The Sen Times

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026 (AP) Israel stepped up airstrikes against Iranian missile launchers and factories Tuesday, and Iran retaliated across the Gulf region, disrupting energy supplies and travel. As explosions rang out in Tehran and in Lebanon where Israel said it struck Hezbollah militants the American embassy in Saudi Arabia came under drone attack. Four days into a war that President Donald Trump suggested would last several weeks but perhaps longer, hundreds of people

LONDON, March 3 (Reuters) Britain is deploying HMS Dragon, an air defence destroyer, to Cyprus after the runway of its Akrotiri base there was hit by an Iranian-made drone. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Tuesday he was sending the naval vessel along with helicopters with counter-drone capabilities to the region, as the conflict in the Middle East intensifies. France and Greece said they would also send anti-missile and anti-drone systems after the British base on the island was hit on Mond

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) U.S. lawmakers slammed the State Department on Tuesday for urging U.S. citizens in the Middle East to evacuate three days after the U.S.-Israeli air war against Iran started and when air travel is severely disrupted, saying it was a sign of lack of proper planning. On Monday, the Department urged Americans across 16 countries in the Middle East to immediately depart the region using available commercial transportation without offering any U.S.-government-vouched me

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2026 (AP) Throughout his political career, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has steered his country along two pillars of foreign policy: an ironclad partnership with the United States and a relentless diplomatic and covert battle against the rulers of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Now, with Israel and the U.S. in a joint war against Irans leadership, those two strategic paths risk clashing with each other. By enlisting the U.S. in what he views as Israels existenti

LONDON, March 3, 2026 (AP) Keir Starmer has never had a bad word to say in public about Donald Trump. That is not being reciprocated now as the American president lambasts the British prime minister over his reluctance to join the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. The dispute is roiling a relationship that Starmer worked hard to forge, and further straining trans-Atlantic ties frayed by Trumps America first foreign policy and transactional approach to international relations. This was the most soli

JERUSALEM, March 3 (Reuters) Israels military on Tuesday reported strikes in the Tel Aviv area of Israel from Iranian missiles. Search and rescue forces, together with numerous emergency teams, are currently operating at the impact sites in central Israel, the military said. The circumstances of the impact are under review. Israels ambulance service said it was treating three people at the sites who were lightly injured. Israeli police said there were several impact areas involving munition fra

PARIS, March 3 (Reuters) French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot held a call on Monday with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to discuss the Iran war and both agreed to work on de-escalation, Barrots office said in a statement. Both ministers committed to seeking a political solution that would guarantee collective security and take into account the aspirations of the Iranian people, the statement said. Barrot reiterated the Iranian regimes responsibility for the ongoing escalation, after it unj

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, March 3, 2026 (AP) The Israeli military said soldiers are operating in southern Lebanon as it continues strikes against Hezbollah. In a statement, it said the troops are positioned at several points near the border in what it described as a forward defense posture as it battles Hezbollah militants. It said the deployment is part of a broader effort to increase security for residents in northern Israel near the border with Lebanon. It has also beefed up troops and ai

WASHINGTON, March 3 (Reuters) Former President Bill Clinton told lawmakers that President Donald Trump told him he had some great times with convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein before their relationship soured, according to a video released on Monday. In a videotaped deposition to the House of Representatives Oversight Committee, the former Democratic president said under oath that Trump brought up Epstein at a golf tournament in 2002 or 2003, after Clinton left office and more than a decade

WASHINGTON, March 3, 2026 (AP) The U.S. and Israeli attacks on Iran add yet more question marks around a U.S. economy already buffeted by on-and-off tariffs, weak hiring, and lingering inflationary pressures. The war has already raised oil prices and could lift prices at the pump as early as this week, but the ultimate impact on the economy and inflation will depend on the length and severity of the conflict, economists say. Should it wind down in a week or two, its economic effects would be mi

