Hindustan Times (Bathinda)
Guv keeps Vijay waiting as TN deadlock deepens
CHENNAI: The political churn in Tamil Nadu intensified on Thursday as actor-turned-politician Vijay met governor Rajendra Arlekar for a second time in two days even as Lok Bhavan defended its decision not to invite the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK) to...
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No invite yet for Vijay as Guv seeks legal opinion
NEW DELHI: Actor-turned-politician C Joseph Vijay met Tamil Nadu governor Rajendra Arlekar on Wednesday to stake claim to power but wasn’t invited to form the next government as officials said Lok Bhavan was seeking legal opinion to ensure the Tamilaga...
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Iran offers conditional deal to US on Hormuz
CAIRO: Iran offered to end its chokehold on the Strait of Hormuz if the U.S. lifts its blockade on the country and ends the war in a proposal that would postpone discussions on the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program, two regional officials said...
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Trump in crosshairs again as shooter targets DC function
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump and officials in his administration were the likely targets of a suspect who fired on a security agent guarding the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, US acting Attorney General Todd Blanche...
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Iran officials leave, US envoys call off trip to Pak for parleys
ISLAMABAD: The latest ceasefire talks between the United States and Iran appeared to fail Saturday before they began, as Tehran’s top diplomat left Pakistan and President Donald Trump soon afterward said he had told envoys not to travel to...
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Aap-heaval: 7 Rajya Sabha MPS revolt, desert Kejriwal
NEW DELHI/CHANDIGARH: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) was jolted on Friday after Rajya Sabha member Raghav Chadha announced that seven out of 10 parliamentarians from the Upper House were quitting the party and joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),...
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Trump’s ‘shoot, kill’ order sharpens Strait standoff
DUBAI: President Donald Trump has ordered the US military to “shoot and kill” small Iranian boats that deploy mines in the Strait of Hormuz, he said on Thursday, a day after Iran again displayed its ability to thwart traffic through the...
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Iran attacks 3 ships in Strait day after ceasefire extended
DUBAI: Iran fired on three ships in the Strait of Hormuz and seized two of them on Wednesday, intensifying its assault on shipping in the key waterway. The attacks came a day after US President Donald Trump extended a ceasefire while maintaining an...
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TN, Bengal set to vote as campaign winds up
High-decibel campaigns for the Tamil Nadu assembly polls and 152 seats in West Bengal ended on Tuesday, with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) making a strong push to breach the Opposition’s bastions in the southern and eastern parts of...
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Mixed signals as Pak talks hang in balance
DUBAI/WASHINGTON: Iran is considering attending peace talks with the United States in Pakistan, a senior Iranian official told Reuters on Monday, following moves by Islamabad to end a US blockade of Iran’s ports, a major hurdle for Tehran to rejoin...
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Trump announces new peace talks in Pakistan
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said his negotiators will head to Pakistan on Monday for talks with Iran, lifting hopes of extending a ceasefire set to expire this week even as Washington and Tehran remain locked in a standoff over the Strait of...
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Indian ships come under fire as Iran closes Hormuz again
NEW DELHI: Iran’s Revolutionary Guard fired at two Indianflagged merchant vessels in the Strait of Hormuz on Saturday, prompting the external affairs ministry to call in the Iranian envoy to lodge a formal protest over the incident. This was the first...
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Delimitation divide defeats bill to raise LS seats for women’s quota
NEW DELHI: A Constitution amendment bill to expand the size of the Lok Sabha and fasttrack 33% reservation for women failed to garner the required two-thirds majority in the Lok Sabha on Friday, marking the first defeat of a government bill since the...
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LS expansion will be fair, says govt; Oppn wants it in writing
NEW DELHI: The government on Thursday attempted to convince the Opposition that the proposal to increase the Lok Sabha’s strength and fast-track 33% reservation for women would involve a proportional 50% rise in each state’s seats, thereby not hurting...
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Trump hints at end to Iran war, fresh talks take shape
DUBAI/WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said the war he launched with Israel on Iran was close to over, as the army chief of mediator Pakistan reached Tehran to try to prevent a renewal of the conflict. The diplomatic push came as US and Iranian...
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Women’s quota: Bills seek to take LS seats up to 850 based on 2011 census
NEW DELHI: The government’s legislative push to reserve a third of the seats in Parliament and state legislative assemblies involves raising the cap on seats in the Lok Sabha from 550 to 850, with the allocation of seats to states, the reserved...
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US cuts off Iranian ports; Tehran vows to hit back
WASHINGTON/DUBAI: The US military began a blockade of ships leaving Iran’s ports on Monday, President Donald Trump said, and Tehran threatened to retaliate against ports of its Gulf neighbours after weekend talks on ending the war broke down. Oil...
