Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: The United States will host senior military leaders from across the Western Hemisphere next month for a high-level conference, aimed at strengthening regional security cooperation, the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) reported on Saturday quoting Reuters.&nbsp;According to the report, defense chiefs and senior military representatives from 34 nations have been invited to attend the inaugural Western Hemisphere Chiefs of Defense Conference, scheduled for February 11.&nbsp;&nbsp;The meeting will be chaired by Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dan Caine, ABC reported.&nbsp;The conference is intended to provide a platform for military leaders to exchange views on shared security concerns, enhance coordination, and reinforce partnerships across the region, it added.&nbsp;The US military said countries in the hemisphere are bound by longstanding historical connections and mutual interests that underscore the importance of regional stability.&nbsp;&ldquo;Chiefs of defense and senior military representatives from 34 nations will meet to build shared understanding of common security priorities and strengthen regional cooperation,&quot; ABC said.&nbsp;Military officials from countries outside the Americas but with territories in the region, including Denmark, the United Kingdom and France, are also among those invited to participate, according to US media reports.&nbsp;The conference comes amid heightened US military activity in the Caribbean and Eastern Pacific, where Washington has intensified operations targeting drug trafficking networks and transnational criminal organizations.&nbsp;The meeting is expected to align with the Trump administration&rsquo;s broader national security strategy, which places renewed emphasis on the Western Hemisphere and calls for governments in the region to work closely with the United States on counter-narcotics efforts, border security, and regional stability.&nbsp;This will mark the first time the Pentagon has convened defense leaders from across the entire Western Hemisphere under a single forum, US media said, describing the gathering as a milestone in regional military engagement.

Americas

The United States will host defense chiefs from 34 Western Hemisphere countries on February 11 to discuss shared security priorities, strengthen military cooperation, and address regional stability and transnational threats, the US military said.

US to host all Western Hemisphere military leaders

WASHINGTON: Donald Trump returns to the Davos ski resort next week after unleashing yet another avalanche on the global order. But for the US president, his main audience is back home. Trump&rsquo;s first appearance in six years at the gathering of the world&rsquo;s political and global elite comes amid a spiraling crisis over his quest to acquire Greenland. Fellow leaders at the mountain retreat will also be eager to talk about other shocks from his first year back in power, from tariffs to Venezuela, Ukraine, Gaza and Iran. Yet for the Republican president, his keynote speech among the Swiss peaks will largely be aimed at the United States. US voters are angered by the cost of living despite Trump&rsquo;s promises of a &ldquo;golden age,&rdquo; and his party could be facing a kicking in crucial midterm elections in November. That means Trump will spend at least part of his time in luxurious Davos &mdash; a place where leaders can easily look out of touch with ordinary people &mdash; talking about US housing. A White House official told AFP that Trump would &ldquo;unveil initiatives to drive down housing costs&rdquo; and &ldquo;tout his economic agenda that has propelled the United States to lead the world in economic growth.&rdquo; The 79-year-old is expected to announce plans allowing prospective homebuyers to dip into their retirement accounts for down payments. Billionaire Trump is keenly aware that affordability has become his Achilles&rsquo; heel in his second term. A CNN poll last week found that 58 percent of Americans believe his first year back in the White House has been a failure, particularly on the economy. Trump&rsquo;s supporters are also increasingly uneasy about the &ldquo;America First&rdquo; president&rsquo;s seemingly relentless focus on foreign policy since his return to the Oval Office. But as he flies into the snowy retreat, Trump will find it impossible to avoid the global storm of events that he has stirred since January 20, 2025. Trump will be alongside many of the leaders of the same European NATO allies that he has just threatened with tariffs if they don&rsquo;t back his extraordinary quest to take control of Greenland from Denmark. Those threats have once again called into question the transatlantic alliance that has in many ways underpinned the Western economic order celebrated at Davos. &lsquo;Economic stagnation&rsquo; So have the broader tariffs Trump announced early in his second term, and he is set to add to the pressure on Europe in his speech. Trump will &ldquo;emphasize that the United States and Europe must leave behind economic stagnation and the policies that caused it,&rdquo; the White House official said. The Ukraine war will also be on the cards. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is hoping for a meeting with Trump to sign new security guarantees for a hoped-for ceasefire deal with Russia, as are G7 leaders. But while the largest-ever US Davos delegation includes Secretary of State Marco Rubio, special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, who have all played key roles on Ukraine, no meeting is assured. &ldquo;No bilateral meetings have been scheduled for Davos at this time,&rdquo; the White House told AFP. Trump is meanwhile reportedly considering a first meeting of the so-called &ldquo;Board of Peace&rdquo; for war-torn Gaza at Davos, after announcing its first members in recent days. Questions are also swirling about the future of oil-rich Venezuela following the US military operation to topple its leader, Nicolas Maduro, part of Trump&rsquo;s assertive new approach to his country&rsquo;s &ldquo;backyard.&rdquo; But Trump may also pause to enjoy his time in the scenic spot he called &ldquo;beautiful Davos&rdquo; in his video speech to the meeting a year ago. The forum has always been an odd fit for the former New York property tycoon and reality TV star, whose brand of populism has long scorned globalist elites. But at the same time, Trump relishes the company of the rich and successful. His first Davos appearance in 2018 met occasional boos, but he made a forceful return in 2020 when he dismissed the &ldquo;prophets of doom&rdquo; on climate and the economy. A year later, he was out of power. Now, Trump returns as a more powerful president than ever, at home and abroad.

