Nunavut is Canada's largest federal district. The entire territory - all 1.8 million sq km (695,000 sq miles) and its 40,000 people - will be represented by one person in parliament. "Nunavut is at least three times the size of France. If it was its own country, it would be the 13th largest behind Greenland," Kathy Kettler, the campaign manager for local Liberal candidate Kilikvak Kabloona, told the BBC. Located in the Arctic, where average temperatures in the capital city Iqaluit are below freezing for eight months of the year, it is so vast and inaccessible that the only way to travel between its 25 communities is by air. "Yesterday, in 24 hours, we travelled 1,700 km (1,050 miles) by air and campaigned in Pangnirtung, Iqaluit, Rankin Inlet, and Arviat," said Ms Kettler. "There are not very many people who understand the reality of the north," Ms Kettler said, describing the challenges of running a campaign where so much is different from southern Canada. She recalled knocking on doors earlier this month as she campaigned for her candidate in -24C (-11F) temperatures. She said it's rare in northern communities for people to knock before entering someone's home. Instead, the tight-knit culture permits visitors to simply "walk in and say hello" - almost unthinkable in other parts of the country. As an Inuk from northern Quebec, she said it "feels weird" even for her to knock and wait for a response. In Nunavut, one of Canada's three northern territories, the majority-Inuit population speak Inuktitut. Ms Kettler said one of the biggest expenses was translating campaign signs and hiring an interpreter for Kabloona, the candidate. Election issues for northerners too are unique. "The national campaign is really focused on Arctic security and sovereignty, whereas our campaign here is focused on food security and people being able to survive," Ms Kettler said. Food can be prohibitively expensive and there are infrastructure challenges to accessing clean water for a number of Indigenous and northern communities. She was boiling water to drink while campaigning in Arviat, she said, and described being unable to rely on calling voters as she canvasses because a phone plan is the first thing they sacrifice to afford food. The seat is currently held by the New Democratic Party (NDP), with incumbent Lori Idlout running for re-election. James Arreak is the Conservative candidate. Jean-Claude Nguyen, the returning officer in Nunavut, is responsible for conducting the election in the district. He described how difficult it is to ensure ballots and voter lists get to every community - including to workers at remote gold mines. "[Elections Canada] sent a team from our Ottawa headquarters via Edmonton and Yellowknife to the mine where they work, gave them sufficient time to vote, and then they brought the ballots back," he said. Mr Nguyen also spoke about security considerations. Once polls close, the ballots are counted at the polling station and then stored safely either with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), or a local hamlet - a small community that provides municipal services to its residents. The ballot boxes are then flown to Iqaluit, and then to Ottawa. Mr Nguyen recalled how in the 2019 election, a ballot box arrived with a big hole. "When we asked the charter flight company what happened, they said it was eaten by a raven," he said laughing. "That's part of the reality here in the territories, you have wild animals eating the ballot boxes." No ballots were damaged by the bird. Beyond all the challenges, Kathy Kettler said she is most drawn to the spirit of the people. "The generosity, love, and care that people have for each other in every community shines through," she said. "That's what keeps me going, and it's what makes campaigning across Nunavut so meaningful."

At 20 years old, Pierre Poilievre already had a roadmap for Canada. Canada's Conservative Party leader - now 45 - laid out a low-tax, small government vision for the country in an essay contest on what he would do as prime minister. "A dollar left in the hands of consumers and investors is more productive than a dollar spent by a politician," he stated. Poilievre is now one step closer to making his vision a reality, and even gave a nod to the essay in a recent interview with conservative psychologist and commentator Jordan Peterson. For Canadians frustrated with a sluggish economy and a housing and affordability crisis, Poilievre has promised a return to "common sense politics", and offered an alternative to what he labelled as former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's "authoritarian socialism". He now finds himself facing a different political foe, new Liberal leader and Prime Minister Mark Carney. While Poilievre's Conservatives have enjoyed a large lead over the struggling Trudeau Liberals in national surveys for months, support for the Liberals has shot up following Trudeau's resignation. Now the outcome of the general election is a significantly tighter race. Still, Poilievre's message is resonating in parts of Canadian society, as his campaign continues to draw large crowds across the country. Critics have painted him as a sort of Donald Trump "light" - a parallel that has become a liability amid Trump's trade war and musings about a "51st state". Poilievre has sought to distance himself from the US president, positioning himself as a "tough guy" who can take on Trump, and has pointed to his modest upbringing as one of the differences. A Calgarian with his eyes set on Ottawa Poilievre was born in Canada's western province of Alberta to a 16-year-old mother who put him up for adoption. He was taken in by two school teachers, who raised him in suburban Calgary. "I have always believed that it is voluntary generosity among family and community that are the greatest social safety net that we can ever have," he told Maclean's Magazine