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Oil rises as US strikes on Iran raise fears over shaky truce

Oil prices gained more than 2 per cent on Wednesday after the US military launched airstrikes against Iran and reimposed crude sales sanctions, raising fears their fragile truce was unravelling and Middle East supplies could be disrupted again. Brent crude futures gained $1.92, or 2.6pc, at $76.08 a barrel at 0400 GMT. US West Texas Intermediate crude climbed $1.82, or 2.6pc, to $72.26 a barrel. Both benchmarks rose about 3pc on Tuesday after the US revoked the general licence authorising the sale of Iranian crude following the Iranian attacks. “While the revocation doesn’t fundamentally change oil market dynamics, it’s important from a sentiment perspective. It heightens the risk of a breakdown in the temporary deal between the US and Iran,” ING commodity strategists said on Wednesday. The US airstrikes were in response to Iranian attacks on three commercial vessels that were transiting the Strait of Hormuz, US Central Command said on Tuesday. “The current conflagration is a re...
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Hamas’s move

THE decision taken by Hamas to relinquish governance of Gaza appears to be designed to put the onus on the US and Israel to take the peace process forward. Having ruled the Strip for about two decades, the Palestinian group announced on Monday that it was ready to hand over governance duties to the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, the technocratic body set up under Donald Trump’s Board of Peace . As per a Hamas spokesman, the move is supposed to “remove any pretexts for the [Israeli] occupation” which, he rightly said, “continues its … war of extermination”. Since the ceasefire took effect in October 2025, Gaza has hardly turned into a cradle of peace. Over 1,000 people have been murdered by Israel, including children, during what is supposed to be a truce. Since the Zionist state commenced its genocidal attacks on the Strip after the Oct 7, 2023, Hamas operation, over 73,000 people have been butchered, with nearly 2m displaced and denied adequate shelter, food and h...
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PM Shehbaz calls for comprehensive strategy to boost SMEs’ access to financing

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Tuesday directed that a comprehensive strategy be formulated to improve small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) access to financing. He made these remarks while chairing a review meeting of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) in Islamabad. According to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), the premier directed the authority to formulate a comprehensive strategy, in coordination with the State Bank of Pakistan and commercial banks, to improve SMEs’ access to financing. He stressed that greater facilitation should be provided for extending loans to SMEs to boost the country’s exports. He also directed that they be supported in enhancing their productive capacity, particularly by providing awareness and access to financing for farmers processing agricultural produce. The prime minister further directed that commercial banks be encouraged to develop dedicated financia...
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Indonesia to buy BrahMos missiles, Indian govt official says as Modi kicks off 2-day Jakarta visit

India will supply BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles and Astra air-to-air missiles to Indonesia, an Indian government official said on Tuesday, as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi started a two-day visit to Jakarta. Indian sources earlier told Reuters that the deal, worth around $630 million, would likely be signed during Modi’s visit. Indonesia would be the third country to sign an agreement to buy the missiles, which are manufactured by BrahMos Aerospace Private Limited. The deal would mark a major expansion of India’s defence exports and deepen strategic ties with Southeast Asia’s largest economy at a time of growing competition with China for influence in the Indo-Pacific. BrahMos missiles, jointly developed by India and Russia, are among the world’s fastest cruise missiles and can be launched from land, sea and air platforms. The Astra beyond-visual-range air-to-air missiles can be integrated on Russian-made Sukhoi fighter...
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China says test fired missile in Pacific Ocean, alarming regional powers

A Chinese submarine test fired a missile in the Pacific Ocean on Monday, Beijing said, after nations in the region warned that China was planning to test an intercontinental ballistic missile. It was a rare show of Beijing’s military might in the strategically important South Pacific region, where the US, Australia and New Zealand have long been the security partners of choice. The launch drew immediate condemnation from nations in the region, including Japan, which said it had urged China to reconsider proceeding with the launch. “At 12:01 pm on July 6, a strategic nuclear submarine of China’s People’s Liberation Army Navy successfully launched a … strategic missile carrying a training simulation warhead into the relevant high seas of the Pacific Ocean, accurately landing in the designated sea area,” spokesperson Wang Xuemeng said in a statement posted on a Chinese navy WeChat account. “This missile test launch is a routine arrangement of China’s annual military training, and rele...
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11-year-old to face trial for igniting Gul Plaza fire in Karachi

• Another prosecutor greenlights IO to file charge sheet in court without including judicial commission’s report • Four members of shopping plaza’s management committee and owner of artificial flower shop will also face trial KARACHI: An 11-year-old boy is set to be tried in a court of law for igniting a fire at the Gul Plaza Shopping Centre on Jan 17 that resulted in the deaths of 72 persons. This was stated in a charge sheet filed in court by the investigating officer of the Gul Plaza fire case through in charge district prosecutor Abdul Razzaq Gujjar on Saturday. Only on Friday, another prosecutor had returned the charge sheet to the IO, asking him to remove certain defects he pointed out and include the report of a judicial commission. However, prosecutor Gujjar gave the go-ahead to the IO to file the charge sheet as the judicial commission’s report can be filed at a later stage. According to the charge sheet, 72 people had lost their lives, eight sustained injuries and 1,153...
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MQM-P warns of protest if Centre does not ensure implementation of 2022 agreement with PPP

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) on Saturday warned of issuing a protest call if the Centre did not ensure that the party’s 2022 agreement with the PPP on various provincial issues was implemented. The MQM-P and PPP had signed an 18-point agreement on March 30, 2022 — just before the two joined hands with other parties to remove PTI’s Imran Khan as the prime minister. The MQM-P’s demands ranged from municipal government structure to future power-sharing formula and recruitment policy in Sindh to local policing system. Addressing a press conference in Karachi, Farooq Sattar referred to that deal as the “last agreement between the MQM-P and PPP”. He stressed that his party had not demanded to be included in the provincial government or sought authority over Sindh’s resources. Sattar claimed that PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari held “no meeting despite repeated reminders from the MQM-P” on the agreement to implement a Supreme Court order regarding local governments...
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