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.
Diplomats expressed fears that the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam could resort to more guerrilla attacks in the coming weeks as the peace process ground to a halt.
The move is a critical step in the transition to full Afghan control by the end of 2014 as announced by US President Barack Obama at a NATO summit in Lisbon last year, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted its sources as saying.
Cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar participated in an event in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district as part of a grassroots sports initiative aimed at transforming the once Maoist hotbed into a thriving sports hub and opening new avenues for the youth.
As Iran heads into crucial peace talks with the United States of America, here are the six men who decide the Islamic Republic's course.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman to express Pakistan's support for the Kingdom amidst escalating tensions in West Asia, reaffirming their mutual defence pact and commitment to regional stability.
The logic of war plus the gathering storms in US politics as the midterms loom large leave him with no real alternative but to negotiate, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday offered peace talks to militants in Pakistan's troubled northwest even as security forces claimed to have killed more than 50 rebels in an operation in the tribal belt.
Iranian military spokesperson said that stability in the region would be ensured only by the strength of Iran's armed forces and warned that energy and oil markets would not return to previous levels unless this reality was acknowledged.
For India, much is at stake: Crucial energy supplies traversing the Strait of Hormuz, the fate of its 10 million citizens living and working in West Asia -- who send generous remittances home -- and its major trade links with the region.
US President Donald Trump on Sunday announced that the American Navy will henceforth block all maritime traffic entering the Strait of Hormuz.
China has urged Pakistan and Afghanistan to engage in direct talks to resolve their ongoing conflict, offering to mediate and calling for a ceasefire.
Indian chess grandmaster Koneru Humpy defends her decision to withdraw from the Candidates tournament in Cyprus due to safety concerns amid regional tensions, stating that playing peacefully is impossible when surrounded by warships.
Officials from Pakistan, Afghanistan, and China are meeting in Urumqi to discuss regional security concerns and potential confidence-building measures.
In their talks, Modi and Merz are likely to deliberate on trade and investment ties as New Delhi is looking at deepening economic engagement with Europe against the backdrop of Washington's 50 percent tariff on Indian goods, people familiar with the matter said.
United Liberation Front of Asom chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa, who was arrested over two months ago, on Saturday said his outfit was not keen on peace talks but wanted to resolve long-drawn contentious political issues through negotiations. "I do not want peace talks, but want talks to resolve the problems facing the state," Rajkhowa said. "People will not be kept in the dark on the issue of talks and they will be the first to be taken into confidence," he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for a swift end to the conflicts in West Asia and Ukraine, emphasising the importance of dialogue and diplomacy. He made the remarks after talks with Finnish President Alexander Stubb, where they also agreed to a strategic partnership in digitalisation and sustainability.
Tedros said that the war in the Middle East has reached a perilous stage with strikes reportedly hitting the Natanz Enrichment Complex in Iran, and the Israeli city of Dimona, where a nuclear facility is located.
Amid rising tensions in West Asia, China is urging all parties to cease military operations, following Trump's appeal for help in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
The Asom Gana Parishad, the state's main Opposition party, has raised a demand to initiate immediate peace talks with the banned United Liberation Front of Asom. Political observers, however, view the renewed call by the AGP for peace talks as an attempt to placate ULFA before the forthcoming panchayat election in Assam.
The United States has cautioned it is unlikely that the proposed peace talks with the Taliban will begin anytime soon given the lack of clarity over whether the militant group actually intends to engage in dialogue.
To be sure, Trump is furious, as the trajectory of the war is in a state of Zugzwang, as chess players call it. Trump and Netanyahu stare at two choices -- retreat in humiliation and concede Tehran's demands -- recognition of its rights, reparations, and binding security guarantees -- or perish in a quagmire, points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Don't respond immediately. Take two slow breaths before you start speaking. Even a few seconds of peace can prevent the situation from escalating, says rediffGURU Kanchan Rai, founder of the Let Us Talk Foundation.
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 Obama administration has said it is supportive of the peace talks between the Karzai government and the Taliban, but asserted that there is no change in its position that this requires a renunciation of Al Qaeda, following Afghan law and renouncing violence.
Lavrov said that the US has set itself the objective of 'achieving economic domination', adding further to it that Americans want to control the routes to leading countries to provide its energy sources to them.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma addresses the Karbi people's demand to evict alleged Hindi-speaking encroachers from grazing lands, citing a stay order by the Gauhati High Court. The situation follows violence in West Karbi Anglong district over land encroachment allegations.
Nagaland Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla announced the state government's plans to form an interim council for the Frontier Nagaland Territorial Authority (FNTA) and highlighted key achievements and future priorities across various sectors during the Budget Session.
India has commissioned its new indigenously-built nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine INS Aridaman into service, further strengthening the naval component of its nuclear triad. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also highlighted the Indian Navy's role in securing maritime trade routes.
In this new series on modern marriages, Payal* tells Divya Nair how she coped with the unexpected challenges that followed her impulsive marriage to her best friend.
An adjunct professor at a private university in Bengaluru has been suspended and faces an FIR after allegedly calling a student a 'terrorist' during a class. The incident has sparked outrage and raised questions about accountability and transparency.
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 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.
The development comes nearly a month after Chief Minister Baghel said that his government was ready to hold talks with the rebels if they expressed faith in the Constitution.
'TTP has vowed to take revenge for the attacks that Pakistan is carrying out against Afghanistan.' 'To diminish this threat, Pakistan is hitting Afghanistan hard.'
Isak Chisi Swu, chairman of the Naga rebel group NSCN-IM, has left for an undisclosed destination abroad, leaving the next round of peace talks with the government in jeopardy. A source in the NSCN-IM, which has been engaged in peace talks with the government since 1997, said that Swu will attend future peace talks with the government. The NSCN-IM general secretary Th Muivah will lead the rebel group's delegation in the next round of talks, to be held on Wednesday.
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.
'We had been repeatedly requesting Bhutan government to act as a mediator between us and the Indian government and convince New Delhi to agree to focus its discussions on our main demand for sovereignty,' ULFA chief Paresh Baruah said.
If the Iranian regime needs to be punished for promoting quasi-terrorist outfits like Hezbollah and Hamas, then what about Pakistan which has spent decades exporting terror around the world, killing thousands, particularly in Afghanistan and India? asks M R Narayan Swamy.
