tensions

A source familiar with the Trump administration’s counter-narcotics operations in the Caribbean confirmed to The War Zone that 10 F-35 Joint Strike fighters have been ordered to fly to Puerto Rico to take part in that mission. This confirms an earlier report by Reuters. The jets are expected to arrive in Puerto Rico next week. It is unclear which branch they belong to, where they are coming from or what they will do once they arrive.

Word of the deployment of fighters comes a day after Venezuelan F-16s made a pass near a U.S. Navy destroyer operating in the Caribbean, the latest in the escalating tensions between Venezuela and the United States.

“The interaction was highly provocative, and clearly a show of force,” a U.S. official told The War Zone Friday morning about the two Venezuelan F-16s that flew near the USS Jason Dunham.

The approach on the destroyer came two days after U.S. President Donald Trump said the military attacked a boat belonging to the “Venezuelan Tren de Aragua Narcoterrorists,” who are closely aligned with Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro. Trump released a video of the attack, which he said killed 11 narco-traffickers. Though the president signed a still-secret memo in July authorizing the use of military force against groups designed as narco-terror organizations, the incident has raised questions about the legality of carrying out such a strike without Congressional authority, among other issues.

The boat had been ordered to stop before it was destroyed, Fox News reported on X.

As part of his claimed effort to stem the flow of drugs from the region, Trump had previously ordered at least eight warships to the region, plus additional surveillance and strike assets.

A U.S. official provided us with an update Friday morning on the location of the Navy assets in the region in addition to the Dunham.

The 22nd MEU, part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), left Norfolk Aug. 14, bound for the southern Caribbean. That force included more than 4,500 sailors and Marines on three ships: The Wasp class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships the USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale. Those vessels remain off the southern coast of Puerto Rico, where Marines and sailors were conducting amphibious landing training. You can read more about that in our story here.

In addition to the ARG/MEU ships, the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Gravely remains underway in the southern Caribbean, the official told us.

Meanwhile, at least two Navy warships have reached or transited the Panama Canal. The Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie recently passed through the canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean. The Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Sampson remains docked on the Pacific side of the canal. Citing official policy about publicizing the location of its submarine force, the official declined to provide the whereabouts of the Los Angeles class fast attack submarine USS Newport News, which is also taking part in this effort.

Though aimed at groups considered narco-terrorist organizations, an official with direct knowledge of these operations told TWZ last week that they are also aimed at Maduro. He was indicted in a New York federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency. He and 14 others, including several close allies, were hit with federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy with the Colombian FARC insurgent group to import cocaine.  The U.S. government has issued a $50 million reward for Maduro’s capture.

The F-35s bring a wide array of capabilities wherever they are deployed. While best known for their kinetic capabilities, including striking targets and taking on enemy aircraft, the Joint Strike Fighter is an extremely powerful intelligence gathering tool, with its highly capable radar and electro-optical systems. Yet its electronic intelligence gathering ability is perhaps its most potent reconnaissance asset. You can read more about that here.

This is a developing story.

Update 1:20 PM Eastern –

During a trip to Fort Benning, Georgia on Thursday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth offered additional justification for the deadly strike against the cartel drug boat earlier this week. He likened the alleged smugglers killed to notorious terrorists.

“Coming from a drug cartel is no different than coming from Al-Qaeda,” Hegseth proclaimed to reporters. “And they will be treated as such, as they were, in international waters.” 

“We smoked a drug boat and there are 11 narcoterrorists at the bottom of the ocean,” he posited. “And when other people do that, they are going to meet the same fate. We knew exactly who they were, exactly what they were doing, what they represented, and why they were going where they were going.”

Update: 3:24 PM Eastern –

Video emerged on social media of the Iwo Jima off the coast of Puerto Rico.

Islamabad, Pakistan – For the second time in three years, catastrophic monsoon floods have carved a path of destruction across Pakistan’s north and central regions, particularly in its Punjab province, submerging villages, drowning farmland, displacing millions and killing hundreds.

This year, India – Pakistan’s archrival and a nuclear-armed neighbour – is also reeling. Its northern states, including Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Indian Punjab, have seen widespread flooding as heavy monsoon rains swell rivers on both sides of the border.

Pakistani authorities say that since late June, when the monsoon season began, at least 884 people have died nationally, more than 220 of them in Punjab. On the Indian side, the casualty count has crossed 100, with more than 30 dead in Indian Punjab.

Yet, shared suffering hasn’t brought the neighbours closer: In Pakistan’s Punjab, which borders India, federal minister Ahsan Iqbal has, in fact, accused New Delhi of deliberately releasing excess water from dams without timely warnings.

“India has started using water as a weapon and has caused wide-scale flooding in Punjab,” Iqbal said last month, citing releases into the Ravi, Sutlej and Chenab rivers, all of which originate in Indian territory and flow into Pakistan.

Iqbal further said that releasing flood water was the “worst example of water aggression” by India, which he said threatened lives, property and livelihoods.

“Some issues should be beyond politics, and water cooperation must be one of them,” the minister said on August 27, while he participated in rescue efforts in Narowal city, his constituency that borders India.

Those accusations come amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan, and the breakdown of a six-decade-old pact that helped them share waters for rivers that are lifelines to both nations.

But experts argue that the evidence is thin to suggest that India might have deliberately sought to flood Pakistan – and the larger nation’s own woes point to the risks of such a strategy, even if New Delhi were to contemplate it.

Weaponising water

Relations between India and Pakistan, already at a historic low, plummeted further in April after the Pahalgam attack, in which gunmen killed 26 civilians in Indian-administered Kashmir. India blamed Pakistan for the attack and walked out of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the transboundary agreement that governs the Indus Basin’s six rivers.

Pakistan rejected the accusation that it was in any way behind the Pahalgam attack. But in early May, the neighbours waged a four-day conflict, targeting each other’s military bases with missiles and drones in the gravest military escalation between them in almost three decades.

Under the IWT, the two countries were required to exchange detailed water-flow data regularly. With India no longer adhering to the pact, fears have mounted in recent months that New Delhi could either try to stop the flow of water into Pakistan, or flood its western neighbour through sudden, large releases.

After New Delhi suspended its participation in the IWT, India’s Home Minister Amit Shah in June said the treaty would never be restored, a stance that prompted protests in Pakistan and accusations of “water terrorism”.

But while the Indian government has not issued a formal response to accusations that it has chosen to flood Pakistan, the Indian High Commission in Islamabad has, in the last two weeks, shared several warnings of possible cross-border flooding on “humanitarian grounds”.

And water experts say that attributing Pakistan’s floods primarily to Indian water releases from dams is an “oversimplification” of the causes of the crisis that risks obscuring the urgent, shared challenges posed by climate change and ageing infrastructure.

“The Indian decision to release water from their dam has not caused flooding in Pakistan,” said Daanish Mustafa, a professor of critical geography at King’s College London.

“India has major dams on its rivers, which eventually make their way to Pakistan. Any excess water that will be released from these rivers will significantly impact India’s own states first,” he told Al Jazeera.

Shared monsoon strain

Both Pakistan and India depend on glaciers in the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges to feed their rivers. For Pakistan, the Indus river basin is a lifeline. It supplies water to most of the country’s roughly 250 million people and underpins its agriculture.

Under the IWT, India controls the three eastern rivers – Ravi, Sutlej and Beas – while Pakistan controls the three western rivers, Jhelum, Chenab and Indus.

India is obligated to allow waters of the western rivers to flow into Pakistan with limited exceptions, and to provide timely, detailed hydrological data.

India has built dams on the eastern rivers it controls, and the flow of the Ravi and Sutlej into Pakistan has considerably reduced since then. It has also built dams on some of the western rivers – it is allowed to, under the treaty, as long as that does not affect the volume of water flowing into Pakistan.

But melting glaciers and an unusually intense summer monsoon pushed river levels on both sides of the border dangerously high this year.

In Pakistan, glacial outbursts followed by heavy rains raised levels in the western rivers, while surging flows put infrastructure on the eastern rivers in India at serious risk.

Mustafa of King’s College said that dams – like other infrastructure – are designed keeping in mind a safe capacity of water that they can hold, and are typically meant to operate for about 100 years. But climate change has dramatically altered the average rainfall that might have been taken into account while designing these projects.

“The parameters used to build the dams are now obsolete and meaningless,” he said. “When the capacity of the dams is exceeded, water must be released or it will put the entire structure at risk of destruction.”

Among the major dams upstream in Indian territory are Salal and Baglihar on the Chenab; Pong on the Beas; Bhakra on the Sutlej; and Ranjit Sagar (also known as Thein) on the Ravi.

