Faraz Saeed

LAHORE: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday signed the Finance Bill 2026 into law, formally enacting the federal budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 after it was approved by parliament earlier this week. The National Assembly passed the legislation on Tuesday, giving effect to the government&#39;s Rs18.771 trillion ($67.5 billion) budget, which targets economic growth of 4% and inflation of 8.2% in fiscal year 2026-27. &ldquo;President Asif Ali Zardari has assented to the Finance Bill, 2026, relating to the Federal Budget for fiscal year 2026-27,&rdquo; the president&#39;s office said in a post on X. The government has projected a fiscal deficit of 3.6% of gross domestic product and set a revenue collection target of Rs15.26 trillion ($54.8 billion) as it seeks to strengthen public finances and maintain macroeconomic stability. Net federal revenues are estimated at Rs11.75 trillion, while total expenditures are projected at Rs18.77 trillion. Debt servicing and interest payments will account for about Rs8.05 trillion of spending. The budget allocates Rs1 trillion to the Federal Public Sector Development Programme, while the broader national development program is estimated at Rs3.68 trillion. Defense spending has been set at Rs3 trillion. The government also increased allocations for social protection, raising funding for the Benazir Income Support Programme to Rs838 billion from the previous year to expand coverage for low-income households. Public-sector employees and pensioners will receive a 7% increase in salaries and pensions, respectively. The government has also announced tax relief measures for salaried individuals across four income brackets. Under the new auto policy, imported vehicles with engine capacities between 2,000cc and 3,000cc will face an 86% duty from July 1, while vehicles above 3,000cc will be subject to a 92% duty. Imported electric vehicles valued between $75,000 and $110,000 will attract a 30% customs duty, rising to 40% for those priced above $110,000. Parliament also approved amendments to Section 182 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001. Under the revised framework, taxpayers will be liable for either the tax imposed on taxable income or the highest tax paid during the previous three years, whichever is greater. The government has further tightened regulations governing tax filers and non-filers. Individuals who fail to comply with notices issued by the Federal Board of Revenue will face fines of Rs1 million for a first violation and up to Rs2 million for repeat offenses.

Economy

The National Assembly passed the legislation on Tuesday, giving effect to the government's Rs18.771 trillion ($67.5 billion) budget, which targets economic growth of 4% and inflation of 8.2% in fiscal year 2026-27.

Pakistan president approves finance bill 2026, enacts $67.5 billion budget

LOS ANGELES: Cape Verde wrote another chapter in their fairytale debut World Cup campaign on Friday, battling into the knockout rounds for the first time to set up a dream showdown with Lionel Messi&#39;s Argentina. The tiny Atlantic archipelago drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia to clinch second place in Group H and advance to the last 32 where they will face defending champions Argentina at Miami&#39;s Hard Rock Stadium on July 3. Cape Verde&#39;s third consecutive draw saw them finish the group with three points, behind European champions Spain who made sure of top spot with a 1-0 defeat of Uruguay. Two-time World Cup-winners Uruguay, who were stunned by Cape Verde in a 2-2 draw last Sunday in their second game, were eliminated from the competition with just two points. The Group H results brought further clarity to the knockout rounds, ensuring that England, Portugal, Ghana, Egypt and Paraguay would also advance. Earlier Friday, France lit up the tournament with another dazzling attacking performance, swatting aside Norway 4-1 to clinch top spot in Group I. France&#39;s reigning Ballon d&#39;Or winner Ousmane Dembele scored a first-half hat-trick as Les Bleus maintained their 100% start to the tournament at the Gillette Stadium. The pre-match hype had focused on a duel between France striker Kylian Mbappe and Norwegian counterpart Erling Haaland. But that much-anticipated showdown never materialized after Norway opted to leave Manchester City star Haaland on the bench. Instead, it was left to Dembele to grab center-stage from team-mate Mbappe, scoring three times in the opening 32 minutes to set up the win. Dembele&#39;s PSG team-mate Desire Doue bagged France&#39;s fourth in stoppage time to complete the scoring. &#39;Important moment&#39;&nbsp;Dembele later played down the significance of his quick-fire hat-trick, turning his attention to the bigger challenges awaiting in the knockout rounds. &quot;It&#39;s a unique and important moment for me but I preferred my performances against Senegal or Iraq,&quot; Dembele said. &quot;I think I was much more influential in those games. I believe we need to stay focused because there are important things ahead.&quot; Friday&#39;s game had gone ahead against a troubled backdrop for France, with coach Didier Deschamps leaving the team earlier this week following the death of his mother. Both teams meanwhile paid tribute to the victims of the devastating Venezuela earthquake just before kick-off, lining up for a moment of silence. France will now face Sweden in the last 32, while Norway take on Ivory Coast in Dallas on June 30 for a place in the last 16. Senegal meanwhile gave themselves a fighting chance of reaching the last 32 with a 5-0 drubbing of Iraq in their final group game, boosting their goal difference to win their first points of the tournament. The west Africans, who have three points, must now wait for the remaining group games elsewhere to play out before learning if they have done enough to squeeze into the knockouts. &quot;Our future is no longer in our own hands,&quot; Senegal coach Pape Thiaw said. &quot;We will have to wait and see. But we got the job done.&quot; Later Friday in Group G, Egypt are aiming to clinch top spot with victory over Iran in Seattle in a game that has been laced with controversy. Friday&#39;s game is part of city-wide events to celebrate Pride in Seattle, and was designated as the &quot;Pride Match&quot; by local officials before the identities of the teams involved was known. Iranian and Egyptian officials have both raised objections to the Seattle Pride celebrations around their fixture. Homosexuality is illegal in Iran under Islamic law and can be punishable by death. In Egypt, homosexuality is often penalized under vaguely worded laws prohibiting &quot;debauchery.&quot; In the other Group G game, Belgium&#39;s ageing squad featuring Kevin De Bruyne and Romelu Lukaku will attempt to reach the knockout rounds with a victory over New Zealand.

