Moscow: Russia on Saturday said the EU’s decision to indefinitely freeze Russian sovereign assets is a targeted attack on peace efforts to resolve the Ukraine conflict, adding that Moscow would shortly take retaliatory steps. On Friday, the European Union Council decided to “prohibit, temporarily, any transfers of Central Bank of Russia assets immobilised in the…
New York/Washington: A new US-led strategic initiative, “rooted in deep cooperation with trusted allies,” has been launched aimed at building a secure and innovation-driven silicon supply chain. According to the State Department, the initiative called ‘Pax Silica’ aims to reduce coercive dependencies, protect the materials and capabilities foundational to artificial intelligence (AI), and ensure aligned…
Islamabad: Elections for the Gilgit Baltistan Assembly in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) will be held on January 24 next year, it was announced on Friday. A notification was issued after Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari gave a nod to the schedule for the upcoming general election. It said that the polls for the GB Assembly will…
Islamabad: Pakistan has summoned the ambassador of Norway and issued a demarche over “unwarranted attendance” of court proceedings in a human rights case. Ambassador Per Albert Ilsaas on Thursday attended a Supreme Court proceeding pertaining to controversial social media posts by rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha. His attendance caught…
Dhaka: Former Bangladesh prime minister Khaleda Zia’s health condition deteriorated on Thursday night and she was placed on ventilator support, doctors said. “Her breathing difficulties increased, her oxygen level fell, and carbon dioxide levels rose,” according to a statement by the chief of the medical board cardiologist Shahabuddin Talukdar. It said the 80-year-old former premier…
Islamabad: A military court on Thursday sentenced Pakistan’s former spy chief Faiz Hameed to 14 years in jail after his conviction on multiple charges, including violating the Official Secrets Act and engaging in political activities. According to a statement by the army, the process of Field General Court Martial (FGCM) against Hameed was initiated on…
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday spoke to his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi and the two leaders “agreed to meet very soon”, officials here said. Sharing about the talks between Netanyahu and Modi over the telephone, the Israeli PMO in a social media post said, “At the end of the warm and friendly…
New York/Washington: The US is “deeply committed” to the Quad – the grouping with India, Japan and Australia – and will continue to build on that in the year to come, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has said. “…we’re also deeply committed to the Quad, the concept of in conjunction with Japan and India, the…
New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump has said that India should not be “dumping” rice into the United States market and he will “take care” of it, while stressing that tariffs will solve the “problem” easily. Trump held a roundtable in the White House on Monday with representatives of the farming and agriculture sector as…
New York/Washington: The annual defence policy bill of the US has highlighted broadening America’s engagement with India, including through the Quad, to advance the shared objective of a free and open Indo-Pacific region and address the challenge posed by China. The National Defence Authorisation Act for Fiscal Year 2026, released by Congressional leaders Sunday, outlines…
