Category: World

WASHINGTON: The US government began shutting down after midnight Wednesday as lawmakers and President Donald Trump failed to break a budget impasse during acrimonious talks that hinged on Democratic demands for health care funding. It is the first shutdown since the longest in history — lasting 35 days — almost seven years ago, and will stop work at multiple federal departments and agencies, affecting hundreds of thousands of government workers. Trump blamed Democrats over the stalled talks and threatened to punish the party and its voters during the stoppage by…

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WASHINGTON: The Pentagon recommitted itself in a statement on Tuesday to scaling back its military mission in Iraq, a process that a US official said will see Baghdad command efforts to combat remnants of Daesh inside its own country. Under the plan, the US and its coalition allies would instead focus on combating Daesh remnants in Syria and shift most of their personnel to Iraq’s Kurdistan region to carry out that mission, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. The US had approximately 2,500 troops in Iraq at the…

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NEW YORK: The decision by New York City Mayor Eric Adams to suspend his sputtering reelection bid is unlikely to slow the upstart candidacy of democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani, political analysts said on Monday. Mamdani, a 33-year-old Uganda-born state assembly member, has polled well ahead of his main rival, former New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo, with five weeks to go before Election Day, and persistent attacks by President Donald Trump may only serve to burnish Mamdani’s image with New Yorkers opposed to the president’s policies. Since he scored a…

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WASHINGTON/CAIRO/JERUSALEM: President Donald Trump has announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a US-sponsored plan for a Gaza ceasefire. The proposal, aimed at ending nearly two years of bloodshed, includes a ceasefire and the release of all Israeli hostages held by Hamas. But its fate now rests on whether Hamas will also accept the terms. Speaking at a joint press conference with Netanyahu, Trump said they were “beyond very close” to forging an elusive peace deal and that he hoped Hamas would also accept it. The White…

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President Donald Trump said on Sunday that he plans to tell a group of US generals and admirals in Quantico, Virginia, that they are valued leaders who must remain strong and resilient. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth summoned senior US military leaders from around the world for a meeting in Quantico on Tuesday — a rare gathering of the country’s military leadership in one location. “I want to tell the generals that we love them, they’re cherished leaders, to be strong, be tough and be smart and be compassionate,” Trump told…

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Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban released another US citizen from custody on Sunday after a visit by Washington’s hostage envoy Adam Boehler, the US government said. Amir Amiri, who had been detained in Afghanistan since December 2024, was released through Qatari mediation and was on his way to Doha on Sunday evening, an official source told Reuters, asking not to be identified by name or nationality. Boehler’s visit came a week after US President Donald Trump urged the Taliban to give back control of Bagram air base to the United States, threatening…

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(Shakeel Ahmed) Secretary General, South Asia Journalists Federation Date: September 25, 2025 The South Asia Journalists Federation (SAJF) condemns the alarming escalation of press freedom violations in Bangladesh since July 2024, under the interim government led by Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus. Far from fulfilling promises of democratic reform, the regime has unleashed a systematic campaign of violence, arrests, legal harassment, and intimidation against journalists, particularly those critically reporting on the government’s policies, its handling of post-uprising unrest, and allegations of minority persecution and economic mismanagement. This repression, marked by a…

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Widespread UN sanctions against Iran returned into force late Saturday for the first time in a decade, after last-ditch nuclear talks with Western powers failed to produce a breakthrough. The sanctions, three months after Israel and the United States bombed Iran, bar dealings related to Tehran’s nuclear and ballistic missiles program and are also expected to have wider effects on its troubled economy. European and US diplomats stressed immediately after the resumption of sanctions that diplomacy was not over. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio urged Tehran to “accept direct…

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned the West on Saturday that any aggression against Moscow would face a “decisive response,” while cautioning against targeting aircraft in Russian airspace and accusing Germany of “militaristic rhetoric.” As Russia’s war rages in Ukraine, tensions have mounted along NATO’s eastern flank in recent weeks as Estonia said Moscow sent three fighter jets into its airspace and NATO warplanes shot down Russian drones over Poland. “Any aggression against my country will be met with a decisive response. There should be no doubt about this among…

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Iran and Russia have inked a $25 billion deal on Friday, aiming to give a boost to the nuclear capability of Tehran by building nuclear power plants. “A deal for the construction of four nuclear power plants with a value of $25 billion in Sirik, Hormozgan, was signed between the Iran Hormoz company and Rosatom,” state television said. Iran has just one operational nuclear power plant in Bushehr in the south, with a capacity of 1,000 megawatts — just a fraction of the country’s energy needs. According to state news…

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