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Talks fail, Trump says US will block Hormuz
ISLAMABAD: President Donald Trump on Sunday said the U.S. Navy would “immediately” begin a blockade of ships entering or leaving the Strait of Hormuz, after Us-iran ceasefire talks in Pakistan ended without an agreement or next diplomatic steps in...
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Iran-US direct talks begin in Pak amid fragile truce
ISLAMABAD: The US and Iran began historic face-to-face negotiations Saturday in Pakistan, days after a fragile, two-week ceasefire was announced, as the war that has killed thousands of people and shaken global markets entered its seventh week. The...
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Iran lays down red lines ahead of talks with US in Islamabad
DUBAI/BEIRUT/CAIRO/ISLAMABAD: Iran said on Friday that Iranian assets must be unblocked and a ceasefire take hold in Lebanon before peace talks with the United States can proceed, throwing last-minute doubt over negotiations scheduled for Saturday in...
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Israel pushes for Lebanon talks as Iran truce teeters
JERUSALEM/BEIRUT/ISLAMABAD: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday he is seeking direct talks with Beirut, a day after the worst bombardment of the war killed more than 300 people in Lebanon and placed Donald Trump’s Us-iran...
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Conflicting claims cloud nth-hour ceasefire
Iran closes Strait of Hormuz again in response to Israeli attacks against Hezbollah in Lebanon Iran accuses US of violating three deal clauses, White House contests Tehran’s 10-point plan Vance to lead US team to Pakistan on Saturday to hold talks on a...
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Trump raises the stakes to civilisational levels
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump threatened Iran with civilisational destruction as the US attacked military targets on the country’s key oil export hub, ramping up pressure on Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz by his Tuesday morning (Tehran...
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Trump threatens Tehran with night of destruction
TEHRAN: Iran on Monday rejected a 45-day ceasefire proposal and said it wants a permanent end to the war, while President Donald Trump appeared to widen his threat from civilian targets to the whole Islamic Republic as his ultimatum ticked...
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US aviator rescued after tense search, Trump vows ‘hell’ if Strait stays closed
TEHRAN: US President Donald Trump on Sunday made expletiveladen new threats to escalate strikes on Iran and its infrastructure if it doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz by his deadline, after American forces rescued an aviator whose Iran-downed plane...
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Trump gives new ultimatum, hunt for US pilot intensifies
TEL AVIV: The US military on Saturday searched for a missing pilot shot down over a remote area in Iran, while President Donald Trump remained silent on the incident but reminded Tehran of his Monday deadline to open the Strait of Hormuz: “48 hours...
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US F-15 downed, Gulf energy sites hit as talks go nowhere
WASHINGTON: Iran shot down a US fighter jet for the first time in the war and targeted more sites, including energy facilities, in Arab Gulf states even as a handful of ships transited the Strait of Hormuz by using a new route hugging the Omani...
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Trump dashes hopes of quick end to war as Iran continues Gulf strikes
DUBAI: Iran fired more missiles at Israel and Gulf Arab states Thursday, demonstrating Tehran’s continued ability to strike its neighbours even as US President Donald Trump claimed in a televised address the threat from the country was nearly...
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Trump signals Iran, Nato exit, Tehran denies ceasefire claim
WASHINGTON/TEL AVIV/CAIRO: The United States will end its war on Iran fairly soon and could return for “spot hits” if needed, President Donald Trump told Reuters on Wednesday, hours before he was scheduled to make a primetime address to the...
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Trump slams allies, Iran seeks guarantees for truce
TEHRAN/WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump expressed frustration Tuesday with allies who have been unwilling to do more to support the US war effort, telling them to “go get your own oil” as Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian said his country had the...
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Trump threatens to destroy Iran’s civilian infrastructure
DUBAI: US President Donald Trump on Monday threatened widespread destruction of Iran’s energy resources and other vital civilian infrastructure, potentially including desalination plants that supply drinking water, if a deal to end the war is not...
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Iran warns US on ground war as regional diplomats huddle
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Sunday that it will soon host talks between the US and Iran, though there was no immediate word from Washington or Tehran, and it was unclear whether the talks would be direct or indirect. “Pakistan is very happy that both...
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A month on, truce hopes dim, war inches closer to Red Sea
DUBAI: Iranian-backed Houthi rebels entered the month-old war in the Middle East on Saturday, claiming a missile launch that Israel said it intercepted. Pakistan said regional powers plan to meet Sunday to discuss how to end the fighting, while Iran...