BATON ROUGE, La. March 3, 2026 (AP) As people awoke to headlines over the weekend about deadly U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran and potential of widening conflict, alerts, social media and conversations at the dining room table were consumed by the news. While medical experts say it is normal for people to experience stress and anxiety or feeling that the world descended into chaos overnight it is important to find coping mechanisms and ways to responsibly take in the news in order to protect one

BEIRUT, March 2, 2026 (AP) Lebanese civilians fled from the countrys south and from Beiruts southern suburbs on Monday, seeking refuge in schools in Lebanons capital following a new and deadly escalation between Israel and the Iran-allied Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. Lebanons Health Ministry reported at least 31 people were killed and 149 wounded in overnight strikes in the Beirut suburbs and southern Lebanon. The Lebanese government later Monday slammed Hezbollahs decision to enter Irans

WASHINGTON, March 2 (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump pressed ahead with military strikes against Iran despite private warnings from senior aides that the escalation could be difficult to contain and carry political risks for Republicans in Novembers midterm elections, according to two senior White House officials and a Republican close to the administration. The large-scale attack has drawn near-unanimous praise from foreign policy hawks in Washington, who have long dreamed of toppling the

VIENNA, March 2, 2026 (AP) Irans Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency on Monday alleged that airstrikes by the United States and Israel targeted the Natanz enrichment facility in his country. That contradicts an assessment by the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi who said that up to now the agency has no indication that nuclear facilities have been hit in Iran. Again they attacked Irans peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities yesterday. Their justification that Iran want

KUWAIT CITY, March 2 (Reuters) Several U.S. military aircraft crashed in Kuwait early on Monday, but all crew members survived and were in stable condition, Kuwaits Ministry of Defence said, as conflict widened across the Middle East. In a separate incident, smoke was seen rising from the vicinity of the U.S. Embassy compound in Kuwait City, and fire trucks and ambulances were in the area, a witness told Reuters. There were no responses to requests for comment on the embassy incident from the U

Mumbai, Mar 2 (PTI) The rupee depreciated 21 paise to 91.29 against the US dollar on Monday, amid higher crude oil prices, a strong American currency and intense global volatility due to the escalated Middle East tension. Negative equity market sentiment and massive withdrawal of foreign funds also weighed on the Indian currency, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.23 and declined further to 91.29 against the greenback in initial deals, trading 21 paise

MUMBAI, Mar 2 (Reuters) The Indian rupee is expected to fall past the 91 per dollar mark on Monday after the U.S. and Israel bombed Iran over the weekend, risking protracted conflict in the Middle East, which sapped risk appetite and sparked a sharp rise in oil prices. The 1-month non-deliverable forward indicated the rupee will open in the 91.28-91.32 range versus the U.S. dollar, having settled at 90.9750 on Friday. Air strikes by Israel and the U.S. on Iran over the weekend resulted in the d

WASHINGTON, March 2, 2026 (AP) Israeli and American authorities spent weeks tracking the movements of senior Iranian leaders, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, sharing information that allowed the strikes to be carried out in a surprise daylight attack, according to an Israeli military official and a person familiar with the operation. The eventual barrage of U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran came so quickly that they were nearly simultaneous with three strikes in three locations hit

KATHMANDU, Nepal, February 27, 2026 (AP) A former rapper who ran Kathmandu as a mayor. The young leader of Nepals oldest political party. And a communist veteran politician hoping to return to power after being ousted in youth-led protests in which dozens were killed last year. They are the three leading contenders as Nepal heads into a crucial nationwide election, the first since the protests led to the fall of former Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Olis government in September. Whoever prevails

Sydney, Feb 27 (The Conversation) Artificial intelligence (AI) is at a very Chinese time in its life. Recent moves from Chinese AI labs are throwing the dominance of American frontier labs such as Google and OpenAI into question. Last week ByteDance, the company behind TikTok, released an AI video-generating tool called Seedance 2.0 which produces high-quality film-like clips from text prompts, with a casual disregard for copyright concerns. This week Anthropic, the US company behind the chatbot

