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The Delhi High Court has ruled that a marriage recognised under Muslim personal law cannot grant immunity from prosecution under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act or the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for sexual intercourse with a wife who was below 18 at the time. Justice Sanjeev Narula delivered the observation in an order dated September 23, released on Saturday, while refusing to quash a criminal case against a man booked under Section 64(1) of the BNS and Section 6 of the POCSO Act. The case before the court The case involved a woman who was 16 years and three months old when she married the petitioner, then nearly 28, on December 20, 2024. The couple subsequently lived together and she became pregnant...

Iran insisted on Sunday that only diplomacy can resolve its conflict with the United States and Israel, a day after US President Donald Trump said he had rejected an Iranian peace proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and end the fighting. "Our conditions are clear, and any move toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz is contingent on these conditions being met," Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi posted on social media. "Only a negotiated solution can get them out of this deadlock." A rejected proposal Iran announced the peace proposal earlier this week at the UN General Assembly in New York, saying it had been transmitted to the Americans through Qatari mediators. Araqchi said the deal would trigger a seven-day countdown to...

The United Nations has raised the alarm over a sharp acceleration in Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and infrastructure in the occupied West Bank, warning that the campaign is fuelling fears of ethnic cleansing. The UN human rights office (OHCHR) said Israeli bulldozers destroyed homes, farm buildings, water tanks and solar panels in the village of Jinba on Wednesday. Three more villages in the Masafer Yatta area have been "almost entirely" destroyed this month, according to the office. The agency called for an immediate halt to the demolitions. "The forcible transfer of a civilian population from their land by an occupying power is a war crime," said Ajith Sunghay, the head of OHCHR in the Occupied Palestinian Territory...

TAIPEI — The United States "very much" understands Taiwan's defence needs and the severe military threat it faces from China, a senior Taiwanese diplomat said on Sunday, speaking after last week's Washington summit between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Deputy Foreign Minister Chen Ming-chi told reporters in Taipei that Washington also recognizes Taiwan's determination to invest in its own military. "Taiwan faces a severe situation in the Taiwan Strait," Chen said. "Even though China's economy is declining, it continues investing more resources into building military capacity. Under this context, the US very much understands our defence needs." $14 billion arms package in limbo Taipei has been waiting for months for Trump to...

DUBLIN — President Donald Trump on Sunday dismissed the growing push from leading artificial-intelligence executives to slow the pace of AI development, saying he worried that restraining the technology would hand America's advantage to China. Trump spoke to reporters during a weekend trip to Ireland, a day after Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei urged the industry to deliberately and globally slow AI development so safety measures can catch up. Elon Musk and OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman publicly agreed with Amodei's call. "We can put guardrails, we can do this and that, but I think you have a lot of negative forces that are bringing it up that … shouldn't be bringing it up, and they're bringing up things that won't happen,"...

President Donald Trump has rejected Iran's latest proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restart peace talks, escalating the standoff over the vital waterway — while posting an image on Truth Social that relabels the Gulf as the "Trump Strait." "I reject their proposal," Trump told reporters on Saturday night as he boarded Marine One. Iran's offer According to The Times, Iranian officials delivered the proposal through mediators after a week of meetings at the United Nations General Assembly. Tehran offered to cease the fighting, reopen the strait within a week and start negotiations on its nuclear programme — if the United States agreed to end its military blockade of Iranian ports, release frozen assets and waive sanctions on...

Pope Leo XIV opened his first state visit to France with a stark warning about artificial intelligence, telling political leaders in Paris that a "paradise of machines" threatened to undermine humanity itself. The American-born pope raised existential questions about what it means to be human in the age of AI, nuclear proliferation and other threats to life during an opening address to President Emmanuel Macron and French authorities at the Elysée Palace on Friday. He later repeated the themes before diplomats and United Nations employees at UNESCO headquarters. Leo said scientific progress cut off from wisdom could turn destructive, drawing on the lessons of the Second World War. In remarks reported by Vatican News, he said: "If we...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that US President Donald Trump has given final approval for Ukraine to manufacture Patriot interceptor missiles on its own soil — a breakthrough Kyiv has pursued for months as Russian aerial attacks intensify. What was agreed "There are concrete agreements in place," Zelensky told reporters in Kyiv. "During our last meeting, President Trump emphasized that, yes, I have made the final decision: Ukraine will receive a license to manufacture Patriot missiles." The two leaders met on September 23 on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Zelensky later posted on X that his negotiators would brief European officials while the US discussed next steps with...

The Federation of Indian Pilots (FIP) has asked the civil aviation ministry to give it a formal seat at the table as the investigation into the Air India AI-171 crash nears its final stage, arguing that the voice of professional pilots must be heard before the report is locked down. In a letter dated September 25 to Civil Aviation Minister K. Ram Mohan Naidu, the pilots' body requested that it be nominated as an "independent technical participant" in any mechanism set up to scrutinise the draft final report prepared by the Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB). The request comes as the AAIB pushes towards completing its probe into the June 12, 2025 crash in Ahmedabad, in which 260 people were killed. The bureau has told the...

Human rights groups in Venezuela say dozens of prisoners — many of them political detainees — were released on Saturday, just days after interim President Delcy Rodríguez held her first meeting with US President Donald Trump on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. The rights group Justicia Encuentro y Perdón said 29 people walked free from Venezuelan prisons on Saturday, including 12 inmates on its official list of political prisoners. "Seventeen of those freed were not in our database of political prisoners," the group said, adding that its teams were still verifying the figures. A second group, Clippve, reported that seven political prisoners were released from a prison on the outskirts of Caracas, among...

