Mayank Vikash

Punjab province in cash-strapped Pakistan has decided to hoist the country's national flag on a 500-foot-tall flag mast on August 14. This exercise would cost around PKR 40 crore. The government in Pakistan's Punjab province has declared to hoist its national flag on a 500-foot-tall flag mast, costing around PKR (Pakistani rupee) 40 crore on August 14 to mark its 76th Independence Day. This comes after Pakistan secured a bailout package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to contain its crumbling economy. Punjab province in cash-strapped Pakistan, which reportedly needs at least Rs 2,000 crore in the next two years to pay back foreign loans (with interest), will hoist the flag at Liberty Chowk in Lahore. Six years ago, in 2017, Pakistan unfurled a 400-foot tall flag, the highest in South Asia, at the Attari-Wagah border. The 120x80 feet flag was the largest in the seven-decades-old history of Pakistan. The decision by the Pakistani authorities came days after the IMF app...

Hong Kong police searched the family home of exiled pro-democracy activist Nathan Law on Tuesday morning, taking relatives away for questioning, the city’s public broadcaster RTHK reported, citing sources. It came just a week after police placed HK$1 million bounties on information leading to the arrest of Law and seven other prominent activists in self-imposed exile wanted for national security offenses, in a move strongly condemned by rights groups and Western governments. National security police visited the Tung Chung housing estate where Law’s family live, and took away his parents and elder brother for questioning to find out whether they provided financial assistance to Law, RTHK reported, citing police sources. They were later released, according to RTHK. In a statement provided to CNN, Hong Kong police said its national security department took away two men and a woman for investigation Tuesday morning, without identifying them. “They are suspected of assisting persons wanted ...

Sgt Kim Jae-kyung stands, unflinching, outside the Colombian embassy in Seoul, dressed in full military gear. The day before, he was in front of the Dutch embassy. The day before that, it was the Greek. This one-man demonstration by the former special forces soldier is his way of showing gratitude to all 22 countries who sent troops or medics to support South Korea after it was invaded by its neighbour North Korea in 1950. Now he wants his country to help Ukraine, following its invasion by Russia in February 2022. "We are lucky enough to now be the 10th most prosperous country in the world, because of the foreign soldiers who shed their blood and sweat for our country," the 33-year-old says. It is this rationale which led him to the battlefield in Ukraine, where he served on the front line for four months alongside the Ukrainian army, as an anti-drone gunner and combat medic for the 3rd Battalion of the International Legion. Kim is one of just a handful of Koreans known to ha...

 The Dutch government has collapsed because of a disagreement between coalition parties over asylum policies, Prime Minister Mark Rutte has said. The four parties were split in crisis talks chaired by Mr Rutte on Friday. Mr Rutte then met King Willem-Alexander in The Hague on Saturday and agreed to lead a caretaker government until fresh elections, expected in mid-November. Coalition partners had objected to his proposal to restrict the scope for immigrant families to reunite. The government was set up a year and a half ago but the parties have been opposed on migration for some time. Mr Rutte gave no details of his talks with the king, which lasted about an hour and a half. "It was a good discussion, but I'm not saying anything else because these discussions are confidential," he told reporters. His conservative VVD party had been trying to limit the flow of asylum seekers, following a row last year about overcrowded migration centres. His plans were opposed by his junio...

 US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has called on China to work with Washington to fight the "existential threat" of climate change. Speaking on Saturday, she said the two countries - the largest greenhouse gas emitters - had a joint responsibility to lead the way on climate action. She called on China to support the US-led Green Climate Fund. Ms Yellen is on a four-day trip to Beijing in an attempt to boost relations between the two countries. Can 'good cop' Yellen help fix US-China relations? Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who was among those to meet with Ms Yellen, said he regretted "unexpected incidents", such as the row over a spy balloon, had hurt ties with the United States. There's been no formal co-operation between China and the US on climate change since the administration of former President Donald Trump. And China briefly suspended climate talks entirely with the US last year after senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which is self-...

