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NATO will begin its annual "Steadfast Noon" nuclear deterrence exercise in Italy next week, with 17 member states taking part, the alliance and Italy's defence ministry announced on Thursday, October 8, 2026 — just weeks after Russia warned it would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons should its territory come under threat. The exercise will begin on Tuesday, October 13, and run until October 23, according to AFP and Associated Press reports, while Reuters — citing Italy's defence ministry — described it as a week-long drill. Italy is hosting the exercise, a role it has taken six times before, with the bulk of activities being held near Italy, far from Russia. Routine, but closely watched NATO insists the drill is routine and...

The Bombay High Court has extended the interim stay on the bail granted to dismissed Mumbai police officer Sachin Waze in the 2021 Antilia bomb-scare and Mansukh Hiran murder case, as the National Investigation Agency's appeal against his release continues to be heard. A division bench of Justices G S Kulkarni and Neela Gokhale extended the stay while the matter continues for hearing, according to reports in The Tribune and Deccan Herald. Waze remains lodged in Thane Central Prison. NIA's allegations in court Opposing Waze's release, Additional Solicitor General Anil Singh, appearing for the NIA, told the court that Waze had planted the explosives-laden SUV outside Antilia, the Mumbai residence of industrialist Mukesh Ambani, to...

The Uttar Pradesh Cabinet has approved a proposal to rename the Noida International Airport in Jewar as "Narendra Modi International Airport, Noida-Jewar", Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced on Friday. Addressing the media after a Cabinet meeting in Lucknow, Adityanath said the state government was grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the airport, which he described as a major gift to Uttar Pradesh. "The Council of Ministers of Uttar Pradesh expresses its gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for gifting the state the Noida International Airport at Jewar. The Cabinet has approved a proposal to name it Narendra Modi International Airport, Noida-Jewar," the chief minister said. The chief minister added that the airport...

The Norwegian Nobel Committee on Friday awarded the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to Navanethem "Navi" Pillay, the 85-year-old South African jurist of Indian Tamil origin, honouring her decades-long work to strengthen peace and international law. The announcement in Oslo marks the 125th anniversary of the peace prize. Pillay was recognised for her efforts to promote peace and international law, said Jorgen Watne Frydnes, chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee. In its announcement, the committee said she had, with exceptional courage and integrity, led the way towards a more comprehensive global legal order and had been instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide are prosecuted. From apartheid-era lawyer to...

The World Meteorological Organization has warned that the current El Niño event could become one of the strongest since at least 1950, with sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific expected to shatter records in the coming months. The UN weather body said there is a near-100 per cent chance the phenomenon will persist through February 2027. The warning came in the WMO's monthly climate bulletin, released on Thursday, which said El Niño will continue to intensify before peaking in December. WMO Secretary-General Celeste Saulo said the forecasts indicate a near-100 per cent likelihood that it will persist through February 2027, potentially making it one of the strongest events since at least 1950. Record ocean heat The WMO said...

Ethiopia has told the United Nations Security Council that Eritrean forces have launched what it called an "all-out invasion" of its territory, in the government's first official statement on reported cross-border incursions this week that have raised fears of outright war between the two Horn of Africa neighbours. Letter details incursion up to 60 km inside Ethiopia The letter, shared with Reuters on Friday by a senior Ethiopian government official, was signed by Foreign Minister Gedion Timothewos. It says Eritrean forces, including mechanised units, have deployed up to 60 km (37 miles) into northern Ethiopia. The letter describes the presence of Eritrean troops on Ethiopian soil as "a blatant act of aggression that engages...

Counting of votes for six bypolls across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Assam began at 8 AM on Friday, and the first declared result went to Puducherry, where the ruling AINRC's Ashok Anand won the Thattanchavady assembly seat by a margin of more than 8,400 votes over Congress's E. Vinayagam. Early trends elsewhere showed the BJP leading in three constituencies, with Tamil Nadu's two seats producing a close multi-corner fight. What is declared so far Anand polled 13,358 votes in Thattanchavady, securing the seat comfortably ahead of Vinayagam and DMK's K. Sethu Selvam, according to official trends. Where the BJP is ahead In West Bengal, the BJP's Hasirani Rath was comfortably ahead in the politically significant Nandigram...

