Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday. This meeting comes as relations between the Asian rivals are improving amid the backdrop of US President Donald Trump’s punitive tariffs on New Delhi. Modi’s visit is his first to China in seven years and is for the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) regional security bloc, which also includes Russia and Iran. This marks Modi’s first visit since a deadly clash in 2020 between Indian and Chinese troops on their disputed Himalayan border. The two neighbors share a 3,800 km (2,400…
Author: Raja Zahid Khanzada
Thailand’s Constitutional Court dismissed Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra from office on Friday for an ethics violation, just a year after she took power. This decision represents another significant blow to the Shinawatra political dynasty and could lead to a new period of turmoil for the country. Paetongtarn, who was Thailand’s youngest prime minister, is the sixth premier from or backed by the billionaire Shinawatra family to be removed by either the military or the judiciary in a two-decade-long power struggle among the nation’s elite. In its ruling, the court stated that Paetongtarn violated ethics in a leaked telephone call from…
According to police in Bangladesh, a court has ordered the detention of 16 individuals, including an 87-year-old former minister, on charges of plotting against the government. The South Asian nation has been in turmoil since a mass uprising toppled Sheikh Hasina’s authoritarian government in 2024, with political parties competing for power ahead of elections scheduled for February. The 16 individuals were arrested on Thursday after a meeting at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), a journalists’ association, where they accused political parties of conspiring to undermine the constitution. Witnesses stated that a mob stormed the venue, harassed the participants, and then handed…
Britain, France, and Germany, known as the ‘E3’, are pressuring Iran to accept a deal that would prevent new UN sanctions from being imposed. The three European powers stated that the offer gives Tehran more time for talks on its nuclear program, but only if it allows inspectors to return and eases Western concerns about its uranium stockpiles. The UN envoys for the three countries issued a joint statement before a closed-door Security Council meeting, a day after they began a 30-day process to re-impose UN sanctions on Iran over its disputed nuclear program. The E3 offered to delay the…
A divided US appeals court ruled on Friday that most of Donald Trump’s tariffs are illegal, a decision that undermines the Republican president’s use of duties as a key international economic policy tool. The court allowed the tariffs to remain in place until October 14, giving the Trump administration an opportunity to file an appeal with the US Supreme Court. This ruling comes as a legal dispute over the independence of the Federal Reserve also appears headed for the Supreme Court, setting the stage for an unprecedented legal showdown this year over Trump’s entire economic policy. Throughout his second term,…
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has departed for a historic visit to China to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Council of Heads of State Meeting in Tianjin. The premier is also scheduled to attend the 80th anniversary of China’s victory over Fascism in World War II in Beijing. During the visit, he will meet with President Xi Jinping and other world leaders to enhance regional cooperation, strengthen multilateralism, and advance shared goals for peace and prosperity. “I look forward to meeting HE President Xi Jinping and other world leaders to further build upon our bilateral ties with China, our All-Weather…
According to The News, the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-mandated State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) Act of 2023, which was intended to reform Pakistan’s unprofitable public entities, has been widely exploited by the top executives of these organizations to significantly increase their salaries and perks, draining billions from the national treasury. Informed government sources told The News that in light of a recent report by this newspaper exposing how the chief executive of a typical SOE accumulated wealth by misusing the law, information is now being collected. The publication’s report has raised concerns within the government, prompting a deeper investigation into the broader…
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has issued a strict directive for all its workers and officials to fully comply with the party’s decision to boycott the Punjab by-elections, instructing all candidates to immediately withdraw their nomination papers, The News reported on Saturday. In a statement released by the PTI’s Central Media Department, the party emphatically restated that it would completely boycott the Punjab by-elections, following the instructions of PTI founder Imran Khan, and would not participate in the electoral process under any circumstances. The party’s Political Committee had previously decided in a recent meeting to field a candidate for the NA-129 constituency…
According to The News, Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar stated on Saturday that the Afghan government has incorporated hundreds of pro-Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) elements into its administrative structure. During a press conference at the Foreign Office, Dar, who also serves as the foreign minister, mentioned that both Pakistan and China have communicated their security concerns and have pressed Afghanistan to either take decisive action against the TTP or hand the militants over to Pakistan. “Pakistan and China both have security concerns. We clearly told Afghanistan to either take decisive action against the TTP or hand them over to us. The…
An anti-terrorism court in Lahore has sent Shahrez Khan, the nephew of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founding chairman Imran Khan, to jail on judicial remand. The case is linked to the attack on Jinnah House during the riots of May 9. Shahrez, the son of Imran’s sister Aleema Khan, was arrested on August 21 in connection with the Jinnah House attack. His brother, Shershah, is also facing charges in the same case. The May 9 riots erupted across the country in 2023 following the arrest of the PTI founder on corruption charges. The violence included attacks on military and state buildings,…
