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11-02-2026 TOKYO: Japanese stocks surged to a record high on Monday, as Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) basked in a historic election victory. The LDP secured 316 out of 465 seats in Sunday’s election, the first time a single party has won a two-thirds lower house majority …

11-02-2026 VICTORIA CITY: Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong’s pro-democracy media tycoon, has been jailed for 20 years for colluding with foreign forces under the city’s controversial national security law. Rights groups called it a death sentence for the 78-year-old, whose family has raised concerns about his health, but Hong Kong’s leader …

11-02-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: Indian farm unions and opposition parties have called for nationwide protests against the new India-US trade framework, saying it risks hurting the farm sector by allowing more US imports, although the government says key staples are protected. The agreement has become a political flashpoint, reviving …

11-02-2026 TEHRAN: Iranian human rights activist and 2023 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi has been sentenced to more than seven years in prison, according to her lawyers and a group that supports her. Mohammadi, 53, was on ⁠a week-long hunger strike that ended on Sunday, the Narges Foundation said …

11-02-2026 LONDON: Another key ally of Keir Starmer has quit as the UK Prime Minister (PM) fights for his political survival amid the fallout of the Peter Mandelson scandal. Downing Street Communications Chief Tim Allan said he was standing down to allow ‘a new No 10 team to be built’. …

11-02-2026 MILAN: The world’s largest shipping line has been enabling the transport of goods to and from illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, as the United States and Europe continue to promote trade despite clear responsibilities under international law, a joint investigation by media and the Palestinian Youth …

10-02-2026 BERLIN/ MILAN: Six people have been arrested after police clashed with protesters in Milan, one of the hosts of the Winter Olympic Games, during the first day of the competition. Thousands took to the streets of the city in northern Italy on Saturday to protest against a range of …

10-02-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: Indian refiners are avoiding Russian oil purchases for delivery in April and are expected to stay away from such trades for longer, refining and trade sources said, a move that could help New Delhi seal a trade pact with Washington. The US and India moved …

10-02-2026 WASHINGTON: The chief executive of the Washington Post is stepping down, the newspaper has announced, days after overseeing mass lay-offs. In a message to staff, William Lewis said it was the right time to leave and that “difficult decisions” had been made to ensure the paper’s future. On Wednesday …

10-02-2026 PARIS: Financial crime prosecutors in France say they have opened a preliminary inquiry into former Culture Minister Jack Lang over his links to Jeffrey Epstein. Lang, a major figure in French socialist governments between the 1980s and 2000s, is being investigated for suspected “laundering of tax fraud proceeds”. It …