RealClearPolitics
중도 성향
정치
House Passes Ukraine Aid Over Objections of GOP Leaders
It is the latest legislative rebuke of Trump as a small number of Republicans increasingly break away from the president and GOP leaders.
"OBJECTION" · 총 67건
필터 보기현재 지수
50.3
0 = 부정 우세
50 = 중립
100 = 긍정 우세
최근 7일 기준 87,400건을 분석한 결과, 뉴스 심리지수는 50.2(균형)입니다. 긍정 4,360건(5.0%)·중립 80,895건(92.6%)·부정 2,145건(2.5%)이며, 중립 비중이 뚜렷하게 높습니다. 성향 지수는 종합 14.7(중도 균형)입니다.
It is the latest legislative rebuke of Trump as a small number of Republicans increasingly break away from the president and GOP leaders.
A foreign surveillance law could expire next Friday as Democrats block a bipartisan bill to reauthorize the key spy authority over their concerns about President Trump's pick to temporarily lead the U.S. intelligence community.
Legal experts say employers must take AI-related religious objections seriously, as a 2023 ruling raised the bar for denying such accommodations.
MANILA, Philippines — Defying objections from senators aligned with the newly constituted leadership of the Senate blue ribbon committee, the bloc led by Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano on Thursday proceeded with a hearing on the public works corruption scandal and heard testimony from 18 alleged former Marines who claimed they had delivered cash to lawmakers
The legislation seeks to cement US assistance for Ukraine by providing more than $1 billion in aid
Legislation would also sanction key segments of Russian economy, overriding objections from Republican leaders The House passed legislation Thursday that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy, overriding objections from Republican leaders who warned the bill would undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result. The 226-195 vote is a sign of impatience with Donald Trump’s approach to the war and represents the House’s second major foreign policy break with Trump this week. The day before, the House, for the first time, approved a war powers resolution aimed at halting US military action against Iran. Continue reading...
The House passed legislation Thursday that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy, overriding objections from Republican leaders who warned the bill would undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result.
The Russian president added that Moscow opposes the transformation of the EU into a military bloc
The House is on course to pass legislation that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy despite opposition from Republican leaders who warn the bill will undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result.
The House Armed Services Committee adopted a provision for the annual National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) that would demand the Pentagon inform Congress why senior military officers were fired or dismissed within five days. The requirement was introduced by Rep. Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and was adopted on Thursday without objections in a bipartisan voice vote. ...
The House is on course to pass legislation that would aid Ukraine and sanction key segments of the Russian economy despite opposition from Republican leaders who warn the bill will undermine negotiations designed to achieve a comparable but stronger result.
ISLAMABAD: PTI leaders on Thursday arrived at Adiala jail hoping to meet party founder Imran Khan but were once again denied permission to meet the former prime minister. The Islamabad High Court (IHC) has allowed the incarcerated ex-premier to have twice-a-week meetings — on Tuesdays and Thursdays — with his family, lawyers and other associates. Despite the order, Imran has been restricted from meeting visitors for several months. A day earlier, the PTI sent a list of six leaders to Adiala jail authorities, requesting that they arrange a meeting with the incarcerated former premier. The list included Seemabia Tahir, Usman Jora, Asad Abbas, Malik Yasir Patwali, Malik Azeem and Rohail Anjum. Patwali, while speaking to Dawn, said that all the leaders arrived at the prison well before 2pm. “We informed the prison administration that we had been nominated for the meeting, as per the directions of the IHC, but we were told that a message was being sent for approval,” he said. “Officials also recorded our video footage and asked us to wait. We waited there until 4pm, which was the cutoff time for the meeting, but we were not allowed to meet Khan sahib,” he added. Patwali said he would work with lawyers to file a contempt petition. Since his name was on the list, he said he was unable to file the petition himself. Replying to a question, Patwali said the government should understand that the PTI would form the government in the future, adding: “So the government should be ready to face the brunt.” Seemabia, while speaking to Dawn, said that police