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Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif announced Wednesday that Islamabad will host high-level delegations from the United States and Iran on Friday to negotiate a definitive peace agreement.’I am pleased to announce that the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United States, along with their allies, have agreed to an immediate ceasefire in all theaters, including Lebanon and elsewhere, effective immediately,’ Sharif posted on X.He expressed hope that the upcoming ‘Islamabad Talks’ would achieve sustainable peace, adding, ‘We look forward to sharing more good news in the coming days.’Late Tuesday, US President Donald Trump agreed to a two-week suspension of military operations against Iran.On Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif urged US President Donald Trump to extend the deadline for Iran to reach an agreement by two weeks. He also encouraged Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz during this period as a gesture of goodwill, amid intensified diplomatic efforts to secure a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict. Source link
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres welcomed the two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran.Spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, Stephane Dujarric, said that Guterres called on all parties to work towards achieving a lasting peace in the Middle East.Dujarric added that the Secretary-General urged all parties to the current conflict in the Middle East to abide by their obligations under international law and adhere to the terms of the ceasefire in order to pave the way for a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.US President Donald Trump had announced his agreement to a two-week ceasefire with Iran. Source link
The South Korean military announced that North Korea fired several short-range ballistic missiles toward the East Sea Wednesday, one day after another launch yesterday.Yonhap News Agency quoted the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) as saying that the missiles were launched from the Wonsan area of North Korea and flew some 240 kilometers.This marks North Korea's fourth confirmed ballistic missile launch this year.’Our military is closely monitoring North Korea's various movements under a robust South Korea-US combined defence posture and maintains the capabilities and posture to respond to any provocation in an overwhelming manner,’ the JCS said.South Korean and US intelligence authorities have tracked the launch movement and closely shared relevant information, sources added.North Korea's last multiple ballistic missile launch toward the East Sea occurred on March 14, coinciding with the annual spring joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States. Source link
US President Donald Trump announced that he has accepted a Pakistani proposal for a two-week ceasefire with Iran.In remarks, Trump said, “We have received a 10-point proposal from Iran, and the two-week period will allow us to finalize and complete the agreement,” adding that nearly all previous points of contention between the United States and Iran have been resolved.He noted that significant progress has been made toward reaching a final agreement aimed at establishing long-term peace with Iran.Earlier on Tuesday, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on Trump to extend the deadline given to Iran by two weeks. He also urged Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for the same period as a gesture of goodwill, amid intensified diplomatic efforts to reach a peaceful resolution to the ongoing conflict. Related Story Source link
A species of small fish has been observed by the thousands climbing a vertical waterfall 15 metres (50 feet) tall in the Democratic Republic of Congo in a behaviour that illustrates the surprising and ingenious ways animals can adapt to extreme environments.The researchers documented how this species of shellear fish, whose scientific name is Parakneria thysi, scales the Luvilombo Falls in the upper Congo Basin, a vast river system spanning Central Africa and home to the world’s second-largest rainforest. Researchers observed the fish ascending the vertical rock face during seasonal floods at the end of the rainy season, typically in April and May.While this species can reach about 9.8 centimetres (3.9 inches) long, the researchers observed only small to medium-sized individuals – about 3.7 to 4.8 cm (1.5 to 1.9 inches) long – journeying up the falls.Observations suggest a fish may take nearly 10 hours to complete the slow and demanding climb to the top, moving in short bursts and resting frequently. Larger individuals of the species appeared to be too heavy for their fins to support the climb. “This discovery highlights the importance of maintaining the continuity of watercourses, particularly in the context of the Congo Basin, where studies on fish behaviour are virtually nonexistent,” said Pacifique Kiwele, a researcher in ichthyology and a member of the scientific staff at the Université de Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo who was the lead author of the study published in the journal Scientific Reports.”It prompts scientists to be even more vigilant in their observations, as anything is possible. Who would have believed it without being close enough to check, and document it with photographic and film material, that indeed some fish are able to climb waterfalls? It illustrates that there are wonders out there that surpass our