These dams are based in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, with vast areas of Indian territory between them and the border.

Blaming India for the flooding in Pakistan makes no sense, said Shiraz Memon, a former Pakistani representative on the bilateral commission tasked under the IWT to monitor the implementation of the pact.

“Instead of acknowledging that India has shared warnings, we are blaming them of water terrorism. It is [a] simple, natural flood phenomenon,” Memon said, adding that by the end of August, reservoirs across the region were full.

“With water at capacity, spillways had to be opened for downstream releases. This is a natural solution as there is no other option available,” he told Al Jazeera.

Politics of blame

According to September 3 data on India’s Central Water Commission website, at least a dozen sites face a “severe” flood situation, and another 19 are above normal flood levels.

The same day, Pakistan’s Ministry of Water Resources issued a notification, quoting a message from the Indian High Commission, warning of “high flood” on the Sutlej and Tawi rivers.

It was the fourth such notice by India after three earlier warnings last week, but none contained detailed hydrological data.

Pakistan’s Meteorological Department, in a report on September 4, said on the Pakistani side, two sites on the Sutlej and Ravi faced “extremely high” flood levels, while two other sites on the Ravi and Chenab saw “very high” levels.

The sheer volume of water during an intense monsoon often exceeds any single dam or barrage’s capacity. Controlled releases have become a necessary, if dangerous, part of flood management on both sides of the border, said experts.

They added that while the IWT obliged India to alert Pakistan to abnormal flows, Pakistan also needs better monitoring and real-time data systems rather than relying solely on diplomatic exchanges.

The blame game, analysts warn, can serve short-term political purposes on both sides, especially after May’s conflict.

For India, suspending the treaty is framed as a firm stance against what it sees as Pakistan’s state-sponsored terrorism. For Pakistan, blaming India can provide a political scapegoat that distracts from domestic failures in flood mitigation and governance.

“Rivers are living, breathing entities. This is what they do; they are always on the move. You cannot control the flood, especially a high or severe flood,” academic Mustafa said.

Blaming India won’t stop the floods. But, he added, it appears to be an “easy way out to relinquish responsibility”.

As the U.S. deploys an armada of ships and aircraft to the southern Caribbean, at least partly aimed at Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, the U.S. Navy and Marines are conducting an amphibious landing training exercise in southern Puerto Rico. While the U.S. Marine Corps does not make any mention of Maduro or Venezuela in its media release about the exercise, the move comes as tensions are mounting between Washington and Caracas over the flow of illegal narcotics. The Trump administration considers Maduro a “narco-terrorist” and has raised the award for his arrest to $50 million. You can catch up with our most recent reporting on the Caribbean deployments here.

Meanwhile, the U.S. carried out a lethal strike in the southern Caribbean against a drug vessel that departed from Venezuela and was operated by a designated narco-terrorist organization, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on X this afternoon, following comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump. Striking this vessel points to a new kinetic angle to this effort, a major escalation. You can read more about the attack in our story here.

The amphibious training exercise, which began two days ago, involves Marines and sailors from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU). The 22nd MEU, part of the Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group (ARG), left Norfolk Aug. 14, bound for the southern Caribbean. That force included more than 4,500 sailors and Marines on three ships: The Wasp class amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, and San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ships the USS San Antonio and USS Fort Lauderdale.

The Marines and sailors involved in the training exercise are part of the ARG/MEU dispatched for the drug interdiction effort, a Navy official told The War Zone Tuesday afternoon. The three ships are currently near Puerto Rico, the official added. Given the training efforts, at least some of these vessels are almost assuredly taking part, though neither the Navy nor Marines could immediately confirm that. The Navy referred us to the Marines for clarification, and we will update this story with any pertinent details provided.

The deployment of the ARG/MEU is part of a much larger movement that also includes three Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers, a Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser, a Los Angeles class fast attack nuclear submarine as well as land-based surveillance aircraft. The movement of equipment and personnel is part of Trump’s continuing efforts to take on cartels.

The Puerto Rico training exercise “is designed to enhance the 22nd MEU’s readiness and capabilities, while also fostering stronger relationships with the Puerto Rican National Guard,” the 22nd MEU said in its release. “Amphibious operations are a cornerstone of naval integration and a core competency of the 22nd MEU. They enable the rapid deployment of Marines from naval vessels to shore, supporting U.S. strategic objectives.”

Whether coincidental or not, there are many physical and environmental similarities between Puerto Rico and Venezuela, located about 500 miles south of the U.S. territory.

“The challenging terrain and tropical climate of Puerto Rico provides an ideal environment for the 22nd MEU to conduct realistic amphibious training and hone specialized skills such as patrolling, reconnaissance, and survival techniques, ensuring a high level of readiness while forward deployed,” the unit explained. “These operations offer a valuable opportunity to train alongside the National Guard, leveraging existing military training facilities on the island. The 22nd MEU is actively seeking ways to expand collaborative training opportunities, including jungle training, combined exercises and community engagement events. These combined efforts are aimed at enhancing regional security, disaster response capabilities, and joint capacity building.”

In addition to the ARG/MEU ships, Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyers USS Gravely and USS Jason Dunham are underway in the southern Caribbean, the Navy official told us.

Meanwhile, at least two Navy warships have reached or transited the Panama Canal. The Ticonderoga class guided missile cruiser USS Lake Erie recently passed through the canal from the Pacific to the Caribbean. The Panama Canal opens up into that body of water about 600 miles southwest of Venezuela.

Overnight, guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Erie (CG 70) transited the Panama Canal northbound and entered the Caribbean Sea. Following the transit, Lake Erie stopped broadcasting its position, steaming at 17 knots on a 36° course, heading in the direction of Venezuela. pic.twitter.com/aNmeJhmN4y

— Ian Ellis (@ianellisjones) August 30, 2025

In addition, the Arleigh Burke class guided missile destroyer USS Sampson is docked on the Pacific side of the canal, the Navy official added. Citing Navy policy against publicly disclosing the location of its submarine force, the official would not comment on the whereabouts of the Los Angeles class fast attack submarine USS Newport News, also part of this effort.

While there is no indication that the U.S. plans to land forces in Venezuela, has the deployed capacity to do so effectively, or that any U.S. vessels are close by, Maduro and his military say they are ready to repel any attack.

“In the face of this maximum military pressure, we have declared maximum preparedness for the defense of Venezuela,” Maduro said Monday of the deployment, which he characterized as “an extravagant, unjustifiable, immoral and absolutely criminal and bloody threat.”

Maduro called the U.S. buildup “the greatest threat that has been seen on our continent in the last 100 years” in the form of “eight military ships with 1,200 missiles” targeting Venezuela.

Maduro asegura que 1.200 misiles y un submarino nuclear apuntan contra Venezuela

La Casa Blanca ha confirmado un despliegue militar en el Caribe como parte de su estrategia antidrogas, y aseguró que cuenta con el respaldo de varios países latinoamericanos. Maduro afirma que su… pic.twitter.com/KDAO2dUmLX

— DW Español (@dw_espanol) September 2, 2025

While the exact nature of this movement remains unclear, and no overt threats of kinetic action against Maduro directly have been made by the Trump administration, the Venezuelan dictator seems to be gearing up for a fight. Late last month, he announced the planned deployment of more than 4.5 million militia members around the country. They are volunteers designated to bolster the armed forces’ defense against external and domestic attacks. In addition, Venezuela announced it was deploying 15,000 troops toward the border with Colombia to conduct counter-drug operations.

Rubio said recently that “for the first time in the modern era,” the U.S. government was “truly on the offense” against organized cartels sending drugs to the United States, The New York Times noted. He and other officials in the Trump administration have called Mr. Maduro an illegitimate leader and his government a “narco-terror cartel.”

Maduro was indicted in a New York federal court in 2020, during the first Trump presidency. He and 14 others, including several close allies, were hit with federal charges of narco-terrorism and conspiracy with the Colombian FARC insurgent group to import cocaine.  The U.S., as we previously mentioned, has issued a $50 million reward for his capture.

El primer póster oficial del gobierno de los Estados Unidos por la captura del terrorista latinoamericano más buscado de todos los tiempos: el venezolano Nicolas Maduro Moros. pic.twitter.com/Pq0ElEOGuF

— Agustín Antonetti (@agusantonetti) August 8, 2025

Last week, someone with direct knowledge of the operations told us that the U.S. is building up military assets in the region aimed as a direct message at Maduro in addition to taking part in counter-drug operations. With the aforementioned attack on a Venezuelan cartel drug boat, this has now become a lethal drug interdiction effort.

