International News

A wave of bloodshed swept Venezuela on Sunday as troops cracked down on violent protests against elections to choose the members of a powerful assembly that President Nicolas Maduro has tasked with writing a new constitution. Protesters attacked polling stations and barricaded streets around the country, drawing a bloody response from security forces, who opened fire with live ammunition in ...

US Pacific Fleet commander Admiral Scott Swift was responding to a hypothetical question at an Australian National University security conference following a major joint US-Australian military exercise off the Australian coast. The drills were monitored by a Chinese intelligence-gathering ship off northeast Australia. Asked by an academic in the audience whether he would make a nuclear attack on China next ...

Pakistan today summoned Indian Deputy High Commissioner JP Singh after two civilians were killed and six others injured in alleged ceasefire violations along the Line of Control by Indian troops. Foreign ministry spokesman Nafees Zakaria said Indian security forces resorted to firing in Baroh and Tandar sectors yesterday. Director General (SA and SAARC) Mohammad Faisal summoned the Indian deputy high ...

A powerful earthquake of magnitude 7.8 off Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula triggered a tsunami warning but the threat has now passed, the US Geological Survey and US Pacific Tsunami Center said. The quake struck at 11:34 am on Tuesday (2334 GMT on Monday) some 125 miles (200 km) from the city of Nikolskoye on Bering island off the Kamchatka Peninsula. The ...

The US House of Representatives has passed a USD 621.5 billion defence expenditure bill that proposes to advance defence cooperation with India. An amendment in this regard, moved by Indian-American Congressman Ami Bera, was adopted by a voice vote by the House as part of the National Defense Authorisation Act (NDAA) 2018, beginning October 1 this year. NDAA-2018 was passed ...

Amid China’s aggressive posturing in the Asiatic region, India and Vietnam discussed “concrete and feasible” steps to protect their interests while seeking to bolster their strategic bilateral ties. Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Vietnam Pham Binh Minh, who concluded his four-day visit to India today, told PTI in an interview that the two sides also discussed the progress ...

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un vowed his nation would “demonstrate its mettle to the U.S.” and never put its weapons programs up for negotiations a day after test-launching its first intercontinental ballistic missile. The hard line suggests more tests are being prepared as the country tries to perfect a nuclear missile capable of striking anywhere in the United States. ...

India acted recklessly by stopping China from carrying out construction activity on its own soil, Beijing’s official news agency Xinhua said on Sunday, accusing New Delhi of violating international law. The commentary in Xinhua, owned and controlled by the Chinese government, is a reflection of the leadership’s position. Beijing has over the last week released photographs and maps to buttress ...

India has contributed USD 100,000 to a UN fund to help developing countries actively participate in the discussion of tax issues, becoming the first country to make the contribution. The UN Trust Fund for International Cooperation in Tax Matters (the UN Tax Fund) received its first financial voluntary contribution from India, the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs Office ...

The SSB has sealed the pull and bridges on the India-Nepal border in order to ensure hassle free elections in the Himalayan nation. The movement for the two countries will be closed on the border for the next few days. In view of the second phase of elections to be held on June 28 in Nepal, international bridges have been ...