Every UN secretary-general has flagged the financial situation, but Antonio Guterres has issued the direst warning yet, calling it a 'race to bankruptcy and of imminent financial collapse, points out Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
Pakistan is expected to seek a bigger role for the United Nations military observers deployed along the Line of Control when the Director Generals Military Operations of India and Pakistan meet for the first time in 14 years on Tuesday.
The threat of wars hovers over the negotiations in Oman, but the good part is that Trump called the talks to be 'very good' and Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian responded that they 'constitute a step forward', points out Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
Years of repression and disappearances have taught Venezuelans, the hard way, not to voice either their anger or their joy, observes Radha Roy Biswas who spent her formative years in Venezuela.
'Trump does have a master plan in mind to put pressure on India with the additional tariff of 25 per cent to get Modi to persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to freeze the Ukraine war.' 'It has not worked so far. By end-September only we'll know for sure the future trajectory of India's oil purchases from Russia,' observes Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar.
The recent decision of the Union government asking United Nations Military Observer Group on Kashmir to vacate a government-provided bungalow in New Delhi, is garnering mixed reactions in Kashmir. While many feel there would be no real impact if the UNMOGIP was to close its main offices in Srinagar, there are others who believe that the UN would continue to have a critical role till the Kashmir issue is resolved.
US intelligence agencies have identified China as the primary military and cyber threat to the US, noting that it continues to enhance its capabilities to potentially take control of Taiwan, according to a report by Taipei Times.
Trump, 79, made a lively entrance in Malaysia's capital, dancing to the rhythm of drums on the airport tarmac near Air Force One, his energetic moves drawing smiles from onlookers.
'You cannot 'clear' your way to peace.' 'You need intelligence, calibrated force, impartial law enforcement, political neutrality, humanitarian returns and a sustained reconciliation plan.'
Maj Gen Lodin succeeds Major General Delali Johnson Sakyi of Ghana, who completes his two-year assignment as chief military observer and head of mission for the UNMOGIP on July 2.
In a composed and clear presentation, Colonel Sofiya Qureshi announced that nine terrorist facilities had been destroyed in the tri-services operation.
As India and Pakistan clashed in the Security Council over relevance of the United Nations observer group at the Line of Control, a spokesperson for UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the force can be terminated only by a decision of the 15-nation body.
India and Japan have unveiled a comprehensive framework to boost their defence cooperation in response to security challenges, particularly concerning China's increasing military presence in the East and South China Seas.
For the second day in a row, India and Pakistan sparred over Kashmir at the United Nations after Islamabad made "gratuitous references" to it at the world body.
Pakistan approached the United Nations military observer group over the Line of Control situation on Tuesday. This comes a day after the Pakistan government lodged a protest with India on alleged ceasefire violations along the Indo-Pak border.
'If Washington has to balance Chinese power, she will have to turn to the third biggest power in the world which is India.' 'The United States and India will have to work together in order to keep Chinese ambitions in check.'
The officials said the situation remained peaceful on Friday and there were no reports of any untoward incident.
The Pakistan foreign minister has called for the expansion of the UN peacekeepers' role in Kashmir.
The presence of security forces in the Sonwar area, housing residences of almost all mainstream politicians and top civil and police officers is marked by heavy deployment to foil any untoward incident.
The Srinagar police detained chairman of the moderate All Parties Hurriyat Conference Mirwaiz Moulvi Umar Farooq along with other senior leaders of the group in Srinagar on Thursday.
The UN observer force in Kashmir will probe a Pakistani complaint of alleged ceasefire violation by Indian troops along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir in which it claims a Pakistani soldier was killed.
Pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Yasin Malik was detained by the state police on Saturday evening while leading a candlelight protest in Srinagar. An independent legislator, Engineer Abdul Rashid, was also detained by the police while he staged a protest sit-in outside the United Nations Military Observers Group headquarters in Srinagar along with a dozen of his supporters. Malik took out a silent candlelight protest in his stronghold Maisuma.
Hurriyat chairman Mirwaiz Moulvi Omar Farooq was detained along with hundreds of his supporters for staging a protest in Srinagar, coinciding with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Jammu and Kashmir. The rally was, however, intercepted by the police at Munawarabad area resulting in clashes. The police had to use tear gas and resort to repeated baton charges to disperse the protest rally.
Separatist leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani, under house arrest since Thursday, was detained on Friday when he tried to defy restrictions to lead a march to the United Nations Military Observers group office in Srinagar. "Geelani was detained and lodged in police station Humhama on the airport road when he tried to come out of his house at Hyderpora to lead a march to UNMOGIP," a police spokesman told PTI.
The separatist leader was trying to take out a procession in violation of prohibitory orders in Srinagar.
Pro-independence Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front chairman Mohammad Yasin Malik continued his two-day fast on Monday so as to coincide it with the World Human Rights Day.
The JKSM activists might have drawn inspiration from the mashaal (torch) rally of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front as part of its safar-e-azadi (journey to freedom).
Sources close to the top BJP leadership tell me that Tharoor has already had secret meetings with the BJP's top brass and is waiting patiently to make his next move, reports Ramesh Menon.
Human Rights Forum chairman Mohammad Ahsan Untoo and Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front Vice-Chairman Javed Ahmed Mir were trying to take out a procession against the death sentence given to three persons in the Parliament attack case.
Thousands of protesters are out on the streets of Istanbul after the arrest of the city's mayor Ekrem Imamoglu.
the UN Secretary General's spokesperson stressed that the UN chief would welcome any proposals to de-escalate the tensions between the nuclear-armed neigbours.
'There is no independently verified imagery or battlefield evidence to support Pakistan's claim.'
'India enjoys conventional superiority, but nuclear deterrence imposes clear boundaries.'
'Neither are Baloch insurgents capable of breaking up Pakistan, nor has Pakistan learned any lessons from the 1971 debacle that led to the country's dismemberment.'
US President Donald Trump has proposed a deal to China that would see the sale of TikTok's US operations to an American buyer in exchange for a reduction in tariffs on Chinese exports to the US. The proposal comes amid a trade war between the two countries and follows China's retaliation of Trump's tariffs on Chinese goods. Trump has also said that tariffs are a powerful economic tool and that he is determined to ensure fair trade between the US and China.
'It brings precarious peace because the red lines have shifted. 'The next Pahalgam attack would mean a full scale war.'
The United Nations has asked India and Pakistan to de-escalate tension through dialogue and respect the ceasefire along the Line of Control, in the wake of the killing of two Indian soldiers during an attack by Pakistani troops.
In a set of recent tweets, Khan said that "Kashmiris must be allowed to decide their future".
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Emmanuel Macron have called for enhancing trade and investment ties between their countries and committed to further deepening their engagement in the Indo-Pacific. They discussed a full spectrum of bilateral relations, including key global and regional issues, and stressed the urgent need for reform in the United Nations Security Council. The leaders also underscored their commitment to ensuring the global AI sector can drive positive social, economic, and environmental outcomes.
He said the Centre was creating an environment in the Valley which gives people a chance to raise questions.
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