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US Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken with both Lebanese President Joseph Aoun and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the diplomatic negotiations between Israel and Lebanon, a US official said on Sunday. The US has proposed that as a first step Hezbollah will stop all attacks on Israel and in return Israel would refrain from escalation in Beirut, the official said. The US official added that Aoun tried to advance this proposal, but Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri placed the burden on Israel to stop “shooting first.”

DUBAI: The US said it struck Iranian military sites at the weekend and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said on Monday it had targeted a US base in response, the latest in a series of exchanges amid negotiations to end the three-month-old war. The strikes on Iran’s Gulf coast were in response to “aggressive Iranian actions that included the shootdown of a US MQ-1 drone that was operating over international waters,” the US Central Command said in a post on X. “US fighter aircraft swiftly responded by eliminating Iranian air defences, a ground control station, and two one-way attack drones that posed…

Selling pressure was observed at the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX), with the benchmark KSE-100 Index shedding over 800 points on Monday. At 9:50am, the benchmark index was hovering at 173,152.71, down by 810.10 points or 0.47%. “The KSE-100 is under intense pressure this morning,” said Behtari Capital. “Investors are treading cautiously ahead of the federal budget, i.e. June 5, and lingering uncertainty in the Gulf,” it added. Investor sentiment is dampened by reports that the government is struggling to balance IMF demands with populist political measures, said the report. “While there is talk of relief for the salaried class (earning…

LONDON: British foreign minister Yvette Cooper will travel to China on ‌Monday, and then onwards to India later in the week, with the visits to focus on global issues from the Strait of Hormuz and the Russia-Ukraine war to the recent Ebola outbreak. Cooper ​will meet her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi and Chinese Vice President Han Zheng ​on June 2, before travelling to the southern tech hub of Shenzhen ⁠for a programme focussed on science and technology a day later, the government ​said. The plans, announced on Sunday, come after Reuters reported last month on the visit, citing three ​sources.…

CAIRO: An Israeli airstrike killed at least two Palestinians and wounded 12 ​on Sunday at a Gaza cafe ‌that was packed with people celebrating public holidays, health officials said. There was no immediate Israeli ​comment. An October ceasefire, brokered by US President ​Donald Trump, has failed to halt Israeli ⁠attacks in Gaza. Israel and Hamas are ​deadlocked in indirect talks over implementing the ​second phase of the deal, which includes the group’s disarmament and Israeli army withdrawals. The ceasefire left Israel ​in control of more than half ​of Gaza, with Hamas controlling a sliver of ‌coastal ⁠territory. The cafe struck…

AHMEDABAD: India veteran Virat Kohli produced an explosive knock as Royal Challengers Bengaluru ​secured a five-wicket win over Gujarat Titans to retain their Indian Premier League title on Sunday. Bengaluru, who ‌ended a 17-season drought by winning their maiden IPL title last year, carried that momentum into this season and chased down 156 with ease in 18 overs. Put into bat, Gujarat never found their footing against Bengaluru’s incisive bowling, losing their in-form openers in the ​powerplay and managing only 155-8 at a packed Narendra Modi Stadium awash in red in support of the ​defending champions. Bengaluru made light work…

ISLAMABAD (DI NEWS) : The Pakistan EPS (Employment Permit System) Center announced that it will officially introduce and operate the tablet-based UBT (Ubiquitous-Based Test) system for the Employment Permit System-Topik (EPS-TOPIK) starting in 2026. This next-generation digital assessment framework will entirely replace the existing Computer-Based Testing (CBT) method, marking a major milestone in modernizing the examination process. The newly adopted UBT system is a sophisticated digital assessment platform designed to administer large-scale examinations through a secure, closed wireless local network without requiring live internet connectivity. The system enables seamless, real-time synchronization between supervisors’ control tablets and examinees’ individual devices, ensuring…

By: Farid Mustafayev The majority of the international community recognizes this territory simply as the “Republic of Armenia.” However, Azerbaijani society, historians, and internally displaced communities assess these lands from a fundamentally different perspective. A significant part of present-day Armenia is considered historically inhabited, governed, and culturally developed by Azerbaijanis over centuries. The term “Western Azerbaijan” is used to describe these territories — geographically referring to the historical Azerbaijani homeland located west of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Azerbaijanis living in these areas were subjected to gradual demographic pressure beginning in 1828, Soviet deportations during 1948–1953, and ethnic violence during 1988–1991,…

By: Farid Mustafayev The 21st century is characterized by rapid urbanization. According to projections by the United Nations, a significant share of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas in the coming decades. This trend not only creates new opportunities for urban development but also brings forward critical challenges such as housing provision, transportation systems, environmental safety, social equality, and the impacts of climate change. In this context, the exchange of international experience in urban planning and sustainable development has become increasingly important. The World Urban Forum (WUF), dedicated to this purpose, is widely regarded as one…

ISLAMABAD (DI NEWS) : “Hearing this news filled my heart with warmth and inspiration!” said Usama Afzal, a PhD student at the School of Microelectronics of Tianjin University. For Afzal, his excitement stemmed not from his impressive academic record—including 28 papers published in reputed international journals—but from the profound encouragement he felt after Chinese President Xi Jinping mentioned the joint letter he co-wrote. The letter, penned by Pakistani students at Tianjin University, expressed their shared aspiration to become builders of cooperation, promoters of exchanges, and guardians of friendship between the two countries. During a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz…