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First Post
10 minutes ago
- Politics
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IDF opens probe into possible war crimes in Gaza as hundreds die seeking aid
Anonymous Israeli soldiers have told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that troops had been told to shoot at crowds of Palestinian citizens collecting aid near food distribution sites to keep them away from Israeli military positions read more Men look around on alert in the wake of gunfire shots as displaced Palestinians receive food packages from a US-backed foundation pledging to distribute humanitarian aid in western Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 27, 2025. AFP The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have opened an investigation into possible war crimes after more evidence points to the possibility of its troops deliberately opening fire at Palestinians receiving food at aid distribution centres across Gaza. Anonymous Israeli soldiers have told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that troops had been told to shoot at crowds of Palestinian citizens collecting aid near food distribution sites to keep them away from Israeli military positions. The soldiers added that they had reservations about launching an assault on people who appeared to pose no threat. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Refresh for updates.
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First Post
27 minutes ago
- Sport
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Vaibhav Suryavanshi carries his red-hot IPL form to England, smashes 48 off 19 while wearing iconic No 18 jersey
After shining in his maiden Indian Premier League season, 14-year-old Vaibhav Suryavanshi starred in India U-19's six-wicket victory over England U-19 in Hove with a knock that was laced with five sixes and three fours. read more India U-19's Vaibhav Suryavanshi in action in the first Youth ODI against England U-19 at Hove. Reuters After an extraordinary performance in his maiden Indian Premier League season, in which he struck a 35-ball century in just his third appearance for Rajasthan Royals , boy wonder Vaibhav Suryavanshi is now lighting up the international scene, albeit at the Under-19 level. The opening batter from Bihar, after all, starred in India U-19's six-wicket victory over England U-19 in the opening game of a five-match Youth ODI series that got underway on Friday. Opening the batting alongside Mumbai and Chennai Super Kings batter Ayush Mhatre, Suryavanshi smashed a whirlwind 48 off 19 deliveries, collecting five sixes and three fours along the way. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD VAIBHAV SURYAVANSHI MADNESS..!! 🥶🔥 - Smashed 48 runs in just 19 balls. - With 3 fours and 5 sixes. — Sports Culture (@SportsCulture24) June 27, 2025 What's more, he lit up the County Ground at Hove, Sussex's home ground, while donning the iconic No 18 jersey – which is synonymous with legendary batter Virat Kohli. Also Read | How Vaibhav Suryavanshi's parents helped him become the youngest IPL centurion Captain Mhatre was happy to play second fiddle during the 71-run opening partnership, which provided the Indian team the perfect start in their chase of a 175-run target. The 'Boys In Blue' were in a spot of bother after Mhatre (21) departed the very next over, with Maulyarajsinh Chavda and Vihaan Malhotra departing shortly after 16 and 18 respectively. Wicketkeeper-batter Abhigyan Kundu, however, stabilised the chase with a knock of 45 off 34 deliveries, collecting four fours and a six to see his team home with more than half of their overs to spare. Andrew Flintoff's son top-scores for England U-19 Off-spinner Kanishk Chouhan had earlier headlined India's clinical bowling performance with a haul of 3/20, with the trio of RS Ambrish (2/24), Mohamed Enaan (2/37) and Henil Patel (2/41) collecting a couple of wickets each. The Thomas Rew-led England U-19 team appeared steady at 76/1 in the 12th over until a flurry of wickets derailed their innings. Rocky Flintoff, son of legendary English all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, top-scored with a knock of 56 off 90 deliveries while opener Isaac Mohammed was the only other member of the batting lineup to cross 20, scoring a brisk 42 off 28 deliveries. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The two teams will move to Northampton, where the next two Youth ODIs will take place on Monday and Wednesday respectively, with Worcester hosting the fourth and fifth matches on Saturday, 5 July and Monday 7 July respectively. That will be followed by two unofficial Tests at Beckenham and Chelmsford starting 12 July.
