ISLAMABAD: Pakistan's military says it shot down an Indian "spy drone" after it entered Pakistani airspace in the disputed region of Kashmir.
The military said in a statement late Tuesday that the drone violated Pakistan's airspace and was spying when it was shot down in the village of Chirikot along the Line of Control in Kashmir. It said Pakistani troops retrieved the wreckage.
The army said it was the fourth Indian drone it shot down in the past year.
India had no immediate comment.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan and both claim the region in its entirety.
The two sides also often trade fire there and have fought two wars over it since their independence from British rule in 1947.
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Pakistani army says it shot down Indian drone in Kashmir
Pakistani army says it shot down Indian drone in Kashmir
Egypt central bank cuts key interest rates by 100 basis points, statement says
CAIRO: Egypt’s central bank lowered its key interest rates by 100 basis points on Thursday, its second rate cut in 2025 after keeping rates unchanged for a year.
Saudi Arabia and Kuwait strengthen museum relations
- Agreement aims to strengthen cultural cooperation and the exchange of expertise in the fields of museums and exhibitions
- Mona Khazindar underlined the importance of the Tareq Rajab Museum as a leading institution dedicated to Islamic art and heritage
RIYADH: The Saudi Arabian Museums Commission signed a memorandum of understanding with the Tareq Rajab Museum in Kuwait on Wednesday.
The agreement aims to strengthen cultural cooperation and the exchange of expertise in the fields of museums and exhibitions.
It aims to strengthen the broader cultural relations between Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, helping to promote mutual understanding and intercultural dialogue between the two countries.
Mona Khazindar, adviser to the Saudi Ministry of Culture and representative of the Museums Commission, signed the memorandum alongside Ziad Tareq Rajab, director of the Tareq Rajab Museum. The document outlines areas of cultural cooperation and mutual interest for both parties.
Key areas of cooperation include the exchange of research, the loan of objects and the organization of temporary exhibitions, with the aim of enriching the cultural content and enhancing the value of both collections. The memorandum also establishes a joint working group to implement these areas of cooperation and facilitate the exchange of knowledge.
Khazindar said that the memorandum reflected the Museums Commission’s commitment to forming strategic partnerships with long-established private museums in the Arab region.
She underlined the importance of the Tareq Rajab Museum as a leading institution dedicated to Islamic art and heritage, adding that the collaboration would support cultural and knowledge-exchange initiatives across the museum sector.
France condemns Israeli minister’s accusations of inciting hatred
- “These are completely outrageous and completely unjustified remarks,” foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said
PARIS: France on Thursday dismissed claims by Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar that European governments were inciting hatred against his country.
“These are completely outrageous and completely unjustified remarks,” foreign ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine said.
“France has condemned, France condemns and France will continue to condemn, always and unequivocally, any act of anti-Semitism.”
In Washington on Wednesday, two Israeli embassy staffers were shot dead outside a Jewish museum by a gunman who shouted “free Palestine” as he was arrested.
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu led global condemnation of the attack, each of them blaming anti-Semitism.
Israel’s foreign minister said: “There is a direct line connecting anti-Semitic and anti-Israeli incitement to this murder.”
He added: “This incitement is also done by leaders and officials of many countries and international organizations, especially from Europe.”
Tensions have risen in recent days between Israel and European governments over Israel’s military offensive in Gaza and the plight of civilians in the territory.
Speaking in the southern French city of Nice, Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot reiterated that France had condemned the killing as “a horrific attack targeting Israeli diplomats.”
He said he had sent a message to his Israeli counterpart “to tell him how saddened I was by what had happened, how much I was thinking of the families of these diplomats but also of all their colleagues at the Israeli foreign ministry.”
“This blind violence is obviously unjustifiable,” he added.
“We deplore an explosion of anti-Semitic acts that we have seen on our territory in recent years, but we are fighting this explosion with the utmost determination,” he said.
France’s Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told police earlier Thursday to “step up surveillance at sites linked to the Jewish community.”
On Monday, the leaders of Britain, France and Canada condemned Israel’s “egregious actions” in Gaza and warned of joint action if it did not halt a heightened military offensive on the Palestinian territory.
Last week France’s President Emmanuel Macron accused Netanyahu of “unacceptable” behavior in holding up aid to the Palestinians in Gaza, where Israel is fighting to crush the militant group Hamas.
Netanyahu accused Macron of siding with a “murderous Islamist terrorist organization.”
Nothing will prevent Saudi success, says UK social media influencer
- John bin London praises ‘never quit’ attitude of the Kingdom’s people
RIYADH: British content creator and social influencer John bin London has said he is amazed at the resilience of Saudi Arabia and its people and believes nothing will stop the Kingdom’s success.
Bin London, a native of Nottingham, England, who grew up in Abu Dhabi, was the first guest on the seventh season of The Mayman Show.
He expressed his admiration of the Saudi people and the Kingdom’s rapid transformation.
