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23-02-2026 DUBAI/ WASHINGTON/ TEHRAN: Iran and the United States are sliding rapidly towards military conflict as hopes fade for a diplomatic solution to their standoff over Tehran’s nuclear program, officials on both sides and diplomats across the Gulf and Europe say. Iran’s Gulf neighbors and its enemy Israel now consider …

23-02-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ BENGALURU: India’s private sector accelerated in February led by robust demand for goods even as services growth was broadly steady, according to a survey that also showed intensifying inflationary pressures. HSBC’s flash India Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, rose to 59.3 …

23-02-2026 GAZA STRIP/ BEIRUT: Israeli attacks have killed at least 12 people in eastern and southern Lebanon, in the latest breach of a 2024 ceasefire deal with the armed group, Hezbollah. Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Friday that air strikes on the Bekaa Valley in the east …

23-02-2026 WASHINGTON: The United States Supreme Court ruling against the administration of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping global tariffs has left a question unanswered on what is the refund process for the funds collected over the past several months through the tariffs that had been imposed on most US trading …

22-02-2026 TEHRAN: Iran’s envoy to the United Nations has said that Tehran will respond “decisively” to any “military aggression” by the United States in a letter urging the UN Security Council to condemn recent threats from President Donald Trump. Iran’s UN ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani called on Thursday for members …

22-02-2026 KHARTOUM/ KORDOFAN: Dozens of aid workers have been killed and wounded in a drone attack by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) on an aid convoy in Sudan’s South Kordofan state, according to the Sudan Doctors Network, in the latest carnage against civilians caught up in the nation’s brutal …

22-02-2026 CAIRO: Hamas is holding an election for a new interim leader, a senior Palestinian official familiar with the armed group’s affairs has told the BBC. Voting is taking place across Gaza, the occupied West Bank and among Hamas’s members elsewhere. The outcome may signal which direction the movement intends …

22-02-2026 TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON: Iran held annual military drills with Russia on Thursday as a second American aircraft carrier drew closer to the Middle East, with both the United States and Iran signaling they are prepared for war if talks on Tehran’s nuclear program fizzle out. President Donald Trump said Thursday …

22-02-2026 LONDON/ WASHINGTON: The arrest of former British royal Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has sparked renewed calls for accountability for Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes and proper investigations into the late sex offender’s networks in the United States and across the world. Police in the United Kingdom detained the ex-prince, brother of King Charles, …

22-02-2026 NEW YORK: Bill Gates will not deliver his keynote address at the India AI Impact Summit in Delhi, his philanthropic organization said hours before the Microsoft co-founder was due to speak. The Gates Foundation said the decision was made after “careful consideration” and “to ensure the focus remains on …