  Volodymyr Zelensky has marked the 500th day of the Ukraine war by posting a video from an island that became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance. At the start of the war, Ukrainian soldiers defending Snake Island famously defied an order from a Russian warship to surrender. The Black Sea island was seized by Russia, but later reclaimed by Ukraine. In a video, the Ukrainian president called it a "place of victory" that would never be reconquered. In the undated clip, posted on Telegram, Mr Zelensky described it as proof that Ukraine would return every inch of its territory taken by Russia since the full-scale invasion began on 24 February 2022. "I want to thank from here, from this place of victory, each of our soldiers for these 500 days," Mr Zelensky said in the video, in which he was shown arriving on the island by boat and leaving flowers at a memorial. The Ukrainian president later announced he had returned from a visit to Turkey with five commanders captured by ...

  Several allies of the US have expressed unease at Washington's decision to supply Ukraine with cluster bombs. On Friday, the US confirmed it was sending the controversial weapons to Ukraine, with President Joe Biden calling it a "very difficult decision". In response, the UK, Canada and Spain all said they were opposed to the use of the weapons. Cluster bombs have been banned by more than 100 countries because of the danger they pose to civilians. They typically release lots of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area. The munitions have also caused controversy over their failure - or dud - rate. Unexploded bomblets can linger on the ground for years and then indiscriminately detonate. Why is the US giving Ukraine 'abhorrent' weapons? Mr Biden told CNN in an interview on Friday that he had spoken to allies about the decision, which was part of a military aid package worth $800m (£626m). The president said it had taken him "a while to...

Russia-Ukraine War: US President Joe Biden said that it was a "difficult decision," but he was ultimately convinced. The White House announced that it is sending cluster munitions to Ukraine amid Russia war as part of a new military aid package after months of debate within the Joe Biden administration about whether to provide Kyiv with the controversial weapons that have been banned by over 100 countries including key US allies. Russia-Ukraine War: The United States announced that it will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time. (AFP) Russia-Ukraine War: The United States announced that it will provide cluster munitions to Ukraine for the first time. (AFP) “I'm not going to stand up here and say it is easy. It's a difficult decision. It's a decision we deferred. It's a decision that required a real hard look at the potential harm to civilians. And when we put all of that together, there was a unanimous recommendation from the national security...

US President Joe Biden told his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping following his meeting with Russia's Vladimir Putin to "be careful" because Beijing relies on Western investment. "I said: This is not a threat. This is an observation," Joe Biden told CNN. “Since Russia went into Ukraine, 600 American corporations have pulled out of Russia. And you have told me that your economy depends on investment from Europe and the United States. And be careful. Be careful,” he said. Asked what Xi Jinping's response was, Joe Biden said: “He listened, and he didn't...argue. And if you notice, he has not gone full-bore in on Russia. So, I think there's a way we can work through this.” Joe Biden's comments come amid heightened tensions and pessimism in the US-China relationship over national security issues, including Taiwan and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. When did Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping meet? Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping held two days of talks in Marc...

Seventy-five people trapped for nearly 10 hours after the system was paralyzed due to an electrical problem were brought safely to the ground. Dozens of people were rescued in the early hours of Friday after being trapped for nearly 10 hours on one of the world's highest tourist cable cars in Ecuador's capital Quito. The visitors were trapped for "nearly 10 hours" after the system was paralyzed due to an electrical problem. The statement said 48 people stuck at the system's uppermost terminal at some 4,000 meters (13,120 feet) were brought to safety. Seventeen were rescued from gondolas stuck on the line while another 10 came to the ground after the system restarted. The cable car travels a distance of 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) between two terminals, the lowest at an altitude of 3,100 meters above sea level. Video footage on the municipality's Twitter account shows people being abseiled to safety from a gondola. Others, including children, are seen emerging, ...

Tokyo's plan to dispose of more than 1.2 million tons of water from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in the ocean received a major boost on Tuesday when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) finally approved it, saying the method of disposal was "consistent" with international safety standards. The IAEA report also concluded that the discharged water would have "a negligible radiological impact" on the environment. The Japanese government and the operator of the plant that crippled in the 2011 earthquake and tsunami welcomed the IAEA's endorsement. While a majority of Japanese citizens appear to have reached the conclusion that the water has been cleansed of virtually all radioactivity and that discharging it into the Pacific Ocean is therefore the most appropriate course of action, there are still many who disagree, particularly in neighboring countries. South Korean opposition politicians were planning a sit-in at the country's Nationa...