did not allow PTI leaders to approach Adiala jail and instead asked them to park their vehicles on the side of the road. “We recorded our protest and then returned. We demand that Imran Khan be admitted to Shifa International Hospital for medical treatment,” she said. Pre-Poll Rigging Separately, PTI Information Secretary Sheikh Waqas Akram condemned the government for unleashing “fascism” ahead of the elections in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) and Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). “Central PTI leaders are being subjected to name-based profiling, forced movement restrictions, and NOC (no-objection certificate) denials, while the Election Commission, administration and police are colluding to pressure candidates into abandoning the party,” he claimed. He alleged that the “same discriminatory tactics” were being used in AJK to sideline PTI, warning that such provocative actions in sensitive areas risk creating lasting divisions and that the party was poised to win a majority. “The abrupt and indefinite delay in presenting the federal budget is a humiliating confession of economic bankruptcy and the complete surrender of national sovereignty to the IMF, which now micro-manages every tax, revenue target and utility tariff,” Akram said. “The so-called differences between PPP and PML-N over provincial funds and agricultural taxes are a staged drama to fool the people while both parties collude in economic destruction,” he alleged. Imran — imprisoned since Aug 5, 2023, for concealing details of Toshakhana gifts — is serving a 14-year sentence at Rawalpindi’s Adiala jail in a £190 million corruption case, also known as the Al-Qadir Trust case. Earlier this week, Imran’s sister Aleema Khan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi went to the prison for a meeting with the PTI founder, but were once again denied a meeting with Imran. Speaking to the media outside the prison, Aleema said it was their constitutional right to meet Imran. She vowed to continue visiting Adiala, saying it was the only way to exert pressure on the “powers that be”.
The Foreign Office (FO) on Thursday refuted reports that Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar shared any intelligence regarding Iran’s nuclear programme during a meeting with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Dar met with Rubio on May 29 during a brief visit to Washington, where the two discussed bilateral cooperation as well as regional security issues. Rubio had praised Islamabad’s role “in advancing peace in the Middle East”. Responding to queries during a weekly press briefing on Thursday, FO Spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said Islamabad “categorically and unequivocally” rejected claims made in certain media reports that Dar shared any intelligence regarding Iran with Rubio. “Such claims are entirely baseless, speculative, and appear to be aimed at undermining ongoing diplomatic efforts and the broader process of dialogue and engagement,” he said. Emphasising that the discussion between Dar and Rubio “focused on regional peace, stability, and the importance of pursuing diplomatic solutions to ongoing challenges”, Andrabi asserted that “no intelligence was shared during the course of this dialogue”. Welcoming the “continued engagement” of the US in peace efforts and its “positive role” in the ceasefire between Israel and Lebanon, he cautioned the media against “speculative and unwarranted reports”. A journalist had asked Andrabi about media reports that Dar had allegedly shared intelligence with Rubio regarding Iran, “including possible signals such as withdrawal from the NPT and the development of a nuclear weapon”. The reports, according to the journalist, had claimed that the information resulted in the US urging Israel to halt its attacks in Lebanon. The question came after former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analyst Larry Johnson, quoting an unnamed source, claimed that Dar had a conversation with Rubio that “revealed what Iran is prepared to do to preserve its independence”, which allegedly “alarmed” Rubio. Rubio had also responded to the claims during a congressional hearing on Wednesday. US Congressman Scott Perry asked him if Dar had delivered a message that Iran is “prepared to demonstrate a nuclear weapon should the current escalation continue”. “I have not seen that reporting and I am not aware of any such message,” Rubio responded. Perry again referred to the reports, to which Rubio said that no such message had been delivered. “I would be surprised if that message had been relayed. I would be aware of it if it was,” he said. The US-Iran conflict is currently stalemated in a shaky ceasefire struck in April, which was followed by historic direct talks between the warring parties hosted by Pakistan. Though daily strikes