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Pakistan threatens to ‘obliterate’ Taliban after peace talks fall apart
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Pakistan’s defense minister on Wednesday threatened to «obliterate» the Taliban, which controls neighboring Afghanistan, after negotiations toward lasting peace between the two sides failed.
Peace talks wrapped up in Istanbul, Turkey, without a «workable solution,» according to Pakistan Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, which comes after deadly clashes this month. Dozens were killed along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan in the worst violence in the area since the Taliban took control of Kabul in 2021.
Negotiations ended with a disagreement over terror groups allegedly using Afghanistan as a base to attack security forces along Pakistan’s border.
«Pakistan does not require to employ even a fraction of its full arsenal to completely obliterate the Taliban regime and push them back to the caves for hiding,» Pakistan Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said on X.
PAKISTAN AND TALIBAN AGREE TO 48-HOUR CEASEFIRE AFTER RENEWED FIGHTING KILLS DOZENS
An Afghan Taliban fighter sits on a tank near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border in Spin Boldak, Kandahar Province, following exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Afghan forces in Afghanistan on October 15, 2025. (Reuters)
The two countries agreed to a ceasefire brokered in Doha, Qatar, on October 19, but they could not find common ground in a second round of talks mediated by Turkey and Qatar in Istanbul, according to Reuters.
Both countries blamed the other for the talks falling apart.
«The Afghan side kept deviating from the core issue … on which the dialogue process was initiated,» Pakistan’s information minister said on Wednesday, accusing the Taliban of engaging in deflection, ruses and playing a «blame game.»
«The dialogue thus failed to bring about any workable solution,» he said.
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Taliban security personnel walk past a damaged car in the Spin Boldak district of Kandahar province on October 16, 2025, a day after the cross-border clashes between Afghanistan and Pakistan. (Getty Images)
A Pakistani security source told Reuters that the Taliban had been unwilling to agree to reining in the Pakistani Taliban, a separate terror group that Pakistan says operates without consequences from inside Afghanistan.
An Afghan source familiar with the talks told the outlet that negotiations ended after «tense exchanges» on the matter, noting that Afghanistan claimed it had no control over the Pakistani Taliban.
The Pakistani Taliban launched attacks against the Pakistani military in recent weeks.
The clashes began earlier this month after Pakistani air strikes targeted the head of the Pakistani Taliban in Kabul and other locations.
A Taliban security personnel stands guard along a road near the Ghulam Khan zero-point border crossing between Afghanistan and Pakistan in Gurbuz district in the southeast of Khost province on October 20, 2025. (Getty Images)
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The Taliban retaliated with attacks on Pakistani military posts along the length of the 1,600-mile border that remains closed.
Pakistan’s defense minister said on Saturday that he believed Afghanistan sought peace but that the failure to reach an agreement in Istanbul would mean «open war.»
And despite a ceasefire between Pakistan and the Taliban, clashes over the weekend resulted in the killings of five Pakistani soldiers and 25 Pakistani Taliban members near the border with Afghanistan.
Reuters contributed to this report.
pakistan,afghanistan,world,terrorism,conflicts
INTERNACIONAL
Líderes de la Unión Europea se reúnen en Bélgica para debatir cómo reforzar su economía ante la presión de EEUU, Rusia y China
Los líderes de la Unión Europea se reunirán este jueves en el castillo de Alden Biesen, en Bélgica, con el objetivo de debatir cómo reforzar el peso económico del bloque frente a la competencia de China y Estados Unidos y superar las divisiones internas que frenan su capacidad de acción.
La cita convocará a los dirigentes de los 27 países miembros en un contexto marcado por la turbulencia geopolítica, la intensificación de la competencia global y una economía que avanza por detrás de otras grandes potencias. El encuentro tomará como referencia un informe clave publicado hace 18 meses que plantea reformas para transformar el funcionamiento económico del bloque.
La presidenta de la Comisión Europea, Ursula von der Leyen, subrayó la urgencia del momento en declaraciones ante líderes industriales el miércoles. “La urgencia no podría ser mayor. Estamos luchando por un lugar en la nueva economía global”, afirmó.
El presidente francés, Emmanuel Macron, insistió en la necesidad de una respuesta rápida y de gran alcance por parte del bloque. Advirtió que la UE debe actuar a “una nueva escala y a una nueva velocidad” para frenar la “fragmentación, el debilitamiento y probablemente la humillación de Europa”. El mandatario también renovó su llamado a impulsar deuda conjunta europea, una propuesta que divide a varias capitales del bloque, y la definió como la “única forma” de competir con China y Estados Unidos.
Durante las conversaciones previstas, Von der Leyen promoverá una serie de iniciativas, entre ellas un impulso a la estrategia de “comprar europeo”, la simplificación de normas comunitarias y la firma de nuevos acuerdos comerciales para diversificar los socios del bloque. La propuesta de dar prioridad a empresas europeas en compras públicas se perfila como uno de los puntos de mayor tensión entre los países miembros.
