Maldivian government  has suspended three of its ministers – Mariyam Shiuna, Malsha and Abdulla Mahzoom Majid – for making derogatory remarks about Prime Minister, Narendra Modi.

In a potential boost for India-United Kingdom bilateral relations, Rajnath Singh will on Jan 8  become the first Indian defence minister to visit the UK in 22 years. He is leading a high level delegation to the United Kingdom with plans to discuss defence, security and industrial cooperation issues. George Fernandes was the last one to visit London in January 2002.

During his visit, the defence minister will hold a bilateral meeting with his UK counterpart Secretary of State for Defence Grant Shapps.

Singh is also expected to call on UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and hold a meeting with Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Affairs Mr David Cameron.

India and the UK are taking steps to boost their ties. The two have also been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since 2022.

It was in May 2021 that the then British Prime Minister (PM) Boris Johnson and PM adopted an ambitious 'Roadmap 2030' to elevate bilateral ties to a 'Comprehensive Strategic Partnership'.

The Roadmap, besides boosting defence and security ties, will also pave the way for a deeper and stronger engagement in people-to-people contacts, trade and economy, climate action and health.

In an important move, the inaugural India-UK 2+2 Foreign and Defence Dialogue was held in New Delhi in October 2023.

The Indian delegation was co-chaired by Piyush Srivastava, Joint Secretary Europe West, Ministry of External Affairs, and Vishwesh Negi, Joint Secretary, International Cooperation, Ministry of Defence.

The UK delegation was co-chaired by Ben Mellor, India Director, Indian Ocean Directorate, FCDO, and Lt. General Rob Magowan, Deputy Chief of Defence Staff, Finance and Military Capability, Ministry of Defence.

The Lt Governor administration in power-starved Jammu and Kashmir has come under fire from the political parties for leasing electricity from an under-construction 850 MWs Ratle power project in Kishtwar to Rajasthan for 40 years. The Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) has been signed at a time when Valley is facing power crisis in the months of winter.

The Ratle Hydro Electric Power Corporation Ltd is a joint venture company of state-owned NHPC Ltd and Jammu and Kashmir government’s State Power Development Corporation (JKSPDC). The agreement has been signed at a time when Kashmir is facing worst power crisis in the winter. In the Valley, the metered areas are facing upto 4.5 to 6 hours power cuts while non metered areas are facing 8 to 10 hours power cuts daily.

In a shot in the arm for PDP, seasoned politician and former J&K Chief Deputy Chief Muzaffar Hussain Baig, who is close to power circles in New Delhi and who blamed the Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti’s provocative statements for Article 370 abrogation and downgrading of erstwhile J&K state into Union Territory earlier, on jan 8 along with his wife re-joined PDP, the party he quit in 2020.

The Congress has finally taken action against its controversial former MLA Mewaram Jain who has been seen in a few objectionable sex videos that have gone viral. A woman in Barmer had  accused him of raping her and molesting her minor daughter.

Jain was a three-time MLA and municipal chairman. Earlier, a married woman had filed a rape case against him in Rajiv Nagar police station of Jodhpur.  Two obscene videos were also mentioned by her.

This issue was raised even during the assembly elections.

An apparent Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian journalists in southern Gaza on Jan 7 , including the son of veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh, who lost his wife, two other children and a grandson — and was nearly killed himself — earlier in the war.

Dahdouh has continued to report on the fighting between Israel and Hamas even as it has taken a devastating toll on his own family, becoming a symbol for many of the perils faced by Palestinian journalists, dozens of whom have been killed while covering the conflict.

Hamza Dahdouh, who was also working for Al Jazeera, and Mustafa Tharaya, a freelance journalist, were killed when a strike hit their car while they were driving from Khan Younis to the southern town of Rafah, according to the media office of the Hamas-run government.

Wael Dahdouh, 53, has been the face of Al Jazeera's 24-hour coverage of this war and previous rounds of fighting for millions of Arabic-speaking viewers across the region, nearly always appearing on air in the blue helmet and flak jacket worn to identify journalists in the Palestinian territories.

Speaking to Al Jazeera after his son's burial, Dahdouh vowed to continue reporting on the war.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met on Jan 7 with Jordan’s king and foreign minister and visited a World Food Program warehouse in Amman as he pressed ahead with an urgent Middle East diplomatic mission to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza from spreading.

On his fourth visit to the region in three months, Blinken stressed the need for Israel to adjust its military operations to reduce civilian casualties and significantly boost the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza while highlighting the importance of preparing detailed plans for the post-conflict future of the territory, which has been decimated by intensive Israeli airstrikes and ground offensives.

After a day of talks with Turkish and Greek leaders in Istanbul and Crete, Blinken met Sunday with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi seeking buy-in for U.S. efforts to tamp down resurgent fears that the three-month-old war could engulf the region, ramp up aid deliveries to Gaza and prepare for the eventual end of hostilities.

Jordan and other Arab states have been highly critical of Israel's actions and have eschewed public support for long-term planning, arguing that the fighting must end before such discussions can begin. They have been demanding an immediate cease-fire since mid-October as civilian casualties began to skyrocket. Israel has refused and the U.S. has instead called for specified temporary “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid to get in and people to get to safety.

Blinken also toured the World Food Program’s Regional Coordination warehouse in the Jordanian capital where trucks are being packed with aid to be delivered to Gaza through both Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.

The U.S. has been pressing Israel for weeks to let greater amounts of food, water, fuel, medicine and other supplies into Gaza, and the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution on Dec. 22 calling for an immediate increase in deliveries. Three weeks ago, Israel opened Kerem Shalom, adding a second entry point for aid into Gaza after Rafah.

From Jordan, Blinken will travel to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia. He will then visit Israel and the West Bank and before wrapping up the trip in Egypt.

German-born Hollywood actor Christian Oliver was killed along with his two young daughters as their small plane plummeted into the Caribbean Sea moments after takeoff.

Oliver, who appeared on the big screen with George Clooney in "The Good German" and in 2008 action-comedy "Speed Racer," died aboard a privately owned, one-engine aircraft.