Author: Ashish Paikray

Embattled Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan may resign at a public rally in Islamabad on Sunday, amid chances of his arrest in the foreign funding case. According to sources, PM Imran Khan is likely to announce early elections and ask for a caretaker government ahead of his no-confidence motion in parliament. The military of Pakistan has lost trust in him because of his alleged attempts to divide the army through a social media campaign and deliberately delaying in tenure extension of Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa. Past Wednesday, Prime minister  Imran Khan had said he will not resign at…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday accused Russian President Vladimir Putin’s force of using phosphorous bombs in their latest wave of attacks on the country, telling NATO leaders in Brussels that “people were killed including children” President Zelensky also quoted,“Europe is going through a war and each day is full of war crimes of Russian troops. This morning I received information that Russian troops had used phosphorous bombs against civilians in Ukraine” The regional governor of Luhansk Sergiy Gayday claimed that at least four people including two children were killed by the Russian forces that allegedly used phosphorous bombs in…

On Tuesday, two “super-powerful bombs” exploded in Mariupol in the presence of Ukrainian authorities attempting to rescue civilians from the strategic but besieged southern part of Ukraine. According to human rights watch more than 100,000 people are trapped in Mariupol. This wake of destruction has been described as a “freezing hellscape riddled with destroyed buildings, dead bodies”. With the ruthless, restless, and relentless advancement of Russian troops advancement, fortress Kyiv hunkered down in a curfew as it holds breath. Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy said all issues will be put forward if President Putin agreed on direct talks in any format…

PM Modi on Monday inspected 29 stolen antiquities dating as back to the 9th century that was brought back to India from Australia about a week ago. PM Modi also thanked his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, for the return of the antiquities, while speaking at the second India-Australia virtual summit on Monday. He said the antiquities have been illegally taken from Rajasthan, West Bengal, Gujarat Himachal Pradesh, and other states. In 2019, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had announced the return of other Indian artifacts held by the National Gallery of Australia. PM Morrison also quoted “Like India, we understand…

Russia is due to make another payment to bondholders on Monday after last week’s fear it might not be able or willing to do so, especially following western countries’ unprecedented sanctions over Moscow’s action in Ukraine. This marks Russia’s first default since the financial crisis of 98 and its very first on international bonds since the 1917 revolution when the Bolsheviks repudiated obligations of the Tsarist government. Russia is due to repaying another 66 million on Monday and a total of $4.7 billion between now and year-end, with further tests to come. Russia’s total debt Russia has 15 international bonds…

There’re drones that fire missiles and then there’re ones that are missiles themselves, these are called kamikaze or suicide drones. Kamikaze drones are unmanned aircraft that are part of the tranche of weapons that are being sent by the US to Ukraine to assist their fight against Russia. Following Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s passionate speech amid Russian forces pushing to encircle major cities, US President Joe Biden announced $800 million in new military aid for Ukraine and also quoted “This new package on its own is going to provide unprecedented assistance to Ukraine” This military aid includes 800 additional stinger…

The sanctions had an unintended effect, a churn among the middle powers. Do they stick with the Us or do they need to keep their options open and explore new ones? Saudi Arabia for instance is circumspect. They’re snubbing the US and reaching out to Russia and now China. Reports say, Riyadh has invited Xi Jinping for a state visit and if it’s true this could change the politics of West Asia for starters Xi Jinping has not left China in two years. Firstly, Xi Jinping has been shut away from the public and this would be quite a visit…

The execution included those convicted of murderers, members of Al-Qaeda and the Islamic state. Talking about nationality, there were seven Yemenis, one Syrian national and the remaining were Saudi Arabian nationals. A day after these executions, the Iranian government suspended talks with Saudi Arabia. This development was reported on Sunday by Nour News, a news organization close to Iran’s Supreme National Security Council. In a short update, the news website said that Iran has unilaterally decided to suspend talks with Saudi Arabia for some time with no specific reason for the execution. This would have been the fifth round of talks…

With the deployment of the Turkish-made TB2 drones by Ukraine, which has been used for both reconnaissance as well as strikes, these drones have been very effective in preventing Russian ground troops advancement which has left Russia with no option but to ask for help from its best and most trusted ally, China.  The Biden administration has been persuading Beijing because of its ties with Moscow to help end the conflict which has already claimed thousands of lives and has left millions homeless. Biden’s top advisers have pressured China to enforce sanctions on Russia’s economy which has been imposed by…

Biden administration officials have stated that Russia has asked China for military and economic assistance to help push its invasion of Ukraine. Reports also cited other US officials saying that after 20 days into the war, there were signs of Russian special military economic assistance operations running out of non-specified weaponry. Moreover, Russia has also asked for economic assistance. It is quite evident that Washington knows exactly what hardware help President Putin has sought out from Beijing. Concern for India? India still depends upon Russia for its military spares and supplies for its front lines economic assistance, and if Russian…