Trump claims the United States is performing exceptionally well in its ongoing conflict with Iran, citing weakened Iranian military capabilities and a strong US position.
'Much will depend on the position of the United States.' 'It will have to be seen to what extent the US will be more interested in achieving some form of a deal and to what extent Israel will be allowed to continue to carry out both airstrikes and the killing of Iranian officials.'
'The US landed in this war without planning. The US felt that if they kill Ayatollah Khamenei the people of Iran will come out on the roads and do a regime change.' 'On the contrary, the US bombings on Iran has united the entire nation.'
Automobile exports from India rose 24 per cent in 2025 driven by robust demand for cars, two wheelers and commercial vehicles in the overseas markets, as per the latest SIAM data. Overall exports last year raced to 63,25,211 units as against 50,98,474 units in the 2024 calendar year, up 24.1 per cent.
Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been killed in a US-Israeli attack, sparking celebrations in Iran and raising questions about the future of the regime.
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.
"One can't certainly guarantee that we will succeed but at least it is worth a try in view of all the troubles we are facing around the world," Musharaff said.
'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.
'Mojtaba Khamenei supervised the most recent repression in December 2025 and January 2026 which remains ongoing.'
The Sports Ministry is keen to bring Formula 1 back to the Buddh International Circuit in Noida in the near future.
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.
Trump has made similar claims many times since May 10 last year, stating that it was his pressure that led to peace between the two nuclear-armed neighbours as he makes his pitch for the Nobel Peace Prize.
With eyes set firmly on becoming a multi-national company by 2017, state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation is planning to foray into the Middle East market with two projects in Saudi Arabia and Oman.
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.
Qatar has halted liquefied natural gas (LNG) production after its facilities came under attack amid the ongoing West Asia conflict, disrupting supplies to India and squeezing feedstock availability for key domestic sectors.
'Despite the large number of missiles and drones we have already launched, we still possess reserves and missile cities whose doors have not yet been opened,' says Iran's Consul-General Saeid Reza Mosayeb Motlagh.
'It's a very, very large opportunity -- not just for India, but even for Uber globally.'
United States Central Command (CENTCOM) forces, along with partner forces, conducted large-scale strikes against multiple ISIS targets across Syria as a part of Operation Hawkeye Strike.
'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.'
'Much later when I came to Afghanistan, I realised that there were songs in Bollywood films.'
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.
Record-breaking cold gripped the United States, leaving residents shivering and coping with snow accumulating up to 3 feet. The coldest place in the country was Estcourt Station, the northernmost point in Maine, with temperatures of -39 degree Celsius. Meanwhile, many parts of the Middle East and Levant are experiencing their first real taste of winter as cold, windy weather sweeps rain, snow and sandstorms across the region. Snow has fallen even at low levels; it began falling on Wednesday in northern Israel, the Golan Heights and in the mountains of Lebanon. Istanbul in Turkey saw snow falling on its major bridges, bringing travel disruption across the city.
Israel has for more than two decades and several US presidencies worked to draw the United States into a full-scale war with Iran. Having finally achieved that, the last thing it wants is Trump declaring victory and going home, as he is prone to do. Ali Larijani was the figure most capable of handing Trump a negotiated exit with something to show for it. Without Larijani, the road to an exit gets considerably narrower. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
India and France have elevated their relationship to a 'special global strategic partnership,' with increased cooperation in defense, trade, and technology. The leaders also inaugurated a helicopter assembly line in Karnataka.
Mahindra & Mahindra's IT arm Mahindra Satyam plans to double its Middle East workforce in the next two years as part of a $24 million (87.8 million dirhams) global branding push, a senior company official has said.
'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.'
United States President Donald Trump on Friday issued a stern warning to Hamas, saying the militant group is "militarily trapped" and has been given a last chance to agree to a peace deal endorsed by regional and global powers.
British and French air force jets conducted intelligence-led strikes to destroy an arms bunker occupied by the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group in Syria.
India can play an important role in pushing ahead the peace process as it is an influential country due to the relations it has with the key players in the world.
When missiles fly in this region, they are never just aimed at military targets.
Rediff.com presents a slideshow on how people of the region are coping with the rare December snow.
The United States military killed a senior Al Qaeda-affiliated leader with direct links to the Islamic State ambush that targeted American soldiers in Syria in December in a strike carried out in the country's northwest region.
The Smithsonian will return three ancient bronze sculptures to India after evidence showed they were illegally removed from Tamil Nadu temples in the 1950s
Police sources said the bomber, belonging to the Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade that claimed responsibility for the attack, blew himself up in a line of people going through a customary security check at the mall's entrance.
Replacing over a third of India's oil imports at competitive rates is going to be a challenge, said traders from State refiners, even though some progress was made in the last two months.
Every UN secretary-general has flagged the financial situation, but Antonio Guterres has issued the direst warning yet, calling it a 'race to bankruptcy and of imminent financial collapse, points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
The threat of wars hovers over the negotiations in Oman, but the good part is that Trump called the talks to be 'very good' and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian responded that they 'constitute a step forward', points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Just days ahead of a looming diplomatic showdown between Palestine and Israel, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon on Wednesday stressed on a new international effort to break the Middle East "stalemate".
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