International Affairs
- The head of the UN atomic agency warned Monday against complacency in preventing "nuclear terrorism", saying progress in recent years should not lull the world into a false sense of security. Much has been achieved in the past decade," Yukiya Amano of the IAEA told a gathering of some 1,200 delegates from around 110 states including 35 ministers in Vienna to review progress on the issue.
- Pakistan today said it will release 11 Indian civil prisoners by the middle of this month as the two countries exchanged lists of prisoners lodged in each other's jails.
- French President Francois Hollande told the United States on Monday to immediately cease spying on European institutions, after reports of covert US surveillance of EU diplomatic missions.
International Affairs
- US President Barack Obama today unveiled a USD 7 billion plan to upgrade African power networks, in bid to end blackouts that deter business investment on the continent.
- After a 16-year absence from Australia, national carrier Air India will start direct flights between the two countries using its new fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft from August 29.
- Russia will decide the destination of fugitive US intelligence analyst Edward Snowden, who is currently holed up in Moscow, Ecuador's President Rafael Correa says.
- Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif directs his Water and Power Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif, to India to address the severe energy crisis facing the country.
International Affairs
- The US wants to ink the proposed security agreement with Afghanistan within the next three months even as Kabul has suspended talks with Washington over the pact, Afghan President Hamid Karzai .
- India and Sri Lanka have agreed to take steps to double their bilateral trade to $10 billion in the next three years.
- An Indian-Israeli chef plans to open two new outlets in Singapore and Macau next month, aimed at popularising halal vegetarian Middle Eastern dishes with a twist of Mediterranean touch.
- South Korean police on Saturday stopped a planned launch of anti-Pyongyang leaflets following a threat of violent retaliation by the North.
International Affairs
- China today said it was ready to "break new ground" with India to resolve the boundary dispute as the Special Representatives of the two countries held 16th round of border talks to find a solution to the vexed issue.
- The US Senate has passed the landmark comprehensive immigration reform bill which provides a pathway to citizenship to more than 11 million undocumented people, including over 240,000 Indians.
- US is willing to work with Bangladesh to restore the suspended Generalised System of Preference (GSP) benefits if it improves workers' rights and conditions, a top American trade official has said.
International Events
- Pakistan on Thursday moved a step closer to putting former military leader Pervez Musharraf on trial for treason, by appointing a committee to investigate him for subverting the constitution.
- Nelson Mandela's daughter Zenani Dlamini on Wednesday officially presented her diplomatic credentials to become her country's ambassador to Paraguay.
- US President Barack Obama re-nominated General Martin Dempsey as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for a second term of two years.
International Affairs
- South African President Jacob Zuma urges people to mark Nelson Mandela's 95th birthday on July 18 as the biggest Mandela Day ever.
- Compounding his legal woes, Pakistani investigators included ex-military ruler Pervez Musharraf in the list of main accused who conspired to assassinate former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in 2007.
International Affairs
- Former Pakistani premier Yousuf Raza Gilani has demanded that Pakistani judges who endorsed the October 1999 coup, led by former army chief Pervez Musharraf, should also be charged with treason.
- All the Taliban militants who targeted the presidential palace and the CIA office in central Kabul on Tuesday morning died in the attack.
- US has stopped a 1909 Pablo Picasso painting titled 'Compotier et tasse', or 'Fruit bowl and cup', with an estimated worth of USD 11.5 million from leaving the country, after a request from the Italian government.
International Affairs
- China on Sunday asked Pakistan to "guarantee the safety" of its nationals working there as it condemned a violent militant attack on a base camp in the country's north in which 10 people, including three Chinese tourists, were killed.
- US Ambassador to India announces that Washington is providing $1,50,000 to NGOs working in the most-affected areas of Uttarakhand.
International Affairs
- The US said main dialogue on the reconciliation process is between the Taliban and Afghan government but would have separate talks with it on some issues which America wants to discuss directly.
- Heightened radioactivity levels were found outside a nuclear waste tank in the US state of Washington, officials has said, in a new alert about a site used to make Cold War-era bombs.
- France made its largest medical delivery to northern Syria on Friday, including antidotes for nerve agents, as rebels prepared to fight off an assault on the city of Aleppo by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.
International Affairs
- The European Union's trade chief expressed confidence Friday that Brussels and Beijing can reach a speedy agreement in a bitter dispute over Chinese solar panels that sparked fears of a debilitating trade war.
