US President Donald Trump expressed confidence in America's position amid US-Iran peace talks in Islamabad, stating that Washington stands to 'win' regardless of a deal.
One of the most uncivilised characteristics of this war has been the total disregard for international law and the laws of armed conflict, asserts Vice Admiral Biswajit Dasgupta (retd).
The core issues to be settled -- access to Hormuz, Israel's aggression in Lebanon, the question of Iran's nuclear programme, sanctions relief and compensation -- are thorny enough to require weeks of patient negotiation. The most likely outcome of the opening sessions is that both sides take the measure of each other, establish what is and is not negotiable, and return home without having broken anything. That would count as progress.
The United States, which entered this war in expectation of a short, sharp win along the Venezuela model, is now preparing for deeper involvement in a conflict it does not fully control, without the allies it typically relies on, against an adversary that is not behaving as expected, in a global environment that is already absorbing economic shock. Prem Panicker continues his must read daily blog on the Gulf War.
Fight on toward goals that keep receding, or exit with most objectives unmet. Trump is agitated, his poll numbers falling below the Plimsoll line, his base fractured between those who back the war and those who remember that he campaigned on ending them.
The delegations from the US and Iran head to Islamabad on Friday, carrying a ceasefire that is already fraying, a Strait that is technically open and practically closed, and a negotiating agenda that would challenge even parties actually negotiating in good faith, which these groups are not. Prem Panicker continues his must read blog on the Iran War.
'We were in a heavily nuclearised environment. China had tested for Pakistan in the 1980s and helped their missile programme stay just one step behind us.'
Iran is fighting a different war: Older, slower, and in some ways more dangerous. Iran doesn't need to shoot down an F/A-18. It only needs to make the Strait of Hormuz feel dangerous long enough for insurance markets, shipping companies, and oil futures traders to do the rest. Prem Panicker continues his must-read daily blog on the war in the Middle East.
Trump called for immediate negotiations for the US to acquire Greenland from Denmark, describing the country as ungrateful, during his speech at Davos.
The CIA's confirmation comes amid reports claiming that the US strikes did not destroy nuclear sites in Iran as claimed by President Donald Trump or his administration.
'During the 5-day visit, Amir Khan Muttaqi would have, conceivably, bumped into our powerful security agencies one way or another and some interaction would have ensued, which, in turn, can lead to future dealings.' 'Indeed, this will be the one crucial template of the Indo-Afghan relationship that Pakistan will be monitoring closely,' points Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
No immediate reason was given for the absence of Zardari from the photo session, in which all the leaders participated.
One must wonder whether Mr Modi's efforts to wine and dine the Big Two of today's world were seen as a sign of weakness rather than a proffered arm of friendship, points out R Jagannathan.
Russian and Ukrainian negotiators convened in Istanbul on Friday for their first direct peace talks in over three years, amidst pressure from US President Donald Trump to resolve Europe's deadliest conflict since World War Two.
United States President Donald Trump has expressed strong disapproval of Israel and Iran 'violating the ceasefire' he announced earlier in the day and said the two countries have been fighting 'so long and so hard that they don't know what the f*** they're doing'.
'He may respect others, but he is unlikely to admire them'
'Putin dreams about his legacy. He wants to forcibly restore the Russian empire.' 'Unfortunately, after three years of large-scale war with massive human losses, Putin will not budge from his goal because human life is the cheapest resource in the Russian State.'
The United States has named a top air force general to head the investigations into the NATO air strike on Pakistani border posts that left 24 soldiers dead and has invited Pakistan and Afghanistan to join the probe.
'While I would never wish for anyone to go through what we are, it has brought out the best in us by making each one of us a better version of ourselves.' 'Being courageous, fighting for freedom, taking the burden of responsibility to help each other...' 'I know hundreds and hundreds of examples where Ukrainians are risking their lives for complete strangers and it is only in moments like this that we truly understand what it means to be human.'
The real intention of the 'Tariff Man' (as Trump calls himself) may not even be to put the 'Tariff King' (as he describes India) on the mat with a knockout punch but to arm-twist the Indian leadership to agree to some multi-billion dollar mega arms deal, argues Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
"Why do we have to bother ourselves and correct somebody else's mistakes?" Putin asked during an interview.
As the world continues to rage under the ongoing conflicts in Europe and the Middle East, the two presidential candidates in the United States, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump during the presidential debate hosted by ABC News on Tuesday (local time), presented their views on ending the conflict and Washington, DC's role in it.
India will continue to be a strategic partner for the United States despite concerns over its ties with Russia, the Biden Administration has said.
Pakistan army does not expect the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation-led inquiry into the last month's deadly air strike to be transparent and did not see any tangible result coming out of the probe that it had refused to be part of.
'The Indian government is better prepared this time and has reached out to all contenders and not putting all eggs in one basket.'
The White House acknowledged that Biden did not have a "great (debate) night,", but asserted that he knew how to get things done and is ready to run the country for the next four years.
Lashing out at the United States for putting a bounty of USD 10 million on his head, a combative Hafiz Mohammad Saeed on Tuesday said Washington was "frustrated" with him for his countrywide protests against the resumption of NATO supplies and drone strikes.
The former Central Intelligence Agency director, was confirmed by the Senate by 57-42 votes. He replaced Rex Tillerson, who was fired by US President Donald Trump last month.
On Friday, Putin formally announced the annexation of four regions -- Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia -- and claimed that "this is the will of millions of people".
The unalloyed truth about the Ukraine-Russia conflict is that it is a war that Russia cannot lose and Ukraine cannot win, observes Colonel Anil Athale (retd).
Kyiv is no stranger to official visits, but this one is different. The fact the US President is meeting Ukraine's leader in the heart of the capital in the middle of a full-scale conflict is significant and symbolic.
The talks are expected to take place in the Gomel region at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border, Belta news agency reported.
Queen Elizabeth II used her banquet speech to subtly remind the visiting US President that the international institutions set up after the World War II were designed to ensure the horrors of conflict were not repeated.
'I was expressing the moral outrage I felt toward the way Putin is dealing ..., which is just brutality, half the children of Ukraine.'
US President Joe Biden, who arrived in a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, reaffirmed America's unwavering commitment to Ukraine's democracy, sovereignty, and territorial integrity.
Whether it liked it or not, the Ukraine crisis forced India to choose between the aggressor Russia and the US-led free world, a decision it hated to make, Virendra Kapoor points out. In the end, it abstained from the vote in the Security Council.
'India will come increasingly in the US crosshairs if it insists on maintaining its strategic autonomy, warns Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
'Putin is in danger of losing face in his Ukrainian adventure. His bluster is a response to this.'
'The aim of Russian policy is to reform European security, stop NATO expansion and in a more general sense -- set up the new rules of relations between the great powers.' 'From this perspective. the invasion of Ukraine is quite pointless.'
The US president took part in an Inspection of the Guard of Honor and then joined the queen and first lady to watch a military march. Afterwards, the three went into the queen's apartment for tea, The Hill noted.
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