International

14-02-2026 WASHINGTON: The US House of Representatives has voted to rescind US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on Canadian goods. In a 219 to 211 vote, six Republican lawmakers joined Democrats to back a resolution that seeks to end the tariffs Trump imposed on Canada last year. The vote is largely …

14-02-2026 BEIJING: Chinese President Xi Jinping has made a rare public reference to a recent crackdown which saw the country’s top military general removed. General Zhang Youxia, who was widely seen as Xi’s closest military ally, was removed from his post in January. He was accused of “serious violations of …

14-02-2026 MELBOURNE: Palestine protesters rallied in Melbourne on Thursday on the final day of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s trip to Australia, following protests in the capital Canberra and violent clashes between protesters and police in Sydney. Herzog is visiting Australia this week following an invitation from Australian Prime Minister Anthony …

14-02-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: Indian shares fell on Thursday, with information technology shares hovering near a 10-month low, on concerns over artificial intelligence disruption while fading expectations of a near-term US rate cut also weighed. Rapid advances in AI, triggered in part by Anthropic’ s latest automation push, have …

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,” …