International

12-05-2025 By SJA Jafri ISLAMABAD/ NEW DELHI: Officially, no. Despite intense military exchanges, including missile strikes, drone attacks, and artillery shelling, neither government made an official declaration of war. India and Pakistan instead characterized their military actions as specific coordinated “military operations”. Pakistan on Saturday launched a retaliatory assault it …

12-05-2025 TEL AVIV: Thousands of Israelis rallied in central Tel Aviv, calling on the government to end the war on Gaza and secure the immediate release of Israeli captives held in the besieged Palestinian enclave. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that in Tel Aviv, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, …

12-05-2025 TEHRAN/ MUSCAT: Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Saturday that if the United States’ goal is to deprive Iran of its “nuclear rights”, Tehran will never back down over those rights. Araqchi was speaking in Doha a day ahead of another round of planned nuclear talks between Iran …

11-05-2025 VATICAN CITY: Pope Leo XIV has held his first meeting with the world’s cardinals since his election as the head of the Catholic Church, identifying artificial intelligence (AI) as one of the most crucial issues facing humanity. Leo, the first American pope, laid out a vision of his papacy …

11-05-2025 WASHINGTON: Donald Trump has ordered the Department of Homeland Security to add at least 20,000 officers to enforce his deportation policies. The directive was issued on Friday and forms part of the administration’s plan to incentivize undocumented immigrants to self-deport. In a video, Trump said he was making it …

11-05-2025 DHAKA: The interim government in Bangladesh has banned all activities of the former ruling Awami League party headed by former influential Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who was ousted last year in a mass uprising. Asif Nazrul, the country’s law affairs adviser, said on Saturday the interim cabinet headed by …

11-05-2025 NEW YORK: Taylor Swift’s representatives have told media she is being brought into a legal row between Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively to create “tabloid clickbait”. The 35-year-old singer was summoned to a US court after it was alleged she encouraged Baldoni to accept script rewrites by Lively for …

11-05-2025 Bureau Report + Agencies NEW DELHI/ ISLAMABAD: India and Pakistan have accused each other of “violations” hours after the two nations said they had agreed to a ceasefire following days of cross-border military strikes. After sounds of explosions were heard in Indian-administered Kashmir, India’s Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said …

11-05-2025 MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin has invited Ukraine to take part in “direct talks” on 15 May, hours after European leaders urged Moscow to agree to a 30-day ceasefire. In a rare televised late-night address from the Kremlin, Putin said Russia was seeking “serious negotiations” aimed at “moving towards …

10-05-2025 JERUSALEM: A US-backed mechanism for getting aid into Gaza should take effect soon, Washington’s envoy to Israel said on Friday ahead of President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East, without detailing how this would work with no ceasefire in place. Gaza’s residents face possible famine, the UN says, …