Beijing: China on Wednesday announced a 7.2 percent increase in its national defence budget to USD 249 billion this year. The planned defence expenditure for the country is 1.784665 trillion yuan (about USD 249 billion) this year, according to a draft budget report submitted to China’s Parliament by Premier Li Qiang. Last year, China increased…
New York/Washington: US President Donald Trump criticised the high tariffs charged by India and other countries including China, calling it “very unfair” and announcing reciprocal tariffs will kick in from next month. The president made his case for his reciprocal tariffs, which will commence April 2. He wants to impose the same tariff on imports…
London: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar called on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street in London on Tuesday evening to convey “warm greetings” from Prime Narendra Modi. Jaishankar said bilateral cooperation and the UK’s perspective on the Russia-Ukraine conflict were among the topics covered during his meeting with the UK PM. “Discussed…
Beijing: China on Tuesday retaliated against US President Donald Trump’s imposition of 2nd round of ten percent tariffs on its exports by slapping an additional 15 percent tariff on American goods and initiated legal action against Washington in WTO while leaving the door open for talks to address each other’s concerns. China will impose additional…
Islamabad: Pakistan’s jailed former prime minister Imran Khan was being kept in solitary confinement in a death cell at the high-security Adiala jail in Rawalpindi, his party claimed on Monday. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Central Information Secretary, Sheikh Waqas Akram, made the claims during a press conference. “Imran Khan has been kept in a death cell;…
New York/Washington: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has thanked US President Donald Trump and the country for its support after departing the White House following an unprecedented showdown in the Oval Office with the American leader and Vice President J D Vance. During an intense Oval Office meeting on Friday, Trump shouted at Zelenskyy, accusing him…
Paris: European leaders threw their support behind Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky after a raised-voice spat on Friday with Donald Trump sent shockwaves across the world, casting doubts over efforts to end the Russia-Ukraine war. The US president openly berated Zelensky for not being “thankful”, and later accused the Ukrainian leader of “not being ready for…
Washington: The fiery altercation between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday was shocking but not entirely unexpected, analysts say, with the way forward for Kyiv looking increasingly uncertain. US President Trump has long been a critic of the United States’s billions in aid for Ukraine after Russia invaded it in February…
Washington: The first time he spoke to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President Donald Trump tried to pressure Ukraine’s new leader to dig up dirt on Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election. It was a 2019 phone call that eventually sparked an impeachment. On Friday, a meeting in the Oval Office that started out with cordialities turned…
Kathmandu: A strong earthquake of 6.1 magnitude was felt near Nepal’s Kathmandu early Friday morning. However, there was no immediate report of any damage or causality from the earthquake. An earthquake measuring 6.1 Magnitude on the Richter scale was recorded along Kodari Highway in Sindhupalchowk district, 65 km East of Kathmandu at 2.51 am, according…