throughout Iran and the Gulf have stopped since then, bursts of armed conflict have continued. The US and Iran exchanged attacks on each other’s military targets on Monday. After the US military carried out strikes near the Strait of Hormuz, Iran responded with a missile attack on Wednesday, damaging Kuwait’s airport and resulting in casualties. Since the conflict began, Iran has repeatedly attacked targets in the Gulf region home to US military bases. Meanwhile, Israel’s expanding front in Lebanon has proved to be the main spoiler in the peace process, with rising tensions even prompting US President Donald Trump to tell Israel’s PM Benjamin Netanyahu to halt the attacks. Nevertheless, diplomacy has continued with Trump under pressure to reach an agreement that would lift the US and Iranian competing blockades around the Strait of Hormuz, which have choked international oil supplies and threatened the global economy with rising prices. ‘Actively engaged’ to secure release of seamen held by Somali pirates On the continued captivity of 10 Pakistanis aboard an oil tanker seized by Somali pirates, the FO said Islamabad remained “actively engaged” in efforts to secure their release. The MT Honour 25, a Palau-flagged product tanker, was seized on April 21, approximately 30 nautical miles off Somalia’s Puntland region with 17 crew members aboard, 10 of them Pakistani. “Unfortunately, the situation remains grave,” Andrabi acknowledged when asked about the latest update on the situation, days after a video emerged showing the captives with discoloured water available for drinking. “Pakistan remains in contact with the ship owner, who is the principal negotiator with the pirates. These negotiations have been taking place with the knowledge of the Somali government,” the FO spokesperson stated. He explained that the “geographical circumstances, coupled with the fact that the ship is carrying highly explosive cargo, make any law-enforcement operation to secure the release of the captive extremely difficult”, as Pakistan did not want to endanger the safety of the captives. Families of the Pakistani hostage crew members of an oil tanker that was hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, hold placards during a protest, calling on the government to take immediate action for the safe return of their loved ones, in Karachi on May 13, 2026. — Reuters/File The FO urged both the Somali government and the ship owner to ensure that the hostages were provided with food, drinking water, and other basic necessities. Relevant stakeholders, including the interior and maritime affairs ministries, were involved in the matter. “This is a very difficult situation. Our hearts go out to the families of those being held captive,” the spokesperson said, requesting patience from the families. “A team from our Embassy in Djibouti also visited Mogadishu to obtain first-hand information. Therefore, all channels of communication with both the ship owner and the Somali government remain open and active,” he revealed. Andrabi assured the media of the government’s “full attention and concern regarding this emergency situation”. ‘No responsible state can remain passive’: FO on Afghanistan Pakistan’s tensions with Afghanistan also came up during the press briefing. Andrabi was asked about the European Union’s (EU) top diplomat Kaja Kallas noting the “grave humanitarian consequences” of the recent fighting between the two neighbours and urging them to exercise restraint. The FO spokesperson replied: “No responsible state can remain passive when its civilians and security forces are repeatedly targeted. Therefore, we reserve the right to take all necessary measures to safeguard the lives and property of our nationals, based on the principles of necessity and as a measure of last resort.” He stressed that Pakistan adhered to the principles of distinction and proportionality and that any “defensive action” was directed against “legitimate targets under international law, including sanctuaries and bases used for planning terrorism and launching terrorist attacks against Pakistan”. The FO spokesperson further stated, “We will continue to take such actions when necessary, and this remains part of our dialogue with our international interlocutors.” Responding to another question before this, Andrabi had asserted that the EU understood Islamabad’s position, including “our right to defend ourselves and take action against terrorist incidents, particularly those emanating from Afghanistan”. Andrabi then referred to the joint statement issued on Kallas’s visit, which said both sides “reaffirmed the importance of combatting terrorism in all its forms and manifestations”. Both sides had also “expressed serious concerns over the presence of terrorist entities in Afghanistan and reiterated that Afghan territory must not be used to threaten or attack