Washington, July 1 (IANS) The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) officially shut down on Tuesday, which was criticised by former US Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush.

Meanwhile, the USAID will be merged into the US State Department from Tuesday.According to an earlier statement of the US State Department, the reorganization of the USAID involves realigning certain USAID functions with the State Department by Tuesday. Other USAID functions, which do not align with incumbent President Donald Trump’s policy priorities, will be terminated.In separate statements, Obama called the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID “a colossal mistake,” while Bush quoted an AIDS relief programme, whose future remains unclear, like much of US foreign aid, as an example.Trump had previously slammed the USAID as being run by “a bunch of radical lunatics”, Xinhua news agency reported.The remaining USAID functions, which do not align with the administration’s priorities, will be discontinued, according to a statement of the State Department issued earlier this year.”Foreign assistance done right can advance our national interests, protect our borders, and strengthen our partnerships with key allies. Unfortunately, USAID strayed from its original mission long ago,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in the statement in March.”We are reorienting our foreign assistance programmes to align directly with what is best for the United States and our citizens,” Rubio said. “We are continuing essential lifesaving programmes and making strategic investments that strengthen our partners and our own country.”A memo sent to USAID employees had informed them that all positions not required by law would be eliminated.USAID has maintained disaster response teams despite the reorganisation, as seen in the US response to a devastating earthquake in Myanmar.State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce had said earlier that USAID remains on standby to offer immediate assistance, including food and safe drinking water needed to save lives in the aftermath of a disaster.”The United States is evaluating the need for assistance based on requests and dynamic reporting,” Bruce had told a press briefing, a few months ago.–IANSint/as

Islamabad, July 1 (IANS) Over 50 people have been killed in Pakistan over the last few days due to heavy rains and flash floods, with the highest toll reported from the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where 21 people lost their lives, including 10 children, local media reported on Tuesday.In Balochistan, heavy rains have wreaked havoc in several districts of the province, including Lasbela, Hub, Barkhan, Zhob, Harnai and Dera Bugti, as five people have died and six others have been injured over the past two days in incidents of being swept away by floodwaters and drowning in dams.Reports suggest that four members of the same family, including three women and a child, were killed after being carried away by flash floods in Zhob.Following the tragic incident, local people have called for effective disaster management systems, early warning mechanisms, and safe tourism protocols, particularly in remote and flood-prone areas like Zhob.The Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) also reported that in Balochistan, agricultural land and residential houses were severely damaged due to monsoons and heavy rains, with 10 houses collapsing in Khuzdar and two buildings, including a school, collapsing in Ziarat.Additionally, heavy rains also partially damaged two bridges in the Quetta and Lasbela districts of the provinceThe Meteorological Department has forecast another spell of monsoon beginning July 4, with rainfall expected to exceed the normal level this season.Pakistan’s National Emergencies Operation Centre (NEOC) has issued several impact-based weather alerts anticipating widespread rain-wind and thundershowers, along with isolated heavy downpours, across various regions of Pakistan from Sunday to Saturday.This could also trigger urban flooding in low-lying areas of Central Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, especially in the cities of Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera, and Kohat.Furthermore, in southern Sindh, heavy to very heavy rainfall was predicted, which would impact Hyderabad, Badin, Thatta, and Karachi from June 29 to July 5.According to the Swat administrative authorities, flash floods in the river have left 73 people trapped across multiple locations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.They also confirmed that 17 of the two tourist families died after 18 of them were carried away by flash floods on Friday in the Swat River.The incident occurred in the Fizagat area, where the members of two families were having breakfast near the riverbank when a sudden rise in the water level swept away many of them, local media reported.The victims were residents of Punjab province and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.–IANSint/scor/as

Washington, July 1 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar reiterated on Tuesday India’s right…

Tehran, July 1 (IANS) Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has said the country still needs more time to decide about the resumption of negotiations with the United States.Araghchi made remarks on the possibility of restarting the nuclear talks between Iran and the United States in an interview with CBS News in Tehran.On a claim by US President Donald Trump that the negotiations could start as early as this week, Araghchi said he did not think the process would restart as quickly as what Trump had claimed, adding, “In order for us to decide to re-engage, we will have to first ensure that the United States will not revert back to targeting us in a military attack during the negotiations.””And I think with all these considerations, we still need more time,” he said, noting that, however, “The doors of diplomacy will never slam shut,” Xinhua news agency reported.On June 22, US forces bombed the three Iranian nuclear facilities of Natanz, Fordow, and Isfahan. In retaliation, Iran struck the US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.The attack took place amid a conflict between Iran and Israel, which started on June 13 with the latter’s surprise airstrikes on several Iranian cities. A ceasefire was declared between the two sides on June 24.The Israeli attacks were launched a few days before the sixth round of indirect negotiations between Iran and the United States on Tehran’s nuclear programme and the removal of US sanctions, scheduled to be held in Oman’s capital Muscat on June 15.Meanwhile, the Group of Seven (G7) foreign ministers on Monday called for the resumption of negotiations to reach a comprehensive, verifiable and durable agreement that addresses Iran’s nuclear programme.In a joint statement on Iran and the Middle East issued by Global Affairs Canada, the foreign ministers called on Iran to urgently resume full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as required by its safeguards obligations and to provide the IAEA with verifiable information about all nuclear material in Iran, including by providing access to IAEA inspectors.”We underscore the centrality of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. It is essential that Iran remains party to and fully implements its obligations under the Treaty,” read the statement.G7 foreign ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as the high representative of the European Union, met in The Hague on June 25 and discussed recent events in the Middle East.–IANSint/as

