The US hopes India will "reconsider" its decision to ban wheat exports, with Washington "encouraging" countries not to restrict exports as that will exacerbate food shortages, amidst Russia's invasion of Ukraine. India, the world's second-biggest wheat producer, has banned wheat exports in a bid to check high domestic prices amid concerns of wheat output being hit by scorching heat waves. The decision would help control retail prices of wheat and wheat flour, which have risen by an average 14-20 per cent in the last one year, besides meeting the foodgrain requirement of neighbouring and vulnerable countries.
Seven Indian sailors were among 14 foreigners released on Sunday from the Houthi-controlled Yemeni capital of Sanaa, Oman's Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi said.
Drivers met for more than four hours at the Jeddah Corniche circuit
A decision to tap the 30 countries for exporting wheat was taken at a meeting of the commerce ministry on Thursday.
Formula 1's Saudi Arabian Grand Prix race faced a temporary setback after Yemen's Houthi rebels attacked an oil depot Friday
The 193-member UN General Assembly adopted a resolution, introduced by Pakistan's ambassador Munir Akram under agenda item culture of peace, to proclaim March 15 as the International Day to Combat Islamophobia.
The attack did not result in any human losses, it said, adding that the remnants of the intercepted and destroyed ballistic missiles fell in separate areas around Abu Dhabi.
International oil prices jumped to the highest level since 2014, topping $87 a barrel but domestic petrol and diesel prices remained unchanged for the 74th day in a row - a freeze that may be linked to ensuing assembly elections in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. Brent - the key global oil benchmark - soared to $87.7 per barrel mostly due to rising geopolitical tensions and supply-side disturbances due to Yemen's Houthi group's attack on oil facilities in the United Arab Emirates. Also, global inventories are waning. The attack, some analysts believe, may lead to more hostile behaviour between the two power centres in the Middle East - Iran and Saudi Arabia.
The identities of the two Indian nationals killed in Monday's suspected Houthi drone attacks near the Abu Dhabi airport that sparked multiple explosions in the United Arab Emirates capital have been established, the Indian embassy said on Tuesday.
'Preliminary investigations suggest that the cause of the fires are small flying objects, possibly belonging to drones, that fell in the two areas. Teams from the competent authorities have been dispatched and the fire is currently being put out,' news reports said.
From Covid to climate change, Shankar Acharya's look at some of the trends and events that might shape 2022.
The ministry said 151 out of the 578 people who contracted the infection have recovered or migrated.
The events of the last few years shows that pessimism about where we have arrived and where we are headed is justified, asserts Aakar Patel.
After decades of decline, the global prevalence of undernourishment is increasing.
It is a difficult problem and will require the Union, state governments and civil society, meaning NGOs, to work together, points out Aakar Patel.
The US intends first to cripple the Afghan government financially through sanctions, freezing of assets, denial of access to international banking, etc, and then proceed to do pretty much what it wants to do with scant regard for Afghanistan's sovereignty, predicts Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Considering that Qatar is a trusted ally of Washington for decades, it is expected to be a steady influence on the Taliban leadership, observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
He said that he had no intention of remaining in exile in the Gulf nation and was "in talks" to return home.
'India should play the role of a good neighbour, a mediator. and they should stand beside the people of Afghanistan. As a woman, as a human being, I will advise the Indian government to play the role of a peacemaker'
Of the 4.10 crore to be shared through COVAX, 1.40 crore will go to Latin America and the Caribbean nations and 1.60 crore to Asia.
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani on Monday pressed for bridging the digital divide "both among nations and within nations", saying connectivity and communications have become the fundamental rights of every person. Also, there is a need to bring back the economies around the globe. Speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum, he said it is difficult to imagine what India would have been without the 4G telecom network during the pandemic. "The digital divide must be bridged, both among nations and within nations.
Mary Kom, who is an Asian Games winner and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, will start the tournament as favourite in the women's category.
A photo symbolising "love and compassion" of an 85-year-old Brazilian woman getting her first embrace in five months from a nurse through a transparent "hug curtain" has been named the World Press Photo of the Year. This year, according to organisers, 74,470 images were submitted for judging, made by 4,315 photographers from 130 different countries. World Press Photo has been kind enough to allow to share some of this year's winning photos here with you.
'The Chinese are only about 160-170 km behind.' 'It will not take much time for them to bring their troops back, considering that they have better infrastructure -- and the weather is now favourable.' 'They can move in much faster as the terrain favours them.'
From Belarus to Bangladesh, authorities in 29 countries shut down or interfered with the internet at least 155 times in 2020.
The reduction of tension on the Chinese border may have reduced the urgency of a Biden-Modi meeting, but the sooner Modi starts a bromance with Biden the better as he had done with Obama and Trump, suggests Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
In his maiden address to the employees of the State Department, the US president said he has come to the building to send a clear message to the world: America is back. America is back. Diplomacy is back.
India should remember that Pakistan-Saudi Arabia relations will remain special due, not least, to bonds of all Muslims with The Holy Land. They would also be strategic enough, irrespective of whether the ambassador is a military man or a career civilian appointee., notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at the Research and Analysis Wing, India's external intelligence agency.
The Muslim ban initially restricted travel from seven Muslim-majority nations: Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.
'The attacks made clear to all the Gulf States that Pakistan was the nursery and sanctuary of extremist violence and that this violence threatened all the countries in the region.'
The reversal of Trump's policy with regard to Iran, like the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement, may not be a matter of just turning the clock back, but one of patient negotiations, with uncertain consequences in the post-COVID-19 world, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Scotland Yard's War Crimes Team, which is part of its Counter-Terrorism Command, has launched an investigation into the role of British mercenaries in fighting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebels in Sri Lanka during the 1980s.
Europeans believe that what is under attack is their way of life, their secular faith, the long-fought right to keep religion out of the public sphere, observes Virendra Kapoor.
The 2020 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to the United Nations World Food Programme for its efforts to combat hunger. The Norwegian Nobel Committee said the WFP had acted "as a driving force in efforts to prevent the use of hunger as a weapon of war and conflict". Here's what you need to know about the Rome-based organisation:
'Modi has visited all these three countries (the UAE more than once, inexplicably) but has left out Kuwait and Oman, the two Gulf countries that are closest to India in their political, cultural and civilisational ethos,' notes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'The Indian Navy has sufficient combat power in areas of interest to India that can quickly scale up operations if the need arises.' 'This includes all the choke points leading into the Indian Ocean as also areas within.'
'The Chinese navy is large and expanding both in numbers and capability by the day.' 'India too must take measures to safeguard its own interests, now and in the future.'
Israel and the UAE agreed to normalise their relations, and an agreement on the mutual establishment of embassies is expected to follow in the coming three weeks.
'The sooner Pakistan and India face these geopolitical realities, the better it will be for their own security and prosperity,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
On June 2, wind speed will reach 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 over south Gujarat coast, with sea condition very likely to be "rough to very rough". On June 3-4, squally wind speed will reach 90-100 kmph gusting 110 kmph over Gujarat coasts, and the sea condition is very likely to be high to very high.
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