The Hindu

Officials said the increase was unavoidable as rising crude prices, supply chain disruptions and higher freight and insurance costs pushed up import expenses in recent weeks, particularly after oil prices have jumped during the seven-week-old war on Iran.

Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) describes the meeting as the Ambassador being called in, not summoned

Earlier today, a terrorist who infiltrated the community of Negohot in Judea and Samaria was identified and eliminated, the military said, using the biblical term for the West Bank.

Israel and Turkiye have been trading nearly-daily diplomatic barbs over a range of regional conflicts, from Israel's war in Gaza to rising tensions linked to Iran.

Iran's Supreme National Security Council said in a statement that Pakistan's army chief Asim Munir, serving as an intermediary, presented the proposals to Iran when he recently visited Tehran

Defiant message came as Iran swiftly reimposed restrictions on the Strait of Hormuz

Saeed Khatibzadeh said both sides were currently focused on finalising a framework of understanding before proceeding with further negotiations

Iran said earlier it was reimposing restrictions on the strait in response to a U.S. blockade on Iranian shipping and ports

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations center said the tanker and crew were reported safe

The Foreign Ministers expressed a shared commitment to advancing this partnership, deepening coordination and expanding collaboration across key areas of mutual interest, says Foreign Office

Nathalie Baye, a stalwart of French cinema, starred in some 80 films and took home the best actress Cesar Frances equivalent of the Oscars four times, including three years running from 1981 to 1983

The deal struck in August anchors Japans push away from its postwar pacifism to forge security ties beyond its alliance with the U.S. to counter China

Iran warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect

Syed Asim Munir, who was heading a high-level delegation to Iran, landed in Tehran on April 15, becoming the first foreign military leader to visit the country since a two-week ceasefire was agreed between Iran and the U.S. on April 8

A senior State Department official met with the grandson of retired Cuban leader Ral Castro last week during the trip

The quake hit Omachi in northern Nagano around 1:20 p.m., Nippon Hs Kykai said

Russian forces also targeted an energy facility in the Chernihiv region in Ukraines north, the regional power distribution operator said on Telegram.

I don't expect much from this release, said one 50-year-old Yangon resident, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. There is no reason to be thankful because he was arrested unjustly in the first place, says Suu Kyi

Iran, hours earlier, had temporarily reopened the Strait of Hormuz following a separate U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement by Israel and Lebanon

Iran, however, pushed back on Trumps claim that Tehran had agreed to hand over its enriched uranium, saying its stockpile of enriched uranium was not going anywhere

Mr. Trump told reporters there were ot going to be tolls imposed by Iran on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz, something that the Islamic republic put forward during previous peace deal plans.

Here is a select list of stories to start the day

Costa Rica is one of a growing number of countries across Africa and the Americas that have signed contentious, often secretive agreements with the U.S. to accept deportees from other countries

The U.S. Treasury Department allowed purchases of the oil loaded on vessels as of Friday (April 17, 2026) through May 16, an extension of an original 30-day waiver that expired on April 11, according to a document posted to the department's website

The waivers could complicate the Wests efforts to deprive Russia of revenue for its war in Ukraine and put Washington at odds with its allies

Most of these ships are critical to Indias energy needs and are carrying crude oil

The AI boom is largely reliant on the extraction of cobalt needed to run energy-hungry data servers, with Africa often bearing the environmental, social and human cost of mining

Mr. Trumps charge that Pope Leo caters to the radical left is incoherent on its face

The U.S.-Israel ceasefire with Iran must hold across all fronts

Shortly after the truce went into effect at midnight local time, the Army told residents of the south many of whom had to flee their homes following sweeping Israeli evacuation warnings not to return, citing several Israeli acts of aggression.

Australias most decorated living veteran has walked free on bail from a Sydney prison 10 days after he was charged with committing war crimes in Afghanistan

Sri Lanka has sent home 238 Iranian sailors, including 32 who survived a U.S. torpedo attack in the Indian Ocean

The indictment triggered sharp criticism from members of the political Opposition and civil society, who reminded the Dissanayake government and the ruling National Peoples Power administration of their key pre-poll promise of wiping out corruption

About 20% of the worlds crude oil supply passed through the Strait of Hormuz, which links the Persian Gulf to the Gulf of Oman and the Arabian Sea, before the U.S. and Israel launched their war on Iran on February 28.

The Deep Sea, Sonia I and Diona, all under U.S. sanctions, passed the strategic strait on April 15, 2026 after leaving Irans Kharg Island, having loaded on April 2, 8 and 9 respectively

Israel Defence Minister Israel Katz also warned that if the fighting resumed, displaced residents returning to the countrys war-torn south would have to evacuate again

In 2025, nearly 900 Rohingya refugees were reported missing or dead in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal, the United Nations refugee agency's spokesman Babar Baloch told a press briefing in Geneva

The Airbus H130 lost contact on April 16, five minutes after it took off from Melawi district in West Kalimantan province

Suu Kyi is currently serving a 27-year sentence

Along with Mr. Jayakody, Ministry's Secretary Udayanga Hemapala too resigned from the post, President Anura Kumara Dissanayakes office said

The Additional Secretary (Gulf) at the MEA said that exactly a total of 1,75,025 pilgrims will be embarking on the Hajj pilgrimage

Last year, Japan sweltered through its hottest summer since records began in 1989 with warmer days on the rise globally due to climate change

Britains Prime Minister Keir Starmer is due to make a statement in Parliament on the issue on April 20, 2026

While the word was coined in the U.S., it has been frequently used across the globe, including France and the U.K.

Lawmakers scrambled back to the Capitol as Democrats blasted the process, with many members flipping through pages of the bill on the floor as votes began

The last formal assessment of the Venezuelan economy by the IMF was in 2004, and Caracas cleared its World Bank tab in 2007

The U.S. and Iran held rare direct talks in Pakistan over the weekend aimed at ending their conflict, but the talks ended early Sunday (April 12, 2026) without any agreement

National security systems in 23 of the 28 countries studied seem to rely on US tech, researchers found after looking at EU member states and Britain

The amnesty comes a week after Min Aung Hlaing was sworn into office following an election that critics say was neither free nor fair and was orchestrated to keep the military's iron grip on power

Colombo-based political sources told The Hindu that the visiting Indian Vice President is also scheduled to meet opposition politicians, including those from political parties representing the Tamils of the north and east, as well as the Malaiyaha Tamils from the islands hill country