imagination,” Kiwele said.Some other fish species are capable of scaling waterfalls through various means but the researchers said this species is the first one documented in Africa.The researchers recorded the behaviour of this shellear fish on four occasions in 2018 and 2020, observing them moving up the rock face through what is called the splash zone – areas kept wet by spray rather than direct water flow.So how do they do it? The fish cling to wet rock surfaces using their pectoral fins, supported by pelvic fins and aided by tiny hook-like projections known as unculi, which help them grip surfaces, the researchers said. Then they push themselves upward by wiggling their bodies from side to side.Scaled to human size, it would be comparable to a person climbing hundreds of metres (yards) vertically.The ascent is also risky. Some fish lose their grip when sudden jets of water hit them, knocking them off the rock face – particularly when they flip upside down to navigate overhanging sections.Given the volume of water at the base of the falls, fish that fall are most likely able to start climbing again. However, those landing directly onto rocks may not survive, the researchers said.So why do they do it? The researchers said the fish may climb upstream to find suitable living conditions and areas of the waterway with less competition and fewer predators.The researchers identified two major human threats to the species: illegal fishing using fine-mesh mosquito nets that can easily catch the fish, and water extraction for irrigation, which has in some years depleted the Luvilombo River.The discovery underscores how little is known about fish behaviour in the Congo Basin, the researchers said.”It is quite possible that other fish species living in rapid habitats … are capable of overcoming similar vertical obstacles,” Kiwele said, adding that researchers plan further fieldwork to confirm preliminary observations in another fish family. Source link
General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam To Lam takes his oath as Vietnam’s President during a National Assembly’s session in Hanoi Tuesday. (AFP) Vietnam Communist Party boss To Lam was elected president by the National Assembly Tuesday, capping his bid to centralise authority in a nation where senior cadres have traditionally governed collectively.In less than two years as party chief, the 68-year-old has swept aside rivals and transformed the country through an aggressive reform drive — literally redrawing the map as he combined provinces and slashed bureaucracy.Lam has set an ambitious target of 10% annual growth for the Southeast Asian manufacturing hub, and muscled the party behind his vision for development-oriented reform.After securing another term as the party’s general secretary in January, Lam has now taken over the number two position in Vietnamese politics — unifying leadership of the party and state as President Xi Jinping did in neighbouring China.The move has “effectively turned him into Vietnam’s ‘supreme leader'”, said Le Hong Hiep, senior fellow at the Vietnam Studies Programme at Singapore’s ISEAS — Yusof Ishak Institute.It has “transitioned the country’s leadership from a consensus-based collective model to a strongman leadership style”, he told AFP.Tran Thanh Man, chairman of the National Assembly, said 100% of deputies who were present approved the resolution electing Lam president for the 2026-2031 term.In a speech after being sworn in, Lam called his new dual role a “huge honour” and a “sacred and noble duty”.The parliament, which serves mainly to ratify party decisions, also elected Lam ally Le Minh Hung as prime minister Tuesday.Elevated to party chief after general secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s death in 2024, Lam has shocked the country with the pace of his changes.He has eliminated whole layers of government, abolishing eight ministries or agencies and cutting nearly 150,000 jobs from the state payroll, while pushing massive infrastructure projects.Lam is now promoting a “new growth model” that speeds up decision-making and unleashes the private sector to achieve double-digit annual growth for the next five years.”The odds of his reform programme succeeding have increased because he has further scope to push it forward”, said former US ambassador to Vietnam Daniel Kritenbrink, reflecting on Lam’s “unprecedented power and influence”.Vietnam is both a repressive one-party state and a regional economic bright spot, where the Communist Party has sought to deliver rapid growth to bolster its legitimacy.The country of 100mn people proved surprisingly resilient in the face of 20% tariffs imposed by US leader Donald Trump last year, clocking eight % growth in 2025, among the fastest in Asia.But the balancing act between the US — its main export market — and its largest supplier China remains perilous, especially as the Trump administration seeks to prevent what it considers the illegal transshipment of Chinese goods via Vietnam.The conflict in the Middle East has also created headwinds. Fuel prices have surged since the first US and Israeli strikes on Iran in late February, and like many Southeast Asian countries Vietnam faces possible shortages.”There’s a risk this energy crisis could jeopardise their growth goals,” said Kritenbrink, adding he expects disruptions to continue for at least six months to a year even if the fighting stops.”As the crisis drags on, the implications become more severe,” he said.Lam referenced “numerous challenges” to “world order and international law” in a speech to the National Assembly on Monday.”The nation that proactively implements strategic reforms, promptly reforms its institutions, unleashes creativity, mobilises the resources of its entire population, and seizes new opportunities will rise and develop,” he said.Vietnam’s ruling party tolerates little dissent and regularly jails critics, more than 160 of whom are behind bars, according to Human Rights Watch.But unlike in present-day China or the Kim dynasty’s North Korea, political power in Vietnam had not previously been concentrated in one paramount leader.Lam is the first person to secure the top two jobs through the party’s normal leadership selection processes, rather than stepping in following the death of an officeholder. …