New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) A Delhi court on Friday refused to take cognisance of the CBI chargesheet in a corruption case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. Special Judge Jitendra Singh discharged former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, and 21 others. The court said that the chargesheet had several lacunae not supported by evidence. The CBI has been probing alleged corruption in the formulation and execution of the erstwhile-AAP governments n

New Delhi, Feb 27 (PTI) The Congress on Friday took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the NCERT row, saying the PM has himself guided and shaped the Nagpur Communal Ecosystem for Rewriting of Textbooks, which is the real NCERT. The opposition party said the next logical step for the Supreme Court to take is to institute a full-fledged investigation into how textbooks have come to be rewritten and how they have become instruments of polarisation and political score-settling Congress ge

Online influencers claim the secret to low-calorie rice, pasta and potatoes may be as simple as chilling out. Are they right? Not quite. But a small yet solid body of science does suggest that chilling these carbohydrate-rich foods after cooking them still could help people slim down. For several years, wellness and nutrition influencers have promoted a process called retrogradation, urging people to cook, chill, then reheat carbohydrate-rich foods. They say doing so can cut the calories. Retrog

WASHINGTON, February 27, 2026 (AP) New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented President Donald Trump with a mock newspaper front page during a visit to the White House on Thursday to discuss massive new housing investments in the city. Its a tactic designed to appeal to Trump, who is keenly aware of his media coverage and, aside from being an avid viewer of cable news, is known to voraciously consume coverage in the local New York City publications. The Republican president and Democratic may

New Delhi, Feb 26 (PTI) Markets regulator SEBI on Thursday directed all entities regulated by it, along with their agents, to prominently disclose their registered name and registration number on social media platforms (SMPs) while posting securities market-related content. The requirement will apply to stock brokers, mutual funds, asset management companies (AMCs), investment advisers, research analysts, alternative investment funds (AIFs), portfolio managers and other intermediaries. With the

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., February 26, 2026 (AP) Suno CEO Mikey Shulman pulls up a chair to the recording studio desk where a research scientist at his artificial intelligence company is creating a new song. The flute line sounds promising. The percussion needs work. Neither of them is playing an instrument. They type some descriptive words Afrobeat, flute, drums, 90 beats per minute and out comes an infectious rhythm that livens up the 19th century office building where Suno is headquartered in Camb

BEIJING, February 25, 2026 (AP) German Chancellor Friedrich Merz called Wednesday for deepening ties with China, while pushing for fairer trade rules between the two countries and seeking Chinese help on Ukraine. Merz, who arrived in Beijing late morning for a whirlwind two-day visit, acknowledged differences during meetings with the countrys top leaders and called for collaboration wherever possible. We have a few issues that we need to talk about today in the course of my visit, he told Chine

Mumbai, Feb 25 (PTI) The rupee stayed range-bound for the second consecutive day on Wednesday and settled 1 paisa lower at 90.96 (provisional) against the US dollar amid higher global crude oil prices and foreign fund outflows. A weaker greenback and positive sentiments in domestic equity markets prevented the rupees losses, according to forex traders. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.94 against the greenback and traded in a narrow range through the session before settli

Lucknow, Feb 25 (PTI) Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday said that notices to voters were being issued on a large scale during the SIR and described the exercise as the BJPs votebandi (depriving one of voting right) after notebandi (demonetisation), alleging the ruling partys intent was wrong then and remains wrong now. Yadav, according to a party statement, alleged that earlier only Muslims were harassed for documents, but now Hindus too were receiving repeated notices during the

New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) Observing that fraternity serves as a critical element for national unity and social cohesion, the Supreme Court has said public figures holding high constitutional offices cannot target any particular community on the basis of religion, language, caste or region. The top court said that nobody, including State and non-State actors, can vilify or denigrate any community through speeches, memes, cartoons or visual art. The observations were made by Justice Ujjal Bhuyan in

WASHINGTON, February 25, 2026 (AP) For some young children in Columbus, Ohio, reading assessments dont start in the kindergarten classroom they happen first in the doctors office. With concerns rising about lagging childhood literacy rates across the country, Nationwide Childrens Hospital has begun screening childrens literacy skills starting at age 3 during pediatrician visits. The idea is to catch reading struggles early on and guide parents on how to help their kids. They are all doing deve