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Israel strikes Iran N-sites after Trump extends Hormuz date
DUBAI: Iran’s nuclear facilities came under attack on Friday, state media reported, just hours after Israel threatened to “escalate and expand” its campaign against Tehran. Iran quickly threatened to retaliate and Israel claimed responsibility for the...
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Iran, US stick to their guns, Trump says unsure of deal
DUBAI: Iran and the US appeared at an impasse on Thursday, hardening their positions over ceasefire talks and setting the stage for another potential escalation in the West Asia conflict. A US proposal for ending nearly four weeks of fighting is...
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Iran shoots down US plan, says will end the war when it decides
DUBAI: Iran on Wednesday dismissed an American plan to pause the war in the Middle East and launched more attacks on Israel and Gulf Arab countries, including an assault that sparked a huge fire at Kuwait International Airport. Iran’s defiance came as...
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Missiles hit Tehran, Tel Aviv amid uncertainty over talks
DUBAI: Airstrikes battered Iran and Iranian missiles and drones targeted Israel’s Tel Aviv and sites across the Mideast on Tuesday, even as President Donald Trump said the US was in talks with the Islamic Republic to end the war. With thousands more...
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Trump presses pause, Iran denies talks claim
DUBAI: US President Donald Trump said Monday the U.S. was talking with a “respected” Iranian leader and claimed the Islamic Republic was eager for a deal to end the war. He also extended a deadline for Iran to reopen the crucial Strait of Hormuz or...
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Iran threatens key infra after Trump’s Hormuz ultimatum
ARAD: The US and Iran threatened to target critical infrastructure Sunday as the war in the West Asia, now in its fourth week, puts lives and livelihoods at risk throughout the region. Iran said the Strait of Hormuz, crucial to oil and other exports,...
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Israel strikes Iran N-plant again, Tehran aims for British-us base
CAIRO: Iran targeted a joint UK-US base in the Indian Ocean, and Iran’s main nuclear enrichment site was struck again, as the war in West Asia entered its fourth week. Iran’s attack on the Diego Garcia air base — about 4,000km away — suggested Tehran...
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Bulk diesel, premium petrol prices up
NEW DELHI: State-run oil marketing companies (OMCS) raised the price of industrial diesel and premium petrol on Friday as surging global crude prices — driven by the West Asia conflict — piled pressure on retail margins. While pump prices steady for...
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Stakes rise as Gulf petrochem sites attacked; US eyes waiver for Iran oil
DUBAI: Iran intensified its attacks on oil and natural gas facilities around the Gulf on Thursday, raising the stakes in a war that is sending shock waves through the global economy. The strikes, in retaliation for an Israeli attack on a key Iranian...
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Iran warns 5 Gulf sites after its gas field struck
DUBAI: Israel kept up its campaign of targeting Iran’s leaders on Wednesday, killing the country’s intelligence minister, and an Iranian offshore natural gas field was struck in a sign of the war’s mounting pressure – from both sides — on the region’s...
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Iran rejects talks as Israel says killed security chief
DUBAI/JERUSALEM: Israel said on Tuesday it had killed Iran’s security chief Ali Larijani, the most senior figure targeted since the war’s first day, while a top Iranian official said the new supreme leader had rejected de-escalation offers conveyed by...
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4 states, 1 UT gear up for April poll battles; verdict on May 4
NEW DELHI: Roughly 174 million voters across four states and a Union Territory will vote in assembly polls next month, the Election Commission of India (ECI) declared on Sunday, setting in motion a crucial electoral cycle that will have deep...
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Wangchuk released as govt revokes NSA
NEW DELHI: Climate activist Sonam Wangchuk was released from Jodhpur Jail on Saturday after the Centre revoked his detention under the stringent National Security Act (NSA), six months after he was held following violence in Ladakh last September. In...
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Iran allows two LPG ships to transit Hormuz to India
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: Iran has allowed two Indian-flagged liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) carriers to sail through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian officials said on Friday, a development expected to ease a cooking gas crisis in India. “The vessels have been...
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Mojtaba vows to keep Hormuz shut, continue attacks on Gulf
DUBAI/BEIRUT: Iran will fight on and keep the Strait of Hormuz shut as leverage against the United States and Israel, new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei said on Thursday in the first comments attributed to him since he succeeded his slain...
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Iran targets more merchant ships, warns of $200 oil, extended war
DUBAI: Iran said the world should be ready for oil at $200 a barrel as its forces hit merchant ships on Wednesday and the International Energy Agency recommended a massive release of strategic reserves to dampen one of the worst oil shocks since the...
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Govt invokes ESMA; gas for households, cars top priority
NEW DELHI: The government on Tuesday moved to ration natural gas supplies, prioritising households receiving piped gas, vehicles running on compressed natural gas (CNG), and units producing cooking gas (LPG), as the conflict in West Asia disrupts...
