The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) has given its nod to the purchase of capital shares worth $582 million in the New Development Bank (NDB), according to a Finance Division statement. Established in 2015 by BRICS countries, the NDB is a multilateral development bank aimed at mobilising resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging markets and developing countries (EMDCs). “The ECC approved Pakistan’s membership in the…

Palestinian militant groups have named the three hostages they plan to free on Saturday in return for the release of 369 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, raising hopes that the January ceasefire agreement will survive its latest crisis. However, the longer-term prospects of the truce remain in doubt and the uncertainty has been deepened by the US president, Donald Trump, who made surprise territorial claims over Gaza. Saudi Arabia is…

People from Afghanistan, Iran, China and other countries flown out as Trump’s deportation effort intensifies The US has sent undocumented immigrants from several Asian countries whose governments have refused to accept them to Panama, in a move signalling an intensification of the Trump administration’s deportation effort. A military plane carrying 119 immigrants from countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, China, Sri Lanka, Turkey and Pakistan flew from California to Panama City…

Claudia Scheinbaum warns of reciprocal action if Washington designates country’s cartels as terrorist groups Mexico’s president, Claudia Scheinbaum has warned US gunmakers they could face fresh legal action as accomplices of organized crime if Washington designates the country’s cartels as terrorist groups. The Latin American country, which is under mounting pressure from Donald Trump to curb illegal drug smuggling, wants its neighbor to crack down on firearms trafficking in the…

Pope Francis has cancelled his scheduled events over the next few days after being hospitalised, the Vatican said. The pontiff, who has been suffering from bronchitis, was admitted to Gemelli hospital in Rome on Friday after reportedly having breathing difficulties during one of his meetings. In a statement on Friday evening, the Vatican said the pope had been admitted to hospital due to worsening bronchitis and that the first diagnostic…

Britain has imposed sanctions targeting figures working in the Russian government, including Pavel Fradkov, a deputy minister for defence, and Vladimir Selin, who leads an arm of the country’s Ministry of Defence. The foreign office said in a statement it also sanctioned Artem Chaika, whose extractives company supports Russian state-owned business, and two entities linked to Russia’s nuclear energy giant Rosatom. Those targeted by the sanctions have links to the…

US vice-president questions whether European values are worth defending as he rails against ‘threat from within’ The US vice-president, JD Vance, has launched a brutal ideological assault on Europe, accusing its leaders of suppressing free speech, failing to halt illegal migration, and running in fear from voters’ true beliefs. In a chastising speech on Friday that openly questioned whether current European values warranted defence by the US, he painted a…

Termination notices sent to Department of Education and CFPB as Musk pushes to ‘delete entire agencies’ Mass layoffs have begun at several US agencies as Donald Trump and Elon Musk launch an unprecedented, large-scale plan to slash the federal workforce with the stated goal of cutting costs and boosting efficiency. Termination notices were sent to employees at the Department of Education, the Small Business Administration (SBA), the Consumer Financial Protection…

Both Japanese carmakers say they will continue to cooperate on electric vehicle technology Japan’s Nissan and Honda have said that their boards have voted to end talks over a merger that would have created a $60bn (£48bn) auto group, but added that both companies would continue to cooperate in electric vehicles. A merger would have spawned the world’s fourth-biggest carmaker by vehicle sales after Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai. Nissan, Japan’s…

Russian leader wants a new security architecture to give his country a sphere of influence in Europe Vladimir Putin’s initial plan to capture Ukraine in a few days ended in disaster. But after Donald Trump set up direct peace talks with Moscow, bypassing Kyiv and European allies, the Russian president is now closer than ever to getting what he wanted from his three-year-long invasion. Putin’s main ambition, said people…

US Secretary of Defence, Pete Hegseth, defended President Donald Trump’s efforts to end the ongoing war in Ukraine by initiating peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, asserting that such actions were “certainly not a betrayal” of Ukraine. Hegseth made his comments on Thursday ahead of a NATO defence ministers’ meeting. He explained that Trump’s initiative to engage in direct discussions with Putin was not a betrayal but rather a…

An Illinois man, Neil Howard, 46, has been convicted of strangling his 60-year-old mother with a bungee cord in their shared home because he was sick of her “sleeping around.” On Tuesday, Tuesday, Feb. 11, Howard was convicted on first-degree murder charges and faces a maximum sentence of 60 years in prison. Neil was sitting alone at the family’s house in Troy when his mother Norma Caraker returned home from…