World News

Trump's Iran war pulls US carrier from Pacific as China steps up pressure

Beijing sees the US military presence in the region as a threat to China's rise and an obstacle to its ambition to seize Taiwan, the self-governing island it claims as its own

India@80: Tricolour flies high worldwide as diaspora celebrates I-Day

From Fiji to San Francisco, Indians and friends of India joined global Independence Day celebrations with the Tricolour, Vande Mataram, cultural programmes and messages from key partners

Vessel attacked in Hormuz, Israeli strikes kill 9 in southern Lebanon

The United Arab Emirates accused Iran of attacking a vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, while the Iran-backed Houthis struck a Red Sea port in Yemen.

Fresh 6.8 magnitude tremors hit Sumatra hours after deadly quake kills 38

The Northern Sumatra earthquake struck hours after the deadly earthquake off eastern Indonesia. India Today reported the magnitude at 6.8

Japan PM skips controversial shrine visit on anniversary of WW-II surrender

Takaichi also said Japan can play a key role in addressing global challenges as "a dependable nation" in the region

Alibaba's Qwen AI models cross 3 billion downloads, overtake Meta, Google

Alibaba says its open-weight Qwen models have topped 3 billion downloads in six months, with more than 460 models and 300,000 derivatives as Chinese AI gains global traction

Taliban mark five years in power as Afghanistan faces growing crises

The ​Taliban have also faced a string of assassinations of key regional officials in the country's northeast in recent weeks

20 killed, buildings toppled as 7.7 magnitude quake hits Indonesia's coast

The powerful earthquake struck near Flores early Saturday, triggering a tsunami warning for four Indonesian provinces as authorities urged residents along affected coastlines to move to higher ground

6 dead, including shooting suspect, in Michigan; police launch manhunt

Three people were found dead at a home and another was critically injured in Missaukee County, while a fourth victim was later found dead at another house during the search for the suspect

Trump dismisses concerns over USS Abraham Lincoln crew's long deployment

Families of sailors and Marines aboard the aircraft carrier have raised concerns over food shortages, contaminated water and poor living conditions as its West Asia deployment nears nine months

US tax court strikes down digital ad tax, orders refunds to Apple, Google

State's first-of-its-kind tax on digital ads ruled unconstitutional under federal and state law, with officials ordered to repay money collected from Apple, Google and Peacock TV

Online forum Reddit to join closely-tracked S&P 500 index next week

Inclusion in the benchmark index is expected to boost Reddit's visibility and attract investments from mutual funds and ETFs that track or benchmark the S&P 500

Will declare Strait of Hormuz 'US territory' after defeating Iran: Trump

Trump had earlier claimed that the US exercised "total control" over the Strait of Hormuz and that he "will keep it" amid stalled negotiations with Iran regarding the reopening of the strategic route

Elon Musk's SpaceX completes $60 billion acquisition of AI startup Cursor

The deal became effective on Aug. 14, according to a regulatory filing, two months after SpaceX formally announced it had agreed to acquire the company.

France's top court blocks social media ban for children under 15

France's Constitutional Council said the proposed ban disproportionately infringed freedom of expression and lacked safeguards for the right to privacy.

Goldman taps investors for backing Nvidia's $500 bn AI infra financing

US insurers, money managers and banks are expected to form the core investor base as Goldman explores private credit and debt structures for the financing.

As Europe gets hotter, its transportation systems struggle to cope

Rail services are being cut, tracks are buckling and highways are cracking as Europe's ageing transport infrastructure struggles with increasingly intense heatwaves.

US says Iran naval blockade can continue indefinitely as talks stall

Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said that the US military has the capability to maintain a naval presence in the region to enforce its blockade of Iran

US consumer sentiment drops by 4.2% in Aug as West Asia conflict drags on

US consumers' one-year inflation expectations rose to 4.3% in August from 4.2% in July as the Middle East conflict raised concerns over living costs.

Houthis hit Saudi's Aramco Jazan refinery for second time in a week

The Houthis said two drones hit the Saudi Aramco refinery in Jazan, days after an earlier attack set a crude storage tank ablaze.