Athens, May 2 (IANS) Pakistan’s visa fraud, begging rackets, smuggling cases, and terror-linked prosecutions abroad expose deep-rooted domestic failures, from weak document control and exploitation of poverty to entrenched criminal networks and militant ecosystems at home, a report has detailed. “Pakistan often presents its diaspora as a pillar of national strength: a source of remittances, manpower, and international prestige. Yet a more uncomfortable reality keeps surfacing. Repeated cases i…

Tehran, May 2 (IANS) Iran on Saturday executed two men convicted of spying for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad, the Mizan news agency of the Iranian judiciary reported.The individuals, identified as Yaqoub Karimpour and Naser Bekrzadeh, were hanged following judicial proceedings and the upholding of their death sentences by the Supreme Court of Iran, the report said.It added that Karimpour had knowingly continued his “effective” cooperation with Mossad during the 40-day war involving Iran, t…

New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) ​India will issue grant assistance worth up to Rs 12 crore to Ecuador over a period of five years for the implementation of socio-economic development projects in the South American nation, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) stated on Saturday.Ecuador’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility, Gabriela Sommerfeld Rosero concluded a two-day official visit to India this week, marking a new chapter in the strengthening of bilateral relations between the two nati…

Washington, May 2 (IANS) The India–Israel partnership functions primarily as an operational cooperation aimed at saving lives and dismantling terror networks. Today, both nations face similar security environments, confronting adversaries that exploit civilians, use human shields, and operate across borders, while adopting doctrines that emphasise surgical strikes, deterrence, and minimising civilian harm, a report has detailed. Writing for US-based journal ‘The Algemeiner’, Paushali Lass, a…

Beijing/Dhaka, May 2 (IANS) Bangladesh’s engagement with the Chinese-financed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) over the past decade has produced significant but uneven progress, especially in transport and energy infrastructure, with delays, rising costs and selective project revisions limiting its impact, a report stated. According to a report in the international magazine ‘The Diplomat’, under the BRI framework, Bangladesh was expected to receive around $40 billion in Chinese investments from Ch…

New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) A slow-moving crisis is unfolding in China’s factories and manufacturing hubs which is not a cyclical correction; it is the convergence of multiple structural failures arriving simultaneously, and at the centre of it all stands the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) whose ideological rigidity and political opacity have left it unable to confront the storm it helped create, according to a new report.The report in Eurasia Review finds that the “rhythmic percussion of sewing ma…

New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) Pakistan’s foreign exchange buffers could fall sharply to $6.8 billion by the end of 2026 and approach $1.6 billion by FY28, if the country’s current macro policies continue to collapse, a new report has said.The report from South China Morning Post said that assumed oil would average $113 a barrel in Q2 2026 before easing to $79 by year‑end, Pakistan reserves would deteriorate sharply if imports and remittances remain unchanged.The report cited analysts as saying tha…

New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) China-aligned hackers have targeted government and defence sectors across South, East and Southeast Asia, along with a NATO member in Europe, in a fresh cyber espionage campaign, a report has claimed.A report by The Hacker News highlighted that the activity has been attributed to a threat cluster tracked as ‘SHADOW-EARTH-053’, which researchers assess has been active since at least December 2024, and shares overlaps with previously identified groups such as Earth Alux and…

New York/New Delhi, May 2 (IANS) Minister of State (MoS) for External Affairs, Kirti Vardhan Singh, will lead the Indian delegation at the Second International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) being held under the UN General Assembly in New York from May 4-8, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) announced on Saturday. The International Migration Review Forum (IMRF) serves as the primary intergovernmental global platform to discuss and share progress on the implementation of the Global Compact on …

Washington, May 2 (IANS) The Arabian Sea, the Strait of Hormuz, and the Red Sea form a connected maritime network that sustains critical global flows, where disruption in one part can trigger cascading effects across the entire system. The closure of the Strait of Hormuz disrupts global energy markets, instability in the Red Sea complicates the re-routing of shipping routes and intensifies pressure on alternative corridors, while maritime infiltration exposes vulnerabilities in coastal urban hub…