Iran has reported that it issued a warning to a United States Navy destroyer, ordering it to alter its course as it approached Iranian territorial waters in the Gulf of Oman. However, the U.S. has countered, claiming the confrontation was “professional” and had “no impact” on its naval mission. Iranian state media released video and images on Wednesday of the incident—the first reported direct encounter between Iranian and U.S. forces since the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June. The footage was captured from a helicopter dispatched to confront the USS Fitzgerald guided-missile destroyer. “U.S. destroyer ‘Fitzgerald’ attempted to…
Author: Raja Zahid Khanzada
U.S. television network CBS seemingly granted President Donald Trump two significant victories this week. The network announced a $16 million settlement for his lawsuit against ’60 Minutes’ and, concurrently, cancelled the show of Stephen Colbert, one of his most ardent critics. However, will these developments mark a pivotal moment for media freedom in the United States?
Howard Lutnick, Commerce Secretary and a key proponent of tariffs within the Trump administration, recently asserted that tariffs would not only revitalize the industrial sector in the United States but also bolster government finances. In a July 20 interview on CBS’s Face the Nation, Lutnick informed host Margaret Brennan that the U.S. is currently collecting approximately $30 billion a month in tariffs. “You got to remember – this is going to pay off our deficit. This is going to make America stronger,” he stated. However, the financial projections do not support this claim. Even if the most recent monthly U.S.…
Emmanuel Macron and his wife, Brigitte, have filed a defamation lawsuit against a right-wing US podcaster who claimed the French president’s spouse was formerly a man. The 218-page complaint against Candace Owens, who boasts millions of followers on X and YouTube, was submitted by the Macrons in Delaware Superior Court on Wednesday, seeking a jury trial and unspecified punitive damages. In a statement released by their lawyer, the Macrons asserted that they filed the lawsuit after Owens repeatedly ignored requests to retract false and defamatory statements made in an eight-part YouTube and podcast series titled ‘Becoming Brigitte’. According to the…
India has pushed hundreds of ethnic Bengali-speaking Muslims into Bangladesh without due process, Human Rights Watch (HRW) stated on Thursday, accusing the government of flouting regulations and fostering religious bias. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist government has consistently adopted a stringent stance on immigration, particularly regarding individuals from neighboring Muslim-majority Bangladesh, often referring to them as “termites” and “infiltrators.” Critics further accuse the government of instilling fear among India’s estimated 200 million Muslims, especially those who speak Bengali, a widely used language in both eastern India and Bangladesh. HRW, a New York-based nonprofit, reported, citing Bangladeshi authorities, that India…
Columbia University announced on Wednesday that it will pay over $200 million to the U.S. government in a settlement with President Donald Trump’s administration. This agreement aims to resolve federal probes and lead to the restoration of most of its suspended federal funding. Since returning to office in January, Trump has targeted several universities over the pro-Palestinian student protest movement that disrupted college campuses last year. He publicly welcomed the agreement between his administration and Columbia in a social media post late on Wednesday. In March, the Trump administration had penalized Columbia for its handling of last year’s protests by…
An Antonov An-24 passenger aircraft, carrying approximately 50 individuals, crashed in Russia’s far east on Thursday. Initial reports from Russian emergency services officials suggest that all occupants perished in the incident. A helicopter located the burning fuselage of the nearly 50-year-old Soviet-era plane on the ground, with rescue teams rushing to the scene. Unverified video footage, recorded from a helicopter and shared on social media, appeared to show the plane having gone down in a densely forested area. The aircraft, identifiable by its tail number as being built in 1976, was operated by Angara, an airline based in Siberia. It…
A Thai F-16 fighter jet bombed targets in Cambodia on Thursday, as confirmed by both nations, marking an escalation in weeks of border tensions that have resulted in at least two civilian fatalities. The Thai army reported that one of its six F-16 fighter jets, prepared for deployment along the contested border, fired into Cambodia, neutralizing a military objective. Both countries accused each other of initiating the conflict early Thursday. “We have used air power against military targets as planned,” Thai army deputy spokesperson Richa Suksuwanon informed reporters. Thailand subsequently closed its border with Cambodia. Cambodia’s defense ministry stated that…
The United Nations announced on Thursday that Taliban authorities are committing human rights violations, including torture and arbitrary detention, against Afghans forcibly returned by Iran and Pakistan. Large-scale deportation campaigns launched by Iran and Pakistan have compelled millions of Afghans to return to Afghanistan, with over 1.9 million individuals repatriated so far in 2025, the vast majority from Iran. In a statement accompanying the release of its report, the UN stated, “People returning to the country who were at particular risk of reprisals and other human rights violations by the de facto (Taliban) authorities were women and girls, individuals affiliated…
Britain and India are set to sign a landmark free trade agreement (FTA) on Thursday, coinciding with a visit by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This pivotal deal aims to reduce tariffs on a wide range of goods, from textiles to whisky and cars, while also expanding market access for businesses in both nations. After three years of intermittent negotiations, the two countries concluded talks on this highly anticipated trade pact in May. Both sides expedited efforts to finalize the deal amidst the tariff uncertainties triggered by President Donald Trump. This agreement between the world’s fifth and sixth largest economies…
