Saturday, 31 October 2026 New DelhiLondonNew YorkDubaiTokyo
INDEPENDENT THINKING.
SHARED UNDERSTANDING.International edition · Correspondents across India and around the world
RationalTimes●
A little less noise.
A little more perspective. Subscribe
BREAKING
TechBinance hack: about $6.4bn stolen and $2.7bn frozen, analysts say MarketsChristine Lagarde to step down as ECB president on 7 February 2027 EuropeSpain observes three days of mourning after the Toledo high-speed train crash UNUN Security Council holds its seventh straw poll for the next Secretary-General IsraelIsrael: near-final count gives Netanyahu’s bloc 53 seats and Eisenkot’s 48; official results on 4 November ClimateCOP31 climate talks open in Antalya, Türkiye, on 9 November USAmericans vote in the midterm elections on 3 November TechnologyNorth Korea-linked hackers steal about $6.4 billion from Binance in the biggest crypto theft on record, analysts say WorldSpain mourns after a high-speed train ploughs into a stationary train near Toledo, killing at least 68 WorldIsrael’s election ends without a clear winner as exit polls leave both blocs short of a majority WorldSaudi Arabia intercepts Houthi missiles and drones as Egypt’s parliament backs military support PoliticsLula wins Brazil’s presidential runoff as Flávio Bolsonaro concedes
Past & present

History, checked.

What happened on this day, how today’s big stories began, and the lists you keep looking up.

All events
  1. 2018
    The 182-metre Statue of Unity is inaugurated in Gujarat.India Reference ↗
  2. 1984
    Prime Minister Indira Gandhi is assassinated by her bodyguards.India Reference ↗
  3. 1875
    Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is born — Rashtriya Ekta Diwas.India Reference ↗
  4. 1517
    Martin Luther posts his Ninety-five Theses, starting the Reformation.World Reference ↗
History behind the news

Timelines

See all
14 eventsIndia in space: from Thumba to the MoonSix decades of the Indian space programme — from a borrowed sounding rocket fired from a church in a fishing village to…18 eventsFrom revolt to republic: India, 1857–1952The key moments between the uprising of 1857 and India’s first general election.12 eventsClimate talks: from Rio to AntalyaThree decades of UN climate negotiations, from the 1992 Earth Summit to COP31 in Türkiye in November 2026.15 eventsThe 2026 Iran war: a timelineHow a decades-long confrontation became open war on 28 February 2026, and how the conflict — and the closure of the…8 eventsIsrael’s election marathon, 2019–2026Six general elections since 2019 — and still no single bloc with 61 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.13 eventsArtificial intelligence: the key momentsFrom Alan Turing’s question “Can machines think?” to chatbots used by hundreds of millions of people.14 eventsHumans in space: from Sputnik to Artemis IIThe milestones of the space age, including the first crewed flight around the Moon in more than half a century.10 eventsBrazil’s democracy since 1985Forty years of civilian rule in Latin America’s largest country, from the end of the military regime to Lula’s fourth…