in 2022, reflecting on his early life. "That's kind of my starting point." As a teenager, Poilievre showed an early interest in politics, and canvassed for local conservatives. Poilievre was studying international relations at the University of Calgary when he met Stockwell Day, who served as a cabinet minister under former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper. At the time, Day was seeking the leadership of the Canadian Alliance - a right-wing party with Alberta roots that became part of the modern-day Conservatives in a 2003 merger - and he tapped Poilievre to help with campus outreach. "He impressed me from the start," Day told the BBC in an interview. "He seemed to be a level-headed guy, but full of energy and able to catch people's attention." Day's leadership bid was successful, and he set out for Ottawa with Poilievre as his assistant. Some time after, Poilievre walked into his office on a cold winter night to ask his opinion about potentially running for office. Poilievre went on to win a seat in Ottawa in 2004 at the age of 25, making him one of the youngest elected Conservatives at the time. He has held that seat since. From "Skippy" to party leader In Ottawa, Poilievre was given the nickname Skippy by peers and foes alike due to to his youthful enthusiasm and sharp tongue. He built a reputation for being "highly combative and partisan", said Randy Besco, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Toronto. Behind the closed doors of Conservative caucus meetings, Poilievre showed his diplomatic side, Day said. "Pierre was always good at saying, 'Okay, you know what? I hadn't thought of that,' or he would listen and say: 'Have you thought of this?'" said Day. Still, confrontational politics became a cornerstone of Poilievre's public persona. After becoming Conservative leader in 2022, he would target Trudeau with biting remarks as a way to connect with disaffected voters. It has landed him in trouble at times. In April, he was expelled from the House of Commons for calling the former prime minister a "wacko". Poilievre told the Montreal Gazette in June that he is a fan of "straight talk". "I think when politesse is in conflict with the truth, I choose the truth," he said. "I think we've been too polite for too long with our political class." His combative style has also been divisive, and he has been criticised for oversimplifying complex issues for political gain. While Canadians have been open to the opposition leader's message as a change from Trudeau's brand of progressive politics, just under half of them hold an unfavourable opinion of him, according to a recent poll. Poilievre has also had to shift his sights since Trudeau's resignation to get ahead of the inevitable match-up between him and Carney. Poilievre on populism, immigration and Trump The Conservative leader has been described as a "soft" populist for his direct appeals to everyday Canadians and criticism of establishment elites, including corporate Canada. It has been pointed out as a weakness by his critics, as the bulk of Canadians have become angry and frustrated with another well-known, nearby populist - Donald Trump. Canadians priorities have shifted since the Trump administration launched a trade war against Canada, with the relationship between the two countries now the top of mind for voters. It has forced Poilievre, who had not stepped much into foreign policy prior, to pivot. He has since pushed back at Trump's comments suggesting Canada become a 51st US state, vowing to "put Canada first". "While Canadians are slow to anger and quick to forgive, once provoked, we fight back. And we will fight back," Poilievre has said in an address directed at Trump. Trump has disparaged the Conservative leader in response, telling the UK magazine The Spectator that he is not "MAGA enough." In an interview with Fox News, Trump said that Poilievre is "stupidly no friend of mine". On domestic issues, Poilievre has pledged to deliver "the biggest crackdown on crime in Canadian history", promising to keep repeat offenders behind bars. He also came out in support of those who protested vaccine mandates during the 2021 "Freedom Convoy" demonstrations that gridlocked Ottawa for weeks. On social matters, he has rarely weighed in - something Prof Besco said is typical of senior Conservatives, who see these topics as "a losing issue". While Poilievre voted against legalising gay marriage in the early 2000s, he has recently said it will remain legal "full stop" if he is elected. The Conservatives also do not support legislation to regulate abortion, though they allow MPs to vote freely on the issue. "There will be no laws or other restrictions imposed on a woman's right to decide to do with her body as she wishes," Poilievre said in April. "And that is something that I am guaranteeing to you and to all Canadians." Amid a public debate in Canada in recent months on immigration, the Conservative party has said it would tie levels of newcomers to the number of new homes built, and focus on bringing in skilled workers. Poilievre's wife, Anaida, arrived in Canada as a child refugee from Caracas, Venezuela. The Conservative leader has pushed for the integration of newcomers, saying Canada does not need to be a "hyphenated society". One of his major promises - to cut the industrial carbon pricing programme, arguing it is a financial burden for families - has raised questions over how his government would tackle pressing issues like climate change. Liberal leader Carney scrapped the unpopular consumer carbon tax this month, shortly after being sworn in. Above all, Poilievre has said that he wants to do away with "grandiosity" and "utopian wokesim" that he believes has defined the Trudeau era, in favour of the "the things that are grand and great about the common people". "I've been saying precisely the same thing this entire time," he told Mr Peterson.