The INDIA bloc will meet on Friday afternoon to decide its next course of action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, with opposition leaders keeping open the possibility of fresh protests if the President does not grant them a meeting. The meeting INDIA bloc MPs will gather at the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan at 3 pm, news agency PTI reported on Thursday. The leaders have sought an appointment with President Droupadi Murmu to present their concerns over the SIR exercise. If the meeting is not granted, "all options are on the table", they were quoted as saying. Possible venues for further demonstrations include Rashtrapati Bhavan...

Delhi Police have asked the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation to close the entry and exit gates at 57 metro stations across the national capital from 9 pm on Friday, October 9, until the situation normalises, ahead of a planned protest on Saturday. The proposal was conveyed to DMRC through an official communication dated October 8 from the Joint Commissioner of Police (Transport Range), citing the possibility of unruly crowd movement towards sensitive locations in the capital. What the proposal covers The request covers 57 stations across central, north, south, east and other parts of Delhi, including Rajiv Chowk, Central Secretariat, Patel Chowk, Janpath, New Delhi, Mandi House, ITO, Supreme Court, Indraprastha, Kashmere Gate, Karol...

China has nominated health official Song Li as its candidate for director-general of the World Health Organization, the foreign ministry said on Thursday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. She would succeed the incumbent, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said that if elected, Song Li would help the WHO "play a more active role in improving the health and wellbeing of all mankind," according to Reuters. Mao added that the nomination demonstrates China's "firm support for multilateralism." Song Li has two decades of experience in maternal and child health policy and international cooperation, her official biography says. She took part in national responses to SARS, bird flu and COVID-19, and served...

Delhi Police's North District Special Staff has dismantled an inter-state syndicate that allegedly forged disability certificates to help students claim admissions under the disability quota, police said on Thursday. Nine people have been apprehended and 27 forged certificates recovered so far. The racket allegedly sold forged Persons with Disabilities (PwD) certificates for Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 each, and used them to seek admissions to JBT, B.Tech and other undergraduate courses, including at Delhi University, according to the police statement. Investigators said the accused altered Aadhaar addresses — allegedly using AI tools — to show Uttar Pradesh addresses in Siddharth Nagar, Badaun, Bareilly and Gorakhpur, and then uploaded...

The Central Bureau of Investigation has busted an impersonation and cheating network that targeted public examinations for bank jobs, arresting four key operatives, including a Central Goods and Services Tax inspector. The agency said the racket operated across Delhi, Bihar, Haryana and West Bengal. The CBI's Special Task Branch in Mumbai carried out coordinated raids across the states after registering a case on a complaint filed by the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection, the agency that conducts recruitment exams for public-sector banks. How the racket worked According to the CBI, the accused fraudulently infiltrated multiple stages of the selection process, including written examinations and interviews, by physically posing...

A head constable of the Rapid Action Force was injured on Friday after an unidentified attacker hurled a grenade at a Central Armed Police Force outpost in Manipur's capital, Imphal, officials said. The jawan sustained minor injuries in the attack, and the assailant fled the scene before security personnel could respond. Authorities confirmed that no other casualties were reported at the outpost. The incident comes amid a tense security environment in Manipur, where central forces have been deployed across the capital and sensitive districts over the past year. Officials have not identified the attacker or any organisation behind the strike, and no group had claimed responsibility at the time of reporting. Security personnel cordoned...

