Iran said on Wednesday (Oct 14) that a cargo ship sank after striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, the first time it has reported such a sinking during the war. The Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said the vessel was travelling on what it called an illegal and dangerous route when it hit the mine on Wednesday morning. State television, quoting an IRGC statement, said the ship was carrying 2,500 containers. Images broadcast by Iranian media showed the unidentified vessel tilted in the water and sending up a thick plume of smoke. News agency Associated Press could not independently verify the images. Iranian officials gave few details, including about the fate of the crew.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Navi Pillay, who is a South African judge, said she was “confident” that the Israeli prime minister would one day be in the dock of the International Criminal Court (ICC). During her stint as the head of the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry last year, Pillay found that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza.
She has said that there little political will to arrest Netanyahu to face the ICC accusations, which the Israeli Prime Minister has denied.
In India, Kashmir witnessed an early taste of winter as fresh snowfall blanketed the higher reaches of the Valley, bringing down temperatures and transforming the region’s mountain landscapes into picturesque winter scenes.
The upper reaches of Kilshay Top in Tulail Valley and Razdan Pass in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district received fresh snowfall, with heavy snow reported in the upper reaches of Tulail near the Line of Control (LoC). The fresh spell of precipitation has intensified the chill in mountainous areas, signalling a shift towards colder weather conditions across the Valley.
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The opening ceremony for a China-Pakistan army joint training was held in Korla, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on Wednesday morning, with the launch of a series of exercises including drone operations, mobile target shooting, long-range sniping, as well as joint command and live-force drills over the coming days.
It has been over seven months since the US-Iran war began but negotiations have failed to yield any concrete result so far. United States President Donald Trump has tried all pressure tactics and threats to bring Tehran to the negotiating table on its terms and conditions but that has not fetched much success for Washington. Now, there are reports that the US plans to use the GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast Bomb, also known as the "mother of all bombs", against Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear sites.
Rescuers were searching for eight missing crew on Thursday from one of two chemical tankers that caught fire overnight inside Romanian territorial waters in the Black Sea, after Russian drones strayed into Romanian airspace
India expected to overtake Japan as the 4th largest economy in 2027: IMF
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday (Oct 15) said that her country is not conducting any spying activities in Russia. The statement from the PM came after Moscow arrested Japanese journalist on suspicion of espionage. The arrest comes amid rising tensions between Russia and Japan following Russian President Vladimir Putin's August trip to the Kuril Islands, the Moscow-controlled Pacific archipelago that is claimed by both countries. The Soviet Union took the Kuril Islands from Japan in the final days of World War II, and the ongoing dispute has prevented the countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their hostilities.
Amid America's claim of destroying Iran's economic lifeline, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf has mocked US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and has mockingly suggested that he should be given a Nobel Prize. This comes as Bessent has been claiming that Washington's economic pressure campaign against Tehran has led to collapse to Iran's economy and will eventually force Iranian leadership to bow to the American demands. In several posts on X, Ghalibaf said that American predictions about the collapse of Iran's economy have failed to materialise despite mounting sanctions.
Indian-origin US Representative Pramila Jayapal on Wednesday (Oct 14) criticised the Indian government's electoral list revision, aka the SIR exercise, alleging that it could "purge 130 million people from the voting rolls". She also expressed support for non-violent protests against what she described as "anti-democratic efforts".
"I am deeply concerned about the actions of the Indian government to purge 130 million people from the voting rolls," Jayapal said in a statement on X. She compared the situation with what she described as efforts by the Trump administration to undermine voting rights in the United States.
"Protecting democracies everywhere is essential work, and the Indian people, like the American people, deserve free and fair elections," said the Washington representative, adding that she stood with Indians participating in non-violent protests.
Iran said on Wednesday (Oct 14) that a cargo ship sank after striking a naval mine in the Strait of Hormuz, the first time it has reported such a sinking during the war. The Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) navy said the vessel was travelling on what it called an illegal and dangerous route when it hit the mine on Wednesday morning. State television, quoting an IRGC statement, said the ship was carrying 2,500 containers. Images broadcast by Iranian media showed the unidentified vessel tilted in the water and sending up a thick plume of smoke. News agency Associated Press could not independently verify the images. Iranian officials gave few details, including about the fate of the crew.
Kashmir witnessed an early taste of winter as fresh snowfall blanketed the higher reaches of the Valley, bringing down temperatures and transforming the region’s mountain landscapes into picturesque winter scenes. The upper reaches of Kilshay Top in Tulail Valley and Razdan Pass in north Kashmir’s Bandipora district received fresh snowfall, with heavy snow reported in the upper reaches of Tulail near the Line of Control (LoC). The fresh spell of precipitation has intensified the chill in mountainous areas, signalling a shift towards colder weather conditions across the Valley.

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