Pakistan says US-Iran peace text is finalised — even as Washington and Tehran trade contradictions

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan said on Friday that the United States and Iran had reached agreement on a final text for a peace deal to end more than three months of armed conflict — even as the two sides offered sharply conflicting accounts of what that deal actually contained, casting uncertainty over one of the most consequential diplomatic developments of the year.

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Trump calls off Iran strikes, claims deal nearing as conflict edges toward abyss

ISLAMABAD: US President Donald Trump abruptly canceled a planned military assault on Iran on Thursday evening, announcing in a post on Truth Social that negotiations with Tehran had advanced to the point where the Islamic Republic’s leadership had effectively approved the terms of a deal — a claim Iran had not confirmed as of late Thursday.

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Ruling coalition opens talks to shape new government in Gilgit-Baltistan

GILGIT: Senior leaders of Pakistan’s two dominant political parties convened in this mountain city on Thursday to begin carving out a power-sharing arrangement for the remote northern territory of Gilgit-Baltistan, where a June 7 legislative election left the ruling Pakistan Peoples Party in its strongest position in the region in years — but still short of a governing majority.

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Pakistan’s hands are all over this world cup

SIALKOT: The 23rd FIFA World Cup began on Thursday, launching nearly six weeks of football across the stadiums of the United States, Canada and Mexico. The players are from 48 nations. The coaches speak dozens of languages. But the ball they will all chase — the one that will determine who lifts the trophy in New Jersey on July 19 — was made in Pakistan.

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Defence minister Asif rebukes banned Kashmiri group as protesters mass near Rawalakot

ISLAMABAD: Defence minister took to the floor of the National Assembly on Thursday to rebuke a banned Kashmiri protest movement, urging it to settle its grievances at the ballot box rather than through marches and confrontation — as that very movement’s supporters massed on the outskirts of a regional capital and a fragile standoff showed no sign of resolution.

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Trump threatens to seize Iranian oil hub as US-Iran strikes escalate, ceasefire frays

ISLAMABAD: US President Trump threatened on Thursday to seize Iran’s principal oil export terminal and assume control of its energy sector as American and Iranian forces exchanged strikes for a second consecutive day, pushing a fragile two-month-old ceasefire to the edge of collapse and rattling global oil markets already strained by months of war.

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