Asia Now

The Indian Embassy in Tehran has urged the Indian nationals in Iran to leave the country by available means of transport, including commercial flights. The Embassy has reiterated its advisory issued on January 14 this year, saying all Indian citizens and Persons of Indian Origin should exercise due caution, avoid areas of protests or demonstrations, stay in contact with the Indian Embassy in Iran and monitor local media for any developments. It also requested the Indian natio

At the centre of a landmark verdict by the US Supreme Court striking down President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs, is Indian-origin lawyer Neal Katyal, who successfully argued the case before the nation’s highest judicial body. Katyal, a former Acting Solicitor General of the United States under President Barack Obama, represented a group of small businesses challenging the legality of the tariffs. The Court ruled in their favour, delivering a significant judgment on

US President Donald Trump will chair the Board of Peace meeting today and will make an announcement regarding the 5 billion dollar pledged for Gaza by 20 member states attending the meeting, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said. Addressing the media, Leavitt said that the Board of Peace meeting will focus on maintaining security in Gaza amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Mr. Trump will announce reconstruction efforts and committed thousands of personn

South Korea’s Defence Ministry today said that it will push for reinstating a no-fly zone under the suspended 2018 inter-Korean military pact in a way that does not affect a military readiness posture. The ministry spokesperson Chung Binna said this during a regular briefing. She said the country is in consultations with the United States over Seoul’s push to partially restore the military pact; it comes a day after Unification Minister Chung Dong-young disclosed the governme

Russian and Ukrainian delegations concluded the first day of US-brokered peace talks in Geneva, just one week before the fourth anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s chief negotiator, Rustem Umerov, said discussions would resume in the Swiss city this morning. Hopes for a breakthrough during the latest third round of trilateral talks are low, as the Kremlin has not wavered from its maximalist demands for Ukrainian territory. Just hours before the d

The US military struck three alleged drug-trafficking vessels in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean yesterday, killing all 11 people on board, US Southern Command said. The Southern Command said in a statement that intelligence confirmed the vessels were transiting along known narco-trafficking routes and were engaged in narco-trafficking operations. It added that no US military personnel were harmed. The strikes brought the death toll from the US campaign, which began in Se

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has invited his Bangladeshi counterpart, Tarique Rahman, to visit India along with his family. In a letter to Mr Rahman, PM Modi expressed his eagerness to work closely with the BNP leader to further strengthen the multifaceted bilateral relationship between the two nations. PM Modi said as two close neighbours, India and Bangladesh have a deep-rooted friendship founded on shared history, cultural ties and the aspirations of the peoples for peace

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that any potential agreement with Iran must include the removal of nuclear material, a halt to uranium enrichment and restrictions on ballistic missiles. Speaking at a public conference yesterday after a recent meeting with US President Donald Trump in Washington, Netanyahu said Trump was determined to exhaust the possibilities of achieving a deal, which he believes can be achieved now. However, Netanyahu said he remains sceptica

The International Space Station has returned to full crew strength with the arrival of four new astronauts, replacing colleagues who left early due to health concerns. The new arrivals, who are set to spend eight to nine months aboard the station, are NASA astronauts Jessica Meir and Jack Hathaway, France’s Sophie Adenot, and Russia’s Andrei Fedyaev. Last month’s medical evacuation was NASA’s first in 65 years of human spaceflight. One of the four astronauts launched by Spa

The United States military has said it carried out more than 10 strikes on more than 30 Islamic State targets in Syria earlier this month. The attack was carried in retaliation for the deaths of two American soldiers and a civilian interpreter in an ambush in December. US Central Command said the strikes, conducted between February 3 and February 12, targeted weapons storage sites, communication hubs and other infrastructure linked to the militant group. According to Central

India’s High Commissioner to Fiji Suneet Mehta held a meeting with Fiji’s Foreign Affairs and External Trade Minister, Sakiasi Ditoka, discussing new avenues to further strengthen bilateral cooperation across priority sectors of mutual interest. The meeting reaffirmed the enduring India-Fiji Veilomani Dosti partnership, and exploring new avenues to further strengthen bilateral cooperation across priority sectors of mutual interest, Indian High Commission in Fiji posted on X.

The Trump administration has reached a trade deal with Taiwan, with Taiwan agreeing to remove or reduce 99 per cent of its tariff barriers. The office of the US Trade Representative yesterday informed that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Taiwan’s Vice Premier Li-chiun Cheng signed the reciprocal agreement in Washington. Taiwan’s exports to the US will be taxed at a 15 per cent rate or the US government’s Most Favoured Nation rate. Under the deal, Taiwan will make i

As US President Donald Trump considers whether to take possible military action against Iran, the world’s largest aircraft carrier has been ordered to sail from the Caribbean Sea to the Middle East. The move by the USS Gerald R. Ford will put two carriers and their accompanying warships in the region as Trump increases pressure on Iran to make a deal over its nuclear programme, reports said. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier and three guided-missile destroyers arrived

World Radio Day is being observed today. The Day is observed on 13th February every year to commemorate the establishment of the United Nations Radio in 1946. The theme this year is “Radio and Artificial Intelligence: AI is a tool, not a voice.” To mark World Radio Day 2026, Akashvani Raipur, Chhattisgarh, in collaboration with UNESCO, is organising a World Radio Day Conclave today. The conclave is centred on the official theme and will deliberate on how AI can strengthen c

In Thailand, a 17-year-old stole a gun from police and opened fire at a public high school in southern, briefly taking people hostage in a two-hour attack that killed one person and injured two others. Police also injured the assailant in a gun battle in Songkhla province before taking him into custody to end the standoff. The attack took place yesterday shortly after classes were dismissed. The school’s director died in a hospital today after being severely injured in the a

Several Canadian airlines, including Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat, suspended their services to Cuba, citing an aviation fuel shortage on the island. This suspension comes as the US tightens its grip on the nation’s oil supply by blocking shipments from Venezuela. A statement by the Air Canada airline said that it will operate empty flights to Cuba to pick up and return customers. Over the following days, the empty flights will pick up nearly three thousand passengers

Secretary (South) Dr Neena Malhotra co-chaired the 14th India-Egypt Foreign Office consultation along with the Assistant Foreign Minister at Cairo, Egypt. The Ministry of External Affairs said that during the meeting, both sides reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral strategic partnership and discussed possible cooperation to take the partnership forward. They also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual interest.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Chief of Staff Morgan McSweeney, stepped down, accepting responsibility for advising the government to appoint Peter Mandelson as Britain’s ambassador to the United States, despite his links to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. In a public statement, Mr McSweeney said, he had given the Prime Minister flawed advice and accepted full responsibility for the appointment. He described the decision as damaging to public trust and to the

US President Donald Trump signed an executive order renewing the national emergency on Iran and creating a new tariff system targeting countries that buy goods or services from Tehran. The White House said the order is designed to protect US national security, foreign policy, and the economy. It allows the United States to impose additional tariffs on imports from any country that directly or indirectly purchases, imports, or otherwise acquires any goods or services from Iran

The United States and Russia will resume a high-level military-to-military dialogue that was suspended shortly before the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. This is the latest sign that the Trump administration is pursuing more normalised relations with Moscow, even as a key nuclear weapons treaty between the two powers expired. Yesterday marked the end of the New START Treaty, which limits the numbers and types of nuclear weapons each country maintains. In response