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First Post
30 minutes ago
- Politics
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Trump says US would consider bombing Iran again as Khamenei warns of retaliation for future attacks
Trump's comments came as a reaction to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's first message on the ceasefire. Khamanei said Iran 'slapped America in the face' by launching an attack against a major US base in Qatar following the US bombing raids read more US President Donald Trump has threatened to bomb Iran once again if the country continues to pursue the enrichment of uranium, days after 'brokering' a ceasefire that effectively ended the country's 12-day-long fighting with Israel. Trump's comments came as a reaction to Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's first message on the ceasefire. Khamanei said Iran 'slapped America in the face' by launching an attack against a major US base in Qatar following the US bombing raids. Khamanei also said Iran would never surrender. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Refresh for updates
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First Post
an hour ago
- Sport
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Praggnanandhaa achieves another historic feat after winning UzChess Cup Masters, collecting third title of year
R Praggnanandhaa prevailed over a tough field comprising compatriots Arjun Erigaisi and Aravindh Chithambaram as well as home favourites Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov in Tashkent to collect his third title of the year after Tata Steel Chess and Superbet Chess Classic Romania. read more Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated Javokhir Sindarov and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the blitz tie-breaks to win the 2025 UzChess Cup Masters in Tashkent. Image credit: X/@rpraggnachess Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa has been having quite the stellar run so far in 2025, having won the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Netherlands in February as well as Superbet Chess Classic Romania last month. On Friday, 'Pragg' added another feat to the collection – winning the UzChess Cup Masters 2025 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. And what makes this feat even more impressive is the fact that the 19-year-old triumphed over some of the leading players in the world, including compatriots Arjun Erigaisi and Aravindh Chithambaram as well as home favourites Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov. Also part of the solid lineup were Grandmasters Ian Nepomniachtchi, Richard Rapport and Parham Maghsoodloo. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Praggnanandhaa had finished level on 5.5 points with Javokhir and Nodirbek, defeating both Uzbekistani GMs along with Arjun, who finished fourth with 5 points. All three players later finished level on two points in the first round of blitz tie-breaks. Praggnanandhaa, however, sneaked ahead in the second round of tie-breaks, where he finished with 1.5 points compared to 1 for Javokhir and 0.5 for Nodirbek. 'Wrapped up the #UzChessCup Masters with a win in the final round and wins in tie breaks. Tiebreaks were crazy indeed,' Praggnanandhaa wrote in a post on X after his victory in Tashkent. 'Grateful for all the support that I have received so far. Onto my next challenge to Croatia,' he added, referring to the SuperUnited Croatia Rapid & Blitz tournament in Zagreb which is part of the Grand Chess Tour and gets underway on 2 July. Wrapped up the #UzChessCup Masters with a win in the final round and wins in tie breaks. Tiebreaks were crazy indeed. Grateful for all the support that I have received so far. Onto my next challenge to Croatia. — Praggnanandhaa (@rpraggnachess) June 27, 2025 STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Praggnanandhaa overtakes Gukesh and Arjun The joy of winning his third title of the year was made even sweeter by the fact that Praggnanandhaa has now surpassed both Gukesh and Arjun to become the top-ranked Indian on the latest live ratings. Praggnanandhaa has a live rating of 2778.3, placing him at the fourth spot ahead of reigning world champion Gukesh (2776.6) and Arjun (2775.7). The top three spots are occupied by Norwegian chess icon Magnus Carlsen (2839.2) as well as veteran American GMs Hikaru Nakamura (2807) and Fabiano Caruna (2784.2). The same, however, cannot be said of the FIDE ratings, where Arjun and Gukesh remain the only Indians inside the top five at third and fifth respectively, with Praggnanandhaa the third Indian inside the top-10 at seventh. While the FIDE ratings are updated every month, the Live ratings are updated in real time, typically within a minute after the conclusion of a game.