Jagmeet Singh is the first ethnic minority politician to lead a major federal party in Canada. But what role will he have in the country's next government? Singh is running his third federal election campaign - and one where his party faces an uphill battle as recent polls show some of the lowest levels of support for Canada's left-wing New Democratic Party in years. The NDP faces tough competition in Canada's 2025 election which is being held on 28 April. Prime Minister Mark Carney called it shortly after he was sworn in to replace former leader Justin Trudeau. Launching his party's campaign, Singh attacked both Carney and US President Donald Trump, promising that only the New Democrats could be trusted to look out for ordinary Canadians. A practising Sikh, Singh is a former provincial Ontario legislator and lawyer by training. The 46-year-old took the helm of the party in 2017 despite no previous experience in federal politics. In 2022, Singh's NDP agreed to help prop up Trudeau's minority Liberal government in exchange for support on their shared political priorities, in particular in developing a national dental care programme for low-income Canadians and a national prescription drug programme. But last September, the NDP became the last of Canada's three main opposition parties to turn on Trudeau, with Singh accusing him of "caving" to corporate greed. The NDP leader has also made headlines for confronting hecklers. He once approached a man who was heckling him with insults on Parliament Hill, asking him to "say it to my face" in a clip that later went viral. He has faced other confrontations in the past, including a voter who told him to "cut your turban off" during the 2019 election campaign - though he handled that situation cordially, replying that Canadians "look like all sorts of people" before walking away. Singh was born in Scarborough, Ontario, a city in the Greater Toronto Area, to Indian immigrants from the state of Punjab. Singh has said he was sexually abused by a taekwondo teacher as a child, revealing in a memoir later in life that he suffered the abuse while growing up in Windsor. As a child, he also spent time in St Johns, and attended school across the border in Michigan for several years. He later got a degree in biology from the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Laws from York University's Osgoode Hall Law School. Singh worked as a criminal defence attorney for years before pursuing provincial politics, eventually running provincially for a seat in the Ontario legislature in 2011. In 2019, he won his first seat in Canada's parliament in by-election - or special election - in Burnaby, British Columbia, east of Vancouver. The former human rights activist ran on pledges to forgive student loan debt, to drastically reduce Canada's carbon emissions and to ensure universal prescription drug coverage. He has found a large audience on TikTok and is also known for his style and well-tailored suits, with BuzzFeed once calling him the "most stylish politician in Canada by like a million kilometres". He is married to fashion designer Gurkiran Kaur Sidhu, with whom he has two children. Recently, he revealed he had considered leaving politics in late 2023, after he was warned by federal police that he had received credible death threats. His wife at the time was pregnant with their second child. He was under heavy police protection for weeks.

BEIJING — Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday met with global executives and made a case for investing in the country, as Beijing focuses on reaching out to businesses amid escalating trade tensions with the U.S. He said multinational companies had a big responsibility to “uphold global order” and that they needed to work hand in hand with China. He emphasized that China was a safe and stable place for foreign companies. “To invest in China is to invest in tomorrow,” he said in Mandarin translated by CNBC. Echoing recent policy plans, Xi said that China would ensure fair opportunities for foreign businesses to participate in government procurement bids. More than 40 people, mostly foreign executives and business officials, attended the roundtable meeting with Xi, including Bridgewater Associates’ Ray Dalio, Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters and Blackstone Group CEO Steve Schwartzman. President Donald Trump has raised tariffs by 20% on China since January over its alleged role in the U.S. fentanyl crisis, and threatened a swath of new tariffs on major trading partners starting in early April. Trump said this week that he might reduce China tariffs to help close a deal that forces Beijing-based ByteDance to sell TikTok’s U.S. operations. The U.S. this week also added dozens of Chinese tech companies to its export blacklist, the first such restrictions under the Trump administration. Xi said U.S.-China trade tensions should be resolved through negotiations. “We need to work for the stability of global supply chains,” he added, noting there was no way out under decoupling. China has increased its trade with Southeast Asian countries and the European Union, but the U.S. remains Beijing’s largest trading partner on a single-country basis. In a sign of how Beijing seeks to offset trade pressures, rather than retaliate forcefully, China courted the executives of major U.S. businesses at a state-backed annual conference that ran from Sunday to Monday. Apple CEO Tim Cook was among the executives who attended, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk was conspicuous by his absence. Also on Sunday, U.S. Republican Senator Steve Daines met Chinese Premier Li Qiang in Beijing — the first time a U.S. politician has visited China since Trump began his latest term in January. “This was the first step to an important next step, which will be a meeting between President Xi and President Trump,” Daines told the Wall Street Journal. “When that occurs and where it occurs is to be determined.” The White House did not respond to CNBC’s request for comment. Li urged cooperation and said no one can gain from a trade war, according to state media. Top executives of major firms including FedEx, Pfizer, Cargill, Qualcomm and Boeing as well as U.S.-China Business Council President Sean Stein were also present at Daines’ meeting with Li, according to a foreign media pool report.

