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President Trump releases JFK assassination documents

WASHINGTON: The US President Donald Trump released material related to the 1963 assassination of former president John F Kennedy on Tuesday, seeking to honour his campaign promise to provide more transparency about the unfortunate event in Texas. An initial tranche of electronic copies of papers flooded into the National Archives website in the evening with a total of more than 80,000 expected to be published after Justice Department lawyers spent hours scouring them. The digital documents, including PDFs of previously classified memos, offer a window into the climate of fear at the time surrounding…

Xi Jinping to visit US ‘soon,’ Trump hints amid tariff disputes

President Donald Trump announced on Monday that Chinese President Xi Jinping would visit the United States in the near future, as trade disputes between the two economic giants intensify, AFP reported. Speaking at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, Trump stated, “He’ll be coming in the not-too-distant future,” without providing further details. Reports from The Wall Street Journal suggest that Washington and Beijing have started discussions about a potential summit in June, coinciding with both leaders’ birthdays. Since his return to office in January, Trump has imposed tariffs on…

Trump and Putin to discuss Ukraine this week

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump says he plans to speak to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Tuesday about ending the war in Ukraine, adding discussions are already ongoing about “dividing up certain assets” between the warring parties. US officials had expressed optimism Sunday that a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire deal could be reached in weeks after Washington proposed a halt in fighting in the three-year war after talks in Saudi Arabia, which Kyiv accepted. “I think we’ll be talking about land… we’ll be talking about power plants,” Trump said aboard Air…

IHC consolidates cases related to Imran’s jail visitation rights

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Monday ordered the consolidation of various cases to meeting rights of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) founder Imran Khan who’s incarcerated in Adiala jail. IHC’s Acting Chief Justice Justice Sarfraz Dogar, while hearing a petition filed by Adiala jail Superintendent Abdul Ghafoor Anjum, also ordered the formation of larger bench to hear the said issue. “In the interest of judicial consistency, it is imperative that all related cases listed […] be consolidated before a single or larger bench to ensure uniform adjudication and effective enforcement of judicial directives,”…

UK PM says ‘Putin will have to come to the table’ on Ukraine war

LONDON: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said Russian President Vladimir Putin will eventually have to come to the negotiating table, as he called on world leaders to strengthen support for Ukraine and keep up the pressure on Moscow. The British leader told around 26 fellow leaders in a group call he hosted that they should focus on strengthening Ukraine, protecting any ceasefire, and maintaining pressure on Moscow. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky had, he said, “shown once again, and beyond any doubt, that Ukraine is the party of peace” by…

Trump slams foes, media in speech at ‘Department of Injustice’

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday launched a bitter attack against the “illegal” media and his political enemies, as a speech at the Department of Justice turned into a grievance-filled diatribe. Trump, who is the first convicted felon to sit in the White House, was meant to be talking about law and order at an organisation supposed to be insulated from political pressure. But instead the 78-year-old Republican spent much of his time rehearsing complaints that predecessor Joe Biden had “weaponised” the department against him and pledging to “expose”…

PM felicitates Canada’s new leader Mark Carney on taking office

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif extended his congratulations to Canada’s newly sworn-in leader, Mark Carney, on assuming office. Carney was sworn in as Canada’s prime minister on Friday, taking charge of a country rattled by a breakdown in US relations since President Donald Trump’s return to power. In a congratulatory post on X, PM Shehbaz wished Carney a successful tenure in office. “I congratulate Mr Mark Carney on being sworn in as the Prime Minister of Canada. [I] wish him a successful tenure in office and look forward to working with…

Chinese consul general says Beijing against hegemony, power politics

KARACHI: Chinese Consul General Yang Yundong has stated that China opposes power politics and hegemony, while maintaining peaceful foreign policy. In his remarks at a media briefing on “China Two Sessions 2025,” in Karachi, the consul general emphasised the importance of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC) in China’s governance structure. Discussing China’s development across various sectors, Yang said that the government work report reviewed past achievements and outlined future strategies. He noted that these sessions also present learning opportunities for Pakistan. Yang…

Trump doubles down on Greenland control, in talks with NATO chief

WASHINGTON: Former US President Donald Trump has reiterated his push for American control over Greenland, as he told NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte that the strategic Arctic territory is crucial for international security. “You know, Mark, we need that for international security, not just security – international – we have a lot of our favourite players cruising around the coast, and we have to be careful,” Trump told Rutte as they sat side by side in the White House Oval Office for talks. “We’ll be talking to you.” Asked directly about the…

Elimination of terrorism in Balochistan, KP must for country’s progress: PM Shehbaz

QUETTA: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday said that Pakistan cannot move forward on the path of progress without eliminating the menace of terrorism in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.       Addressing a high-level meeting on law and order situation in Quetta, PM Shehbaz paid tribute to Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir and the security forces for successfully recovering 339 Jaffar Express passengers who were taken hostage by the terrorists in Bolan area of the province. “The terrorists who attacked the train did not even care about the…