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Top officials from ​the Makkah Pact countries Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan are set to meet Iranian ‌officials in Tehran on Monday to discuss regional coordination, two people with knowledge of the matter said. Saudi Arabia will be represented by Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman, and Pakistan by army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, the ​people said on condition of anonymity. The Turkish head of intelligence will also join, one ​of the people said. The Saudi government media office, Pakistan’s military media wing, and ⁠Turkey’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment. The planned talks…

BEIJING: China’s ruling Communist Party ​began its fifth plenum on ‌Monday in Beijing, aiming to deliberate ​major issues about “sustained ​advancement of full and ⁠rigorous party self-governance”, ​state television CCTV ​said. The plenary session, a secretive closed-door convention of ​the highest-ranking officials ​from the party’s Central Committee, ‌runs ⁠until Thursday. Analysts view the plenum as potentially the last major ​party ​gathering ⁠before its 2027 leadership reshuffle, ​offering President ​Xi ⁠Jinping an opportunity to shore up authority ⁠and ​enforce ideological ​uniformity.

China  marked the 81st anniversary of its recovery of Taiwan and observed Taiwan Recovery Day, with commemorative events held across the Taiwan Strait to honor the shared history of resistance against Japanese aggression and reaffirm calls for national reunification. A symposium in Fuzhou, capital of east China’s Fujian Province, brought together about 200 participants, including descendants of Taiwan’s anti-Japanese resistance fighters and revolutionary martyrs, young people from both sides of the strait, representatives from Hong Kong, Macao and overseas communities, and experts and scholars. Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central…

Rescue and relief efforts continue after a magnitude-7 earthquake struck southwest China’s Xizang Autonomous Region, with public health and epidemic prevention work underway in affected areas, according to local authorities. The earthquake, which struck Baqen County in the city of Nagqu at 10:33 p.m. on Thursday, has left 16 people dead and 76 others injured so far. More than 12,000 residents were evacuated after the quake. To prevent public health risks after the quake, disease control teams in Baqen County have carried out comprehensive epidemic prevention work. The work includes infectious disease monitoring of more than 3,600 residents across 35…

The Yeyahu Wetland Nature Reserve in Beijing’s Yanqing District has been added to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Green List of Protected and Conserved Areas, widely recognized as a benchmark for the world’s best protected areas. It marks the first site in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and the first in Beijing to receive this accreditation, adding a new international conservation credential to the capital’s ecological buffer zone. To date, more than 120 protected sites globally have been listed on the IUCN Green List, with 34 sites from China featured on the roster. Located in the northwest of Yanqing,…

China launched a Long March-8A carrier rocket from the southern island province of Hainan on Sunday, sending a batch of internet satellites into space. The rocket lifted off at 10:03 a.m. (Beijing Time) from the Hainan commercial spacecraft launch site. The payloads, the 28th group of low-orbit internet satellites, entered the designated orbit. The satellites were developed by the China Academy of Space Technology. The Long March-8A rocket is designed to meet the launch requirements of constellation networks in medium and low Earth orbits. The launch marked the 674th flight mission of the Long March carrier rocket series.

Pakistan’s new auto policy is expected to introduce significant changes to taxes and levies, including a proposed 1% sales tax on electric vehicles (EVs) valued at up to $75,000 and new charges on petrol-powered vehicles. According to sources, the proposed measures could provide Rs85 billion in sales tax relief for electric vehicles, with an alternative plan intended to generate an equivalent amount in tax revenue. Under the proposal, the sales tax on electric vehicles priced at up to $75,000 could be reduced to 1%. Sources estimate that the measure would provide tax relief worth Rs85 billion. However, the International Monetary…

DUBAI: Iranian President Massoud Pezeshkian, in remarks broadcast on state TV on Saturday, blamed the United States for the failure of an interim deal with Iran, but said there should be a new attempt at concluding it. “We were having negotiations, the cowards (Americans) messed everything up…I still think we should go and conclude it,” Pezeshkian said.

BEIJING: The Chinese commerce ministry urged the United States on Saturday to stop expanding restrictions on American investments in China, saying a proposed rule on sensitive technologies would disrupt trade ties. The US Treasury Department issued proposals on Thursday to update its outbound-investment security programme, adding biotechnology to restricted sectors and expanding coverage of high-performance computing and hypersonic systems. Beijing’s commerce ministry said in a statement that the proposal “discriminatorily” widened China-related investment restrictions and intensified curbs. It firmly opposed the US proposal and reserved the right to take unspecified countermeasures, it added. Beijing also said the proposal would damage…

Swat (DI NEWS) : The University of Swat has decided to launch a shuttle service for students and employees from the Bypass Flyover, Police Lines and Nawan Killi to the university to facilitate commuting and reduce travel expenses. The service will become operational on Monday. According to an official statement, the facility is being introduced by the Directorate of Administration on the special instructions of Vice Chancellor Professor Dr. Husnul Amin. It will provide students and employees with convenient, safe and affordable transportation to and from the university at reduced fares. According to the university administration, the shuttle bus will…