The USS Abraham Lincoln has been operating in the Arabian Sea since the end of January.
Torn between loyalty to their comrades and disillusionment towards the cause for which they are fighting, they are beginning to cave in. Morale has been the casualty, points out Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
World Letter Writing Day is a time to recall historic letters. Some letters were written in love. Some in grief. Others at moments when the world stood on the brink of change.
The ongoing US conflict with Iran has cost the Trump administration an estimated $45.1 billion, according to a Pentagon estimate provided to the US Congress on Friday, CNN reported, citing two sources familiar with the matter.
A US Air Force colonel, identified by his call sign 'Bravo', survived nearly 50 hours behind Iranian lines after his F-15E fighter jet was shot down near Isfahan. Despite severe injuries, he evaded Iranian forces and was eventually rescued in a complex operation involving US military and intelligence personnel, highlighting a daring mission to leave no man behind.
US President Donald Trump honoured 16-year-old lifeguard Ryder Williams at the White House for his heroic act of saving 10-year-old Indian-origin boy Nathaniel Rai from drowning at a California beach. The daring rescue, captured on video, earned Williams praise from the President, who also met Nathaniel and his family.
According to an official Iranian military statement, Qader anti-ship cruise missiles were launched at the carrier, forcing it to alter its position in the region.
United States President Donald Trump warned Iran of potential strikes on its infrastructure, including bridges and electric power plants, saying the US military 'hasn't even started destroying what's left in Iran'.
Iran has issued a defiant response to United States President Donald Trump's claims regarding the conclusion of hostilities, asserting that it alone will 'determine' the end of military actions against American and Israel targets.
US President Donald Trump has shared an article suggesting that the option of enforcing a naval blockade was available in the context of Iran, as peace talks ended in a stalemate in Islamabad after differences of opinion arose between the two parties on the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's nuclear capacities.
JCD Prabhakar of the TVK party has been unanimously elected as the Speaker of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay emphasised the Assembly's role in transforming public expectations into effective policies and laws.
Araghchi remarked that US messaging currently echoes the Vietnam War-era "Five O'Clock Follies," suggesting a systematic misrepresentation of military progress.
Italy has denied the United States the use of the Sigonella military base for flights heading to West Asia, citing a lack of consultation and concerns over the nature of the flights. This decision reflects Italy's stance on avoiding escalation in the region, as Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government emphasises its desire to stay out of war.
He also warned the Gulf countries, which are allowing the US to launch an attack from their soil, vowing to "punish" the regional partners.
While Trump described the operation as the 'most daring' search and rescue mission in US military history, Iran termed it a victory, claiming it shot down a C-130-class aircraft involved in the operation.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that the American Navy will henceforth block all maritime traffic entering the Strait of Hormuz.
Amidst escalating tensions in West Asia, Iran claims to have inflicted heavy casualties on US forces in Dubai, a claim vehemently denied by the US Central Command, raising concerns about regional stability.
Frankly, was it really necessary in the middle of a fratricidal war for External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar to travel to Abu Dhabi for a one-on-one with the sheikh on April 12?Or, for National Security Advisor Ajit Doval to follow up on April 26? Or, for PM Narendra Modi to follow through today? There are no easy answers, notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
United States President Donald Trump has said that Iran is under close watch and a 'massive fleet' is heading towards the Gulf region.
A United States missile strike has reportedly hit an educational facility in Khomeyn in central Iran, according to a report by Al Jazeera citing Iran's Mehr news agency. The site was identified as the Dr Hafez Khomeyni School.
An Iranian delegation, led by Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, is expected to arrive in Islamabad for the second round of peace talks with the US, according to Pakistani media reports. This follows a phone call between Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar and Araghchi regarding the US-Iran ceasefire and Pakistan's diplomatic efforts.
The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has declared the commencement of its 27th offensive under Operation True Promise 4, targeting American and Israeli positions in response to what it termed a new wave of 'unprovoked US-Israeli aggression against the Islamic Republic', Iranian state broadcaster Press TV reported.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged its citizens to immediately depart from several Middle Eastern countries, citing "serious safety risks."
Specifically, military experts are assessing if the 'Octopus' interceptor anti-drone system, produced in the UK to support Ukraine in countering Russian threats, could be repurposed to strengthen British protections against Iran's Shahed drones.
Donald Trump's inconsistent statements and actions regarding the conflict with Iran have drawn criticism and confusion, raising questions about American credibility and the direction of US foreign policy.
'Strikes into the Gulf countries are proof that the security guarantees offered by the US are ineffective and that the Gulf countries cannot rely on American security assurances for their safety.'
Trump also called upon China, France, and Japan, among others, to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz.
The big question is whether Trump is any longer in command of the situation. For all practical purposes, the war seems set to cascade as the US is preparing for a potential ground operation in Iran and threatens to destroy 'bridges next, then electric power plants', points out 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.'
16 days into the war, US forces were already running out of ground-attack missiles and Israel is about to expend its entire Arrow interceptor missiles by end March. To be sure, the Iranians are watching closely and that explains their defiant stance that 'Iran will end the war when it decides to do so and when its conditions are met', notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Barack Obama will take oath as the 44th United States President on the same Bible used to swear in Abraham Lincoln in 1861.Obama announced his historic bid for the presidency from the steps of the statehouse in Springfield, Illinois, the same spot where Lincoln, another state legislator, began his quest.
Karex, the Malaysian company that makes roughly one in five of the world's condoms -- about five billion a year, supplying Durex and Trojan among others -- announced this week that it is raising prices by up to 30 percent. The reason is the Strait of Hormuz.
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).
This weekend, Donald Trump has begun to say the quiet part out loud -- that he wants to take control of Iran's oil, a formulation more in line with his robber-baron style of international relations.
Trump may strike. He may announce productive talks and extend again. He may do both at the same time. Iran will not open the Strait on someone else's terms, so no matter what happens, that problem will remain unsolved. And the IRGC will still be collecting its $2 million toll from every ship bold enough to ask permission to pass.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
'The next two to three weeks will not be decided in Washington.' 'They will be decided in Tehran, in whatever calculation Iran makes about the costs of continued resistance against the costs of appearing to have yielded.'
'The Alaska Summit made me realise that while difficult, peace is within reach.'
Paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday described the Union Budget as "by the people, for the people, of the people", and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi was fully behind the idea to cut taxes for the middle class but it took time to convince the bureaucrats. "We have heard the voice of the middle class" who had been complaining about their aspirations not being met despite being honest taxpayers, she told PTI in an interview.
Gems of wisdom from Dr Manmohan Singh, who passed into the ages on December 26, 2024.