Football

The tiny Atlantic archipelago drew 0-0 with Saudi Arabia to clinch second place in Group H and advance to the last 32 where they will face defending champions Argentina at Miami's Hard Rock Stadium on July 3.



Cape Verde extend World Cup fairytale, France roll on

LA GUAIRA: The death toll from twin earthquakes rose Friday to 920 in Venezuela, where tens of thousands were reported missing as a desperate and slow-moving search for survivors was boosted by international rescue teams. Caracas residents jeered interim leader Delcy Rodriguez during her visit to a devastated neighborhood, as fury over the perceived lack of an official response mounted. United Nations aid chief Tom Fletcher told AFP that more than 50,000 people were missing after two powerful earthquakes struck within a minute of each other on Wednesday evening, flattening buildings in the north of the country. The coastal area of La Guaira, near the capital Caracas, was the worst hit, with one building after another crumpled by the magnitude 7.2 and 7.5 quakes. Access to the disaster zone would be restricted from 8 pm local time (0000GMT) on Friday, Interior Minister Diasdado Cabello announced in a televised address. A rescue team from Chile arrived at one residential complex in La Guaira, made up of four tall buildings housing hundreds of apartments that had largely been reduced to rubble. &quot;Unfortunately, the collapse is total, and there is little chance of finding survivors. Efforts are now focused on recovering the bodies of the deceased,&quot; rescue team leader Nadiomar Polanco said at the site, which resembles many others in the city. Elsewhere, family members, neighbors and volunteers used their bare hands to try to dig out survivors, bemoaning the lack of heavy machinery or official help to save those trapped alive. &quot;I am looking for my little Gael... he was only five months old,&quot; said an anguished Marjosly Salazar, 40, whose 16-year-old daughter died in the quake. The baby and Salazar&#39;s cousin are both missing. &quot;Please, we need support here. We need machinery to start lifting the columns,&quot; she said. &quot;We haven&#39;t seen any government officials here, none at all.&quot; In an upscale Caracas neighborhood, Rodriguez was greeted with angry chants from a crowd of people whose loved ones were trapped under the debris. &quot;The government isn&#39;t doing anything for the people,&quot; they yelled from behind cordons next to a pulverized building. &#39;Very complex&#39; AFP saw workers using sledgehammers to break through detritus, calling for &quot;absolute silence&quot; to detect cries from survivors. &quot;It&#39;s a very, very complex emergency response,&quot; the UN&#39;s Fletcher told AFP, warning the death toll could rise significantly. Aftershocks and destroyed buildings still posed significant dangers. Oil-rich Venezuela is facing its worst earthquake in more than a century after more than a decade of economic collapse hollowed out hospitals and public services, driving millions to leave the country. The country is still in a fragile transition six months after the United States ousted leader Nicolas Maduro. Help arrives The UN humanitarian agency OCHA said search and rescue teams from at least 17 countries were being mobilized to help find survivors. Spanish, Salvadoran, Swiss, Colombian, and Mexican rescue teams were already on the ground. A senior US military official landed in Caracas to oversee Washington&#39;s relief efforts. The United States said Friday it was sending a disaster response team of more than 250 personnel, including three special search-and-rescue units with dogs trained to locate people trapped beneath the rubble. &quot;Even before the earthquakes, millions of people across Venezuela were facing food insecurity, collapsing health services, protection risks, and limited access to basic services,&quot; the UN and other aid agencies said in a statement Friday. &quot;The international community must not allow this emergency to deepen into a larger human tragedy.&quot; Earthquakes of similar magnitude claimed more than 200,000 lives in Haiti in January 2010 and 73,000 lives in Kashmir in October 2005. Foreigners killed Those killed included nine Portuguese nationals, five Spaniards, two Brazilians, two Chinese nationals and one Italian-Venezuelan. Fifty-six Portuguese citizens and 133 Spaniards were missing or otherwise unaccounted for, according to their respective governments. The quakes were the most powerful to hit Venezuela since a 7.7-magnitude tremor struck offshore in 1900. Venezuela&#39;s northern coast sits on a boundary between the Caribbean and South American tectonic plates, but has not experienced a major quake since 1997. Minutes of silence preceded Friday&#39;s World Cup 2026 matches to honor the victims of the tragedy.

