Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
[00:00:08] Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. These are the major news stories of Sunday, March 16, 2025. Two Nigerian women were arrested at Bengaluru airport with over 37 kilograms of MDMA worth 75 crore rupees, marking Karnataka's largest ever drug haul. The accused Bamba Fanta and Abigail Adonis were apprehended after arriving from Delhi with the drugs in their trolley bags. The authorities also seized four mobile phones, passports, and 18,000 rupees in cash.
[00:00:38] The women, who resided in Delhi, had been smuggling MDMA across India, making several trips to Mumbai and Bengaluru over the past year. Fanta arrived in India in 2020 on a business visa, while Adonis has been living in the country since 2016. A massive nightclub fire killed 51 people early Sunday in North Macedonia's eastern town of Kochani, and injured about 100 more, Interior Minister Panchay Toshkowski told a press conference.
[00:01:04] The blaze broke out around 2.35 am during a concert by a local pop group, according to Toshkowski. He said the young club goers used pyrotechnics that caused the roof to catch fire. Videos showed chaos inside the nightclub, with young people running through the smoke as the musicians urged people to escape as quickly as possible. A SpaceX capsule successfully delivered four astronauts to the International Space Station early on Sunday as part of a NASA crew swap mission.
[00:01:31] This arrival will enable astronauts Butch Wilmore and Sunita Williams, who have been stranded on the ISS for nine months, to finally return home. The crew 10 astronauts launched from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 7.03 pm ET on Friday and reached their destination approximately 29 hours later. Their space X crew Dragon capsule docked with the ISS at 12.04 am ET on Sunday, where they were greeted by the station's seven-member crew, including Wilmore and Williams.
[00:01:58] Wilmore and Williams are set to depart the ISS on Wednesday at around 4 am ET, accompanied by NASA astronaut Nick Haig and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Gorbanov. At least 33 people lost their lives, and dozens more were injured on Saturday as tornadoes and severe storms tore through the central United States, officials reported. In Kansas, eight people were killed in a massive crash involving more than 50 vehicles. According to local police, the accident was caused by low visibility during a severe dust storm.
[00:02:27] Missouri State Highway Patrol confirmed 12 storm-related deaths and shared images of boats stacked atop one another at a marina that was destroyed by the extreme weather. State police also reported widespread damage, including downed trees, power lines, and buildings, with several areas suffering the impact of tornadoes, thunderstorms, and large hail. U.S. President Donald Trump ordered large-scale military strikes against Yemen's Iran-backed Houthi group on Saturday in response to their attacks on Red Sea shipping, killing at least 31 people.
[00:02:57] The operation is expected to continue for several days. Trump also issued a strong warning to Iran, the Houthi's primary supporter, urging it to end its backing of the group immediately. He cautioned that if Iran posed a threat to the United States, America would hold it fully accountable and would not be lenient. On Sunday, the top commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards responded, stating that the Houthis operate independently and make their own strategic and operational decisions. That brings us to the end of this episode.
[00:03:26] Thanks for listening to Daily News Dose from On Manorama. This newscast is produced using AI Voice Tools. Follow on manorama.com for detailed updates on the latest news, and be sure to come back tomorrow.