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North Korea to build 10,000-ton destroyer, state media says before Xi visit

North Korea plans to build a 10,000-ton destroyer and develop secret underwater weapons, state media said on Saturday, ahead of a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The Rodong Sinmun newspaper, reporting on a Thursday naval test supervised by leader Kim Jong Un, said he ordered the navy to deploy the destroyer Kang Kon and another 5,000-ton warship, the Choe Hyon, as soon as possible. The newspaper did not give further details. It is the first time North Korea has mentioned a plan to build a 10,000-ton destroyer, said Hong Min, a senior analyst at South Korea’s Institute for National Unification. Kim may be seeking to showcase the country’s military capabilities ahead of Xi’s visit on Monday and Tuesday, Hong said. The North Korean leader said Pyongyang must enhance its naval capabilities to deter a nuclear war, while calling for powerful military capabilities across land, sea and air, the newspaper said. Xi is making his first visit to North Korea in nearly seven years as...

'I thought I would perish': Everest survivor recounts ordeal

A Nepali mountaineer who survived nearly a week on Mount Everest said he “chewed ice” to stay alive, as he recovered in a hospital after a miraculous rescue that stunned the climbing community. Dawa Sherpa, 57, disappeared in brutal conditions on the upper slopes of the world’s tallest mountain on May 30 during one of the final climbs of the spring season. With few climbers still on the peak and his oxygen exhausted, relatives had given up hope and begun ritual mourning prayers, believing he had died on the mountain. “I didn’t think I would be alive,” he told BBC Nepali on Friday from his hospital bed. “I thought I would perish this way. I didn’t get lost. As the oxygen ran out, I fell behind. After the oxygen finished, I couldn’t walk.” Left stranded in freezing temperatures near Everest’s “death zone”, where oxygen levels are critically low, Dawa Sherpa said he survived for days with almost no food or water. “I didn’t eat anything for the first two days. Then I began chewing ...

6 terrorists killed in intelligence-based operation in Balochistan's Panjgur: ISPR

Security forces killed six terrorists in an intelligence-based operation (IBO) in Balochistan’s Panjgur district, the military’s media affairs wing said on Friday. In a statement, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said that on the night of June 3/4, security forces conducted an IBO on the reported presence of terrorists belonging to Indian proxy, Fitna al Hindustan . The state has designated Balochistan-based terrorist groups as Fitna al Hindustan to highlight India’s alleged role in terrorism and destabilisation across Pakistan. “During the conduct of [the] operation, own forces effectively engaged multiple terrorist locations, and after intense fire exchanges, six Indian sponsored terrorists were sent to hell,” it said. “Weapons, ammunition, improvised explosive devices and [a] vehicle have also been recovered from the killed Indian-sponsored terrorists, who remained actively involved in numerous terrorist activities in the area,” it said. “Sanitisation operations are be...

'Embryonic spines': Trump faces growing Republican pushback

United States President Donald Trump is used to getting his own way with Republican lawmakers— but there are signs of dissent as his party nervously eyes the looming midterm elections. From a vote against the Iran war to dissent over his $1.8 billion “anti-weaponisation fund” and costly White House ballroom, the nearly 80-year-old president has faced growing pushback. It comes as Trump faces record-low approval ratings 500 days into his second term, deepening Republican fears that they could lose control of Congress in November’s midterms. Billionaire Trump, the only president in American history to be impeached twice, has himself warned that he could face a third impeachment if that happens. “Republicans are looking at their own polls and discovering that Trump is turning into a drag on their reelection chances,” Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, told AFP. Trump himself has begun to appear increasingly bored with the political battles, preferri...

North Korea's Kim calls for 'exponential' nuclear expansion after inspecting new plant

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for an “exponential” expansion of the country’s atomic arsenal during a visit to a newly operational nuclear material production factory, state media agency KCNA said on Thursday. Kim said production capacity for weapons-grade nuclear material had reached more than double its previous level over the past five years and instructed officials to further increase output to meet long-term strategic goals. During the visit, he was briefed on new production processes incorporating more advanced technology and reviewed current output targets and future plans, KCNA reported. Photographs published by state media showed Kim walking between rows of cylinder-shaped equipment inside the facility, which some analysts said could indicate the location is at the country’s main nuclear complex in Yongbyon. Kim said the expansion was necessary given what he called worsening security threats and long-term confrontation with “the most ferocious enemies” and reaff...

The war after withdrawal: Pakistan, the Taliban and the return of transnational terrorism

For over two decades, Pakistan has been locked in a war, not of its choosing but one that it cannot escape. Long after the withdrawal of Western forces from Afghanistan in August 2021, Pakistan continues to absorb the strategic shockwaves of a conflict whose centre of gravity may have shifted, but not disappeared. The return of the Taliban to power in Kabul has transformed the security landscape of South and Central Asia, with Pakistan bearing the most immediate and severe consequences. This is not merely a bilateral problem between neighbours. It is a global security challenge with implications stretching from West Asia to Europe, amid growing international concern over Afghanistan becoming a renewed militant hub. Pakistan’s role in the post-9/11 international order was clear and costly. As a frontline partner of the United States and Nato, Pakistan provided intelligence cooperation, logistics, and sustained military operations against Al Qaeda and affiliated networks. It was late...