A humanoid robot performing at a university dance event in China startled the crowd when it unexpectedly hugged a female student, prompting a debate about AI safety and autonomous behaviour.
China's latest defence budget surges to $275 billion, fueling its ambitious military modernisation program and intensifying geopolitical dynamics in the region.
China has welcomed the appointment of Vikram Doraiswami as the new Indian Ambassador, expressing optimism for improved Sino-India relations. Doraiswami, a seasoned diplomat with experience in China, is expected to play a key role in managing complex bilateral issues and fostering cooperation.
Despite a 21 per cent minimum wage hike in parts of Uttar Pradesh, factory workers in India, particularly in states like Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, continue to experience wages below the national average and a widening disparity compared to supervisors and managers.
Which are the world's most vital straits, important to shipping?
Karex, the Malaysian company that makes roughly one in five of the world's condoms -- about five billion a year, supplying Durex and Trojan among others -- announced this week that it is raising prices by up to 30 percent. The reason is the Strait of Hormuz.
The cost of the war is being counted not in the corridors of power in Washington or Tehran, but in Firozabad's darkened furnace rooms, Howrah's idle casting sheds, and a barbershop in Kochi where the wait is suddenly, inexplicably, an hour long, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Trump also called upon China, France, and Japan, among others, to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
The purge in Washington does not pause the war. Strikes continue, Hormuz remains closed, and Brent crude is still dancing around $109 a barrel. For India, the command chaos in the Pentagon is another layer of uncertainty piled on five weeks of conflict that was already straining every buffer Delhi has.
The question is whether the clocks allow enough time for two deeply mistrustful sides to get there, and whether the surface calm holds long enough for the paddling to produce something before the ceasefire ends on April 22, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
The 'rescue' operation occurred within kilometres of Iran's underground tunnel complex at Isfahan, assessed by the IAEA and US intelligence as holding a substantial portion of the country's 60 per cent enriched uranium stockpile. Retired senior US military officers have highlighted that the mission's footprint -- hundreds of special operators, multiple heavy-lift aircraft deep inside Iran -- appears outsized for recovering a single airman. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
China has made serious inroads into Latin America, which the US may now be hinting is simply not ok: Stay in your lane, Xi! In simple terms, China will no longer have access to Venezuelan oil, points out Rajeev Srinivasan.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the Iran conflict and its impact on global energy supplies during a phone call.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The United States, which entered this war in expectation of a short, sharp win along the Venezuela model, is now preparing for deeper involvement in a conflict it does not fully control, without the allies it typically relies on, against an adversary that is not behaving as expected, in a global environment that is already absorbing economic shock. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
'India is at a critical juncture in this century. I want to be a part of the diplomatic team that works to make India great.'
Will rising tensions between US-Israel and Iran threaten crude oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, putting India's fuel prices, imports, and economic stability at risk?
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
'Nobody explained why. After that there was panic buying, there was hoarding -- and then nothing reached us.'
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
According to www.budgetyourtrip, Asia is home to some of the world's priciest travel destinations.
Unidentified miscreants smashed a window and threw "petrol or similar substance" inside before igniting the blaze
Silver and gold prices snapped a two-day rebound and declined sharply up to 10 per cent in the futures trade on Thursday amid weak trends in the international markets and a strong US dollar.
What we are watching is something different: A fog manufactured and maintained by the people who started the war, so that the question of why it was started never has to be answered, observes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the war in the Middle East.
Chinese airline China Eastern is set to begin its Delhi-Shanghai flight from Sunday, days after IndiGo's flight to Guangzhou from Kolkata, marking the resumption of the flight services between the two countries after a gap of five years.
India has joined the US-led 'Pax Silica' alliance, aimed at building a resilient supply chain for critical minerals and artificial intelligence, marking a significant step in strengthening bilateral ties and fostering economic security.
'No, India and China were not about to go to all-out war over a few rocks of Galwan.' 'The full picture of what went on at the highest level between two heads of State will not be known for a very, very long time and rightly so,' points out Colonel Anil A Athale, former head of the history division, ministry of defence.
'I suspect that Bangladesh being given permission stuck in India's official craw, and this story was an attempt to balance the scales by giving the impression that a similar waiver had been given to India as well.'
China Eastern Airlines has resumed its Shanghai-Delhi service after a five-year gap, marking the first mainland Chinese carrier to restore direct flights to India this year. The resumption follows the resolution of border tensions and aims to boost trade, economic, and cultural exchanges between the two countries.
Israel and the United States had a plan. Iran punched back. And now the Gulf is reeling, the world is beginning to feel the pain and, as on date, no one in Washington or Tel Aviv appears willing to admit that the punch has landed, notes Prem Panicker, continuing his must-read blog on the war in the Middle East.
What does it cost per day for a single person to live in different countries? Here is sampling of expenses.
The latest number broke the previous record set on April 13, when the cases hit 29, 317.
The nations dominating the world's milk output...
'The culture of mankind has been spread by the travel gene which pushes one in five people to have the curiosity to move to unknown destinations.'
The Lok Sabha Secretariat defends Speaker Om Birla's concerns regarding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's safety amidst opposition protests and disruptions in the House.
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