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The Allahabad High Court has taken suo motu cognizance of the fatal bus fire on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida that killed nine passengers, stepping into a case that has raised serious questions about safety compliance in long-distance buses. On September 26, the court summoned top Uttar Pradesh government officials to explain the apparent safety violations and ordered intensified night inspections of buses on the highway. All nine victims of the blaze have since been identified. ### Manager arrested, transport report due The manager of the bus company was arrested on September 26 for allegedly ignoring passenger warnings about smoke before the fire broke out. A special team from the transport department is expected to submit...

United States and Iranian negotiators are exploring a phased agreement that would see Tehran reopen the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for Washington lifting its blockade of Iranian ports, according to a person familiar with the discussions. The two sides were making a push for a breakthrough on Thursday on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, with Qatari officials mediating the negotiations. The person spoke on condition of anonymity, saying they were not authorised to discuss private matters. A sequenced arrangement would resemble the memorandum of understanding the US and Iran struck in mid-June, which produced a fragile ceasefire that collapsed just weeks later. ### Conditions on both sides The talks...

A federal judge has ordered the Trump administration to restore White House press credentials for journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico, ruling that the ban on the three outlets likely violated their constitutional rights. In a ruling issued shortly after midnight on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Timothy J. Kelly granted a 14-day temporary restraining order requiring the White House to immediately return, reinstate and restore the reporters' hard passes — the permanent credentials that allow routine access to the White House complex. The order followed a fast-moving confrontation. President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social on September 18 that the three organizations would be barred from the White House complex over what he...

Seventeen people were killed and 15 wounded after armed men opened fire at a tavern in Wedela township, South Africa, on Friday night. Police launched a large-scale manhunt as officers searched for eight suspects. According to Reuters reporting carried by Northland News Radio, the shooting occurred Friday evening at a licensed tavern in the township. Seventeen people were confirmed dead at the scene and 15 others were injured. The Gauteng police confirmed that a dedicated task force had been assembled to hunt the eight suspects, with provincial crime intelligence and forensic teams deployed to the scene. The incident is the latest in a series of mass shootings at South African taverns and informal drinking establishments. Particle...

US President Donald Trump has predicted that the United States will reach a deal with Cuba, while downplaying the prospect of military action against the island nation, according to remarks reported on Saturday. Speaking to reporters, Trump said that he believes a deal with Cuba is possible, striking a notably conciliatory tone. The comments mark a shift from the more confrontational rhetoric that has characterised US-Cuba relations in recent months. Trump also sought to play down speculation about US military action against Cuba. The US has increased its military presence in the Caribbean in recent weeks, leading to concerns about a possible confrontation. The increased US military activity in the region has been linked to...

The Election Commission of India has ordered a technical review of the software used in electoral roll revision, responding to complaints about irregularities in the ongoing special intensive revision of voter lists, Reuters reported on Sunday. Officials told Reuters the poll body will examine the software and hold a meeting with officials from the states involved. The decision follows a series of complaints, including allegations from the opposition Congress party that the exercise has led to names being deleted or missing from voter rolls in some areas. The Election Commission has rejected claims that the electoral process is being compromised. It has said that the revision is a routine exercise to keep voter lists accurate and up...

Breaking: Trump Told Aides He Expects to Resume Bombing Iran After Midterms, WSJ Reports President Donald Trump has privately told aides he expects to resume a bombing campaign against Iran after the November midterm elections, according to a Wall Street Journal report relayed by US media. The Journal reported on Friday that Trump had already rejected Iran's seven-day ceasefire proposal, which would have reopened the Strait of Hormuz, kickstarted fresh nuclear talks and lifted the US naval blockade of Iranian ports in return. The president told reporters at the White House on Saturday that he had rejected the Iranian pitch outright. "They want to make a deal where they open the Strait immediately because they're losing so badly,"...

US, EU Reject UN Pandemic Plan at High-Level UN Meeting The United States and the European Union have rejected a United Nations declaration meant to strengthen global cooperation against future pandemics, blocking consensus adoption at a high-level UN meeting in New York. The declaration was considered on Friday during the second UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response, according to a report from IANS datelined United Nations, September 27. The New York Times reported that Italy also explicitly rejected the text, while India and Germany raised concerns but stopped short of opposing the document. Washington's objections The United States said the text still contained unacceptable...

The Supreme Court on Saturday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to seal over 16,000 properties in Meerut and demolish unauthorised structures, taking serious note of illegal constructions and the conversion of residential properties for commercial use. A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan also constituted a judicial commission led by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia to conduct a thorough inquiry in Uldepur, on the outskirts of Meerut, into the nature of the land on which illegal residential colonies have developed. "Shocked and disturbed". "We are shocked and disturbed to learn, reading the status report, that hundreds of illegal residential colonies have come up at Uldepur," the bench said, after...

US President Donald Trump has rejected calls to slow down the development of artificial intelligence and said Washington should not cooperate closely with China on the technology, days after concluding a three-day summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Speaking to reporters on Saturday as he departed the White House, Trump said the United States "is not going to be putting on brakes" for AI, even as some US lawmakers and executives at major technology companies have argued the pace of development should be restrained because of the risks to humanity. The president dismissed those concerns by comparing them to other issues he has long labelled as exaggerated. "When they wanna put on brakes, it's just like everybody's going to be...