An aerial view of the site where three people were seriously injured and one is missing after falling about 40 metres from collapsed scaffolding at JFE…
The Moon is fully eclipsed by the Sun during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon Tuesday. Reuters The Artemis II astronauts snapped a stunning shot of Earthset – the moment when the Earth dips below the Moon’s horizon – on their long journey back home Tuesday after wrapping up a historic lunar flyby.The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) released the photo of Earth dropping below the rugged lunar edge in a deliberate nod to the iconic Earthrise image taken by an Apollo 8 astronaut in 1968. Nasa astronauts Victor Glover and Christina…
Taiwan's main opposition leader landed in China Tuesday for a rare visit aimed at building cross-strait ‘peace’, as the Taipei government warned Beijing would seek to stop US arms sales to the democratic island. Kuomintang (KMT) chairwoman Cheng Li-wun, who is the party's first leader to visit China in a decade, has insisted on meeting Chinese President Xi Jinping before she visits the US — Taiwan's main security backer. The KMT supports closer relations with China, which claims Taiwan is part of its territory and has threatened to use force to seize it. But Cheng, whose unexpected rise to the top of the KMT drew a congratulatory message from Xi in October, has been accused by critics, including inside the party, of being too pro-China. The KMT leader landed at a Shanghai airport Tuesday, where she was presented with a bouquet of flowers before being driven away in a convoy, live video from Taiwanese media showed. Cheng then travelled to the eastern city of Nanjing, where Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said she thanked Xi and China for the warm reception. She is expected to visit the memorial of Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen in the city today. Cheng will be in China for six days, also visiting Beijing where she hopes to meet Xi. Cheng told journalists before her trip that Taiwan ‘must do everything in our power to prevent war from breaking out’. ‘To preserve peace is to preserve Taiwan,’ Cheng told a news conference at the KMT headquarters in Taipei. ‘Goodwill must be built up and mutual trust needs to be expanded, step by step, by both sides.’ Ahead of the visit, Taiwan's top China policy body warned Beijing would attempt to ‘cut off Taiwan's military purchases from the US and co-operation with other countries’, which the KMT dismissed. ‘This trip is entirely for cross-strait peace and stability, so it has nothing to do with arms procurement or other issues,’ Cheng said last week. Taiwanese lawmakers have been at loggerheads over the government's plan to spend NT$1.25tn ($39bn) on defence, which has been stalled for months in the opposition-controlled parliament. While KMT party members regularly fly to China for exchanges with officials, its last leader to visit was Hung Hsiu-chu in 2016. — US pressure — China severed high-level contact with Taiwan that year after Tsai Ing-wen of the Democratic Progressive Party won the presidency and rejected Beijing's claims to the island. Cross-strait relations have worsened since then, with China ramping up military pressure with near daily deployments of fighter jets and warships near Taiwan and regular large-scale military drills. Tsai's successor Lai Ching-te, who was elected in 2024 and whom Beijing brands a separatist, warned as Cheng arrived in Nanjing that China is the ‘biggest’ threat to Taiwan's democracy. Cheng's trip comes a month before US President Donald Trump is scheduled to visit Beijing for a summit with Xi. The US has been piling pressure on Taiwanese opposition lawmakers to back a proposal for defence purchases, including US weapons, to deter a potential Chinese attack. Cheng has railed against the government's proposal, insisting ‘Taiwan isn't an ATM’ and instead backed a KMT plan to allocate NT$380bn for US weapons with the option for more acquisitions. But she faces deepening divisions inside her party over how to counter China's military threats, with more moderate senior figures in the KMT pushing for a much higher budget. While the US has long been ambiguous about its willingness to defend Taiwan, Washington remains Taipei's biggest arms supplier, which angers Beijing. The US approved the sale of $11bn worth of arms to Taiwan in December. More deals are in the pipeline, but there have been doubts about whether they would proceed after Xi warned Trump against sending weapons to Taiwan. Cheng has insisted she supports Taiwan having a strong defence, but said the island does not have to choose between Beijing and Washington. Source link
Cambodian Pheap Rom poses for picture at a restaurant in Phnom Penh on March 30, 2026. A Cambodian refugee long-settled in the US, ex-convict Pheap Rom,…