Month: March 2018

Russia’s expulsion of 23 British diplomats “doesn’t change the facts of the matter” of the poisoning of a former double agent in an English city, Prime Minister Theresa May said on Saturday. Russia was “in flagrant breach of international law,” she told her Conservative Party’s spring forum, adding that Britain “will consider our next steps in the coming days”. “Russia’s response doesn’t change the facts of the matter ─ the attempted assassination of two people on British soil, for which there is no alternative conclusion other than that the Russian…

WASHINGTON: Hours after the meeting between Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and US Vice President Mike Pence on Friday, the United States reminded Pakistan that it was prepared to take necessary steps to protect its personnel in Afghanistan if Islamabad did not stop cross-border attacks. The warning, given at a special news briefing on Friday afternoon, followed the unscheduled Abbasi-Pence meeting at the US Naval Observatory, the vice president’s official residence. Sources briefed on this one-on-one meeting told reporters that Mr Pence also focused on this issue [Afghan policy] in…

ISLAMABAD: Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Saturday invited Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to Kabul to kick-start a ‘comprehensive bilateral dialogue’ with the aim of repairing the fractured relationship between the two countries. Mr Ghani extended this invitation during a meeting with Pakistan’s National Security Adviser retired Lt Gen Nasser Janjua, who was in Kabul on a day-long trip on the invitation of his counterpart Hanif Atmar. “Today, I received Pakistani NSA at Dilkusha palace. As a follow-up to Kabul Process, I have extended an official invitation to Pakistani prime…

Israel and Jordan have long pursued a common goal to stop the Dead Sea from shrinking while slaking their shared thirst for drinking water with a pipeline from the Red Sea some 200 kilometres away. Geopolitical tensions have stalled efforts to break ground on the ambitious project for years, but the end of the latest diplomatic spat has backers hoping a final accord may now be in sight. The degradation of the Dead Sea, on the border of Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian West Bank, began in the 1960s when…

China’s rubber-stamp parliament unanimously handed President Xi Jinping a second term Saturday and elevated his right-hand man to the vice presidency, giving him a strong ally to consolidate power and handle US trade threats. Xi’s reappointment by the Communist Party-controlled legislature was a foregone conclusion, but all eyes had been on whether his former anti-corruption enforcer, Wang Qishan, would become his deputy. The National People’s Congress has widely expanded Xi’s already considerable authority during its annual session, adding his name to the constitution and lifting the two five-year term limit…

Students across the United States walked out of classes on Wednesday in a nationwide call for action against gun violence following the shooting deaths last month at a Florida high school. Hundreds of students from Washington area schools gathered outside the White House chanting “Never again!” and “Enough is enough!” and holding signs reading “Protect People Not Guns.” At 10:00 am (1400 GMT), students in numerous cities held a moment of silence to honor the 14 students and three adult staff killed on Valentine’s Day at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High…

The ‘EU Diplomatic Enclave’ and Diplomatic Correspondent for the ‘Overseas Tribune’ spent last week in New York, United States visiting different Governmental and non-Governmental organizations including The United Nations Headquarters and Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to United Nations Office at Pakistan House, New York. Mr. Yasir Aziz is founder of ‘EU Diplomatic Enclave’, an online forum of discussion of world’s most oppressing security challenges and their interconnectedness with country’s Foreign Policy. Mr. Aziz’s work is focused on Pakistan and its Foreign Policy and has spent over 6 years in Eastern Europe…