India fails to pass parliament expansion bill linked to quotas for women

Opposition groups said while they were in favour of quotas for women legislators, the linking of the plan to a mass redrawing of constituency boundaries was a government bid to manipulate the system and get more votes
18 April 2026

UN rights chief urges immediate release of Myanmar's Aung San Suu Kyi

The military has ruled Myanmar by force for almost all of its post-independence history, before a decade-long democratic experiment gave civilian politicians tentative control.
18 April 2026

US to recover uranium from Iran at a 'leisurely pace', Trump tells Reuters

He referred to "nuclear dust" and added that it would be retrieved "very soon."
18 April 2026

Turkey hosts latest diplomatic push on Middle East war

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said the shortest route to peace lay in dialogue and diplomacy.
18 April 2026

US renews sanctions waiver for countries to buy Russian oil

The Treasury Department posted the license to its website late on Friday, allowing countries to purchase Russian oil loaded on vessels as of Friday through May 16.
18 April 2026

Iran threatens to close Hormuz anew, if US blockade continues

Oil prices had already been falling on hopes of a negotiated end to the conflict, and the drop accelerated on Friday, with stocks heading upwards as traders drank in the optimism.
18 April 2026

West Bengal election: Delimitation seen as conspiracy to delete voters’ names: Mamata

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday alleged that linking Bills related to women’s reservation and the proposed delimitation commission was a “conspiracy” to delete voters’ names from electoral rolls and implement the National Register of Citizens.
18 April 2026

US Senate vote on arms sale to Israel shows huge ‘cracks’

A vote in the United States Senate to block military equipment for Israel this week ended in defeat.
18 April 2026

Int’l law ‘matters more than ever’ in chaotic world

International law is more important than ever at a time when even core countries in the global system are calling it into question, the United Nations secretary general said yesterday.
18 April 2026

Strait of Hormuz now open

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi yesterday said the Strait of Hormuz was open following a ceasefire agreed on in Lebanon, while US President Donald Trump said he believed a deal to end the Iran war would come “soon”, though the timing remained unclear.
18 April 2026

38,000 women, girls killed till end of 2025: UN

Over 38,000 women and girls were killed in the Gaza war by the end of 2025, the UN estimated yesterday, amounting to over half of the 71,000 deaths recorded by the territory’s health ministry.
18 April 2026

Mandelson row: British PM again under pressure to resign

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer came under renewed pressure to resign yesterday despite sacking a senior official following news that Britain’s former ambassador to the United States had failed security vetting but was still handed the job.
18 April 2026

China intensifies Iran diplomacy

China is accelerating its efforts to end the Iran war, walking a diplomatic tightrope as it prepares for a summit next month with US President Donald Trump while trying not to alienate Tehran.
18 April 2026

Trump says ‘no money’ to be involved in any Iran nuclear deal

No money will exchange hands in any way, shape, or form, he says
17 April 2026
17 April 2026

Trump says US helping Iran remove mines from Hormuz

Iran, with the help of the US, has removed, or is removing, all sea mines, he says
17 April 2026

Trump says Israel banned from bombing Lebanon

'Enough is enough!!!' — Trump in social media post
17 April 2026

Strait of Hormuz open: Iran's foreign minister

Trump welcomes Iranian announcement
17 April 2026

Average of 47 women and girls killed daily during Gaza war, UN says

Around one million women and girls are displaced in Gaza, UN Women says
17 April 2026