International

19-04-2026 YAOUNDE: More than 120,000 people have joined Pope Leo XIV in Cameroon for an open-air Mass, the biggest crowd so far during his 11-day Africa tour. Arriving in the economic city of Douala on Friday, the Pope reiterated his message of peace after visiting the country’s Anglophone region hit …

19-04-2026 GENEVA: Nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal in 2025, making it the deadliest year on record for the route, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday. More than one in seven of the estimated …

19-04-2026 HOUSTON: Oil prices plunged by about 13% on Friday after Iran’s foreign minister said passage for all ‌commercial vessels through the Strait of Hormuz was open for the remaining ceasefire period and US President Donald Trump said Iran has agreed to never close the strait again. Brent crude futures …

19-04-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: An Indian government bill to expand assemblies that would have brought forward plans to reserve a third of the seats for women ​did not get enough votes to get through parliament on Friday, ‌in a rare defeat for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Opposition groups said …

19-04-2026 TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON: Iran declared the Strait of Hormuz “completely open” for the 10-day period of the Lebanon ceasefire, but said ships would have to use a “coordinated route.” Military and diplomatic analyst Alexandru Hudisteanu told media that this route would take ships into Iran’s territorial waters, giving Tehran a …

19-04-2026 WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump’s goal of erecting a colossal arch in Washington, DC, has taken another step forward, with a key agency approving his proposed design for the monument. The US Commission of Fine Arts, whose members were appointed by Trump, gave its go-ahead to the president’s …

18-04-2026 TEHRAN: On the plains of northwestern Iran, edged by snow-ribboned ridges, spring nudges almond trees into frothy bloom and a fragile ceasefire brings more traffic onto highways, and more Iranians back to their homeland. “I stayed with my son in Turkey for a month,” a grey-haired banker says as …

18-04-2026 CANBERRA: Australia’s wealthiest person Gina Rinehart must part with some of her riches, a court has ruled in a high-profile dispute over her mining empire. Worth an estimated AU$38bn (£20bn; $27bn), Rinehart inherited the iron ore ventures of her father in 1992, before going on to develop mines in …

18-04-2026 ABOARD THE PAPAL FLIGHT: Pope Leo set off for Cameroon, ‌where he is expected to appeal for peace in the simmering conflict in the country’s English-speaking regions on the second leg of an ambitious 10-day tour of four African countries. Leo, who was attacked again, opens new tab overnight …

18-04-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: India’s merchandise trade deficit unexpectedly narrowed in March as a surge in exports to ‌the US helped cushion the impact of the ongoing Iran war that has disrupted shipping routes and inflated energy costs. The deficit fell to a nine-month low of $20.67 billion, with …