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Ministers, negotiators and leaders will gather in Fiji and Tuvalu next week for pre-COP31 climate talks that will chart the course for the main UN climate summit in Turkey's Antalya province in November. The talks run October 5–8 in Nadi, Fiji, with the main pre-COP programme scheduled for October 7–8. A leaders' retreat will be held in Tuvalu on October 5–6, with the principal leaders' event on October 6. More than 2,000 delegates are expected, according to the Pacific Islands News Association, citing Fiji's climate change director. The event is being hosted and funded by Australia alongside Fiji, Tuvalu and other Pacific partners. Pacific demands Pacific leaders are pressing for the world to hold to the 1.5°C warming target, for...

New Delhi: The Election Commission of India (ECI) has extended the schedule for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Andhra Pradesh and Meghalaya, pushing the publication of the final voter lists to October 16 and October 26 respectively. The decision was taken on Wednesday at a meeting of the full Commission at Nirvachan Sadan in New Delhi, attended by Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi, the poll panel said in an official statement. This was the second meeting of the full Commission in four days. Revised dates In Andhra Pradesh, the notice phase and disposal of claims and objections — which began on July 31 — will now continue until October...

Hyderabad: The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has seized four elephant tusks weighing about 17 kg along with intricately carved ivory articles in Hyderabad, apprehending three people allegedly caught in the middle of an illegal sale transaction. Acting on specific intelligence, DRI officers laid a trap and intercepted the three suspects while a sale involving the tusks and carved ivory items — described as trophies — was allegedly underway. The operation took place on Thursday, and officials recovered the four tusks together with the ornamental ivory pieces. Seizure under wildlife law The seized items were taken into custody under the relevant provisions of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972. Trade in or dealing with...

The world's most-watched awards season is about to begin. The 2026 Nobel Prizes will be announced between October 5 and October 12, with laureates named across medicine, physics, chemistry, literature, peace and economic sciences. How the week unfolds The sequence opens on Monday, October 5, in Solna, where the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet announces the Prize in Physiology or Medicine at 11:30 CEST at the earliest. Attention then shifts to Stockholm's Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, which names the Physics laureate on Tuesday, October 6, and the Chemistry laureate on Wednesday, October 7, both at 11:45 CEST at the earliest. On Thursday, October 8, the Swedish Academy takes the stage at Borssalen in Stockholm to announce...

Delhi Police detained more than 500 protesters, including senior Aam Aadmi Party leaders, at Jantar Mantar on Friday after AAP and student groups went ahead with a demonstration against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar despite the police denying permission and shutting entry and exit at 11 metro stations. Those detained included AAP leaders Saurabh Bharadwaj, Atishi, Sanjay Singh, Sanjeev Jha and Anurag Dhanda, according to updates on The Economic Times live blog. An earlier update put the figure at around 150 protesters, including AAP leaders and workers of the All India Students' Association, detained near the protest site. The protest had been called by AISA, Rajya Sabha MP Manoj Jha and Supreme Court lawyer Prashant...

The coaching academy that organised the picnic during which eight students drowned at Diveagar beach had been operating in Maharashtra's Alandi for nearly two years without registration with the Alandi Municipal Council, civic officials said on Friday, as the administration moved to seal the premises and widen its inquiry. Alandi Municipal Council Chief Officer Madhav Khandekar said the academy had not obtained permission from the civic body to conduct classes or run its business. The branch had been set up after a municipal survey of private tuition classes carried out around two years ago, and since it came up later, it was never registered with the council. Khandekar said sealing the academy was the immediate action, with further...

US President Donald Trump on Thursday warned that Iran will be "hit very hard" if it is found to be linked to the co-pilot's attack aboard a flydubai flight bound for Israel, tying the mid-air assault to a rapidly escalating US military buildup in the Middle East. Trump's warning Asked at the White House whether Iran was involved in the attack on the Dubai-to-Tel Aviv flight, Trump said: "I would say the answer, based on what I'm hearing, is yes, but we're working on it right now," without offering evidence or details. Asked whether the United States would retaliate if the link is established, he replied: "Oh, they'll be hit very hard, don't worry." In separate remarks in Denton, Texas, he told Iran to do "something very proper and...

