WORLD

 ISLAMABAD, 1 November, 2026 (Ghufran): Thousands of people took to the streets of New Delhi on Sunday as opposition parties staged a major protest demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over controversial revisions to voter lists. The demonstration, led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and other leaders of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, began with a march towards the historic Ramlila Maidan under heightened security arrangements. Protesters alleged that the voter-list revision was designed to benefit Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while opposition leaders called for accountability and transparency in the electoral process. Several demonstrators claimed that eligible voters, includ...

 GAZA, 31 October, 2026 (Kamran Raja): At least two Palestinians have been killed in Israeli military operations across the Gaza Strip despite an ongoing ceasefire, according to medical sources. One Palestinian was killed in an Israeli drone strike near the Nuseirat refugee camp, while another died from injuries sustained in an earlier attack targeting a vehicle in Gaza City's Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood. The victim killed near Nuseirat was identified as Zia Abu al-Rous. Eyewitnesses said an Israeli drone struck an area near the headquarters of the electricity company. The second victim, Arafat al-Ar'eer, had been critically wounded in the vehicle attack several days earlier, and his death was confirmed at Al-Shifa Hospital. Meanwhile, local sources reported continued Israeli milita...

 TEHRAN, 31 October, 2026 (Nosheen): Iran’s Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has directed senior military commanders to respond immediately to any threat from the enemy, stressing that geographical boundaries should not restrict their response. According to Iranian state broadcaster Press TV, Khamenei issued strategic directives to senior armed forces commanders, calling for all material and non-material assets linked to the hostile intentions of the United States and Israel to remain within Iran’s reach. He warned that if adversaries resume military or terrorist attacks against Iran, the country’s armed forces and people would determine the timing and terms of the war’s conclusion. Khamenei emphasized that intelligent and effective military preparedness was essential to confrontin...

 ATLANTA, 31 October, 2026 (Ghufran): US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud in Atlanta on Friday to discuss bilateral cooperation and key regional developments, while also signing an agreement formalising American participation in Expo 2030, which Saudi Arabia will host in Riyadh. According to a US State Department statement, the two officials exchanged views on cooperation over several regional issues, including the latest developments in Iran, Sudan and Yemen. During the meeting, Rubio signed a participation contract that will enable the United States to showcase its technological innovation, promote business opportunities for American companies and strengthen its partnership with Saudi Arabia at the international exhibitio...

YEREVAN, 31 October, 2026 (Kamran Raja): Nearly 200 countries have reached hard-fought agreements at the United Nations biodiversity summit in Armenia, pledging renewed efforts to put global nature protection targets back on track, although the outcome has drawn criticism over limited progress on key environmental challenges. Delegates at the COP17 summit in Yerevan approved two major texts after prolonged negotiations that extended into Saturday morning, seeking to revive the landmark commitment to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by 2030. The global framework aims to protect 30 percent of the Earth's land and oceans, tackle pollution and invasive species, and increase financial support for conservation. However, the United Nations has warned that existing efforts remain insufficient to...

 ANKARA, 31 October, 2026 (Nosheen): Türkiye has nominated veteran diplomat Feridun Hadi Sinirlioglu, the current Secretary-General of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), as its candidate for the next United Nations Secretary-General, a diplomatic source confirmed on Saturday. The nomination follows a deadlock in the selection process after the latest informal straw poll at the UN Security Council (UNSC) on Friday failed to produce a conclusive result. According to the Turkish diplomatic source, a nomination letter dated October 30 and signed by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was submitted to the presidents of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council. In the letter, Erdogan said the nomination reflected Türkiye’s commitment to effective multilat...

 Washington, October 30, 2026 (Nosheen): The United States is planning to restrict Chinese telecommunications companies from directly accessing US phone numbers, citing national security concerns and the need to prevent illegal robocalls and potential cyber threats. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced on Thursday that it will vote on November 19 on a proposal that could block China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom and other internet-based service providers from obtaining direct access to US phone numbers. The move targets services that use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, which converts voice communications into digital data and transmits them over broadband networks. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the proposal would strengthen the country's fir...

Washington, 30 October, 2026 (Ghufran): US President Donald Trump has expressed confidence that the war with Iran could come to an end soon, while stressing that any resolution must include guarantees that Tehran will never acquire nuclear weapons. Speaking in an interview with Kansas City radio station KCMO on Friday, ahead of the November 3 congressional midterm elections, Trump said, “It’s going to get wrapped up soon,” but offered no details about how the conflict would end. He reiterated that preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons remained a key US objective and said Washington needed firm assurances on the issue. Trump has previously indicated that the United States would not launch an attack on Iran before the elections. Meanwhile, Qatari mediators returned to Tehran on Fri...

 Beijing, 30 October, 2026 (Ghufran): Chinese President Xi Jinping has called on Germany and the European Union to pursue stronger cooperation with Beijing, urging Berlin to maintain a rational, pragmatic and friendly approach towards China. Xi made the remarks during a meeting with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Beijing on Friday, expressing hope that the European Union would work with China in the same direction. He said China had consistently regarded the EU as a partner and developed relations with the bloc in a spirit of sincerity and goodwill. The Chinese president emphasised that cooperation outweighed competition and shared interests were more significant than differences in China-EU relations. He further stated that as long as both sides maintained their part...

Islamabad, 30 October, 2026 (Kamran Raja): Dockworkers in 22 countries are set to stage a coordinated strike on Friday to protest against wars and the use of ports for arms shipments, with organisers warning that the action could disrupt more than 40 percent of Mediterranean cargo operations and affect freight worth over $2 billion. The protest, initially called by dockworkers’ unions in Italy, France, Greece, Spain’s Basque Country, Turkey and Morocco, has gained support from more than 25 labour unions across 113 ports. Major shipping centres expected to be affected include Hamburg, Valencia, Le Havre, Algeciras, Piraeus and Genoa, along with Morocco’s Tangier Med and India’s Nhava Sheva. However, the scale of participation and the extent of disruption remain uncertain. While Genoa port a...