International

14-02-2026 OSLO: The Norwegian diplomat who was a key architect of the 1993 Oslo Accords is facing a storm of corruption and blackmail allegations after new documents revealed he was deeply embedded in the inner circle of late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein. Terje Rod-Larsen, a central figure in …

14-02-2026 DOHA/ TEHRAN: Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani has accused Israel of attempting to sabotage negotiations with the United States over Tehran’s nuclear program, so it can ignite a new war that would destabilize the region. In an interview during his visit to Doha, Qatar, where he met top officials …

14-02-2026 NABLUS/ WEST BANK: Five months after Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that its prisons were failing to provide enough food for Palestinian detainees and ordered conditions be improved, emaciated prisoners are still emerging with tales of extreme hunger and abuse. Samer Khawaireh, 45, told media that all he was given …

13-02-2026 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ LONDON:  India has ruled out relaxation of a ban on e-cigarettes that would have allowed heat-not-burn tobacco products, dealing a blow to a lengthy private lobbying campaign by Philip Morris International for New Delhi to permit such devices. India banned e-cigarettes, including heated …

13-02-2026 WASHINGTON/ JERUSALEM: President Donald Trump will host Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Wednesday, where the Israeli prime minister is expected to press him to widen US talks with Iran to include limits on Tehran’s missile arsenal and other security threats beyond its nuclear program. In his seventh …

13-02-2026 MOSCOW: A group of weary-looking Indian men carrying sports bags queued at passport control at a busy Moscow airport one recent evening after flying over 2,700 miles and via Uzbekistan to get work. “I have a contract for one year. In the rubbish disposal business. The money is good,” …

13-02-2026 GAZA STRIP: Forty-one Palestinians have arrived in Gaza via the Rafah crossing, becoming the seventh batch of returnees to make the journey since the partial reopening of the key transit point earlier this month, a painfully slow process riven by Israeli military control. The group of returnees arrived on …

13-02-2026 TEHRAN: Iran’s authorities have ratcheted up the messaging and reciprocal threats against the United States during state-organized rallies and celebrations commemorating the Islamic revolution across the country, one month after deadly nationwide protests. Chants of “Death to America” and “Death to Israel” rang out on Wednesday in the state-run …

13-02-2026 JAKARTA: Indonesia is preparing for the potential deployment of 5,000 to 8,000 troops to Gaza under US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, the country’s army chief of staff, Maruli Simanjuntak, said Monday following a security meeting with Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto in Jakarta. Maruli stressed that details on the …

13-02-2026 LOS ANGELES: The world’s largest social media companies have been accused of creating “addiction machines” as a landmark trial began in California examining the mental health effects of Instagram and YouTube. In his opening argument before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn B. Kuhl and a jury, Mark Lanier …