The year 2024 was the hottest year on record, with the global average temperature exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels for the first time, according to the European climate agency Copernicus. Every month from January to June was the warmest ever recorded, and from July to December (except August), each month was the second warmest on record. Scientists are warning that the world is entering a new climate reality, with extreme heatwaves, floods, and storms becoming more frequent and severe. The report also highlights the failure of developed nations to meet their climate finance commitments to developing countries, despite the urgency of the situation.
The two-day G20 Summit saw the Indian side making "significant contributions" on resolve to counter terrorism and boost global trade and investment.
Talks on global climate finance virtually ground to a halt last week at COP29, the annual United Nations (UN) Climate Change event in Baku, Azerbaijan, as the developed world, led by the European Union (EU), and developing countries including India, Brazil, South Africa, and a clutch of island nations and African countries faced a wide chasm between their expectations. This has raised doubts about whether an agreement can be reached this week or whether talks will spill over to COP30, to be held next year in Benem, Brazil.
India is expected to finalize the procurement of 26 naval variant Rafale jets and three Scorpene submarines from France in the coming weeks, further bolstering its naval capabilities. The deals, which are in the final stages of approval, could be announced during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Paris next month for an AI summit. The procurement of the Rafale (M) jets will be based on an inter-governmental agreement (IGA). The Indian Air Force is considering acquiring additional Rafale fighter aircraft squadrons. The deal for three Scorpene submarines follows the successful construction of six Scorpene submarines in India under Project 75. The defense and strategic partnerships between India and France have been strengthening in recent years, with both countries collaborating on joint development projects for jet and helicopter engines and advanced defense technologies.
Chess960, created by former world champion Bobby Fischer in 1996, has been gaining in popularity after an invitational tournament played last year at the Weissenhaus Luxury Resort, which hosted the G7 Foreign Minister summit in 2022.
India and the US have agreed to work together to draft a comprehensive framework on defence cooperation, aimed at structuring the bilateral collaboration for the 2025-2035 period. The framework will cover multiple domains in land, air, maritime and space, and will focus on intelligence, logistics, operational and industrial engagement. The agreement comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's planned trip to Washington, where he is expected to meet with US President Donald Trump to discuss boosting India-US cooperation in the areas of trade, energy and defence.
India's purchase of US crude oil has picked up in 2025 and could easily double their previous levels, government officials said on Wednesday. The surge comes in the wake of the then-incoming Donald Trump administration's announcement that it would consider hiking tariffs on a reciprocal basis, and pushed some countries, especially those with large trade surpluses with the US, to buy more of its energy.
At the summit, the US is able to play the role of a bully.
Carlsen accuses FIDE chief of broken promises.
Donald Trump is expected to sign a series of executive orders upon taking office, including those related to immigration, border security, energy and governance. These orders are intended to implement Trump's policy priorities, including restricting immigration, increasing energy production, and streamlining government operations. The executive orders will include declaring emergency on the southern border, preparing military deployment on the borders, classifying cartels as "foreign terrorist organisations", reinstating the "Remain in Mexico" policy, ending the "Catch and Release" policy, and declaring emergency related to energy. Trump is also expected to roll back some of the executive orders and actions of outgoing President Joe Biden, such as the Paris Climate agreement, lifting restrictions on fossil fuel production, and expanding domestic oil drilling.
He said that energy will be the first chapter to be addressed.
Army troops in Bangladesh intensified their patrols on the streets of Dhaka as the country witnessed rising tensions with the newly formed student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) accusing the military of political interference. The NCP staged protest rallies at the premier Dhaka University campus vowing to thwart at any cost a military-backed plot to rehabilitate deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League which was toppled seven months ago in a student-led violent street protest in July-August last year. A key leader of NCP, which was floated last month with widely assumed blessings of Professor Muhammad Yunus, accused the military of political interference over a proposal for inclusiveness that would allow Awami League to participate in the next elections. The military, which is now entrusted with maintaining nationwide law and order with magistracy power, however, did not enter the campus but continued their intensified patrol, particularly in the capital. The NCP convenor Nahid Islam said at the Muslim fast-breaking iftar party that the army or any other state institution had no "authority to propose or make decisions" about politics. He added that in no way "we will allow installation of another 1/11 government" in the country.
