US President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that the Iran war was going to “end soon”, without providing any specific timeline. He also warned Tehran that if they tried “anything cute”, the US would end the nation. He called the Iran war a “short term excursion.”“It’s going to be ended soon, and if it starts up again they’ll be hit even harder,” Trump told a news conference in Florida. “We took a little excursion because we felt we had to do that to get rid of some people. And I think you’ll see it’s going to be a short-term excursion,” he said.

Earlier, during a CBS interview, he said that the war was “very complete” and warned Iran against doing “anything cute”.“They’ve shot everything they have to shoot, and they better not try anything cute or it’s going to be the end of that country,” the US president said during a CBS interview. “If they do anything bad, that would be the end of Iran and you’d never hear the name again,” he added.“I think the war is very complete, pretty much. They have no navy, no communications, they’ve got no air force,” he had said.Though he declared that US and allies had won, he added that it was not enough and would go “forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory”.“We’ve already won in many ways, but we haven’t won enough. We go forward more determined than ever to achieve ultimate victory that will end this long-running danger once and for all…The United States of America is the greatest and most exceptional nation in human history and will not be threatened by evil terrorists and lunatics any longer,” he said.He further said that if US and Israel did not attack Iran, Tehran would have initiated the attack.“If we didn’t go in, they would have come in after us…Within a week, they were going to attack us 100 per cent. They were ready. They had all these missiles far more than anyone thought and they were going to attack us. They were going to attack all of the Middle East and Israel. If they had a nuclear weapon, they would have used it on Israel. This was going to be a major attack. They had all of those missile sites and all those launchers that we got rid of about 80 per cent of them right now...They have very few launchers left. What our military has done is amazing,” he said.The US leader has offered similar assessments in recent days about the damage caused by the US-Israeli strikes that began on February 28, though he had not previously gone so far as to suggest the war might be nearing an end.As recently as last Friday, Trump said Iran’s “unconditional surrender” was the only acceptable outcome for ending the conflict.His latest remarks also came about an hour after the Pentagon wrote on social media that the United States had “only just begun to fight.”

Gautam Gambhir and Arshdeep Singh (Image credit: Instagram)

NEW DELHI: The celebrations, laughter, tears, dance, bhangra, hugs and high-fives were everywhere among the Indian players after Team India crushed New Zealand in the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad to lift the T20 World Cup 2026 title. This was India’s third T20 World Cup triumph, having previously won it in 2007 under the leadership of Mahendra Singh Dhoni and in 2024 under Rohit Sharma’s captaincy.After India won the final, Arshdeep Singh, who did not take a wicket in the title clash, was seen making reels with his teammates, including head coach Gautam Gambhir. He was playfully trolling teammates and members of the support staff.

Arshdeep posted a video reel with Gambhir. Turning the phone camera towards the head coach, he teased him by saying, “Paaji, kade has vi leya karo yaar (brother, you should smile sometimes).”

Arshdeep’s playful remark left Gambhir, who is usually seen in a serious mood, laughing.In another reel with Sanju Samson, Arshdeep said: “Justice mil gaya (finally got justice).”India scripted history by becoming the first team to win the T20 World Cup at home and the first team to claim three T20 World Cup trophies.With this triumph, captain Suryakumar Yadav surpassed former skipper Rohit Sharma to register the best winning percentage by an Indian captain in T20Is.Under Suryakumar’s leadership, India have played 52 matches, winning 42, losing eight, while two ended in no result, giving him a win percentage of 80.77.Following India’s record-breaking third T20 World Cup win, captain Surya reflected on the importance of mental resilience, team understanding and off-field preparation in building a championship-winning culture. He also emphasised that the most important thing is to remain true to oneself.Speaking about the lessons from his own career, Surya stressed that failure is an inevitable part of sport.“It’s really important to understand that you’ll definitely fail more times than you succeed in sports. I mean, he must have seen it in his career. I have seen it last year, 2025. Whole year, I couldn’t get a 50. It took me 400 plus days to get a 50 for India. But that’s what I told the boys, the same thing. Ups and downs will definitely keep on coming in sport,” he said while addressing the media in the press conference.For Surya, success comes not just from technical skill but also from character, discipline and fostering trust within the team.“You have to understand, you have to respect the game. You have to try and spend time with all good people around you. That’s more important. Be true to yourself. You can’t cheat the man in the mirror when you get up in the morning or you’re going to sleep,” he added.He also highlighted the importance of understanding teammates’ temperaments, strengths and weaknesses, and building confidence through personal connection and freedom of expression.“So, those small, small things which you do off the field, I think when we come on the field, that actually gives you a lot of confidence, that gives them a lot of composure. Also, I feel you need to understand each character on the team. Everyone is different. They bring a different skill to the table. So, you need to speak to them, their temperaments, understand them. That is actually very important and that’s what we did throughout the last one and a half years, two years,” the skipper stated.

