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The Saudi-led coalition in Yemen said early Saturday that it had intercepted two ballistic missiles and two drones launched by the Iran-backed Houthis toward the kingdom, in a fresh escalation of the group's months-long campaign of attacks against Saudi Arabia. According to a Reuters report from Cairo dated September 26, the coalition said in posts on X that the missiles were headed toward Khamis Mushait while the drones were aimed at the capital, Riyadh. The coalition said it was continuing to monitor the missile and drone threat, without providing further details. Saudi civil defence sent overnight alerts for Khamis Mushait and Abha, though none for Riyadh. A campaign running since July The Houthis, who control the most populous...

The Union Home Ministry has extended the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act across large parts of Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh for another six months, effective October 1, 2026, following a review of the law-and-order situation in the three northeastern states. State-by-state coverage Three separate Gazette notifications issued on September 25 invoke Section 3 of AFSPA, 1958, which allows the Centre to declare an area "disturbed" when the use of armed forces is considered necessary to assist civil authorities. Unless withdrawn earlier, the extension runs for six months. In Manipur, the disturbed-area declaration continues across most of the state, with a carve-out for areas under 13 police stations in five districts —...

US President Donald Trump has rejected Iran's proposal for a seven-day roadmap to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart talks over Tehran's nuclear programme, turning down an offer that Iranian officials presented at the United Nations General Assembly this week. A day-by-day timetable Araghchi laid out a precise schedule. "The seven-day timeline will start as soon as the United States accepts this plan," he said. The initial steps would take about four to five days to complete, the strait would reopen on the sixth day, and on the seventh day talks with the US would begin toward a final deal on the nuclear programme. The foreign minister framed the offer as a matter of basic fairness. "You cannot bomb a country, threaten its...

The Maharashtra government on Saturday issued a government resolution declaring drought in 265 of the state's 358 talukas, following prolonged rainfall deficits that have caused widespread crop losses. The decision is based on a report from the state's Agriculture Commissioner. The declaration covers major parts of Vidarbha, Marathwada, North Maharashtra and the Pune division, placing nearly three-quarters of the state's talukas under drought status and formalising the scale of agricultural distress this season. Worst-hit districts Yavatmal emerged as the worst-affected district with 16 taluks declared drought-hit, followed by Jalgaon with 15. Ahilyanagar, Nagpur, Amravati and Nanded each have 14 taluks on the list, reflecting the...

The White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping this week ended without any breakthrough agreement on artificial intelligence, though the two leaders agreed on a new name for the technology both say they favour. Trump told reporters outside the White House on September 26 that the United States would not slow down its AI development. "The United States of America is not going to be putting on brakes," he said, estimating that the US leads China in the technology by a year or two. What the two sides said During the visit, Xi said on September 24 that the US and China must "ensure that the development of AI is always under human control." Trump, however, played down the need for joint guardrails...

India is enjoying one of its finest Asian Games campaigns at Aichi-Nagoya 2026, with the country's athletes piling up medals across shooting, kabaddi, cricket, athletics and more. The standout moment so far has been kabaddi, where both the men's and women's teams struck gold by defeating Iran in their finals. The women's kabaddi team edged Iran 37-34 in a tense final to retain their title, extending India's unbeaten record in the event ever since women's kabaddi was introduced at the Asian Games in 2010. The men followed with an equally commanding performance, beating Iran 40-34 to claim gold. Shooting has been India's biggest medal factory. Suruchi Singh and Kamaljeet — paired at the last minute — won gold in the 10m air pistol mixed...