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US President Donald Trump said India will buy Venezuelan oil, helping to replace some of the Russian oil that the world’s third-biggest oil importer buys. “We’ve already made that deal, the concept of the deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One as he travelled to his vacation home in Florida from Washington. Reuters reported on Friday that the US has told Delhi it could soon resume purchases of Venezuelan oil to help replace imports of Russian oil, citing three people familiar with the matter. India stopped buying oil from Caracas last year after Trump in March imposed a 25% tariff on countries buying Venezuelan oil. In his comments, Trump said India would buy Venezuelan oil instead of Iranian crude. However, New Delhi stopped loading oil from Iran in 2019 due to US sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear programme. Indian refiners turned to US oil to make up for the loss of Iranian supply, then curbed US purchases and became the top buyer of Russian seaborne oil sold at a discount after Western nations imposed sanctions onMoscow for its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Trump in August doubled duties on imports from India to 50% to pressure New Delhi to stop buying Russian oil, and earlier this month said the rate could rise again if it did not curb its purchases. However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signalled in January that the additional 25% tariff on Indian goods could be removed, given what he called a sharp reduction in Indian imports of Russian oil.The US government this week lifted some sanctions on Venezuela’s oil industry to make it easier for US companies to sell its crude oil.Trump’s comments appeared to reflect continued improvement in US-India relations, which have been tense throughout the past year. Source link
India pushed manufacturing to the forefront of its budget as it prioritised sectors such as semiconductors, biopharma and renewables, but stopped short of the bold reforms sought by investors to boost investment amid rising geopolitical tensions. The absence of ambitious reforms and an increase in the transaction tax on derivatives spooked equity markets, which tumbled nearly 2% for their worst budget-day performance in six years. The Indian economy has so far weathered the 50% US tariff on some Indian goods and geopolitical flux, with gross domestic product growth expected at 7.4% in the financial year ending March 31, 2026. But foreign investors have sold a record amount of Indian equities, adding up to $22bn since last January, and the rupee has weakened sharply to all-time lows.Economists and a rating agency said that yesterday’s budget for next fiscal year lacked firepower to buoy markets and was not a “breakthrough”. “I think what we saw was a very tactical budget. It wasn’t a breakthrough kind of budget where groundbreaking kinds of measures were announced,” said Christian de Guzman, senior vice president at Moody’s Ratings.Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman cut tariffs on capital goods and doubled the budget for an electronics manufacturing scheme to Rs400bn. Sitharaman also announced foreign companies like Apple can freely provide machines to their contract manufacturers, removing any tax risk.The finance minister committed to scaling up manufacturing priorities in seven sectors including pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, rare-earth magnets, capital goods and textiles. Trideep Bhattacharya, president and CIO-Equities at Edelweiss Asset Management, said that while the budget provides some support for manufacturing, it “stopped short of the firepower that could have delivered immediate excitement to the markets”. The Nifty 50 fell 1.96% to 24,825.45, while the BSE Sensex lost 1.88% to 80,722.94. Market sentiment was also hit by a hike in the securities transaction tax by more than 50% on futures trading to 0.05% from 0.02% and to 0.15% from 0.01% on options.Indian bond and forex markets were closed yesterday.The government raised the capital spending to Rs12.2tn ($133.08bn) from the current revised estimate of about Rs11tn, in an environment where private investment remains tentative. Source link
A student rides a bicycle as snow falls on the historic Horseshoe at the University of South Carolina yesterday in Columbia, South Carolina. Forecasts show much…
