UPI set to launch in Uzbekistan

Oil prices surged over 2% on Monday after US forces targeted two Iranian launchers on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz. The attack has raised concerns over rising tensions in the Gulf and possible disruptions to global oil supplies. Brent crude futures rose by $2.22 or 2.52%, to $90.32 a barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude increased by $2.01 or 2.41%, to $85.41 a barrel on Monday morning.

Aon, a leading insurance broker and consultancy firm, is close to finalizing a deal to acquire USI Insurance Services from private equity firm KKR. The deal is estimated at around $17 billion, including debt, reported theWall Street Journal. An official announcement could come as early as Monday if negotiations go smoothly.

The benchmark equity indices, Sensex and Nifty, witnessed a sharp decline on Monday. At 10:40am, the Sensex had plummeted by 491.66 points or 0.64% to trade at 76,772.84. The broader Nifty index fell to 23,997.95 after losing 178.2 points or 0.73%. The fall was mainly due to renewed tensions between the US and Iran, which led to a spike in crude oil prices. The development negatively impacted investor sentiment.

Indian security agencies have unearthed a new communication method used by terrorists and the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan, Wion has reported. The groups are now using encrypted applications on pornographic websites and apps to communicate with recruits in Jammu and Kashmir. This shift comes as they move away from popular social media platforms like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and Signal.

A 16-year-old Class 11 student from Uttar Pradesh was allegedly gang-raped inside a moving sleeper bus on August 4, police said. The victim had left her home in Mainpuri district after an argument with her family and was headed to meet her cousin in Noida. However, she got off at Pari Chowk by mistake due to heavy rain and darkness.

NASA and SpaceX have postponed the Crew-13 mission to the International Space Station (ISS) after an oxidizer leak was detected in the propulsion system of their Dragon spacecraft. The delay comes as both organizations conduct further tests on the vehicle. A new target launch date for this important mission, which will see American, Canadian and Russian astronauts onboard, is yet to be announced.

A three-and-a-half-year-old boy was allegedly abused at a private playschool in northeast Delhi's Maujpur. The child returned home on August 18 with swollen eyes and ears and started vomiting. His father said the doctor said both his eardrums were swollen and told the family the child had been beaten and his ears had been continuously pulled. He confronted the playschool staff about his son's condition and demanded access to CCTV footage.

The Unified Payments Interface (UPI) will soon be launched in Uzbekistan, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has confirmed. The development comes after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's two-day official visit to Tashkent over the weekend. MEA Secretary (West) Sibi George said this is a major step toward expanding Indian digital infrastructure globally and facilitating digital transactions between India and Uzbekistan.

Anthropic, the company behind the AI service Claude, has issued a warning to users about a recent security breach. The firm revealed that hackers have been stealing active login sessions through infostealer malware. These stolen sessions are then used by the attackers to access user accounts and exhaust their usage limits. This leaves affected users signed out and removes their saved payment methods from the platform.

John Ternus, the incoming CEO of Apple, is expected to make major changes in the company's executive team. According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, the changes will mainly affect senior executives in hardware, marketing, retail and human resources. The transition comes as Tim Cook prepares to step down from his role as CEO on September 1 and take up a new position as executive chairman of Apple's board.