On September 30, Flydubai Flight FZ1073 was flying from Dubai to Tel Aviv with 174 people on board when the co-pilot attacked Captain Smit Machchhar inside the cockpit with a crash axe and attempted to take control of the aircraft, according to the UAE Prosecutor General.
The aircraft, which was cruising at around 34,000 feet over Saudi Arabia, subsequently plunged more than 16,000 feet in just over 30 seconds. Flight-tracking data reviewed by Reuters showed further erratic movements before the aircraft stabilised.
Machchhar, despite being injured, managed to open the cockpit door. Passengers and crew then intervened and subdued the attacker. A reserve Flydubai pilot travelling on the aircraft subsequently helped take control, and the aircraft diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia, where it landed safely. The immediate disaster was averted. Read More
The conflict around Yemen and the Red Sea is entering a potentially consequential phase. Saudi Arabia is reportedly preparing military options against the Houthis after the group expanded its position along Yemen's Red Sea coast and gained control of the Bab el-Mandeb area. According to Reuters, the options under consideration range from a focused coastal operation to a broader offensive involving several fronts inside Yemen.
But the military question is only one part of the emerging regional equation. For Pakistan, the developments are arriving at a particularly difficult moment: Islamabad has recently entered a new defence arrangement with Saudi Arabia and Türkiye, while simultaneously maintaining diplomatic engagement with Iran.
The result is a strategic dilemma that could test the meaning of Pakistan's new security commitments. Read more
For most Indians, the introduction to Mahatma Gandhi comes remarkably early. The round spectacles. The walking stick. The spinning wheel. The Salt March. Non-violence. The freedom struggle. Quit India.
For generations, Gandhi has occupied such a central place in our understanding of India's independence that, at times, the story of India's freedom can appear almost synonymous with the story of Gandhi.
There is good reason for his extraordinary place in our history. But history becomes more interesting when we look beyond the familiar portrait. Not to diminish Gandhi. Not to turn him into a villain. But to ask a simple question: Was the story of India's freedom larger than the story we have traditionally told about Gandhi? Perhaps the answer is yes. And perhaps understanding that larger story makes our understanding of Gandhi stronger, rather than weaker. Read More
Taiwan has received the first two F-16V Block 70 fighter jets from a much larger order placed with the United States in 2019.
According to Reuters, the two aircraft arrived at Chihhang Air Base in Taitung on October 2, 2026, after travelling via Hawaii and Guam. They are the first deliveries from an order for 66 F-16V aircraft valued at about $8 billion. The arrival is significant, but so is the timeline. The original programme envisaged deliveries beginning earlier. According to Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA), the programme encountered several delays, including the relocation and restart of the production line and supply-chain disruptions.
Reuters has separately reported that software problems contributed to delays in the programme. That makes the first two aircraft more than a routine delivery. They are the beginning of a long-awaited modernisation programme and a reminder that purchasing advanced military equipment does not necessarily mean receiving it quickly. Read More
Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, formally left in 2020 and entered a new relationship with the bloc through the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The agreement provides preferential arrangements in areas including goods, services, energy, transport and security cooperation, but it does not recreate the level of integration Britain had as an EU member.
For years, British governments largely treated the question of EU membership as closed. The political argument shifted towards how to make Brexit work. Now the question is returning.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said Britain should examine the full range of options for its long-term relationship with Europe, from maintaining the current arrangement to closer integration, including the possibility of eventually rejoining the EU. Read More
The American story in Iraq began with the 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. US forces eventually withdrew in 2011, only to return three years later when ISIS captured large parts of Iraq and Syria.
Now, after more than two decades of military involvement, Washington is preparing to leave its remaining Iraqi bases by September 30. Reuters reports that the withdrawal, agreed in 2024, is being completed under the Trump administration.
The departure marks more than the end of a military deployment. It closes one of the longest chapters of American involvement in the Middle East.
For many Iraqis, the withdrawal represents greater national sovereignty. But the transition also puts greater responsibility on Iraqi security forces, particularly as ISIS sleeper cells remain a concern. Read More
The meeting between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping was always unlikely to produce a historic settlement. The United States and China have too many overlapping disputes like trade, technology, Taiwan, supply chains, strategic influence and security, for a single summit to resolve them.
What the two leaders could do was prevent those disputes from overwhelming the relationship. And that appears to have been the immediate purpose of the Washington meeting: keep communication open, secure some practical agreements and create enough stability for negotiations to continue.
Reuters' post-summit assessment described the outcome as limited, with major differences remaining between Washington and Beijing. That does not necessarily make the summit insignificant. In a relationship this important, managing rivalry can itself be a diplomatic objective. Read More
Erdogan again raises Kashmir, Pakistan credits Trump over the 2025 conflict, and India responds as Turkey–Pakistan–Saudi ties add a wider regional dimension.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan again referred to Kashmir during his address to the 81st UN General Assembly. He said disputes including Kashmir should be addressed through dialogue within the framework of the UN Charter and relevant resolutions.