An ally of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has proposed a bill to ban social media for children, as the world’s biggest market for Meta and YouTube joins a global debate on the impact of social media on young people’s health and safety. “Not only are our children becoming addicted to social media, but India is also one of the world’s largest producers of data for foreign platforms,” lawmaker L S K Devarayalu told Reuters on Friday. “Based on this data, these companies are creating advanced AI systems, effectively turning Indian users into unpaid data providers, while the strategic and economic benefits are reaped elsewhere,” he said. Australia last month became the first country to ban social media for children under 16, blocking access in a move welcomed by many parents and child advocates but criticised by major technology companies and free-speech advocates. France’s National Assembly this week backed legislation to ban children under 15 from social media, while Britain, Denmark and Greece are studying the issue. Facebook operator Meta, YouTube-parent Alphabet and X did not respond yesterday to e-mails seeking comment. Meta has said it backs laws for parental oversight but that “governments considering bans should be careful not to push teens toward less safe, unregulated sites”. India’s information technology (IT) ministry did not respond to a request for comment. India, the world’s second-biggest smartphone market with 750mn devices and 1bn Internet users, is a key growth market for social media apps and does not set a minimum age for access. Devarayalu’s 15-page Social Media (Age Restrictions and Online Safety) Bill, which is not public but was seen by Reuters, says no one under 16 “shall be permitted to create, maintain, or hold” a social media account and those found to have one should have them disabled. “We are asking that the entire onus of ensuring users’ age be placed on the social media platforms,” Devarayalu said. The government’s chief economic adviser attracted attention on Thursday by saying that India should draft policies on age-based access limits to tackle “digital addiction”. Devarayalu’s legislation is a private member’s bill – not proposed to parliament by a federal minister – but such bills often trigger debates in parliament and influence lawmaking. He is from the Telugu Desam Party, which governs the southern state Andhra Pradesh and is vital to Modi’s coalition government. Source link
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer with Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. – AFP Britain and Japan agreed to strengthen defence and economic ties, visiting Prime Minister Keir Starmer said yesterday, after his bid to forge closer links with China drew warnings from US President Donald Trump. Starmer noted that Japan and Britain were the leading economies in a trans-Pacific that includes fellow G7 member Canada, as well as other international trade and defence pacts. “We set out a clear priority to build an even deeper partnership in the years to come,” Starmer said as he stood beside Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi after a bilateral meeting in Tokyo. “That includes working together to strengthen our collective security, across the Euro-Atlantic and in the Indo-Pacific.” Takaichi said they agreed to hold a meeting of British and Japanese foreign and defence ministers this year. She said she also wanted to discuss “co-operation towards realising a free and open Indo-Pacific, the Middle East situation and Ukraine situation” at a dinner with Starmer later. Starmer arrived on a one-day Tokyo stop after a four-day visit in China, where he followed in the footsteps of other Western leaders looking to counter an increasingly volatile United States. Leaders from France, Canada and Finland have all travelled to Beijing in recent weeks, recoiling from Trump’s bid to seize Greenland and tariff threats against North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) allies. Trump warned on Thursday that it was “very dangerous” for its close ally Britain to be dealing with China, although Starmer brushed off those comments. Tokyo’s ties with Beijing have deteriorated since Takaichi suggested in November that Japan could intervene militarily during a potential attack on Taiwan. China regards the self-ruled democratic island as its territory. Starmer met Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang on Thursday, with both sides highlighting the need for closer ties. He also signed a series of agreements there, with Downing Street announcing Beijing had agreed to visa-free travel for British citizens visiting China for under 30 days. No start date for that arrangement has been given yet. Takaich said the two leaders agreed during discussions on economic security that a strengthening of supply chains “including important minerals is urgently needed”. There is concern that Beijing could choke off exports of the rare earths crucial for making everything from electric cars to missiles. China, the world’s leading producer of such minerals, announced new export controls in October on rare earths and associated technologies. They have also been a major sticking point in trade negotiations between China and the United States. Britain, Japan and Italy are also developing a new fighter jet after Tokyo relied for decades on the United States for military hardware. Source link