The plan will transform two of the world’s largest refugee camps into open cities and allow the country’s more than 800,000 refugees to get jobs, health care and other services. LIMURU, Kenya — Already an outsider, Ugandan refugee Constance fears a plan to integrate hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers into Kenyan society will instead further alienate him and other LGBTQ refugees at a time of rising hostility. The Shirika Plan, launched by President William Ruto last month, will transform two of the world’s largest refugee camps into open cities and allow the country’s more than 800,000 refugees to finally get jobs, health care and other services. Under Shirika, which means “coming together” in Swahili, the nearly half-million refugees at the Kakuma camp in the north and the Dadaab camp near the Somali border can choose to leave the settlements to live alongside other Kenyans. “The idea of integration is good, because it will guarantee refugees a free life and all rights, like any other Kenyan,” said Constance, who runs a safe house for Ugandan LGBTQ refugees. He did not give his last name for safety reasons. But Constance said groups representing LGBTQ people have not been invited to public forums held in major cities to debate the plan, which was first floated in 2023. “Unlike other refugees, we have serious concerns about security, health and housing that should be incorporated ... But how will we voice these issues when we are not part of the process?” he said. Kenya’s refugee commissioner John Burugu said all those affected by the Shirika Plan had been invited to comment. “We have not locked any one or group out of the process,” Burugu told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone. “You don’t have to physically attend the public participation forums. We have people, groups and organizations who submitted written memoranda, and we captured their views.” But organizations defending the rights of LGBTQ refugees fear this vulnerable group is being ignored. Chance for inclusion The multi-year Shirika Plan has been lauded by the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR as an opportunity to improve the lives of refugees and create economic opportunities for Kenya. For decades, Kenya has hosted refugees, mostly from Somalia, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo, many of whom have built lives in the sprawling expanses of Kakuma and Dadaab and whose children are now adults, having known no other home. Yet people in these camps live in limbo, unable to legally open bank accounts, start businesses or work. State schools do not accept refugee pupils, and asylum seekers need permits to move around the country. Kenya’s 2021 Refugees Act was supposed to address these gaps, but bureaucratic hurdles and a lack of resources have prevented its full implementation. At the Shirika Plan’s formal launch in Nairobi, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said it “recognizes that solutions, which shift away from refugee dependency on humanitarian aid towards greater self-reliance, are possible.” Ruto described Shirika as “our bold, homegrown solution” that would be centered on human rights. The plan will be implemented through 2036 and is expected to cost about $943 million. Funding will come from the World Bank, UNHCR and private institutions, and the Kenyan government is due to allocate resources in its budget in June. However, the plan has faced opposition from some community leaders. Daniel Epuyo, a member of parliament for the Turkana West constituency where Kakuma is situated, said community leaders were not adequately consulted. The leaders are calling for repatriation instead of integration. Anti-LGBTQ sentiment Activists fear the Shirika Plan could worsen anti-LGBTQ sentiment in Kenya and other parts of Africa that has increased in recent years. Kenya was once considered a haven for LGBTQ refugees, and the U.N. said 1,000 Ugandans sheltered here in 2021 — a figure that has likely grown since neighboring Uganda passed a law in 2023 that includes the death penalty for “aggravated homosexuality.” Kenya has statutes criminalizing same-sex relations, though they are rarely enforced. Yet cases of homophobic abuse and discrimination occur, and activists fear LGBTQ people, including refugees, are being politically targeted. Last year, Burugu said being persecuted as an LGBTQ person is not grounds for protection in Kenya. Homophobic attacks in the camps, particularly Kakuma, mean the government must take precautions under the Shirika Plan, said Craig Paris, executive director of the Refugee Coalition of East Africa. “If it is happening in controlled and secured camps, it might as well get worse in open communities unless the government takes deliberate steps to address it,” Paris said. Kamya Chrisestom, a refugee in Kakuma who was attacked, said refugees were worried about their safety. “Will my security as a transgender be assured when we mix with the host community?” she asked. LGBTQ groups had petitioned donor agencies to pressure the Kenyan government to incorporate gay rights into the Shirika Plan, said Ibrahim Kazibwe, founder of the Community Empowerment and Self-Support Organization. “President Ruto said that the implementation of the plan will be centered on human rights, and