China says Irish PM to visit Beijing, Shanghai

. BEIJING: Irish prime minister Micheal Martin will visit China on the invitation of counterpart Li Qiang from Sunday to Thursday, Beijing’s foreign ministry said. Martin will go to Beijing and the economic powerhouse of Shanghai, meeting with Li as well as President Xi Jinping, China’s foreign ministry said in a statement Saturday. Martin’s visit … Read more

IS-linked fighters kill 14 in DR Congo

. Rwandan-backed rebels enter Congo’s Goma in major escalation. Photo: Reuters (file) BENI (DR CONGO): A militia linked to the Islamic State group staged a simultaneous attack on three villages in the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 14 people, the military and local sources said Friday. The Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) carried out … Read more

Why Trump Removed Venezuela’s Maduro

new video loaded: Why Trump Removed Venezuela’s Maduro David E. Sanger, our national security correspondent, describes the implications of President Trump’s launching of the attack that captured the Venezuelan president, and Trump’s declaration that the United States would “run the country.” By David E. Sanger, Alexandra Ostasiewicz, Leila Medina and June Kim January 3, 2026

Maduro in New York detention centre as Trump says US to ‘run’ Venezuela

US-backed Venezuelan opposition calls for change as Maduro is captured amid uncertainty A still image shows Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro being walked in custody down a hallway at the offices of the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in New York City, US, January 3, 2026. PHOTO: REUTERS Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro was in a New … Read more

New York Mayor Mamdani slams US strike on Venezuela, denounces blatant regime change

Vows to safeguard Venezuelan community following US strike, monitoring the situation, issuing relevant guidance New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said on Saturday that he telephoned President Donald Trump “directly” to voice opposition to what he called a “pursuit of regime change” in Venezuela after the capture of President Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an … Read more

UN chief calls on Israel to reverse NGOs ban in Gaza

. UNITED NATIONS: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Friday for Israel to end a ban on humanitarian agencies that provided aid in Gaza, saying he was “deeply concerned” at the development. Guterres “calls for this measure to be reversed, stressing that international non-governmental organizations are indispensable to life-saving humanitarian work and that the … Read more

Think tank challenges 3.7% growth

[ Growth target. Design: Ibrahim Yahya ISLAMABAD: An independent think tank has termed the first quarter’s economic growth rate of 3.7% a result of “methodological artefacts” and manipulation, observing that growth existed only on papers without any real production expansion. In a brief, the Economic Policy and Business Development (EPBD) think tank said that various … Read more