Americas

United Nations aid chief says more than 50,000 people were missing after two powerful earthquakes struck within a minute of each other on Wednesday evening, flattening buildings in the north of the country.

Venezuela earthquakes kill 920, tens of thousands missing

Web Desk

This live blog follows the latest developments across the Middle East crisis, including regional diplomacy, maritime security, ceasefire negotiations, and economic fallout.<hr style="line-height: 2;">Catch up: Yesterday&rsquo;s top developments<ul style="list-style-type: square;"><li id="isPasted" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 2;"><a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/middle-east-live-june-26-2026#:~:text=IRGC%20says%20responded%20to%20US%20violating%20MoU%2C%20warns%20extensive%20response%20for%20repeated%20aggression%C2%A0" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">IRGC says responded to US violating MoU, warns extensive response for repeated aggression</a>&nbsp;</li><li style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 2;"><a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/middle-east-live-june-26-2026#:~:text=Hezbollah%20supporters%20take%20to%20Beirut%20streets%20to%20protest%20Israel%20deal%3A%20Report" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hezbollah supporters take to Beirut streets to protest Israel deal</a></li><li style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/middle-east-live-june-26-2026#:~:text=Trump%20slams%20Iran%20drone%20attack%20as%20%27foolish%27%20ceasefire%20violation" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Trump slams Iran drone attack as &#39;foolish&#39; ceasefire violation</a></li><li style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/middle-east-live-june-26-2026#:~:text=Pope%20begins%20cardinals%27%20gathering%20with%20anti%2Dwar%20message" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Pope begins cardinals&#39; gathering with anti-war message</a></li><li style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/middle-east-live-june-26-2026#:~:text=%27Very%20strong%27%20nuclear%20verification%20needed%20in%20Iran%20after%20war%3A%20IAEA%20head" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">IAEA head says &#39;very strong&#39; nuclear verification needed in Iran after war</a></li></ul><hr style="line-height: 2;"> Rubio hails US, Lebanon, Israel trilateral framework, as Washington, Tehran trade strikes&nbsp;Published: June 27, 2026 | 00:00 GMT | by Web Desk US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the signing ceremony of the trilateral framework between Lebanon, Israel and the United States was the &ldquo;beginning of the beginning,&rdquo; adding that there was a &ldquo;lot of work ahead.&quot; Lebanon&#39;s ambassador to Washington, Nada Hamadeh Moawad, said the accord &quot;is a first step on the road to restoring Lebanese sovereignty and territorial integrity, securing a permanent and final cessation of hostilities (and) enabling our people to go back to their land.&quot; Rubio meanwhile said in a statement that the agreement establishes a &quot;clear and structured process&quot; to disarm Hezbollah and its infrastructure, as well as a US-facilitated military working group to help implement the deal. Separately, the United States and Iran traded military strikes after Washington accused Tehran of attacking a cargo ship, jeopardizing a ceasefire as diplomats tried to contain the Middle East war. US Central Command said the American strikes, against Iranian missile and drone storage sites and coastal radar positions, were a response to &quot;unwarranted aggression against commercial shipping by Iranian forces&quot; that &quot;clearly violated the ceasefire.&quot; Iranian state television, citing a reporter in Sirik, said an explosion was heard at Taherouyeh pier in the southern port city. It quoted an informed military source as saying the blast was caused by a projectile impact in the area. <hr style="line-height: 2;"> For earlier developments, read our June 26 live blog <a href="https://www.pakistantv.com/article/middle-east-live-june-26-2026" style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">here</a>.

Middle East

Says there was a “lot of work ahead" left to be done, adds agreement establishes a "clear and structured process" to disarm Hezbollah, its infrastructure; Lebanon's ambassador to Washington says accord is first step to restore Lebanese sovereignty, territorial integrity.



