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07-05-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ KOLKATA: For years, India’s West Bengal state was the great exception to Narendra Modi’s political advance. His Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had swept through India’s Hindi-speaking heartland, expanded into the west and north-east and overwhelmed once-formidable regional rivals. Yet Bengal argumentative and steeped in a …

07-05-2026 TOKYO: The global oil supply squeeze from shipping disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz during the United States-Israeli war on Iran is having an “enormous impact” across the Asia Pacific, Japan’s prime minister warns. Sanae Takaichi made the comments on Monday during a visit to Australia, where both countries …

07-05-2026 ABUJA: Nigeria has summoned South Africa’s acting High Commissioner over a spate of recent attacks on foreigners in the southern African nation. Nigeria will formally convey its “profound concern” at a meeting on Monday over incidents in South Africa, saying they could affect existing relations between the countries, according …

06-05-2026 WASHINGTON: The United States has approved $8.6bn in arms sales to Middle Eastern allies amid the US-Israel war on Iran. The sales come after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio cited emergency circumstances to fast-track the transfers without prior review by the US Congress. Israel and the Gulf states …

06-05-2026 DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates has lifted all flight restrictions put in place since the start of the United States and Israel’s war on Iran, the country’s civil aviation authority has announced. All air operations have returned to “normal status” in UAE airspace, the General Civil Aviation Authority said …

06-05-2026 By SJA Jafri + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ TEHRAN/ WASHINGTON: More than two months into a conflict that has failed to deliver a decisive military or diplomatic win, President Donald Trump faces the risk that a standoff with Iran will drag on indefinitely and leave an even bigger problem for the …

06-05-2026 Bureau Report NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI: India’s April gold imports are set to fall to a near 30-year low of around 15 metric tons, industry and government sources said, because banks have been hit by an unexpected tax demand. Banks, which import most of India’s refined gold, have halted shipments …

06-05-2026 BAMAKO: Malian authorities say they are investigating soldiers suspected of involvement in a wave of simultaneous attacks on army bases across the country last week, claimed by an al-Qaeda affiliate and separatists. A prosecutor at a military tribunal near the capital, Bamako, said in a statement on Friday that …

06-05-2026 TOKYO/ HO CHI MINH CITY: Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi says the country will boost ties with Vietnam, with a focus on energy and critical minerals. Takaichi met her Vietnamese counterpart, Le Minh Hung, on Saturday in Hanoi, where they signed six agreements on issues ranging from infrastructure to …

06-05-2026 BRUSSELS: NATO says it is assessing the details of the United States’s decision to withdraw about 5,000 troops from Germany, a key partner in the Western security alliance, amid tensions over the war on Iran. In a statement on Saturday, NATO spokesperson Allison Hart said the bloc is “working …