- Historical Chinese documents describing Tibet during China's Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) and showing the ancient financial and messaging service of the period, have won a major UNESCO recognition.
International Affairs
- Moscow and Beijing have reached agreement on a $60 billion contract to ramp up Russian oil supplies to China, part of the two countries' strategy to tighten their energy partnership, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
- Ahead of talks between India and China on the boundary question, CPI (M) chief Prakash Karat said the new Chinese leadership is interested in speeding up efforts to resolve the differences on the issue.
International Events
- Smoke from forest fires in Indonesia has choked Singapore, prompting authorities here to take precautionary measures following the worsening pollution level in the city-state.
- One died and more than 6,000 people were evacuated in central Russia overnight after a series of massive explosions at an arms depot blew out windows and sparked a fire, the emergency situations ministry said Wednesday.
International Affairs
- Iran's ancient citadel of Bam, almost completely destroyed by a major earthquake in 2003, has been removed from the UNESCO list of "World Heritage in Danger".
- A large bomb exploded in the Afghan capital on Tuesday, killing at least three people on the day the international military coalition hands over responsibility for fighting the Taliban insurgency to the nascent national army and police they have been training.
International Affairs
- The EU and United States are set to launch negotiations on Monday to create the world's biggest free-trade pact despite a hard line by France to protect its film and culture sectors from Hollywood.
- The foreign ministers of Egypt and Ethiopia met in Addis Ababa on Monday in hopes of defusing tensions over a huge dam Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River.
- Eyeing deeper economic ties, India and Argentina agreed to tackle barriers to expand the scope of bilateral trade and investments besides working for a strategic partnership between the two countries.
International Affairs
- The powerful National Defense Commission headed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un issued a statement regarding a possible peace treaty to formally end the Korean War. But in Washington, a National Security Council spokes woman said the rogue nation must still comply with U.N. Security Council resolutions.
- US President Barack Obama discussed the Syria conflict with European leaders ahead of next week’s G8 summit in Northern Ireland, the White House said Saturday.
- Visiting Minister of State for Corporate Affairs Sachin Pilot has held a series of meetings with US officials and discussed bilateral issues, in particular, those related to the competition policy and corporate governance.
International Events
- India is willing to export 400 million cubic feet of gas per day to Pakistan but the matter hinges on finalising a tariff that is on the lower side.
- A summit meeting of G-8 countries in Northern Ireland next week would discuss the issue of "tax avoidance" by companies in this increasingly globalised economy.
- Militants attacked a historic 121-year-old building in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province that was used by the country’s founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, killing a policeman and causing extensive damage to the structure. The militants targeted the Quaid-e-Azam.
International Affairs
- Iran began voting to elect the successor of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the state television announced.
- Nine months after the US ambassador to Libya was killed in an attack, Secretary of State John Kerry has sworn in a new envoy, vowing she would play a key role as the country moves toward democracy.
- The United Nations forecast Thursday that the world's population will increase from 7.2 billion to 8.1 billion in 2025, with most growth in developing countries and more than half in Africa. By 2050, it will reach 9.6 billion.
International Events
- US President Barack Obama nominated a lawyer, who advised him on sensitive intelligence operations, for the number two position in the CIA, putting a woman for the first time in one of the spy agency’s top jobs.
- The US has expressed its deep concern over the conviction of Liu Hui, the brother-in-law of Nobel Peace laureate and imprisoned activist Liu Xiaobo, and called on China to immediately release the activist and his wife.
International Events
- Japan and the United States have started a joint drill to practise retaking remote islands, the Japanese government said Tuesday, as Tokyo and Beijing continue to face off over a disputed archipelago.
- Three Chinese astronauts blast into space on Tuesday to dock with the Tiangong 1 orbiting trial space lab. The 15-day mission aboard the Shenzou 10 spacecraft will be the country's fifth manned space flight conducted by China. The two male and one female astronauts will carry out experiments and test the module's systems.
International Events
- President Obama nominated Jason Furman Monday for the administration's top economic policy position. "Furman is one of the most brilliant economic minds of his generation," Obama said. "Don't take my word for it, you can talk to other economists who know a lot more than I do about it."
- Crown Prince Naruhito launches Monday a celebration of Japan's 400-year relationship with Spain on a visit that will take him to a curious town where many residents still carry the name "Japon" to honour the Japanese who visited in the 17th century.