Contact the author: [email protected]

Islamabad, Pakistan – India on August 20 announced that it had successfully test-fired Agni-V, its intermediate-range ballistic missile, from a test range in Odisha on its eastern Bay of Bengal coast.

The Agni-V, meaning “fire” in Sanskrit, is 17.5 metres long, weighs 50,000kg, and can carry more than 1,000kg of nuclear or conventional payload. Capable of travelling more than 5,000km at hypersonic speeds of nearly 30,000km per hour, it is among the fastest ballistic missiles in the world.

The Agni test came exactly a week after Pakistan announced the formation of a new Army Rocket Force Command (ARFC), aimed, say experts, at plugging holes in its defensive posture exposed by India during the four-day conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours in May.

But experts say the latest Indian test might be a message less for Pakistan and more for another neighbour that New Delhi is cautiously warming up to again: China.

The Agni’s range puts most of Asia, including China’s northern regions, and parts of Europe within reach. This was the missile’s 10th test since 2012 and its first since March last year, but its timing, say analysts, was significant.

It came just ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s trip to China for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, amid a thaw in ties – after years of tension over their disputed border – that has been accelerated by United States President Donald Trump’s tariff war against India. On Wednesday, the US tariffs on Indian goods doubled to 50 percent amid tensions over New Delhi’s oil purchases from Russia.

Yet despite that shift in ties with Beijing, India continues to view China as its primary threat in the neighbourhood, say experts, underscoring the complex relationship between the world’s two most populous nations. And it’s at China that India’s development of medium and long-range missiles is primarily aimed, they say.

India’s missile advantage over Pakistan

While India acknowledged losing an unspecified number of fighter jets during the May skirmish with Pakistan, it also inflicted significant damage on Pakistani military bases, particularly with its supersonic BrahMos cruise missiles.

The BrahMos, capable of carrying nuclear or conventional payloads of up to 300kg, has a range of about 500km. Its low altitude, terrain-hugging trajectory and blistering speed make it difficult to intercept, allowing it to penetrate Pakistani territory with relative ease.

Many experts argue that this context shows the Agni-V test is not directly linked to Pakistan’s announcement of the ARFC. Instead, they say, the test was likely a signal to China. Indian and Chinese troops were in an eyeball-to-eyeball standoff along their disputed Himalayan border for four years after a deadly clash in 2020, before Modi met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Russia in October 2024 to begin a process of detente.

Modi’s visit to China for the SCO summit on Sunday will be his first to that country since 2018. In the past, India has often felt betrayed by overtures to China, which, it claims, have frequently been followed by aggression from Beijing along their border.

“India’s requirement for a long-range, but not intercontinental, missile is dictated by its threat perception of China,” Manpreet Sethi, a distinguished fellow at the New Delhi-based Centre for Air Power Studies, told Al Jazeera.

“Agni-V is a nuclear-capable ballistic missile of 5,000km range, which India has been developing as part of its nuclear deterrence capability against China. It has no relevance to Pakistan,” Sethi added.

Christopher Clary, assistant professor of political science at the University at Albany, agreed.

“While the Agni-V might be usable against Pakistan, its primary mission would involve strikes on China,” he told Al Jazeera. “China’s east coast, where its most economically and politically important cities are situated, is hard to reach from India and requires long-range missiles.”

Missile race across South Asia

India and Pakistan have been steadily expanding their missile arsenals in recent years, unveiling new systems with increasing reach.

Before announcing the ARFC, Pakistan showcased the Fatah-4, a cruise missile with a 750km range and the capability to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.

India, meanwhile, is working on Agni-VI, which is expected to have a range exceeding 10,000km and carry multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), a capability already present in Agni-V.

MIRV-enabled missiles can carry several nuclear warheads, each capable of striking a separate target, significantly boosting their destructive potential.

Mansoor Ahmed, an honorary lecturer at the Strategic and Defence Studies Centre, Australian National University, said India’s latest test demonstrates its growing intercontinental missile capabilities.

“With India working on different variants of Agni with multiple capabilities, this test was a technological demonstrator for India’s emerging submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) capability,” Ahmed said.

“Depending on the configuration of the warheads for India’s SLBMs, India will be able to deploy anywhere between 200-300 warheads on its SSBN force alone over the next decade,” he added. SSBNs (ship, submersible, ballistic, nuclear) are nuclear-powered submarines designed to carry SLBMs armed with nuclear warheads. India currently has two SSBNs in service, with two more under construction.

Pakistan, by contrast, does not possess long-range missiles or nuclear submarines. Its longest-range operational ballistic missile, the Shaheen-III, has a range of 2,750km.

“Pakistan also has South Asia’s first MIRV-enabled ballistic missile called Ababeel, which can strike up to 2,200km range, but it is the shortest-ranged MIRV-enabled system deployed by any nuclear-armed state,” Ahmed said.

Tughral Yamin, a former Pakistani army brigadier and nuclear policy scholar, said the countries’ missile ambitions reflect divergent priorities.

“Pakistan’s programme is entirely Indian-specific and defensive in nature, while India’s ambitions extend beyond the subcontinent. Its long-range systems are designed for global power projection, particularly vis-a-vis China, and to establish itself as a great power with credible deterrence against major states,” said Yamin, author of The Evolution of Nuclear Deterrence in South Asia.

But some experts say Pakistan’s missile development programme isn’t only about India.

Ashley J Tellis, the Tata Chair for Strategic Affairs at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), said that while “India wants to be able to range China and Pakistan,” Islamabad is building the capability to keep Israel – and even the US – in its range, in addition to India.

“The conventional missile force in both countries is designed to strike critical targets without putting manned strike aircraft at risk,” Tellis told Al Jazeera.

US concerns over Pakistan’s ambitions, quiet acceptance of India’s rise

Pakistan’s missile programme came under intense spotlight in December last year when a senior White House official warned of Islamabad’s growing ambitions.

Jon Finer, serving in the then-Biden administration, described Pakistan’s pursuit of advanced missile technology as an “emerging threat” to the United States.

“If the trend continues, Pakistan will have the capability to strike targets well beyond South Asia, including in the United States,” Finer said during an event at the CEIP.

By contrast, Tellis said India’s growing arsenal is not viewed as destabilising by Washington or its allies.

“Pakistan’s capabilities in contrast are viewed as unsettling because the early history of its nuclear programme had anti-Western overtones, sentiments that have taken on a specific anti-US colouration after 9/11 and the Abbottabad raid,” Tellis explained, referring to the US capture of Osama bin Laden inside Pakistan in 2011.

Ahmed, the Canberra-based academic, said India’s long-range missile development is openly supported by Western powers as part of the US-led Asia Pacific strategy.

“The US and European powers have viewed and encouraged India to act as a net security provider. The India-US civil nuclear deal and the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) waiver effectively gave India de facto nuclear weapons status without signing the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT),” he said.

The NPT is a Cold War-era treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons, promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy and advancing the goal of nuclear disarmament. It formally recognises only the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain as nuclear weapons states.

But the 2008 waiver from the NSG – a club of 48 nations that sell nuclear material and technology – allowed India to engage in global nuclear trade despite not being an NPT signatory, a unique status that elevated its global standing.

Clary from the University of Albany, however, pointed out that unlike the Biden administration, the current Trump White House has not expressed any concerns about Pakistan’s missile programme – or about India’s Agni-V test.

“For now, so long as Pakistan keeps its missile tests limited to ranges already demonstrated by the Shaheen-III and Ababeel, I don’t expect Western governments to concern themselves overly with South Asia’s missile developments,” he said. “There are more than enough other problems to keep them busy.”

Beijing warns Manila to stop ‘playing with fire’ after Marcos signals potential Taiwan conflict involvement.

China has sharply criticised Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr after he suggested his country would be drawn into a potential conflict between China and the United States over Taiwan.

During a state visit to India this week, Marcos said the Philippines’ geographic proximity and the large Filipino community in Taiwan meant the country would be forced to get involved in the event of war.

“If there is an all-out war, then we will be drawn into it,” Marcos told Indian broadcaster Firstpost. “There are many, many Filipino nationals in Taiwan and that would be immediately a humanitarian problem.”

In response, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a strongly worded statement on Friday, warning Manila not to “play with fire” and urging it to uphold the one China principle.

“Geographical proximity and large overseas populations are not excuses for interfering in others’ internal affairs,” the statement read.

Tensions between China and the Philippines have intensified in recent years over territorial disputes in the South China Sea. Both sides have accused each other of provocations, with altercations at sea involving ramming incidents, water cannon blasts, and clashes involving weapons such as spears and knives.