we hope that those rights will as well include LGBTQ rights,” Kazibwe said. The UNHCR has worked closely with the government to ensure that “no group is left behind,” said Njoki Mwangi, a spokesperson for the agency in Nairobi. “Key among the guiding principles was inclusivity and non-discrimination on the bases of race, ethnicity, religion, nationality, gender or any other grounds,” Mwangi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. But many gay refugees point to years-long delays in the government’s processing of their asylum bids as a major obstacle to securing their rights. Constance, 32, lives in the town of Limuru northwest of Nairobi with 15 other Ugandans, who are all waiting for a decision on their asylum applications. He does not know why his bid has not been approved since he first applied eight years ago, and the delay has worn him down. “I underwent the last vetting process in 2023, but I am yet to receive feedback,” he said. “I lost hope along the way.”

SRINAGAR, India — After trekking through streams and forests in Indian-administered Kashmir, Sheetal Kalthia and her vacationing family had just arrived in a remote, picturesque meadow when they heard gunshots. Kalthia, who was with her husband and their two children, said they “sensed that something was wrong and ran to hide behind the tent, but they suddenly were standing in front of us.” Militants armed with rifles had descended on tourists in the meadow from the surrounding woods, identifying non-Muslims and then separating the men from the women and children. One of the militants “shot six to seven men in front of me,” Kalthia said, before shooting her husband, Shailesh. “My husband died in my lap, and I couldn’t do anything about it,” she told reporters Thursday at his funeral in their hometown of Surat in the Indian state of Gujarat. Twenty-six people were killed in the Tuesday attack, which took place in one of Kashmir’s top tourist destinations, the Baisaran Valley, whose lush green meadows, dense pine forests and snowcapped mountains have led it to be called India’s “mini Switzerland.” It was the deadliest attack on Indian civilians in almost two decades, and took place while Vice President JD Vance and his family were visiting another part of India. All but one of those killed were Indian nationals; the other was from Nepal. The attack near the town of Pahalgam in Kashmir, a disputed Himalayan region that is the only Muslim-majority part of India, has devastated the local tourism industry on which many rely for their livelihood. It also undermined Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s insistence that the security situation had stabilized after a decadeslong separatist insurgency. New Delhi has responded with fury, immediately downgrading ties with neighboring Pakistan, which it has long accused of supporting cross-border terrorism. Indian officials say the gunmen had ties to militant groups based in Pakistan, which denies any involvement. Relations between the two nuclear powers, which both rule parts of Kashmir and have fought two wars over the region, are now at their lowest point in years after tit-for-tat treaty suspensions and the expulsion of diplomats and civilians. On Saturday, Indian and Pakistani troops exchanged gunfire for the second day in a row along the Line of Control that divides the two parts of Kashmir. Modi, a Hindu nationalist who has overseen a crackdown on dissent in Kashmir, vowed retribution for the attack. The family homes of several suspects have been demolished. “I say to the whole world, India will identify, track and punish every terrorist and their backers,” he said Thursday. President Donald Trump, who is close with Modi, said the Indian leader has his “full support.” For Indians watching Modi’s speech, it was an echo of 2019 when a convoy of Indian security forces was blown up in Kashmir and he responded by launching aerial strikes on Pakistan. Six years later, Indian nationalism is higher than ever, the Pakistan military’s grip on power has weakened, and the U.S. is no longer in Afghanistan, which analysts say historically deterred violence between India and Pakistan. “That perhaps gives India a bit of a blank check to do whatever it pleases,” said Chietigj Bajpaee, a senior research fellow for South Asia at Chatham House, a London-based think tank. A region simmering with rage Resentment between India and Pakistan dates to 1947, when Hindu-majority India gained independence from British colonial rule and Muslim-majority Pakistan was established as a separate state in a deadly partition in which at least an estimated million people were killed while migrating across the newly formed border. The border lines were clearly defined and accepted except for the mountainous state of Jammu and Kashmir, which is among the most militarized places in the world. Both Pakistan and India lay full claim to it, but most of it is Indian-administered, while Pakistan controls a small chunk to the west. Tensions have escalated since Modi revoked Kashmir’s semiautonomous status in 2019, effectively putting the region under direct control of the federal government in a move that was criticized by rights groups and raised fears that Kashmir’s ethnic and religious identity would be diluted by Hindu settlers. Modi’s government said the move ended decades of armed rebellion in the region. Elections were held last year and hailed as a sign of normalcy. “One indicator of normalcy that the government was always giving out was, look, there are so many tourists visiting,” said Lt. Gen. Deependra Singh Hooda, former head of the Indian Army’s Northern Command, who was stationed in Jammu and Kashmir from 2012 to 2016. Praveen Donthi, a New Delhi-based senior analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the attack was a “colossal intelligence failure.” Modi’s narrative of peace and stability “led to complacency, which is why they did not see this coming,” he said. 