30-03-2026 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: As India’s diplomats negotiated an accord that would ease punitive US tariffs on the South Asian country’s exports in January, New Delhi slashed its purchases of Russian crude oil in a move that was widely seen as a painful concession to President Donald …

30-03-2026 PARIS: A court in Paris has sentenced prominent Islam scholar Tariq Ramadan to 18 years in jail for raping three women, two years after he was given a jail term for a separate rape offence in Switzerland. The French rape case unfolded in 2017, when two of the three …

30-03-2026 EVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE: US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has joined a meeting of G7 foreign ministers in France for talks in which the US-Israeli war with Iran is the main focus. Rubio is expected to face pressure to de-escalate the conflict as concerns continue to grow over its impact …

30-03-2026 VIENNA: Austria has announced plans to ban social media for children aged under 14, becoming the latest country to consider introducing restrictions for children online. It follows lengthy negotiations within the conservative-led three-party coalition government, but it is not yet clear how or when the ban will be implemented. …

30-03-2026 DOHA/ WASHINGTON: Qatar’s prime minister has held talks with senior US officials in Washington, DC, amid the ongoing US-Israeli war on Iran and fallout across the Gulf. Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, who also serves as Qatar’s foreign minister, met US Vice President JD Vance and …

29-03-2026 NEW YORK/ PARIS/ LONDON: Millions of people were expected to protest against the Trump administration at more than 3,000 “No Kings” events across the United States. Although organizers do not yet have an exact count of how many people attended, it’s clear that hundreds of thousands of people turned …

29-03-2026 LAUSANNE, SWITZERLAND: The women’s category of Olympic sports will be limited to biological females from 2028. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says eligibility will be determined by an “once-in-a-lifetime” sex test, which would prevent transgender women and those with differences in sexual development (DSD) who have gone through male …

29-03-2026 STRASBOURG, FRANCE: The European Parliament has backed legislation to implement an EU-US trade deal, following months of uncertainty over President Donald Trump’s tariff threats. A majority of lawmakers voted in favor of the measures on Thursday but added a series of safeguards to ensure the US honors its side …

29-03-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India’s parliament has passed a controversial bill that seeks to change how transgender people are legally recognized and their right to self-identify, amid protests by opposition parties and the LGBTQ community. The government says the changes will make welfare benefits more accessible and strengthen an …

29-03-2026 DUBAI/ TEL AVIV/ WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warned Iran on Thursday ​to “get serious” about a deal to end nearly four weeks of fighting, after its foreign minister said Tehran was reviewing the US proposal but that there were no ‌talks on winding down the war. Trump’s comments …