Firstpost

A new US intelligence assessment has concluded that Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is more inclined to pursue nuclear weapons than his predecessor and father, Ali Khamenei, according to a report by The New York Times.

Uncontrolled wildfires sweeping across southwestern France and central Spain forced nearly 260,000 people to evacuate on Saturday, as authorities struggled to contain some of Europe’s most destructive blazes amid prolonged heatwaves and tinder-dry conditions. France accounted for the bulk of the evacuations, with around 197,000 people ordered to leave areas around Bordeaux, including several popular holiday destinations.

Saturday (July 25) has been a day of drama. First, Dharmendra Pradhan resigned as India’s education minister. Next, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), which has been spearheading protests at Jantar Mantar for the last 36 days, withdrew its agitation after the government gave in to their demands. Later in the evening, it was announced that senior BJP leader Pralhad Joshi has been given the additional charge of the education ministry.

The war in Ukraine entered another violent phase on Saturday as Russian and Ukrainian strikes killed at least 16 people, while Kyiv expanded its long-range drone campaign by targeting an oil refinery deep inside Siberia and other strategic sites within Russian territory. The latest attacks come as diplomatic efforts to end the more than four-year conflict remain stalled.

Veteran actor Shabana Azmi has tested positive for H1N1, commonly known as swine flu, forcing her to miss a student protest in Mumbai after recently lending support to the ongoing agitation at Delhi’s Jantar Mantar. Azmi, who had spent three days with protesting students at Jantar Mantar, was scheduled to participate in a demonstration at Shivaji Park on Friday. However, she announced that she would remain in isolation for five days after contracting H1N1.

Union Minister Prahlad Joshi was on Saturday assigned the additional charge of the Ministry of Education, hours after Dharmendra Pradhan resigned from the Union Cabinet amid sustained protests over the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak. A communiqué issued by Rashtrapati Bhavan said President Droupadi Murmu, acting on the advice of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, had accepted Pradhan’s resignation with immediate effect.

A remark made during a Supreme Court hearing unexpectedly gave one of India’s biggest youth protests its identity. When Chief Justice Surya Kant used the word “cockroaches” during a May 15 hearing, few could have predicted that the term would later be adopted by NEET protesters and transformed into the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), a movement that ultimately culminated in Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.

India on Saturday said it will continue negotiations with the United States to finalise a bilateral trade agreement, a day after the President Donald Trump administration imposed a 10% tariff on imports from India under its revised trade measures targeting multiple countries.

India-China relations plunged to their lowest point in decades after the deadly Galwan clash in June 2020, the most serious military confrontation since the 1962 war. The fallout was severe. Tensions simmered along the border, official exchanges froze, and New Delhi responded firmly, in line with the Modi government’s stance on protecting sovereignty. Economic ties took a hit too, with tighter rules curbing Chinese investment and a ban on numerous Chinese apps, TikTok among them.

India’s ancient Buddhist site of Sarnath in Uttar Pradesh was on Saturday inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The decision was taken during the ongoing meeting of the UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee’s 48th session in Busan, South Korea. This is India’s 45th site to join the list of UNESCO World Heritage. The UNESCO in a post of ‘X’ said: “BREAKING! New inscription on the @UNESCO #WorldHeritage List: Ancient Buddhist Site of Sarnath, #India”.