Author: admin

The USS Gerald R. Ford is set to return to the United States after more than 300 days at sea, ending a record-setting deployment that stretched across the Mediterranean, Caribbean and Middle East. The aircraft carrier’s departure will reduce US naval firepower in the region at a sensitive moment, as Washington maintains a fragile ceasefire with Iran and continues a naval blockade of Iranian ports. The USS Gerald R. Ford will leave the Middle East in the coming days and return to its home port in Virginia by mid-May, two US officials said Wednesday. The officials spoke on condition of…

Donald Trump discussed how to mitigate the impact of a possible months-long US blockade of Iran’s ports with oil companies, a White House official said on Wednesday, as the US renewed its calls for other ​nations to help open the Strait of Hormuz. Tuesday’s talks with oil executives followed a deadlock in efforts to resolve the conflict, which has led the United States to try to squeeze Iran’s oil ‌exports with a naval blockade aimed at forcing it to reopen the Strait to shipping. As Washington and Tehran traded public threats, mediator Pakistan was trying to avoid escalation while the…

Commissioning ceremony of 1st HANGOR Class Submarine, PNS/M HANGOR was held at Sanya, China. President Asif Ali Zardari graced the occasion as Chief Guest; Admiral Naveed Ashraf, NI, NI (M), T Bt, Chief of the Naval Staff, was also present at the ceremony. President Zardari described the commissioning of HANGOR as a historic milestone in Pakistan Navy’s modernization, affirming Pakistan’s resolve to maintain a robust, balanced and credible defence posture. He stated that Pakistan is fully capable of defending its sovereignty, protecting its maritime interests and ensuring the security of its economic lifelines. Naval Chief highlighted that disruptions at critical…

China’s first drone-powered logistics route across the Bohai Sea officially opened on Wednesday, linking northeast China’s Dalian City and east China’s Qingdao City. The new route is expected to significantly cut delivery time between the two locations. The launch marks a major step in advancing China’s low-altitude industry through real-world applications, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology The route uses a large fixed-wing unmanned aircraft with a maximum takeoff weight of 5.25 tonnes. Covering a one-way distance of 340 kilometers, each flight takes around two hours. Zhang Peipei, an official with the low-altitude economy task force in…

Chinese and US business communities have shown a strong willingness to strengthen cooperation, and the results of their collaboration have been highly tangible, Wang Guannan, spokesperson of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), told a press conference on Wednesday. Despite a complex and challenging external environment, data clearly shows that the two economies remain deeply intertwined, with cooperation continuing to be the prevailing theme, according to the CCPIT. About 52% of surveyed US-funded enterprises in China expected to be profitable in 2025, up 6 percentage points from the previous year, while more than half of the…

China has significantly strengthened its energy and resource security over the past five years, with a state-led exploration push discovering 13 new oil fields each holding over 100 million tonnes of reserves. The findings were released during a Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) press conference . Historic oil and gas haul The 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) saw China’s oil and gas exploration hit new heights. Total investment in the sector reached nearly 450 billion yuan, said Xiong Zili, head of exploration management at MNR. Beyond the headline-grabbing 13 hundred-million-tonne oil fields, explorers also found 26 gas fields, each with…

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said  that China and Australia should jointly stand on the right side of history and on the side of multilateralism, jointly uphold the global free trade system and maintain the stability and smooth functioning of industrial and supply chains, play a constructive role in the political settlement of hotspot issues, and promote the building of a more just and equitable global governance system. Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks when holding the eighth China-Australia diplomatic and strategic dialogue with Australian Foreign Minister…

President Asif Ali Zardari on Wednesday met CEO of Hangzhou Jinjiang Group Wang Jian, and encouraged the company to expand its footprint in Pakistan, particularly in energy, industrial and agricultural sectors. During the meeting, the president was briefed that the group is already engaged in multiple projects in Pakistan and ranks among the top 100 business groups in China, with operations spanning heavy industry, fertiliser, oil and gas, coal gasification, renewable energy, agriculture and irrigation. The president noted that Pakistan is actively encouraging foreign investment in various sectors, especially water treatment, electric vehicle battery systems and alternate energy. He emphasised…

Asian stocks fluctuated on Wednesday while oil prices swung as talks to end the Iran war appeared to be at a standstill and the crucial Strait of Hormuz no nearer being reopened. While the White House has said Donald Trump and his team were considering Tehran’s latest proposal to restore traffic through the waterway, CNN and the Wall Street Journal said the president was sceptical. The Islamic republic this week submitted a plan that would reportedly see it ease the chokehold and Washington lift its retaliatory blockade on the country’s ports as talks continued, including over its nuclear programme. While US Secretary of State…

Pakistan’s permanent envoy to the United Nations on Tuesday called for restraint, diplomacy and strict adherence to international law amid escalating tensions across the Mideast, warning that the situation remains volatile and interconnected. Addressing a UN Security Council debate, Ambassador Asim Iftikhar Ahmad stressed that multiple crises in the region require urgent de-escalation efforts. “The serious situation in the Middle East remains extremely volatile with multiple and interconnected crises. In this environment, strict adherence to international law, the UN Charter and Security Council resolutions, the principles of restraint, responsible conduct and diplomacy are indispensable to prevent further escalation,” the ambassador…