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The US Treasury Department on Tuesday announced more than $1.2 billion in penalties against Bank of America, accusing the country's second-largest bank of violating anti-money-laundering and sanctions laws — the third-largest enforcement action in the department's history. The Treasury said the penalty stemmed from the bank's failure to timely report more than $5 billion in suspicious transactions, including more than $1 billion involving national security and other priority illicit-finance risks. The department alleged some of the transactions were indicative of Chinese money laundering networks, fraud and potential trade-based money laundering. "When a bank of this size fails to meet its anti-money laundering and sanctions...

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney held a phone call on Tuesday night, October 13, and agreed to work toward concluding a long-pending trade agreement between the two countries at the earliest opportunity, giving fresh momentum to a bilateral relationship that has been steadily improving over the past year. The two leaders reaffirmed their "commitment to conclude CEPA negotiations at the earliest opportunity, supporting efforts to double two-way trade by 2030", according to a press release from the Office of the Prime Minister of Canada. The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement has been under discussion for years and is seen as the anchor of a wider economic reset between New Delhi and Ottawa...

The investigation into the alleged terror plot targeting flydubai Flight FZ1073 has widened, with two more Maldivian pilots employed by the airline reportedly detained in the United Arab Emirates. Detained on October 3 According to Maldivian news outlets Adhadhu and Mihaaru, cited by Times Now on October 14, the two pilots were taken into custody on October 3. Their families have reportedly been formally informed of the detention by the Maldivian Embassy in the UAE. The pilots were not aboard Flight FZ1073, the aircraft at the centre of the September 30 incident. Reported links to the accused co-pilot The two men are reportedly linked to Hammam al-Hammami, the Omani co-pilot accused of attacking pilot Smit Machchhar with an axe in...

The United Nations General Assembly has elected 15 new members to the UN Human Rights Council, but the vote on Tuesday drew sharp criticism from rights groups because not a single seat was actually contested. A vote with no contest All of the council's regional groups put forward exactly as many candidates as there were seats available for the three-year term. As a result, every race was uncontested — the second year in a row that has happened, a situation human rights advocates say makes a mockery of the process. Human Rights Watch's UN director Louis Charbonneau said the uncompetitive vote "makes a mockery of the word 'election'" and argued that no country should be handed a seat on the body "on a silver platter." He urged member...

Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung on Tuesday, the Vatican announced, in a medical bulletin that brought the most serious health news of his 17-month papacy. The 71-year-old pontiff underwent thoracic surgery at Rome's Agostino Gemelli University Hospital on October 13. Doctors confirmed lung adenocarcinoma — a common form of lung cancer — through an intraoperative histological examination of tissue taken during the operation, verifying what preoperative tests had suspected. Surgery "without complications" The procedure was led by chief thoracic surgeon Professor Stefano Margaritora alongside the pope's personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone. The Vatican said the...

India hosted the first-ever meeting of BIMSTEC Home Ministers in New Delhi on Tuesday, bringing together the seven-nation grouping for a day of talks that ended with the adoption of the Delhi Declaration and approval of five regional security initiatives. The meeting was chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah and attended by delegations from all seven member states — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand. A senior officials' meeting led by the Union Home Secretary preceded the ministerial session. Delhi Declaration sets the agenda The Declaration commits the grouping to stronger regional cooperation against terrorism, terror financing, drug trafficking, human trafficking, cybercrime and organised crime —...

The Pakistan Army on Tuesday successfully test-launched the extended-range version of the Fatah-2 hypersonic ballistic missile, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) announced. According to the ISPR, the weapon system is equipped with advanced navigation and state-of-the-art avionics. The military said it is capable of engaging targets with high precision and defeating enemy missile defence systems "due to its unique trajectory and manoeuvrability features." Deep-target capability The ISPR said the extended range would further enhance the Pakistan Army's "reach and capability of engaging deep targets." The military disclosed no exact range or further technical specifications. The test was witnessed by the Commander of the Army...

The Odisha government on Tuesday approved a package of school-education and urban-development measures, headlined by free textbooks for an estimated 28.7 lakh students and a ₹500-crore programme to fix storm-water drainage in cities. The decisions were among 16 proposals cleared at a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, covering 11 departments. Chief Secretary Anu Garg briefed reporters in Bhubaneswar after the meeting. Free textbooks for Classes 9 and 10 The free-textbook scheme will cover students of Classes 9 and 10 in government and government-aided secondary schools, excluding those already covered under SC/ST provisions, who already receive textbooks. It will run for five years, from 2025-26 to 2029-30...

The Indian Navy will commission Samarthak, its first indigenously built multi-purpose vessel, at the Naval Base in Karwar on October 16, the Press Information Bureau announced on Tuesday. Built by Larsen and Toubro under the Make in India initiative, Samarthak is the first of four multi-purpose vessels being inducted into the Navy and marks another milestone in India's drive for self-reliance in defence manufacturing. A 'utility' ship for multiple roles Designed primarily for maritime surveillance and patrol, Samarthak is built to switch between a wide range of missions. According to the Defence Ministry, the vessel can undertake low-intensity maritime operations, serve as a platform for target deployment and trials, and function as a...

The Supreme Court on Tuesday deferred to October 15 the hearing on a batch of petitions concerning protests in Delhi and the closure of metro stations and disruption of train services around the October 10 demonstrations against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant adjourned the matter because Justice V Mohana was unwell. The bench also granted the Centre and the Delhi Police more time to file responses in contempt proceedings that allege officials disobeyed the court's earlier directions against completely halting public transport ahead of the protests. Judge's illness prompts adjournment The three-judge bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana was...

