Union Minister Kiren Rijiju strongly condemned the alleged desecration of the Indian flag and pro-Khalistan slogans by protesters outside Madison Square Garden in New York, where RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat addressed the Indian-American community. Rijiju warned against insulting the nation and its flag, while Bhagwat spoke on unity in diversity.
Tibetan communities across New Delhi, Kolkata and Shimla marked the 49th day since activist Lobsang Palden, also known as Lobga Rangza, immolated himself outside the United Nations headquarters in New York on July 2, 2026, with prayer services and protests.
A US-based Hindu advocacy group, the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), has issued a community alert for attendees of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's event in New York. The alert advises attendees to avoid confrontation with opposing activists and to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement, amidst planned protests by groups like Hindus for Human Rights.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has voiced his opposition to the upcoming event at Madison Square Garden where RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to address the Indian diaspora. Mamdani, however, noted that the city might lack jurisdiction to cancel the private event, which has also drawn protests from various interfaith and civil rights organisations.
A 42-year-old man, identified as Lobga Rangzen, died after setting himself on fire outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan. The act was an apparent protest, with a Tibetan flag and a 'CHINA OUT OF TIBET' slogan found at the scene, linking it to the ongoing Tibetan Independence Movement.
West Bengal could be the Bharatiya Janata Party's real test case of its business-friendly policies, points out Kanika Datta.
The US Open has announced a record $108 million in prize money for this year's tournament, the largest purse in tennis history.
The Indian Embassy in the US strongly refuted a New York Times headline referring to "Pakistani Kashmir," asserting that there is only Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and that Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India. The embassy highlighted Pakistan's illegal occupation and exploitation of these territories, linking it to ongoing protests in PoK.
'I know China will implode. It is scientifically impossible for China to control a nation through the barrel of a gun.'
'Instead of choosing dialogue, the government chose repression... Force ought to be the last resort, not the first.'
Protests on multiple fronts disrupted the atmosphere outside the FIFA Congress in Vancouver on Thursday, as demonstrators raised sharply different concerns over global politics and local issues.
Bangladeshi cricket legend Shakib Al Hasan, an ally of ousted PM Sheikh Hasina, is willing to return from exile in the US to face charges, including murder, if the government guarantees his safety. He hopes to play a farewell series and represent Bangladesh in the 2027 World Cup, highlighting the challenges faced by Hasina's allies after her government's fall.
The question nobody seems to ask is why a democracy should be silent when many of its citizens are concerned about the way the US is deviating from its traditional ways of consultation, cooperation and collaboration and moving away from traditional allies, asks Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
A sensational New York Times report alleging that Israel's Mossad secretly groomed former Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to lead a post-Islamic Republic Iran is being scrutinised for its strategic timing amidst Iran's sensitive post-Khamenei transition.
Millions of people, including international representatives, are expected to attend the funeral of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran. His death occurred at the start of the US-Israel war on Iran. US President Donald Trump announced a week-long pause in bombing for the funeral, while India was represented by Governor Syed Ata Hasnain and MoS External Affairs Pabitra Margherita. The event is anticipated to be one of the largest gatherings in Iran's history, with ceremonies delayed due to security concerns.
Beyond imprisonment, candidates caught cheating face cancellation of examination scores, blacklisting under China's social credit system and multi-year bans from appearing in state examinations.
Protests were held from coast to coast, with massive marches in major cities and smaller gatherings in suburban and rural areas across both traditionally Republican and Democratic states.
Basketball fans greeted US President Donald Trump with a chorus of loud boos on Monday, as the Republican became the first sitting US president to attend the NBA Finals.
Ecuador secured a stunning 2-1 victory over Germany in a crucial World Cup match, ensuring their qualification for the last 32. Despite an early German goal, Ecuador fought back with goals from Nilson Angulo and Gonzalo Plata to clinch the win.
Immigrants' contribution to the US economy is disproportionate to their share of the population, meaning that losing them would shrink the economy even more than losing a random group of Americans, points out Sree Sreenivasan.
Mexico celebrated a historic 2-0 victory over South Africa in the opening match of the World Cup at the Azteca stadium, breaking a seven-game opening day curse.
'Producers were ready to pay me obscene amounts of money because after Rangeela, they thought if they took A R Rahman and Ahmed Khan, the film would be a hit.' 'There were no imported cars then, no mobile phones or online shopping, no house to run or any big kharcha. I was rocking!'
Iran is set to witness more brutality as the administration has decided to execute its first protester on Wednesday amid mass arrests of anti-regime protesters, New York Post reported, citing human rights groups.
On Sunday, October 26, 2025, New York mayoral hopeful Zohran Mamdani and two of his most prominent backers, United States Senator Bernie Sanders and US Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, framed his election as a one-on-one battle versus President Donald Trump and his administration at a raucous rally at the Forest Hills stadium in New York City's Queens borough.
An Air India Airbus A350 sustained engine damage after ingesting a baggage container while taxiing at Delhi airport. The incident occurred after the flight returned to Delhi due to the unexpected closure of Iranian airspace. The DGCA is investigating.
According to the police, the widespread rallies have been largely peaceful with no reports of incidents or arrests.
Trump has made it clear: the US will not lift its blockade of Iranian ports until a deal is signed.
A Pakistani man with ties to Iran has been convicted in a US court for plotting to assassinate former US President Donald Trump and other American politicians.
By all available indications, the White House drafted a face-saving note and handed it, ready-made, to Islamabad. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif was supposed to then post it in the guise of a plea urging Trump to extend the deadline by two weeks 'to allow diplomacy to run its course'. Trump would then graciously accept Pakistan's 'request' and declare a ceasefire. Sharif dutifully posted the message on X. Except that he, or whoever was handling the account, forgot to delete the tell-tale first line visible in the edit history: 'Draft - Pakistan's PM Message on X'. Prem Panicker's must read blog on the Iran War.
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
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.
The LPG squeeze on India's restaurant sector is the quotidian face of a deeper crisis.
The intriguing bit is that Trump is likely to attend the talks in Islamabad this weekend -- if he does, it will be the clearest signal yet that the US is ready to exit the war with some sort of win to show, since he cannot afford to go for the talks and return empty-handed, notes Prem Panicker in his must read blog on the Iran War
Chaffing under public ridicule in the US as well as internationally for having 'lost' the war, Trump is under immense pressure to do something, cautions Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
US President Donald Trump will not attend the National Football League's Super Bowl on February 8 because the game, which will be played at Levi's Stadium in northern California, is "just too far away," he said
Demonstrators rallied across the United States under the banner of 'No Kings', protesting President Donald Trump's recent actions, including federal immigration raids and the deployment of military forces in Los Angeles.
Glimpses of the nationwide 'Hands Off' anti-Trump protests in the USA, April 5, 2025.
'Was the five-day pause ever meant to hold, or was it simply another instrument of signaling, of positioning, of buying time in a war where even the pauses are tactical?' asks Prem Panicker in his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
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.
According to a report in the New York Times, United States President Donald Trump has been briefed in recent days on a range of military options targeting Iran.