A picture taken on January 20, 2025 shows the Alpine resort of Davos at sunrise during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting (AFP)

Donald Trump returns to the Davos ski resort next week after unleashing yet another avalanche on the global order. But for the US president, his main audience is back home.

Trump heads into Davos storm, with an eye on home

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said in an interview published Thursday that his &quot;own morality&quot; was the only constraint on his power to order military actions around the world. Trump&#39;s comments to The New York Times came days after he launched a lightning operation to topple Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, and threatened a host of other countries, plus the autonomous territory of Greenland. &quot;Yeah, there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It&#39;s the only thing that can stop me,&quot; Trump told the newspaper when asked if there were any limits on his global powers. &quot;I don&#39;t need international law,&quot; he added. &quot;I&#39;m not looking to hurt people.&quot; The Republican president then added that &quot;I do&quot; need to abide by international law, but said &quot;it depends what your definition of international law is.&quot; The United States is not a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), which tries war criminals, and it has repeatedly rejected decisions by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN&#39;s top court. Trump himself has had his own run-ins with domestic law, having been impeached twice, faced a slew of federal charges, including conspiring to overturn the 2020 election &mdash; which were eventually dropped after his re-election &mdash; and convicted for covering up a hush money payment to an adult movie star. While proclaiming himself as &quot;peace president&quot; and seeking the Nobel Prize, Trump has launched a series of military operations in his second presidential term. Trump ordered attacks on Iran&#39;s nuclear program in June and in the past year has also overseen strikes on Iraq, Nigeria, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, and, most recently, on Venezuela. Since Maduro&#39;s capture, an emboldened Trump has threatened a string of other countries, including Colombia, as well as Greenland, which is administered by fellow NATO member Denmark. Asked whether his priority was preserving the NATO military alliance or acquiring Greenland, Trump told the Times: &quot;it may be a choice.&quot; Some members of Congress, including a handful of Republicans, are trying to check Trump&#39;s power. On Thursday, the Senate advanced a measure to rein in presidential military action in Venezuela. But even if it reaches his desk, Trump would likely veto it. Billionaire Trump, who made his fortune as a property developer, added that US ownership of Greenland is &quot;what I feel is psychologically needed for success.&quot; Trump said separately that he had no problem with his family conducting foreign business deals since his return to office. &quot;I prohibited them from doing business in my first term, and I got absolutely no credit for it,&quot; Trump told the Daily. &quot;I found out that nobody cared, and I&#39;m allowed to.&quot;

Republican president says "I do" need to abide by international law, but adds "it depends what your definition of international law is"; US is not a member of the ICC, which tries war criminals, and has repeatedly rejected decisions by the UN's top court.

