Pakistan and India, the two South Asian warring neighbors, have long been accused of proxy war in Afghanistan, where the war has stretched into its 18th year now. While India has used its soft power effectively to gain foothold in the war-ravaged country, Pakistan has failed to do so, for a host of reasons. Apart […]

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called on all countries to preserve the 2015 nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, now that the U.S. has withdrawn from the multilateral agreement backed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2231. According to a confidential UN report seen by Reuters on Tuesday, Guterres called […]

Sergei Ryabkov, the Russian deputy foreign minister, has said that Europe’s special vehicle purpose (SPV) is essential to do business with Iran, ISNA reported on Wednesday. Ryabkov made the remarks in a meeting with Mehdi Sanaei, Tehran’s ambassador to Moscow. France and Germany have agreed to SPV which is a special payment channel created by […]

In a spate of terrorist attacks across war-torn Afghanistan in past few days, more than 30 people have been killed, according to reports. The wave of violence has swept across Kabul, Kunduz, and Kandahar provinces, Afghan officials said, as Taliban scales up its deadly operations across the country. At least four security personnel and eight […]

Pakistan has rejected Washington’s move of placing Islamabad on its annual list of worst offenders for countries that infringe on religious freedom. In a statement issued on Wednesday, Pakistan’s foreign ministry termed the move as “unilateral and politically motivated.” It said “besides the clear biases reflected from these designations, there are serious questions on the […]

European members of the UN Security Council reaffirmed their commitment and support for the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers despite US pressures. “We, as the European Union members of the (Security) Council, would like to underline our commitment and continued support to the full and effective implementation of the JCPOA and Resolution […]

The Burma Human Rights Network (BHRN) welcomed on Wednesday the European Council’s recent decision to adopt additional sanctions against Myanmar’s senior military and border guard officials for human rights violations. In a written statement, the London-based human rights agency said: “With atrocities continuing against the Rohingya and other Burmese minorities, these sanctions are an important […]

The US President said in an interview that he was not concerned he could be impeached and that the payments his former personal attorney Michael Cohen made to two women ahead of 2016 elections didn’t violate campaign finance laws. Trump said he believes that it would be hard to impeach “somebody who hasn’t done anything […]

If International Crisis Group (ICG) employee Michael Kovrig was carrying out “relevant activities” for the group in China without it being registered, then he may have broken China’s foreign NGO law, China’s Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the comments at a daily news briefing in Beijing, Reuters reported. The ICG […]

The Iraqi military bombed two Daesh positions inside Syria being used as meeting locations by members of the terror group, the Joint Operations Command said in a statement. The statement said at least 30 Daesh members were at one of the sites, while 14 others were present at the other, the Daily Star reported. Acting […]