New Delhi says a State Department report criticizing its response to violence in Manipur shows “poor understanding” of the country New Delhi has condemned a US State Department report containing allegations of human rights violations in the country. The Human Rights report for 2023 claimed that significant abuses had occurred in the Indian state of Manipur last year, while attacks on minorities, journalists, and dissenting voices had been recorded elsewhere in the country. A violent ethnic conflict has been underway in Manipur since last May, resulting in more than 200 casualties and the displ ..read more

The country’s share of global GDP will drop below 2%, the fund has projected Slow economic growth will push France out of list of world’s ten largest economies in five years, according to an updated global economic outlook from the International Monetary Fund. The Washington-based institution expects France’s contribution to global economic growth in purchasing power parity (PPP) terms to drop to 1.98% in 2029, compared to 2.2% recorded by IMF analysts last year. The fund’s latest projections indicate that France’s budget deficit will remain above 4% until 2029, with public debt expected to ex ..read more

American lawmakers approved a bill allowing the confiscation of funds on Wednesday The “weaponization” of the US dollar through the seizure of frozen Russian assets could prompt a global shift away from the greenback, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing a former International Monetary Fund (IMF) official.   US President Joe Biden signed a bill this week allowing the administration to seize Russian state assets held in America.   Washington has long insisted on the confiscation of the funds to aid Ukraine in its war effort against Moscow. Meanwhile, G7 finance chiefs and EU offici ..read more

Moscow’s inclusive security initiatives can help address extremist violence, representatives at a summit in Saint Petersburg told RT Africa is willing to collaborate with Russia and other interested nations to fight terrorism, defense chiefs and diplomats from the continent told RT on Wednesday. The officials made the statements on the sidelines of the 12th International Meeting of High Representatives for Security Issues, which took place in Saint Petersburg from April 23 to 25. Ethiopian National Intelligence and Security Service Chief Advisor Abdulaziz Ahmed Adem said terrorism is the “bigg ..read more

Attempts to smear pro-Palestinian protests as “tinged” by Russia are an affront to voters, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman has said Former US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is insulting American voters by trying to blame Moscow for a wave of pro-Palestinian protests across the country, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Friday. The senior Democrat has linked pro-Palestinian protests in the US with alleged foreign influence on multiple occasions, most recently in an interview with Irish public broadcaster Raidio Teilifis Eireann (RTE) this week. Pelosi also took issue wit ..read more

At a Russia-hosted meeting, India’s national security advisor emphasised the need to cooperate on information security India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval has called for broader cooperation to counter the misuse of information technology by extremists and criminals, and to crack down on terrorism funding. Speaking at the XII International Meeting of High-Level Security Officials in the Russian city of St. Petersburg, Dhoval said India wants to work with other countries build an open, stable, secure and reliable framework for information security. He stressed that such cooperation need ..read more

Negative factors in US-China relations are increasing, the country’s foreign minister has told his American counterpart The US is challenging China’s core interests and suppressing the country’s development, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stated on Friday during talks with his US counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The “giant ship” of China-US ties had stabilized, “but negative factors in the relationship are still increasing and building,” Wang Yi said during a meeting at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing. Blinken arrived in Beijing on Thursday from Shanghai, where ..read more

The 32-year old scion of the 500-year-old Wodeyar family is running in India’s general election in Mysuru; reverence for his dynasty almost ensures a win. Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wodeyar is the scion of a 500-year-old royal family. He’s also the candidate of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in the April 26 parliamentary election in Mysuru (Mysore) in the southern Indian state of Karnataka. “How handsome he looks,” say rural women voters during his roadshows. Yaduveer, the 27th head of the Wodeyar royal family in Mysuru is a 32 ..read more

Lithuania may follow Poland’s suit in dealing with fighting age Ukrainians, the country’s defense chief has claimed Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurynas Kasciunas has stated that Ukraine is “very short of mobilization reserves,” after Kiev suspended issuing new passports to conscription age men residing abroad. Ukraine banned all men between the ages of 18 and 60 from receiving or renewing documents at consular offices, unless they are properly registered for mobilization. Poland suggested on Wednesday it could eventually help Kiev repatriate its undocumented citizens. While Lithuania is not y ..read more

Kiev could use the systems to “put more pressure” on Crimea, according to the newspaper The US-supplied Army Tactical Missile Systems, known as ATACMS, will allow Ukrainian forces to target Russia’s Crimean Peninsula “more effectively,” the New York Times has reported, citing senior Pentagon officials. Washington secretly sent Kiev an unspecified number of longer-range ATACMS missiles last month, US officials confirmed earlier this week, after several outlets claimed that Kiev has already begun using the new weapon against Russian targets far behind the frontlines. The “goal” of supplying Ukra ..read more