Live! US, Israel don’t want normalisation, says Russia

Trump warns Iran again

Donald Trump has threatened to “obliterate” Iran’s power and water infrastructure if Tehran does not agree to peace terms soon, even as he claims diplomatic progress in the conflict involving the US and Israel, as per a report by The Guardian.

Iran has remained defiant, rejecting US proposals as unrealistic and continuing missile attacks on Israel. Fears of escalation, including a potential US move targeting Kharg Island, have rattled global markets, with oil prices heading toward a sharp monthly rise.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Donald Trump said he believed a deal could be reached soon, adding that the US was engaged in “serious discussions” with what he described as a “more reasonable” leadership in Tehran.

Four juveniles held for stabbing, robbery in East Delhi

Four juveniles were detained in connection with the stabbing and robbery of a man in east Delhi’s Pandav Nagar, police said Tuesday. Investigators described the suspects as school dropouts with substance abuse issues, except for one who is still a student.

The attack took place on March 28 near Janta Garden, where the victim and a friend were approached by four boys of roughly the same age. Police said the group stabbed the victim in the back before taking his mobile phone and fleeing. He was later admitted to the hospital.

"Based on the victim's statement, a case was registered, and an investigation was launched. A team was constituted. Despite the lack of CCTV coverage at the exact spot, officers scanned footage from nearby areas and tracked the suspects' movements," an official said.

A suspect identified by a red T-shirt and cap helped lead police to the group. After the raids, all four were apprehended and later confessed.

Iran says US-Israel strike hits major drugmaker

U.S. and Israeli strikes targeted one of Iran’s largest pharmaceutical producers on Friday, according to Iranian officials, who said the facility manufactures anaesthetics and cancer treatments.

In a statement posted on X, the government said, “During the U.S. and Zionist regime attacks on civilian centres, in the morning, one of the largest companies producing anti-cancer, anaesthetic and specialised medicines was damaged, and the drug production line was damaged.”

The company is owned by the Social Security Investment Company, a state-run holding group that oversees pension funds. Officials did not provide details on the scale of the damage or whether production had been halted entirely, reported AFP. 

The strike comes amid heightened tensions, with Iran accusing the U.S. and Israel of hitting civilian-linked infrastructure, while neither country has publicly commented on the specific site referenced by Iranian authorities.

Israel prepares for extended fight as war crosses midpoint

The Israeli military signaled it is ready to sustain combat operations for several more weeks, following remarks from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicating that the conflict with Iran has already passed its midpoint.

Speaking to the conservative U.S. outlet Newsmax, Mr. Netanyahu said the war was “definitely beyond the halfway point,” while stopping short of offering any specific timeline. He clarified that the assessment was tied to operational objectives, adding it referred to missions, “not necessarily in terms of time.”

At a separate online media briefing, military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani addressed questions about the duration of the campaign. He said any determination on how long the fighting would continue rests with the political leadership rather than the military.

His comments suggested the armed forces are prepared to follow government direction as the conflict moves forward, without committing publicly to a defined endpoint for operations.

Middle East conflict could shave off 1 pc point from India's FY27 GDP growth projections: EY

India's real GDP growth for the next fiscal could erode by around 1 percentage point, while retail inflation could rise by about 1.5 percentage points from their baseline estimates if the Middle East conflict persists through the next fiscal, an EY report said.

The EY Economy Watch report said that several sectors, including employment-intensive sectors like textiles, paints, chemicals, fertilisers, cement and tyres, could be directly impacted. Any reduction in employment or incomes in these sectors may further dampen aggregate demand. As a result, both supply and demand conditions may be adversely affected by global oil market disturbances.

It said the Indian economy, which imports nearly 90 per cent of its crude oil requirements, is also highly dependent on imports of natural gas and fertilisers, and is particularly vulnerable to such external shocks, with the adverse effects likely to cascade across multiple sectors through strong forward and backward linkages with crude oil and energy.

The ongoing conflict in the Middle East has significantly disrupted global crude oil and energy markets by affecting supply, storage, transportation and prices. Even if the conflict is resolved in the near term, some of these disruptions may take considerable time to normalise, it said.

"If the impact persists throughout FY27, we estimate that India's real GDP growth could erode by around 1 percentage points, while CPI inflation could rise by approximately 1.5 percentage points from their baseline estimates of 7 per cent and 4 per cent respectively," the EY Economy Watch report said.

Iranian launches new attacks on Gulf neighbours and hits oil tanker in Dubai waters

Spot prices of Brent crude, the international standard, hovered around USD 107 a barrel in early trading, up more than 45 per cent since the war started Feb 28 when the US and Israel attacked Iran.

Iran's stranglehold on the Strait of Hormuz, the waterway leading our of Persian Gulf through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported during peacetime, has driven up global oil prices, as have its attacks on Gulf regional energy infrastructure.

In response to growing Gulf Arab anger, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi insisted Tuesday that Tehran is only targeting US forces. Several states have been encouraging Washington to continue the war until Iran's military capabilities are destroyed.