Rubio terms trilateral framework between US, Lebanon, Israel ‘beginning of the beginning’

Ayesha Mir

ISLAMABAD: For centuries, the five rivers of Punjab weren&#39;t resources to be managed, they were forces to be known, stories to be reckoned with. The Chenab, land of lovers. The Jhelum, land of warriors. The Ravi, land of people of honor. These weren&#39;t categories on a map. They were identities. Nobody who read Heer Ranjha in 1766 imagined that three hundred years later, two nuclear-armed states would be threatening each other with the same water. In April 2025, after the Pahalgam attack, India placed the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), the sixty-five-year-old agreement governing how these rivers are shared, in &ldquo;abeyance.&rdquo;&nbsp; The word sounds technical, but it isn&#39;t.&nbsp; &quot;Abeyance&quot; doesn&#39;t appear anywhere in the treaty. There is no pause button. Even the World Bank&#39;s own president said so: There is no provision in this treaty for one country to suspend it unilaterally. The IWT, signed in 1960 and brokered by the World Bank, took an unusual approach to sharing water. It didn&#39;t divide the volume; it divided the rivers themselves.&nbsp; Three eastern rivers, the Ravi, Sutlej, and Beas, went entirely to India.&nbsp;Three western rivers, the Indus, Jhelum, and Chenab, were allocated almost entirely to Pakistan.&nbsp; Together, Pakistan&#39;s three rivers carry roughly 80% of the entire system&#39;s water.&nbsp;This is what grows Punjab&#39;s wheat, Sindh&#39;s cotton, and fills the taps in Lahore and Karachi. The need for this treaty arose as early as 1948, just months after partition, when India suspended flows through two canals into Pakistani Punjab.&nbsp; For five weeks, nearly 80% of cultivable land went dry. That wound is what created the treaty.&nbsp; For 65 years, through three wars, it held.&nbsp;Then came Pahalgam, and everything changed. The immediate question everyone asked was the obvious one: Can India actually cut off Pakistan&#39;s water?&nbsp; The short answer is no. But the full answer is: not yet.&nbsp; Around 147.6 million acre-feet flows into Pakistan from these rivers every year.&nbsp;India&#39;s entire permitted storage under the treaty is 3.6 million acre-feet: 2% of annual flow.&nbsp; According to experts like Danish Mustafa, the terrain where these rivers cross into Pakistan is steep, volatile, and largely unsuitable for the kind of massive diversion infrastructure the threat implies.&nbsp; India&#39;s existing dams were built to generate electricity, not to withhold water, and you can&#39;t do both simultaneously without sabotaging your own power grid. But that&#39;s the present. The future is more complicated. In May 2026, India approved a tunnel to move water from the upper Chenab into the Beas, a river that belongs to India.&nbsp;The volume is small, but the precedent is big.&nbsp; Moving water between basins is one of the treaty&#39;s clearest red lines, and India has explicitly linked this project to the suspension.&nbsp;Cross one red line and the next gets easier.&nbsp; The Permanent Court of Arbitration ruled against India in May 2026, reaffirming real limits on its hydropower projects.&nbsp; India said it doesn&#39;t recognize the court&#39;s authority, meaning it doesn&rsquo;t accept the verdict either.&nbsp; More importantly, what was lost as a result of the treaty&rsquo;s suspension wasn&rsquo;t water, it was the coordination that made the system work.&nbsp; Hydrological data sharing has stopped.&nbsp;Flood warnings that used to come commissioner-to-commissioner now arrive late. Pakistan&#39;s farmers aren&#39;t exactly shut off from water, but they&rsquo;re exposed to unpredictability &mdash; which, across a growing season, can be just as devastating. India is already fast-tracking four major hydropower projects on the Chenab &mdash; Pakal Dul, Kiru, Kwar, Ratle, and Sawalkote.&nbsp; Tenders have been issued. But in a move that may have backfired legally, according to former caretaker law minister Ahmer Bilal Soofi, by placing the IWT in abeyance India has withdrawn the very protection international law gives to dams in conflict &mdash; because a civilian structure loses that protection the moment it serves a military objective.&nbsp; India&#39;s own water minister declared on record that not a single drop of water will go to Pakistan.&nbsp; And under international law, it is evidence of belligerent intent, which means India may have just handed Pakistan the legal justification to strike its own dams.&nbsp;

Foreign Affairs

By placing the IWT in abeyance India has withdrawn the very protection international law gives to dams in conflict — because a civilian structure loses that protection the moment it serves a military objective. 

