LEAD

The United States and Britain launched strikes against sites linked to the Houthi movement in Yemen, the first on the country since the Iran-backed group started targeting international shipping in the Red Sea late last year.

As witnesses in Yemen confirmed explosions throughout the country to Reuters, President Joe Biden cautioned in a statement late on Thursday he would not hesitate to carry out further action if needed.

Maharashtra News: In yet another setback for the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction in Maharashtra, on Wednesday, the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly speaker Rahul Narwekar pronounced the Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena as the ‘real political party’, concluding the months long wait that simmered tension within the Maharashtra political atmosphere.

Hours after Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar ruled that the Eknath Shinde faction was the 'real' Shiv Sena, the Lok Sabha MP from the rival UBT faction, Priyanka Chaturvedi, remarked “Wahi hota hai jo manzoor-e-khuda' hota hai"

Maldives president Mohamed Muizzu on Tuesday requested China to "intensify" efforts to send more tourists to his country amid a diplomatic row over derogatory remarks by his ministers against India and Prime Minister Modi. Muizzu's comment comes as he is on a five-day state visit to China.

In his address to the Maldives Business Forum in Fujian province, Mohamed Muizzu termed China as the island nation's "closest" ally.

"China remains one of our closest allies and development partners," he said, praising Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects launched by Chinese president Xi Jinping in 2014. The project “delivered the most significant infrastructure projects witnessed in Maldivian history”, he said. The Maldivian president urged China to bolster the flow of its tourists to the Maldives.

An image of India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, lounging in a chair on a secluded white-sand beach, provoked heated words from officials in the Maldives, a tiny archipelago nation in the Indian Ocean.

Indians on social media reacted with a ferocious wave of indignation, causing ripples all the way to Beijing.

Modi had been posing for a series of pictures to highlight the beachy natural beauty of the islands called Lakshadweep, an Indian territory 150 miles from the mainland and just 100 miles north of the Maldives.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Gujarat from 8-10 January to inaugurate the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit 2024 and attend various other important functions.

On 9 January, the PM will arrive at Mahatma Mandir in Gandhinagar, where he will hold bilateral meetings with world leaders, followed by a meeting with CEOs of top global corporations. In the afternoon, he will inaugurate the Vibrant Gujarat Global Trade Show.

The next day, he will inaugurate the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit in the morning. Thereafter, he will hold a meeting with CEOs of top global corporations. He will then travel to GIFT City where he will interact with prominent business leaders in the Global FinTech Leadership Forum.