“Our operations are aimed at enemy aggressors who have no respect for Arabs or Iranians, nor can provide any security," Araghchi wrote on X. "High time to eject US forces.” Despite these words, attacks on civilian targets continued as an Iranian drone hit a Kuwaiti oil tanker in Dubai waters, sparking a blaze that was later put out, the Dubai Media Office said.

Four people in Dubai were also wounded when debris from an intercepted drone fell into a residential area.

Air raid sirens sounded in Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia's Defence Ministry said it had intercepted three ballistic missiles launched toward Riyadh, and falling debris from a drone intercepted southeast of the capital caused minor damage to six homes.

Sirens were also heard in Jerusalem and loud explosions were heard not long after Israel's military warned of an incoming missile barrage from Iran.

Israel's parliament approves death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis

Israel's parliament on Monday passed a law approving the death penalty for Palestinians convicted of murdering Israelis, a measure that has been harshly condemned by the international community and rights groups as discriminatory and inhumane.

The passage of the bill marked the culmination of a years-long drive by the far-right to escalate punishment for Palestinians convicted of nationalistic offences against Israelis. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu came to the Knesset to vote for the bill in person.

The law makes the death penalty — by hanging — the default punishment for West Bank Palestinians convicted of nationalistic killings. It also gives Israeli courts the option of imposing the death penalty on Israeli citizens convicted on similar charges — language that legal experts say effectively confines those who can be sentenced to death to Palestinian citizens of Israel and excludes Jewish citizens.

It will not apply retroactively to any prisoners Israel currently holds, including the Hamas-led militants who attacked the country on October 7, 2023, triggering the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

After the final 62-48 vote in favour, lawmakers erupted into cheers and stood up in jubilation. Netanyahu, who remained in his seat, did not immediately react or speak.

Israel's firebrand minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, who spearheaded the push for the legislation, brandished a bottle in celebration. Far-right lawmaker Limor Son Har-Melech, one of the bill's original sponsors whose first husband was killed in a Palestinian militant attack in the West Bank, smiled through tears.

Calcutta HC dismisses PIL challenging transfers of IAS, IPS officers by EC in Bengal

The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday dismissed a PIL challenging the transfer of administrative and police service officers by the Election Commission in poll-bound West Bengal.

The EC transferred several officers, including the state's chief secretary, the home secretary and the DGP, immediately after the announcement of the assembly election schedule for the state.

Claiming that these large-scale transfers would affect the running of the state's administration, the petitioner prayed that such orders by the poll panel be set aside.

A division bench presided by Chief Justice Sujoy Paul dismissed the petition.

The elections to the 294-member West Bengal assembly will be held in two phases - on April 23 and 29. Votes will be counted on May 4. 

Iran approves Strait of Hormuz plan to impose tolls, ban US and Israeli vessels

Iran's Parliament Security Committee on Monday (local time) approved the Strait of Hormuz Management Plan, which includes measures to impose tolls on vessels passing through the strategic waterway, as reported by Iranian state media, Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB).

According to the IRIB, a member of the National Security Commission announced that the plan was formally approved, detailing key areas of focus, including security arrangements for the Strait, ship safety, environmental protection, financial arrangements, and the implementation of a rial-based toll system.

The plan also explicitly bans passage for American and Israeli vessels, reinforces the sovereign role of Iran and its armed forces, and outlines cooperation with Oman in establishing the legal framework for the Strait. Additionally, it prohibits passage for countries participating in unilateral sanctions against Iran, as reported by IRIB. 

The proposal, which was brought before parliament earlier this month, would require agreement from other countries next to the strait. The state media didn’t specify how much the tolls would be. 

Iran has effectively closed the waterway—through which about 20% of the global oil supply typically flows—to Western shipping. Vessels associated with the U.S., Israel and countries that sanctioned Iran wouldn’t be able to pass under the new plan, according to Iranian state media.

Trump willing to end war without reopening Hormuz: WSJ

US President Donald Trump has told his aides that he's willing to end the military operation against Iran even if the Strait of Hormuz remains largely closed, leaving the campaign to reopen it for a later date, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing administration officials.

In recent days, Trump and his aides assessed that a mission to pry open the chokepoint would push the conflict beyond his timeline of four to six weeks, the Daily said in a report.

According to the report, Trump decided that the US should achieve its main goals of hobbling Iran's navy and its missile stocks and wind down current hostilities while pressuring Tehran diplomatically to resume the free flow of trade.

If that fails, Washington would press allies in Europe and the Gulf to take the lead on reopening the strait, the WSJ said, quoting officials.

At a media briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said the president and the chief of the Pentagon have always stated a four to six-week estimated timeline for the military operation. "We're on day 30 today," she said.

Leavitt also indicated that the Arab countries can be asked to share the burden of the military operation in Iran.

“I think it's something the president would be quite interested in. I won't get ahead of him on that but certainly it's an idea, something that I think you’ll hear more from him on,” she said to a question of whether countries such as Kuwait, the UAE and Saudi Arabia should pick up the tab for the Iran operation.