Firstpost Editor's Picks: US-Iran tensions, Deve Gowda's threat to Karnataka parties, Miyah poetry; today's must-read stories

US has long itched for war with Iran; India should prevent confrontation between its two allies to stave off ultimate damage Trump has been itching for a war with Iran, as have been some of the more deranged members of his administration in the US, such as National Security Adviser John Bolton. The price of oil shot up by 10 percent this week because of America’s belligerence, bringing suffering to India and nations like it that are dependent on oil imports. The question is, why does the US want to fight Iran? The answer is neither easy to locate nor to understand. HD Deve Gowda's empty threat of midterm polls scares Karnataka parties, but that's what the state needs now When Gowda spoke of the inevitability of midterm polls to the Karnataka Assembly on Friday, he was throwing a red herring. He wasn’t just trying to distract the Congress, his party’s hostile partner. He was trying to scare the Congress. What he meant was: stop making threats to pull out of the coalition or face a midterm election. A second Assembly election in a year — third election in all if you count the recent Lok Sabha polls as well — is a nightmare for all parties, including Gowda’s own. It could pinch the pockets of most candidates of JD(S) and Congress at this juncture and might see the BJP walk away with victory. Dia Mirza in Kaafir, Huma Qureshi in Leila: How digital shows have given actresses a fair chance An added benefit of being visible on digital OTT content that is available internationally is offers for decent parts from overseas. Both Chopra and Shah have been beneficiaries, with more web series offers and quality parts coming their way. While they cannot discuss details yet, they do state that these offers have come to them organically, a direct consequence of their work been seen globally. Miyah poetry: How Assam's Bengali-Muslims used words to capture a lifetime of oppression and abuse The birth of Miyah poetry in Assam is a testament to how a revolt can transform into a revolution. ‘Miyah’, an Urdu word meaning gentleman, is bastardised into a slur and used for referring to the Bengal-origin or Bengali-Muslims settled in the riverine plains of the Brahmaputra in Assam, known as ‘Char Chapori’. Manu S Pillai's latest book features episodes from India's history and the lives of its prolific figures Pruned and formatted to fill a column, the essays that appear in this work of historical non-fiction were first published in Mint Lounge and other dailies such as The Hindu and The Hindustan Times, while their untrimmed drafts continued to be ‘filed away quietly’ by the author. These nuanced writings and thoroughly researched episodes from the lives of history’s instrumental figures – Queen Victoria, Wajid Ali Shah, Meerabai, Mahatma Gandhi, Dara Shukokh and others – form Pillai’s latest collection which offers a glimpse into a realm of victories and foibles that is India’s history.