Trump says 'my own morality' is only restraint on global power

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;President Donald Trump signed a sweeping defense policy bill into law Thursday that signaled strong bipartisan support for Europe and defied the US leader&#39;s increasingly hostile posture toward NATO and America&#39;s closest allies. The annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), one the few remaining rituals of cross-party cooperation in Congress even as divisions sharpen elsewhere in Washington, sets out the country&#39;s national security and foreign policy priority areas for the coming year, according to lawmakers. White House spokesperson Anna Kelly said Trump signed into law a measure which raises pay for US troops, codifies the country&#39;s &quot;PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH agenda,&quot; and &quot;funds the Golden Dome&quot; air and missile defense system backed by Trump. The NDAA, at some $900 billion, also &quot;removes woke priorities&quot; like diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs opposed by many conservatives, and &quot;requires promotions based on merit, not DEI,&quot; Kelly added. The Senate easily passed the NDAA measure on Wednesday following the House&#39;s green light last week. The success comes amid unease in European capitals over Trump&#39;s rhetoric, especially after the recent White House national security strategy painted Europe as over-regulated, culturally adrift and insufficiently committed to its own defense. The strategy questioned the continent&#39;s strategic value and openly echoed themes championed by far-right parties, fueling fears of a widening transatlantic rift. By contrast, the NDAA reflects lawmakers&#39; determination to anchor the United States firmly in Europe. The bill bars US troop levels on the continent from falling below 76,000 for more than 45 days and restricts the removal of major military equipment, effectively tying the administration&#39;s hands on any rapid drawdown. It also boosts resources for frontline NATO states, particularly in the Baltic region, reinforcing the alliance&#39;s northeastern flank. The measure authorizes roughly $8 billion more than the administration requested, a signal of congressional assertiveness on defense priorities. Beyond Europe, the NDAA locks in $400 million in security assistance for Ukraine, aiming to preserve a baseline of support even as broader funding debates grind on, and places new limits on any reduction of the 28,500 US troops stationed in South Korea. As ever, the NDAA drew fire from multiple directions -- from conservative critics of Ukraine aid to safety experts warning about aviation provisions rolling back critical air-safety requirements for military aircraft operating in Washington&#39;s restricted airspace. But none came close to derailing a package long seen as must-pass legislation.

Trump signed a $900 billion bipartisan defense bill boosting troop pay, funding missile defense, limiting NATO drawdowns, supporting Europe and Ukraine, removing DEI programs, and exceeding administration spending requests levels

Trump signs $900B defense policy bill into law

KUALA LUMPUR: US President Donald Trump on Sunday praised Pakistan&rsquo;s top leadership, describing Field Marshal Asim Munir as a &ldquo;good man&rdquo; and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as a &ldquo;great leader&rdquo; during his address at the ASEAN Summit 2025 in Malaysia. Trump said he had received reports of possible tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but credited the Pakistani leadership for handling the situation swiftly and peacefully.&nbsp;&quot;I will solve the Pakistan and Afghanistan conflict very quickly,&quot; he added. &ldquo;I am a proponent of peace across the world,&rdquo; Trump said, claiming to have helped halt eight wars so far. &ldquo;I stopped wars through trade,&rdquo; he added, emphasizing that the United States prefers trade over conflict. Earlier, Trump witnessed the signing of an expanded ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia following recent deadly border clashes.&nbsp; Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet signed the accord at a ceremony themed &ldquo;Delivering Peace,&rdquo; building on a truce reached three months earlier. &ldquo;This declaration, if fully implemented, will provide the building blocks for lasting peace,&rdquo; Hun Manet said, noting that border communities had suffered greatly from past hostilities. Trump also attended a series of trade discussions on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, where he signed new trade and mineral cooperation deals with both Thailand and Cambodia.

