Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi during an interview with the Qatari state-owned news television network Al-Jazeera in Tehran on October 28, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Sunday said Israel’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza “may force everyone” to act in the latest warning issued by the Islamic republic since the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Israel has been intensifying strikes on the tiny Palestinian territory since Hamas gunmen stormed across the border on October 7 and, according to Israeli officials, killed more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

Since then, more than 8,000 people have been killed, half of them children, according to the Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, an impoverished strip of land which is home to 2.4 million people.

“The crimes of the Zionist regime have crossed the red lines, and this may force everyone to take action,” Mr. Raisi said on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.

“Washington asks us to not do anything, but they keep giving widespread support to Israel,” he said.

“The U.S. sent messages to the Axis of Resistance but received a clear response on the battlefield,” he said, using a term often used by Iranian officials to refer to the Islamic republic and its allies like Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Yemen’s Huthis and other Shiite forces in Iraq and Syria.

Although it was not immediately clear what he was referring to, there have been a string of attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq and Syria as well as increasing exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces on the Lebanon border since the Gaza conflict began.

Iran, which financially and militarily backs Hamas, hailed the October 7 attacks as a “success”.

But it has insisted it was not involved in the onslaught, during which 230 people were also taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities.

“Iran considers it its duty to support the resistance groups, but … the resistance groups are independent in their opinion, decision, and action,” the Iranian president said in an interview with Al Jazeera on Saturday, according to excerpts released by state news agency IRNA.

“The United States knows very well our current capabilities and knows that they are impossible to overcome,” he said.

U.S. President Joe Biden.
| Photo Credit: AP

Dozens of Hollywood actors and artists, including comedian Jon Stewart and Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix, wrote on Friday to U.S. President Joe Biden, urging him to press for a ceasefire in Israel and Gaza.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,400 people and taking about 200 hostages. Since then, Israel has bombed Gaza and killed over 4,100 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

“We urge your administration, and all world leaders, to honor all of the lives in the Holy Land and call for and facilitate a ceasefire without delay – an end to the bombing of Gaza, and the safe release of hostages,” the celebrities wrote to Mr. Biden.

Follow Israel-Hamas war, Day 14 LIVE updates here

“We refuse to tell future generations the story of our silence, that we stood by and did nothing. As (UN) Emergency Relief Chief Martin Griffiths told UN News, “History is watching””, they said in the letter, citing Mr. Griffiths’ comment on Monday.

The nearly 60 signatories included Susan Sarandon, Kristen Stewart, Quinta Brunson, Ramy Youssef, Riz Ahmed and Mahershala Ali, among others.

“Humanitarian aid must be allowed to reach them (Gazans),” the letter said.

Mr. Biden on Friday said he believed that trucks carrying aid will get through to Gaza in the next 24 to 48 hours. Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, a 45-km-long (25-mile) enclave, has created dire conditions for the 2.3 million people living there under a blockade by Israel and Egypt since Hamas took control in 2007.

Representational image of security personnel standing guard in front of the High Commission of Canada in New Delhi. Canada has withdrawn 41 diplomats from India
| Photo Credit: AFP

Canada withdraws 41 diplomats from India as row over separatist killing grows

Canada said Thursday it had withdrawn 41 diplomats from India – fallout from a bitter row over the killing of a Sikh separatist on Canadian soil.

New Delhi planned to revoke diplomatic immunity for all but 21 of Canada’s diplomats and their families by Friday, forcing Ottawa to pull out the others, Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly said.

Israel-Hamas war, Day 13 updates | Aid for Israel, Ukraine will boost U.S. security ‘for generations’: Biden

Speaking from the Oval Office, U.S. President Joe Biden made the case for U.S. assistance to Ukraine and Israel, and said ‘won’t let “terrorists like Hamas and tyrants like Putin win”.

Akhilesh Yadav questions INDIA bloc’s viability as Congress decides to go it alone in Assembly polls

With the Congress deciding to go it alone in the upcoming Assembly elections in five States, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav appeared miffed, not only at the Congress’ unwillingness to share seats in Madhya Pradesh, but also at the lack of clarity on whether the four-month old Opposition coalition INDIA was meant as a partnership only for the 2024 Lok Sabha election and not for the Assembly polls.

