US President Donald Trump has signalled a possible shift towards ending the Iran war, saying there is “positive momentum” towards a deal with Tehran and that further US military strikes are now “quite unlikely.” Speaking to reporters at the White House on Monday after meeting Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, Trump said Iran’s military capabilities had been severely weakened and that the conflict was, from a military standpoint, effectively over. “Iran militarily is effectively over. We’re just keeping it the status quo,” Trump said,…

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France on Monday said Iran’s Revolutionary Guards were behind “unprecedented” cyberattacks on supermarket fridges in the country last month, vowing sanctions on a European level against Tehran. Swathes of French supermarkets were hit in the October 11 and 12 cyberattacks, which raised the temperatures in their refrigerators, in some cases forcing them to throw away entire inventories of perishable food. “I can confirm that this attack was carried out by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said of the cyberattacks.…

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Saudi Arabia’s East-West oil pipeline, essential for bypassing the Strait of Hormuz, was attacked on Monday, but operations were unaffected, official media said, as the kingdom and Yemen’s Houthis trade strikes. The Saudi Press Agency cited an official with the energy ministry as saying the pipeline was targeted in the Medinah region in the west of the country, causing a “limited fire” that was extinguished. “No injuries or fatalities were reported, and pipeline operations were unaffected,” the report said. The report did not say who was responsible, but Yemen’s Houthis…

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Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has shared a video showing a woman slapping a handcuffed man inside a police station after he was arrested for allegedly assaulting her in Faisalabad. In a post on social media platform X, CM Maryam said anyone who dared to lay hands on a helpless woman would have to face the same humiliation. She said a man who assaulted a woman who left her home every day to earn a living should be prepared to face such treatment. The chief minister added that the victim…

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Five children from the same family have died after being struck by a mysterious illness in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Landi Kotal, while two other affected children are being treated at the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) in Peshawar. According to police, the incident occurred in Qaziano Kalay, within the jurisdiction of the Bazar Zakha Khel police station, where seven children from the same family suddenly lost consciousness. The children were being shifted to the Hayatabad Medical Complex for medical treatment when five of them died on the way to the hospital. Police…

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A joint council of Saudi Arabian and Pakistani investors launched a private equity fund on Monday as part of the countries’ wider push to deepen two-way private sector trade and investment. The Saudi-Pakistan Joint Business Council, formed by the governments of both countries, said the fund’s initial size is “multi-hundred million”, which is expected to expand based on opportunities across sectors. Three-fourths of the fund will be invested in Pakistan, while the rest will be invested in Saudi Arabian projects, the council said in a statement. The launch of the…

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Pakistan has strongly condemned the attempted Houthi attack on a Saudi Aramco administrative building in Riyadh, reaffirming its support for Saudi Arabia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Foreign Office said on Monday. In a statement, the Foreign Office said the targeting of civilian facilities demonstrated a reckless disregard for human life and regional security, demanding that the Houthis immediately and unconditionally cease all attacks against Saudi Arabia. “Fortunately, no casualties were reported” in the attempted attack on the Aramco building, the statement said. Islamabad also commended the vigilance and swift…

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An explosion ripped through an iron and steel factory in western Turkey on Monday, killing 10 people and injuring more than a dozen, authorities said. Rescue efforts to find more people trapped under the rubble were ongoing, with no update on how many were still missing at the factory, located near the port city of Izmir. Izmir Governor Suleyman Elban’s office had initially spoken of 10 trapped and six dead. In an update, Elban said 10 workers died in the blast, and another 15 were injured, state news agency Anadolu…

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Ousted Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina requested on Monday a ‌new passport and identity card so she can return from self-imposed exile in India, according to a letter seen by Reuters, her first such communication since fleeing in 2024, but the government swiftly rejected her request. The request marks the clearest step by Hasina to act on her ​plan to return to Bangladesh in December, more than two years after a deadly uprising ended her long rule, ​raising the prospect of fresh political and legal tensions in a country where…

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