other countries”. Replying to another question, the FO official affirmed that there was “no bar on Pakistan pursuing dialogue and diplomacy with Afghanistan”. “Indeed, this is what we were doing until very recently, when terrorist attacks emanating from Afghanistan, with possible collusion from elements within the authorities there, surpassed a certain threshold of Pakistan’s patience. As a result, there were instances of border closures, and we also took certain actions in our border regions,” he recalled. Expressing Pakistan’s desire to pursue the path of diplomacy but also voicing its strong objection to the killing of Pakistani civilians and members of law enforcement agencies, Andrabi said: “We have adopted a position whereby we seek an unequivocal commitment from the Afghan side that its territory will not be used for terrorism against Pakistan.” The FO spokesperson said China’s Special Representative on Afghanistan Ambassador Yue Xiaoyong “held productive discussions on regional security” during his visit to Islamabad. “Pakistan and China agreed to strengthen coordination and synchronise their counterterrorism efforts in order to protect regional peace and security,” he said, adding that Islamabad appreciated Beijing’s constructive role on security issues in general. On the recent military cooperation agreement signed between Russia and Afghanistan, Andrabi responded, “The details are still being ascertained. At this stage, it would be premature to offer any comment on the matter.” India’s plans to divert Chenab water Meanwhile, the FO also denounced India’s plans to build a river-linking project to divert water from Chenab to the Beas river as a “grave violation” of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) and other international laws. Chenab forms at the confluence of the Chandra and Bhaga rivers in Lahaul and Spiti, Himachal Pradesh. The IWT, brokered by the World Bank in 1960, allocates the three western rivers — Indus, Jhelum and Chenab — to Pakistan, and the three eastern rivers — Ravi, Beas and Sutlej — to India. According to Indian news outlet CNBC TV18, India will begin work on the proposed “Link-3 Project”, located on Chenab in Himachal Pradesh, on August 1. The project aims to divert surplus water from the Chenab river to the Beas basin and is estimated to cost 26.2 billion Indian rupees, as per ANI. Responding to a query, Andrabi said, “Yes, we have seen this report as well as the public tendered document issued by the government of India that India has invited bids for the Chenab-Beas Link Tunnel project with the intention of transferring 1.9m acre feet of water annually from Chenab into the Beas system. “Such an inter-basin diversion of water of the Chenab into the Beas system constitutes a grave violation of not just the IWT but also of the laws of treaty, particularly the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, as well as the broader framework of international water law, including the principles reflected in the 1977 UN convention on watercourses,” he added. The FO spokesperson also highlighted India’s planned “silt flushing” of the Salal Dam in occupied Kashmir’s Reasi district. “This is a deeply concerning development. It would provide water control capability that is not permissible under either the Indus Waters Treaty or the 1978 Salal agreement,” he pointed out. Andrabi noted that India had neither officially communicated nor shared any notice of these projects nor has it sought consultations in this regard. “These projects confirm that India seeks to weaponise water. This carries dangerous implications not only for Pakistan’s economy but also for regional stability and international peace and security,” he stressed. Emphasising that Pakistan had “exercised restraint and responsibility” and remained committed to dialogue, Andrabi warned, “However, any illegal action, any illegal measure to endanger Pakistan’s water, food and economic security, as well as the survival and well-being of its 250 million people, is unacceptable.” He stated that such actions amount to “further destabilisation of South Asia, with potential grave consequences” for the entire region. “Under IWT, Pakistan is entitled to receive the unrestricted use of the water of the western rivers, and this is in lieu of the rights of the eastern rivers that were given to India,” Andrabi noted. The FO spokesperson asserted that Pakistan “retains all options necessary for safeguarding rights and entitlements under the treaty and to protect its vital national interests”. “Let me emphasise, we retain all options in this regard,” he reiterated. The FO urged the international community to call upon India to “desist from any form of water coercion, abandon projects that seek to stop, reduce or divert water flow legally belonging to Pakistan, and restore full and faithful implementation of the IWT”.
