The intensity of Saturday’s assault prompted condemnations from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel and other officials.

Renegade Nigerien soldiers attacked sites around the capital, the defense ministry said, including a key air base that hosts Russian mercenaries.

OSLO: Thousands of Norwegians gathered on Saturday to say goodbye to King Harald in front of the royal palace, where he lies in state, with many well-wishers remembering his sense of inclusiveness and tolerance.

Europe’s oldest monarch, who emerged from the shadow of his well-loved, extrovert father to become a reformer during more than three decades on the throne, died on Friday at the age of 89.

Late on Friday, throngs lined the streets of Oslo in pouring rain to watch the funeral cortege travel from Oslo University Hospital, where Harald died, to the royal palace.

Flags were flying at half-mast throughout the country and portraits of the late king in gala uniform were everywhere, from bus stops, trams and metro stations to shops, offices and public buildings.

As the nation mourned Harald, attention also turned to the succession. Crown Prince Haakon, the late king’s only son, automatically became king upon his father’s death under Norway’s constitutional monarchy.

King Haakon VIII will speak to the nation in a televised address at 1900 local time (1700 GMT) on Saturday. On Tuesday, he will take the oath in front of parliament, when he will swear to defend Norway’s constitution and laws.

He became king the moment his father passed away. There will be no coronation as they were abolished by parliament in 1908.

The main avenue in central Oslo, Karl Johan, was tightly packed with Norwegians of all walks of life heading towards the palace, clutching flowers, handwritten cards, drawings and small national flags.

On what should have been the 58th wedding anniversary of Harald and Queen Sonja, who survives him, they praised the late king’s spirit of inclusiveness.

HARARE, (Zimbabwe): A minibus carrying churchgoers collided head-on with a truck in central Zimbabwe, killing at least 27 people, police said Saturday, in the latest deadly road crash to hit the country. The crash occurred at around 1830 GMT on Friday near Chivhu, about 140 kilometres (87 miles) south of the capital Harare, police said.

The foreign-registered haulage truck was overtaking another vehicle when it collided with the minibus, which was carrying worshippers to a conference. Both vehicles were carrying an “unknown” number of passengers, police said. Seven people were injured in the crash. Footage shared on social media by public broadcaster ZBC showed the mangled minibus charred to a shell, with the truck coming to rest on the opposite side of the road.

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ruled that the watchword “Model Employer” in administrative and service laws insinuates that the State and public authorities should act fairly and justly without exploiting technicalities.

The judgment authored by Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar said: “No prejudice or harm should be caused to an employee on account of administrative delays or administrative inefficiency or disorder without any rhyme or reason.”

“Sincere efforts should have been made within the auspicious administrative domain and patronage to ensure that all recruitments must be made transparently and deserving persons are provided opportunities for jobs; the meetings of departmental promotional committees/ selection boards are convened without inordinate delays; pension or retirement benefits are processed expeditiously without causing miseries and distresses to the retired employee; issues of seniority including inter-se seniority must be decided promptly and seniority lists are corrected accordingly; the ad-hoc or contractual employment should not continue for an unlimited period of time and if the employee is worthy of confirmation, then the departmental efforts ought to have been made for regularisation of such service,” it added.

The judgment also said that an employee cannot be made a victim or scapegoat due to delay in the publication of notification in the gazette.

Also read: SC upholds CCP finding that PVMA violates Sect 4 of Competition Act

A two-member bench set aside the judgment of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Service Tribunal, Peshawar, and restored the petitioners’ seniority to its original position.

The petitioners (employees) were initially appointed against the project posts vide Notification dated 30.06.2016 after complying with all codal formalities. After a while, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa promulgated the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Employees Regularisation of Service Act, 2018 (Act of 2018) on 07.03.2018, wherein at least 52 different projects were regularised. As a direct consequence, the employees were regularised vide Notifications dated 28.08.2018 and 17.10.2018 with effect from the commencement of the Act; i.e., 07.03.2018, but due to the reckless attitude of the lower staff of the concerned Department, the notifications were belatedly published in the Official Gazette on 21.08.2024 but with effect from 07.03.2018 (date of promulgation of Act of 2018).

The Department determined the inter-se seniority in accordance with Section 6 of the Act of 2018 and issued the Final Seniority List vide notification dated 13.02.2019, and thereafter, other seniority lists were also issued from time to time.

When the Final Seniority List for the year 2024 was issued vide notification dated 14.03.2024, some of the employees (private respondents) preferred joint Departmental Representation on 30.07.2024, which was rejected on 13.08.2024 and consequently service appeals were filed before the Tribunal, which were allowed vide impugned Judgment and Seniority List was set aside on the premise that in terms of section 5 of the Act of 2018, the regularisation notification of Petitioners (employees) dated 28.08.2018 was published in the official gazette on 21.08.2024 and till such publication, the said petitioners were not regular civil servants and hence not entitled to seniority.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026

A deal giving the U.S. majority control of vast Venezuelan reserves strikes at the heart of national identity.

Mr. Yiannopoulos, an early supporter of President Trump and vocal supporter of mass deportations, was himself sent back to his home country, part of a long fall from right-wing grace.

Pakistan is likely to meet nearly all seven Quantitative Performance Criteria (QPCs) set under its ongoing International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme, ahead of the Fund’s upcoming review later this month, said Arif Habib Limited on Saturday.

“Based on publicly available data, we believe Pakistan is on track to meet nearly all seven QPCs, with one data point yet to be disclosed,” said the brokerage house in its report titled Pakistan’s Economic Outlook.

“As QPCs represent the programme’s hard benchmarks, meeting them would pave the way for a smooth review with limited risk of waivers or major hiccups,” it added.

The staff mission is scheduled to visit Pakistan next month to discuss the fourth review under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) programme and the second review under the Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF).

The Fund’s Executive Board completed the prior review round in May, releasing roughly $1.1 billion under the EFF and $220 million under the RSF, taking cumulative disbursements under both programs to about $4.8 billion.

What makes this review notable, as per AHL, is timing rather than money.

“More importantly, the upcoming review is less about securing new commitments and more about demonstrating consistency in implementation, in our view.

“It is also the first full review since the Moody’s and S&P upgrades and Pakistan’s debut Panda Bond. A clean review would reinforce the view that improving credit ratings and market access are reflecting genuine progress in reforms—not simply running ahead of the fundamentals,” read the report.

However, meeting targets has not always been Pakistan’s strength. The Federal Board of Revenue missed its fiscal 2026 collection target by Rs1.1 trillion, against an initial goal of Rs14.1 trillion rupees.

AHL, in its report, noted that a repeat shortfall “would squeeze the FY27 fiscal math.” That backdrop matters because the brokerage forecasts show the fiscal deficit widening in FY27.

“We expect the fiscal deficit to widen to 3.9% of GDP in FY27f, from 2.6% in FY26… while the primary surplus remains positive at 2.0% of GDP.”

Business Recorder previously reported that the IMF mission, during its upcoming visit, will assess Pakistan’s economic performance for the January-June 2026 period and initiate negotiations for the release of the next tranche under the EFF, as well as RSF. It will also examine tax collection, as well as reforms in the energy sector and progress on the privatisation programme.

After the visit, IMF staff and the Pakistani authorities are expected to reach a staff-level agreement (SLA); the agreement will be subject to approval of the IMF’s Executive Board.

Upon approval, Pakistan will have access to about $1 billion under the EFF and $200 million under the RSF.