International

28-04-2026 WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s administration is considering more than doubling an annual refugee limit to bring more white South Africans into the US, according to three people familiar with the matter. Trump, a Republican, paused refugee admissions from around the world when he took office in January 2025. Weeks …

28-04-2026 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ WASHINGTON: India and the United States are engaged in constructive talks aimed at reaching a balanced and mutually beneficial trade agreement, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Thursday. The comments came after a three-day visit ‌to Washington by an Indian trade delegation led …

28-04-2026 GAZA STRIP/ RAMALLAH: Palestinians were voting in local elections on Saturday that include Gaza for the first time in two decades and will gauge the political mood at a time when Israel’s government is seeking to destroy any future for a Palestinian state. The West Bank-based ‌Palestinian Authority hopes …

28-04-2026 WASHINGTON: The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has directed federal prisons to expand the range of methods used for executions to include firing squads, gas asphyxiation and electrocution. In a 48-page memo released on Friday, the department says this will “strengthen” the death penalty, “deterring the most barbaric crimes, …

27-04-2026 BEIRUT/ JERUSALEM: Lebanon’s Hezbollah said a US-mediated ceasefire in the war with Israel was meaningless a day after it was extended for three weeks, as Lebanese authorities reported two people killed by an Israeli strike and Hezbollah downed an Israeli drone. US President Donald ‌Trump announced the three-week extension …

27-04-2026 WASHINGTON: The Justice Department is closing its investigation into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, US Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Friday, removing an obstacle to the confirmation of Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the central bank. The move by Pirro, a Trump ally and the top …

27-04-2026 LONDON: A UK government unit responsible for documenting Israel’s possible war crimes during its genocidal war in Gaza has been shut down amid funding cuts, the Guardian has reported. The London-based newspaper on Thursday reported that cuts within the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) have forced the international …

27-04-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: Comments shared by United States President Donald Trump referring to India as a “hellhole” were “in poor taste” and at odds with the countries’ relationship, an Indian official has said. Trump did not make the remark himself, but reposted it without comment on his Truth …

27-04-2026 MOSCOW/ KYIV: Ukraine has succeeded in depriving Russia of much of the windfall profits it would have made from oil exports during March and April, as the war in the Gulf sent prices soaring to above $100 a barrel, a series of sources suggest. Ukraine intensified a long-range strike …

27-04-2026 DAMASCUS: A key suspect in one of the most notorious killings of the Syrian civil war has been arrested, Syria’s interior minister has said. Amjad Youssef was wanted over the mass killing of civilians in April 2013 in the Tadamon district of Damascus. Footage emerged in 2022 showing Syrian …