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All Ukrainian troops have been forced out of Russia’s Kursk region and Kyiv’s “adventure” in the region had ended, Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed on Saturday. This came after White House confirmed that US President Donald Trump had a “private” meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Vatican where the two leaders went to attend the last rites of Pope Francis.
Additionally, Russian army said that the region has been “fully liberated” from Ukrainian control. It also noted the contribution of North Korean soldiers in the liberation.
“I would like to especially mark the role of the servicemen of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the liberation of the border areas of the Kursk region,” Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov told Russian President Vladimir Putin, adding that the North Koreans “provided significant assistance in defeating the group of Ukrainian armed forces”.
Trump had said on Friday that Russia and Ukraine were “very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to ‘finish it off.'”
“Just landed in Rome. A good day in talks and meetings with Russia and Ukraine. They are very close to a deal, and the two sides should now meet, at very high levels, to “finish it off.” Most of the major points are agreed to. Stop the bloodshed, NOW. We will be wherever is necessary to help facilitate the END to this cruel and senseless war!” he said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s attacks across Ukraine continue with 3 dead and several injured overnight, local officials reported. In the eastern Donetsk region, two people were killed in a strike on the town of Yarova, according to regional governor Vadym Filashkin.
In the Dnipropetrovsk region, another fatality was reported by governor Serhiy Lysak, who also confirmed that six people, including an 88-year-old woman and an 11-year-old girl, were wounded in the attacks.

Shubman Gill is one of the best emerging players.© BCCI/IPL

Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri today issued a sharp response to Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) chief Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s recent remarks on India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) following the Pahalgam terror attack on Tuesday.

Mr Puri’s comments come in the wake of Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s inflammatory speech at a public rally in Sukkur, Sindh province. Addressing supporters, the PPP chairman had said, “The Indus is ours and will remain ours – either our water will flow through it, or their blood.” 

Responding to Mr Bhutto-Zardari’s statement, Mr Puri remarked, “I heard his statement. Tell him to jump somewhere in water. Well, how will he when there will be no water? Do not dignify such statements. They will get to understand that.”

“The Pahalgam incident is unequivocally a cross-border terrorist attack unleashed by a neighbouring state, and they are taking responsibility. Unlike before, no business will continue. Like Prime Minister Modi said, Pakistan will have to pay a heavy price, and this is just the beginning. The terrorists take away the most fundamental right to life. This is being condemned by the entire world. Pakistan is not just a rogue state, it is a country in terminal decline,” he added. 

#WATCH | Mohali | On #Pahalgamterrorattack, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri says, “The Pahalgam incident is unequivocally a cross-border terrorist attack unleashed by a neighbouring state and they are taking its responsibility… Unlike before, no business will continue. Like… pic.twitter.com/IP6eGPIGIW

— ANI (@ANI) April 26, 2025

Mr Puri also commented on the throat-slitting gesture made by Colonel Taimur Rahat, the Pakistan Army and Air Advisor at the Pakistan High Commission in London.

“This is state-sponsored terrorism. We have reached a point where they will have to pay a price. If they (Pakistan) think that they can survive the suspension of the Indus Water Treaty, I wish them best of luck,” he said. 

India has downgraded diplomatic ties with Islamabad after the April 22 terror attack in Pahalgam that killed 26 people, predominantly tourists. According to intelligence sources, terrorists involved in the attack are linked to the Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba. 

In retaliation to India’s suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty, Pakistan suspended the Simla Agreement and placed other bilateral accords on hold. Islamabad further announced the suspension of all trade activities, closure of its airspace for Indian airlines, and warned that any attempt by India to divert waters destined for Pakistan under the IWT would be considered an “act of war”.

The Simla Agreement, signed in 1972 between former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and then Pakistani President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (Bilawal’s grandfather), was a huge leap in diplomatic ties between the two countries following the 1971 war. 

Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif addressed the Pahalgam terror attack at a graduation ceremony at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Mr Sharif expressed Pakistan’s willingness to participate in a neutral investigation, saying, “The recent tragedy in Pahalgam is yet another example of this perpetual blame game, which must come to a grinding halt. Continuing with its role as a responsible country, Pakistan is open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation.”