Noted Leftist historian K N Panikkar, who critiqued colonial historiography’s simplistic view of culture and highlighted how indigenous intellectuals offered an alternative paradigm of modernity, passed away at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday. He would have turned 90 next month.Panikkar, affectionately called KN by his colleagues, belonged to a select group of historians such as Bipan Chandra, Sabyasachi Bhattacharya and S Gopal who created a strong department of modern Indian history at JNU’s Centre for Historical Studies.His course on the history of ideas in India in the 19th century was pioneering. “Panikkar taught it at a time when history writing was dominated by economic and political concerns. He endeavoured, through his research, to claim a position of centrality for culture as an important ingredient both in human action and large political movements,” says modern India historian Salil Misra.Historian Rakesh Batabyal adds that Panikkar brought to attention how the ideas of Akshay Kumar Dutt, Lokahitawadi and other 19th century intellectuals needed no western validation: they were modern in their own right, and gave us a sense of the new world opening before us. “When he discussed the tradition of knowledge in Ayurveda, we began to understand the complexities of the Indian knowledge processes under colonialism,” he says.Modern India historian Aditya Mukherjee was both student and colleague of Panikkar. “He acquired the reputation of a great teacher when he taught in a college in Delhi University, and was invited to join JNU in 1972. He was a brilliant teacher who taught us social and religious reforms in the 19th century, making the subject come alive even to students like me who had no background in history, having graduated in economics,” says Mukherjee.Born in Guruvayoor, Panikkar left Kerala after completing his undergraduate studies and went on to earn his Master’s degree and doctorate from Rajasthan University, where he later married his college mate, (late) Usha Bhargava. He was also the founding vice-chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady.The historian’s books include, “Against Lord and State: Religion and Peasant Uprising in Malabar”. “His role in presenting Malabar rebellion in its true historical context and highlighting its aspects as a freedom struggle, agrarian revolt and anti-imperialist movement is of historical significance”, noted Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in his condolence message. “He was a proud Marxist yet he engaged with questions perceived as outside the mainstream of Marxist ideology, as seen in his important essay ‘Culture and Consciousness in Modern India,” says R Mahalakshmi, eminent historian of South India. Historian M G Sashibhooshan endorses the view. “I remember Panikkar accepting my request to present a paper on Pattanam at the History Congress, despite knowing that my opinion on Pattanam (Muziris) was different from that of Marxist historians”.Misra recalls Panikkar encouraging his students to disagree with him. “It was believed that he was more likely to reward dissenting ideas with higher grades, than those that simply conformed to his ideas. His classrooms became contestatory spaces in which he was not the only voice. Many other students offered their own ideas and he warmly endorsed all of them”.

NEW DELHI: From states as afar as Bihar and Uttarakhand, home minister Amit Shah is leading BJP’s push to put the issue of infiltrators on the front burner with an eye on not only the upcoming assembly elections, especially in West Bengal and Assam where it has a certain resonance, but also on shaping the national agenda by coopting a core party plank into its central theme.Shah, who has long championed national security and demography concerns over the alleged influx of infiltrators from Bangladesh, recently stepped up his efforts by camping for three days in Bihar’s Seemanchal region, which borders the eastern neighbour, and then sending out a stern message from Uttarakhand last week.He chose the launch of several development initiatives in Haridwar to underscore the Modi govt’s determination over the issue. “From Kedarnath to Kanyakumari wherever infiltrators are present across the country, we will identify and remove each and every infiltrator from India,” he said, accusing opposition parties of trying to shield them as they see their vote bank in them.BJP has framed its strong backing to the Election Commission’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls – which has in turn drawn protests from the opposition for its alleged intent to benefit the governing party – around its potential to identify and delete illegal voters, a large section of whom are likely to be illegals.More than any other state, SIR has become a political flashpoint between the Mamata Banerjee govt in poll-bound West Bengal and BJP, leading to frequent interventions from Supreme Court.BJP has cited “unnatural” surge in Muslim voters in different parts of the state, which borders Bangladesh, to back its claim of the presence of infiltrators in large numbers. With SC giving a go ahead to SIR while offering some directives, TMC has nuanced its opposition but questioned the process and accused EC of working with BJP to target voters unsympathetic to the national party.In his speech in Haridwar, the home minister said over 10,000 encroachments, which are often allegedly linked to infiltrators, were demolished in the hilly state under its the BJP govt’s action against them. The opposition, on the other hand, are shielding them, he claimed in a message meant as much for people in the state as outside.

NEW DELHI: India’s historic T20 World Cup triumph not only thrilled fans worldwide but also triggered a rare social media moment involving two of the country’s most iconic cricket figures — MS Dhoni and Gautam Gambhir.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!Shortly after India sealed a dominant 96-run victory over New Zealand in the final, Dhoni returned to Instagram after nearly two years to congratulate the team and support staff. The former India captain, who attended the final in Ahmedabad, couldn’t resist making a playful remark about Gambhir’s famously intense personality.