Nandan Nilekani, who heads the government's high-powered task force on exam reforms, has proposed doing away with fixed question papers altogether — suggesting instead that papers be generated by AI at the last minute on exam day from a massive digital question bank. Speaking at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi on Tuesday, the Infosys co-founder argued that the very existence of a ready-made question paper is the root of the leak problem. "Why do we need to have something called 'a' question paper? Because the moment you have a question paper, then that creates an economic incentive for that to be sold," he said, according to ANI. Remove the paper, remove the market Under his proposal, a large repository of questions...

The Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board has rolled back its move toward uniform Friday sermons in mosques across the Union Territory, saying on Tuesday that no such order had been issued and that sermon themes would remain the preachers' call, not the politicians'. Board chairperson Darakhshan Andrabi told reporters the Board had issued "no order" making common sermon themes compulsory and that such decisions "will be taken by preachers and not politicians", according to The Hindu. The clarification came two days after an Executive Magistrate of the Board informed preachers that "only one topic will be highlighted" in Friday sermons. Backlash from across the political and religious spectrum The magistrate's directive had drawn sharp...

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Tuesday met his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N. Chandrababu Naidu in Vijayawada and requested the release of additional Krishna river water for Chennai under the Telugu Ganga project. Water sharing tops the agenda Vijay's request was made during talks at Naidu's camp office in Amaravati. Naidu assured him that the request would be examined based on water availability and Chennai's requirements. He said Andhra Pradesh had already released 4.08 TMC of water to Chennai this year and reiterated the state's commitment to meeting the neighbouring city's drinking water needs. Naidu, however, pointed out that Andhra Pradesh was itself facing water scarcity this year due to reduced Krishna river...

At least 11 people, most of them minors, died after a boat overturned in the Ganga river in Bihar's Vaishali district on Tuesday evening, officials said. Several more passengers were reported missing, and search and rescue operations continued through the night. Tragedy strikes during a festive journey The accident took place near Rampur Shyamchand village in the Raghopur Diara area when the boat, ferrying passengers between two riverside villages, lost its balance and capsized midstream. Most of those on board were headed to attend a feast in a nearby village as part of post-funeral rituals, according to officials. The exact number of people aboard remains unclear. While initial reports suggested 25 to 30 people were on the vessel...

The Mamata Banerjee camp of the Trinamool Congress has alleged that a woman tried to attack former West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee with a knife outside her residence in Kolkata's Kalighat on Tuesday evening, and has filed a police complaint over the incident. Party general secretary Dola Sen sent a written complaint to the officer-in-charge of the Kalighat police station, stating that the incident took place around 6 pm. According to the complaint, the woman — identified in the complaint as Tannishtha Saha and described as a civic volunteer and a drug addict — came in a violent, intoxicated manner, claimed to be Banerjee's niece, hurled abuses and tried to violently approach the former chief minister. Banerjee had stepped...

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said India-China relations are moving towards normalcy as the situation along the border has settled to a great extent since 2024. He made the remarks in a conversation with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John Micklethwait at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in New Delhi on Tuesday. Jaishankar said India had made it clear to China that a stable boundary was the precondition for a normal relationship. "If you want a normal relationship, the boundary has to be stable. We need peace and tranquillity in the border areas," he said, adding that as the border areas settled down after 2024, the relationship was "commensurately moving towards normalcy". Four years of negotiations The minister recalled...

A protester wearing a shirt reading "Release the Epstein Files" was punched in the face by a rallygoer at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Youngstown, Ohio, on Monday, October 12, 2026 — an incident that drew national attention the following day. Videos from the Covelli Center show nearby rallygoers grabbing the woman after she stood up and began shouting. A man in a black polo shirt pulled her to the ground by the hair and punched her face at least once, still holding a handful of hair as he struck, according to the footage. Police then intervened and escorted the protester out of the stands. She was seen giving the crowd the middle finger as she was removed, to boos and chants of "USA." Trump's response Trump responded from the...

A court in eastern China sentenced three members of a criminal gang to death on Tuesday, October 13, 2026, for running a network of scam centers in Myanmar's Kokang region along the China border. The Quanzhou Intermediate People's Court in southeastern Fujian province handed down the sentences to Wei Huairen, Chen Dawei and Liao Jingfang for their involvement in what it called the "Wei family criminal gang." Wei Huairen was identified as one of the group's leaders and was found guilty of several crimes, including murder. A syndicate built on fraud and violence According to the court's findings, the gang operated 14 "large-scale" scam compounds in Kokang and lured thousands of Chinese nationals to Myanmar with false promises of high...

Indian Air Force chief Air Chief Marshal AP Singh flew his last fighter sortie aboard the indigenous Tejas light combat aircraft during the closing days of Exercise Tarang Shakti at the Jodhpur Air Force Station, ahead of his retirement on October 31. Announcing the flight in a post on X on Monday, the IAF said the sortie reflected "the spirit of a fighter pilot who has always believed in leading from the front". The force shared a video of the sortie and photographs showing Singh flying alongside aircraft from friendly foreign countries and the Suryakiran Aerobatic Team during the multinational exercise. "Once a fighter pilot. Always a fighter pilot" "A FINAL FIGHTER SORTIE. A LIFETIME OF PASSION. At the controls of the indigenous...

Union Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary Affairs L. Murugan announced his resignation from the Union Council of Ministers and his membership of the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, saying he wanted to return to "grassroots" work and dedicate himself full-time to strengthening the BJP in Tamil Nadu ahead of the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Murugan wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting to be relieved of his duties. Announcing the decision in a post on X, he said it had been "the greatest honour of my life to serve Bharat Mata and Tamil Nadu" under the Prime Minister's leadership, adding: "From the son of daily wage labourers to serving in the Union Council of Ministers ... has been the greatest privilege...