'Bodies lying on the ground' Pallavi Rao and her husband, Manjunath, had taken their son to Kashmir to celebrate his near-perfect score on his high school diploma exams. They had enjoyed a boat ride on the popular Dal lake in Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar before heading to Pahalgam about 30 miles away. The militants found them in the meadow. After her husband was shot in the head, Rao told reporters, she and her son asked the militants to kill them too. They refused, saying, “We won’t kill you. Go tell Prime Minister Modi.” A local pony handler, Syed Adil Hussain Shah, was also killed while trying to save the tourists. “He used to earn 300 rupees [$3.50] in a day, our only source of income in the family,” Ravisa Hussain Shah, his younger sister, told NBC News in an interview at their home in the village of Hapatnur. Among the first to reach the scene was Sajad Ahmad Bhat, 31, a shawl seller and tour guide. “I saw bodies lying on the ground,” he said. Bhat carried one of the victims almost 2.5 miles to safety, video of which went viral online. “I don’t know who the boy was. But he was crying and seeking help. His hands and sweater were soaked in blood,” he said. Since the attack, India has suspended a 1960 water treaty with Pakistan and closed the only functional land border crossing. Pakistan, which said any disruption to its water supply would be considered an “act of war,” has closed its airspace to Indian airlines and halted all trade with its neighbor. Analysts inside Pakistan say the government may use the situation to bring the Kashmir issue back into global discussions. “Pakistan can say, look, this happens because of India’s human rights violations in Kashmir,” said Farhan Siddiqi, a professor of international relations at Quaid-i-Azam University in Islamabad. On Wednesday, Kashmir observed a complete shutdown as locals and politicians marched through the streets denouncing the killings. Roads throughout Kashmir were deserted, with shops closed and no transport on the roads. “We wanted to exhibit that Kashmiris are nonviolent and peaceful people, and any innocent killings shouldn’t take place on our soil,” said Javed Ahmad Tenga, president of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The United Nations has urged India and Pakistan to “exercise maximum restraint” and called for “meaningful, mutual engagement.” But Donthi and others say strong Indian military action against Pakistan is likely. “Anything less than the airstrikes in 2019 will not do. The public is seeking something much bigger,” Donthi said. “After riding the tiger of hypernationalism, the government has backed itself into a corner. This is their litmus test and they have to come out with flying colors.” Junaid Kathju reported from Srinagar, India, and Mithil Aggarwal reported from Hong Kong.

Russia acknowledged for the first time that North Korean troops were on the front lines of its war with Ukraine, with a senior military official crediting their role in helping Russian forces reclaim control of the Kursk region. “I would like to separately note the participation ... of military personnel of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” Valery Gerasimov, the Russian chief of general staff, told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a report Saturday. Gerasimov added that under a “comprehensive, strategic partnership” between the two countries, North Korean soldiers had provided “significant assistance” to Russia’s army in defeating Ukrainian forces. Putin congratulated his military in a statement from the Kremlin on Saturday, adding that “the full defeat of the enemy in the Kursk border region creates conditions for further successful actions by our forces on other important parts of the front.” South Korean media reported this year that more than 11,000 North Korean troops were fighting in the western Russian region of Kursk, reports that neither Moscow nor Pyongyang had confirmed until now. In March, South Korean officials reported that between January and February, North Korea had sent an additional 3,000 troops to Russia after around 4,000 of them were “believed to have been killed or injured” due to inexperience in drone warfare. Shortly after the Trump administration temporarily suspended military and intelligence assistance to Kyiv in March, Russian forces intensified their attacks on Ukrainian troops in the territory. Ukraine has not yet responded to Putin’s claim, but losing control of the western Russian region would be a significant blow for Kyiv, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has viewed as valuable leverage in any future peace talks.

