Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed confidence that the BJP would form the next government in West Bengal after the assembly polls, asserting that he would return to the state for the oath-taking ceremony after results are announced on May 4.
Three live crude bombs of "low intensity" were on Thursday found being carried in a Rae Bareily court premise by two persons who have been taken into custody, the police said.
Two persons, including a woman, were killed and seven injured when several crude bombs went off at a house at Metiabruz area Kolkata on Sunday night, the police said.
Sporadic violence erupts across Bangladesh as the nation awaits a special tribunal verdict against former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in a case of alleged crimes against humanity. Security is heightened, and authorities are on high alert.
Over 5,000 people were witnessing an open-air show organised to mark the Rash Mela festival when three crude bombs exploded on the premises of Kantaji Temple in northwestern Dinajpur.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the Trinamool Congress (TMC) in West Bengal, accusing them of lawlessness, corruption, and enabling illegal infiltration. He promised to initiate a special inquiry against facilitators of infiltration and to deport unauthorised entrants if the BJP comes to power in the state.
Two men, believed to be the main perpetrators of the blast outside the Punjab BJP headquarters, have been arrested in Haryana. This follows the earlier arrest of five individuals linked to a Pakistan ISI-backed module.
A crude bomb kept in a bag exploded near the Dum Dum cantonment on Saturday, leaving two children injured.
The incident came shortly after a spokesperson from Iran's military warned that Tehran could target ports and docks in the United Arab Emirates following recent United States strikes on Kharg Island, a key hub for Iran's oil exports.
Punjab Police have arrested two more individuals allegedly involved in the recent blast outside the BJP headquarters in Chandigarh, bringing the total number of arrests to seven. The accused are believed to be part of an ISI-backed module taking directions from handlers in Germany and Portugal.
Punjab Police have arrested two more individuals allegedly involved in the recent blast outside the BJP headquarters in Chandigarh, bringing the total arrests to seven. The suspects are believed to be part of an ISI-backed module taking instructions from handlers in Germany and Portugal.
The incident comes close on the heels of a series of sporadic clashes between CPI-M and BJP workers in the past few months in northern Kannur district.
Is the current rally telegraphing a durable peace plan in West Asia, boosted by United States (US) President Donald Trump's incoherent and contradictory posts on social media?
Besides the injured duo, there were two others also along with them and they are presently in police custody, an officer of Mannanthala police station said.
Shrikant Pangarkar is in the fray from ward 13. His opponents are candidates from the BJP and several other parties, though the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena has not fielded a contestant.
A BJP government in Bengal inherits more problems than it might care to admit at its moment of triumph, points out Ramesh Menon
The United States Central Command confirmed that the USS Rafael Peralta intercepted an Iranian-flagged ship, enforcing a maritime blockade against Iran. The US military is prepared to resume major combat operations if ordered by the President.
US President Donald Trump has indefinitely extended the ceasefire with Iran at the request of Pakistan, aiming to allow Tehran's leadership time to form a unified proposal to end the seven-week war.
An explosion outside the Punjab BJP headquarters in Chandigarh caused panic, with a social media post claiming responsibility as retaliation for the killing of Sikh youths. Police suspect a crude device was used, and an investigation is underway.
Israel wishes to continue its bombing campaign until Iran's military and industrial infrastructure are degraded to a point where it ceases to pose a threat to Israel. Iran, for its part, has learnt from its experience in the 12-day war of last June. Any ceasefire, it believes, will only be a prelude to another attack on itself. It is determined to convey that any attack on Iran will impose heavy costs on Israel, the US, America's allies in the Gulf -- and on the world at large, points out T T Ram Mohan.
Trump also called upon China, France, and Japan, among others, to send ships to the Strait of Hormuz.
'What we have yet to see on either the US or the Iranian side is willingness to compromise on their ultimate demands and the flexibility to reach an agreement to end the war.
Will rising tensions between US-Israel and Iran threaten crude oil supply through the Strait of Hormuz, putting India's fuel prices, imports, and economic stability at risk?
'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 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.
For that to happen America does not have to lose. It only has to do the right thing, asserts Aakar Patel.
The BJP has released its first list of candidates for the West Bengal assembly polls, featuring Suvendu Adhikari against Mamata Banerjee in a high-stakes electoral battle. The Left Front has also announced its initial list of candidates, setting the stage for a crucial election.
A homemade crude bomb of low intensity was hurled today outside the Sonargaon Pan-Pacific hotel in Dhaka where President Pranab Mukherjee is staying. No one was injured in the blast which took place around 2 pm., said Apoorva Hassan, the officer in-charge of Tejgaon police station.
The clock on the ceasefire is running out. But everyone's already whispering about round two, possibly as soon as this weekend.
The voting for the 13th parliamentary elections was held along with a referendum on a complex 84-point reform package.
The United States, which entered this war in expectation of a short, sharp win along the Venezuela model, is now preparing for deeper involvement in a conflict it does not fully control, without the allies it typically relies on, against an adversary that is not behaving as expected, in a global environment that is already absorbing economic shock. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
If the oil infrastructure is attacked by the United States, the whole area could be flooded with oil, spilling into the Persian Gulf.
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.
Taking Kharg would give the US control over virtually all of Iran's oil exports and thus provide significant leverage, notes Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War. It would also put American troops within range of Iran's remaining missiles, drones, and artillery on a piece of real estate that is just eight square miles in size, and just 15 miles from the Iranian mainland.
The pause gives the US time to breathe, to regroup, to move its expeditionary force into position without risk of interception along the way. It gives Iran nothing -- on the ground, attacks against its infrastructure continue apace. Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
Alliances fight wars effectively only when they share an endgame. If Israel acted without US knowledge, then the military alliance is operating without real coordination at the level of strategic targeting. Neither picture is reassuring in a war that is no longer regional in its consequences. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
'Without ground troops the US will not be able to oust the Iranian Islamic regime. Political change does not happen just by using bombs or planes.'
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.
