Daily Articles

The Nobel Peace Prize, awarded Friday to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos despite a popular rejection of the terms of his deal with FARC rebels, has highlighted fragile peace processes several times in the past. Santos and FARC guerrilla chief Rodrigo Londono reached a historic deal after almost four years of talks, but Colombians rejected it in a referendum, leaving …

Kabul (AFP) – Nearly a month after the September 11 attacks that killed 3,000 people, the US launched its first major salvo in the “war on terror” by invading Afghanistan — where, 15 years on, thousands continue to die each year. Afghanistan, which the US invaded on October 7, 2001 in a bid to topple Al-Qaeda hosts the Taliban, has …

Terrorism has been on the national agenda once again, with two major meetings having been held over the last week to implement key NAP agendas. Strategies to deal with terrorist organisations were discussed on Wednesday; these included disarming terrorist organisations and curbing their sources of finance. Timelines have been agreed on. Earlier, in late September, the State Bank of Pakistan …

One year after reaching the global agreement on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the 70th session of the UN General Assembly, more than 140 world leaders went to the 71st session to review the progress so far and how best the world community can meet the enormous developmental and sustainability challenges. The theme of this year’s general debate for …

If the aim of the Israeli government is to prevent a peace deal with the Palestinians, now or in the future, it’s close to realizing that goal. Last week, it approved the construction of a new Jewish settlement in the West Bank, another step in the steady march under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to build on land needed to create …

BEIRUT, Lebanon — The Syrian civil war, and the intense new ground battle in the divided city of Aleppo, is often seen as a contest between a chaotic array of rebel groups and the Russian-backed government of President Bashar al-Assad. But the reality is that Mr. Assad’s side is increasingly just as fragmented as its opponents, a panoply of forces …

Over the past several days, media headlines in Pakistan have been dominated by the Prime Minister’s UN speech focusing on Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir and the growing India-Pakistan tensions following the attack on the Indian military camp in Uri for which, in a knee-jerk reaction, India has predictably blamed Pakistan without any reliable evidence. But an equally important development …

HERE is a welcome change in attitudes to gender-based violence in Pakistan, but progress remains uneven and cautious for the most part. On Thursday, a joint sitting of both houses of parliament enacted two important, long-pending pieces of legislation, including the Anti-Honour Killing Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015 and Anti-Rape Laws (Criminal Amendment Bill) 2015. The first stipulates that an …

By Peter Koenig “Five million Syrian people have already been forced to leave their country. Now they are being scattered all over the Middle East: throughout Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, and Turkey. Some have even gone as far as Europe, Canada and Chile. How much more can one country endure? And how can the rest of the world just stand …

The PM House became the site of a full day of action on Tuesday as the top civilian and military brass huddled together to discuss both the threat of terrorism and the escalation of tensions with India. Three separate meetings were held; one of the National Security Council, one on the National Action Plan and one between Prime Minister Nawaz …