Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai)

LINDSEY GRAHAM, SENATE HAWK TURNED TRUMP ALLY, DIES AT 71

US senator Lindsey Graham, the foreign policy hawk who changed from a Donald Trump sceptic to one of the US president’s strongest allies, died on Saturday. He was 71. The cause of death was “a brief and sudden illness”, his office said. He was in...

India, New Zealand raise ties to strategic bond, ink 12 pacts

NEW DELHI: India and New Zealand on Saturday elevated their relations to a strategic partnership and set a target of doubling trade in goods and services to ₹35,000 crore (7 billion New Zealand dollars or $4 billion) by 2030. This came as Prime...

Iran talks to go on, but truce over: Trump

US President Donald Trump said on Friday he had agreed to further negotiations with Iran, even as he repeated his assertion that the ceasefire between the decades-old foes was over. Meanwhile, Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said the...

Missiles, minerals mark new phase in India-indonesia ties

India and Indonesia on Tuesday concluded a raft of agreements, including deals for the supply of Brahmos and Astra missiles and cooperation in critical minerals and maritime security, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Prabowo Subianto...

Missing Link found and lost in 48 hours of heavy rains

Heavy rains, high velocity winds and landslides paralysed Mumbai, Konkan and large parts of western Maharashtra for a second day in a row on Monday. At least 16 people lost their lives in rain-related incidents in the region in the last 48 hours. The...

13 dead as rain, gusty winds leave a trail of destruction

At least 13 people died as torrential rains coupled with gusty winds lashed the city and suburbs on Sunday. While traffic was largely unaffected, it being Sunday, the winds, with speeds of over 75 kmph, led to over 250 tree fall incidents in the city,...

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: The youngest boy in blue

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, aged 15 years and 99 days, is the youngest player to appear in India’s senior men’s team. Sachin Tendulkar was 16 years and 205 days when he made his Test debut against Pakistan in 1989, then made his ODI debut 33 days later.

PM visit deepens India-seychelles strategic relations

NEW DELHI: India and Seychelles on Sunday finalised an extradition treaty, a ₹1,250-crore line of credit and an agreement on the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) system as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Patrick Herminie held talks on...

Temple trust weighs officials’ resignations

LUCKNOW: The Ram Temple trust on Saturday confirmed that its general secretary Champat Rai and member Anil Mishra have tendered their resignations amid allegations of irregularities in donations, adding that a final call on their decision to step down...

Twin quakes ravage Venezuela, 188 killed

Venezuelans searched for survivors beneath collapsed buildings Thursday and rescue teams raced to northern areas rocked by a pair of powerful earthquakes that officials say killed at least 188 people and left more than 200 trapped. Many more were...

Oil back at pre-war levels as prices drop below $75

Benchmark oil prices fell more than $3 on Wednesday to their lowest level since before the start of the Iran war as supply concerns eased with more stranded oil tankers exiting the Strait of Hormuz. US crude futures, meanwhile, slipped below $70 a...

Trekker’s death probed as murder; fiancée held

PUNE: What seemed to be an accidental fatal fall during a trek to the Lohagad fort in Pune district five days ago is now being investigated as a coldblooded murder perpetrated by the victim’s fiancée and her boyfriend. Police on Tuesday arrested...

UBT split cemented as 6 MPS switch sides to Sena

: Six Shiv Sena (UBT) Lok Sabha members of parliament joined the Shiv Sena in the presence of party chief and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde on Monday, boosting the regional party’s presence in Parliament and bolstering the National Democratic...

Trump’s fresh threats cast shadow over Iran-us talks

: US Vice President JD Vance said Sunday there was an opportunity to “turn over a new leaf” with Iran as the sides held talks aimed at building out the interim deal to end the war in Iran reached by the two sides last week. But even as Vance called on...

ALL HANDS ON DECK FOR NEET RETEST

After years of lull, World Cup sees a resurgence of long-range strikes

KOLKATA: Remember James Rodriguez’s stunning volley against Uruguay at the 2014 World Cup? Or Lionel Messi picking a low corner through a thicket of legs against Mexico in 2022? These goals stand out not only for their quality but also because...

Modi, Macron meet as India, France vow to increase trade, nuclear collab

India and France on Sunday set a target of doubling two-way trade from the current level of about $16 billion within five years and agreed to work more closely on civil nuclear energy, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Emmanuel Macron held...

In a first, AI model pulled offline after US govt intervenes

Anthropic suspended access to its two most capable artificial intelligence models on Friday to comply with a US government national-security order, disabling the systems for every customer worldwide three days after opening access to one of them. The...

