Latest India & World News Today LIVE: PM Modi leaves for Tashkent, Uzbekistan

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said regional countries have come to view dependence on the United States for security as a “strategic mistake” following recent military conflicts.

Speaking at the 40th International Islamic Unity Conference on Friday, Araghchi also claimed Iran's domestically produced missiles had demonstrated their capabilities.

He said Iran's adversaries launched a major conflict after previous efforts had failed, including attempts to weaken national unity, deepen internal divisions and use armed groups against the country.

Ukraine received information from the United States about CIA Director John Ratcliffe's recent meetings with Russian intelligence officials in Moscow, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday.

Zelensky said Kyiv had discussed the meetings with US officials both before and after Ratcliffe's unannounced visit to Moscow on August 25.

The Ukrainian president thanked Washington for sharing the information and praised what he described as the necessary tone used by US officials in their diplomatic engagement with Russia.

The FBI is moving away from an automatic hiring ban for applicants who have previously had sexual encounters with prostitutes, according to people familiar with the change.

Under the revised approach, at least some candidates with such past experiences could be assessed on a broader range of factors rather than being immediately disqualified.

The policy shift comes as federal law enforcement agencies evolve their recruitment standards. The FBI has previously relaxed its stance on applicants' past marijuana use, while some current and former agents have raised concerns that hiring requirements are being loosened as the bureau seeks to rebuild its workforce.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Mariano Grossi has urged all sides to show maximum military restraint after three separate drone incidents were reported at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine.

The incidents occurred over two days earlier this week and injured two plant employees, according to the IAEA.

The UN nuclear watchdog said the repeated drone incidents highlighted the continuing risks to nuclear safety posed by the war and the need to avoid actions that could further endanger the facility.

The Israeli military said it killed three militants in an airstrike in the occupied West Bank on Friday, marking a rare use of air power in a territory where tensions have been rising.

Israel frequently conducts ground raids in Palestinian towns, but its last airstrike in the West Bank was reported in February 2025. The latest strike targeted the Jenin area.

The military identified one of those killed as Qais Bitawi, describing him as a Hamas operative linked to a dismantled militant network in Jenin. Palestinian Islamic Jihad's armed wing, however, said Bitawi and the two other men were its fighters.

The BJP government in West Bengal has decided to remove the books written by former chief minister Mamata Banerjee from the state’s public libraries. Under the previous Trinamool Congress-led government, the party supremo’s books were mandatory in all government school libraries as well as state-run public libraries.
 

The Goa Education Department has asked educational institutions to ensure a 500-metre drug-free zone around their campuses as per a Central recommendation, prompting the Opposition to question whether the government is shirking its responsibility.
 

The Sri Lankan government has rejected concerns raised by a United Nations Special Rapporteur over the proposed extension of judges’ retirement ages, insisting that the 22nd Amendment is part of broader judicial reforms and is not intended to prolong the tenure of particular judges.

Rosatom, Russia's state-owned nuclear and atomic energy corporation, has announced to began construction of a nuclear power plant in Myanmar in 2027, following the signing of a contract for preliminary surveys. The announcement came after President Min Aung Hlaing's most recent visit to Moscow, during which he made an intensive effort to attract Russian energy investment.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning to spend up to $2 million on robot “dogs” to assist its agents’ operations, according to a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) funding document.

Former staff members of the US military newspaper Stars and Stripes have sued the Pentagon, accusing the Department of Defense of violating the First Amendment through what they described as "extraordinary censorship efforts." 

The lawsuit was filed on August 27 in a US District Court in Washington, DC, days after former editor-in-chief Erik Slavin said he was dismissed for insubordination following a CBS News interview in which he warned that military censorship would "constitute a red line." Slavin had defended the newspaper's editorial independence. Publisher Max Lederer and Middle East reporter Lara Korte were also fired. 

The lawsuit alleges the Pentagon retaliated against the journalists for defending press freedom and for publishing a report on deteriorating conditions aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln during its extended deployment in the Middle East.
 

Recent Russian air attacks have destroyed around 90% of the food logistics infrastructure operated by retail chains in Ukraine, Agriculture Minister Taras Vysotskyi said on Friday, highlighting the growing impact of strikes on the country's supply networks. Russia has increasingly targeted economic infrastructure, including warehouses belonging to major supermarket chains, postal facilities, and home goods retailers. 

Vysotskyi, cited by Ukrinform, said the scale of destruction was severe but stressed that Ukrainians would not be left without food. Both Russia and Ukraine have intensified strikes on economic targets in recent weeks, with attacks increasingly affecting logistics and distribution networks. The destruction threatens to disrupt the movement and storage of food across Ukraine, adding pressure to supply chains already operating under wartime conditions.
 

Amid growing domestic vulnerabilities and diplomatic isolation, Pakistan has turned to the international community following India's decisive suspension of the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty (IWT). Addressing a virtual seminar organised by the Pakistani Embassy in the United States, Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar raised concerns over India placing the treaty in abeyance, describing water security as central to his country's national stability while warning of broader regional consequences. A distraught Dar said, "India's unilateral decision in April 2025 to place the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance has no basis in the treaty."

The Israeli military conducted two explosions this morning on the outskirts of the southern Lebanese town of Aita al-Jabal.

The Iranian government is pledging to stand firm against US sanctions and what it calls US-Israeli “conspiracies”, saying diplomacy and defence are “complementary, coordinated and inseparable” tools for protecting the country’s national interests, security and territorial integrity. In a statement issued on Saturday and carried by the semi-official Tasnim news agency, the Iranian government outlined its commitments to Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei and the Iranian people.

During the visit, the Prime Minister will hold delegation-level talks with President Mirziyoyev to further strengthen the strategic partnership between the two countries. The two leaders will review cooperation in trade and investment, defence, digital connectivity, energy, education and people-to-people domains and set the agenda for the road ahead. Prime Minister is also expected to visit the Shastri Memorial in Tashkent and the Mahatma Gandhi Centre at the Tashkent State University of Oriental Studies.  

US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has criticised the ongoing military actions by the Trump administration against Iran, accusing the government of launching an illegal and immoral war. “Today marks 6 months since the Trump administration launched its illegal and immoral war on the people of Iran. This act of imperial aggression has claimed thousands of innocent lives, put the US and global economies on the brink, and caused suffering for millions,” she wrote on X.

US Congresswoman Yassamin Ansari has slammed the Trump administration’s military campaign against Iran, demanding the impeachment of Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth. In a post on social media platform X, Ansari said: “In the past six months since Donald Trump started his illegal war in Iran, 120 children died after a US military strike hit their school, 18 American servicemembers have been killed, Americans have endured record-high gas costs, and Donald Trump and his sons have profited endlessly from investing in defence tech companies that received government contracts.”

The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran (IRGC) claimed to maintain firm control over the Strait of Hormuz, accusing US leaders of spreading false statements regarding the passage to sway energy prices.