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JI to form Kashmir peace jirga to facilitate dialogue between govt, JAAC

Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) on Sunday decided to establish a “grand” Kashmir peace jirga to facilitate dialogue between the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) government and the banned Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) in an effort to restore stability and normalcy in the region. The decision was taken at a meeting of the party’s central Majlis-i-Shura chaired by JI Emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman at Mansoorah, Lahore. According to a press release, the jirga will engage both the government and the JAAC, with the restoration of peace and the resolution of issues in AJK identified as its top priorities. To oversee the initiative, Rehman constituted a committee headed by JI Deputy Emir Liaqat Baloch. The committee included JI AJK Emir Dr Muhammad Mushtaq Khan and the party’s former regional chiefs Abdul Rashid Turabi and Dr Khalid Mahmood. The JI chief also indicated that the committee would be expanded to include former civil bureaucrats, retired judges, ex-military officials and members of civil soc...
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'Shameful': Proposed bill allowing blue passports for ex-legislators’ kids comes under scrutiny on social media

Politicians, journalists and experts have taken to social media to criticise Friday’s approval by a Senate panel of a bill allowing blue passports for ex-legislators’ children under the age of 28. If it becomes law, the legislation would bring ex-members of parliament in line with the existing entitlement available to dependent children of retired Grade-22 government officers. State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudhry denied that he supported the bill, saying he opposed it when it was introduced in the Senate. He further asserted that he had told the Senate Standing Committee on Interior and Narcotics Control, which passed the legislation, that the matter should first be discussed with the federal cabinet and relevant stakeholders. “Despite my reservations, the Senate & Standing Committee on Interior proceeded with its decision to pass the bill,” he said. Senior PML-N leader Khawaja Saad Rafique condemned the bill, comparing i...
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Iraqi prime minister to visit Washington on Monday; oil and gas deals expected

Iraq’s Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi will visit Washington on Monday to deepen strategic ties with the United States, with oil and gas deals expected to be signed as part of a broader push for economic, trade and investment cooperation. Iraq has been seeking to balance its ties with neighbouring Iran and the US as military escalation between the two rivals continues. “The agreements to be signed will include several memorandums of understanding in the oil and gas sector as Iraq prepares to bring in various US companies that will provide momentum to increase oil production capacity,” government spokesperson Haider al-Aboudi said. Iraq’s state news agency, citing al-Aboudi, said the planned oil and gas agreements would also seek to create alternative export outlets to reduce Iraq’s exposure to disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz . Iraq, like other Gulf oil producers, has suffered a drop in oil revenue due to the effective closure of the vital shipping route during the US-Iran war. Al-...
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India's batting under the microscope after T20 defeats by England, Ireland

Pundits and former players highlighted India’s struggles with the bat on Saturday after the Twenty20 World Cup champions suffered back-to-back series defeats by England and Ireland. England beat India by 56 runs in the fifth and final T20I at Southampton, the hosts sealing a 4-0 series win after the opener ended in a no result due to rain. That series defeat came after Ireland had completed a 2-0 T20 whitewash last month. Player-turned-commentator Dinesh Karthik said India’s batting unit had looked out of rhythm throughout the tour. “I think India have a problem adapting to a little bit of extra bounce,” he told cricket news site Cricbuzz . “The middle order looks wobbly, not confident, and it is definitely not the Indian team that we saw during the World Cup or before it in bilateral series, where they took down opponents and actually imposed a lot of fear. Where has that gone?” India captain Shreyas Iyer said their failure to adapt to different conditions had cost them in the...
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African results justify World Cup slots increase amid criticism

When four-time World Cup winners Italy failed to qualify for the 2026 tournament, then head coach Gennaro Gattuso lamented that Africa had so many places at the global showcase. “Africa deserves fewer World Cup slots,” he said, referring to the number of automatic qualifying places allocated to that continent rising from five to nine in an expanded 48-nation event. It became 10 when the Democratic Republic of Congo won an inter-continental play-off and returned to the World Cup after 52 years. Was Gattuso, a midfielder in the Italian 2006 World Cup-winning team, correct? Was Africa over-represented in the United States, Canada and Mexico? Apart from a disastrous showing by Tunisia, who axed coach Sabri Lamouchi after their first group game and lost all three matches, African flag-bearers proved competitive, justifying their presence. The other nine representatives reached the knockout stage, five as group runners-up. The other four were among the eight best third-placed teams. ...
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Scare Force One? Security questions swirl over Trump's new plane

US President Donald Trump faced questions about the security of his new Air Force One plane gifted by Qatar, after he took an older jet home from a NATO summit this week. The billionaire president has been unable to contain his excitement over the retrofitted Boeing 747-8 aircraft, which took him to Ankara on its maiden trip outside the United States. Trump then abruptly announced in Turkey that he would send the aircraft ahead to a British airbase saying the decision was made to allow US troops to tour the luxury plane. The New York Times reported on Friday that the new plane lacked the same security countermeasures boasted by the older jet, including anti-missile defenses. US media also reported that the Secret Service had advised the switch. Speculation was fueled by the fact that US hostilities had flared again with Iran, which borders Turkey, and because journalists on the old plane out of Ankara were also told to keep their window blinds down, a step normally reserved ...
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US Democrat Ro Khanna detained by Israeli settlers during West Bank visit

US Democratic lawmaker Ro Khanna said he was detained by Israeli settlers armed with US-made rifles during a West Bank visit this week that he cast as an unfiltered look at the human toll of Israeli occupation as he weighs a 2028 presidential run. Speaking with Reuters on Thursday in a Palestinian village, Khanna said his group’s van was surrounded by settlers wielding M4 rifles a day earlier while touring a part of the southern West Bank, where residents face frequent settler attacks. “We were at a village that Israeli settlers had destroyed, they had destroyed the school, they had destroyed that village, and we were just looking at it,” said Khanna, a progressive lawmaker from California in the US House of Representatives. “And these hoodlums come in with machine guns, M4, an American-made machine gun, and they detain us. They block off the road. And then they call the IDF, and the IDF is on their side, not on the side of the Americans,” Khanna said, referring to the Israeli mili...
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