Archive: The Week

Federal prosecutors unsealed three indictments on July 7 charging 37 people across the Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria, and Ravinder Singh Dhanda networks with racketeering, drug trafficking, extortion, and murder, with 24 arrested in a synchronized US, Canada, and Europe sweep. Bishnoi and fugitive Goldy Brar are charged with directing the 2023 assassination of Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, and the FBI added Brar to its wanted list with a $50,000 reward.

Source: CBC

The US Department of War published its fourth tranche of unidentified anomalous phenomena files to war.gov, 40 items including 19 videos, spanning Apollo-era lunar images, late-1940s reports of green fireballs near Los Alamos, and an Indo-Pacific Command clip from the Yellow Sea that degrades a military platform's sensors. It is the latest in a rolling declassification that began in May.

Source: The Hill

Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer reported substantial progress toward an interim bilateral trade pact, with a US official calling the two sides very close ahead of the July 24 expiry of Washington's temporary tariff regime. The US has already cut its reciprocal tariff on Indian goods from 25 percent to 18 percent, as both aim to double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

Source: Business Standard

Mayor Kelli Curtis and the Kirkland City Council proclaimed July 2026 as South Asian Heritage Month on July 7, presenting it to the Consulate General of India in Seattle and recognizing the cultures and contributions of communities across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The consulate called it a special proclamation on behalf of all South Asians.

Source: New India Abroad

Huge crowds gathered at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad for the burial of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, closing six days of public ceremonies. The final stage began after a delay, hours after the United States and Iran traded fresh strikes.

Source: BBC

The renewed bombing in the Middle East has underscored the risk of relying on fossil fuels, and experts say it is speeding the global shift to EVs, solar, and batteries. A geopolitical shock with a long energy tail.

Source: NPR

China's producer price index rose for a fourth straight month as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz over the Iran war roiled global supply chains. The reading is an early sign of how the conflict is feeding back into worldwide costs.

Source: FT World

Italy expelled several Russian diplomats after the arrest of two retired Italian officers accused of passing information to Moscow. The move is one of the sharpest European counter-intelligence actions of the year.

Source: FT World

In a Hoover Institution GoodFellows conversation, Iran scholar Abbas Milani argues the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is the institution effectively running Iran, a survival-driven military structure atop a fragmenting theocracy and a deepening economic crisis. A useful frame for a week when the country is back at the center of the news.

Source: Hoover Institution

In Melbourne, Prime Minister Modi announced a nuclear energy agreement to enable uranium supply from Australia to India after talks with Prime Minister Albanese, and worked the Indian diaspora crowd on his third visit in 12 years. The trip pairs energy security with community outreach.

Source: The Hindu

Intense monsoon rain disrupted normal life across India, with the IMD noting the monsoon covered the whole country a day later than its usual July 8 date. Alerts spanned Delhi, Mumbai, and beyond.

Source: The Hindu

An Indian Navy Drishti-10 Starliner UAV crashed near Porbandar in Gujarat during a routine training mission, with no casualties reported. The Navy has ordered a Board of Inquiry into whether a technical or communication fault was to blame.

Source: The Hindu

The BJP's OBC Morcha pressed the Karnataka Congress government to release its caste census report, reopening a politically charged fight over caste data. The demand lands as caste enumeration returns to the national agenda.

Source: The Hindu

Rahul Mishra unveiled 'Devi: The Eternal Muse' at Paris Haute Couture Week Fall 2026, turning carvings from the Ajanta Caves and South Indian temples into dense embroidery that mimics weathered stone. Isha Ambani and Cardi B sat front row.

Source: WWD

Indiaspora founder and chairman MR Rangaswami joined Karishma Mehta for a Humans of Bombay episode on the immigrant experience, from being the only non-white person in the room and being told to go back home, to why Indian talent now leads Silicon Valley and how to build and fund a startup in the US. He traces the rise of Indiaspora and how it is quietly reshaping the diaspora's influence.

Source: Indiaspora (X)

Censors demanded 127 cuts to 'Satluj,' a film exploring a dark period of police brutality in Punjab, and a union minister publicly weighed in on its removal. Filmmakers call it the latest chilling example of entrenched censorship.

Source: Mint

Mindy Kaling will appear as a guest investor on Shark Tank Season 18, airing Wednesdays this fall on ABC and streaming next day on Hulu. She joins a guest lineup that includes MrBeast, J.J. Watt, and Steven Bartlett.

Source: Variety

Vikas Khanna and Jimmy Rizvi's new Bungalow Hospitality Investments backed New York's Kolkata Chai Co, joining existing investor Hasan Minhaj. Kolkata Chai's blends roll into Bungalow's NYC restaurants, including GupShup and Punjab Meet House, this summer.

Source: Outlook Business

US-based Kuchipudi artist Yamini Kalluri, a disciple of Dr. Sobha Naidu and curator of the NY Kuchipudi Dance Festival, is set to feature in A.R. Rahman's summer 2026 US run, with dates in San Francisco, Virginia, and Houston.

Source: A.R. Rahman Tour

Reshma Saujani's Moms First launched the American Motherhood Tour around its film 'No Country for Mothers,' with more than 1,000 grassroots screenings across all 50 states. A Washington, D.C. screening lands July 15, aimed at paid leave and child care.

Source: Moms First

Chicago's South Asia Institute debuts 'Brown Don't Frown,' a South Asian stand-up series, on Friday, July 24, headlined by Vik Pandya with Raghu Adibhatla and Mantra. The 18+ night frames comedy as community-building.

Source: Eventbrite (South Asia Institute)

The 24th TD Festival of South Asia takes over Gerrard Street East on July 11 and 12, noon to 11 pm, with free admission and more than 300 artists across three stages spanning Bhangra, Qawwali, folk, and fusion, plus street food, a marketplace, and a Bangladesh Pavilion. One of North America's largest South Asian street festivals, it has drawn more than 200,000 visitors in past years.

Source: Festival of South Asia

Aziz Ansari's 2026 Hypothetical stand-up tour is on sale, with stops including London's Royal Albert Hall on July 11, Westbury, New York on July 15, and Toronto on July 16. Tickets are live through Ticketmaster and Live Nation.

Source: Ticketmaster