Pakistan declares ‘open war’ with Afghanistan, as airstrikes in Kabul escalate tensions
Pakistan’s Defence Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said on Friday that the country was in an “open war” with neighbouring Afghanistan, declaring ...
The United Nations is ordering over 60 offices and agencies to submit plans to cut 20% of their staff by mid-June as part of a wide reform effort to address a serious budget gap.
About 2,800 positions out of 14,000 covered by the regular UN budget will be affected. This includes workers in political, humanitarian, refugee, gender equality, environment, and trade programs, as well as UNRWA, which supports Palestinian refugees.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres aims to reduce the current $3.72 billion budget by up to 20% through these cuts. This is part of the UN80 reform launched in March, ahead of the UN’s 80th anniversary.
Guterres stressed the cuts are not linked to US President Donald Trump’s foreign aid reductions but due to long-term funding shortfalls, as many member countries delay or skip payments.
The US, with the world’s largest economy, is expected to pay 22% of the UN’s regular budget, but last year it was among 41 nations that did not pay in full.
The death toll from heavy rains and flooding in Brazil’s Minas Gerais state has risen to 46, authorities said, with 21 people still reported missing. The storms triggered landslides and widespread flooding, displacing thousands across Juiz de Fora and Uba.
UK police have concluded searches at Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s former residence in Windsor Great Park as part of an investigation into alleged misconduct in public office.
The U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem says it will provide on-site passport and consular services to settlers based in the West Bank on Friday 27 February. The move marks the first time American consular officials have offered such services to settlers, U.S. officials said on Tuesday.
The situation in Cuba was heating up and called for restraint following a deadly incident involving a Florida-registered speedboat off the coast of the Caribbean island, the Kremlin said on Thursday (26 February).
A group of sick and injured Palestinians and their caregivers left Gaza through the Rafah border crossing on Wednesday (25 February) for medical treatment abroad, as limited evacuations continue under tight restrictions.
China’s military said on Friday it had conducted a routine patrol in the South China Sea from 23 to 26 February, accusing the Philippines of “disrupting” regional peace and stability by organising joint patrols with countries outside the region.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova on Thursday (26 February) accused Ukraine of threatening Europe’s energy security by halting oil flows through the Druzhba oil pipeline to Hungary and Slovakia.
The U.S.-brokered talks concluded on Thursday, and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the next round of negotiations aimed at ending the Russia-Ukraine war is likely to be held in Abu Dhabi in early March although the schedule has not been finalised.
Iran’s top diplomat said that the next round of nuclear talks is expected in less than a week after what he described as “progress in the most serious exchanges” between Tehran and Washington. The statement follows the third round of nuclear talks on Thursday (26 February) in Geneva.
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum on Thursday thanked FIFA and its president, Gianni Infantino, for reaffirming that the country’s 2026 World Cup host venues will remain unchanged, following violence that erupted after the killing of a major cartel leader.
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