The order, involving a one-time payment of ₹2.88 lakh, has been passed following a ‘no objection’ from the ED
Justice Jyoti Singh, in an interim order, restrained third parties from selling merchandise bearing Mr. Chaitanya’s name and image without consent, and directed the removal of the objectionable content from online platforms
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has compounded certain violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) by Myntra Designs Private Limited, paving the way for the closure of an Enforcement Directorate (ED) investigation into the matter.In a statement issued on Thursday, the ED said the RBI passed a compounding order on April 20, 2026 under Section 15 of FEMA after receiving a "No Objection" from the agency. The order resulted in the termination of the investigation against the company for the alleged contraventions.The case stemmed from an ED probe initiated in July 2025 on the basis of what the agency described as credible information regarding possible FEMA violations by Myntra, linked companies and directors for FDI "contravention" of over Rs 1,654 crore.According to the ED, the violations related to delays in submitting Annual Performance Reports (APRs) for overseas investments and undertaking overseas direct investment commitments before complying with reporting requirements.The RBI compounded two contraventions. The first involved a delay in submitting APRs under the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or Issue of Any Foreign Security) Regulations, 2004, covering transactions worth Rs 42.85 crore. The second related to undertaking financial commitments through overseas direct investment despite pending APR submissions, involving Rs 3.03 crore.The company subsequently approached the RBI seeking compounding of the violations under Section 15 of FEMA."On reference from RBI, the ED issued no objection for such compounding in line with the true spirit of the Act," the agency said.Following the ED's no-objection, the RBI compounded the violations through its order dated April 20, 2026, on payment of a one-time amount of Rs 2.88 lakh.
Grimes County commissioners voted 4-1 to approve a 100% property tax abatement and reinvestment zone for SpaceX's proposed semiconductor facility
A probe has found that the hotel did not possess a valid Fire No Objection Certificate
IN November 1970, the Bhola cyclone killed up to half a million people in East Pakistan. Yahya Khan’s government introduced a 10 per cent surcharge to fund emergency relief. Bangladesh became independent 13 months later. The affected territory was gone. The levy remained. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s government absorbed the revenue into general federal accounts in 1972. No accounting was published. In 1985, Gen Zia introduced the Iqra surcharge, framed as an education fund. The revenue balanced federal operating accounts. No alternative education instrument replaced it when it was abolished under the IMF’s insistence. The template was set. Fifty years later, Pakistan has not deviated from this template. What began as a cyclone surcharge is now a Rs1.55 trillion instrument misclassified as non-tax revenue. The architecture is identical but the scale has changed. Pakistan has pursued this through two parallel tracks. The first collected resources in the name of disaster relief, later rebranded as climate resilience as floods became more frequent. The second imposed non-tax revenue through petroleum pricing. The petroleum development levy (PDL), a general development surcharge dating to 1961, was structurally insulated in 2010 to bypass provincial NFC sharing. It grew steadily, crossing Rs100 billion annually by the mid-2010s and exceeding Rs200bn by FY2018-19. Although never formally framed as a climate instrument, it has acquired a distinct environmental gloss, culminating in the climate support levy of 2026. The flooding track: The 1973 floods wiped out three million houses and erased a year of economic growth. Bhutto created the Federal Flood Commission. Three consecutive 10-year national flood protection plans followed, running from 1978 to 2008 across four governments, each funded through the PSDP with no ring-fencing. Pakistan suffered catastrophic floods throughout. Three decades of federal plans, without a rupee ring-fenced. No relief fund has ever been legally ring-fenced. Since 1992, when Nawaz Sharif’s government first activated the prime minister’s relief fund model, Pakistan has deployed the same instrument at least five times across floods and earthquakes. The design is deliberate: by classifying flood revenue as voluntary donations rather than taxation, governments