Feb 25 (Reuters) After Nepals historic youth-led uprising last September killed 77 people and forced then-Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli to resign, a 35-year-old rapper-turned-politician posted a typically terse message to millions of followers on social media. Dear Gen Z, the resignation of your killer has come, Balendra Shah popularly known only as Balen wrote. Now your generation will have to lead the country. Be prepared. Five months on, the musician who cut his political teeth when he be

Mumbai, Feb 25 (PTI) The rupee gained 6 paise to 90.89 against the US dollar in early trade on Wednesday aided by a weaker greenback and a strong opening in the domestic equity markets. However, a sharp rise in global crude oil prices and FII outflows prevented sharp gains in the local unit, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.94 against the greenback before rising to 90.89, registering a gain of 6 paise from its previous close. The rupee traded in a nar

MUMBAI, Feb 25 (PTI) Benchmark equity indices Sensex and Nifty rallied in early trade on Wednesday, bouncing back from previous sessions sharp fall, driven by buying in IT stocks and a positive trend in global markets. The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped 558.79 points to 82,784.71 in early trade. The 50-share NSE Nifty climbed 157.05 points to 25,581.70. From the Sensex pack, Tech Mahindra, HCL Tech, Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Power Grid and InterGlobe Aviation were the biggest gainers. Stat

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, February 25, 2026 (AP) As the United States assembles its greatest military firepower in decades in the Middle East, Iranians are warily awaiting the next round of talks with the U.S. in Geneva this week negotiations that many see as a last chance for their ruling theocracy to strike a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump. Some say the situation feels hopeless. Battered by decades of sanctions, heightened by Trumps 2018 decision to withdraw from Tehrans nuclear de

SEOUL, Feb 25 (Reuters) South Koreas birthrate rose for a second-straight year in 2025, government data showed on Wednesday, in a further sign that a country facing a demographic crisis for nearly a decade may be starting to turn a corner. South Koreas total fertility rate, the average number of babies a woman is expected to have during her reproductive life, stood at 0.80 in 2025, up from 0.75 in 2024, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics. New births in the As

WASHINGTON, Feb 24 (Reuters) U.S. President Donald Trump declared that this is the Golden Age of America at the start of his State of the Union address on Tuesday, seeking to project an aura of success at a fraught moment for his presidency and his Republican Party. Our nation is back bigger, better, richer and stronger than ever before, he said after taking the stage to cheers of USA, USA from his partys members of Congress, while Democrats stood in stony silence. Democratic U.S. Representati

MOGADISHU, Somalia, February 24, 2026 (AP) Nearly 6.5 million people in Somalia are facing severe hunger as worsening drought, conflict and global aid cuts intensify the countrys humanitarian crisis, the federal government and U.N. agencies said Tuesday. New data from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report shows that 6.5 million people are projected to face crisis or worse levels of food insecurity by the end of March. The report also estimates that 1.84 million children under

Mumbai, Feb 24 (PTI) The rupee fell by 7 paise to 90.96 against the US dollar in early trade on Tuesday, weighed down by a rise in global crude oil prices and a stronger greenback. A poor start to the domestic equity markets further pressured the local unit, but FII inflows provided support, preventing a sharp fall, forex traders said. At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 90.91 against the US dollar and slipped further to 90.96, down 7 paise from its previous close. The rupee g

TORONTO, February 24, 2026 (AP) Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney is traveling to India, Australia and Japan this week and next in his latest effort to diversify trade away from the United States, his office announced Monday. Carney will first visit Mumbai on Thursday for talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and business leaders. During a stop in Canberra, Carney will address both houses of Australias Parliament, making him the first Canadian prime minister to do so in 20 years. He

