Pakistani Defense Minister Khawaja Asif has called out the West - and the US in particular - for its role in security tensions in the region. Asked about his country's support for terrorism in an interview with Sky News released on Friday, Asif admitted that Islamabad did "the dirty work" for the Western powers for decades.

"We have been doing this dirty work for the United States for about three decades, you know and the West, including Britain," Asif told the British broadcaster on Thursday. He added that this "was a mistake" and Pakistan has "suffered for that."

"If we had not joined the war against the Soviet Union and the war after 9/11, Pakistan's track record would have been unimpeachable," Asif said. He was referring to the Soviet-Afghan war, during which the US covertly supported anti-communist insurgents, and the US-led 'War on Terror' that was launched by then-President George W. Bush following the September 11, 2001 attacks and which targeted the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Asif claimed the West has long used terrorist groups as proxies, noting that many now labeled as terrorists were once welcomed in Washington.

While US negotiators trade smiles with Tehran, internal rifts and foreign pressure reveal just how fragile Washington's position has become.

Last Saturday, the second round of US-Iran nuclear talks took place in Rome, following an initial meeting held a week before in Muscat, Oman. Both sides had described the talks as "constructive," but that optimism quickly collided with a wave of conflicting signals from the Trump administration. Despite the encouraging tone, it remained unclear whether a new nuclear agreement was truly within reach.

At the outset of negotiations, National Security Advisor Mike Waltz - an outspoken Iran hawk - laid down a hardline condition: Iran must completely dismantle its uranium enrichment program if it wanted any deal with the US. But after the Muscat meeting, Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff, who led the US delegation, struck a very different note. In an interview with Fox News, he suggested that Tehran might be allowed to maintain limited uranium enrichment for peaceful energy purposes - something that would have been a nonstarter just days earlier.

Witkoff emphasized the importance of strict verification protocols to prevent any militarization of Iran's nuclear capabilities, including oversight of missile technology and delivery systems. Notably absent from his remarks? Any mention of "dismantlement." This shift hinted that the administration might be considering a modified return to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) - the very agreement that Trump tore up in 2018, branding it a "disaster."

But the pivot didn't last. Just one day later, Witkoff reversed course in a post on X, doubling down on the demand for full dismantlement of Iran's nuclear and weapons programs. So what triggered the rhetorical whiplash?

A garden without a gardener: Western Europe drifts as the world rebuilds.

The defining trait of today's Western Europe is not unity or strength - it is the complete absence of a vision for the future. While the US, Russia, China, India, and even Latin America actively shape and debate their long-term direction, Western Europe remains stuck in nostalgia. Its politicians are not building tomorrow but clinging to yesterday's comforts. The continent's political imagination seems limited to one goal: Maintaining the status quo of a world that no longer exists.

This backward-looking mentality has transformed the EU into what can best be described as a "terrarium of like-minded people" - an ecosystem where each actor competes for influence, all the while privately despising the others. In theory, the EU was designed to create a shared geopolitical force. In practice, that unity has been reduced to cynical self-interest and mutual sabotage.

Germany wants to preserve its economic dominance, sending constant signals to Washington that it alone is a stable transatlantic partner. France, despite its limited military capabilities, flexes what remains of its armed forces to assert superiority over Germany and southern Europe. Britain, once an outsider, is suddenly interested in being part of "Europe" again - but only to stir division and feed the fires of confrontation with Russia.

Kiev needs to scrap its own self-imposed ban on talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin if it hopes to facilitate future bilateral talks regarding the Ukraine conflict, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

On Monday, Putin declared he was ready to discuss a potential unilateral halt on civilian infrastructure strikes in a bilateral format with Kiev. This came after Ukraine's Vladimir Zelensky floated the idea of a halt on long-range strikes on non-military targets by both sides in a social media statement on Sunday.

In a press briefing on Tuesday, the Kremlin spokesman was asked if Ukraine's ban on direct talks with Russia could be an obstacle to negotiations on the matter.

"If the Ukrainian side is willing and open, some steps should probably be taken to legally clear these obstacles on the path to such contacts, if there is such a willingness. President Putin's statement was yet another show of Moscow's readiness to solve issues via diplomacy."

Peskov, in a statement to Russia TV 1 journalist Pavel Zarubin, said:

"So far, we have a de facto/de jure situation, when the Ukrainians themselves have banned such contacts, and no action has been taken to lift this ban."

The Trump administration "seeks to rebalance global trade" with "friends like India," according to the American vice president.

US Vice President J.D. Vance has announced that the US and India have agreed on terms for bilateral trade negotiations, calling it a roadmap to a final deal.

Vance is currently in India, where he has held meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other key officials. Washington and New Delhi aim to substantially increase bilateral trade, with a goal of exceeding $500 billion by the end of the decade. The target was announced by President Donald Trump and Modi during the latter's visit to the US in February.

