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.
'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.'
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).
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.
India has expressed condolences over the death of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei following a joint US-Israel strike, amidst rising tensions in West Asia and criticism over the sinking of an Iranian warship.
In a first, Indian oil public sector undertakings (PSUs) finalised a one-year contract to import around 2.2 million tonnes (mt) of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) from the US. The LPG import deal comes at a time when negotiations for an India-US bilateral trade agreement (BTA) are gathering steam. Earlier in the month, US President Donald Trump had said Washington and New Delhi were "pretty close" to reaching a fair trade deal.
The BJP has criticised the Congress party for allegedly prioritising its vote bank and outdated ideologies over India's national interest and citizen safety in its foreign policy approach towards Iran.
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.
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.
With the Iran war escalating sharply and crisis deepening in the global energy market, India on Monday unveiled a coordinated plan to support exporters and shippers caught in the fallout.
Minister of State for Defence Ajay Bhatt said in Lok Sabha the Navy deployed its units in the Gulf of Aden and East coast of Africa towards anti-piracy patrols since 2008 and a total of 3,440 ships and over 25,000 seafarers have been "safely escorted".
The chairman of maritime company Safesea Group has described the attack on the US-owned crude oil tanker Safesea Vishnu, which resulted in the death of an Indian crew member, as "deliberate and calculated". He emphasised the need for governments to ensure the safety of commercial shipping lanes and seafarers.
Cond Nast's editors have sat down, like they do yearly and listed their favourite stays in Asia.
India has called for a ceasefire, release of all hostages, and peaceful resolution of the Israel-Hamas conflict through dialogue and diplomacy. The Centre informed Parliament that India welcomed the agreement on the first phase of the Gaza Peace Plan. The article also covers India's energy sourcing strategy and the release of Indian fishermen by Pakistan.
State-owned Indian Strategic Petroleum Reserves Ltd (ISPRL), which operates India's strategic crude oil storage, will make awards by December to lease around 1 million tons of crude oil storage space (7.3 million barrels) at two of the country's three existing Strategic Petroleum Reserves (SPRs), around a fifth of the total SPR capacity. This will enable the refilling of crude caverns even as escalating hostilities in the Gulf threaten disruptions in crude supplies, two industry sources said.
A downgraded Hurricane Gustav packed with strong winds and heavy rains lashed the Gulf coast on Monday but spared New Orleans, the city which was devastated three years ago by Hurricane Katrina.Fearing a repeat of the 2005 Hurricane Katrina disaster, more than two million people fled their homes from coastal Mississippi, Albama and South-eastern Texas ahead of the storm, which was at one stage forecast to attain highest Category 5 before making the landfall.
India has said it will take all steps to protect its national interests and ensure comprehensive national security in all domains after Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed a strategic defence pact.
Katrina knocked out power to more than a million people from Louisiana to the Florida's Panhandle.
The fresh incident comes amid growing global concerns over attacks on various commercial vessels in the Red Sea by the Houthi militants.
The Indian Navy's 'mission deployed' guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam responded to the attack within an hour of receiving a distress call from the vessel Genco Picardy, they said.
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.
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.
US strikes on Iran's three main nuclear facilities have once again raised concerns that Tehran might shut down the Strait of Hormuz - one of the world's most critical chokepoints, through which a fifth of global oil and gas supply flows.
The White House accredited this feat to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk for their efforts
'Countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, and the Philippines have a 50 per cent increase in bookings.'
'It has the potential to sow seeds of furthering discord when the direction of the discourse is aimed at propagating the perceived supremacy of 'cultural nationalism' from a distant past over the prevailing dominance of 'Constitutional nationalism',' argues N Sathiya Moorthy.
Williams' father, originally from Jhulasan, migrated to the United States in 1957.
A well-marked low-pressure area over southwest Bay of Bengal intensified into a depression on Thursday morning packing wind speed of 40-50 kmph as it moved towards the north Tamil Nadu coast, the weather office said.
Indian-American astronaut Sunita Williams returned to Earth after completing a record-breaking 9-month mission to the International Space Station. The mission was initially planned for eight days but was extended due to issues with their Boeing spacecraft. During her mission, Williams broke the record for most time spent spacewalking by a woman, completing 62 hours and 9 minutes of extra-vehicular activity.
A surge in international oil prices may translate into an increase in the retail selling price of petrol and diesel in India as oil companies face extreme margin squeeze, sources said. Petrol and diesel prices have remained unchanged for 12 days but now the international rate surge is exerting pressure. Current prices of petrol and diesel in the international market are higher by around $4-6 per barrel as compared to average prices during August. However, no increase in retail prices has been affected by oil companies so far, sources said.
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.
The nine-member crew cited 'unprecedented storm-like weather conditions' as the reason for the ship to capsize.
"Thanks for flying @SpaceX." Current Location: Planet Earth. A 2:48pm ET, @AstroBehnken and @Astro_Doug splashed down, marking the first splashdown of an American crew spacecraft in 45 years. #LaunchAmerica," NASA said in a tweet earlier.
The Indian Navy has swiftly responded to a call for help following a hijacking incident involving a Malta-flagged cargo vessel with 18 crew on board in the Arabian Sea, officials said on Saturday.
The Indian Navy on Saturday said its guided missile destroyer INS Visakhapatnam has deployed a team to help fire-fighting efforts on board British oil tanker MV Marlin Luanda which has got 22 Indian and one Bangladeshi crew members.
New Orleans resident Diana Whipple stands on the shore of Lake Pontchartrain as hurricane Isaac approaches New Orleans.
Navy officials on Monday said that the swift response by the Indian Navy's mission deployed warship INS Sumitra ensured the safe release of the hijacked vessel and its crew.
Obama is scheduled to meet the BP chairman and a number of officials on Wednesday.
Giant Hurricane Ike began lashing the Texas gulf coast on Saturday with its fierce category 3 winds threatening to shut down United States' oil industry and flood the big water front area which is already under waist deep water. Ike, which has already churned through the Gulf of Mexico, is now on a collision course with Texas, where already over a million people in coastal areas have been evacuated but thousand others have ignored calls to leave, deciding to brave it out.