US, Iran agree on text of peace deal, says Pak

Pakistan’s prime minister said Friday the United States and Iran have agreed to wording of an agreement aimed at ending their war in the Middle East and that mediators were working with both sides to finalize a deal. Shehbaz Sharif said the US and...

3 Indian sailors dead in US attack; 3rd vessel hit

Three Indian seafarers reported missing after a US attack on a tanker off the coast of Oman have been confirmed dead, shipping minister Sarbananda Sonowal said on Thursday, hours after US forces targeted another merchant vessel with 20 Indian crew...

Mamata attends INDIA meet, MPS break ranks

NEW DELHI: The Trinamool Congress’s Lok Sabha unit tottered on the precipice of a split on Monday after at least 14 lawmakers met in Delhi and discussed breaking away in the presence of Bengal chief minister Suvendu Adhikari, the latest setback for the...

Retd HC judge faces threats, family in UK attacked over verdict

The family of retired Bombay high court judge G S Patel has for 10 months now, faced threats and actual acts of violence across two continents in connection with his landmark 2024 judgment settling the succession issue in the Dawoodi Bohra community,...

Missiles, drones fly in major W Asia flare-up

CAIRO: Iran fired ballistic missiles and drones toward Bahrain and Kuwait early Saturday, Bahrain’s government said, adding that they were intercepted. It called on Tehran to immediately cease attacks on Gulf neighbors that it deemed a “serious...

RBI keeps rates steady, takes steps to attract foreign capital

NEW DELHI: The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Reserve Bank of India maintained status quo on monetary policy rate and stance – they continue to be 5.25% and neutral – on Friday even as it reduced its growth forecast and increased its inflation...

Monsoon hits Kerala, may reach city by 14th

The Southwest Monsoon arrived over Kerala on Thursday, three days after its normal onset date and five days after IMD’S forecast date, and it is likely to cover most parts of India by the third week of June, although concerns remain about the volume of...

Fire rips through Delhi hotel; 21 dead

NEW DELHI: An early morning fire on Wednesday in Flourish Stay, a bed-and-breakfast in Hauz Rani, south Delhi, killed at least 21 people, including 12 foreign nationals, with significant violations by the establishment highlighting the lax regulatory...

CBSE chairman, secy shunted amid outcry

The Centre on Tuesday replaced the chair and the secretary of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and started a probe into the procurement of services for the board’s controversial, glitch-prone onscreen marking (OSM) system amid...

Edu ministry seeks report from CBSE on OSM tender

The Union education ministry has sought a detailed report from the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) on the procurement process for the board’s On-screen Marking (OSM) system, amid mounting scrutiny over the rollout of the platform used to...

Focus on synergy as new military chiefs take over

: General NS Raja Subramani on Sunday took over as India’s third chief of defence staff (CDS) upon the retirement of General Anil Chauhan. His appointment comes at a pivotal moment as the armed forces advance theaterisation—a longawaited reform...

DKS gets CLP nod as next CM of Karnataka

DK Shivakumar was unanimously elected leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) in Karnataka on Saturday, paving the way for him to take over as chief minister while capping a leadership transition in the southern state that came about after his...

Spurious liquor claims 14 lives in Pune; 8 held

PUNE: At least 14 people have died and four others are battling for life after consuming alcohol laced with methanol across Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad in the last 48 hours. The tragedy, which unfolded across the two cities, led to a swift crackdown on...

A truce MOU emerges as Iran and US trade strikes

The United States and Iran reached an agreement on Thursday to extend their ceasefire pending the approval of President Donald Trump, after Iran had targeted a US air base in Kuwait following US strikes on what Washington called an Iranian drone...

White House junks Iran report on Hormuz deal

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Wednesday the US and Iran still have issues to resolve in peace talks, after Washington dismissed an Iranian state television report of a framework deal to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz within...

Quad announces energy initiative, Fiji port project

NEW DELHI: The Quad on Tuesday launched an energy security initiative to help Indo-pacific nations cope with disruptions due to the West Asia conflict and a project to build a port in Fiji, as foreign ministers of the grouping sought to inject fresh...

Swimmer who flopped in four Olympics sets a ‘world record’ at Enhanced Games

MELBOURNE: Greek swimmer Kristian Gkolomeev earned a $1 million bonus for beating a world record while sprinter Fred Kerley won a weak 100m as the drugfriendly Enhanced Games made a hyperbolic debut at a casino car park in Las Vegas on...

India, US signal thaw in ties as Jaishankar, Rubio meet

NEW DELHI : India and the US on Sunday moved to set aside the rancour and strain that characterised bilateral relations over the past year, with external affairs minister S Jaishankar and US secretary of state Marco Rubio discussing ways to deepen...

