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US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had asked mixed martial arts promoter Dana White to serve ​as White House press secretary and called on him to bring ‌some fighters along as assistants “even though some are not from our country.” White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a “violent Fighter and Warrior,” Trump wrote in a ​Truth Social post. Trump also asked for six current or former UFC titleholders ​to join White, including two athletes from Russia’s Dagestan region, ⁠Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov; Americans Justin…

US forces have disabled a commercial cargo vessel in the Gulf of Oman after its crew allegedly ignored repeated warnings and attempted to violate Washington’s naval blockade against Iran, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday. The St Kitts-flagged vessel, M/V Huda, was struck by precision munitions fired from a US military aircraft, targeting its stern and leaving it unable to continue sailing, CENTCOM said. According to the command, the crew had been instructed to leave the targeted areas before the strike was carried out. The vessel had reportedly…

Israel’s president on Saturday chose Gadi Eisenkot, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s strongest rival, to try to form ​a new government following a deadlocked election that left neither man with a clear path to power. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, is ‌fighting to stay in office after his religious-nationalist coalition lost its majority in an October 27 election but still emerged as the largest bloc in parliament. Eisenkot, a former military chief, has declined to join forces with Arab parties, whose support would give him a majority of seats in parliament. But…

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Saturday said he has not faced a corruption case in his 34-year political career, accusing authorities of attempting to portray him as corrupt and damage his reputation. He said pressure and allegations would not force him to change his political narrative and that he would continue to stand by his position. Addressing a national education conference in Islamabad, Fazlur Rehman said the government had prevented students and teachers from holding gatherings, adding that its actions were creating resentment that could have wider…

Houthi media said on Saturday that Saudi strikes killed 27 people, most of them women and children, in Yemen’s Sanaa province, as deaths mount in the country’s revived civil war. The United Nations says more than 1,600 people have been killed and more than 300,000 displaced since fighting resumed in the impoverished country. The death toll from the Saudi-led coalition’s strikes on Al-Shariya village has risen to 27, most of them women and children, with 36 people wounded, the Houthis’ health ministry said in a statement to their Saba news…

Late in his blitz to salvage Republicans’ midterm fortunes, Vice President JD Vance shifted strategy. He talked less about President Donald Trump and more about the issues that define his own political identity. Vance argued the case ​for Republicans, who lost control of Congress in Tuesday’s vote, almost exclusively through the lens of his policy portfolio, according to a Reuters review of half a dozen speeches since the ‌Republican convention in September. He bypassed Trump’s signature policies, including the Iran war and deportations as polls showed the president’s sagging popularity…

The joint investigation team (JIT) probing the murder of young Karachi businessman Mir Raza Ali held its first meeting on Saturday, reviewing the judicial commission’s report in detail and recording the family’s statements. The 25-year-old’s case has been under investigation since his body was found last July. The meeting was held at the DIG West office under the chairmanship of DIG West Irfan Ali Baloch. Representatives of the ISI, the Intelligence Bureau, Pakistan Rangers and the National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) attended, along with police officers, the victim’s family…

Building on a months-long naval blockade on Iran, the ‌US military said on Saturday it is launching a task force to help crack down on Tehran’s movement of advanced weapons and other sanctioned material over its land borders and through the Caspian Sea. Task Force Iron Gate, which was first reported by Reuters, will be based in Tampa, Florida, ​and will coordinate with other US government agencies. Beyond movement of weapons, it will also focus on halting the ​flow of dual-use technologies used by Iran and stemming what Washington calls…