WORLD
At UNSC, India regrets state-sponsors of cross-border terrorism go 'scot-free'
"It is indeed a sad state of affairs that state sponsors of terrorism have been allowed to go scot-free," R.R. Singh, India's Minister of State for External Affairs, told the Security Council on Thursday. "Any debate on accountability would be incomplete without taking into account the carnage wrought by terrorist forces, particularly those which are backed by State actors for pursuing political objectives," he said.
Biden battles with falling popularity; Trump staging a comeback?
Though a slight cause for comfort, Biden's public approval rating rose six percentage points this week to 42 per cent, rebounding from a week earlier when it had sank to the lowest level of his presidency, a Reuters/Ipsos opinion poll completed on Wednesday found. Alarm bells have been ringing in the ruling Democratic Party with Biden's approval rating falling below 50 per cent since August 2021.
French diplomats strike over planned reforms
Announced by President Emmanuel Macron in an April decree, the reforms would affect at least 700 senior career diplomats, who would be merged into a "state administrative corps", in which they would no longer be attached to a specific administration. Instead, they would be asked to change administrations regularly throughout their career, Xinhua news agency reported, citing BFMTV news channel.
Celebrations begin for Queen Elizabeth's Platinum Jubilee
The crowd cheered the Queen as she watched the Trooping the Colour parade - the military parade which marks the monarch's official birthday from Buckingham Palace. In a Jubilee message, the Queen said she was "inspired" by the goodwill of the nation, the BBC reported. Riding on horseback and wearing the Platinum Jubilee medal with his uniform, the Prince of Wales took the birthday salute from the troops on behalf of the Queen.
Moody's downgrades Pakistan's outlook citing 'heightened external vulnerability'
Moody's Investor Service on Thursday downgraded Pakistan's outlook from stable to negative, citing "heightened external vulnerability" and uncertainty around securing external financing to meet the country's needs. "The decision to change the outlook to negative is driven by Pakistan's heightened external vulnerability risk and uncertainty around the sovereign's ability to secure additional external financing to meet its needs.
US needs some tough love from allies, partners on gun violence (Pit Stop in DC)
External intervention can come from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the close Five Eyes allies that have successfully confronted gun violence at home. Australia put a lid on it with a ban on firearms after a 1996 massacre; Canada dealt with it in two separate instances in 1989 and 2020; the UK made it impossible for civilians to own handguns after a 1996 massacre; and New Zealand banned assault weapons after a 2019 carnage.
Russian troops control about 20% of Ukraine's territory: Zelensky
"Russian troops invaded 3,620 populated localities of Ukraine. 1,017 of them have already been liberated, another 2,603 need to be liberated. As of today, about 20 per cent of our territory is controlled by the occupiers, almost 125,000 square km. It is much more than the area of all Benelux countries combined," Zelensky said in his address to politicians and the people of Luxembourg, Ukrinform news agency reported.
Pakistan will descend into civil war if polls not announced: Imran
"We will see if they allow us to go towards elections through legal and constitutional means otherwise this country will go towards (a) civil war," Dawn news quoted the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief as saying in an interview. The ousted premier further said there was "no question" of returning to the National Assembly as that would "mean accepting the conspiracy" that had removed his government.
India plays crucial role in Quad, cyber security concerns take centre stage
Quad partners bring decades of skills and experience together to catalyse infrastructure delivery to the region and are committed to working closely with partners and the region to drive public and private investment to bridge gaps. To achieve this, the Quad will seek to extend more than USD 50 billion of infrastructure assistance and investment in the Indo-Pacific, over the next five years.
Shehbaz livid as Imran says Pakistan will split into three
In an interview, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman warned that if the establishment did not take the right decision then the country would split into three and quoted that as his reason for "putting pressure" on the powers that be, The Express Tribune reported. In a reference to the interview, Sharif, who is on a three-day visit to Turkey, asked Khan to rein his threats in and called him "unfit" to hold any public office.
Don't Miss
Advertisement