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.
A life-threatening blizzard which is expected to pound a record 30 inches of snow has hit most part of the US' east coast.
Assam officials assert that the Zubeen Garg death case proceedings will continue unaffected, despite Singapore Police concluding their probe with no evidence of foul play.
Opposition parties question the Assam police's murder charges in the Zubeen Garg death case after a Singapore coroner ruled out foul play, while Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma defends the state's investigation.
A Singapore coroner's inquest has officially ruled the death of Indian singer Zubeen Garg as an accidental drowning, concluding a thorough investigation that found no evidence of foul play and highlighting the role of alcohol intoxication.
Opposition parties in Assam are questioning the state police's handling of the Zubeen Garg death case after a Singapore coroner ruled out foul play, contradicting the Assam police's murder charges against several accused. The conflicting findings have sparked controversy and calls for further investigation.
Although extensive air attacks have been carried out to destroy most of Iran's defence capabilities, the latter's resilience and sustenance during the war clearly indicate that the US landing force would encounter severe resistance in the operation, explains Commodore Venugopal Vengalil (retd).
A Palau-flagged oil tanker with 15 Indian crew members was attacked off the coast of Oman, resulting in injuries. The incident occurred amidst rising tensions in the Middle East following attacks between Iran, the US, and Israel.
The Sri Lanka Navy rescued 32 Iranian sailors from a sinking naval ship off the southern coast, while also recovering several bodies. The incident occurred outside Sri Lankan waters but within its search and rescue zone.
At least 101 people are missing and 78 are injured after a suspected submarine attack on an Iranian naval ship off Sri Lanka's southern coast on Wednesday, Reuters quoted sources in Sri Lanka's Navy and defence ministry as saying.
The vessel sank on March 4, 2026, approximately 20 nautical miles west of Galle, after reportedly being struck by a torpedo from a United States submarine.
The ceasefire is still technically holding, to the extent that no overt hostilities have been reported yet, but the rhetoric has hardened dangerously. The week ahead will also clarify whether the Islamabad failure was a negotiating tactic or whether Washington has genuinely locked itself into a position from which the only exits are climb-down, escalation, or the slow bleed of a new status quo that nobody chose and nobody controls. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
The Indian government has directed oil refineries to increase LPG production to ensure a stable supply of domestic cooking gas, amidst concerns over potential disruptions from the escalating Middle East conflict and its impact on imports.
The tanker reportedly switched off its Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder while navigating the high-risk stretch of the strait and reappeared on tracking systems on March 9.
IRGC said vessels seeking to sail through the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz must obtain Iran's approval; otherwise, they could become targets of Iranian attacks.
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.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) claims control of the Strait of Hormuz and reports striking a US destroyer, escalating tensions in the Middle East following retaliatory strikes between Iran, the US, and Israel.
Despite ongoing tensions in West Asia, the successful arrival of the LPG carrier 'Nanda Devi' in Gujarat ensures a steady supply of liquefied petroleum gas to India, highlighting the country's efforts to secure its energy needs.
The operations of many global carriers, including Qatar Airways, have also been impacted due to the airspace curbs in the wake of the Middle East tensions.
Amid escalating tensions, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Saeed Khatibzadeh declares Iran's unwavering commitment to a 'heroic nationalist defence' against perceived American and Israeli aggression, vowing to resist what he calls an 'invasion' to the very end.
Air India and Air India Express on Tuesday progressively resumed their services to the Middle East, with flights to Dubai and Muscat, respectively, as countries in the region reopened their airspaces.
'We are getting used to the constant alerts to take shelter, listening to sonic booms from jets flying above us, hearing news of neighbouring ports being targeted, and being the only ship in the terminal.'
The weather system over the South Andaman Sea and the adjoining southeast Bay of Bengal is very likely to move north-westwards and strengthen into a depression by Saturday, the Met Department said.
'Our diplomacy should have been focused on preventing war and avoiding the inevitable disruptions it would cause, posing a real risk to India's growth story,' asserts former foreign secretary Shyam Saran.
'Torpedoes travel at more than 100 kilometres per hour, about 50-60 knots.' 'It must have been a matter of a few minutes before it detonated under the Iranian ship.' 'The Iranian ship would have probably got three, four minutes and wouldn't have known till they actually heard the whirr of the torpedo.'
She's here. The driving winds and pelting rain of Hurricane Florence's western edge began to batter the United States East Coast, giving the region a taste of what's to come as the monster storm moves ashore. Even though the one-time Category 4 tempest has been downgraded to a Category 2, it's still packing lethal 100-mph winds and the potential for 13-foot storm surges and 40 inches of rain, officials warned.
'India was not obliged to protect the Iranian ship.' 'Once the Iranian ship left Indian waters, she was on her own.' 'Guilt tripping India is wrong.'
The Odisha government has put all 30 districts on alert as a depression over the Bay of Bengal intensified into a deep depression and is moving towards the east coast. The IMD forecasts very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in Odisha on October 28 and 29.
Meanwhile, the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) issued high sea waves, up to 4.7 metres high, warning across several coastal districts.
The Chinese People's Liberation Army's eastern theatre command continued its military drills around Taiwan for a second consecutive day on December 30, involving naval, air and ground forces in what it described as a demonstration of joint operational and blockade capabilities.
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.
'To suddenly give the impression of taking a position that is hostile to Iran, or, at least, not friendly to Iran, is not a good thing.'
Cond Nast's editors have sat down, like they do yearly and listed their favourite stays in Asia.
The Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, which is drilling both in deep water and shallow water off the coast of Andhra Pradesh and Orissa, is assessing the damages the huge waves could have caused to its installations.
This is the first Budget in my memory of Budgets over the last half a century which has embraced upfront, enthusiastically and emphatically, technology, modernity and fiscal sobriety, notes Shreekant Sambrani.
Odisha is bracing for heavy rainfall early next week under the impact of a possible cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, which is likely to skirt the state and move towards West Bengal and Bangladesh, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Friday.
In the Indo-Pacific's new era -- where perception shapes reality faster than treaties -- the real entrapment is not of China or the United States. It is the test Japan has set for itself -- and whether partners like India, acting as balancers rather than accelerants, can help ensure that the story ends in stability, points out Varun Arya.
From Bhubaneshwar to Puri and beyond, here is the second part of Deepak Kripalani's Odisha travelogue.
Severe cyclonic storm 'Montha' has begun making landfall off the Andhra Pradesh coast, with the process expected to continue for the next three to four hours. The storm is expected to cross the coast between Machilipatnam and Kalingapatnam, near Kakinada, with wind speeds of 90-100 kmph.
Andhra Pradesh now comes third in ease of doing business.
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