Raihan Vadra, son of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, has alleged that 74 photographs documenting youth protests were removed from his exhibition at Delhi’s Bikaner House, hours before its opening on Wednesday. Titled ‘No Idea Is Final’, the exhibition was asked to remove 75 of its 105 photographs, including 2 featuring the national flag, he told NDTV. Vadra said officials cited concerns over the timing and context of the images. Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera accused the BJP-led governments of censorship. Bikaner House authorities and the BJP had not responded to the allegations. Vadra plans to display the photographs elsewhere. (PC: NDTV)

Government agencies across Europe temporarily shut down websites on Wednesday after 2 critical security flaws were discovered in PHP, a programming language widely used to run websites and applications. The US National Security Agency urged organisations to install security updates immediately or take vulnerable systems offline. The PHP Foundation said the flaws could allow attackers to execute malicious code on affected servers without authentication, potentially exposing files and databases. Researchers from security firm Calif and OpenAI independently identified the vulnerabilities, while Google-owned Wiz found additional ways to exploit them. Developers have released patches, and authorities are urging urgent action. (PC: HT)

Pakistan’s cybercrime agency has exposed an alleged cross-border fraud racket involving 3 Pakistani men and 4 Indian nationals living in Canada. The suspects allegedly used AI-generated passports and photographs to create fake identities and open bank accounts remotely with Canadian banks. According to the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA), the Canada-based suspects prepared the documents and sent them to their Pakistani accomplices, who allegedly opened the accounts. Credit cards were then used to exhaust their limits before being discarded. Pakistani authorities announced arrests in Lahore on October 19. The banks involved and total losses remain undisclosed. (PC: India Today)

Russia is ready in principle to resume talks with Ukraine and the United States to end the war, a senior aide to President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday. Yuri Ushakov made the statement after Putin met US special envoy Steve Witkoff in St Petersburg for about 3 hours. Ushakov suggested a new round of negotiations could take place around November 10 in Abu Dhabi. A US official said Washington had proposed trilateral technical-level talks, accepted by both Moscow and Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he would accept a ceasefire freezing the conflict along the current front line. (PC: BBC)

The Andhra Pradesh State Election Commission has temporarily suspended the election process across 100 urban local bodies following a Supreme Court directive on complaints of nomination-related obstruction. The court intervened after the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) alleged that several candidates were threatened, attacked or prevented from filing nomination papers before the October 18 deadline. The Supreme Court directed the poll panel to examine the complaints and decide whether to extend the nomination deadline. It also ordered adequate security for candidates and election offices. The court stressed that safe nomination filing is essential for free and fair elections. (PC: X)

Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka have assured a Delhi court that they will not call for protests at Jantar Mantar while it remains de-notified as a designated protest site. In their undertakings before a Special Executive Magistrate, the leaders also promised not to breach peace. The assurance came after their release from judicial custody on Wednesday, October 21. The court directed both leaders to appear again on October 23 with their sureties. Delhi Police has also been asked to submit a verification report before the next hearing. (PC: HT)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly planned a major bombing campaign against Iran earlier this month, but US President Donald Trump opposed the move ahead of the November 3 midterm elections, the Financial Times reported. The operation, planned for the weekend of October 10, was expected to target Iranian nuclear facilities, regime-linked sites and civilian infrastructure, including power plants. According to the report, the proposed strikes could have been more intense than the US-Israeli attacks in February. Israel has reportedly prepared an updated list of targets. However, renewed military action remains possible, as both leaders have threatened further strikes against Iran.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said India and the United States are weeks away from finalising a trade deal, with 99% of the work completed. In an interview with The Indian Express during his second India visit in less than five months, Rubio described bilateral ties as positive and a feature of Washington’s foreign policy. He sought to reassure New Delhi that US relationships with Pakistan or China would never come at India’s expense. Rubio also said the Trump administration’s tariffs and tighter visa rules were not directed at India. He highlighted continued regular high-level diplomatic engagement, including Quad meetings and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States.

The Indian rupee climbed to a six-week high on October 21, supported by foreign portfolio inflows linked to Jio Platforms’ initial public offering and recent central bank measures. The currency touched 94.4925 against the US dollar before trimming gains to trade at 94.56, up 0.4% on the day. It has recovered more than 2% after approaching record lows earlier this month. Reserve Bank of India measures included redirecting oil-related dollar demand away from the spot market and increasing costs for certain importer hedges. RBI interventions and foreign inflows reinforced the recovery. However, elevated oil prices, India’s current account deficit and inflation risks continue to cloud the outlook, HSBC analysts said. (PC: Reuters)

Indian athletes Dilip Gavit and Mohammad Basil won gold and silver respectively in the men’s 100m T47 race at the 2026 Asian Para Games on October 21, securing a double podium for India at Paloma Mizhu a Stadium in Nagoya. The pair repeated their achievement from the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, where Gavit also won gold and Basil claimed silver in the same event. The T45–47 classifications cover athletes with upper-limb impairments. Gavit underwent a right-arm amputation at age five after falling from a tree, while Basil was born without a limb. Their latest victories added to India’s successful campaign at the ongoing continental para-sports event. (PC: IANS)