:root {
     --bg-color: #ffffff;
     --text-main: #1a1a1a;
     --text-muted: #666666;
     --accent: #000000;
     --border: #eeeeee;
     --card-bg: #fafafa;
     --font-serif: 'Merriweather', 'Playfair Display', 'Baloo Tamma 2', Georgia, serif;
     --font-sans: 'Inter', 'Baloo Tamma 2', system-ui, -apple-system, sans-serif;
     --font-news-title: 'Merriweather', 'Playfair Display', 'Baloo Tamma 2', Georgia, serif;
 }

 * {
     margin: 0;
     padding: 0;
     box-sizing: border-box;
 }

 body {
     font-family: var(--font-sans);
     background-color: var(--bg-color);
     color: var(--text-main);
     line-height: 1.6;
 }

 .main-content-wrapper {
     padding: 0 45px;
     /* Leave space for side strips on all pages */
 }

 h1,
 h2,
 h3,
 .serif {
     font-family: var(--font-serif);
     font-weight: 700;
 }

 .container {
     max-width: 1200px;
     margin: 0 auto;
     padding: 0 1rem;
 }

 @media (max-width: 768px) {
     .container {
         padding: 0 0.75rem;
     }
 }

 header {
     border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
     padding: 0.5rem 0;
     position: sticky;
     top: 0;
     background: #333333;
     z-index: 1100;
     width: 100%;
 }

 .nav-wrapper {
     display: flex;
     justify-content: space-between;
     align-items: flex-end;
     width: 100%;
     max-width: 1280px;
     margin: 0 auto;
     padding: 0.5rem 1rem 0.5rem 0rem;
 }

 .logo img {
     height: 75px;
     width: auto;
     display: block;
 }

 .header-actions {
     display: flex;
     flex-direction: column;
     gap: 0.5rem;
     align-items: flex-end;
 }

 .search-form {
     display: flex;
     align-items: center;
     background: #ffffff;
     padding: 0.35rem 0.75rem;
     border-radius: 20px;
     border: 1px solid #ddd;
     box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05);
 }

 .search-input {
     background: none;
     border: none;
     color: #333;
     font-size: 0.85rem;
     padding: 0.2rem 0.5rem;
     width: 120px;
     transition: width 0.3s;
 }

 .search-input.expanded {
     width: 200px;
 }

 .search-btn {
     background: none;
     border: none;
     cursor: pointer;
     color: #333;
     display: flex;
     align-items: center;
     padding-left: 0.5rem;
 }

 .side-strip {
     position: fixed;
     top: 0;
     bottom: 0;
     width: 45px;
     background: #f8f9fa;
     display: flex;
     flex-direction: column;
     align-items: center;
     padding-top: 150px;
     gap: 0.3rem;
     z-index: 1001;
 }

 .side-strip-left {
     left: 0;
     border-right: 1px solid #e1e4e8;
 }

 .side-strip-right {
     right: 0;
     border-left: 1px solid #e1e4e8;
 }

 .strip-section-label {
     display: flex;
     align-items: center;
     justify-content: center;
     width: 28px;
     height: 28px;
     border: 1.5px solid #000000;
     border-radius: 50%;
     font-weight: 700;
     font-size: 0.7rem;
     color: #000000;
     margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
     background: transparent;
     user-select: none;
     text-align: center;
 }

 .side-strip-left {
     left: 0;
     border-right: 1px solid #e1e4e8;
 }

 .side-strip-right {
     right: 0;
     border-left: 1px solid #e1e4e8;
 }

 .side-strip a,
 .side-strip button {
     color: #333333;
     opacity: 0.8;
     transition: all 0.2s;
     text-decoration: none;
     background: none;
     border: none;
     cursor: pointer;
     font-family: inherit;
 }

 .side-strip a:hover,
 .side-strip button:hover {
     opacity: 1;
 }

 @media (max-width: 768px) {
     body {
         padding: 0;
         overflow-x: hidden;
     }

     .container {
         padding: 0 0.5rem;
     }

     .side-strip {
         display: none;
     }

     .nav-wrapper {
         flex-direction: column !important;
         align-items: center !important;
         padding: 1rem 0.5rem !important;
         gap: 0.75rem;
     }

