Despite outward displays of cordiality, a formal visit by King Charles III to the US revealed underlying tensions between the leaders, highlighted by subtle rebukes and contrasting views on key issues.
A media report indicates the White House was directly involved in crafting a social media post by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, requesting then-US President Donald Trump to extend the deadline on Iran.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed deep concern over US President Donald Trump's warning to Iran and appealed for the re-establishment of freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
...reopen for up to six months. Until then, the Strait stays nearly closed. The world pays. And no one, including the man who started this, can say when it ends, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War.
Vijay Varma delivers a tour de force performance in Nagraj Popatrao Manjule's Matka King, a compelling eight-part series that chronicles the rise and fall of a gambling trailblazer in 1960s-1970s Bombay, notes Sukanya Verma.
Chaffing under public ridicule in the US as well as internationally for having 'lost' the war, Trump is under immense pressure to do something, cautions Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'As result, Netanyahu 'convinced' Trump to go to war with the help of overoptimistic Israeli intelligence assessments, essentially explaining to him that they only need to bomb Iran for 3-4 days, and the regime would then collapse.' 'Rather unsurprisingly, Netanyahu is ever since blaming his own intel service for the entire operation failing.'
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
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 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.
'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.
'Don't let the world put you in a box. If the world tries to put you in a box, don't stay in it. Step out of it. And if you have to, burn that box completely,' says Siddhata Patil.
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.
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.
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.
When everyone has footage and no one can verify it, the loudest voice wins, notes Prem Panicker who begins a daily blog on the War in the Middle East.
Iran is set to witness more brutality as the administration has decided to execute its first protester on Wednesday amid mass arrests of anti-regime protesters, New York Post reported, citing human rights groups.
Donald Trump posted a photo on Truth Social listing himself as 'Acting President of Venezuela,' along with his US presidential designations. This follows recent US actions against Venezuela and claims regarding control over Venezuelan oil revenue.
'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.'
He spoke about North Atlantic Treaty Organisaiton (NATO) and Greenland, with an emphasis on ownership, while also hinting that China would not take any steps against Taiwan, till Trump was in office.
Aseem Chhabra lists his top 10 films from this year's Sundance festival, a blend of narratives and documentaries made in the US and other parts of the world.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Tuesday said India is concerned about the recent developments in Venezuela, marking the first strong public statement after the latest United States actions in the South American country.
'I met with a man who really wants to see New York be great again. I think he can bring it back. I think he wants to make it greater than ever before, and if he can, we'll be out there cheering. I'll be cheering for him.'
He added that current measures, including an oil quarantine and large naval deployments, are aimed at pressuring the Venezuelan regime.
As Swades turns 20, Aseem Chhabra looks back at the film that spoke to him.
While Zohran Mamdani captured national attention with his meteoric rise to be elected New York City's first Muslim mayor, his wife Rama Duwaji was helping orchestrate his win -- one pixel, one brushstroke, one brand decision at a time.
Mamdani said he spotted a "UFC" coffee-table book among Trump's reading materials and added he had "no idea" that the White House was preparing to host a mixed martial arts event on the South Lawn in June 2026.
'America has historically been a magnet for people who aren't from here.' 'That sort of thing -- the promise of opportunity, no matter what that looks like -- doesn't grow on trees.' 'It also happens to be geopolitical gold that Trump is flushing down the toilet,' points out Sree Sreenivasan.
Just who are the big winners of the 83rd edition of Golden Globes awards?
What an achievement it will be if a young Gujarati-Punjabi man is able to give the most powerful nation in the world a new direction, asserts Aakar Patel.
'If people had a problem, you could probably find him at one of the future events and could talk about specific issues.'
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
'She was brave. She didn't care a hoot. And India was not the strongest of nations as it is now.'
'India has the deciding vote in the 21st century...India is a significant player in the 21st century and is poised to become even more powerful.'
Venus Williams showed flashes of vintage form under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Monday but despite pushing Karolina Muchova to a deciding set.
Diane Keaton's wit and honesty taught us that ageing and uncertainty aren't weaknesses, they are part of what makes us human and graceful, observes Sreehari Nair.
'Financially we are sound and we have always broken even. 'It is just we don't have the personnel and that is why we have to close down.'
A UN spokesperson said an escalator at the UN headquarters that abruptly halted just as US President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump stepped onto it was stalled after a videographer accompanying them likely triggered a safety mechanism inadvertently while trying to capture their arrival.
The Shiromani Akali Dal has appealed to the United States government to consider a humanitarian view of truck driver Harjinder Singh, who faces a vehicular homicide case. The party also requested the Indian government to provide consular and legal assistance.
United States President Donald Trump has demanded an investigation into three 'sinister events' at the United Nations headquarters, including an escalator breaking down while he and First Lady Melania Trump were on it, describing them as 'triple sabotage'.
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