Ahead of Rajya Sabha elections, President Droupadi Murmu has effected a major administrative reshuffle of Governors and Lieutenant Governors across the country on Thursday. Taranjit Singh is appointed as new Lieutenant Governor of Delhi and R N Ravi is appointed as new Governor of West Bengal.

The US-Iran conflict is intensifying as Israeli strikes continue in Iran and Lebanon and Iran launches retaliatory attacks across the region. The US Senate rejected a war powers resolution that sought to limit further military action, while rising casualties, displacement and oil price spikes deepen.

The 56-year-old cleric, who has long been seen as a potential successor, is said to have been chosen under pressure from the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), as per reports.

The United States has issued an urgent advisory asking American citizens to "depart now" from over a dozen Middle Eastern countries due to "serious safety risks," as tensions escalated following coordinated US and Israeli airstrikes on Iran and Tehran's retaliatory strikes against the US allies in the Gulf.