
US Plans at Restructuring May Include World Bank, IMF & UN Agencies
The US State Department, in a wide-ranging political re-structuring of its policies, will eliminate 132 domestic offices, lay-off about 700 federal workers and reduce diplomatic missions overseas.
The proposed changes will also include terminating some of the funding for the United Nations and its agencies, budgetary cuts to the 32-member military alliance, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and revamping 20 other international organizations, including the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

‘Noboa Did Not Receive a Blank Cheque: He Will Have to Show Tangible Results’
CIVICUS discusses Ecuador’s presidential election with Jorge Tapia de los Reyes, Coordinator of the Democracy and Politics Department and the Political Funding Observatory of the Citizenship and Development Foundation (FCD). FCD is an Ecuadorian civil society organisation that promotes participation, citizen monitoring and open government.

Kashmir Reels After Pahalgam Attack, Fear Long Term Impacts on Livelihoods
Abdul Majeed Mir strolls leisurely among the purple crocus flower rows in Pampore’s saffron fields as the morning mist hovers low over them. His family has been growing this valuable spice, called “red gold,” for many generations, but now his hands go through the harvest mechanically. There is a noticeable lack of the typical commotion of tourists haggling over saffron packets.