Morning Digest: India-U.S. trade deal unlikely until competitor countries probed; Sri Lanka High Court convicts 14 in Easter Sunday blasts case

India and the U.S. are unlikely to sign a trade deal until the U.S. launches a series of fresh ‘Section 301 investigations’, concludes them, and places tariffs on India’s competitors such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Philippines, a person familiar with the process has said. It was a “strategic mistake”, according to the person, that Pakistan was not included in the list of countries probed in the excess capacity 301 investigations opened in March 2026.

Sri Lanka’s High Court on Tuesday (September 22, 2026) convicted 14 of the 24 men accused of direct involvement in the Easter Sunday terror bombings that shook the island nation in April 2019, killing 279 people and injuring hundreds.

French President Emmanuel Macron called Tuesday (September 22, 2026) for countries to recommit to international laws and the UN system over a resurgent “law of the jungle.”