Sri Lanka on Monday said the global community cannot raise issues of rights violations against it unless guided by "political reasons," as a top United States official arrived in Colombo coinciding with the United Nations rights council meeting to discuss alleged war crimes during the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam conflict.
In constitutional democracies the Opposition is legitimate and part of the legislature. To see it as the enemy and to try and get rid of it through convictions and expulsions is not democratic, asserts Aakar Patel.
United States President Joe Biden who made an unannounced visit to Kyiv on Monday, days before the first anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion, pledged a $500 million military aid package for the country.
Leading liberal opposition leader Mohamed ElBaradei has been named as Egypt's new prime minister to head a caretaker government, his allies and the anti-Morsi Tamarod movement said on Saturday.
With India voting against Sri Lanka at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday said the government and Dravida Munnetra Kazagham should spell out the steps they had taken to prevent attacks on ethnic Tamils during the war against Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
Wang Yang and Xi Jinping's visits signal the beginning of a major Chinese push to bring about a transformation of Tibet, observes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
Former Bihar MP Anand Mohan, who is serving a life sentence in the killing of Indian Administrative Service officer G Krishnaiah, is to be set free along with 26 others who have been lodged in different prisons of the state for more than 14 years.
There is simmering disquiet in the Communist party and the world is watching as to what can unfold in China in the days to come ahead of next year's party congress, notes Rup Narayan Das.
As the second season of The Night Manager hits the OTT screen, Deepa Gahlot looks back at the top spy thrillers on streaming platforms.
A British channel has come out with a documentary featuring the pictures of the alleged cold-blooded killing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam chief Velupillai Prabhakaran's 12-year-old son, which was on Tuesday dismissed by Sri Lanka as "lies, half truths and numerous forms of speculation".
China is expanding its nuclear force and is likely to have a stockpile of about 1,500 warheads by 2035, up from the current estimated number of 400, the Pentagon has said in a report that notes that Beijing aims to expand its national power through both domestic and foreign policy initiatives.
'You can still hear gunshots, and this time even children know they are not normal.'
Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on Thursday directed that the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan and the ships in her strike group will remain on station in the general area to monitor the situation.
"The governor has returned to Ranchi...so far he has not issued any order," an official source in Raj Bhavan said.
The American platforms at the exercise 'Cope India' that started off Kalaikunda will also include a fleet of F-15 E fighter jets, C-130 and C-17 transport aircraft.
Pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik was detained by the state police on Saturday evening while leading a candlelight protest in Srinagar. An independent legislator, Engineer Abdul Rashid, was also detained by the police while he staged a protest sit-in outside the United Nations Military Observers Group headquarters in Srinagar along with a dozen of his supporters. Malik took out a silent candlelight protest in his stronghold Maisuma.
The United Nations Security Council has unanimously voted to bring to an end the authorised international military action in Libya on October 31, following the death of Muammar Gaddafi that brought an end to the bloody conflict in the country. The resolution passed on Thursday said that the liberation of the North African country after Gaddafi's death offers better prospects for a "democratic, peaceful and prosperous future".
The future of this alliance would depend on the sacrifice and liberality of the Congress, he said.
The abductors of an American United Nations official, kidnapped in Pakistan's Balochistan province in February, have threatened to kill him if their demands, including the release of thousands of political prisoners, were not met within the next four days.The Balochistan Liberation United Front, which abducted UN High Commissioner for Refugees official John Solecki after killing his driver on February 2, listed its demands in a letter sent to a news agency.
The Yuan Wang 5 can easily monitor the Indian coast while operating in international waters. She does not have to enter a port in Sri Lanka to fulfill this mission, points out Commodore Venugopal Menon (retd).
Three days after he was shot while delivering a speech in the western Japanese city of Nara, Abe Shinzo, Japan's longest serving prime minister, began his final journey in Tokyo.
Britain and China have clashed over the offer of British National Overseas passports to Hong Kong residents, observes Rup Narayan Das.
The coming together of the Quad and the Australia-UK-US grouping would be a formidable adversary, moving toward the creation of a 'thousand ship navy' that reins in the PLA navy in the Indo-Pacific.
Gandhi claimed that authoritarian tendencies are becoming clearer, with the erosion of fundamental rights being accompanied by a narrow imposition of conformity and obedience from dutiful citizens. voters polarised for electoral gains
Sri Lanka, which is poised to capture the remaining strongholds of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, has rejected the plea of the United States-led donor countries for a temporary 'no-fire period' in the island's north, saying this would be detrimental in efforts to wipe out terrorism from its soil.
On the parade ground are sons of jawans, farmers, LIC agents, daily wage farm labourers, shopkeepers... all living their moment of triumph; their faces bright with the possibilities that lie ahead.
'The situation in the country is very scary.' 'There is an increasing attack on the Constitutional democratic rights of our people.'
Australia is considering not sending any government officials to the Winter Olympics to be held in Beijing next year amid growing calls from lawmakers for an official diplomatic boycott, the Sydney Morning Herald said in a report on Thursday.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday named Robert Destro, assistant secretary of state for democracy, human rights and labour, as the special coordinator for Tibetan issues. Destro will focus on advancing dialogue between the Communist-run government in Beijing and the Dalai Lama, protecting the distinct religious cultural and linguistic identity of Tibetans, improving respect for their human rights and much, much more, Pompeo said.
Former United Nations spokesperson Gordon Weiss has said that the Indian government was fully aware of the battle zone in Sri Lanka, during the conflict, including civilian casualties. He added that the Indians wanted to see the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam destroyed.
Poor governance and mediocre short-sighted politics are destroying the paradise that Goa was as its environment, water table, culture and way of life is drastically threatened by tourism and migration, points out Ramesh Menon.
Throughout its standoff with India along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chinese officials sought to downplay the severity of the crisis, emphasising Beijing's intent to preserve border stability and prevent the standoff from harming other areas of its bilateral relationship with India, the Pentagon said in a report on Tuesday.
George Soros, who is in the eye of the storm over his remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Adani issue, is an Hungarian-born American financier, philanthropist, and activist whose success as an investor made him one of the wealthiest men in the world. He is also known as a powerful and influential supporter of liberal social causes. In a speech at the Munich Security Conference on Thursday, the billionaire philanthropist said he believes the turmoil at Gautam Adani's business empire may weaken Prime Minister Narendra Modi's hold on the government, a statement which was strongly contested by the BJP as an attack on Indian democracy.
'Often reviled, mostly ignored, sometimes venerated, he has taken it all in his stride.' 'He has stood by the nation through thick and thin,' says Brigadier Gurmeet Kanwal (retd).
'We should see to it that not even one woman gets radicalised.' 'We should not let even one young man become a jihadi.'
'The war of 1962 exposed the hollow intellectual foundations of Nehruvian foreign policy, especially vis-a-vis China and that is why it was such a shock.'
Almost a week after winning the Assam Assembly polls, Bharatiya Janata Party is likely to decide on the name of its Chief Ministerial nominee on Saturday in a crucial meeting called by the central leadership of the party.
Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya told the UN Security Council briefing on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine on Monday that "Ukraine deeply regrets that more than 2,000 citizens of India, China, Turkey, Pakistan and other countries suffer today along with Ukrainians from Russian aggression."
Putin said the purpose of the West is to weaken, divide and ultimately destroy Russia.
In his concluding remarks at the 'Chintan Shivir' in Udaipur, Gandhi had said that it is only the Congress that can fight the BJP at the national level and regional outfits cannot fight this battle of ideology.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances