Former Thai PM and influential royal adviser Prem Tinsulanonda dies at 98
Former Thai prime minister and influential royal adviser General Prem Tinsulanonda died on Sunday morning at age 98 in a Bangkok hospital, a palace official told Reuters. As chairman of the prestigious Privy Council of royal advisers, Prem played an important role in organising the ornate coronation of the King Maha Vajiralongkorn earlier this month, and also served briefly ...
Germany in push to resurrect Afghan talks with Taliban
Germany, a leading donor and member of the NATO-led coalition in Afghanistan, has been talking with the Taliban and the Afghan government in an effort to restart peace talks to end 18 years of conflict, officials said. Berlin?s special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Markus Potzel, has visited Kabul for talks with the Afghan government and met Taliban ...
German state vote could threaten future of Merkel coalition
Voters in the northern state of Bremen look set to inflict a humiliating blow on Germany?s Social Democrats (SPD) in an election on Sunday that could hasten the end of their loveless federal coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel?s conservatives. Elections to the European Parliament on the same day as Bremen?s parliamentary vote could pile further pressure on Merkel?s ...
Libya’s Haftar rules out Tripoli ceasefire, dismisses UN-led talks
Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar has ruled out a ceasefire in the battle for Tripoli and accused the United Nations of seeking to partition Libya, according to an interview published by French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche. Haftar?s Libyan National Army (LNA) began an offensive in early April to take Tripoli from fighters loyal to Prime Minister Fayez ...
Iran will defend itself against any aggression, says foreign minister
Iran will defend itself against any military or economic aggression, Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Sunday, calling on European states to do more to preserve a nuclear agreement his country signed. Meanwhile, Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi arrived in Oman and discussed ?regional developments? with Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, the sultanate?s minister responsible for ...
Europeans vote, with EU future in balance
Europeans vote on Sunday in an election expected to further dent traditional pro-EU parties and bolster the nationalist fringe in the European Parliament, putting a potential brake on collective action in economic and foreign policy. Right-wing populists top opinion polls in two of the big four member states ? Italy and supposedly exiting Britain ? and could also ...
Race to succeed UK PM May centers on ‘no deal’ Brexit battle
?If you?re not willing to walk away from a negotiation, it doesn?t focus the mind of the other side ? I will not ask for an extension.? Fellow contenders Esther McVey and Andrea Leadsom both made similar comments on Sunday, while former foreign minister Boris Johnson, the favorite to replace May, said on Friday: ?We will leave the EU on ...
Trade beef aside, Trump and Abe bond over burgers, sumo and golf
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday played golf with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and presented a trophy to the winner of a sumo tournament, turning to personal diplomacy for the second day of a Japan visit shadowed by tough trade talk. Arriving just in time for Asanoyama?s bout, Trump nodded as Abe gestured in explanation, later watching ...
Aide to winning BJP candidate Smriti Irani shot dead
: An aide to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Smriti Irani, who recently defeated Congress party chief Rahul Gandhi for a seat in parliament, was shot dead overnight, police said on Sunday. In one of the biggest upsets of the election that handed the BJP a second term, Irani beat Gandhi in the Amethi constituency, which had been held ...
Houthis claim drone strike on Saudi’s Jizan airport near Yemen border: reports
Yemen’s Houthi rebels allegedly launched a drone strike on military hangars in Saudi Arabia’s Jizan airport near the Yemeni border, according to the group’s on Sunday. There was no immediate confirmation from Saudi authorities or from a Saudi-led coalition that has been battling the Houthis in Yemen for four years. The Houthis, who ousted the Saudi-backed, internationally recognised government from power in the ...
UN says Taliban captives in Afghanistan subjected to abuse
The UN said Taliban captives in Afghanistan have been subjected to abuse, ill-treatment and actions that may amount to torture. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said it interviewed 13 detainees from a group of 53 recently rescued from the Taliban.
UK leadership hopefuls vow to succeed where May failed on Brexit
?We will leave the EU on October 31, deal or no deal,? said former foreign minister Boris Johnson in a speech delivered Friday in Switzerland. To get things done you need to be prepared to walk away.? Johnson?s main challenges will come from former Brexit secretary Dominic Raab ? viewed as an even more committed eurosceptic ? and Foreign Secretary ...
India’s opposition Congress backs Gandhi after poll defeat
?Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, offered to resign on Saturday after his Congress party was?trounced?in a second straight national election but the gesture was rejected, party officials said. While Prime Minister Narendra Modi triumphantly accepted pledges of allegiance from members of allied parties after his second landslide win, Congress leaders licked their wounds at ...
Chinese loan accounts for 10 to 11 percent of total foreign debt: Secretary Economic Affairs Division
ISLAMABAD, May 27 (APP):Pakistan?s total foreign debt is about US$ 106 billion and Chinese loan accounts for a mere 10 to 11 percent of the total foreign debt, whereas the remaining 89-90 percent is from other sources IMF, Paris Club, and other western organizations, Noor Ahmed, secretary of the Economic Affairs Division said. In a talk with the same ...
Pakistani-American student killed in car crash in US
NEW YORK, May 27 (APP):A promising Pakistani-American female student was killed Saturday night in a head-on car crash in Old Bridge, a township in the US state of New Jersey, when a suspected drunk driver drove into her vehicle after crossing over into the opposite lane. Aliza Akhtar, 19, a recipient of a fully-funded scholarship for her ...
Afghan captives held by Taliban subjected to ill-treatment: UN
UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (APP):The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) Sunday expressed ?grave concern? over ?credible accounts? of Taliban militants mistreating prisoners, which in some cases ?may amount to torture?. UNAMA said the freed prisoners had provided ?consistent accounts? of being held underground in five overcrowded rooms and being forced to work for at least seven hours a ...
Stress on Islam’s message of harmony at UN Iftar by Pakistani staffers
UNITED NATIONS, May 26 (APP):Top United Nations officials have called for promoting the values of religious tolerance, peaceful co-existence and dialogue at a first-ever inter-faith Iftar hosted by Pakistani nationals working in the UN system to celebrate the holy month of Ramadan. ?Ramadan offers all of us ? Muslim and otherwise ? the chance to recognize our shared values, ...
SCO has great potential for expansion on economic front: Vladimir Norov
He said the demonstration area offered a good platform for deepening cooperation, adding: ?It can collaborate with other SCO industrial parks and demonstration areas to promote the development of new overseas economic and trade cooperation zones, as well as large-scale international transport and logistics corridors.? An effective mechanism was needed to this end, and the SCO Secretariat was ready to ...
Pakistani peacekeeper honoured with UN medal posthumously at ceremony
UNITED NATIONS, May 25 (APP):The United Nations Friday honoured 119 military, police and civilian peacekeepers from 38 countries, including a Pakistani soldier, who lost their lives in 2018 and early 2019 while serving in UN peacekeeping operations in hotspots around the world. Pakistan?s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Maleeha Lodhi, accepted the award from the UN chief ...
Ex-Pakistani cabinet minister and diplomat Yusuf Buch passes away in New York
NEW YORK, May 25 (APP):Yusuf Buch, a former Pakistani cabinet minister and diplomat, passed away on Friday evening at his home in New York.He was 98. Buch, who is best known as an eminent expert on the Kashmir dispute, was not keeping good health lately and had returned to his apartment from a hospital three days ago. Later, Buch ...