US President Donald Trump speaks during the 13th ASEAN - United States Summit as part of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. (Photo by Vincent Thian / POOL / AFP)

Foreign Affairs

At ASEAN summit, US president calls Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif a “great leader” and Field Marshal Asim Munir “good man,” saying he can resolve Islamabad, Kabul tensions “very quickly” soon

Trump praises Pakistani leadership, vows to resolve Pakistan-Afghanistan tensions ‘very quickly’

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump is setting off for Israel and Egypt on Sunday to celebrate the U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal between Israel and Hamas and urge Middle East allies to seize the opportunity to build a durable peace in the volatile region. It&#39;s a fragile moment with Israel and Hamas only in the early stages of implementing the first phase of the Trump agreement designed to bring a permanent end to the war sparked by the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel by Hamas-led militants. Trump thinks there is a narrow window to reshape the Mideast and reset long-fraught relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. It is a moment, the Republican president says, that has been helped along by his administration&#39;s support of Israel&#39;s decimation of Iranian proxies, including Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. The White House says momentum is also building because Arab and Muslim states are demonstrating a renewed focus on resolving the broader, decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and, in some cases, deepening relations with the United States &ldquo;I think you are going to have tremendous success and Gaza is going to be rebuilt,&rdquo; Trump said Friday. &ldquo;And you have some very wealthy countries, as you know, over there. It would take a small fraction of their wealth to do that. And I think they want to do it.&rdquo; A tenuous point in the agreementThe first phase of the ceasefire agreement calls for the release of the final 48 hostages held by Hamas, including about 20 believed to be alive; the release of hundreds of Palestinian hostages held by Israel; a surge of humanitarian aid to Gaza; and a partial pullback by Israeli forces from Gaza&rsquo;s main cities. Israeli troops on Friday finished withdrawing from parts of Gaza, triggering a 72-hour countdown under the deal for Hamas to release the Israeli hostages, potentially while Trump is on the ground there. He said he expected their return to be completed on Monday or Tuesday. Trump will visit Israel first to meet with hostage families and address the Knesset, or parliament, an honor last extended to President George W. Bush during a visit in 2008. Vice President JD Vance on Sunday said Trump also was likely to meet with newly freed hostages, too. &ldquo;Knock on wood, but we feel very confident the hostages will be released and this president is actually traveling to the Middle East, likely this evening, in order to meet them and greet them in person,&rdquo; Vance told CBS&#39; &ldquo;Face the Nation.&rdquo; Trump then stops in Egypt, where he and Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi will lead a summit in Sharm el-Sheikh with leaders from more than 20 countries on peace in Gaza and the broader Middle East. It is a tenuous truce and it is unclear whether the sides have reached any agreement on Gaza&rsquo;s postwar governance, the territory&#39;s reconstruction and Israel&rsquo;s demand that Hamas disarm. Negotiations over those issues could break down, and Israel has hinted it may resume military operations if its demands are not met. &ldquo;I think the chances of (Hamas) disarming themselves, you know, are pretty close to zero,&rdquo; H.R. McMaster, a national security adviser during Trump&#39;s first term, said at an event hosted by the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies on Thursday. He said he thought what probably would happen in the coming months is that the Israeli military &quot;is going to have to destroy them.&quot; Israel continues to rule over millions of Palestinians without basic rights as settlements expand rapidly across the occupied West Bank. Despite growing international recognition, Palestinian statehood appears exceedingly remote because of Israel&rsquo;s opposition and actions on the ground, The war has left Israel isolated internationally and facing allegations of genocide, which it denies. International arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense minister are in effect, and the United Nations&#39; highest court is considering allegations of genocide brought by South Africa. Hamas has been militarily decimated and has given up its only bargaining chip with Israel by releasing the hostages. But the Islamic group is still intact and could eventually rebuild if there&rsquo;s an extended period of calm. Netanyahu reiterated that Israel would continue with its demilitarization of Hamas after the hostages are returned. &ldquo;Hamas agreed to the deal only when it felt that the sword was on its neck &mdash; and it is still on its neck,&rdquo; Netanyahu said Friday as Israel began to pull back its troops. Trump wants to expand the Abraham AccordsMuch of Gaza has been reduced to rubble and rebuilding is expected to take years. The territory&#39;s roughly 2 million residents continue to struggle in desperate conditions. Under the deal, Israel agreed to reopen five border crossings, which will help ease the flow of food and other supplies into Gaza, parts of which are experiencing famine. Trump is also standing up a U.S.-led civil-military coordination center in Israel to help facilitate the flow of humanitarian aid as well as logistical and security assistance into Gaza. Roughly 200 U.S. troops will help support and monitor the ceasefire deal as part of a team that includes partner nations, nongovernmental organizations and private-sector players. U.S. troops will not be sent to Gaza, Adm. Brad Cooper, the U.S. military commander for the region, said in a social media post Saturday. The White House has signaled that Trump is looking to quickly return attention to building on a first-term effort known as the Abraham Accords, which forged diplomatic and commercial ties between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco. A permanent agreement in Gaza would help pave the path for Trump to begin talks with Saudi Arabia as well Indonesia, the most populous Muslim country, toward normalizing ties with Israel, according to a senior Trump administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity. Such a deal with Saudi Arabia, the most powerful and wealthy Arab state, has the potential to reshape the region and boost Israel&rsquo;s standing in historic ways. But brokering such an agreement remains a heavy lift as the kingdom has said it won&rsquo;t officially recognize Israel before a resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Middle East