For New Delhi, the issue is familiar. India has consistently rejected third-party involvement in matters concerning Jammu and Kashmir and maintains that such issues should not be internationalised. Erdogan's latest remarks therefore represent continuity in Turkey's diplomatic position rather than a new Turkish initiative. Read More
China's President Xi Jinping is expected to raise U.S. arms sales to Taiwan when he meets Donald Trump in Washington this week, according to Reuters, which cited three sources familiar with the discussions.
The report says Xi could ask Trump to halt both new and already-ordered arms deliveries to Taiwan, referring to the 1982 U.S.–China agreement. Neither Beijing nor Washington has publicly confirmed that this will be a formal demand at the summit.
That distinction matters. The story at this stage is about what Xi may seek, not something China has already secured or formally announced. The August 17, 1982 communiqué addressed one of the most difficult issues in U.S.–China relations: American arms sales to Taiwan. The United States said it intended to gradually reduce its arms sales to Taiwan, while China committed itself to pursuing a peaceful resolution of the Taiwan question. Read More
The global oil market is entering an unusual and potentially dangerous phase. Russia's energy infrastructure is being targeted deep inside its territory; Saudi Arabia is facing an expanding Houthi campaign; the Strait of Hormuz remains severely disrupted; the Red Sea and Bab el-Mandeb are under pressure; Washington has strengthened its ability to penalise major buyers of Russian energy; and Venezuela is being drawn into a new US-led energy strategy. None of these developments should be treated as a single coordinated event. They arise from different conflicts and policies. But their consequences increasingly overlap. And that overlap matters. Oil is not simply a commodity in this environment.
It is revenue for governments, fuel for wars, leverage over adversaries, a strategic vulnerability for importers and, increasingly, part of a wider debate over the financial system through which international trade is conducted. The result is a question larger than Russia, Ukraine, the United States, India or the Middle East individually: What happens when the physical energy system and the geopolitical system begin fragmenting at the same time? Read More
The Greenland question has travelled an extraordinary distance. What began with Donald Trump’s proposal to buy Greenland in 2019 evolved during his second term into demands for American control, threats that the United States would obtain the island “one way or another,” and even refusal to rule out military force. Now, Washington, Copenhagen and Nuuk have reached a security agreement that could give the United States many of the strategic advantages it has been seeking without formally acquiring the territory.
That distinction matters. Trump has described the agreement as giving the United States “permanent control” of Greenland’s security. Denmark, however, says the arrangement recognises the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Denmark and Greenlanders’ right to self-determination. The detailed agreement is not yet fully public and is expected to go through parliamentary procedures after signature. Read More
Canada has taken a significant step towards strengthening its military relationship with Europe. On September 16, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that Canada had formally applied to join the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a UK-led defence partnership involving 10 Northern European NATO members.
For Canada, the move comes at a time when its relationship with the United States is under considerable economic and political pressure. For Europe, Canadian participation could bring a major North American military partner into a framework focused particularly on the North Atlantic, Arctic and Baltic regions.
But what exactly is the JEF and why does Canada want to join it? Read More
On September 17, 2026, Narendra Modi turns 76. He has now been Prime Minister for more than twelve years, across three consecutive Lok Sabha terms. On June 10 this year, he crossed 4,399 consecutive days as an elected Prime Minister, surpassing Jawaharlal Nehru’s previous record of 4,398 days. That is an unusual point of political continuity in India and, by itself, makes the Modi period long enough to be assessed not simply as a series of governments, but as an era with a discernible record.
The question for this assessment, therefore, is not whether one likes or dislikes Narendra Modi. It is simpler and harder:
What changed? What did not change? And what does the evidence suggest about what comes next? Read More
Ten years ago, UPI was an experiment in making digital payments simple, interoperable and accessible. Today, it is one of the most deeply embedded pieces of India’s economic infrastructure.
In August 2026 alone, UPI processed 24.51 billion transactions worth ₹29.82 lakh crore. That translates into an average of roughly 791 million transactions every day. The numbers are important not merely because they are large. They show how thoroughly digital payments have entered everyday economic life. A payment to a neighbourhood shop, a transfer between family members, a restaurant bill or a large merchant purchase can all move through the same underlying system. But infrastructure of this scale does not operate without cost.
Behind the QR code are banks, payment service providers, application providers, servers, cybersecurity systems, fraud monitoring, settlement infrastructure, network resilience and continuous technological upgrades. For years, the policy priority was adoption. Keeping UPI free helped create that adoption. The question India is now confronting is different: Can an infrastructure that has become essential to the economy continue to operate indefinitely without a sustainable economic model behind it? That is the question behind the new UPI framework. Read More
