Category: World

The United States has reiterated its condemnation of the recent terrorist attack in Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), while choosing not to address whether it has undertaken any mediatory efforts to de-escalate tensions between Islamabad and New Delhi. An attack on tourists in IIOJK this week sparked a new crisis between nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours India and Pakistan, with New Delhi blaming Islamabad for the killings — with the Pakistani government strongly denying the allegations. During a press briefing at the State Department, spokesperson Tammy Bruce said: “The…

Read More

PARIS: The Vatican on Thursday said at least 130 foreign delegations had confirmed their attendance at Pope Francis’s funeral, including 50 heads of state and 10 reigning monarchs. Here is a list of VIP guests whose offices have confirmed they will be in Rome on Saturday. Americas ARGENTINA: President Javier Milei. BRAZIL: President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his wife Janja. HONDURAS: President Xiomara Castro. UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General António Guterres. UNITED STATES: President Donald Trump and his wife Melania. Europe AUSTRIA: Chancellor Christian Stocker. BELGIUM: King Philippe…

Read More

SRINAGAR: Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday vowed to pursue and punish attackers and their backers behind the attack on tourists in the Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam area. At a speech in India’s eastern state of Bihar, Modi folded his hands in prayer in remembrance for the 26 men who were shot and killed in a meadow in the tourist hotspot, exhorting thousands gathered at the venue to do the same. “We will pursue them to the ends of the earth,” Modi said, referring to the attackers, without…

Read More

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump’s cabinet members will likely move to limit the influence of Department of Government Efficiency employees and reassert control over budgets and staffing once Elon Musk steps back from DOGE, two government sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Efforts to shrink the federal workforce and slash the deficit via mass firings, contract cancellations and reduced services to Americans across the federal government have been spearheaded by the Department of Government Efficiency, created by executive order the day Trump took office and helmed by billionaire Musk. But…

Read More

WASHINGTON: US President Trump says he still wants a ‘fair deal’ with China, but signals that it’s up to Beijing to make the next move, stressing that lowering tariffs depends on what China does. About the ‘fair deal’, his top officials offered few details on how Washington might de-escalate its damaging tariff war with Beijing. Trump told reporters his country would have a “fair deal with China,” adding that “everything’s active” when asked whether Washington was talking to Beijing. However, how soon the tariffs might be lowered “depends on them,”…

Read More

WASHINGTON/LONDON/PARIS: US President Donald Trump has clashed with Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy over Kyiv’s refusal to recognise Russia’s claim to Crimea, warning that the US could walk away from ongoing peace talks. Trump’s Vice President JD Vance said it was time for Russia and Ukraine to either agree to a US peace proposal “or for the United States to walk away from the process,” echoing a warning Trump gave last week. Speaking to reporters in India, Vance said the proposal called for freezing territorial lines “at some level close to where…

Read More

After decades spent pruning thorny bushes and working arduous harvests, Khalaf Allah al-Talhi has perfected the art of capturing the fragrant aroma of the desert rose in a bottle. “I love roses and take care of them more than I care for my own children,” the 80-year-old told AFP from his flower farm in western Saudi Arabia’s Taif. Known as “the city of roses”, the hills of Taif produce around 300 million of the area’s signature pink roses annually at 800 flower farms. By his own estimates, Talhi grows around five to…

Read More

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump has eased off his attacks on Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, saying he does not intend to sack him but wants the central bank to act swiftly to lower interest rates. Wall Street investors dumped US assets on Monday, with all three main indexes down after Trump took a series of swipes at Jerome Powell, head of the US central bank. The president had criticised Powell for warning that the White House’s sweeping tariffs policy would likely reignite inflation. “I have no intention of firing him,”…

Read More

MOSCOW: A fire at a military base near Moscow caused several explosions on Tuesday, injuring four people. Hundreds of people living nearby were moved to safety, a local governor said. Alexander Avdeev, governor of Vladimir Region, wrote on Telegram that ammunition had caught fire and shells had exploded at a storage area of the base in the region’s Kirzhach District. The Defence Ministry said earlier that the fire had been caused by a breach of safety requirements and had resulted in the detonation of ammunition stored in a warehouse. A state…

Read More

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah on Tuesday for his third visit as premier to the oil-rich Gulf kingdom. The trip comes a day after Modi held high-level talks with US Vice President JD Vance in India, with New Delhi looking to seal a trade deal with Washington and stave off punishing tariffs. “India deeply values its long and historic ties with Saudi Arabia that have acquired strategic depth and momentum in recent years,” said Modi in a statement released by his office. “Together, we have…

Read More