President Donald Trump departs for Israel and Egypt to celebrate the U.S.-brokered ceasefire and hostage deal, push Middle East leaders toward lasting peace, and revive the Abraham Accords amid fragile postwar Gaza negotiations and ongoing regional tensions

Trump sets off for the Mideast to mark ceasefire deal

Reuters

BEIJING: China called President Donald Trump&#39;s latest US tariffs on Chinese goods hypocritical on Sunday and defended its curbs on exports of rare earths, but stopped short of imposing new levies on US products.&nbsp;The commerce ministry said in a statement its export controls on rare-earth elements - which Trump on Friday called &quot;surprising&quot; and &quot;very hostile&quot; - followed a series of US measures since bilateral trade talks in Madrid last month.&nbsp;Beijing cited the addition of Chinese companies to a US trade blacklist and Washington&#39;s imposition of port fees on Chinese vessels as examples.&nbsp;&quot;These actions have severely harmed China&#39;s interests and undermined the atmosphere for bilateral economic and trade talks. China firmly opposes them,&quot; the ministry said.&nbsp;Beijing stopped short of explicitly linking these US actions to its curbs on exports of critical minerals, stating that its curbs were motivated by concerns about the military applications of these metals at a time of &quot;frequent military conflict.&quot; Tensions flare againA few months ago, Beijing and Washington agreed on an uneasy truce in their tit-for-tat trade war that started earlier this year and threw bilateral trade into serious jeopardy.&nbsp;But tensions have boiled up again in recent days.&nbsp;China said on Friday that it would impose &quot;special port fees&quot; on ships operated by and built in the US, calling it a &quot;defensive action.&quot;&nbsp;It aimed at the US&#39;s own port fees charged on Chinese ships, claiming they &quot;severely harmed China&#39;s interests.&quot;&nbsp;Washington announced those fees in April as part of an effort to revive American shipbuilding after a decades-long decline that has seen China and other Asian nations come to dominate the industry.

Business

The commerce ministry says its export controls on rare-earth elements - which Trump on Friday called "surprising" and "very hostile" - follow a series of US measures since bilateral trade talks in Madrid last month.

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