Delhi's excise department has ordered all retail liquor shops in the national capital to remain closed on October 9 and 10, describing the move as a preventive step to maintain public order ahead of planned protests in the city. The order was issued on Thursday, October 8, on the basis of inputs received from the Delhi Police. It directs the complete closure of retail liquor vends across licence categories, including L6, L6FG, L8, L10 and L14 outlets, for the two days. Why the closure was ordered The shutdown comes amid continuing demonstrations by opposition parties demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the electoral process, which protesters have termed "vote theft"...

Tel Aviv: Israeli President Isaac Herzog has announced that Indian pilot Captain Smit Machchhar will receive Israel's Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism for his role in thwarting an alleged attempt to crash Flydubai Flight FZ1073 last month. Herzog made the announcement on Thursday while presenting the Presidential Medal for Civilian Heroism to six Israeli passengers who helped restrain the alleged attacker during the September 30 incident. "Captain Machchhar's sheer bravery and sound professionalism helped avert a catastrophe," Herzog said. "Once he regains his strength, it will be my privilege to award him, on behalf of the people of Israel, the State of Israel's Presidential Award for Civilian Heroism." The six honoured The...

New Delhi: Counting of votes began at 8 am on Friday for six bypolls across West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Assam, with the first trends expected through the morning and final results due progressively during the day. The contests cover five Assembly seats — Nandigram and Rejinagar in West Bengal, Madurantakam and Dharapuram in Tamil Nadu, and Thattanchavady in Puducherry — along with the Nagaon Lok Sabha constituency in Assam. Voting was held on October 6. How the day is unfolding Postal ballots were taken up first from 8 am, followed by electronic voting machines from 8:30 am, in line with the Election Commission's standard procedure. In Puducherry, counting for Thattanchavady is being held at the Motilal Nehru Government...

New Delhi: New York's attorney general has alleged that TikTok ran "ghost" experiments that gave thousands of users, including teenagers and children, non-functional versions of its safety features, according to claims unsealed in court this week. In what the lawsuit describes as "placebo" experiments, TikTok selected thousands of users who had opted to use safety tools such as "Algo Refresh", a feature meant to reset a user's recommendations so they could escape unwanted or potentially harmful content. According to the allegations, those users believed they had switched the feature on, but their feeds did not change, unlike the feeds of users given the fully working version. One of many state lawsuits The claims are part of New York...

Oslo: The winner of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize will be announced today, with the Norwegian Nobel Committee set to reveal its choice at 11 am local time (2.30 pm IST) at the Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo. Committee chair Jorgen Watne Frydnes will read out the decision, capping one of the most closely watched prizes of the Nobel season. According to the committee, 287 candidates are in the running this year, comprising 208 individuals and 79 organisations. In line with tradition, the committee has not confirmed any names, and public speculation about nominees should be treated with caution. Trump makes his case On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump used an Oval Office meeting with reporters to press his claim to the prize, saying...

Leszczydol-Nowiny, Poland: A 15-year-old former pupil killed one employee and injured two others at a Polish primary school on Thursday while wearing a helmet-mounted camera, in the second school knife attack in the country in two days, authorities said. The attack took place at around 9 am local time at a primary school in Leszczydol-Nowiny, northeast of Warsaw. A 37-year-old woman who worked as a caretaker died in the attack, officials said. It is not clear whether the attack was actually filmed. The teenager, who was carrying three knives, was restrained by the school's head teacher, Krzysztof Ochmanski, who was himself injured in the struggle. "He wounded me with the blade of a rather long knife - he had three knives on him - and...

New Delhi: An IndiGo flight from Patna to Lucknow was struck by lightning at an altitude of 17,000 feet on Wednesday, leaving the nose of the aircraft damaged, but it landed safely at Lucknow's Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport with all 104 passengers and six crew members unharmed. Flight 6E 625, operating the Patna-Lucknow sector on October 7, encountered severe weather, including a hailstorm, during the landing phase of the flight. The lightning strike damaged the aircraft's radome, the protective cover mounted over the weather radar at the nose of the plane. Conflicting accounts on the landing Some initial reports described the landing as an emergency landing, with the aircraft touching down eight minutes ahead of its...