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According to the report, Pakistan's finance ministry has cited the exhaustion of the country's foreign exchange reserves as the reason for being unable to release salaries, extending the financial strain into September. This situation poses a significant challenge to officials working in costly cities like Washington, DC, and Hong Kong, as well as Singapore, as they face the prospect of going without salaries for yet another month. Top officials have confirmed, «The press attaches working in Washington, DC, and Hong Kong, as well as the press counsellor deputed in Singapore, continue to live without salary since June.» This is not the first time that Pakistan, facing financial constraints, has encountered difficulties in disbursing salaries.

The weapon Beijing launched over the South China Sea traveled at speeds of more than 15,000 miles an hour as it circled the globe. Flying at least 20 times the speed of sound, it could reach anywhere on earth in less than an hour. The summer 2021 test flight ended with the missile striking near a target in China, but it sent shock waves through Washington.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia—American defense giant RTX and a Saudi weapons firm were heading toward a multibillion-dollar deal when it was abruptly called off early this year. The reason, say people familiar with the talks, was RTX’s concerns that its Saudi partner’s companies were pursuing business with sanctioned Chinese and Russian entities. That unease was a deciding factor for an advisory board of retired American military officers to resign from the Saudi company, Scopa Defense, the people said.

Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is looking to tap overseas markets, particularly the US, to promote locally developed and manufactured fifth generation, or 5G, radio network gear on the backdrop of Centre’s ambition to 'make in India for the world' to overcome supply chain disruptions. “The N78 5G radios designed by Tejas Networks may be qualified for all greenfield and brownfield 5G opportunities that present themselves to the company globally including that in the US,” TCS chief operating officer NG Subramaniam told ETTelecom. Developed by Saankhya Labs, the N78 radio, compatible with 3300 MHz spectrum band, is being currently manufactured by Bengaluru-based Tejas Networks, which acquired the telecom startup early last year. In 2021, Tata Sons acquired homegrown telecom gear maker Tejas Networks.

Russia on Thursday said the United States was hypocritical to criticise President Vladimir Putin's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un because Washington had sown chaos and sent weapons to allies across the world. «The United States has no right to lecture us on how to live,» Russia's ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, said in a statement. For the United States and allies, the burgeoning friendship between Kim and Putin is a concern: Washington has accused North Korea of providing arms to Russia, but it is unclear whether any deliveries have been made. The United States, Antonov said, had built up a coalition in Asia, expanded military drills near the Korean peninsula and was supplying billions of dollars of weapons to Ukraine. «It is time for Washington to throw its economic sanctions into the rubbish dump,» Antonov said.

By Jamie McGeever

The top executives from some of the world’s largest tech and web companies have concluded a closed-door meeting with U.S. lawmakers in Washington D.C., where they reportedly discussed AI technology and potential approaches to regulation.

WASHINGTON—Titans of Silicon Valley are descending on Washington Wednesday to brief U.S. senators on artificial intelligence, in a meeting aimed at advancing nascent efforts to regulate the new technology. The closed-door all-senators’ session, organized by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.), will feature Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and more than a dozen other executives and civil-society leaders.

China has not issued a ban on the purchase and use of foreign phone brands, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday, in response to media reports that said some government agencies and firms had told staff to stop using Apple's iPhones at work. «China has not issued laws, regulations or policy documents that prohibit the purchase and use of foreign brand phones such as Apple's,» foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular press briefing when asked about the reports.

Washington is sprinting to keep pace with the AI revolution. So where does that leave Wall Street?

US LBM Coaches Poll reveals some significant changes within the top five rankings for the second consecutive week, as per a USA Today report. Georgia continues to dominate the chart, maintaining its hold on the number 1 position, securing nearly all of the 65 first-place votes cast this week. Michigan remains firmly in the number 2 spot, receiving the sole remaining first-place vote. The landscape begins to shift at number 3, attributed to Alabama's recent defeat at home against Texas. Florida State swiftly climbs to the third position, surpassing Ohio State in the process. Meanwhile, Southern California advances to number 5, narrowly fending off Texas by a single point in the polls. The Longhorns' ascent of four places is noteworthy, driven by their impressive victory in Tuscaloosa. Penn State, Washington, and Tennessee maintain their respective positions, while the Crimson Tide experiences a substantial setback, plummeting seven places to number 10. They are merely 12 points ahead of Notre Dame. Duke and Colorado also make notable gains, securing the number 20 and number 21 spots, respectively. This marks a significant achievement for the Blue Devils, as they haven't held such a high ranking since October 25, 2015, and the Buffs achieve their highest rating since October 7, 2018.

By Nandita Bose, Francesco Guarascio and Trevor Hunnicutt

Joe Biden insisted Sunday he does not want to «contain» China, as the two powers face deepening divisions on trade, security and rights. Biden said he had met Chinese Premier Li Qiang at the G20 summit in New Delhi — a meeting the White House had not announced — and discussed «stability». The president revealed the encounter in Hanoi, where earlier in the day he agreed a deal to deepen ties with Vietnam as Washington looks to bolster its network of allies around Asia and the Pacific in the face of Beijing's rising influence. Washington and Beijing are at loggerheads on a range of global issues, and Biden accused China of seeking to bend the international order to its will. «One of the things that is going on now is China is beginning to change some of the rules of the game, in terms of trade and other issues,» Biden told a news conference. Washington has invested heavily in building alliances as part of its Indo-Pacific strategy, including the Quad security dialogue with India, Australia and Japan, and the AUKUS pact with Britain and Australia. But he insisted the United States is not seeking to box China in, but rather to establish clear ground rules for relations. «I don't want to contain China.

Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning starrer The Equalizer 3 was released in theaters on September 1, 2023, to a good response. The film got positive reviews and grossed $79 million at the box office worldwide. The Equalizer 3 brought together Denzel Washington and Dakota Fanning, who first starred together in Tony Scott's film Man on Fire in 2004, when Dakota was a child artiste. The Equalizer 3 director Antoine Fuqua has spoken about how Denzel Washington reacted to Dakota Fanning, who he first worked with when she was just a little girl. While talking to People magazine, Fuqua revealed how he made the actors' reunion happen after almost two decades. He said that Dakota Fanning reached out early on and Denzel Washington pushed for her to be a part of the film. One of the daughters of Denzel Washington is friends with Dakota Fanning, and the families have known each other since Man on Fire. Fuqua said it was “fun” for him to “just watch” the two-act on set, and for Washington to react. Dakota Fanning’s first acting experience was with Denzel Washington. Fuqua revealed that the 29-year-old is “very powerful, emotional. But you can see how she has grown quite a bit and I think it was more fascinating for Denzel than anyone else”. “Every once in a while, when I would yell cut, he would just look over and be like, 'I can't believe she's like a grown woman now!',” he added. Dakota Fanning had earlier expressed on Instagram about her working with Denzel Washington again as: «My gratitude to share the screen once again with the legend of all legends is endless. Can't wait.»

North Korea invited visiting Chinese delegates and Russian artists to a paramilitary parade featuring rocket launchers pulled by trucks and tractors, state media said Saturday, in leader Kim Jong Un's latest effort to display his ties with Moscow and Beijing in the face of deepening confrontations with Washington. The event in the capital, Pyongyang, which began Friday night to celebrate North Korea's 75th founding anniversary that fell on Saturday, came amid expectations that Kim will travel to Russia soon for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that could focus on North Korean arm sales to refill reserves drained by the Kremlin's war on Ukraine. While China has sent a delegation led by Vice Premier Liu Guozhong to the North Korea's anniversary celebrations, Russia sent a military song and dance group. South Korean media speculated that the lack of Russian government officials at the festivities in Pyongyang could be related to preparations for a summit between Kim and Putin, which Washington expects within the month.

G20 partners will unveil ambitious plans Saturday to bolster trade between India, the Middle East and Europe, the United States said — a modern-day Spice Route that could more closely bind three regions that account for about a third of the global economy. Washington, Saudi Arabia, the EU, UAE and others will sign an agreement on the sidelines of the G20 summit to explore a railway and port project to augment trade flows between Europe and India, officials said.Track all the live updates here The agreement comes with Washington actively engaging with Riyadh, a major oil producer and security partner, as it encourages the kingdom to normalise ties with Israel. Jon Finer, US deputy national security advisor, said the announcement came after «months of careful diplomacy, quiet, careful diplomacy, bilaterally and in multilateral settings». Finer said the plan could include shipping and rail transportation projects to «enable the flow of commerce, energy and data from here in India across the Middle East to Europe». This project «has enormous potential» he said.

Iranian oil earlier this year, Al Jazeera reported. Notably, this strong move by the US resulted in severe tensions in the Gulf. «This is the first-ever criminal resolution involving a company that violated sanctions by facilitating the illicit sale and transport of Iranian oil and comes in concert with a successful seizure of over 980,000 barrels of contraband crude oil,» said the Justice Department in a statement, according to Al Jazeera. The department hailed the move for «successfully disrupting a multimillion-dollar shipment of crude oil,» by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is designated as a «foreign terrorist organization» in the US. Following its seizure of the Iranian oil, Washington charged Tehran with arresting a number of foreign ships transiting the Gulf. Tehran was outraged when the Pentagon revealed in August that it was deploying tens of thousands more US soldiers to the area to «support deterrence efforts» and guard maritime lines, notably the Strait of Hormuz., according to Al Jazeera.Iran has argued that capturing Iranian property in international waters is equivalent to piracy, whereas the US regards stopping Iranian oil ships as law enforcement. «Acts of trespassing on tankers carrying Iranian oil are a clear example of piracy,» Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Nasser Kanasaid last month, as per Al Jazeera. In August, the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington would welcome any steps from Tehran for de-escalating the «growing nuclear threats». He, however, also clarified that the process of bringing back US citizens detained in Iran is a «completely different» matter.

WASHINGTON—With less than six months to prepare for his federal election-interference trial, Donald Trump’s lawyers are turning to a familiar strategy for the former president: long-shot legal motions that publicly criticize the case and raise novel questions that could serve to delay it. In a heated hearing last week, Trump lawyer John Lauro said he couldn’t build a full-throated defense for his client in the months remaining before the March 2024 start date and pressed the judge for more time. Short of that, Trump’s team has promised—but not yet filed—a flurry of requests that legal experts say probably won’t derail the criminal trial in Washington but could delay it by raising complicated legal issues that might take time to sort out.

Joe Biden leaves for the G20 in India on Thursday, aiming to boost alliances at a summit where global tensions will be highlighted by the absence of the leaders of China and Russia. Biden will try to show that on big transnational issues, Washington is a better partner than Beijing or Moscow -- and that the G20 remains a key forum.

President Joe Biden hopes to demonstrate to the world at the upcoming Group of 20 summit in India and during a visit to Vietnam that the United States and like-minded allies can be more trustworthy partners than China on economic and security issues

By Raphael Satter