Buddhist gem collection to return to India after 127 years
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South China Morning Post
2 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Will Chinese Z-10ME attack helicopters now power Pakistan air force?
Images circulating online suggest Pakistan's military has received a shipment of Chinese-made advanced attack helicopters, a version of which has been deployed by the People's Liberation Army (PLA) near China's mountainous border with India In the past week, photos and videos of the Z-10ME , the export version of the Chinese multirole attack helicopter, have appeared on Pakistani social media accounts. On Tuesday, a social media user believed to be an active-duty member of the Pakistan Army uploaded a video clearly showing the helicopter airborne, apparently conducting field airport support missions from a military base. The video was captioned: 'First look at Pakistan's Z-10ME attack helicopter armed with next-gen air-to-ground missiles.' This followed a photo posted on Monday by another user showing a Z-10ME undergoing ground maintenance. The helicopter bore the words 'Pakistan Army' and serial number '786-301' on its fuselage and tail. The image marked the first credible evidence of the Z-10ME's operational status within the Pakistan Army Aviation Corps.
RTHK
3 hours ago
- RTHK
US envoy meets Israeli hostage families
US envoy meets Israeli hostage families Steve Witkoff (centre) is in Tel Aviv to meet the families of the hostages and inspect aid delivery efforts in Gaza. Photo: Reuters US envoy Steve Witkoff on Saturday met the anguished families of Israeli hostages still held in Gaza, as fears for the captives' survival mounted almost 22 months into the war sparked by Hamas's October 2023 attack. Witkoff was greeted with some applause and pleas for assistance from hundreds of protesters gathered in Tel Aviv, before going into a closed meeting with the families. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum confirmed the meeting was underway and videos shared online showed Witkoff arriving as families chanted "Bring them home!" and "We need your help." The visit came one day after Witkoff visited a US-backed aid station in Gaza, to inspect efforts to get food into the devastated Palestinian territory. After the meeting, the Forum released a statement saying that Witkoff had given them a personal commitment that he and US President Donald Trump would work to return the remaining hostages. The US, along with Egypt and Qatar, had been mediating ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel that would allow the hostages to be released and humanitarian aid to flow more freely. But talks broke down last month and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is under increasing domestic pressure to come up with another way to secure the missing hostages, alive or dead. Netanyahu is also facing international calls to open Gaza's borders to more food aid, after UN and humanitarian agencies warned that more than two million Palestinian civilians are facing starvation. Witkoff visited a food distribution point in Gaza run by the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Friday, promising that Trump would come up with a plan to better feed civilians. (AFP)
RTHK
7 hours ago
- RTHK
Trump keeps feeding uncertainty over Powell
Trump keeps feeding uncertainty over Powell Donald Trump inspects renovations at the Federal Reserve with with Jerome Powell, right, amid suggestions he was looking to fire the chairman over cost overruns. File photo: Reuters US President Donald Trump has said Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell will "most likely" stay in his position even amid his sharp criticism of the central bank's policies. In an interview with Newsmax that aired on Friday, Trump said he would remove Powell "in a heartbeat" and said the Fed's interest rate was too high but added that others have said Powell's removal would "disturb the market". "He gets out in seven or eight months and I'll put somebody else in," he said. Also on Friday, Trump called for the Fed's board of governors to usurp Powell's powers and criticized him for not cutting short-term interest rates. Posting on his Truth Social platform, Trump called Powell 'stubborn". The Fed chair has been subjected to vicious verbal attacks by the Republican president over several months. The Fed has the responsibility of stabilizing prices and maximizing employment. Powell has held its benchmark rate for overnight loans constant this year, saying that Fed officials needed to see what impact Trump's massive tariffs had on inflation. If Powell doesn't 'substantially' lower rates, Trump posted, 'THE BOARD SHOULD ASSUME CONTROL, AND DO WHAT EVERYONE KNOWS HAS TO BE DONE!' Two of the seven Fed governors, Christopher Waller and Michelle Bowman, issued statements on Friday saying they see the tariffs as having a one-time impact on prices and the job market as most likely softening. As a result, the two dissented at the Fed meeting on Wednesday and pushed for slight rate cuts relative to what Trump was seeking. Even though Trump, who nominated Waller and Bowman, has claimed the US economy is booming, he welcomed their arguments and what he called their strong dissents. After the Fed announced later in the day that governor Adriana Kugler will step down next week, Trump said Powell should follow her lead and leave, too. 'She knew he was doing the wrong thing on Interest Rates. He should resign, also!' Trump said on social media. Friday's jobs report showed a rapidly decelerating economy, as just 73,000 jobs were added in July and downward revisions brought down the June and May totals to 14,000 and 19,000, respectively. Trump sees the rate cuts as leading to stronger growth and lower debt servicing costs for the federal government and homebuyers. He argues there is virtually no inflation, even though the Fed's preferred measure is running at an annual rate of 2.6 percent, slightly higher than the Fed's 2 percent target. Trump has called for slashing the Fed's benchmark rate by three percentage points, bringing it down dramatically from its current average of 4.33 percent. The risk is that a rate cut that large could cause more money to come into the economy than can be absorbed, possibly causing inflation to accelerate. The Supreme Court suggested in a May ruling that Trump could not remove Powell for policy disagreements. This led the White House to investigate whether he could be fired for cause because of the cost overruns in the Fed's US$2.5 billion renovation projects . Powell's term as chair ends in May 2026, at which point Trump can put his Senate-confirmed pick in the seat. (AP/Reuters)
