, and why they are important,” said Paul Heidenreich, chair of the CCG writing committee.

Common painkillers like ibuprofen and acetaminophen are quietly fueling antibiotic resistance -- one of the world's biggest health threats, according to a study.

Researchers from the University of South Australia found that ibuprofen and acetaminophen are not only driving antibiotic resistance when used individually but also amplifying it when used together.

The team assessed the interaction of non-antibiotic medications, the broad-spectrum antibiotic ciprofloxacin, and Escherichia coli (E. coli) -- a common bacterium that causes gut and urinary tract infections.

The findings, published in the journal npj Antimicrobials and Resistance, showed that ibuprofen and acetaminophen significantly increased bacterial mutations, making E. coli highly resistant to the antibiotic.

At least 25 passengers lost their lives and 27 others sustained injuries when a bus overturned in the west of the Afghan capital Kabul, on Wednesday morning, an official from the Ministry of Interior Affairs reported.

The incident occurred in the Arghandi area, along the highway linking southern Kandahar to Kabul, and was caused by reckless driving, Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the ministry, told news agency.

Police and emergency services quickly responded, transporting the injured to nearby health centres for treatment, Qani added.

This accident follows a devastating week for road safety in Afghanistan, with around 100 fatalities reported. The deadliest incident took place early this week in western Herat province, when a passenger bus caught fire after colliding with a truck, leaving 79 dead, including women and children.

People with Type 2 obesity-driven diabetes tend to have more aggressive breast cancers. A new study showed that blood factors drive breast cancer aggression.

Researchers at Boston University, US, showed that tiny particles in the blood -- known as exosomes -- get altered by diabetes. These exosomes can reprogramme immune cells inside tumours, making them weaker and allowing the cancer to grow and spread more easily.

“Breast cancer is already challenging to treat, and people with type 2 diabetes have worse outcomes, but clinicians don’t fully understand why,” said corresponding author Gerald Denis, Professor at BU.

“Our study reveals one possible reason: diabetes changes the way the immune system works inside tumours. This could help explain why current treatments, like immunotherapy, don’t work as well in patients with diabetes. Knowing this opens the door to better, more personalised treatments for millions of people,” Denis added.

Following the landslide along the route to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)'s Reasi district, the Ministry of Home Affairs has deployed 17 teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) for a large-scale rescue and relief operation.

A major tragedy struck on the pilgrimage route to the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi shrine in Reasi district on Tuesday when a landslide killed 30 pilgrims and injured 14 others, officials said.

The National Disaster Response Force, along with the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), Border Security Force (BSF) and other central agencies, is actively engaged in relief efforts.

A total of 32 special boats have been sent by air, along with the teams, to the disaster-hit region.

Hundreds of villages in Punjab along the swollen Satluj, Beas, and Ravi rivers were flooded on Wednesday, severely affecting life and damaging crops after the floodgates of the Bhakra and Pong dams were opened. The inflow into these reservoirs had alarmingly increased due to torrential rains in their catchment areas, mainly Himachal Pradesh.

Rescue and evacuation of people are currently underway by teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). The worst-affected districts are Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur and Jalandhar.

Authorities, however, said the inflow in the reservoirs declined significantly compared to Tuesday, with the decline in the rainfall activity.

The flood gates of both dams, which serve the irrigation requirements of Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan, were opened to lower the reservoir level.

With the opening of the floodgates, a flood-like situation prevailed mainly in Punjab’s Ropar, Anandpur Sahib and Hoshiarpur districts and Himachal’s Kangra district.

Heavy rainfall in the hills has led to a flood-like situation in the Sujanpur area of Pathankot, Punjab, as rising water levels in the Ravi River forced dam authorities to release excess water on Wednesday.

The discharge came after the river crossed the danger mark, inundating large parts of the region and severely impacting daily life.

In Sujanpur, the UGDC canal overflowed due to the sudden surge, pushing floodwaters onto roads and highways. Affected areas, including stretches of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in neighbouring state J&K, now resemble flowing rivers, bringing traffic to a standstill and isolating several localities.

A local resident shared, “A lot of water has accumulated here. The administration is working, but the public is facing severe difficulties in commuting as the water level is very high...”

India's e-commerce industry, which is expected to grow by 20–25 per cent annually which is nearly double the pace of the previous year, is expected to generate over Rs 1.15 lakh crore in gross merchandise value (GMV) this festive season, a report has said.

Repo rate cuts, increased disposable income, growing rural affluence, and pent-up demand across categories like fashion, home goods, and appliances are all helping India's festive economy prepare for its most successful run this year, according to a report by Redseer Strategy Consultants.

Redseer predicts that India's e-commerce industry, which will be the biggest beneficiary this festive season, will close 2025 with 17–22 per cent growth, the highest in three years, thanks to festive tailwinds.

The Union Government is finalising the roadmap and outlay for Carbon Capture, Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) mission to curb greenhouse gas emissions and support net-zero goals by 2070, according to Rajnath Ram, advisor for energy, natural resources and environment, Niti Aayog.

"We are working on finalising the mission roadmap. Discussions are also on to finalise the total outlay," Niti Aayog official said at an event.

He also called for long-term supply contracts for liquefied natural gas (LNG) to boost gas consumption to 180-200 billion cubic meters by 2030, aiming for a 15 per cent energy mix share. This requires a two to threefold increase in LNG consumption.