International Relations

The proposal, made by the Prime Minister’s allies, did not find many takers at Cabinet meeting Backers of Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe on Thursday proposed abolishing the country’s highly-controversial executive presidency, but with few takers in the Cabinet it was thwarted, according to those present at the discussion. The move …

Iranian regime’s threatening behaviour will not be tolerated, says Secretary of State Pompeo U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Thursday that America backs Saudi Arabia’s “right to defend itself” after a weekend attack targeted the heart of its oil industry, comments coming after he described the assault as …

The Jammu and Kashmir government has shelved the global investors’ summit scheduled for October. Governor Satya Pal Malik on Thursday reviewed the preparedness for holding the summit, and decided “to reschedule it to 2020 in consultation with the Union government”. “This is to give the Industries and Commerce Departments reasonable …

Trump and Modi may announce a limited package of trade-related agreements at Houston event India and the U.S. are expected to announce the resolution of some of their trade-related differences on medical equipment caps, ICT (information and communication technology) tariffs and market access for agricultural produce. They are in discussions …

Electoral rallies and gatherings could become potential targets, warn insurgents The Taliban warned Afghans on Tuesday to keep away from election rallies and ordered its fighters to “stand against” the planned September vote. The militants and other insurgent groups conducted frequent attacks during previous elections, and this year’s campaign season …

Sri Lankan PM tells inquiry panel that he was not informed about the terror threat despite prior intel “I am yet to get a satisfactory response on why I was not briefed about the Easter Sunday terror threat,” Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has said, suggesting that the Sri Lankan government …

Group faces allegations of bank loan fraud involving Rs. 8,100 crore. The Interpol is yet to issue Red Notices against Chetan and Nitin Sandesara, promoters of the Vadodara-based Sterling Biotech Limited group which faces allegations of bank loan fraud involving Rs. 8,100 crore. The Enforcement Directorate, which is pursuing a …

Russian-made FaceApp is caught in a political storm The chart-topping Russian-made FaceApp, which allows users to see how they will look as they age, is in the eye of a political storm in the U.S., with one senator urging an FBI investigation into its “national security and privacy risks”. A …

Beijing has threatened to sanction U.S. companies over arms sales to Taipei Amid growing trade tensions with the U.S., China is going ahead with its decision to sanction American companies selling weapons to Taiwan. The State-run tabloid, Global Times , earlier this week nailed specific steps that China can take …

‘World court has given it an opportunity to comply with the rule of law and reform its processes’ Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley dubbed the International Court of Justice judgment in the Kulbhushan Jadhav case a “comprehensive victory for India.”“Pakistan lost conclusively before the ICJ. Its farcical processes through which …

‘We’ll continue efforts to free him’ A day after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) asked Pakistan to review the death penalty given to former naval officer Kulbhushan Jadhav, India called upon Pakistan to release him forthwith. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, making a statement in both Houses of Parliament, …

Says it gets undue edge over rivals The European Union’s powerful antitrust authority launched an in-depth investigation into Amazon on Wednesday, amid suspicions the U.S.-based internet behemoth misuses merchant data hosted on its website. The formal investigation opens a new chapter in the European Union’s campaign to address the dominance …

Benjamin Netanyahu is set to becomes Israel’s longest-serving Prime Minister as his 13-year rule surpasses that of Israel’s founding father David Ben-Gurion on July 20. But as he is about to cross the milestone, Mr. Netanyahu faces perhaps his greatest political challenge yet. After failing to form a parliamentary majority …

The Trump administration is proposing to increase merit-based legal immigration to 57% and half of those would be based on family and humanitarian grounds, in an effort to overhaul the existing system. Senior presidential adviser Jared Kushner, who is also the son-in-law of U.S. President Donald Trump, said having an …

However diplomats said that ordering Mr. Jadhav’s release was never really an expectation from the ICJ. “This was a big victory, and as much as India would have hoped for at this stage,” said Gautam Bambawale, explaining that “the ICJ never gives directions beyond its authority as it cannot implement …

China says it is in close coordination with all stakeholders China on Monday sought to reassure India that it does not intend to “exclude” New Delhi from international diplomacy on Afghanistan, following last week’s quadrilateral talks in Beijing among China, Russia, the U.S. and Pakistan. Fresh from his visit to …

President asks the four freshman lawmakers to apologise to him and ‘the people of Israel’ President Donald Trump on Monday increased his attacks on four first-term Democratic congresswomen and warned the party about uniting “around the foul language & racist hatred spewed” from the American women whom he recently told …

People queued to get their hands on ‘Zero Euro’, recognised by European Central Bank as souvenir banknote, depicting the pop icon Hundreds of people from home and abroad queued in steady rain in central Prague Sunday to buy a “Zero Euro” souvenir banknote depicting Czech pop singer Karel Gott in …

Reap rich dividends via bio agents Even as organic agriculture is gaining momentum in the country, a self-help group of tribal women in Wayanad district of Kerala is scripting a success story in production of 13 different varieties of bio agents to support organic farming. Eight members of the Sabari …

But rebuilding refugees’ trust is tough Two years after more than 700,000 Rohingya fled to camps in Bangladesh alleging ethnic cleansing by Myanmar forces, the Indian government says it is stepping up efforts to help them return to their villages. On July 9, Ambassador to Myanmar Saurabh Kumar handed over …