Israel’s envoy says bombardment of Gaza to continue, ground operation needed to rescue hostages

Israel will not stop the bombardment of Gaza, and still plans a ground offensive to “eradicate Hamas’s capacity” and free about 200 Israeli hostages taken by the group during terror attacks on October 7, said Israel’s Ambassador to India Naor Gilon.

Thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his statements, Mr. Gilon said on October 19 that he hopes India, which has not so far designated Hamas as a terror group, would do so. Despite calls from neighbouring Arab countries for an immediate ceasefire, the envoy said that continuing with the operation was necessary for Israel’s “future”.

Court rejects Delhi Police plea against order to release journalists’ electronic devices

A Delhi court on Wednesday dismissed the plea filed by the Delhi Police against the orders of a magisterial court which had directed them to release the electronic devices seized from the editors and journalists of news portal, The Wire.

Additional Sessions Judge Pawan Singh Rajawat of the Tis Hazari Courts noted that the investigating agency, by continuous seizure of electronic devices of the respondents, is not only causing undue hardship to them, but impinges upon their fundamental right of freedom of profession and speech.

Steps in place to check price rise during festival season: Centre

Union Food Secretary Sanjeev Chopra said here on Thursday that the Centre has taken adequate measures, including extension of restrictions on exports of sugar, wheat and rice, to ensure that the prices of these essential items do not increase further and remain stable during the festival season.

Southwest monsoon withdraws from India

The southwest monsoon has ended and the northeast monsoon is likely to set in “in the next 72 hours”, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on October 19.

The onset of northeast monsoon, also known as the ‘retreating monsoon’, would likely be “weak”, the agency added.

More than 118 cases of corruption await prosecution sanction

There are six cases involving Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officers among over 118 cases of corruption involving public servants that await prosecution sanction from the Central and State governments, according to the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) data.

In M.P., BJP’s strategy this time is going to polls with Modi’s face alone

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday wrote a letter to the people of poll-bound Madhya Pradesh in an attempt to make a direct connect with voters by saying that their vote will work as “direct support” to him at the Centre.

The letter was made public by BJP State unit president and parliamentarian V.D. Sharma at a press conference in Bhopal by saying “chitthi aayi hai [a letter has arrived]”.

Nitish Kumar talks of ‘friendship’ with BJP leaders, slams last UPA government

Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar — who is running a coalition mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government in Bihar with allies Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress and Left parties — made some surprising remarks on Thursday (October 19), saying that as long as he was alive, his “friendship” with BJP leaders would remain.

Sikkim dam collapse will not slow India’s hydropower plans: R.K. Singh

The glacier lake outburst (GLOF) that triggered a flood in Sikkim and destroyed the Chungthang dam will not slow India’s reliance on hydropower, R.K. Singh, Minister for Power and Renewable Energy, has said.

Ind vs Ban |Kohli gets into the act again as India makes light of yet another chase

India’s pursuit of happiness continued unhindered in the World Cup. A fourth successful chase, this time against Bangladesh, ushered in a seven-wicket victory at the MCA Stadium here on Thursday night. Trailing Bangladesh’s 256 for eight, India finished at 261 for three in 41.3 overs, with Virat Kohli’s masterly hundred (103 n.o., 97b, 6×4, 4×6) playing the guiding light.

Australia and Pakistan face off in big-ticket clash at Chinnaswamy

A week is a long time in politics — former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson is supposed to have said, referring to the fast-changing pace of the political landscape. The Pakistan cricket team will hope that the adage comes true in sport when it takes on Australia in a crucial World Cup encounter at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.

The bodies of people killed during an Israeli airstrike are loaded onto a truck outside al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza Strip, on October 15, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

More than one million people have been forced from their homes in the northern Gaza Strip since Israel began its bombardment against Hamas, the UN said on Sunday, warning of dire conditions on the ground.

Israel declared war on the Islamist group last Sunday, a day after waves of its fighters broke through the heavily fortified border and shot, stabbed and burned to death more than 1,400 people, most of them civilians.

The relentless bombing since against those who masterminded the attack have flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians.

But as Israel seeks to avenge the worst attack in its history, the Arab League and African Union warned the invasion could lead to “a genocide of unprecedented proportions”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called on Hamas to release all hostages and for Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning that the region was “on the verge of the abyss”.