Beijing continues to assert that Taiwan is part of its territory and a breakaway province, a position Taipei rejects.

China also dismissed Marcos’s justification as undermining both international law and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations charter, saying his comments risk destabilising regional peace and harming the interests of the Philippine people.

Marcos’s trip to India also saw the signing of new security agreements aimed at strengthening defence ties between New Delhi and Manila, including cooperation between both countries’ armies, air forces and navies. Indian warships recently began joint patrols with the Philippine Navy in the contested South China Sea in a move likely to anger China.

In another sign of rising tensions, Philippine officials earlier this week condemned the launch of a Chinese rocket, which they said dropped suspected debris near a western province, alarming residents and threatening local ships and aircraft. No damage or injuries were reported.

The escalating maritime standoff has also increasingly drawn in the United States, which has a mutual defence pact with the Philippines. Washington has reaffirmed its commitment to defend Filipino forces, including coastguard personnel, aircraft and public vessels, should they come under attack anywhere in the South China Sea.

Ubon Ratchathani, Thailand – As Thai and Cambodian officials meet for talks in the Malaysian capital Kuala Lumpur to cement a fragile ceasefire, sources on the ground say troops continue to build up on both sides of their disputed border.

Malaysia helped mediate a truce on July 28 that brought to an end five days of fierce clashes between Cambodian and Thai forces.

But the two neighbouring countries have accused the other of violating the terms of the shaky ceasefire, even while their officials attend border talks in Kuala Lumpur that began on Monday.

The four-day summit will conclude on Thursday with a meeting scheduled between Thai Deputy Defence Minister Natthaphon Nakpanit and Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Seiha, which will also be attended by observers from Malaysia, China and the United States.

“It can erupt at any time; the situation is not stable,” said Wasawat Puangpornsri, a member of Thailand’s parliament whose constituency includes Ubon Ratchathani province’s Nam Yuen district on the border with Cambodia.

On Tuesday, Wasawat Puangpornsri visited the area and said a large number of Thai and Cambodian troops were stationed some 50 metres away from each other around the Chong Anma border crossing in Nam Yuen district.

The ongoing tension has stymied efforts to return some 20,000 Thai people to their homes in Ubon Ratchathani, which came under attack on July 24 when simmering tensions exploded into heavy fighting between the two countries.

Wasawat Puangpornsri and other representatives from Thailand’s government were inspecting civilian homes damaged in the area during the fighting to assess reparation payments.

Residents of the area told Al Jazeera that they were already on high alert after a brief firefight in May left one Cambodian soldier dead and diplomatic relations between Bangkok and Phnom Penh soured as a result.

Both militaries blamed each other for firing the first shots during the May incident and also the all-out clashes that erupted on July 24, which included Cambodian forces firing artillery and rockets into civilian neighbourhoods in Thailand and Thai fighter jets bombing Cambodia.

Local Thai resident Phian Somsri said she was feeding her ducks when the explosions started in July.

“I prepared for it, but I never really thought it would happen,” she said, sitting on the tile floor of a Buddhist pagoda where she has been sheltering for more than 10 days.

“Bombs were falling in the rice fields,” Phian Somsri said, recounting to Al Jazeera how she received a frantic phone call while gathering her belongings to flee.

One of her closest friends, known affectionately as Grandma Lao, had just been killed when a rocket struck her house.

“I was shocked and sad, I couldn’t believe it, and I hoped it wasn’t true. But I was also so scared, because at that same time I could hear the gunfire and bombs, and I couldn’t do anything,” she said.

‘I pray everything will be all right and peaceful’

When the guns fell silent on July 28 after five days of fighting, at least 24 civilians had been killed – eight in Cambodia and 16 in Thailand – and more than 260,000 people had been displaced from their homes on both sides of the border.

While the ceasefire is holding, both countries continue to accuse the other of violations since the ceasefire went into effect – even while the General Border Committee meeting talks in Kuala Lumpur got under way this week to prevent further clashes.

Cambodia’s former longtime leader Hun Sen claimed on Sunday that a renewed Thai offensive was imminent, although it never materialised.

Despite handing power to his son, Prime Minister Hun Manet, in 2023, Hun Sen is largely seen as being the country’s real power and continuing to call the shots.

The head of a district in Ubon Ratchathani, located away from the fighting and where displaced Thai people evacuated to, also confirmed that people are not yet returning home due to the ongoing tension and reports of renewed troop build-ups.

The district official, who asked that his name not be used as he was not authorised to talk to the media, said the Thai military is wary of its Cambodian counterpart.

“They don’t trust the Cambodian side,” he said, adding that many of the evacuees have been traumatised by their recent experience.

Netagit, 46, a janitor for a village hospital, told how he was taking refuge at a bomb shelter near a Buddhist temple when his house was destroyed by rocket fire on July 25.

“I have no idea what I’m going to do next,” he told Al Jazeera while inspecting the ruins of his home.

Netagit had lived here with his two children, his wife and her parents. Now his family’s personal belongings have spilled into the street and concrete walls painted a bright blue are crumbled, while a corrugated iron roof lies strewn across the ground in pieces.

At first, he tried to hide the news from his kids that their house had been destroyed.

“I didn’t want to tell them, but they saw the pictures and started crying,” Netagit said. “I’m just trying to prepare myself for whatever comes next,” he added.

Displaced residents in this district hope the outcome of the border talks in Kuala Lumpur will bring stability, but continued troop movements and diplomatic sparring are leaving them anxious.

After a week away from home, Phian Somsri’s husband was allowed to briefly return to check on their property.

By then, all of her ducks had died, she said.

“I feel really overwhelmed, and I just want to go home,” she said.

“I pray everything will be all right and peaceful between the two countries.”

WASHINGTON — Lawmakers have left Washington for the annual August recess, but a few weeks of relative quiet on the U.S. Capitol grounds can’t mask the partisan tensions that are brewing on government funding and President Trump’s nominees. It could make for a momentous September.

Here’s a look at what’s ahead when lawmakers return after the Labor Day holiday.

A bitter spending battle ahead

Lawmakers will use much of September to work on spending bills for the coming budget year, which begins Oct. 1. They likely will need to pass a short-term spending measure to keep the government funded for a few weeks while they work on a longer-term measure that covers the full year.

It’s not unusual for leaders from both parties to blame the other party for a potential shutdown, but the rhetoric began extra early this year, signaling the threat of a stoppage is more serious than usual.

On Monday, Senate Democratic leader Charles E. Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries sent their Republican counterparts a sharply-worded letter calling for a meeting to discuss “the government funding deadline and the health care crisis you have visited upon the American people.”

They said it will take bipartisanship to avert a “painful, unnecessary shutdown.”

“Yet it is clear that the Trump Administration and many in your party are preparing to go it alone and continue to legislate on a solely Republican basis,” said the letter sent to Senate Majority Leader John Thune and House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Republicans have taken note of the warnings and are portraying the Democrats as itching for a shutdown they hope to blame on the GOP.

“It was disturbing to hear the Democrat leader threaten to shut down the government in his July 8 Dear Colleague letter,” Thune said on Saturday. “… I really hope that Democrats will not embrace that position but will continue to work with Republicans to fund the government.”

Different approaches from the House and Senate

So far, the House has approved two of the 12 annual spending bills, mostly along party lines. The Senate has passed three on a strongly bipartisan basis. The House is pursuing steep, non-defense spending cuts. The Senate is rejecting many of those cuts. One side will have to give. And any final bill will need some Democratic support to generate the 60 votes necessary to get a spending measure to the finish line.

Some Democratic senators are also wanting assurances from Republicans that there won’t be more efforts in the coming weeks to claw back or cancel funding already approved by Congress.

“If Republicans want to make a deal, then let’s make a deal, but only if Republicans include an agreement they won’t take back that deal a few weeks later,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., a veteran member of the House Appropriations committee, said the Democratic minority in both chambers has suffered so many legislative losses this year, “that they are stuck between a rock and their voting base.” Democrats may want to demonstrate more resistance to Trump, but they would rue a shutdown, he warned.

“The reality would be, if the government were shut down, the administration, Donald Trump, would have the ability to decide where to spend and not spend,” Fleischmann said. “Schumer knows that, Jeffries knows that. We know that. I think it would be much more productive if we start talking about a short-term (continuing resolution.)”

Republicans angry about pace of nominations

Republicans are considering changes to Senate rules to get more of Trump’s nominees confirmed.

Thune said last week that during the same point in Joe Biden’s presidency, 49 of his 121 civilian nominees had been confirmed on an expedited basis through a voice vote or a unanimous consent request. Trump has had none of his civilian nominees confirmed on an expedited basis. Democrats have insisted on roll call votes for all of them, a lengthy process than can take days.

