The United States said Wednesday it is confident Finland and Sweden will become part of NATO, despite vocal Turkish protests — an expansion that would dramatically realign European security in the wake of Russia s invasion of Ukraine. Reflecting the brutality of the conflict which has reinvigorated the transatlantic alliance, Ukraine held its first war مزید پڑھیں

Sri Lanka is expected to be placed into default by rating agencies on Wednesday after the non-payment of coupons on two of its sovereign bonds, while the energy minister said the country had run out of money to pay for fuel. An economic crisis unprecedented in the country’s history since independence in 1948 has led مزید پڑھیں

Hou­rs after Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari arrived in New York on Tuesday for a series of meetings with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, a State Department spokesperson assured Pakistan of strong US support for their efforts to rebuild the Pakistani economy. The United States “will continue to work bilaterally on ways to grow investment مزید پڑھیں

Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers who held off Russian fighters at the besieged Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol have surrendered, Moscow said Tuesday, as Kyiv called for an immediate prisoner swap. The strategic port city fell to Russian forces last month, but a relentless Ukrainian military unit held out in the maze of tunnels under the plant, مزید پڑھیں

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Finland and Sweden on Monday to expect a “response” for applying to join Nato as Ukraine braced for a new push by Moscow’s forces in its eastern Donbas region. Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson on Monday confirmed her country would apply to join the military alliance, the day after Finland مزید پڑھیں

Hundreds of Ukrainian soldiers have been evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steelworks — the last holdout of troops defending the southern port city of Mariupol — Kyiv said on Monday. The plant had become a symbol of resistance, with around 600 soldiers holed up in underground tunnels and bunkers fighting a rear-guard battle to prevent مزید پڑھیں

Iran’s top diplomat travelled to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Monday to pay his respects after the death of President Khalifa bin Zayed, Iranian state media reported, while Tehran welcomed the appointment of the Gulf state’s new ruler. The trip by Hossein Amir-Abdollahian is the highest level visit by an Iranian official to the مزید پڑھیں

Saudi Arabia’s King Salman bin Abdulaziz left hospital on Sunday following a colonoscopy last week, the royal court said in a statement on state media. Saudi TV ran a video clip showing the monarch walking slowly using a cane as he left King Faisal Specialist Hospital in the city of Jeddah, where he was admitted مزید پڑھیں

Almost three months after Russia shocked the world by invading Ukraine, its military faces a bogged-down war, the prospect of a bigger NATO and an opponent buoyed Sunday by wins on and off the battlefield. Top diplomats from NATO met in Berlin with the alliance’s chief and declared that the war “is not going as مزید پڑھیں

US State Secretary Antony Blinken spoke with the family of slain Palestinian journalist Shireen Abu Akleh after criticising Israel’s use of force at her funeral, an official said on Sunday. Blinken, during his flight on Saturday to Berlin for a meeting of Nato foreign ministers, offered “deep condolences” in a phone call with family members مزید پڑھیں