Estados como Suecia y Países Bajos, defensores del libre comercio, expresan cautela ante la posibilidad de adoptar medidas que se acerquen al proteccionismo. El canciller alemán, Friedrich Merz, sostuvo que ese tipo de política debería aplicarse solo como “último recurso”.
La Comisión Europea también promueve la creación de un nuevo sistema legal para empresas que opere al margen de los marcos nacionales, el llamado “régimen 28”, con el objetivo de facilitar la actividad corporativa en los 27 países. La iniciativa apunta a reducir trabas administrativas y permitir que las compañías operen con mayor facilidad a escala continental.
Otro de los ejes centrales del debate será la profundización del mercado único. Von der Leyen y varios dirigentes consideran que una integración más estrecha constituye la principal respuesta frente a la competencia global, tal como plantea el informe elaborado por el ex presidente del Banco Central Europeo, Mario Draghi.
Tras la intervención prevista de Draghi, los líderes también escucharán al ex primer ministro italiano Enrico Letta, quien defendió una mayor integración económica, incluida una unión de ahorro e inversión que facilite el acceso al capital para las empresas. A diferencia de sus rivales estadounidenses, muchas compañías europeas enfrentan dificultades para financiar su expansión pese a que el continente alberga algunas de las mayores economías del mundo, como Alemania y Francia.
Diplomáticos indicaron que el encuentro estará dominado por dos cuestiones principales: los precios de la energía y la estrategia de preferencia por productos europeos. Von der Leyen respaldó la idea de que los compradores públicos prioricen a empresas del bloque y anunció que el Ejecutivo comunitario presentará una ley sobre preferencia europea este mes.
“Introduciremos requisitos específicos de contenido de la UE para sectores estratégicos”, expresó. Luego añadió: “Dirijamos más dinero europeo hacia nuestras industrias europeas”.
(Con información de AFP)
International,Relations,Africa,Diplomacy / Foreign Policy
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The House of Representatives passed a massive election integrity overhaul bill on Wednesday despite opposition from the vast majority of Democrats.
The House passed Rep. Chip Roy’s SAVE America Act, legislation that’s aimed at keeping non-citizens from voting in U.S. federal elections. All but one House Democrat — Rep. Henry Cuellar, D-Texas — voted against the bill. It passed 218 to 213.
It is an updated version of the Safeguarding American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, also led by Roy, R-Texas, which passed the House in April 2025 but was never taken up in the Senate.
Whereas the SAVE Act would create a new federal proof of citizenship mandate in the voter registration process and impose requirements for states to keep their rolls clear of ineligible voters, the updated bill would also require photo ID to vote in any federal elections.
MURKOWSKI BREAKS WITH GOP ON VOTER ID, SAYS PUSH ‘IS NOT HOW WE BUILD TRUST’
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries holds a press conference on the fourteenth day of the U.S. government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., Oct. 14, 2025. (Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters)
It would also require information-sharing between state election officials and federal authorities in verifying citizenship on current voter rolls and enable the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to pursue immigration cases if non-citizens were found to be listed as eligible to vote.
Democrats have attacked the bill as tantamount to voter suppression, while Republicans argue that it’s necessary after the influx of millions of illegal immigrants who came to the U.S. during the four years of the Biden administration.
«If we want to rebuild confidence again in American elections, we need to pass the SAVE Act,» Rep. Mike Haridopolos, R-Fla., told Fox News Digital. «What better way to eliminate that distrust than to make sure that whoever votes in an American citizen who is truly eligible to vote?»
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill on Oct. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., accused Republicans of trying to make it harder for women to vote. She argued that the legislation would make it more difficult for married women to cast ballots if their surname is different from their maiden name on their birth certificate.
«Republicans aren’t worried about non-citizens voting. They’re afraid of actual American citizens voting. Why? Because they’re losing among women,» Clark said during debate on the House floor. «This is a minefield of red tape that you have put in front of women and American citizens and their right to vote.»
REPUBLICANS, TRUMP RUN INTO SENATE ROADBLOCK ON VOTER ID BILL
But House GOP Policy Committee Chairman Kevin Hern, R-Okla., emphasized that it was about keeping illegal immigrants from voting in U.S. elections.
A voter fraud sign is seen at Lupica Towers in Cleveland, Ohio. (J.D. Pooley/Getty Images)
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«This really is about feeding the narrative that Democrats want illegally from all over the world to come here to support them,» Hern said of Democrats’ opposition.
Republican Study Committee Chairman August Pfluger, R-Texas, told Fox News Digital, «The American people did not give Republicans a mandate to make excuses. They gave us one to deliver wins, and the SAVE America Act is exactly that. Every single Democrat who voted no today proved they would rather let illegal aliens tip the scales in our national elections than protect your vote.»
If implemented, the bill could see new requirements imposed on voters in this year’s November midterm elections.
But it would have to pass the Senate, where current rules dictate that at least several Democrats are needed to meet the 60-vote threshold to overcome a filibuster.
elections,house of representatives politics,republicans
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