North Korea confirmed for the first time Monday that its troops were fighting alongside Russia in its war against Ukraine, saying they helped Moscow take back control of its Ukraine-controlled Kursk region. American, South Korean and Ukrainian officials have said North Korea sent as many as 12,000 troops to Russia in the fall to fight in Kursk, which Ukrainian forces seized in a surprise incursion in August. North Korea had not confirmed or denied those reports until now. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ordered the troops’ deployment under a mutual defense pact that he and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed in June 2024, North Korea’s Central Military Commission said in a statement that was carried by state-run news agency KCNA. The treaty includes a pledge of mutual defense if either country is attacked. The statement said the operation to regain control of Kursk had been “victoriously concluded” and that it was “an honor to have an alliance with such a powerful state as the Russian Federation.” “They who fought for justice are all heroes and representatives of the honor of the motherland,” Kim was quoted as saying. The North Korean report came two days after Russia said it had recaptured Kursk with the help of North Korean soldiers, which was also its first confirmation of their presence in the conflict. Ukraine denied that Kursk had been retaken, saying its defensive operations are continuing in some areas. In a statement Monday, Putin said North Korea “acted on a sense of solidarity, justice and genuine comradeship.” “We highly appreciate this and are sincerely grateful personally” to Kim, his leadership team and the people of North Korea, Putin said. If Russia is confirmed to have retaken Kursk, it would be a blow to Ukraine amid U.S.-led efforts to negotiate an end to the war, which is now in its fourth year. On Saturday, President Donald Trump questioned whether Putin — who last week launched one of the worst attacks on Ukraine’s major cities since the war began — was willing to end the war. In exchange for providing Russia with reinforcements, North Korea gains valuable experience for its military, which has not been deployed overseas since the Vietnam War. While North Korean soldiers are fiercely loyal to Kim, experts say their limited exposure to modern warfare leaves them vulnerable on the battlefield, especially against drones. About 4,000 of the North Korean soldiers have been killed or injured, according to South Korean officials. They said last month that North Korea had sent an additional 3,000 troops to aid Russia’s war effort since the start of this year. The North Korean statement did not say how many of its troops were sent to Russia in total or how many casualties there have been. Kim said a monument to their “battle feats” would be erected in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang, and that flowers would be placed “before the tombstones of the fallen soldiers.” He also said measures should be taken to “preferentially treat and take care of the families of the brave soldiers who participated in the war.” The South Korean National Defense Ministry denounced the North Korean troop deployment and said that by officially announcing it, the North had “effectively admitted to its criminal behavior.” “Our military strongly urges North Korea to immediately cease its deceitful and inhumane actions that threaten international peace and force the sacrifice of its residents through illegal military dispatches,” the ministry said Monday. The deployment of troops to Russia is just part of Kim’s efforts to expand the capabilities of his nuclear-armed military. On Friday, he unveiled a new naval destroyer at a ceremony at a military shipbuilding dock in the port of Nampo, KCNA reported Saturday, saying the 5,000-ton warship would enter service early next year. The warship was built “within 400-odd days perfectly with our own strength and technology” and is equipped with the “most powerful weapons,” the report quoted a secretary in Kim’s party as saying.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin announced a temporary ceasefire Monday hours after President Donald Trump said he believed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was prepared to give up his claim to the Crimean Peninsula as part of a longer-term truce deal. The Kremlin said in a note to the media that the ceasefire would begin at midnight local time May 8 and end at midnight May 11, coinciding with the 80th anniversary of “Victory Day,” when Russia celebrates its victory over the Nazis. The note added that all military action would be suspended during this period, adding that "the Ukrainian side should follow this example." It said any actions in defiance of a ceasefire would be met with a response. Ukrainian Foreign Affairs Minister Andrii Sybiha responded to the announcement by calling on Russia to “cease fire immediately” if it “truly wants peace.” “Why wait until May 8th?” Sybiha asked in a post on X on Monday. It comes after Trump suggested Zelenskyy may be willing to give up Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014. Asked if he thought Zelenskyy was ready to cede the peninsula, Trump replied, “I think so.” If Ukraine's leader were to agree to such a measure, it would mark a major shift in Ukraine’s stance on giving up