Generative artificial intelligence has become a practical tool in terrorist and violent extremist activities, supporting attack planning, weapons acquisition, target selection and the preparation of ideological material, according to a new analysis
by Durga Velayudham In Changsha, the capital of Hunan province, the traces of Hui Ka Yan’s extraordinary rise and fall can be found in the unfinished buildings, abandoned construction sites and apartment
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An analysis of communism delivered by a naked pop star while receiving a massage may sound like an unlikely scene from a music documentary. Yet it captures something essential about Wham!’s extraordinary
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As Donald Trump continued his attacks on Iran earlier this month, a potentially transformative security agreement was quietly taking shape in Saudi Arabia. On 7 August, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey signed
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This week marks five years since the fall of Kabul to Taliban rule, an anniversary that closes one chapter of Afghanistan’s modern history while highlighting the unresolved consequences of the country’s isolation.
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At 4am, Yogi Adityanath rises from a hard wooden bed. Two hours of meditation and prayer follow, then a simple vegetarian breakfast. The routine is austere, but the day that follows belongs
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Iran has considered attacking US military targets in Europe if President Donald Trump escalates the war, according to people close to the Iranian regime, in a sign that Tehran is assessing options
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A striking contradiction is emerging at the heart of the Trump administration’s attempt to dismantle America’s federal greenhouse gas reporting system: major oil and gas companies are seeking weaker requirements for measuring
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At 22, Sarah Omari has exchanged her police uniform for the management of Austria’s largest brothel, a transition that raises questions about work, privilege, safety and the changing sex industry. On a
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The month he turned 50, my father, Mervyn de Silva, and my mother, Lakshmi, were in Havana watching Fidel Castro take over the chairmanship of the Non-Aligned Movement at its 6th Summit.
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The language of Russia’s war in Ukraine is changing, creating a vocabulary in which ordinary words and numbers have acquired stark new meanings. Terms such as “meat”, “arrival”, “zero” and “business trip”
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US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” an annual round of joint military exercises with South Korea, arguing that the drills are costly and send an inappropriate and
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China’s first national rules governing emotionally engaging AI seek to prevent chatbots from replacing human relationships, as millions of users increasingly turn to artificial companions for intimacy, reassurance and companionship. For Yuan
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Pakistan is experiencing one of its deadliest periods for terrorism in more than a decade, with violence in 2026 increasing in both frequency and lethality. July alone recorded more than 600 deaths,
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This article is adapted and abridged from a speech delivered by the author at the Sarmaya Art Foundation, Mumbai, on 8 August 2026. The text is based on the author’s two books
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The wars that have reshaped the Middle East since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, have entered a diplomatic phase marked by a striking common obstacle: the parties involved
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