Also read | Israel’s evacuation order for Gaza ‘tantamount to death sentence’ for patients: WHO

Israel also faced a grave warning about the wider security implications of putting boots on the ground in the densely populated enclave.

“No one can guarantee the control of the situation and the non-expansion of the conflicts” if Israel sends its soldiers into Gaza, said Iran’s foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

“Those who are interested in preventing the scope of war and crisis from expanding need to prevent the current barbaric attacks… against citizens and civilians in Gaza,” he added.

Iran is Israel’s number one enemy and as well as funding Hamas also backs Hezbollah in Lebanon to the north, where cross-border fire has intensified in the last week, prompting Israel to shut the area to civilians.

Follow Israel-Hamas war, day 9 LIVE updates here

Escalation risk

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel had “no interest in a war in the north, we don’t want to escalate the situation.

“If Hezbollah chooses the path of war, it will pay a heavy price… but if it restrains itself, we’ll respect the situation,” he added.

The United States, which has given unequivocal backing to Israel, is concerned about violence spreading, and has sent two aircraft carriers to the eastern Mediterranean as a deterrent.

In Washington, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said they feared the prospect of Iran becoming “directly engaged”, after it praised the Hamas attack but insisted it was not involved.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has in recent days toured Middle Eastern capitals in a frantic round of diplomacy to try to avert a wider crisis in the volatile region.

On Sunday, he pointed to “determination in every country I went to make sure that this doesn’t spread,” as he left Egypt.

Mr. Blinken has appealed to China to use its influence in the region to ease tensions.

But on Sunday Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Israel’s response had “gone beyond the scope of self-defence”.

He called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his emergency government to “cease its collective punishment of the people of Gaza”.

Aid agencies’ alarm

Israel has massed thousands of troops and heavy weaponry in the desert south of the country, waiting for the green light to go into northern Gaza.

The army has told 1.1 million Palestinians in the north of the Gaza Strip — nearly half of its 2.4-million population — to head south to safety.

But there were still Israeli air strikes in the south, including in Rafah, where one resident said a doctor’s house was targeted.

“All the family was wiped out,” said Khamis Abu Hilal.

Israeli military spokesmen Lieutenant Richard Hecht and Daniel Hagari said any ground offensive would be triggered by a “political decision”.

Mr. Hecht singled out Yahya Sinwar, the chief of Hamas in Gaza blamed for the October 7 attacks, calling him “a dead man walking”.

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Sunday urged Hamas to release all civilian hostages, and also expressed concern at the price Palestinians civilians and children were paying in the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

Foreign governments and aid agencies, including the UN and ICRC, have repeatedly criticised Israel’s call for Gazans to leave their homes.

The UN agency supporting Palestinian refugees said Sunday that some one million Palestinians had already been displaced in the first week of the conflict — but the number was likely to be higher.

UNRWA commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini said Gaza was facing an “unprecedented human catastrophe” because of the blockade and bombings.

“Raise the alarm that as of today, my UNRWA colleagues in Gaza are no longer able to provide humanitarian assistance as I speak,” he told reporters.

Israeli armored personnel carriers head toward the border with the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, October 15, 2023.
| Photo Credit: AP

One million Gazans displaced in a week, says UN as Israel readies for ground attack

More than one million people have been displaced in the Gaza Strip in the last week, the UN said Sunday, after sustained Israeli bombardment and warnings about a ground attack targeting Hamas commanders.

Seven days of relentless bombing targeting those who masterminded the attack have flattened neighbourhoods and left at least 2,670 people dead in the Gaza Strip, the majority ordinary Palestinians.

Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls | SP says it will contest the election in alliance with Congress

The Samajwadi Party and the Congress, both members of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), have worked out a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh. On Sunday, SP leaders expressed confidence that an INDIA bloc government led by the Congress would be formed in the State.

Congress won’t repeat 30% of Rajasthan MLAs, says party’s State chief

The Congress is likely to replace up to 30% of its sitting MLAs in the coming Rajasthan Assembly election, the party’s State unit president, Govind Singh Dotasra, told The Hindu on Sunday.

Mr. Dotasra mocked the BJP for fielding “failed” MPs in the Assembly election to deflect an anti-incumbency trend against the Union government ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2024.