Diplomatic row erupts after co-chairs hold talks minus developing nations; third draft of Paris climate change agreement emerges at Bonn
India rose two spots to rank eighth out of 63 countries in the Climate Change Performance Index 2023 (CCPI). In the Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Energy Use categories, the country was rated "high". In the Climate Policy and Renewable Energy categories, it earned a "medium" rating.
A landmark climate change deal was clinched on Saturday with the approval of India, China and the US, after days of tough negotiations in Paris.
'Keeping the global temperature below not just 1.5 degree Celsius, even 2 degree Celsius is beyond our reach now. Both are impossible.'
Kylian Mbappe, who had a fallout with PSG last year after refusing to sign a contract extension, is seeking around 55 million euros ($60.73 million) from the French club.
Sebastian Coe, frontrunner for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency, has hailed the inclusion of cricket in the 2028 Los Angeles Games, stating it will open up new markets, crucial for the Olympic movement's growth. He emphasized the sport's extensive support base beyond South Asia, particularly in major cities with large South Asian communities.
'Geopolitical stability could remove the crude oil risk premium.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for enhancing trade and investment ties between their countries and committed to further deepening their engagement in the Indo-Pacific. They discussed a full spectrum of bilateral relations, including key global and regional issues, and stressed the urgent need for reform in the United Nations Security Council. The leaders also underscored their commitment to ensuring the global AI sector can drive positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
India reaffirmed its commitment to the landmark Paris climate change agreement.
We must bring a laser focus on our own interests, and define our friends and foes more clearly instead of trying to live by somebody else's rules. We must grow up, think for ourselves, think India First, asserts R Jagannathan.
Trump's diatribe against India in his speech on the Paris Agreement is hard to explain, especially when a Modi-Trump meeting is supposedly on the cards, says Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Paris St Germain will take their wage dispute with Kylian Mbappe to court after the French football league's governing body (LFP) ruled in favour of the France captain on Friday.
The conference has to agree on a draft agreement which would form the cornerstone of a historic deal to be signed in Paris in December 2015 and take effect by 2020.
'Trump's desire to withdraw the US from some arenas on the global stage will result in ceding space to China.'
Defeat was a blow for the 21-year-old Spaniard as the French Open and Wimbledon champion's bid to become the youngest man to complete a career Grand Slam went up in flames, and he was left to digest his third loss to Djokovic on the surface.
UNICEF estimates that almost 16 million children and their families are in urgent need of life-saving support. Since mid-August, there have been at least 1,288 reported deaths.
India hopes to bridge gap with US to buffer against a Paris agreement that restricts country's developmental space.
Macron accepted the invitation and said he will visit New Delhi by the end of the year for an international summit on solar power - an area on which France plans closer cooperation with India.
US wants differentiation between developed and developing countries scrapped
Trump spoke approvingly of his recent telephone conversation with Xi Jinping. This could indicate the possibility of America and China reaching some level of tactical accommodation, which would not be good news for India, points out Ambassador Shyam Saran, a former foreign secretary.
Nothing is more promising than countries putting aside hubris and ideological differences to invest in our shared future, observes Durga Sreenivasan, a delegate at COP28.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday described the landmark climate change deal reached in Paris on Saturday night as the victory of "climate justice" and said there are no winners or losers in the outcome.
The US is currently Earth's most powerful country and a certain latitude of understanding -- a world view -- is popularly expected from its leadership. From a country identified with freedom, constitution, debate, democracy and the likes of Abraham Lincoln even as it had the most powerful military around, the US, following Trump's actions, seemed repositioned as militarily powerful with other qualities secondary, observes Shyam G Menon.
Obama has made combating global climate change a top priority of his presidency
Hours after he was sworn in, US President Joe Biden signed a raft of executive orders to launch his administration on Wednesday, including a decision to rejoin the Paris climate accord.
French reports claim Kylian Mbappe, captain of the France national team, is on his way to Real Madrid.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to pitch for a united global approach in dealing with the situation in Afghanistan and combating challenges of climate change and the coronavirus pandemic at the two-day G-20 Summit in Italy beginning October 30, people familiar with the development said on Sunday.