     .logo img {
         height: 60px !important;
     }

     .nav-links.mobile-nav {
         display: flex !important;
         flex-wrap: wrap;
         justify-content: center !important;
         gap: 0.35rem !important;
         order: 3;
         width: 100%;
         margin: 0.5rem 0 !important;
     }

     .nav-links.mobile-nav a {
         font-size: 0.85rem !important;
         padding: 0.4rem 0.6rem !important;
         background: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.1);
         border-radius: 4px;
     }

     .nav-links.mobile-nav .separator {
         display: none !important;
     }

     .header-actions {
         width: 100%;
         align-items: center !important;
         margin-top: 0 !important;
         order: 2;
         gap: 0.75rem !important;
     }

     .header-actions .notranslate,
     .header-actions form {
         align-self: center !important;
     }
 }

 .nav-links {
     display: flex;
     align-items: center;
     gap: 0;
 }

 .nav-links a {
     text-decoration: none;
     color: #ffffff;
     font-size: 0.9rem;
     font-weight: 400;
     transition: all 0.2s;
     padding: 0 0.75rem;
     border-radius: 15px;
 }

 .nav-links .separator {
     color: #ffffff;
     opacity: 0.5;
 }

 .nav-links a:hover {
     background: #555555;
     color: #ffffff;
 }

 /* Kannada-specific spacing adjustments */
 body.lang-kn .nav-links a {
     padding: 0.2rem 0.3rem !important;
 }

 body.lang-kn .nav-links .separator {
     margin: 0 0.15rem !important;
 }

 .ad-slot {
     background: var(--card-bg);
     border: 1px dashed #cccccc;
     display: flex;
     align-items: center;
     justify-content: center;
     color: #999999;
     font-size: 0.8rem;
     margin: 1rem 0;
     min-height: 80px;
 }

 .hero-grid {
     display: grid;
     grid-template-columns: 2fr 1fr;
     gap: 3rem;
     margin: 1rem 0 3rem 0;
 }

 .featured-main img {
     width: 100%;
     aspect-ratio: 16/9;
     object-fit: cover;
     border-radius: 4px;
     margin-bottom: 1.5rem;
 }

 .post-meta {
     font-size: 0.8rem;
     color: var(--text-muted);
     text-transform: uppercase;
     letter-spacing: 1px;
     margin-bottom: 0.5rem;
 }

 .featured-main h1 {
     font-size: 1.8rem;
     line-height: 1.1;
     margin-bottom: 1rem;
 }

 .news-list {
     display: flex;
     flex-direction: column;
     gap: 0.5rem;
     align-self: flex-start;
 }

 .news-item {
     display: flex;
     gap: 1.5rem;
     padding-bottom: 0.75rem;
     border-bottom: 1px solid var(--border);
 }

 .news-item:last-child {
     border-bottom: none;
 }

 .news-item-img {
     width: 120px;
     height: 80px;
     object-fit: cover;
     border-radius: 2px;
 }

 .news-item-content h3 {
     font-size: 1.1rem;
     font-weight: 700;
     margin-bottom: 0.25rem;
     line-height: 1.4;
 }

 footer {
     border-top: 1px solid var(--border);
     padding: 4rem 0;
     margin-top: 4rem;
     text-align: center;
     color: var(--text-muted);
 }

 a {
     color: inherit;
     text-decoration: none;
 }

 .read-more {
     display: inline-flex;
     align-items: center;
     gap: 0.5rem;
     color: var(--text-main);
     font-weight: 600;
     font-size: 0.9rem;
     transition: transform 0.2s;
 }

 .read-more:hover {
     transform: translateX(5px);
 }

 .read-more span {
     font-size: 1.2rem;
 }

 .news-item h3 a:hover,
 .featured-main h1 a:hover,
 .video-item h3 a:hover,
 .post-title-link:hover {
     text-decoration: underline !important;
 }

 /* Base Grid */
 .grid {
     display: grid;
     gap: 2rem;
 }

 .grid-cols-1 {
     grid-template-columns: repeat(1, 1fr);
 }

 @media (min-width: 768px) {
     .md-grid-cols-2 {
         grid-template-columns: repeat(2, 1fr);
     }
 }