Tuesday in the city of Jaipur, Vance said:

"I believe this is a vital step toward realizing President Trump's and Prime Minister Modi's vision, because it sets a road map toward a final deal between our nations."

The US also wants a deeper defense partnership with the South Asian power, the vice president stated, including co-production of munitions and equipment such as javelins and striker combat vehicles.

A federal court judge in Washington ordered the Trump administration to reverse its efforts aimed at forcing the closure of Voice of America (VOA), which was shut down last month in a move the broadcaster had called illegal.

U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ruled late on April 22 to grant a preliminary injunction that says officials must "take all necessary steps" to restore employees and contractors to their positions at VOA and to restore Congress-approved funding to two other U.S.-government funded broadcasters -- Radio Free Asia and Middle East Broadcasting Networks -- and resume radio, television and online news broadcasts.

Lamberth, who is overseeing six lawsuits from employees and contractors affected by the shutdown of the US Agency for Global Media (USAGM), which oversees the federal broadcasters, also ordered the media outlets to provide monthly status reports showing the USAGM was complying with the order to allow the outlets to "provide news which is consistently reliable and authoritative, accurate, objective, and comprehensive."

The USAGM has not responded publicly to the court decision.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been scheming to finalize the Pandemic Treaty to ensure global cohesion during the next pandemic. Over 190 member nations have agreed to surrender sovereignty in the name of public health, permitting an unelected organization of individuals to detail how they will respond to the next round of government imposed biological warfare.

WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who is not a medical doctor but a Klaus Schwab appointee, declared this as a global victory. Interestingly, Schwab resigned as soon as the treaty was finalized. "The nations of the world made history in Geneva today," Tedros declared. "In reaching consensus on the Pandemic Agreement, not only did they put in place a generational accord to make the world safer, they have also demonstrated that multilateralism is alive and well, and that in our divided world, nations can still work together to find common ground, and a shared response to shared threats.

The One Health approach defines this treaty, which vaguely recognizes that all life on this planet is connected and therefore, under their rationale, requires a unified approach to problems. The WHO cooperates with the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH) to form the "Quadripartite" partnership that aims to promote the One Health agenda. The One Health High-Level Expert Panel (OHHLEP), controlled by the WHO, provides "the science" to guide all mandates.

This treaty provides a group of unelected officials with immense power. There are new financial terms outlined under the new treaty. Manufacturers producing pandemic-related products now must allocate 10% of production to the WHO at no cost, and they must deduce costs by 10% for the WHO as well. Members already pay annual fees to the WHO, but they will now be required to pool funding into a centralized financial mechanism (CFM).

Governments and international organizations will be expected to pay into the CFM. Developed nations will be forced to pay for others as each member has "common but differentiated responsibilities" based on GDP. However, there are discussions that private entities may also be forced to pay to ensure financial preparedness. The funds will be allocated at the direction of the unelected officials at the Quadripartite.

One day after it was reported that World Economic Forum founder Klaus Schwab, 88, resigned after Chairman after 55 years, the WSJ reports that Schwab is under investigation by the organization he created after a whistleblower alleged financial and ethical misconduct by Mr. "eat the bugs" and his wife.

In an anonymous letter from sent to the board of directors by 'current and former Forum employees,' Schwab and his wife are accused of commingling their personal affairs with WEF resources without proper oversight, and much more...

The dismissal of three key Pentagon aides in recent days followed a bureaucratic turf war fueled by ego and personality clashes — rather than sweeping philosophical differences as some suggested, The Post has learned.

Pentagon senior adviser Dan Caldwell, former deputy chief of staff Darin Selnick and Colin Carroll, former chief of staff to the deputy secretary of defense, were each escorted out of the building in a series of firings last week that occurred as a result of an investigation into leaks from officials.

Caldwell denied in an interview with Tucker Carlson on Monday that he'd leaked information, and claimed he was targeted for his policy views. But a source with direct knowledge of the dynamics told The Post on Tuesday that the whole ordeal boiled down to office politics.

The firings were the consequence of a "turf war" involving Joe Kasper, the now-former chief of staff to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, according to this source, who said Kasper "felt threatened that more and more of his portfolio ... was being given to" Selnick and Caldwell.

Patience is running thin in the intensifying battle between the Supreme Court and President Trump, with the president's allies heightening their criticisms as the justices burn midnight oil.

Just before 1 a.m. Saturday, the high court temporarily blocked the administration from deporting a group of alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador under the rarely used Alien Enemies Act.

Trump's supporters responded to the ruling with fury, with some calling for the administration to ignore the emergency decision.

Paul Ingrassia, the White House liaison to the Department of Homeland Security, wrote on the social platform X that generations of judges have been infected with parasitical ideology:

"The judges in law courts today, including the majority in the nation's Highest Court, telegraph with these decisions that they have no understanding of law and its proper function and role."

Within the court, the order reflected a remarkable intervention.