Category: Top Stories

Saudi Arabia’s new Hajj 2026 licensing system requires pilgrim accommodations to register via Nusuk Masar platform/Representative Image To streamline the accommodation process for Hajj 2026, Saudi Arabia has rolled out a seasonal licensing system for pilgrim housing in Makkah and Madinah. The initiative, developed through inter-ministerial collaboration, focuses on enhancing service standards, ensuring compliance, and…

Amir Khan Muttaqi (File photo) Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi has been granted a temporary travel exemption to visit India next week. This marks the first high-level visit by a Taliban leader to New Delhi since the group took power in Afghanistan in 2021.According to officials, the UN Security Council sanctions committee has authorised…

NEW DELHI: Assam Police on Thursday filed murder charges against late Assamese singer Zubeen Garg’s long-time manager and the organiser of the festival in Singapore where he died, a senior officer said.Garg’s manager, Siddharth Sharma, and Shyamkanu Mahanta, the chief organiser of the North East India Festival, were arrested from Delhi on Wednesday. Mahanta was…

NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, accused the BJP-led central government of mounting a “wholesale attack on Indian democracy” during an interaction at EIA University in Colombia. The BJP hit back, calling him a “Leader of Propaganda” and criticising him for “once again” denigrating Indian democracy on a foreign platform….

Emergency services at the scene of a stabbing at Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation synagogue, in Crumpsall, Manchester. (Pic credit: AP) Multiple people were stabbed on Thursday at a synagogue in the UK’s Crumpsall. Greater Manchester Police arrived at the scene after they got a call from a witness who saw a car being driven towards…

R Ashwin (PTI Photo/R Senthilkumar) Indian off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin remained unsold at the ILT20 2025 auction on Wednesday. The 39-year-old spin veteran, who was placed in the highest base price category of USD 120,000, failed to attract any bidders.Former India players Dinesh Karthik and Piyush Chawla secured contracts with Sharjah Warriorz and Abu Dhabi Knight…

Sambhal authorities commenced demolishing an illegal mosque in Rae Buzurg village, constructed on land designated for a pond and compost pits NEW DELHI: Authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district on Thursday carried out demolition drive targeting illegal constructions in Rae Buzurg village, officials said.Sambhal superintendent of police KK Bishnoi said the structures, which included a…

Leon Mendonca (Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament) NEW DELHI: Earlier this year, 19-year-old Grandmaster Leon Luke Mendonca arrived at Wijk aan Zee full of hope, only to be crushed by exhaustion as his eagerly awaited Tata Steel Masters debut became a grueling test of endurance.Entering the fray as last year’s Challengers champion, Mendonca had hoped…

Andy Pycroft (second from the left) Andy Pycroft, the match referee at the centre of last month’s Asia Cup handshake controversy, received a rousing welcome on Thursday as he took charge of the India vs West Indies 1st Test at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Introduced by presenter Ravi Shastri, Pycroft was greeted warmly. “Back…

The Israeli navy intercepted several boats from a flotilla trying to bring humanitarian goods to the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, detaining activists on board—including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, the Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed.The flotilla is the latest sea-borne attempt to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza, much of which has been turned into a wasteland…