BJP mocks Pak army after TRF terror outfit denies role in Pahalgam

In a major development, terrorist organisation The Resistance Front (TRF) has unequivocally denied any involvement in the Pahalgam attack that claimed the lives of 26 innocent people on April 22. The outfit, linked to Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has now refuted its earlier admission of responsibility for the deadly assault and said, “any attribution of this act to TRF is false, hasty, and part of an orchestrated campaign to malign the Kashmiri resistance.”
Meanwhile, the BJP took a potshot at Pakistan’s army and said the terror outfit is in fear after India’s stringent measures.
“The Resistance Front (TRF) unequivocally denies any involvement in the Pahalgam incident. Any attribution of this act to TRF is false, hasty, and part of an orchestrated campaign to malign the Kashmiri resistance,” the terrorist organisation stated, adding that after the Pahalgam attack “a brief and unauthorised message” that was posted from their digital platforms was result of “cyberattack”.
“After an internal audit, we have reason to believe it was the result of a coordinated cyber intrusion – a familiar tactic in the Indian state’s digital warfare arsenal,” it claimed.
TRF further added that it is conducting a full investigation into the breach that he alleged was conducted by India.
“We are conducting a full investigation to trace the breach, and early indicators suggest fingerprints of Indian cyber-intelligence operatives. This is not the first time India has manufactured chaos for political gain,” it alleged.
BJP mocks Pak army
Meanwhile, sharing a screenshot, BJP’s IT cell department in-charge, Amit Malviya, mocked Pakistani army and said, “Nothing shows the Pakistan Army establishment’s panic (dar ka mahaul hai) more clearly than this. This humiliating retreat by their military proxy says it all. But the damage is done — far too late.”
Pakistan offers to join ‘neutral, transparent’ probe
Amid rising tensions between the two countries, Pakistan on Saturday offered “neutral and transparent” probe into the Pahalgam terrorist attack.
“The recent tragedy in Pahalgam is yet another example of this perpetual blame game, which must come to a grinding halt. Continuing with its role as a responsible country, Pakistan is open to participating in any neutral, transparent and credible investigation,” Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif said.
Talking about India’s measure to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty, Sharif said that any attempt to stop, reduce or divert the flow of water belonging to Pakistan would be responded to with full force and might.
“Water is our lifeline and a vital national interest, and its availability will be safeguarded at all costs and under all circumstances,” he said.
Forces intensify anti-terror operations
As a part of intensified efforts to curb terrorism, Anantnag Police, Army, CRPF and other security forces have launched extensive search and cordon operations across the district.
Numerous raids were conducted at various places in the district and search operations are under way with heightened vigilance. Around 175 suspects have been detained for questioning to dismantle the support networks aiding terrorist activities.

Chennai Super Kings’ chances of qualifying for the IPL 2025 are all but over. With their latest defeat to SunRisers Hyderabad on Friday, CSK have now lost seven of the nine games played. The five-time champions are lying at the bottom of the points table. Whatever could go wrong for CSK, has gone wrong for the MS Dhoni-led side. Dhoni was not supposed to lead the side this year but after designated captain Ruturaj Gaikwad was ruled, the legendary ex-India captain took over. However, the fortunes have not changed for CSK. 

Dhoni’s long-time teammate in the Indian cricket team and CSK, Suresh Raina, feels the side got it wrong in the IPL 2025 mega auction. 

“Kasi Viswanathan has been handling the administration for a long time. Rupa ma’a, is handling buying the player, administration etc. MS knows, whoever is sitting, this time players have not been bought properly,” Raina said on Star Sports. 

“Who is accountable for player selection in auction – is it the management or is it fully MS Dhoni?” the anchor asked. 

“They always make a call to MS. But to be very honest, I have never attended any of the auctions. I was never a part of those discussions. I always talked about the players who were retained. MS might get a call about whether to go ahead with a player or not – but he’s not that involved,” Raina replied.

“The core group handles the auction – you can imagine, Dhoni can’t have this type of auction. He would maybe name four or five players he wants, and out of them, a few would be retained. Even if an uncapped player is working hard, look at MS Dhoni-—being a 43-year-old captain, still giving everything. He is giving that effort, what are the other 10 players doing. What are the guys doing who are earning Rs 18 crore, Rs 17 crore, Rs 12 crore. They are not responding to the captain.”

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, a player who has successfully stood the test of time reached his 400th T20 game landmark during Chennai Super Kings’ clash against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Friday.

His stellar T20 career, which has seen him captain India to the 2007 T20 World Cup victory and had a massive role in leading CSK to five Indian Premier League titles, has seen him score 7566 runs at a strike rate of 135.90.