PM backs peace push in meeting with Rubio

NEW DELHI: India will continue working with the United States for the global good even as it backs peace efforts and the peaceful resolution of the conflict in West Asia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday during talks with US secretary of...

SC divided on UAPA bail, larger bench to weigh in

In an extraordinary institutional moment at the Supreme Court, a clash of judicial views between two coordinate benches over bail jurisprudence under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) spilled into the open on Friday, with one bench...

Tehran digs in as Trump threatens return to force

DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Pakistan stepped up diplomacy on Thursday to hasten US and Iran peace talks even as Tehran appeared to harden its stance over nuclear materials amid new threats of strikes from US President Donald Trump if he did not get the “right...

Rome, Delhi dial up ties during Modi’s Italy visit

India and Italy on Wednesday elevated their ties to a special strategic partnership and pledged to expand bilateral trade to €20 billion by 2029, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni held talks on strengthening...

Second in a week: Petrol, diesel prices raised again

NEW DELHI: State-run oil companies raised petrol and diesel prices by nearly ₹1 per litre each on Tuesday — the second increase in less than a week — taking the total increase to just under ₹4 per litre since May 15. In Delhi, petrol now costs ₹98.64...

SC criticises its own judgment denying bail to Umar Khalid

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday criticised its own January 5 judgment denying bail to former JNU student Umar Khalid and activist Sharjeel Imam in the alleged larger conspiracy case linked to the 2020 Delhi riots, and emphatically held that...

Parents who bought NEET papers under CBI scanner

The Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) investigation into the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak has widened beyond paper setters, experts and middlemen, with several parents who allegedly purchased leaked question papers now coming under the...

CBI closes in on NTA paper-setting group

A second member of the National Testing Agency’s (NTA) paper-setting committee has been arrested in the NEET-UG 2026 question paper leak case — a senior botany teacher from Pune who allegedly disclosed botany and zoology questions at coaching classes...

Petrol, diesel retail prices hiked by ₹3/l as war bites

NEW DELHI: State-run oil companies raised pump prices of petrol and diesel by ₹3 per litre each across the country on Friday, while Indraprastha Gas Ltd (IGL) increased compressed natural gas (CNG) rates by ₹2 per kg in and around Delhi — the first...

Satheesan gets CM post, ending Kerala suspense

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Vadassery Damodaran Satheesan staked his claim to form the next government in Kerala on Thursday after the 61-yearold was elected leader of the Congress legislative party, breaking 10 days of suspense over the party’s pick for the...

In first step after PM’S appeal, gold, silver duty raised to 15%

The government on Wednesday raised customs duty on precious metals including gold and silver to 15% from 6% to curb their imports and save foreign exchange for essentials such as energy and fertilizers amid a protracted war in West Asia that has...

NEET mess: NTA orders retest as CBI probes leak

The National Testing Agency cancelled NEET-UG 2026 on Tuesday, nine days after 2.27 million students sat for the examination across 551 cities, after central agencies confirmed that the question paper had been compromised. Questions had been available...

Trump says truce with Tehran on ‘life support’

President Donald Trump said on Monday that a ceasefire with Iran was “on life support” after he rejected Tehran’s response to a US peace proposal, fuelling concerns of a resumption of hostilities in the 10-week-old conflict that has killed thousands...

Cut fuel use, gold buys: Modi as Iran war bites

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday urged Indians to adopt austerity measures ranging from cutting fuel consumption and postponing foreign travel to reducing edible oil use and chemical fertiliser dependence, as the government grapples with the...

Numbers in order, Vijay to be TN commander-in-chief

Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Arlekar on Saturday invited C Joseph Vijay to form the state government after he handed over letters of support from a clutch of parties that helped his Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) swing past the majority mark in the...

Dada to replace Didi in West Bengal; Vijay meets guv again, left on hold

KOLKATA: Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday declared Suvendu Adhikari the leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’S) West Bengal legislative party, paving his way to become chief minister of the eastern state after sweeping to power in a...

Guv keeps Vijay waiting as TN deadlock deepens

The political churn in Tamil Nadu intensified on Thursday as actor-turned-politician Vijay met governor Rajendra Arlekar for a second time in two days even as Lok Bhavan defended its decision not to invite the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to form the...

Suspense in TN as parties seek to make math work

Actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay met Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Arlekar on Wednesday to stake claim to power but wasn’t invited to form the next government as officials said Lok Bhavan was seeking legal opinion to ensure the Tamilaga Vettri...

Didi digs in: Says didn’t lose, won’t resign as CM

KOLKATA/NEW DELHI: Outgoing West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee declared on Tuesday that she won’t resign from the position despite losing a landslide election to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) a day before, but experts said her dramatic...