“I think they’re desperately in need of change,” Thune said of Senate rules for considering nominees. “I think that the last six months have demonstrated that this process, nominations, is broken. And so I expect there will be some good robust conversations about that.”

Schumer said a rules change would be a “huge mistake,” especially as Senate Republicans will need Democratic votes to pass spending bills and other legislation moving forward.

The Senate held a rare weekend session as Republicans worked to get more of Trump’s nominees confirmed. Negotiations focused on advancing dozens of additional Trump nominees in exchange for some concessions on releasing some already approved spending.

At times, lawmakers spoke of progress on a potential deal. But it was clear that there would be no agreement when Trump attacked Schumer on social media Saturday evening and told Republicans to pack it up and go home.

“Tell Schumer, who is under tremendous political pressure from within his own party, the Radical Left Lunatics, to GO TO HELL!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

Freking writes for the Associated Press. AP writers Mary Clare Jalonick and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

Seoul removes propaganda loudspeakers to signal a shift in policy under President Lee’s administration.

South Korean authorities began removing loudspeakers blaring anti-North Korea broadcasts along the country’s border, Seoul’s Ministry of National Defence has said, as the new government of President Lee Jae-myung seeks to ease tensions with Pyongyang.

“Starting today, the military has begun removing the loudspeakers,” Lee Kyung-ho, spokesman of South Korea’s Defence Ministry, told reporters on Monday.

Shortly after he took office in June, Lee’s administration switched off propaganda broadcasts criticising the North Korean regime as it looks to revive stalled dialogue with its neighbour.

But North Korea recently rebuffed the overtures and said it had no interest in talking to South Korea.

The countries remain technically at war because the 1950-53 Korean war ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty, and relations have deteriorated in the last few years.

“It is a practical measure aimed at helping ease tensions with the North, provided that such actions do not compromise the military’s state of readiness,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

All loudspeakers set up along the border will be dismantled by the end of the week, he added, but did not disclose the exact number that would be removed.

President Lee, recently elected after his predecessor was impeached over an abortive martial law declaration, had ordered the military to stop the broadcasts in a bid to “restore trust”.

Relations between the two Koreas had been at one of their lowest points in years, with Seoul taking a hard line towards Pyongyang, which has drawn ever closer to Moscow in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The previous government started the broadcasts last year in response to a barrage of trash-filled balloons flown southward by Pyongyang.

But Lee promised to improve relations with North Korea and reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Despite his diplomatic overtures, North Korea has rejected pursuing dialogue with its neighbour.

“If the ROK… expected that it could reverse all the results it had made with a few sentimental words, nothing is [a] more serious miscalculation…,” Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said last week, using the acronym for South Korea’s official name, Republic of Korea.

Lee has said that he would seek talks with North Korea without conditions, following a deep freeze under his predecessor.

State media says armed groups violated the truce agreed in the predominantly Druze region.

Druze armed groups have attacked personnel from Syria’s internal security forces in the restive area of Suwayda, killing at least one government soldier and wounding others, as well as shelling several villages in the southern province, according to state-run Ekhbariya TV.

Ekhbariya’s report on Sunday quoted a security source as saying the armed groups had violated the ceasefire agreed in the predominantly Druze region, where sectarian bloodshed killed hundreds of people last month.

In response to the renewed violence, the Syrian government said in a statement that “the media and sectarian mobilisation campaigns led by the rebel gangs in the city have not ceased over the past period”.

It added: “As these gangs failed to thwart the efforts of the Syrian state and its responsibilities towards our people in Suwayda, they resorted to violating the ceasefire agreement by launching treacherous attacks against internal security forces on several fronts and shelling some villages with rockets and mortar shells, resulting in the martyrdom and injury of a number of security personnel.”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported four deaths in the latest violence in Suwayda, noting three were government soldiers and one was a local fighter.

Violence in Suwayda erupted on July 13 between Bedouin tribal fighters and Druze factions.

Government forces were sent in to quell the fighting, but the bloodshed worsened, and Israel carried out strikes on Syrian troops, and also bombed the heart of the capital Damascus, under the pretext of protecting the Druze.

The Druze are a minority community in the region with followers in Syria, Lebanon and Israel. Suwayda province is predominantly Druze, but is also home to Bedouin tribes, and the communities have had longstanding tensions over land and other resources.

A United States-brokered truce between Israel and Syria was announced in tandem with Syria President Ahmed al-Sharaa declaring a ceasefire in Suwayda after previous failed attempts. The fighting had raged in Suwayda city and surrounding towns for nearly a week. Syria said it would investigate the clashes, setting up a committee to do so.

The Suwayda bloodshed was another blow to al-Sharaa’s fledgling government, after a wave of sectarian violence in March that killed hundreds of Alawite citizens in the coastal region.

Hundreds of Bedouin families were displaced by the fighting in Suwayda and relocated to nearby Deraa.

Israel attacks Syria again

Separately, the Israeli military said on Sunday that it conducted a raid on targets in southern Syria on Saturday.

The army said it seized weapons and questioned several suspects it said were involved in weapons trafficking in the area.

Meanwhile, the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said on Sunday that five of its members had been killed during an attack by ISIL (ISIS) on a checkpoint in eastern Syria’s Deir Az Zor on July 31.

The SDF was the main force allied with the United States in Syria during fighting that defeated ISIL in 2019 after the group declared a caliphate across swaths of Syria and Iraq.

ISIL has been trying to stage a comeback in the Middle East, the West and Asia. Deir Az Zor city was captured by ISIL in 2014, but the Syrian army retook it in 2017.

On Saturday, Syria’s Defence Ministry said an attack carried out by the SDF in the countryside of the northern city of Manbij injured four army personnel and three civilians.

The ministry described the attack as “irresponsible and for unknown reasons”, according to Syria’s state news agency SANA.

July 24 (UPI) — A European Union-China summit in Beijing on Thursday saw Chinese President Xi Jinping‘s call for closer ties met with a reality check from European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen over China’s $359 billion trade surplus with the EU.

Xi told the high-level gathering, marking 50 years of diplomatic relations between Brussels and Beijing, that rising current geopolitical frictions demanded the two sides strengthen their “mutually beneficial” relationship.

“The more severe and complex the international situation is, the more China and the EU should strengthen communication, enhance mutual trust, and deepen cooperation,” Xi told the EU delegation headed by von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa.

Telling them that the problems Europe was facing “do not come from China,” Xi urged the EU to deal with tensions and disagreements properly, keep its market open and refrain from resorting to measures targeting trade, including tariffs.

However, Von der Leyen pushed back, saying relations were at a critical point where the Chinese leadership needed to prioritize the huge trade imbalance between the EU and China.

“As our cooperation has deepened, so have the imbalances. We have reached an inflection point. Rebalancing our bilateral relations is essential. Because to be sustainable, relations need to be mutually beneficial. To achieve this, it is vital for China and Europe to acknowledge our respective concerns and come forward with real solutions,” she said.

Trade tensions have taken a toll on the relationship after Brussels, accusing China of unfair subsidies, hiked tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles while Beijing targeted imports of European brandy, pork, and dairy products with anti-dumping investigations.

China has also restricted government purchasing of EU-made medical devices in retaliation for Brussels making it much more difficult for Chinese suppliers to bid for EU medical equipment contracts.

This was against a backdrop of a trade relationship in which Chinese exports to the EU reached $609.4 billion in 2024, while EU exports to China were just $250.4 billion. Official Chinese data for the first half of this year show the goods-trade surplus up 21% on the same period in 2024, although the Chinese totals are somewhat lower than the EU’s figures.

A rapprochement hoped for by Beijing between the world’s second- and third-largest trading blocs, both at the forefront of U.S. President Donald Trump‘s blanket tariff hikes, has gradually evaporated amid the airing of grievances.

That saw the summit, which was originally planned to run through Friday, cut to one day.

In meetings with Xi in the morning and Chinese Premier Li Qiang after lunch, von der Leyen and Costa raised not only the trade issue but also China’s backing for Russia in the Ukraine war and end export controls on rare earth minerals, of which China has among the world’s largest reserves.

Von der Leyen has previously accused China of leveraging its “quasi-monopoly on rare earths not only as a bargaining chip, but also weaponizing it to undermine competitors in key industries.”

Costa told Xi he needed to use China’s sway to push Moscow to halt the war.

The two sides did, however, manage to see eye-to-eye on the climate, issuing a joint communique vowing to “demonstrate leadership together” and develop proposals to combat the emissions causing global warming in time for this year’s COP, the U.N. Climate Change Conference, in Brazil in November.