Moscow, July 1 (IANS) Russia is not interested in stalling negotiations on Ukraine and aims to achieve its goals by political and diplomatic means, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Tuesday.Peskov said it takes time to implement the agreements reached in the first two rounds of direct talks with Ukraine, including prisoner exchanges and the transfer of the bodies of fallen soldiers.”Objectively, it is difficult to talk about the possibility of any strong acceleration,” he said, adding that nobody stops or slows down the work on implementing the agreements, Xinhua news agency reported.Peskov’s comment came after US Special Envoy for Ukraine Keith Kellogg said Monday that “Russia cannot continue to stall for time while it bombs civilian targets in Ukraine.”Russia and Ukraine held two rounds of direct talks on May 16 and June 2, respectively, in Istanbul, Turkey. During the second round of talks, they agreed on an “all-for-all” exchange of seriously ill and wounded prisoners, and soldiers under the age of 25, as well as the transfer of the bodies of fallen soldiers.Russian President Vladimir Putin said last week that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to hold the third round of talks after completing the exchanges.He made the remark on Friday after the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting in Minsk.Putin told reporters that Russia is ready for new round of negotiations with Ukraine in Istanbul, noting that the time and place of the third-round talks need to be agreed on.The draft memoranda between Russia and Ukraine on the settlement should become the subject of discussion during the third round of negotiations, Putin said.–IANSint/as

Abidjan, July 1 (IANS) Cote d’Ivoire has inaugurated its first archaeological museum, located between the…

Johannesburg, July 1 (IANS) As the United States’ 90-day tariff pause is set to expire on July 9, South African Trade, Industry and Competition Minister Parks Tau said on Tuesday that South Africa, along with other African countries, is advocating for an extension.Tau’s remarks followed a meeting last week between his deputy minister, Zuko Godlimpi, and Assistant US Trade Representative for Africa Connie Hamilton to discuss pressing trade matters.The meeting took place on the sidelines of the US-Africa Business Summit in Angola, where South Africa raised concerns about the issue of “reciprocal tariffs”. During the discussions, it was revealed that the United States is developing a “trade-matters template” to serve as a framework for future engagements with sub-Saharan African countries.Tau noted that given the limited time before the tariff pause expires and the need for further negotiations, an extension is necessary. “In this regard, we are of the view that South Africa may need to resubmit its trade and investment proposal in accordance with the new template. It is thus expected that the deadline be shifted,” he said.Tau also said the United States has yet to share the trade template with African countries, and they should be given more time to engage with it, Xinhua news agency reported.”We urge the South African industry to exercise strategic patience and not take decisions in haste, and that the government will continue to use every avenue to engage the US government to find an amicable solution to safeguard South African interests in the US market,” he added.According to South Africa’s Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the template will be shared with them once it is finalised. South Africa, which was among the countries targeted with higher tariffs earlier this year by the Trump administration, submitted a proposed “Framework Deal” in May. The proposal outlines steps to strengthen a mutually beneficial trade and investment agreement.As part of the proposal, South Africa requested exemptions from tariffs on certain products, including auto parts, steel, and aluminum, through tariff rate quotas. The Framework Deal also seeks to secure exemptions that would support small and medium-sized businesses.–IANSint/as

New York, July 1 (IANS) External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar met with Japan’s Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya in Washington to discuss deepening Quad engagement as they prepared for the ministerial meeting, later on Tuesday.

They will be joined by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong at the Quad Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (QFMM).Jaishankar posted on X that he and Iwaya exchanged views on deepening Quad engagement for a free and open Indo-Pacific.”Our Special, Strategic and Global Partnership continues to deepen and diversify,” he said.They also had comprehensive discussions on infrastructure, investment and mobility, he added.Last week, EAM Jaishankar had a phone conversation with Wong ahead of the Quad meeting.This will be the first time that the ministers get together after the Pahalgam attack by Pakistan-backed terrorists and India’s decisive ‘Operation Sindoor’ against them.The ministerial is expected to lay the groundwork for the Quad Leaders’ Summit to be hosted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that will bring US President Donald Trump, and Prime Ministers Anthony Albanese of Australia and Ishiba Shigeru of Japan to India, later this year.EAM Jaishankar said that there has been a lot of progress with the Quad since it was restarted in Trump’s first term.Speaking at a Newsweek fireside chat in New York on Monday, he said at their ministerial they have “to do a stock taking and look at how we should take this further”.”But there are a lot of issues that we need to discuss in the Indo-Pacific, you know, issues about maritime safety, security, issues about connectivity, issues of technology, issues of pandemic preparedness, issues, even, of you know, education”, he said of their agenda.Countries from “four corners of the Indo-Pacific, who have decided that they have a shared interest in creating a stabler, more prosperous Indo-Pacific, and are willing to work in a very practical basis,” he said.While Trump has complained about other international groups – like NATO and others – that the US was carrying an unfair burden, it did not apply to the Quad, according to EAM Jaishankar.”It’s a kind of an equal arrangement. You know, everybody pays their fair share as you go along”.”That’s very much today, an acceptable way of working”, he added.–IANSint/al/as

