14-04-2026 WASHINGTON: Young American men could be automatically registered for eligibility for the military draft as soon as December, ending decades of self-registration. The new rule, proposed by a government agency, would see men being registered automatically rather than being asked to do so themselves within 30 days of their …

14-04-2026 ABUJA: Nearly 400 people have been sentenced in Nigeria for links with militant Islamic groups following mass trials. The convicts were given sentences ranging from five years to life imprisonment after linked to Boko Haram or a rival splinter group, the Islamic State West Africa Province (Iswap). The trials …

14-04-2026 VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo on Saturday urged world leaders to end what he called the “madness of war,” in an impassioned appeal as senior US and Iranian officials met in Pakistan to discuss ‌ending the six-week conflict. At a special prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Basilica, the first US …

14-04-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ LONDON: India’s shipping ministry has granted special permission to four vessels carrying Iranian oil, as requested by Reliance Industries to berth at the western port of Sikka, three industry ‌sources said. India, the world’s third-biggest oil importer and consumer, has not received a cargo from …

14-04-2026 TEHRAN: Iran’s new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei is still recovering from severe facial and leg injuries suffered in the airstrike that killed his father at the beginning of the war, three people close to his inner circle told media. Khamenei’s face was disfigured in the attack on the supreme …

14-04-2026 BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament has elected Nizar Amedi as the country’s new president, ending a political deadlock that had paralyzed government formation. Amedi was nominated by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and secured 227 votes in a second round of voting on Saturday, comfortably defeating independent candidate Muthanna Amin …

13-04-2026 VATICAN CITY: Pushing back against United States President Donald Trump’s broadside, Pope Leo XIV says the Vatican’s appeals for peace and reconciliation are rooted in the Gospel, and that he did not fear the Trump administration. “I don’t want to get into a debate with him,” Leo said on …

13-04-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ MANESAR: India’s auto-making state of Haryana ordered a 35% hike ​in minimum wages on Friday, after factory workers boycotted work and staged protests this week over rising living costs as a result ‌of the US-Israeli war on Iran. Haryana’s government said it was raising the …

13-04-2026 WASHINGTON: As Melania Trump walked up to the White House podium on Thursday, standing where US President Donald Trump had just over a week ago made his address to the nation on Iran, there was absolutely no indication that this would be a jaw-dropping appearance. There was curiosity, yes …

13-04-2026 BUDAPEST: On the eve of Hungary’s bitterly fought and highly significant election, the two main rivals are taking their campaigns to the wire, as Peter Magyar attempts to end 16 years of continuous rule by Viktor Orban’s party Fidesz. “We’re at the gates of a two-thirds majority victory. Let’s …