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France blames Hezbollah for soldier’s death in Lebanon

• Hezbollah denies allegation, calls for ‘caution in making judgements’ • Macron urges Beirut to ‘guarantee security’ of UNIFIL peacekeepers PARIS / BEIRUT: A French soldier was killed and three others wounded in an attack on Saturday on UN peacekeepers in Lebanon that appeared to have been carried out by Hezbollah, French President Emmanuel Macron said, an accusation the group has denied. “Everything points to Hezbollah being responsible for this attack,” Macron said on X, urging Lebanese authorities to arrest the perpetrators. Macron urged Lebanon’s leaders to “guarantee the security of UNIFIL soldiers” in calls with the country’s president and prime minister, the Elysee presidential palace in Paris said. Israel and Lebanon agreed to a 10-day ceasefire on Thursday in order to negotiate an end to six weeks of war between Israel and the Iran-backed group Hezbollah. The fighting in Lebanon, one of the fronts in the Middle East war, has seen the United Nations Interim Force i...
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Rawalpindi police deny reports of markets being closed indefinitely

Rawalpindi police on Saturday denied reports regarding the closure of markets across the city until further notice, terming them baseless. A statement posted on the social media platform X quoted City Police Officer (CPO) Syed Khalid Mahmood Hamdani as saying that no directives had been issued by Rawalpindi police regarding the closure of markets. He said that all markets and businesses were open as usual till 8pm as per the government’s policy . He added that effective security arrangements were being ensured in view of the “movement of foreign delegations”. He said police teams were actively conducting search, sweep, and combing operations in different parts of the city to maintain law and order. He said police were working day and night to ensure foolproof security at all times. Separately, Rawalpindi Deputy Commissioner Hassan Waqar Cheema also shared visuals regarding reports of hotels and markets being closed until further notice. “This news is fake and not issued by t...
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At least 5 killed after gunman opens fire in Ukrainian capital

Five people were killed in Kyiv on Saturday after a gunman opened fire and took hostages at a supermarket in the Ukrainian capital before being killed during an arrest attempt, officials said. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that at least 10 people were hospitalised with wounds and trauma after the shooting, which took place in a residential district in the city’s south. Footage posted by the UNIAN news agency, which AFP was unable to immediately verify, showed a man carrying a gun and shooting at a person from close range near a block of flats. The suspect then entered a supermarket where gunshots were heard, Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Four hostages from the supermarket “have been rescued”, Zelensky said later on social media. “The attacker in Kyiv who opened fire on civilians has been eliminated,” Zelensky said, offering condolences to the families of the victims. An AFP reporter saw the supermarket — which had blood stains on its shop window — cordoned of...
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FCC upholds ban on book imports from certain countries

• Rules govt can limit trade with India, Israel on security, foreign policy grounds • Declares ‘right to read’ fundamental to life under Constitution; warns curbs on knowledge risk intellectual, societal decline • Notes digital access makes book bans increasingly ineffective ISLAMABAD: The Federal Constitutional Court (FCC) upheld the government decision regarding the ban on imports of books from certain countries based on national security and foreign policy grounds, while simultaneously affirming that a “right to read” is a fundamental right essential for life. In a landmark decision, the court drew a careful line between a citizen’s fundamental right and the government’s broad authority over foreign trade and national security. While the ruling strongly affirmed access to knowledge as a core constitutional liberty, it stopped short of striking down the government’s trade ban, preserving its power to block commerce with nations like India and Israel. Headed by Justice Aamir Far...
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Myanmar cuts ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s sentence, frees former president

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Myanmar has reduced the sentence of imprisoned ex-leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her lawyer told Reuters on Friday, as part of an amnesty by a new president who ousted her government in a coup five years ago. Suu Kyi, 80, was serving a 27-year sentence for a litany of charges her allies said were politically motivated to keep her at bay, ranging from incitement and corruption to election fraud and violating a state secrets law. The sentence has been cut by one-sixth, but it remains unclear whether the Nobel Peace Prize winner will be allowed to serve the rest of her sentence under house arrest, the lawyer said. Suu Kyi, who had dismissed the charges against her as “absurd”, has not been seen in public since the end of her marathon trials, and her whereabouts have been unknown. Earlier, state media reported that President Min Aung Hlaing approved an amnesty for 4,335 prisoners, the third such move in the past six months. Amnesties typically take place in Myanmar each year to mark Indep...
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Govt admits up to seven hours of power outages

• Duration nearly three times more than what was announced earlier • Minister cites LNG import disruption, Middle East crisis as key factors • Shortfall estimated at 3,400MW • Demand spikes from 9,000MW to 20,000MW in days • Nuclear plant maintenance postponed to boost supply ISLAMABAD: Power Minister Awais Leghari on Thursday confirmed six to seven hours of load management — almost three times higher than the government’s public commitment — citing a sudden surge in demand, non-availability of imported gas and lower water discharges for irrigation. Speaking at a news conference, the minister said power shortfalls had been caused by disruptions to LNG imports due to the Middle East crisis and by lower provincial irrigation water requirements, both of which he said were beyond the government’s control. However, he insisted that the government was making every possible effort to minimise both outages and potential tariff increases arising from the use of expensive alternative fue...
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8 killed, 11 injured as gas supply line catches fire in KP’s Haripur

HARIPUR: At least eight people, including children, were killed and 11 others were injured after a Sui Northern Gas supply line located near a factory burst and caught fire in the Hattar Industrial Estate of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Haripur district, officials said. The cause of the fire is yet to be determined. Dr Munawwar Afridi from Haripur district headquarters hospital (DHQ), who is also associated with the rural health centre (RHC) in the Kot Najibullah union council, told Dawn that three of the bodies were brought to the DHQ and five others to the RHC. Haripur Deputy Commissioner (DC) Waseem Ahmed told Dawn it appeared that the deaths were mainly caused by suffocation. He separately told the media that the fire had engulfed three to four nearby houses located within a radius of 200 kilometres of the factory had been affected by the fire. Muhammad Amir, an official of the Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL), told Dawn that the affected pipeline had a diameter of 16 inch...
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