Kabul, July 1 (IANS) Afghanistan’s counter-narcotic police have dismantled three clandestine drug processing labs and arrested 13 individuals suspected of involvement in drug-related activities across multiple provinces, the country’s Ministry of Interior Affairs said in separate statements on Tuesday.According to the ministry, the units of counter-narcotic police launched separate operations in the western provinces of Farah and Nimroz, as well as the southern Helmand province.During these raids, authorities destroyed three drug labs and seized 26 litres of methamphetamine syrup, 20 litres of acid, 90 kg of ammonium, and 30 kg of a special lime used in drug processing.In a separate statement, the ministry confirmed the arrest of 13 individuals involved in illegal drug trafficking and sales in the provinces of Kunar, Kunduz, Herat, Panjshir, Samangan, Khost, and Balkh.In a related incident earlier this week, security personnel apprehended three drug smugglers in the eastern Ghazni province and confiscated 15 kg of methamphetamine, reported Xinhua news agency.The Afghan interim government has vowed to fight illicit drugs, drug production, and trafficking, as well as crackdown on other criminal elements, to ensure law and order across the country.Last week, while speaking at a gathering in Kabul to mark the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking, ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen Qani said that over 98,000 operations have been conducted across the country, leading to the destruction of over 20,000 clandestine drug processing labs and the arrest of more than 28,000 drug traffickers.In a major crackdown on illicit crop cultivation, security forces have destroyed over 38,000 hectares of land used for growing poppy and hashish across the country, Qani said.The Afghan police also set on fire more than 7.5 tonnes of illicit drugs, including opium and heroin, on Sunday, which had been collected over the past year in northern Afghanistan’s Takhar province, the provincial police office said.The contraband was confiscated in a series of operations across the province as the office said that no one would be allowed to cultivate illegal crops, process illicit drugs and engage in drug trafficking in the province.The Afghan interim government banned poppy cultivation and its processing and drug trafficking in April 2022, and has vowed to eliminate drug menace in the country.–IANSint/bpd/as

Moscow, July 1 (IANS) In a major boost to India’s maritime capabilities, the Indian Navy on Tuesday commissioned INS Tamal (F71), the latest stealth frigate, at the Yantar Shipyard in Russia’s Kaliningrad. The event, attended by senior Indian and Russian naval officials, marked the formal induction of a formidable warship that reflects India’s growing naval prowess and the enduring Indo-Russian defence partnership.One of the key features of INS Tamal is that it has 26 per cent indigenous components, reflecting India’s bold and strategic aim towards achieving Aatmnirbharta.Strategically, it also includes the BrahMos long-range cruise missile for targetting both at sea and land along with vertically launched surface-to-air missile with extended ranges, the standard 30 MM Close in Weapon System, the 100 MM Main gun and very potent ASW rockets and heavyweight torpedoes.”Tamal is an amalgamation of Indian and Russian technologies with a host of state of the art communication and network centric operational capabilities. The complement of the advanced electronic warfare suite and advanced EO/IR systems adds ears and eyes to this potent platform,” a Navy spokesperson said.”The highly versatile combat management system fuses all weapons and sensors into an effective fighting machine. The ship is also capable of embarking the upgraded Anti-submarine and Airborne Early Warning helicopters, the Kamov 28 and Kamov 31, which are formidable force multipliers,” he added.Commissioned by Vice Admiral Sanjay Jasjit Singh, Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Western Naval Command, the ship joins the elite Western Fleet, often described as the “Sword Arm” of the Indian Navy.In his address, the Vice Admiral noted that the commissioning of Tamal into the Indian Navy marked a significant milestone in the country’s maritime defence capabilities and Indo-Russian defence cooperation.He spotlighted that INS Tamal joins the illustrious list of Talwar, Teg, and Tushil class of ships which are known for their dependability and prowess. Singh also congratulated the crew and Yantar Shipyard for their efforts in making the commissioning ceremony impressive and memorable.The ship is equipped with complex automated systems for nuclear, biological and chemical defence, including damage control and fire-fighting that can be operated centrally from sheltered posts. These complex systems aid in minimising casualties, achieve rapid restoration of combat effectiveness, enhancing combat capability and survivability.INS Tamal is manned by a crew of about 250 sailors and 26 officers.As INS Tamal prepares to sail home to its base in Karnataka’s Karwar, its presence reaffirms India’s commitment to maintaining a combat-ready, credible, and cohesive navy — prepared to protect national interests anytime, anywhere.–IANSsas/as