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Fragile Ceasefire: How Iran, Israel and Trump Are Testing Limits of Diplomacy
The past week in the Middle East has offered another masterclass in strategic ambiguity. As negotiators edge towards a memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran, fresh military exchanges and Israeli advances in Lebanon have underscored just how precarious any pause in hostilities remains. According to the International Crisis Group, what was meant to be a moment of potential breakthrough has instead ended in familiar confusion.President Trump has spoken confidently of an agreement being close, only to send a draft text back to Tehran for revisions on Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium and arrangements governing the Strait of Hormuz. Iranian officials, meanwhile, insist that any deal must address the wider regional picture, including a durable ceasefire in Lebanon. “A ceasefire violation on one front is a violation…
Egypt’s Iran Tightrope: Mediation or Marginalisation?
As fragile truces flicker across the Middle East in early June 2026, Egypt finds itself once again at the centre of a high-stakes diplomatic tightrope. With indirect US-Iran talks suspended and a partial Israel-Hezbollah ceasefire holding only tenuously in Lebanon, Cairo is doubling down on back-channel mediation even as its Gulf benefactors grow impatient with what they see as insufficiently robust solidarity. The US-Israeli war with Iran, launched in late February, has tested Egypt’s long-standing “strategic balance” doctrine like never before, according to the International Crisis Group. President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government wants the conflict to end swiftly, fearing a collapsed Iran would spawn prolonged regional instability, embolden Israel on Egypt’s north-eastern flank, and inflict further economic pain on an already strained nation. Intelligence sources say Cairo has leveraged diplomatic…
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The Body Never Whispers Without Reason: Why One Indian Doctor Wants Us to Listen Before It Is Too Late
In an age obsessed with treating illness, Dr Aakanksha Gupta argues that we have forgotten a more important skill —…
The Paper Trail: How India’s Examination Underworld Evolved into a National Crisis
On the evening of 3 May 2026, hours after 2.27 million students sat India’s National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG), a chemistry…
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The Body Never Whispers Without Reason: Why One Indian Doctor Wants Us to Listen Before It Is Too Late
In an age obsessed with treating illness, Dr Aakanksha Gupta argues that we have forgotten a more important skill —…
India’s Dramatic Power Shift: New Stars, Old Bastions Fall
In a week that has reshaped India’s political map, assembly elections across Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, Assam and Puducherry…
Why Ancient Indian Philosophers Treated Sleep as a Window Into Consciousness
Sleep is usually framed as a biological necessity — a period of rest during which the brain resets, consolidates memory…
Government Decisions & Policy
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Southern drawl in the courtroom
A federal court in Alabama delivered an unexpected rebuff to Republican mapmakers on Tuesday, blocking a congressional redistricting plan that would have pared back Black…
India’s Sacred Cows and Shifting Sensitivities
As Eid-ul-Azha approaches, a festival centred on sacrifice and submission to God, Muslim leaders in several Indian states have issued an unusual plea: forgo the…
End of an Era in Lutyens’ Delhi: Iconic Gymkhana Club Ordered to Vacate for Defence and Security Needs
In the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi, where power, history, and privilege have long intertwined, one of India’s most storied institutions faces an uncertain future. The…
Modi’s call for sacrifice
With crude oil prices elevated above $105 a barrel amid disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, Narendra Modi has asked his 1.4bn fellow citizens to…
India & Neighbourhood
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A Porous Frontier: India and Bangladesh Grapple with Border Anxieties
As the heads of India’s Border Security Force (BSF) and Bangladesh’s Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) prepare to convene in New Delhi from June 8th to…
Political Theatre
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Travel & Tourism
View AllIndian authorities warn travellers of harsh new drug penalties in Maldives, including possible death sentence
India's Narcotics Control Bureau has issued a strong advisory cautioning citizens travelling to the Maldives that even small quantities of…
A bumpy ride ahead
As summer 2026 looms, the travel industry is confronting an uncomfortable truth. Jet-fuel prices in America averaged $8.63 a gallon…
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Fragile Ceasefire: How Iran, Israel and Trump Are Testing Limits of Diplomacy
The past week in the Middle East has offered another masterclass in strategic ambiguity. As negotiators edge towards a memorandum of understanding between the United…
States & Cities
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Saints of the flame: Rajasthan ascetics ready to renounce earthly life for a sacred grove
In the blistering heat of Rajasthan’s Dudu district, a group of Hindu seers have chosen fire and fasting over comfort.…
From Workshop to Encrypted Chat: How Four Ordinary Men Allegedly Built a Toy Car Bomb Plot Targeting India’s Heart
In the dim glow of a private automobile workshop on the outskirts of Thane, just north of Mumbai, Mosaib Ahmad…
India’s Digital Underworld: How Jailed Gangsters Run Transnational Crime Empires via WhatsApp and Instagram
In a brick-kiln office on the outskirts of Jind in Haryana, businessman Anup Chaudhary was reviewing accounts on the afternoon…
Ground mishap at Delhi airport leaves two Boeing 737s damaged as safety questions linger
A routine afternoon on the tarmac at one of the world’s busiest airports in New Delhi turned into an embarrassing…
Life & Culture
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Economy & Markets
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The Quiet Battle for the Heart of India’s Greatest Business Empire
In the polished corridors of Mumbai’s legal and philanthropic world, a discreet but intense struggle is unfolding over one of India’s most storied institutions. On…