The former bodyguard of ex-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh planned attacks against Jewish and Israeli targets in Germany and Austria from Britain while holding refugee status there, the British newspaper The Times reported overnight Sunday. What the report says According to the report, cited by Haaretz, the man — whose identity is withheld for legal reasons — previously served on Haniyeh's security detail and moved to the United Kingdom more than a decade ago. Despite it being known that he had worked for Haniyeh, that his father was a senior Hamas official, and that he had been arrested in Egypt on suspicion of involvement in operating a tunnel allegedly used to smuggle weapons into Gaza, he was granted asylum in the UK and worked as an...

China's military conducted a joint naval and air training exercise around the disputed Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea on Sunday, the latest show of force around the reef claimed by both Beijing and Manila. The People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command announced the operation in a statement on WeChat, describing it as a necessary response to actions by "certain countries" it accused of undermining regional peace and stability. What the drills involved According to the Chinese statement, the training was held in the waters and airspace around Scarborough Shoal — known as Huangyan Dao in China and Bajo de Masinloc in the Philippines — and aimed to test and enhance combat capabilities in safeguarding what Beijing called...

The Philippines has accused Chinese vessels of forcing it to abort a resupply mission to the disputed Ayungin Shoal, and its defence chief has vowed the missions will continue despite what Manila calls "continuous harassment." According to the Philippines' National Task Force for the West Philippine Sea, a routine Rotation and Resupply mission to the grounded warship BRP Sierra Madre (LS57) was hindered on September 24 by China Coast Guard and People's Liberation Army Navy vessels. The mission commander called off the operation, citing the nighttime environment and rough sea conditions, to prevent escalation. Manila's account Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said three Chinese Navy warships and five Chinese Coast Guard vessels...

The U.S. Supreme Court voted 6–3 on Friday to temporarily restore the Trump administration's expanded SAVE voter-eligibility database, allowing state and local election officials to resume citizenship checks on registered voters just weeks before the November 3 midterm elections. The emergency order stays a June 2026 ruling by District Judge Sparkle L. Sooknanan that had blocked the revamped system over privacy and voting-rights concerns. The stay remains in effect while the appeal proceeds, including any request for full Supreme Court review — but it is not a final decision on the merits of the case. What the majority said The majority reasoned that federal immigration law requires the government to respond when state and local...

The contest to become President Donald Trump's next AI czar is taking shape, with four prominent figures reported to be in the running to lead a newly created "AI Force" overseeing policy toward the trillion-dollar artificial intelligence industry. Trump announced on September 19 that he would appoint a new AI adviser and create an "AI Force," with the "high IQ" tech wizard inheriting an AI landscape that has changed dramatically since venture capitalist David Sacks became Trump's first AI and crypto czar in late 2024. Sacks stepped down in March after reaching the 130-day service limit for special government employees. The reported contenders Sriram Krishnan, the senior White House policy advisor on AI, is one of "The Architects of...

A court in Northern Ireland has cleared the way for an Orange Order parade to pass through a Catholic area of Portadown on Sunday, setting aside an earlier temporary ban imposed the same day. According to reporting by Sky News cited by Reuters on Saturday, a ruling reversed the temporary restriction issued by Northern Ireland's High Court earlier in the day. With the ban lifted, the Protestant fraternal group may proceed with its planned march through the Catholic district of the town, which has long been one of the most sensitive parade flashpoints in the region. A rapid legal reversal The sequence of events unfolded quickly. The High Court first issued a temporary ban on the parade earlier Saturday, only for a later court decision...

Hurricane Nolo churned slowly south of Hawaii's Big Island on Saturday, packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph) and threatening flash floods and extreme surf across the islands, as President Donald Trump approved a federal emergency declaration. The storm's center was about 145 miles (235 kilometers) south of Hawaii's southernmost point on Saturday and could strengthen further through the weekend, forecasters warned. Parts of the Big Island faced rainfall totals of up to 20 inches (51 centimeters), with heavy rain expected on the other islands as well. Possible flooding and mudslides were a major concern. "Don't venture out if you don't have to into the dangerous flooding environment, but also high winds. We can have...

Congress leader and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has demanded the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, escalating the political row over the Election Commission's functioning and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. Sharp attack on the poll panel chief In remarks reported on Saturday, Gandhi accused the Election Commission of undermining the electoral process under Kumar's leadership. He alleged that decisions taken under Kumar had affected the integrity of elections and urged the CEC to "turn approver". These are political allegations by the Congress and have not been established by any court. Gandhi also took to X, writing: "First, Gyanesh Kumar - then a serving IAS...

The Election Commission of India on Saturday sought to put an end to reports of differences within the poll panel, holding a full commission meeting and issuing a detailed press note asserting that all key decisions on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls were taken unanimously. Full commission meets at Nirvachan Sadan Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and Election Commissioners Sukhbir Singh Sandhu and Vivek Joshi met at the commission's headquarters, Nirvachan Sadan, in New Delhi. The commission released a press note accompanied by a photograph of the three commissioners, addressing allegations about its internal functioning, the SIR exercise, voter enrolment and its technology systems. The clarification...

India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar used his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Saturday to deliver a sharp rebuke to Pakistan, calling it a "serial practitioner of terrorism" and warning that India's right to defend itself against terrorism "will be exercised." A direct rebuttal Jaishankar was responding to an address by Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif a day earlier. Without naming Pakistan directly, Jaishankar said, "Yesterday, a serial practitioner of terrorism misrepresented facts before this assembly. Arguments were invoked to normalise terrorism and claim immunity from its consequences. That will not stand." He added that "friendship and goodwill cannot co-exist with terrorism" and said it was...