BJP MP accuses Mahua Moitra of ‘taking cash to ask questions’

BJP MP Nishikant Dubey complained to Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla on Sunday that Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra had allegedly taken bribes from a business house to ask questions in Parliament.

Ms. Moitra denied the allegations and urged the Speaker to first complete the “probe” into Mr. Dubey’s educational qualifications and then hold an investigation into the allegations against her.

New investment slowed again in Q2 of FY24, drops by 13%

Fresh investment announcements in the July-to-September quarter, the second quarter of 2023-24, have dropped to ₹6.9 lakh crore, 13% lower than the first quarter, and 21.5% down from a year ago, driven by a sharp dip in proposed outlays by the Union government and foreign investors, and a broad-based contraction across the manufacturing, mining, infrastructure, and electricity sectors.

ICC World Cup: ENG vs AFG | Gritty Afghanistan leaves England shellshocked

In the past, Afghanistan has let teams like India and Pakistan off the hook in the World Cup. The gritty fighters, with a display of fearless trading of wickets for quick runs, have often paid the price for their inexperience in dealing with the ‘big’ moments of the game.

SC to hear AAP leader Raghav Chadha’s plea against ‘indefinite’ suspension from Rajya Sabha

The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on October 16 a plea moved by Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Raghav Chadha, challenging his indefinite suspension from the Rajya Sabha.

A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J. B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra is scheduled to hear the plea of Mr. Chadha, who was suspended on the last day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on August 11 for “gross violation of rules, misconduct, defiant attitude and contemptuous conduct”, pending a report by the privileges committee.

Study estimates count of UAVs required for the three Services

The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) Gen Anil Chauhan recently ordered two studies to be conducted on major military platforms used by all three services. According to defence sources these platforms are Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) and armoured helicopters. The study on UAVs has since been completed with a recommendation to acquire 31 MQ-9B High Altitude Long Endurance (HALE) UAVs and 155 Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) UAVs.

UN aid chief says six months of war in Sudan has killed 9,000 people

Six months of war between Sudan’s military and a powerful paramilitary group has killed up to 9,000 people and created “one of the worst humanitarian nightmares in recent history,” the United Nations humanitarian chief said Sunday.

Centre may raise retirement age of scientists from 60 to 65

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) is working on a proposal to increase the retirement age of scientists to 65.

Its larger purpose, sources suggest, is to stem the flight of its top, senior scientists to universities and the Indian Institutes of Technology, where the retirement age is 65, The Hindu has learnt.

Railways comes up with innovations to tackle freezing of water in winter

The process of linking Kashmir to Kanyakumari through the new Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project posed a unique challenge to the Indian Railways — that of maintaining water and fuel in liquid form in sub-zero temperatures during the freezing winters of the north. To circumvent the problem of water freezing in toilets and in fuel tanks, engineers at the Rail Coach Factory (RCF) in Kapurthala have designed and implemented indigenous innovations.

Kaziranga reopens with tribute to British-era officer

The Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve reopened on Sunday with a literary tribute to a British-era forest officer who rid its name of any hunting connotations.

Poland’s opposition leader says three parties have enough votes to unseat the Law and Justice party

Polish opposition leader Donald Tusk said that three opposition parties had sufficient votes to win the general election on Sunday after an exit poll projected that they had enough combined support to oust Law and Justice, the governing conservative nationalist party.

Indian nationals evacuated from war-hit Israel arrive at Indira Gandhi International Airport as part of ‘Operation Ajay’, in New Delhi on October 14, 2023.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Fourth flight with 274 Indian nationals flies out from Israel

A special flight carrying 274 Indian nationals wanting to leave Israel amidst the Israel-Hamas conflict left for home on Saturday, the second in a day and fourth since the launch of ‘Operation Ajay’.

The Indian Embassy in Tel Aviv earlier earlier announced that two special flights will operate from Ben Gurion airport on Saturday.

Shadow from fallen Sikkim dam falls on India’s hydroelectric projects in Bhutan

The Chungthang dam of Sikkim Urja Limited’s 1,200 MW Teesta-III hydroelectric project on river Teesta gave way on October 4, contributing to the death of at least 94 people in the downstream areas of Sikkim and West Bengal. The devastation has refreshed worries over two of three India-assisted, under-construction mega hydropower projects in Bhutan — the 1,200 MW Punatsangchhu Stage-I (Puna-I) and the 1,020 MW Punatsangchhu Stage-II (Puna-II). These projects, along with the 660 MW Kholongchu, are estimated to cost ₹21,637.28 crore, funded by India, benefiting States in northern and eastern India.