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Khamenei’s successor, strikes on oil infra take Brent past $100
DUBAI: Oil prices surged and stock markets slid Monday after hard-line Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei was chosen to succeed his late father as Iran’s supreme leader. His appointment, and new strikes on regional oil infrastructure, signaled that Iran was...
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India make history, retain crown at home
AHMEDABAD: India scored just 12 runs in the first two overs of the Powerplay. There were some murmurs of nerves at the Narendra Modi Stadium. But then, they took off. In the next four overs, they smashed 80 runs. By the end of the sixth over, Abhishek...
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Mixed messages by US, Iran: War spirals into second week
DUBAI/JERUSALEM: A week into the war between the Us-israel alliance and Iran, both sides sent mixed messages on Saturday — with US President Donald Trump seizing on an Iranian apology as proof of surrender while threatening to widen the bombing...
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As oil surges, US gives India a waiver on Russian cargos
WASHINGTON: The US has issued a 30-day sanctions waiver authorising Indian refiners to access Russian crude oil stranded at sea in a bid to stabilise global energy markets rattled by the West Asia conflict. Oil prices jumped further on Friday, with...
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Israel pounds Tehran; Gulf cities under fresh Iran fire
DUBAI/WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump claimed the right to join Iran in deciding its next leader on Thursday as the war escalated further, with US and Israeli jets hitting areas across the country and Gulf cities coming under renewed bombardment....
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Israel steps up strikes on Tehran, Iran defiant
DUBAI: Israel stepped up airstrikes on Iranian missile launchers and factories Tuesday, and Iran retaliated against Israel and across the Gulf region, disrupting energy supplies and travel. As explosions rang out in Tehran and in Lebanon — where Israel...
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Trump, Tehran dig in as attacks rage on
Three American F-15E fighters shot down in ‘friendly fire’ in Kuwait, pilots eject safely 3 Indians confirmed dead in Iranian strikes on two vessels off Oman; 20 injured across Gulf DUBAI/WASHINGTON: The US and Israeli air war against Iran widened on...
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Khamenei dead, Iran strikes widen war
JERUSALEM/TEL AVIV/DUBAI: Israel launched a new wave of strikes on Tehran on Sunday and Iran responded with more missile barrages, a day after the killing of supreme leader Ali Khamenei pitched West Asia and the global economy into deepening...
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War engulfs West Asia as US, Israel strike Iran
DUBAI: The US and Israel launched a major attack on Iran on Saturday, and President Donald Trump urged the Iranian public to “seize control of your destiny” by rising up against the Islamic leadership that has ruled the nation since 1979. Iranian...
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Court skewers CBI case against Kejriwal, others
NEW DELHI: A Delhi court on Friday cleared former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, his then deputy Manish Sisodia and 21 others of any wrongdoing in planning and executing the now-repealed 2021-22 Delhi excise policy, marking a dramatic twist in...
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India, Israel elevate ties; trade deal on anvil: PM
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India and Israel have elevated their bilateral relationship to the status of a special strategic partnership, adding that the “historic decision” reflects the aspirations of the people of the two...
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India firmly with Israel: PM in Knesset address
NEW DELHI: Countering terrorism requires sustained and coordinated global action because terrorism anywhere threatens peace everywhere, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Jerusalem on Wednesday, adding that India was firmly in support of the Gaza...
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Jharkhand crash: Plane didn’t have a black box
NEW DELHI: The medical evacuation aircraft that crashed in Jharkhand Monday night, killing all seven people on board, had no black box, officials familiar with the matter told HT, in what would likely pose a significant challenge in piecing together...
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Medical charter plane crashes, 7 feared dead
NEW DELHI/ RANCHI: All seven people on board were feared dead as an air ambulance transporting a burn victim from Ranchi to New Delhi crashed in Jharkhand’s Chatra district on Monday night, in the latest safety crisis to hit India’s aviation...
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India, US delay meet; deal timeline may slip
NEW DELHI: Indian and American officials have postponed a three-day meeting scheduled for this week to discuss their interim trade deal, people aware of the matter said, describing a chain of events since Friday as likely to impact the March timeline...
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From 10 to 15%: Trump raises US global tariffs
NEW DELHI: US President Donald Trump raised his newly imposed global tariff to 15% on Saturday, maxing out the statutory ceiling of the legal provision he had invoked just a day earlier — and signalling that steeper levies were on the way. In a post...
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Tariffs junked, Trump takes new route
WASHINGTON/NEW DELHI: The US Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff regime in a 6-3 ruling on Friday — and within hours, Trump said he would sign a fresh executive order imposing a 10% global tariff under Section 122 of the...
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