Germany is ready to sign a long-awaited submarine partnership with India "at any moment," the country's new ambassador to India, Jasper Wieck, has said — with the deal now awaiting only the final approvals from New Delhi. Speaking to reporters at his residence in New Delhi on Wednesday, Wieck said Berlin had finished all of its internal work on the agreement, including the intergovernmental pact, and described Germany's posture throughout the negotiation as "forward-leaning" in meeting India's requirements. "Germany stands ready to sign at any moment, as soon as the Indian side is ready," he said. "So we are waiting for the final approval from the various authorities on the Indian side, and then we can kickstart this very important...

The United States is preparing to begin a naval blockade of Iranian ports on Monday after ceasefire talks between Washington and Tehran collapsed without an agreement, according to reports citing U.S. Central Command planning. What is planned U.S. Central Command has drawn up plans for a blockade of Iranian ports beginning Monday at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, while permitting maritime transit between non-Iranian ports. The move would mark a dramatic escalation in pressure on Tehran. Why talks failed Ceasefire negotiations between the U.S. and Iran ended without agreement, with both sides unable to bridge differences. The breakdown follows weeks of heightened tensions in the region, including threats around the Strait of Hormuz, a...

IIT Bombay students took to the campus streets on Friday in a march demanding a reconstituted, independent investigation into the death of Sahil Wakode, an 18-year-old first-year student whose body was found at his hostel on September 6. The demonstration adds to sustained pressure from students on the institute to replace the current inquiry committee with a panel that includes external experts. What happened Students participating in the Friday march said the existing probe panel lacks independence and credibility. They want the institute to form a new external committee, with members from outside IIT Bombay, to investigate the circumstances surrounding Wakode's death. The institute has said earlier that its internal committee was...

The Delhi High Court has ruled that a marriage recognised under Muslim personal law cannot grant immunity from prosecution under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for sexual intercourse with a wife who was below 18 at the time. Justice Sanjeev Narula delivered the observation in an order dated September 23, released on Saturday, while refusing to quash a criminal case against a man booked under Section 64(1) of the BNS and Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The case before the court The case involved a woman who was 16 years and three months old when she married the petitioner, then nearly 28, on December 20, 2024. The couple subsequently lived together and she became pregnant...

Iran insisted on Sunday that only diplomacy can resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel, a day after US President Donald Trump said he had rejected an Iranian peace proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting. "Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on social media. "Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock." A rejected proposal Iran announced the peace proposal earlier this week at the UN General Assembly in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans through Qatari mediators. Araqchi said the deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to...

The United Nations has raised the alarm over a sharp acceleration in Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure in the occupied West Bank, warning that the campaign is fuelling fears of ethnic cleansing. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said Israeli bulldozers destroyed homes, farm buildings, water tanks and solar panels in the village of Jinba on Wednesday. Three more villages in the Masafer Yatta area have been "almost entirely" destroyed this month, according to the office. The agency called for an immediate halt to the demolitions. "The forcible transfer of a civilian population from their land by an occupying power is a war crime," said Ajith Sunghay, the head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory...

TAIPEI — The United States "very much" understands Taiwan's defence needs and the severe military threat it faces from China, a senior Taiwanese diplomat said on Sunday, speaking after last week's Washington summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi told reporters in Taipei that Washington also recognizes Taiwan's determination to invest in its own military. "Taiwan faces a severe situation in the Taiwan Strait," Chen said. "Even though China's economy is declining, it continues investing more resources into building military capacity. Under this context, the US very much understands our defence needs." $14 billion arms package in limbo Taipei has been waiting for months for Trump to...

DUBLIN — President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed the growing push from leading artificial-intelligence executives to slow the pace of AI development, saying he worried that restraining the technology would hand America's advantage to China. Trump spoke to reporters during a weekend trip to Ireland, a day after Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei urged the industry to deliberately and globally slow AI development so safety measures can catch up. Elon Musk and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman publicly agreed with Amodei's call. "We can put guardrails, we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that … shouldn't be bringing it up, and they're bringing up things that won't happen,"...

President Donald Trump has rejected Iran's latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart peace talks, escalating the standoff over the vital waterway — while posting an image on Truth Social that relabels the Gulf as the "Trump Strait." "I reject their proposal," Trump told reporters on Saturday night as he boarded Marine One. Iran's offer According to The Times, Iranian officials delivered the proposal through mediators after a week of meetings at the United Nations General Assembly. Tehran offered to cease the fighting, reopen the strait within a week and start negotiations on its nuclear programme — if the United States agreed to end its military blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen assets and waive sanctions on...

Pope Leo XIV opened his first state visit to France with a stark warning about artificial intelligence, telling political leaders in Paris that a "paradise of machines" threatened to undermine humanity itself. The American-born pope raised existential questions about what it means to be human in the age of AI, nuclear proliferation and other threats to life during an opening address to President Emmanuel Macron and French authorities at the Elysée Palace on Friday. He later repeated the themes before diplomats and United Nations employees at UNESCO headquarters. Leo said scientific progress cut off from wisdom could turn destructive, drawing on the lessons of the Second World War. In remarks reported by Vatican News, he said: "If we...