The Department of Justice has indicted former FBI Director James Comey over a social media post he shared last year showing seashells arranged to spell out the numbers "86 47." The DOJ argues the post constitutes a death threat against President Trump, as "86" is sometimes used as slang for eliminating or killing someone, and "47" refers to Trump as the 47th president. This is the second time the Trump administration has moved to prosecute Comey. The first attempt did not result in a conviction. The new indictment marks a significant escalation in the use of federal criminal charges against a former senior law enforcement official. Comey led the FBI from 2013 until Trump fired him in 2017, a move that triggered the appointment of a special counsel. His prosecution raises immediate questions about the boundary between protected political speech and criminal threats under federal law. The case will likely center on whether the post meets the legal threshold for a "true threat," a standard the Supreme Court clarified in recent years. How courts interpret Comey's intent and the post's context will determine the outcome.
India's government plans to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act to restore UPI merchant discount rates, ending the zero-MDR regime in place since January 2020.
India's government has introduced the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposing changes to payments regulation, income tax, and the Finance Act to attract FDI and support Make in India. The Bill's final shape will depend on parliamentary debate and committee review.
The government's Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposes to replace the blanket UPI MDR ban with a system allowing the Centre to notify which payment modes stay fee-free.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Rs 5,000 crore Bhogapuram greenfield airport in Andhra Pradesh, built under a public-private partnership model. He also laid foundation stones for infrastructure projects worth nearly Rs 18,000 crore in the state, signalling a broad investment push for the region.
