Paris, March 31 (IANS) A leading international press freedom organisation on Tuesday strongly condemned the Chinese authorities for denying journalist Zhang Zhan access to legal counsel and isolating her from the outside world, urging the global community to intensify pressure on Beijing to end her persecution. Citing information, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) revealed that following her second conviction in September 2025 on “trumped-up charges”, Zhan was denied access to a lawyer last week…
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Cairo, March 29 (IANS) Egypt’s Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty held separate phone talks with his Saudi, Jordanian and German counterparts, as well as officials from the European Commission, to discuss efforts to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.During the calls, the officials stressed the necessity of continuing efforts for “immediate de-escalation,” emphasising that “prioritising the diplomatic path and resorting to dialogue represents …
Oslo, March 27 (IANS) India and Norway held discussions on enhancing bilateral and India-Nordic engagements covering various sectors, including sustainability and climate, innovation and digitalisation, shipping and tunneling, Arctic. The talks were held during a meeting between Additional Secretary, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), Pooja Kapur and State Secretary, Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andreas Motzfeldt Kravik. During the meeting, Kravik recalled his recent visit to India to a…
Hamburg, March 24 (IANS) The Football Supporters Europe (FSE) and Euroconsumers have filed a formal complaint with the European Commission against the football governing body, FIFA, over excessive ticket prices for the upcoming World Cup 2026, which is set to commence on June 11.FSE has said that FIFA used its monopoly position and set high prices that are above the reach of the common people.In December, FIFA introduced a small number of more affordable $60 tickets for all 104 matches following…
Moscow, March 21 (IANS) European politicians are deliberately plunging their countries into crisis and darkness by continuing to reject Russian energy resources, the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Friday. “It is not a technical disaster nor any natural cataclysms that are causing the global crisis in the European Union (EU), but rather the decisions of its own leaders, who are simply flipping the switch,” Maria Zakharova said in a post on her Telegram channel.On Friday, European C…
New Delhi, March 20 (IANS) External Affairs Minister, S Jaishankar, and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong held a telephonic conversation on Friday, discussing the ongoing conflict in West Asia and Indo-Pacific issues. Following the conversation, EAM Jaishankar taking to his X handle wrote, “Very pleased to speak with my Australian counterpart Penny Wong. Shared our assessments of the ongoing West Asia conflict. Also discussed Indo-Pacific issues.”The talks between the two ministers come amid…
New Delhi, March 19 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and his Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar held a telephonic conversation on Thursday over the ongoing conflict in West Asia and its repercussions. Following their conversation, EAM Jaishankar wrote on X: “Had a telecon with FM Gideon Saar of Israel this evening. Exchanged views on the ongoing West Asia conflict and its many repercussions.”The talks between two ministers comes amid ongoing conflict in West Asia which erupted fo…
Strasbourg, March 11 (IANS) European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Wednesday the Middle East conflict has imposed heavy economic costs on Europe, driving up energy prices and adding billions of euros to import bills. “Since the beginning of the conflict, gas prices have risen by 50 per cent and oil prices by 27 per cent,” von der Leyen told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. She said 10 days of war had already cost European taxpayers an extra 3 billion euros (3.48 billion…
New Delhi, March 5 (IANS) The pressure tactics of the Donald Trump administration have triggered a change in what was a strengthening India-US relationship, according to an article in a prestigious journal.Indian leaders initially assumed the United States would prioritise their partnership as part of a larger plan to compete with China, but this did not happen, which has forced New Delhi to look for alternative partnerships, according to the article in Foreign Affairs magazine.The article consi…
New Delhi, Feb 26 (IANS) Major political parties in the fray for the March 5 Parliamentary election in Nepal, are expressing concern that the country – once a popular global tourist destination – has not been able to touch the pre-Covid number of visitors. Hence, they have pledged to work towards shoring up tourist arrivals to the nation, say media reports.“Nepal has been receiving just over 1 million tourists annually over the past three years, and arrivals have yet to return to the pre-C…