land for peace. In what looks to be a potentially pivotal week for efforts to bring at least a pause to fighting in Ukraine, upbeat comments from the Trump administration and Zelenskyy over the weekend were followed by Putin's spokesperson Monday, who said that the Kremlin was ready to begin peace negotiations with Washington and Kyiv. Setting out Russia’s conditions for peace, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov separately said Monday that international recognition of the “Russian affiliation of Crimea,” and the four other Ukrainian regions in which Russia has annexed territory was “imperative” to any deal. That recognition must be legally codified and “indefinite” Lavrov said, adding that the demilitarization of Ukraine and the lifting of sanctions against Russia and the return of Russian assets frozen by the West would also be key. Trump met with Zelenskyy in Vatican City on the fringes of Pope Francis’ funeral Saturday. Speaking to journalists Sunday as he boarded Air Force One in New Jersey, the president said he believed a ceasefire deal could be on the horizon as he urged Putin to “stop shooting, sit down and sign a deal.” “We have the confines of a deal, I believe, and I want him to sign it and be done with it and and just go back to life,” Trump added. Asked separately by a reporter how the meeting went, Zelenskyy described it as “really productive,” but declined to elaborate. Noting that he also met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, Zelenskyy added that he wanted to “continue such meetings to bring peace to Ukraine.” Trump said his Ukrainian counterpart had appeared “calmer” during the meeting in what was likely a reference to the public clash between them during the Ukrainian president’s White House visit in February. Zelenskyy has long maintained that Ukraine cannot relinquish its claim to Crimea. He did not immediately appear to respond to Trump’s remarks, but any acquiescence would mark a significant change in his stance. He has come under increasing pressure to do so. On Friday, one of Ukraine’s most prominent politicians, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, conceded that his country may have to give up territory to Russia if it wants to achieve a peace deal. While the Trump administration has been accused of being more lenient toward the Kremlin during ceasefire discussions, the president’s tone following Saturday’s meeting added to comments he made last week that he was “very disappointed that missiles were flying, by Russia,” and suggest a shift in his view of the war. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov acknowledged Trump’s comments in a briefing Monday, but said Russia’s “special operation continues” as he maintained that Moscow was prepared to begin the negotiation process with Ukraine and Washington. Even so, Ukrainian officials reported continued shelling overnight, including in the Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions, as well as in Kherson city. North Korea separately confirmed for the first time Monday that its troops were fighting alongside Russian forces in Ukraine. Peskov also claimed Monday that Russia has recaptured Kursk with the help of those soldiers from Pyongyang and in doing so also marked the first Russian acknowledgment of their involvement in the war. Ukraine denied Kursk has been retaken. If Kursk is confirmed to have changed hands, Ukrainian will have lost a bargaining chip in ceasefire talks. Appearing on NBC News’ “Meet the Press" on Sunday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were “reasons to be optimistic” about a deal, but cautioned: “We’re close, but we’re not close enough.”

China says six Filipinos landed on a tiny outcropping that both countries claim in the South China Sea, days after photos emerged of Chinese coast guard officers displaying a Chinese flag on the same group of sandbars. The back and forth over Sandy Cay is the latest flare-up in a long-running dispute between the two countries over territory in the South China Sea, which China claims almost in its entirety. A Chinese coast guard statement described the Philippine landing on Sunday as “illegal” and said that Chinese officers had gone ashore “to conduct on-site verification and enforcement measures.” It didn’t specify what those steps entailed. A Philippine statement said that a joint coast guard, navy and maritime police team on rubber dinghies had landed on the three sandbars that make up Sandy Cay, known as Tiexian Reef in Chinese. Commodore Jay Tarriela, a Philippine coast guard spokesperson, posted the statement on X with a video and photos, including one showing personnel displaying a Philippine flag on one of the sandbars. “This operation reflects the unwavering dedication and commitment of the Philippine Government to uphold the country’s sovereignty, sovereign rights and jurisdiction in the West Philippine Sea,” the statement said. The move came three days after the Global Times, a Chinese state-owned newspaper, published photos of Chinese coast guard officers on Tiexian Reef in mid-April holding up a Chinese flag and cleaning up plastic bottles and other debris. The Chinese coast guard statement on the subsequent Philippine landing said that China holds “indisputable sovereignty” over the Spratly islands, including Tiexian Reef and the surrounding waters.