Unification ministry in Seoul says allowing individual tours will not violate international sanctions.

South Korea is considering allowing individual tours to North Korea as it studies ways to improve relations with its neighbour, a spokesperson for South Korea’s Ministry of Unification says.

“The government is formulating and pursuing North Korea policies with the goal of easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula and improving inter-Korean ties with various measures under consideration in the process,” the ministry said in a statement on Monday.

The announcement was made as Seoul takes more steps to ease tensions with its northern rival after the election of President Lee Jae-myung, who has pledged to improve strained ties with Pyongyang.

In a bid to ease tensions, Lee suspended anti-North Korea loudspeaker broadcasts along the border and ordered a halt to leaflet campaigns criticising the North’s leaders by anti-Pyongyang activists.

Koo Byung-sam, spokesperson for the Unification Ministry, which handles inter-Korean affairs, refused to comment on a “particular issue”. But he said he understood individual tours were not in violation of international sanctions, according to a report by the Reuters news agency.

South Korea’s Dong-A Ilbo newspaper also said Lee’s administration is considering resuming individual trips to North Korea as a negotiating card to reopen dialogue with Pyongyang.

It reported that Lee mentioned the proposal during a National Security Council meeting on July 10. The government subsequently began a review of the plan, the report added, quoting a senior official.

Tourism is one of a narrow range of cash sources for North Korea that are not targeted under United Nations sanctions imposed over its nuclear and weapons programmes.

Citing anti-Pyongyang broadcasters, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency also reported on Monday that the National Intelligence Service this month had suspended all of its decades-old broadcasts targeting the North Korean regime.

Lee said he will discuss further plans with top security officials to resume dialogue with North Korea, which technically is still at war with the South after the 1950-1953 Korean War ended with an armistice and not a peace treaty.

North Korea recently opened a beach resort in the city of Wonsan, a flagship project driven by leader Kim Jong Un to promote tourism. But the tourist area is temporarily not accepting foreign visitors, according to a note on Wednesday by DPR Korea Tour, a website operated by North Korea’s National Tourism Administration.

North Korea’s tourism industry appears to be struggling even after it lifted COVID-19 border restrictions, allowing rail and flight services with Russia and China.

Asked if South Koreans would travel to Wonsan, Koo said North Korea first needs to open the area to the outside world.

South Korea once ran tours to North Korea’s Mount Kumgang area but suspended them in 2008 when a South Korean tourist was shot dead by a North Korean soldier.

US president, who has claimed credit for the truce in May, says planes were being shot out of the air.

United States President Donald Trump has said up to five fighter jets were shot down during the recent India-Pakistan conflict, which erupted after an April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir brought the nuclear-armed neighbours to the cusp of their fifth all-out war, before a ceasefire in May.

Trump, who made his remarks at a dinner with a number of Republican US lawmakers at the White House on Friday, did not specify which side’s jets he was referring to.

“In fact, planes were being shot out of the air. Five, five, four or five, but I think five jets were shot down actually,” Trump said while talking about the India-Pakistan hostilities, without elaborating or providing further detail.

Pakistan has claimed it downed five Indian planes in air-to-air combat.

India’s highest-ranking general said in late May that India switched tactics after suffering losses in the air on the first day of hostilities and established an advantage before a ceasefire was announced three days later.

India also claimed it downed “a few planes” of Pakistan. Islamabad denied suffering any losses of planes but acknowledged its airbases suffered hits.

Truce deal

Trump has repeatedly claimed credit, and complained he has not been feted for it, for the ceasefire between India and Pakistan that he announced on social media on May 10 after Washington held talks with both sides.

India has contradicted Trump’s claims that the ceasefire resulted from his intervention and his threats to sever trade talks.

New Delhi’s stated position has been that it reached an agreement bilaterally with Pakistan, and that they must solve their problems directly and with no outside involvement.

India is an increasingly important US partner in Washington’s effort to counter China’s influence in Asia, while Pakistan is a US ally, finding a new lease of diplomatic favour in the Trump administration.

The White House on Thursday said, however, that no Trump visit was scheduled to Pakistan “at this time” after widespread local reports of a trip.

The April attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 people and led to heavy fighting between the two sides in the latest escalation of a decades-old rivalry.

New Delhi blamed the attack on Pakistan, which denied responsibility, while calling for a neutral investigation.

Washington condemned the attack but did not directly blame Islamabad.

On May 7, Indian jets bombed sites across the border that New Delhi described as “terrorist infrastructure”, setting off an exchange of attacks between the two countries by fighter jets, missiles, drones, and artillery that killed dozens until the ceasefire was reached.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi agreed Friday to explore “areas of potential cooperation” between Washington and Beijing, and stressed the importance of managing differences, following their first in-person meeting as they wrapped up a two-day regional security forum in Malaysia.

Rubio and Wang met Friday on the sidelines of the Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, regional forum in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, as tensions between the two global powers continue to rise over trade, security, and China’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.

“Look, we’re two big, powerful countries, and there are always going to be issues that we disagree on,” Rubio told reporters after the meeting. “I think there’s some areas of potential cooperation. I thought it was very constructive, positive meeting and a lot of work to do.”

Both sides need to build better communications and trust, he said.

Rubio also indicated that a potential visit to China by President Trump to meet with President Xi Jinping was likely, saying: “The odds are high. I think both sides want to see it happen.”

China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry, in a statement later Friday, echoed Rubio’s sentiment, calling the meeting “positive, pragmatic and constructive.”

The statement didn’t provide details on specific topics such as tariffs or China’s position on the Russia-Ukraine war, but it said that both countries agreed to “increase communication and dialogue” and “explore expanding areas of cooperation while managing differences.”

Wang called for “jointly finding a correct way for China and the U.S. to get along in the new era,” it said.

Trade takes a back seat

While tariffs loomed in the background, Rubio said that trade wasn’t a major focus of his talks because “I’m not the trade negotiator.”

“We certainly appreciate the role trade plays in our bilateral relationships with individual countries. But the bulk of our talks here have been about all the other things that we cooperate on,” he said.

The meeting with Wang was held less than 24 hours after Rubio met in Kuala Lumpur with another rival, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, during which they discussed potential new avenues to jump-start Russia-Ukraine peace talks.

The high-level meetings took place amid regional unease over U.S. policies — especially Trump’s threats to impose sweeping new tariffs on both allies and adversaries. Southeast Asian leaders voiced concerns, but according to Rubio, many prioritized discussions on security issues, their concerns about Chinese domination and desire for cooperation with the U.S.

“Of course, it’s raised. It’s an issue,” Rubio said. “But I wouldn’t say it solely defines our relationship with many of these countries. There are a lot of other issues that we work together on, and I think there was great enthusiasm that we were here and that we’re a part of this.”

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned separately that the U.S.-led trade war could backfire.

“There are no winners in trade wars,” she told reporters. “If you start a trade war with everyone, you make your partners weaker and China stronger.”

Kallas said that the EU doesn’t seek retaliation, but has tools available, if necessary.

Security issues loom large

Trump sees China as the biggest threat to the United States in multiple fields, not least technology and trade, and like previous U.S. presidents has watched the country greatly expand its influence globally while turning increasingly assertive in the Indo-Pacific, notably toward its small neighbors over the South China Sea and Taiwan.

His administration has warned of major tariffs on Chinese exports, though talks have made little progress.

Since President Biden was in office, Washington has also accused China of assisting Russia in rebuilding its military industrial sector to help it execute its war against Ukraine. Rubio said the Trump administration shares that view.

“I think the Chinese clearly have been supportive of the Russian effort,” he said. “They’ve been willing to help them as much as they can without getting caught.”

China criticizes Trump’s tariffs

Rubio and Wang had been shadowboxing during the two-day ASEAN meeting, with each touting the benefits of their partnership to Southeast Asian nations.

Rubio has played up cooperation, including signing a civil-nuclear cooperation agreement with Malaysia, while Wang has railed against Trump’s threatened tariffs and projected China as a stable counterweight in talks with ASEAN counterparts on the sidelines.

“The U.S. is abusing tariffs, wrecking the free trade system and disrupting the stability of the global supply chain,” Wang told Thai counterpart Maris Sangiampongsa, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

In a meeting with Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister Prak Sokhonn, Wang said that the tariffs are “an attempt to deprive all parties of their legitimate right to development.” He said that “China is willing to be Cambodia’s trustworthy and reliable friend and partner.”

Wang also met with Lavrov on Thursday, where the two offered a joint message aimed at Washington.

