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ISLAMABAD  — Chinese Premier Li Qiang began a four-day visit to Pakistan on Monday under tight security for bilateral talks and to attend the heads of government meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) hosted in Islamabad this week. Pakistan is on high alert after a recent increase in deadly insurgent attacks nationwide, including a suicide car bomb attack in Karachi last week that targeted a Chinese convoy and resulted in the deaths of two Chinese engineers. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif received Li at a military air base outside the Pakistani capital before the two led their respective teams’ delegations to review bilateral trade and progress on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Popularly known as CPEC, the Chinese-funded multibillion-dollar bil...

The Venezuelan government has canceled the passports of dozens of journalists and activists since President Nicolas Maduro claimed a reelection victory over the summer, marking what rights groups are calling a growing campaign of repression against the leader’s critics, according to media reports. At least 40 people — primarily journalists and activists — have had their passports nullified without any explanation, the Financial Times first reported Saturday, citing the Venezuela-based Laboratorio de Paz. The rights group said that people have had their passports confiscated while trying to board flights at the country’s main airport. The news comes after Maduro was declared the winner of Venezuela’s widely contested July vote by electoral and judicial authorities. Venezuela’s o...

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan President Lai Ching-te sent a defiant message to Beijing on Thursday, emphasizing that the People’s Republic of China “has no right to represent Taiwan.” “The Republic of China [Taiwan’s official name] and the People’s Republic of China are not subordinate to each other,” Lai said during his first National Day speech since coming into power in May, adding that “democracy and freedom” are thriving in Taiwan. In a veiled response to the growing Chinese military and political pressure against Taiwan, Lai vowed to “resist annexation or encroachment” upon Taiwan’s sovereignty, emphasizing the importance of the self-ruled democracy to “demonstrate the strength of deterrence and ensure peace through strength.” While he reiterated his determination to uphold Taiwan...

ROME — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was city-hopping across Europe on Thursday to promote a "victory plan" that he said "aims to create the right conditions for a just end to the war" against Russia, detailing the proposals to European allies after a summit with President Joe Biden was derailed by Hurricane Milton. Zelenskyy's talks in London with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte were quickly followed by another meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron, who just the previous day sent a strong signal of support for Ukraine by visiting Ukrainian troops being trained in France. Zelenskyy posted on X that he "outlined the details" of the Ukrainian victory plan to Starmer and added: "We have agreed to work on it together wi...

Iranian hackers looking to undermine confidence in next month's U.S. elections are prowling for victims, putting a premium on anyone working for American political campaigns, according to a new warning from U.S. officials. The FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the government body responsible for overseeing election security, on Tuesday urged politicians and their teams to strengthen their cybersecurity posture to combat the threat from Iran. They also encouraged former U.S. government officials, academics, journalists and activists to take necessary precautions, noting the Iranian-linked hackers are operating at the behest of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. "IRGC cyber actors pose an ongoing and escalating risk," CISA Director Jen Easterly...

North Korea is likely to send members of its regular armed forces to Ukraine in support of Russia, said South Korea’s defense minister on Tuesday, which would signal a significant deepening of cooperation between the allies. North Korea and Russia have moved noticeably closer over the past year or more amid widespread suspicion that North Korea has supplied conventional weapons to Russia for its war in Ukraine in return for military and economic assistance. This year, the two countries signed a strategic treaty that includes mutual defense elements but they both deny that North Korea is sending Russia weapons. “As Russia and North Korea have signed a mutual treaty akin to a military alliance, the possibility of such a deployment is highly likely,” South Korean Defense Minister Kim...

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un attends what state media said was a launching ceremony for a new tactical nuclear attack submarine in North Korea on Sept. 8, 2023. The South Korean military has detected apparent signs that North Korea has started to build a large nuclear-powered submarine, a Seoul-based lawmaker said on Tuesday, as North Korea’s leader dialed up his threat to use nuclear weapons against its enemies. North Korea unveiled a submarine “Hero Kim Kun Ok” in September last year, calling it a “tactical nuclear attack submarine,” and vowed that it would build a nuclear-powered submarine. “Partial signs that appear to be the start of the submarine’s construction have been detected,” said Kang Dae-sik of the ruling People Power Party, who was briefed on the issue by South Kor...