“History gets created at Ahmedabad, big congratulations to the team and support staff and to all the fans of the Indian Cricket Team worldwide. Such a pleasure to see all of you play,” Dhoni wrote.But it was his cheeky comment on Gambhir that quickly went viral.“Coach Sahab smile looks great on you, intensity with smile is a killer combo, very well done. Enjoy guys… Bumrah ke baare mein kuch na likhoon toh hi achha hai. Champion bowler,” Dhoni added, praising India’s pace spearhead while referencing Gambhir’s typically serious demeanour.Gambhir, who served as head coach during India’s successful title run, responded warmly to Dhoni’s message.“And what a reason to smile, great seeing you,” Gambhir wrote in reply, acknowledging the former captain’s presence at the stadium.

The exchange captured the attention of fans, given the pair’s long history in Indian cricket. Gambhir was a crucial member of Dhoni’s World Cup-winning sides, playing match-defining knocks in both the 2007 T20 World Cup and the 2011 ODI World Cup finals.

Sunday’s final produced another memorable chapter in India’s white-ball legacy. Led by Suryakumar Yadav, India piled up a formidable 255/5 after explosive contributions from Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma.The bowlers then sealed the emphatic victory, with Jasprit Bumrah producing a sensational spell of 4 for 15.

The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad became the epicenter of a global cricketing earthquake on Sunday, March 8. Under the shimmering lights of the world’s largest cricket arena, India didn’t just play a final; they delivered a masterclass. Facing a resilient New Zealand side in the 2026 ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Final, the Men in Blue secured a clinical 96-run victory. This historic win marks India’s third T20 World Cup title and a rare, back-to-back championship reign that has cemented this squad’s status as an all-time great dynasty.

As the final wicket fell and the fireworks illuminated the Ahmedabad sky, the celebration didn’t stay confined to the pitch. From the streets of Mumbai to the hills of Himachal, the nation erupted. Leading this charge of unbridled joy were the icons of Indian cinema, as Bollywood stars went gaga on social media, turning the digital space into a virtual victory parade.

Bollywood stars celebrate wildly as India secures consecutive T20 World Cup titles

For the film industry, the victory was more than just a sporting achievement; it was a moment of national pride that demanded a standing ovation. Anushka Sharma, always the team’s most dedicated cheerleader, was among the first to react. Sharing a vibrant image of the squad soaked in confetti, she hailed the “phenomenal victory” of the “brilliant team,” acknowledging the immense pressure they carried as hosts.

Anil Kapoor, brought his signature wit to the festivities. Posting a picture of himself enjoying a fruit platter while watching the trophy presentation, he quipped, “Aaj Kiwi thodi zyada hi meethi lag rahi hai…” (Today, the Kiwi tastes a little extra sweet), a playful nod to the defeated New Zealand side. Meanwhile, Ajay Devgn took to X (formerly Twitter) to capture the collective heartbeat of the country, noting that the team made “billions of hearts beat with pride.”

The younger generation of stars was equally electric. Ananya Panday kept it classic with a jubilant “We are the champions,” while Rakul Preet Singh highlighted the emotional weight of the journey, calling it a “moment for the nation” that transcended the sport itself. Even the “Begum” of Bollywood, Kareena Kapoor Khan, shared the official victory post with a simple, definitive caption: “Champions.”

Also READ: Virat Kohli, MS Dhoni and other cricket stars lead congratulatory messages for India’s T20 World Cup 2026 triumph

Here’s how Bollywood stars reacted:

My throat is gone from all the shouting, but my smile isn’t going anywhere all week!#TeamIndia you have made billions of hearts beat with pride tonight! CHAMPIONS once again! 🇮🇳🙌

— Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) March 8, 2026

Champions. Again. 🇮🇳🏆
What a team, what a journey, what a moment for the nation.
Take a bow, Team India!

— Rakul Singh (@Rakulpreet) March 8, 2026

T 5679 – कहा था नहीं देखूँगा तो जीत जाएँगे ! हो गया ! pic.twitter.com/JHgQyc2v2S

— Amitabh Bachchan (@SrBachchan) March 8, 2026

Congratulations boys 🤗 🥳 cheers 🥂 #TeamIndia #T20WorldCup2026final

— Kapil Sharma (@KapilSharmaK9) March 8, 2026

New Zealand submits to Indian dominance in the grand finale

While the celebrations were glamorous, the cricket was gritty. Entering the final as defending champions, India faced a New Zealand team known for their tactical brilliance. However, the ‘Black Caps’ found no answers to India’s clinical execution. Batting first, India set a formidable target, fuelled by aggressive opening stands and a mid-innings blitz that left the visitors chasing shadows.

The second innings was a display of bowling perfection. India’s pace battery and spin twins suffocated the New Zealand chase, leading to a staggering 96-run margin of victory. The discipline shown by the Indian bowlers turned the high-stakes final into a one-sided affair by the penultimate overs.

This victory is particularly sweet as it marks India’s first T20 World Cup win on home soil. By successfully defending their 2024 crown, Suryakumar Yadav’s men (and the rising stars under his wing) have proven that their dominance isn’t just a streak—it’s the new standard. As Sunny Deol aptly noted in his tribute to the team’s “fearless spirit,” this win wasn’t just about talent; it was about the mental fortitude to remain kings of the world for two consecutive cycles.

Also READ: President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulate India on clinching the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2026 title