India’s China-US Dilemma: Why New Delhi Risks Getting Trapped in Bipolarity - Modern Diplomacy

• Cuba is experiencing a severe power crisis that is disrupting basic services following the imposition of sanctions. • National electricity generation in August met less than one third of the country's total demand.

• President Zelenskyy will attend the 2026 UN General Assembly to discuss the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. • President Putin is not expected to attend the event.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Xi Jinping, and Vladimir Putin will meet in New Delhi for the BRICS Summit 2026 to address economic and geopolitical challenges. • Prime Minister Modi specifically called for lasting peace in West Asia and emphasized the safety of seafarers.

• The UN General Assembly opened its 81st session on Tuesday, September 8, at the UN Headquarters in New York. • The incoming president pledged to restore public trust in the institution amid ongoing wars, humanitarian crises, and intensifying climate change.

• India has established itself as a dependable first responder by providing swift humanitarian aid during crises in Venezuela and Afghanistan. • The response effort combined military mobility, indigenous technology, and medical expertise to reach these geographically distant nations.

• World leaders will gather in New Delhi on September 12-13, 2026, for the 18th BRICS Summit to discuss cooperation and sustainability. • India will serve as the Chair of the summit, taking responsibility for facilitating discussions and coordinating negotiations among member nations.

Many are rooting for vocal critic Catherine Connolly to let rip in Dublin meeting, but others hope she holds backIreland’s president, Catherine Connolly, has called Donald Trump abhorrent and an abuser of power. In his sole previous comment on Connolly, the US president seemed to think she was a man. Now that they are about to meet, Ireland is holding its breath.Trump is to fly into Dublin on Saturday morning for a two-day visit centred on golf but, before making it to his beloved greens, protocol obliges him to meet a woman who has given every impression of loathing him. Continue reading...

Darren Conway admits 11 charges after the Met identified him as a member of an online sexual offending forumA man has admitted using an online sexual abuse network to commit a host of sexual crimes, along with another man, against the latter’s unconscious wife.Darren Conway, 52, pleaded guilty to 11 charges at Wood Green crown court. They included voyeurism, possession of extreme pornography and encouraging the other man to sexually abuse his wife on Conway’s behalf. Continue reading...

Substitution with jack mackerel, a different species, because of dwindling stocks is criticised by the consumer group Which?If you’ve recently opened a tin of mackerel and thought there was something fishy going on, you may have been right. An overfishing crisis means that instead of traditional mackerel, some now contain a different fish with a similar name, prompting concerns that shoppers are being short-changed.Over the past year big brands such as Princes, as well as some supermarket own-labels, have replaced traditional tinned mackerel fillets with jack mackerel fillets. Continue reading...

Greens accuse Labour of hiding position to avoid criticism before contest, in which Zack Polanski is standingA decision on approving the controversial Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea is to be delayed until later this autumn, with the Greens accusing Labour of hiding their position before the crucial Holborn and St Pancras byelection.Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, had been poised to give her recommendation to approve the Jackdaw field off the coast of Aberdeen next week. Continue reading...

Far-right German party’s newly elected representatives face fresh scrutiny as it tries to form government in Saxony-Anhalt• Why is the AfD’s state victory significant and what might happen next?The Alternative für Deutschland is facing scrutiny over the suitability of some of its prospective new MPs – including a former Stasi officer and a former pornography actor – just days after its historic win in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt.Presented by the AfD’s lead candidate, Ulrich Siegmund, for a photocall in the state capital of Magdeburg on Thursday, some of the members-elect were revealed to have a range of questionable backgrounds, including criminal records, Stasi pasts and connections to far-right networks. Continue reading...