Although at 44 years of age, Dhoni’s batting may not be at the peak of his prowess with the bat but he is still lightning quick behind the stumps and holds the record of most stumpings in the format with 34 to his name.

With IANS inputs 

Rajasthan’s Shaitan Singh got engaged to Kesar Kanwar from Pakistan’s Sindh province four years ago. As the groom’s family struggled for years to get visas, the cross-border wedding was hit by another hurdle when the government closed the Attari border on Thursday.

With his wedding attire ready and all set to tie the knot in Pakistan’s Amarkot city on April 30, Singh along with his family and ‘baraat’ set out from Barmer district for the Attari border on Tuesday.

But by the time they reached there, authorities refused to let them cross the border as India on Wednesday ordered immediate shutdown of the Attari-Wagah border as part of a series of retaliatory steps following the tragic Pahalgam terror attack.

“We’ve waited a long time for this day,” said Singh, adding that after years of efforts it was only recently, February 18, that he, his father and brother were granted visas.

The groom’s cousin Surendra Singh said the situation has left both families disheartened.

“Our relatives from Pakistan had come here but they had to return. We are very disappointed. Terror attacks cause a lot of damage. Relations get spoiled. Movement on the border stops,” he said.

As the cross-border wedding remains disrupted. The visa of Singh, a resident of Indroi village in Barmer district, is valid until May 12, giving the families a glimmer of hope that the wedding might still happen if the border reopens in time.

“Whatever the terrorists did was wrong. The wedding has been interrupted. What to do? It is a matter of borders,” the groom said.

The cross-border marriage was arranged through family ties, a common practice among the Sodha Rajput community, which has a significant population in Sindh province of Pakistan.

Many of them prefer marrying within the community, and often seek matches across the border to preserve their cultural traditions.

Singh, who works in the finance sector, is one of many in the region with relatives in Pakistan. For now, his family waits in hope that the situation improves and the border reopens in time for the marriage to go ahead.

India on Wednesday downgraded diplomatic relations with Pakistan following the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam in which 26 people, mostly tourists, were gunned down.

A Cabinet Committee on Security meeting, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, took a series of retaliatory steps, including suspension of the Indus Water Treaty of 1960, revocation of visa services of Pakistani nationals and immediate shutting down of the Attari land-transit post.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chennai Super Kings (CSK) captain MS Dhoni didn’t hesitate in throwing the franchise’s batters under the bus as he blamed his side’s poor show with the bat behind the defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Friday. CSK made a couple of changes in the team, with Dewald Brevis and Deepak Hooda coming into the side in the must-win game while Rachin Ravindra was dropped. Despite the changes, CSK failed to get themselves off to a solid start, with the team losing Shaik Rasheed on the very first delivery of the match.

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After the game, Dhoni didn’t shy away from criticising the batters for failing to get the team off to a flying start yet against this season.

“We kept losing wickets, and in the first innings the wicket was slightly better and 155 is not a justifiable score, because it wasn’t turning a lot. Yes, after the 8-10th over, it became slightly two-paced when it comes to the fast bowlers, but nothing that was out of the ordinary, I feel we could have put few more runs on the board. Yes, second innings there was a bit of help, our spinners the quality was there and they bowled in the right areas and it was stopping a bit but we were short by 15-20 runs,” he said.

CSK’s innings got some stability in the middle order as debutant Dewald Brevis scored a quick-fire 42 off 25 balls. But barring him, none of the batters played with the momentum the team needed.

“I think he (Brevis) batted really well and we need something like that in the middle order where we have slightly struggled when the spinners come in, that’s a time we need to either you do it by batsmanship, where you pick up your areas or try to play the big shot in your area, I feel that’s where we have been lacking and not been really able to dominate or get runs against spinners at good pace in the middle,” Dhoni said on the South African prodigy.

While CSK’s spinners produced a fine fightback to keep the team in the game for a long duration, Dhoni feels the batters just aren’t putting enough runs on the board this campaign.

“In a tournament like this, if you have one or two areas where you can plug in the holes it is good, but if majority of your players are not doing well, it becomes very difficult, because you have to do a few changes, but if majority are doing well then you guy those guys that extra few games and if it doesn’t work out than you move onto the next one, but if 4 of them are not performing at the same time, you are bound to make that change, because you can’t just keep on going because we are not putting enough runs on the board, because it is essential right now, the game has changed. I am not saying it is always 180-200, but assess the conditions and then look to put the runs on the board,” the Thala concluded.