pledges

Pakistan vows support to Somalia at UN after Israel recognizes North Western State of Somalia, drawing Muslim world rebuke ISLAMABAD — Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar on Sunday pledged full support to Somalia at the United Nations and other multilateral forums after Israel became the first country to formally recognize North Western State of Somalia, a breakaway region that declared independence in 1991 but has never before been acknowledged by a UN member state. The commitment followed a phone call from Somali…

CAIRO — Egypt will step up efforts to safeguard Red Sea maritime routes and back a new African Union mission in Somalia, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said Friday, framing the Horn of Africa’s stability as inseparable from regional and global security. Addressing African ministers and delegates gathered in Cairo for the second ministerial forum of the Russia–Africa Partnership, al-Sisi called the Red Sea corridor “strategically vital” and said Egypt is working with partners to keep the waterway secure. The shipping lane…

Trump touts ‘economic boom’ and blames Biden for prices in prime-time address WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump promised Americans “an economic boom” and said prices are “falling rapidly” in a nationally televised address from the White House, casting blame for high costs on his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, even as new polls show persistent voter anxiety over affordability. “Good evening America. Eleven months ago I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” Trump, 79, said in the live speech at the end of his first year…

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump used a rare prime-time address from the White House to promise an economic boom and blame Democratic predecessor Joe Biden for stubbornly high prices, even as fresh polling shows voters increasingly sour on his handling of the economy at the close of his first year back in power. “Eleven months ago I inherited a mess, and I’m fixing it,” said Trump, 79, casting his stewardship as a course correction from the Biden era. He insisted that gas and grocery prices that have strained household…

Oslo — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado vowed to return her Nobel Peace Prize to Venezuela “at the correct moment” after slipping out of the country under a decade-old travel ban and arriving in Norway hours after Friday’s ceremony. Machado, 58, reached Oslo early Saturday following a clandestine journey that her camp says began by boat from Venezuela to Curaçao and continued by private plane to Norway. She missed the prize ceremony, where her daughter, Ana Corina Sosa Machado, accepted the award and…

Jair Bolsonaro has signaled his intention to back his eldest son, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro, as a presidential candidate in Brazil’s 2026 election, the Liberal Party said, setting off political and market jitters on Thursday. Valdemar Costa Neto, head of Jair Bolsonaro’s right-wing Liberal Party, told Reuters he had been told by the senator that the former president had “ratified his candidacy.” CNN Brasil, citing unnamed sources, reported that Jair Bolsonaro offered his support to his son during a visit to federal police…

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s pledge to maintain “uninterrupted shipments” of fuel to India crystallized the central dilemma at the heart of his state visit to New Delhi: energy security versus geopolitical cost. At a summit dominated by energy, defence and trade, President Putin and Prime Minister Narendra Modi sought to translate decades-old ties into concrete guarantees even as the United States applies heavy pressure — including 50% tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump — to penalize New Delhi for continued…

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview that Moscow will seize full control of Ukraine's Donbas by force unless Ukrainian troops withdraw — a demand Kyiv has flatly rejected as unacceptable. The comments underscore the widening gap between battlefield realities and diplomatic efforts to end nearly four years of war. "Either we liberate these territories by force of arms, or Ukrainian troops leave these territories," Putin told India Today in remarks broadcast on Russian state television ahead of a visit to New…

Blast in Old Delhi near Red Fort Kills at Least Eight; Authorities Vow Swift Probe A powerful explosion ripped through a crowded stretch of Old Delhi near the historic Red Fort yesterday, killing at least eight people and wounding scores as flames engulfed several vehicles and sent smoke billowing through narrow market lanes. Authorities, treating the incident under anti‑terrorism laws, said forensic teams and specialist units were combing the scene, but stopped short of confirming whether the blast was an attack.…

Somalia’s identity shake-up: a bid to reclaim control sparks questions about reach and rights MOGADISHU — In a forceful televised address that mixed alarm at security risks with the blunt tools of statecraft, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced a sweeping overhaul of how Somalis are identified: passports, he said, will no longer be the primary credential for accessing government or private services. Instead, the National Identification and Registration Authority (NIRA) card must be used — and those who refuse to…