World

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a joint statement “further deepening” their partnership following talks in Moscow Thursday – a show of solidarity in the face of global uncertainties unleashed by US President Donald Trump’s “America First” diplomacy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an agreement Thursday deepening their “strategic partnership” — a day after the Chinese autocrat took a swipe at the Trump administration.

The heads of state met in Moscow to discuss “the most important issues,” including the Ukraine conflict and Russia-US relations, according to the Kremlin press service.

Russian President Vladimir Putin treated Chinese President Xi Jinping to a bright fanfare and a long red carpet walk as the two leaders met at the Kremlin ahead of the Victory Day parade in Moscow on May 9.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted a video of the formal greeting on social media, after which Putin hailed his "dear friend" Xi ahead of the celebrations to mark 80 years since the end of World War II in Europe.

Pakistan's army said it shot down 25 military drones that fanned over population centers — including the city that houses Pakistan's general army headquarters.

By Thursday evening, residents in Indian border towns reported hearing blasts. Authorities announced blackouts along parts of the border, and the Secretary of State Marco Rubio had spoken to the Pakistani prime minister and the Indian foreign minister, urging "immediate de-escalation" by both countries.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has adopted three different approaches towards three of India’s most important relationships in the past three months.

MEDIA jingoism is not new. But the spectacle of news and talk show anchors frothing at the mouth as they call for a war against Pakistan, following the Pahalgam terrorist attack, verges on psychosis. There appears to be no space for saner voices amid the beat of war drums. With the rise of media warriors, the basic tenets of objective journalism have long been lost. The campaign for the annihilation of another country and deliberate killing of an entire population is sickening.

Pakistan, the globally acknowledged epicentre of terrorism, once again and successfully carried out a major terror strike on April 22, 2025, in the beautiful Pahalgam meadows of the Anantnag district in Jammu & Kashmir, killing in cold blood 26 innocent unarmed tourists and injuring many more. These tourists were first asked about their religion, and subsequently, all those who were non-Muslims were slaughtered with their wives and children wailing and helplessly looking on.

The last time India and Pakistan faced off in a military confrontation, in 2019, U.S. officials detected enough movement in the nuclear arsenals of both nations to be alarmed. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was awakened in the middle of the night. He worked the phone “to convince each side that the other was not preparing for nuclear war,” he wrote in his memoir.

Just a Bit of Shooting Between Nuclear-Armed Neighbors, That’s All

India launched early morning missile strikes on both Pakistan and Pakistan-administered parts of Kashmir this morning, while the Pakistan government claimed it had shot down five Indian Air Force jets in “self-defense.” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif described the attack as “an act of war” and ordered his country’s military to enact “self-defense” with “corresponding actions.”