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Prime Minister Narendra Modi consistently presses him on ending the Russia-Ukraine war whenever the two leaders meet, and praised Modi's ideas for a negotiated settlement, in remarks made at an annual foreign policy forum on Thursday. Praise at Valdai Speaking at the plenary session of the Valdai Discussion Club's annual meeting, Putin described Modi as one of the world leaders who repeatedly brings up the conflict despite the two countries' close ties. "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is one of those world leaders who, despite our very good and even friendly relations, personal good relations, constantly raises the question and asks the question about putting an end to the conflict in Ukraine,"...

ITHACA, N.Y.: New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Thursday appointed a special prosecutor to oversee an investigation into a woman's allegations that she was gang raped at a Cornell University fraternity house, saying she had lost faith in the local district attorney's ability to handle the case, the Associated Press reported. Hochul said she had signed an executive order appointing the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James as the special prosecutor. "Newly released information continues to raise serious questions about the investigation conducted by the Cornell Police Department and the decision by the Tompkins County District Attorney not to prosecute an alleged sexual assault on Cornell University's campus in October...

AMRAVATI: At least five people were killed and 21 others injured after a truck rammed into a pickup vehicle carrying devotees on Maharashtra's Samruddhi Expressway in Amravati district in the early hours of Friday, police said. The accident took place around 12:45 am near Channel 97 of the expressway, close to Dhamangaon Railway, a senior police official told PTI. The truck struck the Bolero pickup from behind, throwing several occupants onto the high-speed corridor that connects Nagpur and Mumbai. Devotees returning with Durga Devi idol The victims were devotees travelling from Shegaon in Buldhana district to Wardha, carrying a Durga Devi idol ahead of Navratri celebrations, according to reports. Five people died on the spot. The...

WASHINGTON: The US Navy has awarded RTX's Raytheon unit a multiyear contract worth up to $24.4 billion to produce Standard Missile-6 (SM-6) interceptors, the Pentagon announced on Thursday, as the United States scrambles to rebuild missile stockpiles depleted by operations in the Middle East. The five-year contract, which includes two additional option years, is meant to provide a steady and reliable supply of the SM-6, a missile that can carry out both offensive strikes and missile defence missions, the Navy said, according to Reuters. Speeding up production The Pentagon said the missiles are a "critical anti-air and anti-surface warfare munition" and that the five-year agreement, with two additional option years, "will drive faster...

US Vice President JD Vance has said he would support eliminating the H-1B visa programme altogether, calling it "completely broken" and accusing companies of misusing it to replace American workers with cheaper foreign labour — one of his strongest positions yet on an issue dividing the American right. The Remarks Vance made the comments in an interview with commentator Jack Posobiec aboard Air Force Two, which aired on Thursday's edition of Human Events Daily. Times Now reported that he said: "My belief on this is the H-1B program has been totally taken advantage of, not just by technology companies, by accounting firms, by people who are basically defrauding the American worker." "I'd be very supportive of just eliminating it,"...

A new political outfit, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), launched a nationwide agitation on Friday over alleged irregularities in the Election Commission's Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and a freeze on the revision exercise. Protests Begin in Mumbai, Seven Cities on the Map CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke said the agitation would begin at Mumbai's Shivaji Park on Friday and then expand to Goa, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand, before culminating at Delhi's Jantar Mantar later this month, according to The Economic Times' live coverage. Addressing a press conference at the Mumbai Press Club earlier in the day, Dipke...

