22-05-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ BANGKOK: Thailand’s cabinet has approved a drastic reduction to its visa-free entry scheme for tourists from more than 90 countries. The decision, issued yesterday, shifts the country away from a sweeping 60-day visa exemption introduced in July 2024 to stimulate its post-pandemic recovery. …
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22-05-2026 WASHINGTON: The United States has announced another 30-day extension of a sanctions waiver for countries buying Russian oil and petroleum products currently already loaded on tankers at sea, as global energy markets have been roiled by the US-Israel war on Iran. In a post on social media on Monday, …
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22-05-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India state-fuel retailers raised petrol and diesel prices by less than a rupee per liter on Tuesday, the second increase in a week to recover some losses from high crude prices resulting from the Iran war. After the rise of roughly 0.9 rupees ($0.0093), consumers …
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22-05-2026 MADRID: Former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is under investigation in Spain over alleged influence peddling and related crimes in the long-running Plus Ultra airline case. The High Court said on Tuesday that Zapatero’s office in Madrid was searched along with three other premises, adding that the …
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22-05-2026 JERUSALEM: Israeli far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said he was informed that the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague had requested a warrant for his arrest. Speaking at a news conference on Tuesday, Smotrich did not specify who had informed him about the warrant the previous evening. The …
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22-05-2026 BEIJING: When Russian President Vladimir Putin lands in Beijing on Tuesday evening, his official agenda will be to join his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, in commemorating a quarter-century-old agreement, the unambiguously described 2001 Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation. Yet, say analysts, the significance of the Xi-Putin summit, likely …
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21-05-2026 TEHRAN: Iran’s Supreme Leader has issued a directive that the country’s near-weapons-grade uranium should not be sent abroad, two senior Iranian sources said, hardening Tehran’s stance on one of the main US demands at peace talks. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei’s order could further frustrate US President Donald Trump and complicate …
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21-05-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has deployed 8,000 troops, a squadron of fighter jets and an air defence system to Saudi Arabia under a mutual defence pact, ramping up military cooperation with Riyadh even as Islamabad serves as the main mediator in the Iran war. The deployment, …
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21-05-2026 NICOSIA: Pro-Palestinian activists say Israeli forces are intercepting a flotilla of more than 50 boats carrying aid for Gaza in international waters west of Cyprus. The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) said its fleet was being boarded in what it called “another illegal, high-seas aggression” about 250 nautical miles (460km) …
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21-05-2026 GAZA STRIP: Standing in a long queue under the beating sun, 14-year-old Muhammed al-Roubi was waiting to buy bread but there was a strong chance that, despite his patience, he would not get any. A flour and fuel shortage in recent weeks, brought on by Israeli restrictions on imports …
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