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First Post
5 hours ago
- Politics
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Over 4,400 Indian nationals evacuated from Iran, Israel in 19 special flights so far: MEA
India has so far evacuated more than 4,400 Indian nationals from Iran and Israel in 19 special flights under Operation Sindhu launched on June 18, according to the Ministry of External Affairs read more Indian students returning from Iran via Armenia, under an evacuation operation facilitated by the Government of India. They are seen exiting from the Indira Gandhi International Airport, in New Delhi, on June 19. 110 students from Kashmir Valley reached New Delhi early Thursday. PTI India has so far evacuated more than 4,400 Indian nationals from Iran and Israel in 19 special flights under Operation Sindhu launched on June 18 to bring home its citizens amid an ongoing conflict between the two countries, according to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA). The evacuated Indian nationals included 'more than 1,500 women and 500 children', the MEA said in a statement on Friday. 'The government of India is deeply committed to the safety and well-being of its citizens abroad. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's guidance, Operation Sindhu is another demonstration of this commitment,' it said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'We thank the governments of Iran, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Armenia and Turkmenistan for their support during Operation Sindhu. Indian Missions will stay engaged with host governments and the Indian community in Iran, Israel and the wider West Asia region,' the MEA added. A batch of 173 Indians evacuated from Iran reached Delhi late on Thursday night in a flight from Armenian capital Yerevan, the MEA had said in a post on X. Responding to queries on Operation Sindhu at his weekly media briefing a day before, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi was assessing the situation on the ground and a decision on the future course of action would be taken based on it. More than 3,400 Indian nationals have so far been evacuated in 14 flights from Iran since the start of Operation Sindhu, according to data shared by Jaiswal during the briefing. The MEA spokesperson later shared updated evacuee figures in a post on X after the arrival of the flight from Yerevan. 'A special evacuation flight from Yerevan, Armenia landed in New Delhi at 22:30 hrs on 26th June, bringing home 173 Indian nationals from Iran,' he said. 'As part of #OperationSindhu, a total of 4,415 Indian nationals (3,597 from Iran and 818 from Israel) have been evacuated so far using 19 special evacuation flights including 3 IAF aircraft. 14 OCI card-holders, 9 Nepali nationals, 4 Sri Lankan nationals and 1 Iranian spouse of an Indian national were also evacuated from Iran,' he added. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD On June 24, India said while it remained 'deeply concerned about the prospects for overall and sustained regional security and stability', it welcomed reports of a ceasefire between Iran and Israel. Hours after US President Donald Trump's claims of an Iran-Israel ceasefire, the MEA had, in a statement, said 'India stands ready to play its part' to resolve the situation and insisted on 'dialogue and diplomacy' as the way forward. Jaiswal was asked on Thursday if India would continue Operation Sindhu after the Iran-Israel ceasefire and about the total number of Indian nationals evacuated from the two countries so far. 'We launched Operation Sindhu on June 18. We have around 10,000 people. Indian community members in Iran. And around 40,000 people in Israel who are Indian nationals,' he had said. One Iranian woman, who is the wife of an Indian national, has also been evacuated, Jaiswal had added. The majority of the evacuations were carried out through Mashhad, after Iran opened its airspace for the evacuation flights under Operation Sindhu on June 20 on India's request, the MEA said. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD The Israel leg of Operation Sindhu commenced on June 23. Indian missions in Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Amman and Cairo facilitated the movement of Indian nationals through land borders to Jordan and Egypt. 'A total of 818 Indian nationals were evacuated, including students, workers and professionals. They were evacuated from Amman and Sharm al Sheikh from 22-25 June using four evacuation flights, including 3 IAF C-17 aircraft,' the MEA added. In view of the re-opening of the airspace, the evacuation operations were halted on June 25. Further actions will be taken based on the evolving situation in West Asia, the statement said. A special flight carrying 272 Indians and three Nepalese nationals from Iran arrived in Delhi a little past midnight (on June 26) from the Iranian city of Mashhad, Jaiswal had posted on X earlier. India evacuated 296 Indian citizens and four Nepalese nationals from Iran on Wednesday. On Tuesday, it evacuated more than 1,100 citizens from Iran and Israel. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD It brought back 594 Indians from Israel, using C-17 heavy-lift aircraft of the Indian Air Force to fly out more than 400 people after they were moved out of Israel to Jordan and Egypt by land transit points. Also, 161 Indians were brought back in a chartered flight from Amman after they had moved to the Jordanian capital from Israel by road. A total of 573 Indians, three Sri Lankans and two Nepalese nationals were evacuated from Iran in two chartered flights on Tuesday, according to details shared by the MEA. Several other flights have brought Indian nationals back home after being evacuated from Iran. Israel and Iran fired hundreds of missiles and drones at each other's cities and military and strategic facilities since the hostilities began around two weeks ago. The tensions escalated significantly following the US bombing of three major Iranian nuclear sites on the morning of June 22. The first flight landed in New Delhi late on June 20 with 290 Indians and the second one landed in the capital on June 21 afternoon with 310 Indians. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