“Russia and China both support ASEAN’s central role in regional cooperation … and are wary of certain major powers creating divisions and instigating confrontation in the region,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong sided with Rubio’s call for a balanced Indo-Pacific, warning that “no one country should dominate, and no country should be dominated.” But like Kallas, she said that engagement with China remains vital.

“We want to see a region where there is a balance of power … where there is no coercion or duress,” Wong said.

Lee writes for the Associated Press. Huizhong Wu in Bangkok, and Eileen Ng in Kuala Lumpur, contributed to this report.

July 6 (UPI) — The 14th Dalai Lama, the head of Tibetan Buddhism, marked his 90th birthday Sunday with a celebration attended by thousands in the city of Dharamshala in India. The event included politically charged remarks subtly referencing China from U.S. and foreign officials.

The website for the Dalai Lama said in a statement that the celebration was organized by the Central Tibetan Administration, the Tibetan government-in-exile, formed after the Dalai Lama fled the 1959 failed uprising against Chinese rule.

The Dalai Lama did not lead the uprising, but rumors of Chinese plans to kidnap him fueled the resistance, and he was forced to flee to India for his safety — where he established the CTA. Tibet remains tightly controlled by Beijing despite its classification as an “autonomous region,” as does the majority of the population following Tibetan Buddhism.

Since his exile in 1959, the Dalai Lama’s relationship with China has been marked by decades of tension as Beijing condemned him as a separatist while he advocates for Tibetan autonomy through nonviolence and dialogue.

Last week, the aging Dalai Lama signaled that China should refrain from interfering in the process for his succession, while China has increasingly begun to warn off what it views as interference by India and reinforce its position that the succession of the spiritual leader should be held in accordance with Chinese law.

Bethany Nelson, Deputy Secretary of State for India and Bhutan, read a statement on behalf of Secretary of State Marco Rubio during the birthday festivities.

“The United States remains firmly committed to promoting respect for the human rights and the fundamental freedoms of the Tibetan people,” Nelson said. “We respect efforts to preserve their distinct linguistic, cultural and religious heritage, including their ability to freely choose and venerate their religious leaders without interference.”

Former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama also delivered video messages that were shown during the celebrations, praising the Nobel Laureate as a voice for peace. The CTA particularly noted that Lai Ching-te, the president of Taiwan, which China views as a wayward province, had extended birthday wishes to the Dalai Lama.

The birthday celebration also comes days after the administration of President Donald Trump decided to walk back cuts to aid for Tibetans in exile. Penpa Tsering, the Sikyong or, political leader, of the CTA, addressed the cancellation of those cuts in a statement from the celebrations.

He mentioned that a “substantial delegation” from the U.S. State Department and staff from the U.S. Embassy in Delhi worked diligently with the CTA to restore some of the funds.

Ryanair is among those to have cancelled and rerouted flights amid the conflict between Israel and Iran, as well as continued attacks in Gaza

Ryanair has had to cancel over 800 flights in the last month and reroute planes due to the tensions between Israel and Iran, as well as the continued unrest in Gaza, reports the Express.

Despite this, Ryanair announced on Wednesday that it still managed to operate more than 109,000 flights in total in June, suggesting that less than 1% of flights were impacted.

The Ireland-based firm reported that it transported 19.9 million passengers over the month, marking a 3% increase compared to the same month the previous year. This means that it has carried a total of 202.6 million passengers over the past 12 months, a rise of 7% year-on-year.

It’s not the only airline to have seen an increase in passenger numbers. Fellow budget carrier Wizz Air stated that it carried 5.88 million passengers in June, a 10.8% increase compared to the same month last year. As a result, its seat capacity was 10.4% higher year-on-year. Wizz Air has carried approximately 65 million passengers over the past 12 months, marking a 4.7% increase year-on-year.

The ongoing tensions in the Middle East saw operations halted at Dubai airport last week, with passengers being warned to anticipate further delays and cancellations. Emirates, which operates a number of flights from the UAE airport, subsequently cancelled all flights to and from Tehran, up to and including July 5, 2025.

In a statement in its travel updates, the airline warned: “Customers connecting through Dubai with final destinations in Iran will not be accepted for travel at their point of origin until further notice.”

The company added that it would plan to resume operations to Baghdad from July 1, and Basra from July 2.

Tensions in the Middle East have continued to cause disruption across air travel. Back in April, easyJet made the decision to pause all flights to and from Tel Aviv. The decision is still in place as the carrier continues “closely monitor the situation”, with passengers who have existing bookings being asked to get in touch with the airline up to a week in advance.

A statement on the airline’s travel updates, which was first shared in April, explains: “Due to the current situation in Israel, we have made the decision to pause our operations to and from Tel Aviv.

“Customers currently in Tel Aviv wishing to discuss their travel options can contact our Customer Services team on our dedicated line on +44 (0) 330 5515147.

“Customers with existing bookings, who are due to travel next week, will be contacted directly via email and SMS using the details provided at the time of booking and check in.

“If you made your booking through a travel agent, please contact your travel agency for help with your full travel plans.

“We are continuing to closely monitor the situation. The safety and security of our passengers and crew is always our highest priority.”

Have you had a flight or holiday impacted by the cancellations? Email us at [email protected].

The Mediterranean destination is loved by UK holidaymakers, and in 2024, Turkey welcomed over four million Brits. However, conflict in the region has led the UK Foreign Office to issue a travel warning

A travel warning has been issued for certain holidaymakers heading to Turkey.

The Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office (FCDO) has issued a revised travel advisory for Turkey, a popular destination among UK tourists, with over four million Brits visiting in 2024. The FCDO, responsible for providing crucial guidance to British holidaymakers, has released an alert for some of those planning a trip to the country.

The update is specifically regarding those planning to travel close to or over the Turkish border with Iran.

“If you are a British national wanting to cross the land border from Iran into Turkey, you will need to request facilitation from the British Embassy in Ankara by contacting the FCDO before travelling to the border, indicating whether you are contacting from Iran or from the UK on behalf of a relative,” the updated advisory, issued on Friday, June 20, states.

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“You will need to provide personal details (name, date of birth, details of travel document used to enter Turkey). This is required by the Turkish authorities. The usual entry requirements will apply, including that British nationals can enter without a visa for up to 90 days in any 180-day period. If you intend to leave Iran overland, you do so at your own risk.

“In Iran, holding a British passport or having perceived connections to the UK can be reason enough for the Iranian authorities to detain you.”

This advisory comes amid escalating tensions between Iran and Israel, with Iran issuing a warning to the UK, France, and the US against interference. The situation has intensified following a US attack on Iranian nuclear sites, reports the Express.

The Foreign Office has issued warnings against all travel to certain areas of Turkey, highlighting a strict no-go zone within 10km of the Syrian border due to ongoing conflict and an increased threat of terrorism.

It further advised: “In Hakkari province [south east Turkey], you must get permission from the local Governor’s Office to visit areas near the border with Iraq and Iran. If visiting with a travel agent or tour group, confirm with them whether you need an individual permit. Keep up to date with local media and follow the advice of the local authorities.”

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For those wishing to visit Mount Ararat in Agri Province, which is designated as a special military zone, it is necessary to obtain permission from the Dogubayazit Government office and pay a fee. The Foreign Office urges Brits travelling with a travel agent or tour group to double-check if they need their own permit.

Travellers are reminded to exercise “extra care” when visiting these regions, stay informed through local news outlets, and heed any guidance given by local officials.

Before visiting Turkey, make sure to check the FCDO’s travel page for the most up-to-date advice.

New Delhi put into ‘abeyance’ its participation in the 1960 transboundary treaty after 26 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir in April.

India will never restore the Indus Waters Treaty with neighbouring Pakistan, and the water flowing there will be diverted for internal use, says federal Home Minister Amit Shah.

India put into “abeyance” its participation in the 1960 treaty, which governs the usage of the Indus River system, after 26 people were killed in Indian-administered Kashmir in April, in what New Delhi described as an act of terror backed by Pakistan.

Pakistan denied involvement in the incident, which led to days of fighting between the two nuclear powers – their worst military escalation in decades, bringing them to the brink of another war.

Despite a ceasefire agreed upon by the two nations last month, Shah said his government would not restore the treaty, which guaranteed water access for 80 percent of Pakistan’s farms through three rivers originating in India.

“It will never be restored,” Shah told The Times of India newspaper in an interview on Saturday.

“We will take water that was flowing to Pakistan to Rajasthan by constructing a canal. Pakistan will be starved of water that it has been getting unjustifiably,” he added, referring to the northwestern Indian desert state.

