Peace talks between Afghanistan and Pakistan broke down, although a ceasefire continues between the South Asian neighbours, a Taliban spokesperson said yesterday.

Five people were killed and six were wounded in brief cross-border fire between Afghanistan and Pakistan on Thursday afternoon, a hospital official on the Afghan side told AFP, in an incident both countries blamed on each other.

Indian Sikh pilgrims have been issued visas for neighbouring Pakistan, the first major allowance after travel between the arch-rival nations was frozen during conflict in May.

The Maldives began implementing a smoking ban yesterday on anyone born after January 2007, becoming the only nation with a generational prohibition on tobacco, the Health Ministry said.

At least nine people were crushed to death after a massive crowd surge at a Hindu temple in southern India’s Andhra Pradesh yesterday, the state’s governor said.

The Maldives began implementing a smoking ban Saturday on anyone born after January 2007

Autopsies reveal 39 demonstrators were killed by bullets aimed at the chest, head and neck; human rights body probing excessive police force

Pakistan’s defence minister said yesterday he believes Afghanistan wants peace but that failure to reach an agreement during talks in Istanbul would mean “open war,” days after both sides agreed to a ceasefire following deadly border clashes.

The talks in Istanbul, which began on Saturday and are expected to continue into Sunday

Beyond a twice-weekly route between Islamabad and Manchester, PIA plans to operate flights to London and Birmingham as well

Gunmen fired on a vehicle in Pakistan’s northwestern border region, killing a pro-government militia leader and five others before torching their bodies, an official told AFP yesterday.

The crew seized several tons of crystal methamphetamine and a smaller amount of cocaine

Embassy reopening follows visit by Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi

Starlink did not respond to a request for comment following AFP's investigation

Afghanistan and Pakistan agreed to an immediate ceasefire during talks in Doha, both sides said yesterday, after a week of fierce border clashes, the worst violence between the South Asian neighbours since the Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.

Political analyst Altaf Parvez unpacks the roots of conflict, ideological spillovers, and India’s strategic return

Kabul had accused Islamabad of violating a 48-hour ceasefire, which briefly put a stop to nearly a week of cross-border clashes that killed dozens of troops and civilians on both sides

Pakistan and Afghan officials were due to meet in Qatar yesterday, a day after Islamabad launched air strikes that killed at least 10 people in Afghanistan and broke a ceasefire that had brought two days of calm to the border.

Dozens of troops and civilians were killed in a fresh round of border skirmishes between Pakistan and Afghanistan yesterday, officials on both sides of the frontier said, hours before Islamabad said the two sides had agreed to a 48-hour ceasefire.

More than 80 women and children had been wounded