Rubio signals US won’t force isolation of China partners

IANS | February 17, 2026 6:29 AM

Washington, Feb 17 (IANS) Declaring that Washington would not demand ideological loyalty tests from its partners, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that under President Trump, the United States expects “every nation on Earth” to pursue its own national interest — and is “not asking any country in the world to isolate themselves from anybody,” including China.

Pakistan's stance on ISF remains opaque as Sharif travels to Washington

IANS | February 16, 2026 9:39 PM

Islamabad, Feb 16 (IANS) As US President Donald Trump prepares to share details regarding United Nations-approved stabilisation force for Gaza, Pakistan has not revealed its stance on whether it would send its troops for International Stabilised Force (ISF), the local media reported on Monday.

Musk's X suffers global outage, users in India unable to load posts

IANS | February 16, 2026 7:40 PM

New Delhi, Feb 16 (IANS) Elon Musk-run X Corp suffered a global outage, including in India, as well as several other countries like the US and the UK, on Monday evening, with users unable to access their accounts properly, and posts unable to load on the platform.

China's actions in South China Sea undermine international legal order: Report

IANS | February 16, 2026 7:38 PM

Naypyidaw, Feb 16 (IANS) China’s actions constitute a systematic assault on the international legal order. By asserting adherence to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) — while violating its core provisions, spreading disinformation to obscure violations, intimidating monitors and negotiating in bad faith- Beijing demonstrates that law matters only when it aligns with Chinese interests, a report said on Monday.