More than 70 people were killed Saturday in Balochistan Province, southwestern Pakistan, in coordinated armed attacks carried out by militants affiliated with the so-called Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). A Pakistani security source reported that the attacks targeted more than 12 locations across the province, resulting so far in the deaths of at least 10 police and security personnel and injuries to others, while over 50 militants were killed in clashes with security forces. These attacks come a day after the Pakistan military announced the killing of 41 militants in Balochistan, the impoverished Pakistani province often in flux due to ongoing violence. The source explained that the attacks, which included widespread gunfire and suicide operations, occurred in several areas, including Quetta, coastal Gwadar, Pasni, Mastung, and Nushki, prompting the army, police, and counter-terrorism units to respond with intensive operations to contain the situation and secure the targeted areas. The source noted that security forces thwarted several attacks thanks to a rapid and effective response, but the violence left widespread devastation, causing rail service suspensions, disruption of mobile phone services, and traffic in some areas. According to security sources, at least five civilians were also killed during the clashes, including three women and three children from a single family in coastal Gwadar. Meanwhile, militants freed 30 prisoners in Mastung after attacking a police station and seizing weapons and ammunition, and a local official was abducted in Nushki, according to official sources. In a statement, the Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the attacks, asserting that it targeted military and police installations and blocked highways to delay the army's response. Earlier today, the Pakistan military announced the elimination of 58 militants during two security operations in different areas of southwestern Pakistan, after tracking militant movements in Balochistan. Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, is the largest province in terms of area, rich in hydrocarbons and minerals, yet simultaneously the poorest, with about 70% of its population living under the poverty line.Pakistan has faced a longstanding insurgency in the province, but attacks have escalated in western border areas with Afghanistan in recent years.2024 was one of the deadliest years in the province, with more than 1,600 people killed, nearly half of them members of the army and police, according to data from the Islamabad Center for Security Research and Studies. Source link
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil announced that the top US envoy Laura F. Dogu has arrived in Venezuela as the two countries gradually resume their bilateral agenda. Gil shared on Telegram that these conversation are aimed at establishing a roadmap for work on matters of bilateral interest, as well as addressing and resolving existing differences through diplomatic dialogue. He stressed that the process is guided by mutual respect and international law as the framework for US-Venezuela relations. Meanwhile, Dogu said in a post on X “I just arrived in Venezuela. My team and I are ready to work.” Dogu, a former ambassador to Nicaragua and Honduras, was named on Jan. 22 as US charge d’affaires in Venezuela in the absence of an ambassador. The move comes amid a gradual resumption of ties after the two countries broke off relations in 2019 during the first term of President Donald Trump Source link
President Donald Trump’s administration will add some 65,000 H-2B seasonal guest worker visas through September 30, a Federal Register notice said, saying that the visas would be available to employers at risk of severe financial hardship due to a lack of US labour. The move roughly doubles the 66,000 visas available each year to businesses such as construction, hospitality, landscaping and seafood processing, in recognition that US employers in those industries could be struggling to find workers. Trump, a Republican, launched a wide-ranging immigration crackdown after returning to the White House in 2025, portraying immigrants without legal status as criminals and a drain on their communities. His administration also has clamped down on forms of legal immigration, with broad travel bans and reviews of refugee and asylum cases. The number of available visas also was expanded under former president Joe Biden, a Democrat, and Trump during periods of his 2017-21 presidency. Employers in the seasonal businesses – including hotels – have clamoured for more visas. Some construction businesses have complained of a lack of workers during Trump’s aggressive immigration crackdown. Groups that favour lower levels of immigration oppose the visas, saying that they undercut wages for US workers. Trump has made it harder for tech businesses to obtain workers through the H-1B programme, tacking on a $100,000 fee that has triggered a legal challenge. A temporary rule making the additional H-2B visas available will be formally published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, the notice said. Source link
Right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists MEP Marion Marechal (centre) poses for a selfie photograph with a supporter next to Rassemblement National’s MP Thibaut Monnier (right) while…
People attend a protest march organised by Danish veterans from Kastellet to the U.S. embassy in Copenhagen to express dissatisfaction with U.S. President Donald Trump’s statements…