JERUSALEM: A ban on Al Jazeera‘s operations in Israel was extended for another 45 days by Israel’s telecoms regulator on Sunday after the cabinet agreed its broadcasts posed a threat to security. A Tel Aviv court last week upheld an initial 35-day ban on Al Jazeera operations in Israel, imposed by the government on national security grounds, which ended on Saturday. In a separate ruling …

PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced he was dissolving parliament and called snap legislative elections after the far-right trounced his centrist alliance in EU polls. The first round of elections for the lower house National Assembly will take place on June 30, with the second round on July 7, Macron announced in an address to the nation. The …

SRINAGAR: At least nine people were killed and 33 injured when a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims plunged into a deep gorge after a suspected attack in the held territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday, police said. News of the attack came as Narendra Modi took oath as prime minister for a record-equalling third term and drew criticism from the main opposition …

SEOUL: South Korea resumed loudspeaker broadcasts directed at North Korea on Sunday, its military said, following through on a warning demanding Pyongyang stop sending balloons carrying trash into the South. The decision to resume the broadcasts, as a form of psychological warfare, was made after North Korea began launching on Satu­rday about 330 balloons with trash attached, with about 80 of them …

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration is close to finalising a treaty with Saudi Arabia that would commit the US to help defend the Gulf nation as part of a deal aimed at encouraging diplomatic ties between Riyadh and Israel, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing US and Saudi officials. The possible deal, widely telegraphed by US and other officials for weeks, is part of …

NEW DELHI: India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi was sworn in on Sunday for a third term after worse-than-expected election results left him reliant on coalition partners to govern. His office said he would appoint a 71-member cabinet, including 11 National Democratic Alliance (NDA) ally ministers. Modi’s Hindu-natio­nalist BJP ruled outright for the past decade but failed to repeat its previous two landslide …

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday offered a brief congratulations to his counterpart Narendra Modi on his re-election in rival India, almost a week after the results came in. “Felicitations to Narendra Modi on taking oath as the prime minister of India,” he posted on X, in the first official comments from Pakistan. Modi was sworn in on Sunday at a ceremony attended by …

ISLAMABAD: In an apparent jibe at PTI, PML-N President Nawaz Sharif on Sunday called street protests “futile” as parliament was the real forum for strengthening, protecting, and ensuring constitutional supremacy. Mr Sharif made the remarks during a meeting with Senate Deputy Chairman Syedaal Khan Nasar, who called on him in Murree. According to a party spokesman, Mr Sharif congratulated the …

GILGIT: An all parties’ conference (APC) has demanded the determination of the constitutional status of Gilgit-Baltistan, holding of the long-delayed local government elections and a share for the region in the NFC award. The conference to make a consensus on constitutional rights was convened by the PPP in Skardu on Saturday. PML-N chapter president and farmer chief minister Hafeezur Rehman, PPP president …

ISLAMABAD: A failure of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to install sewage treatment plants for Rawal Dam has resulted in round-the-clock contamination of the reservoir with untreated sewage and solid waste making its way to the lake via streams, particularly Korang Nullah, in the catchment area. The Rs6 billion project was planned a couple of years ago under the Public Sector …