 @media (min-width: 1024px) {
     .lg-grid-cols-3 {
         grid-template-columns: repeat(3, 1fr);
     }
 }

 /* Pagination Styling */
 .pagination-wrapper {
     margin-top: 3rem;
     display: flex;
     justify-content: center;
 }

 .pagination {
     display: flex;
     flex-wrap: wrap;
     list-style: none;
     gap: 0.3rem;
     align-items: center;
 }

 .pagination li a,
 .pagination li span {
     padding: 0.4rem 0.75rem;
     border: 1px solid var(--border);
     border-radius: 4px;
     color: var(--text-muted);
     min-width: 2rem;
     text-align: center;
     display: inline-block;
 }

 .pagination li.active span {
     background: var(--accent);
     color: white;
     border-color: var(--accent);
 }

 .pagination li.disabled span {
     opacity: 0.5;
     cursor: not-allowed;
 }

 /* Home Page Item Spacing */
 .featured-item:not(:last-child) {
     margin-bottom: 1rem;
 }

 .featured-item:not(:first-child) {
     padding-top: 1rem;
     border-top: 1px solid var(--border);
 }

 /* MOBILE RESPONSIVE STYLES */
 @media (max-width: 768px) {
     body {
         padding: 0;
         overflow-x: hidden;
     }

     .container {
         padding: 0 1rem;
     }

     .side-strip {
         display: none !important;
     }

     .nav-wrapper {
         flex-direction: row !important;
         flex-wrap: wrap;
         justify-content: space-between !important;
         align-items: center !important;
         padding: 0.75rem 1rem !important;
         gap: 1rem;
     }

     .logo img {
         height: 50px !important;
     }

     /* Hamburger Button Styling */
     .menu-toggle {
         display: block !important;
         background: #f0f0f0;
         border: none;
         border-radius: 4px;
         padding: 6px 10px;
         cursor: pointer;
         color: #333;
         transition: background 0.2s;
         order: 2;
     }

     .menu-toggle.active {
         background: #555;
         color: #fff;
     }

     /* Mobile Nav Dropdown */
     .nav-links {
         display: none !important;
         width: 100%;
         flex-direction: column !important;
         align-items: stretch !important;
         background: #ffffff;
         padding: 0.5rem 0 !important;
         border-top: 1px solid #eee;
         border-bottom: 2px solid #ddd;
         order: 4;
         gap: 0 !important;
     }

     .nav-links.active {
         display: flex !important;
     }

     .nav-links a {
         color: #333 !important;
         padding: 1rem !important;
         font-size: 1rem !important;
         font-weight: 500 !important;
         border-bottom: 1px solid #f0f0f0;
         border-radius: 0 !important;
         text-align: left !important;
         width: 100%;
         display: block;
     }

     .nav-links .separator {
         display: none !important;
     }

     .header-actions {
         width: 100%;
         justify-content: center !important;
         gap: 0.75rem !important;
         order: 3;
         margin: 0 !important;
         padding-bottom: 0.5rem;
     }

     .header-actions .notranslate {
         background: #eeeeee !important;
     }

     .main-content-wrapper {
         padding: 0 !important;
     }

     footer div {
         flex-direction: column !important;
         align-items: center !important;
         gap: 1rem !important;
     }

     /* Mobile Social Links */
     .mobile-socials {
         display: flex;
         flex-direction: column;
         align-items: center;
         gap: 1.25rem;
         padding: 1.5rem 0;
         margin-top: 1rem;
         border-top: 1px solid #eee;
         width: 100%;
     }

     .mobile-socials .social-group {
         display: flex;
         align-items: center;
         gap: 1rem;
     }

     .mobile-socials .lang-label {
         font-weight: 700;
         font-size: 0.9rem;
         color: #555;
         min-width: 65px;
     }

     .mobile-socials .icons {
         display: flex;
         gap: 1.25rem;
         align-items: center;
     }

     .mobile-socials .icons a {
         display: flex;
         align-items: center;
         transition: transform 0.2s;
     }

     .mobile-socials .icons a:hover {
         transform: scale(1.15);
     }
 }

 /* Base styles for Menu Toggle */
 .menu-toggle {
     display: none;
 }

 /* Base state: hide footer socials on desktop */
 .mobile-socials {
     display: none;
 }