“Saudis have a ‘nothing will stop us or will get in our way and we will succeed’ (attitude),” he said. “This is something that I saw within the people.”
He added that whether it was Telfaz 11 — a creative media studio led by an enthusiastic team of storytellers and social influencers — or students he met from small Saudi villages who had traveled to the UK to obtain university degrees, everyone seemed to have a “never quit” mentality.
Bin London also used the partial privatization of oil giant Saudi Aramco as a prime example of the Kingdom’s flourishing economy potential and appeal.
The initial public offering saw 100 percent of the shares transferred to the Public Investment Fund. Some 95 percent remained with the sovereign wealth fund, with the other 5 percent floated to private investors.
“The economics say, ‘Oh this is not going to work, and if it fails this and that,’ and then in a few years, what did we see? We saw a growth of 150 percent,” said bin London.
He also highlighted NEOM’s The Line project. Built on 34 sq. km, it will eventually accommodate 9 million people with a reduced infrastructure footprint, creating new methods of efficiency.
“I remember, not long ago, people doubted The Line and then suddenly they saw the trucks going in, and The Line being built, this shut them up,” he said.
Bin London’s view of Saudi perseverance did not just come from observing projects and financial deals, however. He firmly believes that success comes from the people behind it — starting with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman: “I think it was obvious to everyone who was following and paying attention what was going to happen in this country.”
The influencer, who is fluent in Arabic and has also mastered the Najdi Arabic dialect, creates content in the language to advocate for the opportunities offered in the land he has decided to make his home.
“I started picking up on vocabulary, pronunciation, from their dialects. It was, I guess, an unconscious thing,” he said.
“It was just who you hear around you, how they speak. You start copying it and then later on a lot of my friends were from the Otaibi tribe, which … spreads from Taif, Hijaz and into Najd.”
The Briton lauds many Saudi tourist destinations but says Diriyah, the Kingdom’s birthplace and home of At-Turaif, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, will always have a special place in his heart.
“Diriyah is one of my favorite places. It was somewhere that before my first visit to Saudi Arabia, which was in the end of 2022, I literally dreamt about visiting.
“It’s the jewel of the Kingdom, it’s the place of the Al-Saud family, who created this country.
“I used to watch the videos and see the pictures and I want(ed) to visit the museums, like it was literally a dream, so much so that the first time I came I woke up super early — and I’m not a morning person — with excitement to go visit Diriyah,” he said.
The excitement of that visit, he recalled, meant he spent an entire day wandering around and taking in the depth of history and captivating surroundings.
Pakistani generals vow to ‘decimate’ militants a day after school bus bombing kills four children
- The meeting terms the attack a ‘reprehensible violation’ of international norms due to the deliberate targeting of children
- Field Marshal Asim Munir describes the people of Pakistan as the military’s ‘greatest strength’ following the India standoff
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s top generals on Thursday vowed to “decimate” militant groups operating in its western provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a day after a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device targeted a school bus in the Khuzdar district in the southwest, killing four children and two adults.
The military’s pledge follows a sharp escalation in militant violence across Pakistan, particularly in Balochistan, where separatist groups like the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) have launched increasingly coordinated attacks on civilians and security forces. Earlier this year, a BLA assault on a passenger train led to a hostage situation, reflecting the growing scale and sophistication of the insurgency.
Islamabad has repeatedly accused India of backing these groups to destabilize the country, an allegation New Delhi has denied, attributing Pakistan’s security troubles to internal failures.
Thursday’s statement followed a meeting of Pakistan’s top army leadership to review the country’s internal and external security environment. The huddle, chaired by Field Marshal Asim Munir, was the first since a recent military standoff with India, during which both sides exchanged missile and drone attacks.
“The Forum deliberated in depth on the threat posed by India-backed terrorist proxies operating in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,” the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), said in a statement.
“The Forum resolved that Pakistan will never allow its peace to be compromised by externally sponsored terrorism,” it continued. “The Armed Forces, in close synergy with intelligence and law enforcement agencies, will pursue all proxies and facilitators of terrorism with unrelenting resolve. These hostile elements, trained and financed to incite chaos and fear, will be dismantled and decimated with full force of national will and institutional strength.”
The generals condemned the Khuzdar attack as a “reprehensible violation” of international norms, particularly due to the deliberate targeting of children.
They also offered prayers for victims of both the Khuzdar bombing and recent casualties from Operation Bunyanum Marsoos, the military campaign launched in response to Indian strikes.
Field Marshal Munir reiterated Pakistan’s strategic stance on national defense, declaring that “no one can coerce Pakistan through the use or threat of force.”
He also praised the professionalism and readiness of the armed forces and lauded the resilience of Pakistani civilians, youth and political leadership during recent hostilities.
“The people of Pakistan are our greatest strength,” he said during the meeting. “We remain committed to their trust and expectations in our shared struggle against any foreign aggression, terrorism and extremism.”
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