simultaneously escape parliamentary scrutiny, judicial challenge and NFC distribution requirements. Benazir Bhutto deployed the identical model after the 1994 floods. So did every government after 2010. The 2010 floods affected 20m people and caused $43bn in damages. The government announced a flood relief surcharge projecting Rs40bn, collected it, and absorbed it into the federal consolidated fund while simultaneously negotiating IMF targets. After the 2022 floods, the government quietly renamed its existing super tax: Section 4B, whose stated purpose was rehabilitation of temporarily displaced persons, became Section 4C, a super tax on high-earning persons. The humanitarian justification was dropped without explanation. The revenue mechanism stayed the same. Three findings hold across every instrument. No relief fund has ever been legally ring-fenced: every prime minister, president and chief minister relief fund is credited to the account of the federation, making it general government money. International pledges substitute for domestic accountability rather than supplementing it. And every fund since 2005 has carried a public commitment to publish an independent audit. None has been published. Justice Saqib Nisar’s 2018 dam fund collected Rs11.5bn from the public in the name of water security, earned Rs2.2bn in mark-up over six years, and was quietly transferred to the public account of the federation in 2024 without a single rupee spent on the stated objective. If money raised under the highest judicial authority in the country can still end up in the general budget, no argument remains that any executive fund can be trusted to do otherwise. The petroleum track: Climate change has been weaponised as a justification to tax citizens. Gen Musharraf used clean-fuel rhetoric to justify development surcharges during the CNG transition without a single rupee being traced to a cleaner fuel outcome. In 2009, the Supreme Court under chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry ruled that revenue collected without a verifiable service to the payer is a tax, not a surcharge, and that imposing it by executive notification violates Article 77. The response was the Petroleum Products (Development Levy) Amendment Act, 2009, that satisfied the court’s procedural requirement while eliminating any ring-fencing obligation. The consequences are calculable. At Rs1.55tr, the PDL represents 10-11 per cent of total federal revenue. Under the seventh NFC Award, provinces are entitled to 57.5pc of all taxes. If correctly classified, Punjab would receive Rs461bn annually, Sindh Rs219bn, KP Rs13bn and Balochistan Rs81bn. They receive zero. It is a tax called a levy because of the NFC Award. The classification is deliberate. PML-N elevated PDL margins in 2016 on the justification that the premium would fund cleaner fuel production. The revenue went instead to IPP capacity charge payments and circular debt service, which reached Rs1.14tr by FY2017-18. The revenue collected in the name of cleaner fuel financed the liabilities of a fossil-fuel-dependent power grid. The PTI then scaled the PDL to Rs424bn, the highest in Pakistan’s history, while branding it a carbon instrument aligned with its Ten Billion Tree Tsunami project. In March 2022, it froze the levy at zero for political reasons. The IMF suspended a $1bn tranche within weeks. A climate-labelled levy had become a macroeconomic emergency. Across 23 programmes since 1958, the IMF has required Pakistan to enhance the PDL without requiring it to distribute the revenue constitutionally. The way forward: Can the PDL be ring-fenced or audited? Ring-fencing 15pc of PDL collections into a sovereign climate fund (SCF) would deploy Rs232bn annually, shared with provinces under the NFC Award and structured as a statutory trust. Following global benchmarks, it can leverage private investment at a ratio of one to four, unlocking approximately Rs900bn in total climate finance conditioned on climate resilience outcomes aligned with Pakistan’s commitments. The IMF objection is predictable but answerable. The SCF does not reduce total PDL collections. Tabled in the next programme negotiation as a structural benchmark rather than a provincial concession, the IMF’s incentives align with the reform rather than against it. The question is not whether Pakistan can create such a fund. It is whether any government is willing to surrender a revenue stream that it has prized too much to ring-fence. The writer is a climate expert. Published in Dawn, June 4th, 2026
The House offered a rare rebuke to President Donald Trump, passing a Democratic-led measure to end his war with Iran over objections from Republican leadership.