India will bid to host 2036 Olympics, PM Modi confirms

India aspires to host the 2036 Summer Olympics, Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed on Saturday. The country is enthusiastic about organising the quadrennial global sports extravaganza and is fully committed to making this dream a reality, he said.

If its bid is successful, India will become only the fourth Asian country to host the Games.

ICC World Cup: IND vs PAK | Rohit Sharma and bowlers make it 8-0 for India in ODI World Cups against Pakistan

Like fireflies dancing on a surreal night, fans held aloft their cellphones, switched on the torchlights and swayed. The surreal moment at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on October 14, summed up the state of the much-anticipated World Cup match between India and Pakistan.

Rohit Sharma’s men were on the ascendant and stayed that way right through with the skipper leading from the front. Chasing Pakistan’s 191, India scored 192 for three in 30.3 overs and registered a seven-wicket victory. The Men in Blue found their batting and bowling arms in sync, and Pakistan capitulated.

Modi government failed to mitigate problems faced by women: Sonia Gandhi

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said that instead of mitigating the problems faced by women, the past nine years had seen a sustained effort by the Modi government to turn women purely into symbols, to be counted and appreciated only in their restricted traditional roles in a patriarchal framework.

Addressing the Women’s Right Conference organised here by DMK MP K. Kanimozhi to commemorate the birth centenary of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Ms. Gandhi said that just as in every other frontier of rights, freedoms, equity, and equality, even among women, all the remarkable gains of the past 70 years had disappeared.

Rajiv Gandhi assassination case | Freed convict Santhan wants to return home

Santhan alias Suthenthiraraja, one of the seven life convicts granted premature release in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, has requested the Sri Lankan President to help him return to the island nation and live there with his aged mother. 

MHA data shows nearly half of fresh FCRA registrations under the religious category are for Christian NGOs

Over the past nine years, of the 407 non-government organisations (NGOs) that got the Centre’s nod to receive foreign funds for religious purposes, 194 showed they ran Christian programmes, according to data available with the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA).

However, there are several NGOs that have not listed religion as at least one of their purposes, but are perceived to be working in that space. For instance, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) is registered as a social organisation in Maharashtra and a religious one in Delhi.

Skygazers watch ‘Ring of Fire’ eclipse over Western Hemisphere

Skygazers across the Americas turned their faces upwards Saturday for a rare celestial event: an annular solar eclipse. A crowd of people wearing protective eyewear gathered in Albuquerque, New Mexico, one of many across the western United States watching as the Moon passed between the Sun and Earth at its furthest point from our planet.

Manipur court issues arrest warrant against Meitei Leepun chief Pramot Singh

A court in Manipur has issued a non-bailable warrant for the arrest and production of Meitei Leepun chief Pramot Singh in a case registered against him by the Churachandpur police in June for allegedly promoting enmity between communities and making statements prejudicial to national integration.

LJP factions battle for Hajipur seat in 2024 Lok Sabha polls

The intra-family war of words over the Hajipur (reserved) Lok Sabha seat is getting shriller by the day. Just two days after Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan said that it would be easier to win if his mother Reena Paswan contested from the seat, his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras countered on Saturday, saying that if Mr. Paswan wanted to field his mother from the Hajipur seat, he too would put up someone from his family to contest the Jamui (reserved) parliamentary seat. Mr. Paswan is the MP from Jamui.

Red Fort to host India’s maiden art, architecture and design biennale

Come December, the national capital’s iconic Red Fort will house for a week the replicas of some landmark Indian buildings and structures, including the new Indian Parliament, Tamil Nadu’s Velankanni Railway Station, and Srinagar’s Shalimar Bagh as part of the country’s maiden art, architecture and design biennale.

Will intensify stir if Maratha quota is not announced by Oct 24, says activist Jarange Patil

Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange Patil on Saturday threatened to intensify his agitation after October 24 if the Maharashtra government fails to provide reservation to the community in jobs and education.

Addressing a massive gathering at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district, he said that after October 24, it would be either his “funeral procession or the Maratha community’s victory celebration”.