The transboundary water agreement allows the two countries to share water flowing from the Indus basin, giving India control of three eastern Himalayan rivers – Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas – while Pakistan got control of the three western rivers – Jhelum, Chenab, and Indus.

The treaty also established the India-Pakistan Indus Commission, which is supposed to resolve any problems that arise. So far, it has survived previous armed conflicts and near-constant tensions between India and Pakistan over the past 65 years.

However, the comments from Shah, the most powerful minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cabinet, have dimmed Islamabad’s hopes for negotiations on the treaty in the near term.

Pakistan has not yet responded to Shah’s comments. But it has said in the past that the treaty has no provision for one side to unilaterally pull back, and that any blocking of river water flowing to Pakistan will be considered “an act of war”.

“The treaty can’t be amended, nor can it be terminated by any party unless both agree,” Pakistani Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said last month.

Islamabad is also exploring a legal challenge to India’s decision to hold the treaty in abeyance under international law.

Legal experts told Al Jazeera in April that the treaty cannot be unilaterally suspended, and that it can only be modified by mutual agreement between the parties.

“India has used the word ‘abeyance’, and there is no such provision to ‘hold it in abeyance’ in the treaty,” Ahmer Bilal Soofi, a Pakistani lawyer, told Al Jazeera. “It also violates customary international laws relating to upper and lower riparian, where the upper riparian cannot stop the water promise for the lower riparian.”

Anuttama Banerji, a political analyst based in New Delhi, told Al Jazeera in April that the treaty might continue, but not in its present form.

“Instead, it will be up for ‘revision’, ‘review’ and ‘modification’ – all three meaning different things – considering newer challenges such as groundwater depletion and climate change were not catered for in the original treaty,” Banerji said.

Trump has repeatedly said he averted a nuclear war, saved millions of lives – and grumbled that he got no credit for it.

Pakistan says it would recommend United States President Donald Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize, an accolade that he has said he craves.

In May, a surprise announcement by Trump of a ceasefire brought an abrupt end to a four-day conflict between nuclear-armed foes India and Pakistan.

Trump has since repeatedly said that he averted a nuclear war, saved millions of lives and grumbled that he got no credit for it.

Pakistan agrees that US diplomatic intervention ended the fighting, but India says it was a bilateral agreement between the two militaries.

“President Trump demonstrated great strategic foresight and stellar statesmanship through robust diplomatic engagement with both Islamabad and New Delhi, which de-escalated a rapidly deteriorating situation,” Islamabad said in a statement posted on X.

“This intervention stands as a testament to his role as a genuine peacemaker and his commitment to conflict resolution through dialogue.”

Governments can nominate people for the Nobel Peace Prize. There was no immediate response from Washington, DC, or New Delhi.

Some analysts in Pakistan said the move might persuade Trump to think again about potentially joining Israel in striking Iran’s nuclear facilities. Pakistan has condemned Israel’s action as a violation of international law and a threat to regional stability.

In a social media post on Friday, Trump gave a long list of conflicts he said he had resolved, including India and Pakistan and the so-called Abraham Accords in his first term between Israel and some Muslim-majority countries. He added: “I won’t get a Nobel Peace Prize no matter what I do.”

Pandering to Trump’s ‘ego’?

Trump has repeatedly said that he is willing to mediate between India and Pakistan over the disputed Kashmir region, their main source of enmity. Islamabad, which has long called for international attention to Kashmir, is delighted.

But his stance has upended US policy in South Asia, which had favoured India as a counterweight to China, and put in question previously close relations between Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Pakistan’s move to nominate Trump came in the same week its army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, met the US president for lunch. It was the first time that a Pakistani military leader had been invited to the White House when a civilian government was in place in Islamabad.

Trump’s planned meeting with Modi at the G7 summit in Canada last week did not take place after the US president left early, but the two later spoke by phone, in which Modi said “India does not and will never accept mediation” in its dispute with Pakistan, according to the Indian government.

Mushahid Hussain, a former chair of the Senate Defence Committee in Pakistan’s parliament, suggested nominating Trump for the peace prize was justified.

“Trump is good for Pakistan,” he said. “If this panders to Trump’s ego, so be it. All the European leaders have been sucking up to him big time.”

But the move was not universally applauded in Pakistan, where Trump’s support for Israel’s war in Gaza has inflamed passions.

“Israel’s sugar daddy in Gaza and cheerleader of its attacks on Iran isn’t a candidate for any prize,” said Talat Hussain, a prominent Pakistani television political talk show host, in a post on X.

“And what if he starts to kiss Modi on both cheeks again after a few months?”

Published on 18/06/2025 – 18:37 GMT+2•Updated
18:43

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The conflict in the Middle East will further worsen the global economic outlook, already strained by ongoing trade disputes, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (FMI) has told Euronews in an interview.

“Being hit by a trade war has consequences. We have projected a decline in global growth by half a percentage point,” Kristalina Georgieva said, adding: “What we witness now is more turbulence in the Middle East, which adds to uncertainty and therefore is bad for business.”

Since Donald Trump’s return to power as leader of the world’s largest economy, international trade has been disrupted by a wave of tariffs imposed by the US administration on its global partners.

Mexico and Canada were the initial targets, followed by a prolonged standoff between the US and China, which saw reciprocal tariffs between the pair soar to more than 100%.

On 2 April— a day he dubbed “Liberation Day”—Trump imposed tariffs on a wide range of countries, including the EU. He then declared a 90-day truce, set to expire on 9 July.

Negotiations are currently underway with the EU, which currently faces tariffs of 50% on steel and aluminum, 25% on cars, and 10% on all its exports to the US.

However, the director of the IMF, which is responsible for financial stability across the world and facilitate global trade, admitted that “the global economy has proven to be remarkably resilient to shocks, and that resilience continues.”

In her view, economic uncertainty is becoming the new normal.

“We live in a more shock-prone world, a world of higher uncertainty,” Georgieva said, adding: “For this world, countries need to work hard to be more resilient. Do reforms at home that would make your economies stronger.”

Georgieva, a former vice-president of the European Commission, also expressed optimism with the economic outlook despite the bleak growth figures.

She considered that the recent trade agreement between China and the US and the deal Trump has brokered with the UK to be good signs, saying: “We are in a better place.”

In an uncertain context, she also sees opportunities to be seized—an outlook shared by the European Commission, which is pursuing a strategy of diversifying its trading partners by expanding the number of trade agreements worldwide.

“In Europe, we see an increase in bilateral and plurilateral agreements, which I expect to be a big feature of the future of trade globally,” she told Euronews, adding that it is a great moment for Europe, “a defender of rules-based” global trade exchanges.

Donald Trump had said last month that the nuclear-armed neighbours agreed to a ceasefire after talks mediated by the US.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made it clear to United States President Donald Trump that a ceasefire between India and Pakistan after a four-day conflict in May was achieved through talks between the two militaries and not US mediation, a top diplomat in New Delhi says.

“PM Modi told President Trump clearly that during this period, there was no talk at any stage on subjects like India-U.S. trade deal or US mediation between India and Pakistan,” Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri said in a press statement on Wednesday.

“Talks for ceasing military action happened directly between India and Pakistan through existing military channels, and on the insistence of Pakistan. Prime Minister Modi emphasised that India has not accepted mediation in the past and will never do,” he said.

Misri said the two leaders spoke over the phone late on Tuesday on Trump’s insistence after the two leaders were unable to meet on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada, which Modi attended as a guest. The call lasted 35 minutes.

Trump had said last month that the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours agreed to the ceasefire after talks mediated by the US, and that the hostilities ended after he urged the countries to focus on trade instead of war.

There was no immediate comment from the White House on the Modi-Trump call.

Pakistan has previously said the ceasefire was agreed after its military returned a call the Indian military had initiated on May 7.

In an interview with Al Jazeera in May, Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar rejected claims that Washington mediated the truce and insisted Islamabad acted independently.

The conflict between India and Pakistan was triggered by an April 22 attack in Pahalgam, in Indian-administered Kashmir, in which 26 civilians, almost all tourists, were killed. India blamed armed groups allegedly backed by Pakistan, a charge Islamabad denied.

On May 7, India launched missile strikes at multiple sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. Over the next three days, the two countries exchanged artillery and air raids, hitting each other’s airbases.

Pakistan said at least 51 people, including 11 soldiers and several children, were killed in Indian attacks.

India’s military said at least five members of the armed forces were killed in Operation Sindoor, under which it launched the cross-border strikes.

Misri said Trump expressed his support for India’s fight against “terrorism” and that Modi told him Operation Sindoor was still on.