The United States is reportedly sending more troops and aircraft carriers to the Middle East, escalating the military buildup in the Gulf as oil prices held elevated on Friday and concerns grew over global fuel supplies. According to Reuters' Friday morning markets report, the widening military buildup in the Gulf kept oil prices elevated, with US West Texas Intermediate crude futures steady at $92.84 a barrel after finishing nearly 3% higher overnight, while Brent crude held above $102 a barrel. China halts oil product exports Adding to supply concerns, China suspended oil product exports on Friday, stoking fears that global fuel shortages could worsen. LNG traffic through the Strait of Hormuz has shown signs of a cautious recovery...

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia would be prepared to use every weapon in its arsenal — including nuclear weapons — if the country's territory were to come under direct attack, with Kaliningrad named as the focal point of the warning. Speaking at the Valdai Discussion Club in Moscow on October 1, Putin repeated Moscow's long-stated position that Russia has no plans to attack European countries, but said talk in Europe of preparing for war with Russia in the coming years amounted to escalation. He pointed to military drills in the Baltic Sea and the seizure of Russian vessels as examples. The Kaliningrad warning Putin's remarks followed a warning to NATO from Russian embassies in Europe this week that...

BENGALURU: Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar staged a five-hour sit-in outside the office of the state's Chief Electoral Officer on Thursday, demanding a criminal investigation into what he alleged was a large-scale scheme to delete eligible voters' names through bulk filing of Form 7 applications during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Joined by Cabinet colleagues, legislators and party leaders, Shivakumar first submitted a memorandum to Chief Electoral Officer V. Anbukumar and then began the protest on the steps of the CEO's office in Gandhinagar, saying the agitation would continue until a criminal case was registered. What the Chief Minister alleged Shivakumar alleged that pre-filled Form 7...

The Congress on Thursday announced five candidates for the October 23 Bihar Legislative Council polls, setting up a direct contest with ally RJD in three of the eight seats going to the vote. The eight seats — four graduates' constituencies and four teachers' constituencies — see their terms expire on November 16. The Congress list, approved by general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, was released by the party's central election committee. Among the names, former state president Madan Mohan Jha will contest from the Darbhanga Teachers' seat and Sanjay Yadav from the Patna Teachers' seat — both constituencies the RJD has chosen not to contest. But in the graduates' constituencies, the two allies collide: the Congress has fielded...

Canara Bank has opened online registration for 3,500 Graduate Apprentice training seats for the financial year 2026-27, giving fresh graduates a new route into the banking sector without a written examination. Registration opened on October 1, 2026, on the bank's official website, and candidates can apply until October 17, 2026. The apprenticeship is governed by the Apprentices Act, 1961, and runs for 12 months with a monthly stipend of Rs 16,650. Eligibility criteria Graduates who completed their degree between January 1, 2023 and September 1, 2026 are eligible to apply. Applicants must be between 20 and 28 years of age as of September 1, 2026. Selection will be merit-based, using marks obtained in Class 12 or diploma courses —...

US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday tapped Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk to co-lead a new Pentagon initiative studying the future of warfare — marking Musk's first official return to the administration's fold since he left the Department of Government Efficiency last year. Hegseth announced "Project Meridian" during a "State of the Force" address to junior officers and enlisted leaders at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia on September 30, according to reports by CNBC, Fox News and TechCrunch. Musk will co-lead the 120-day study alongside Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey and former US House Speaker Newt Gingrich, operating under the supervision of Pentagon chief technology officer Emil Michael. Mapping the...

Eight students from a Pune coaching institute drowned at Diveagar beach in Maharashtra's Raigad district on Thursday, after they entered the sea during a picnic outing and were swept away by the current, police said. The students, from Classes XI and XII of Winners Academy in Alandi near Pune, had gone to the popular Konkan beach as part of a 48-member group that included 25 boys, 17 girls and six teachers, according to police. The group appears to have misjudged the depth and strength of the water, and eight of the students were pulled in by the current. All eight bodies were later recovered. Rescue and response Local police and disaster-response teams rushed to the spot after the incident was reported. The drowned students were...