20-03-2026 COLOMBO: Sri Lanka has declared every Wednesday a holiday for public institutions to conserve fuel as the island nation grapples with possible shortages in the wake of the US and Israel’s war with Iran. “We must prepare for the worst, but hope for the best,” President Anura Kumara Dissanayake …
Read More »US west coast prepares for ‘dangerous’ heatwave
20-03-2026 PHOENIX, ARIZONA: A significant and unusually early heatwave is building across the south-western US this week, bringing temperatures more typical of early summer than mid-March. In Phoenix, Arizona, the National Weather Service (NWS) forecasts temperatures could exceed 100F (38C) as soon as Wednesday, the earliest arrival of triple-digit heat …
Read More »Israeli attacks on Lebanon may amount to war crimes: UN
20-03-2026 UNITED NATIONS/ BEIRUT: Israeli attacks on residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Lebanon may amount to war crimes, the United Nations human rights office says as the Israeli military pummels its northern neighbor as part of the wider war engulfing the Middle East. At a news briefing on Tuesday …
Read More »Iran blames US & Israel for Hormuz tensions
20-03-2026 TEHRAN: Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi has blamed the United States-Israel war for disruptions to shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, the critical global artery through which one-fifth of the world’s oil shipments transit. In a phone conversation with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, Araghchi said every country …
Read More »India denies discussing release of tankers with Iran
20-03-2026 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday denied holding talks with Iran about releasing three tankers seized in February in exchange for ensuring safe passage for Indian ships through the Strait of Hormuz. Indian authorities seized the three Iran-linked ships near Indian waters alleging they had concealed …
Read More »US envoys meet Hamas to salvage fragile Gaza truce
20-03-2026 CAIRO: In a devastated enclave where more than two million Palestinians remain crammed into a shrinking strip of land under the overwhelming shadow of Israeli military occupation and bombardment, daily survival is tethered to a fragile October “ceasefire” but as Israeli and US bombs rain down on Iran, and …
Read More »Poland will not send its troops to Iran: PM Tusk
20-03-2026 WARSAW: Poland will not send troops to Iran as the conflict does not directly affect its security, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday, adding that the United States and other powers understood Warsaw’s decision. US President Donald Trump called on allies over the weekend to help secure the …
Read More »Pakistani airstrike at drug rehab centre kills 408: Afghanistan
19-03-2026 KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: 408 people were killed and 265 wounded in an airstrike by Pakistan on a drug rehabilitation centre in Kabul, a spokesman of the Afghan Taliban government said on Tuesday, a sharp escalation in the conflict between the neighbors. Pakistan rejected the statement as false and misleading and …
Read More »South Africa rejects US pressure to distance from Iran
19-03-2026 JOHANNSESBURG/ WASHINGTON: South Africa has no reason to cut ties with Iran, its director general of foreign affairs said, after the new US ambassador was quoted as saying the country’s association with the Islamic Republic was an impediment to good relations with Washington. In an interview over the weekend, …
Read More »Iran’s new supreme leader rejects de-escalation proposals
19-03-2026 TEHRAN: Iran’s new supreme leader has rejected de-escalation proposals conveyed to Tehran by intermediaries, demanding Israel and the United States first be “brought to their knees”, a senior Iranian official said on Tuesday. Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei had held his first foreign policy session since being named supreme leader, and …
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