WORLD

CAIRO/DUBAI, 27 August 2026 (Nosheen): Qatar’s Prime Minister is set to visit Tehran on Thursday in an effort to revive diplomatic engagement between the United States and Iran amid continued tensions over Washington’s plans to increase economic pressure on Tehran.Qatar, which is a Gulf neighbour of Iran and a close US ally, has played an important role as a back-channel mediator between the two sides and helped secure a ceasefire in June that temporarily halted hostilities. The visit comes as the conflict approaches its sixth month, with fighting largely reduced but diplomatic progress remaining elusive. Major differences persist between Washington and Tehran, particularly over the Strait of Hormuz, a crucial waterway for global energy supplies. During the visit, Qatar is expected to disc...

 BEIJING, 26 August 2026 (Nosheen) : China’s coastal and southern regions are preparing for several days of heavy rainfall as Typhoon Narra moves inland and another storm approaches the country’s eastern coast. Tens of thousands of people have been evacuated as authorities take precautionary measures. Narra made landfall as a tropical storm on Tuesday evening in the southern island province of Hainan after remaining over the Beibu Gulf, also known as the Gulf of Tonkin, for several days. The storm brought heavy rain to parts of Guangxi, Hainan and Guangdong provinces. According to China’s Meteorological Administration, Narra and Typhoon Saudel, along with tropical cyclones Gaenari and Atsani, have formed a rare group of four storms simultaneously circulating across the Northwest P...

WASHINGTON, 26 August 2026 (Ghufran) — The administration of U.S. President Donald Trump has paused visa appointments for applicants around the world as part of a broader immigration crackdown during Trump's second term in office. A U.S. State Department spokesperson said Tuesday that the department had launched a global training initiative at U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide. Visa appointments will be adjusted to accommodate the training, the spokesperson said. The administration has pursued an aggressive immigration enforcement campaign that includes visa and green card revocations and the rejection of applications for a range of reasons, including applicants' political views and participation in pro-Palestinian protests against Israel's military campaign in Gaza.Trump has said th...

 CAIRO, 26 August, 2026(Kamran Raja) — Iran has resumed talks with neighboring Oman on managing traffic through the Strait of Hormuz as tensions with the United States continue to put pressure on Tehran, Iranian officials said. Iran and Oman have held intermittent discussions for several weeks over arrangements to regulate shipping through the strategic waterway, a vital global energy route that handled around one-fifth of worldwide oil and liquefied natural gas shipments before the war began in February. The talks come as Iran faces growing economic pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump amid the broader conflict. A temporary corridor through the Strait of Hormuz could help facilitate the movement of commercial vessels and reduce risks to international energy supplies. The Str...

 NEW YORK, 26 August 2026 (Nosheen) — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has said he does not support an upcoming event in the city featuring Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an influential Hindu nationalist organisation closely associated with the ideological roots of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Bhagwat is scheduled to speak at an event in Manhattan on August 29, according to the event’s website. Mamdani, the first Muslim and Indian American to serve as mayor of New York City, said he did not support the gathering but questioned whether the city had legal authority to cancel a privately organised event. He said the vision of India he learned from his family was that of a pluralistic and secular republic where every citizen had a sens...

 TEHRAN, 26 August 2026 (Ghufran) — Iran and Oman have resumed discussions on managing navigation through the Strait of Hormuz amid continued diplomatic tensions between Iran and the United States and growing economic pressure on Tehran.The two countries said they discussed establishing a joint temporary navigational corridor through the strategic waterway and agreed to clear the route of mines.The Strait of Hormuz is a critical global energy route, carrying a significant share of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas shipments. Most commercial shipping through the waterway has remained disrupted since the conflict began in February.US President Donald Trump said that all mines in the strait had been cleared, repeating comments he had made previously.Although active hostilitie...

WASHINGTON, 25 August, 2026 (Ghufran): US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director John Ratcliffe traveled to Russia on Tuesday to attend meetings in Moscow, according to US media reports citing unnamed sources. CBS News and Axios reported Ratcliffe’s visit, but neither outlet disclosed who the CIA director was scheduled to meet or what issues would be discussed. Ratcliffe, who previously served as US President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, now heads the CIA. Representatives for the CIA did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the reports. Kremlin representatives also could not immediately be reached for comment. The reported visit comes amid continued diplomatic and security engagement between Washington and Moscow, although details about Ratcliffe’s me...

MOSCOW, 25 August, 2026(Nosheen): Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree allowing the state to temporarily take control of critical infrastructure facilities if private owners fail to adequately protect them from Ukrainian drone attacks or rebuild them after strikes.The decree, issued Monday, comes as Russia faces growing economic pressure and public frustration following months of intensified Ukrainian attacks on oil refineries, warehouses and other key infrastructure. The measure applies to a wide range of facilities, including energy, industrial, communications, transportation and logistics infrastructure. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday that some business owners were not paying sufficient attention to anti-drone security measures. “Given the threat to vital e...