There are moments in public life when a leader who has spent decades in the sun suddenly finds himself standing in a shadow he never expected. For Siddaramaiah, the former Chief Minister of Karnataka and one of the most recognizable faces of the Congress party in the state, that shadow arrived not in the form of a political rival or a tough election battle, but as a video circulating quietly through the dark corridors of social media. The video, which he says connects him to an alleged sting operation, has provoked not just anger but a deep sense of betrayal.…

Diplomatic crises rarely begin with a single dramatic moment. They often begin with a whisper, a vague phrase, a security alert that no one can fully explain, and a decision by officials to turn that uncertainty into a public accusation. That is where Britain and Iran now find themselves after the alleged security incident at Royal Air Force Fairford, the sprawling airbase in the English countryside that has long served as a hub for American and allied military operations. On Monday, Iran’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a formal statement condemning what it called unfounded claims by British officials who…