LONDON, February 24, 2026 (AP) Police in Britain said Peter Mandelson, the former U.K. ambassador to the United States, has been released on bail after he was arrested in a misconduct probe stemming from his ties to the late Jeffrey Epstein. It came days after a friendship with Epstein landed the former Prince Andrew in police custody. A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said in a statement issued just after 2 a.m. Tuesday: A 72-year-old man arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office h

New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) A study modelling how genes may influence a childs body mass index over time has found that BMI at age 10 and overall growth rate between ages one and 18 might be important factors, as the two are more likely linked to diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease in later life. The findings, published in the journal Nature Communications, could help better understand the underlying biology of healthy growth across childhood, author Nicole Warrington, senior research fell

MUMBAI, Feb 23 (Reuters) Indias drug regulator has inspected nearly 90% of the countrys cough syrup makers and found compliance lapses, its chief said on Monday, amid heightened scrutiny after India-made syrups were linked to the deaths of children in the country and abroad. The inspections follow the discovery of a brand of cough syrup contaminated with diethylene glycol that was linked to the deaths of 24 children in October last year. The product, named Coldrif, was made by Sresan Pharmaceut

Washington, Feb 23 (PTI) Stressing that if Donald Trumps tariffs are such a good idea, he should have no problem persuading Congress, former Indian-origin US Acting Solicitor General Neal Katyal has said the President must seek legislative approval for sweeping tariff measures, as mandated by the American Constitution. Katyals remarks came a day after the US Supreme Court on Friday struck down Trumps far-reaching global tariffs imposed under an emergency powers law, including the reciprocal tari

LONDON, February 23, 2026 (AP) Britains film academy and the BBC apologized to viewers after an audience member with Tourette syndrome shouted a racial slur during the British Academy Film Awards. The highly offensive word could be heard as Sinners stars Michael B. Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the award for best visual effects during Sundays ceremony. Host Alan Cumming had earlier told the audience that a guest at the ceremony was John Davidson, a Scottish campaigner for people with

MUMBAI, Feb 23 (Reuters) RBI is not planning to revisit recently announced rules for bank financing of proprietary traders and brokers, its governor said on Monday. In rules released earlier this month, the Reserve Bank of India raised the collateral requirements for bank guarantees to brokers and barred lending for proprietary trading by them. The changes are due to take effect from April 1. Shares of brokerage firms fell last week on concerns the rules would impact brokers profit margins and

Brisbane, Feb 22 (The Conversation) US President Donald Trump has announced the United States will increase baseline tariffs on imports from all countries to 15%, as the fallout continues from a seismic Supreme Court ruling on Friday. Trump had imposed sweeping reciprocal tariffs last year under an emergency powers act, but the court ruled this law did not authorise him to do so. Speaking in the wake of the ruling on Friday, Trump admonished the justices of the Supreme Court. He called the Democ

New Delhi, Feb 23 (PTI) The RBI is watching the development around the Rs 590 crore fraud at IDFC First Bank and there is no systemic issue, Governor Sanjay Malhotra said on Monday. IDFC First Bank had on Sunday disclosed a Rs 590-crore fraud committed by certain employees and others at a particular branch in Chandigarh in a specific set of Haryana state government accounts. We are watching the development, there is no systemic issue, Malhotra told reporters at a press briefing after the customa

Sydney, Feb 23 (The Conversation) Last year, Norwegian-US tech company 1X announced a strange new product: the worlds first consumer-ready humanoid robot designed to transform life at home. Standing 168 centimetres tall and weighing in at 30 kilograms, the US$20,000 Neo bot promises to automate common household chores such as folding laundry and loading the dishwasher. Neo has a built-in artificial intelligence (AI) system, but for tricky tasks it requires a 1X employee wearing a virtual reality

NEW YORK, February 22, 2026 (AP) Lawyers for imprisoned British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell are fighting the requested release of 90,000 pages related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein and Maxwell, saying a law used to force the public release of millions of documents is unconstitutional. The lawyers filed papers late Friday in Manhattan federal court to try to block the release of documents from a since-settled civil defamation lawsuit brought a decade ago by the late Epstein victim Virgi