'Not a single drop of water': Could India’s threat trigger a war with Pakistan?

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Friday threatened to slap a 100 percent tariff on European countries that impose a digital services tax, adding that existing trade deals would be scrapped. &quot;Any Country that imposes such a Tax will immediately be met with a 100% TARIFF on any and all Goods sent to the United States of America,&quot; Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform, adding that &quot;this TARIFF will supersede Trade Deals made with the Country, whether implemented, signed, or not.&quot; The move comes just a day after EU countries gave the green light to a trade agreement negotiated last year with the United States, which caps taxes on European imports at 15 percent. But Trump has repeatedly made it clear he wants to tackle so-called non-tariff barriers to trade -- and strict European regulations on technology and environment are in his crosshairs. For the US leader, those rules hinder US exports. Earlier this month, Trump threatened to impose a 100 percent tariff on French wine and champagne unless Paris removed its digital services tax on technology firms. France imposed in 2019 a three-percent levy on the revenues earned by technology firms, including US giants Facebook, Amazon, Apple and Google&#39;s parent Alphabet, within the country&#39;s borders.

Taxation

President Donald Trump threatens 100 percent tariffs on countries imposing digital services taxes, warning the measures would override existing trade deals as he targets European technology regulations and taxes on US tech companies.

Trump threatens 100% tariff on EU countries over digital services tax

GENEVA: More than 50,000 people are missing after powerful twin earthquakes rocked Venezuela, the United Nations&#39; aid chief said Friday, warning that the death toll was likely to &quot;rise significantly&quot;. &quot;It&#39;s a very, very complex emergency response,&quot; Tom Fletcher, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, told AFP in an interview. &quot;We&#39;ve got over 50,000 people missing, over 500 people dead, so a massive job to go through the rubble&quot;. His comments came after Venezuela&#39;s interim president Delcy Rodriguez said the official death toll from the earthquakes more than doubled Friday to 589, as rescuers raced to find survivors beneath collapsed buildings. The 7.5- and 7.2-magnitude earthquakes struck north of the capital Caracas on Wednesday. Earthquakes of similar magnitude claimed more than 200,000 lives in Haiti in January 2010 and 73,000 lives in Kashmir in October 2005. Fletcher said the UN humanitarian agency OCHA, which he runs, did not yet have an estimate for how high the death toll was likely to go. But, he said, &quot;50,000 people are missing&quot;. &quot;It&#39;s our job to find as many of them as possible, and to keep that death toll as low as we can get it, but it&#39;s clearly going to rise significantly.&quot;

UN aid officials say more than 50,000 people remain missing after twin earthquakes strike Venezuela, warning the death toll, already at 589, will rise significantly as rescuers continue searching through collapsed buildings.

Over 50,000 people missing after Venezuela quakes: UN aid chief

BEIJING: An eyewitness reported seeing plane debris and fire at the base of Beijing&#39;s tallest building on Friday, as AFP journalists saw a hole in the skyscraper&#39;s side. Video footage taken by the witness from a nearby building showed fire trucks blasting water at the flames on the ground in front of the 528-metre (1,732-foot) CITIC Tower, while what appeared to be part of a small plane lay on the ground beside the building. AFP journalists at the scene saw a hole in the windows on one of the upper floors of the skyscraper. Police and ambulances swarmed the area. Police declined to comment on the incident. &quot;I don&#39;t know why the plane would fly in here. It really is quite strange,&quot; the witness, a finance worker, told AFP on the condition on anonymity. A man who worked inside the CITIC building told AFP: &quot;I saw debris on my way out. It looked like part of a plane&quot;. Dozens of uniformed cleaners gathered near the police cordon Friday evening. One woman told AFP she had been told to evacuate via the stairs and not to use the lifts. &quot;I ran down dozens of floors in a hurry,&quot; she said. Two men who appeared to be from the building&#39;s property management team told the cleaners to go home. &quot;No one can get in now,&quot; one of the men said. A middle-aged woman who was staring at the building from the street said she was shocked by the incident. &quot;This kind of thing wouldn&#39;t happen in Beijing. This is Beijing... It&#39;s pretty common abroad, but in China, it shouldn&#39;t happen,&quot; she told AFP. &quot;I was very shocked.&quot; Another onlooker, a student, told AFP he rushed to the scene as soon as information about the crash was shared in an aviation enthusiast social media group. Images and posts online were being rapidly deleted, he added. The CITIC Tower, which has 108 floors above ground and seven below, is able to accommodate 12,000 office workers. China imposes strict restrictions over its airspace, particularly around Beijing&#39;s urban area. In April, China announced it was banning the sale of drones in Beijing and would require users to apply for permission for all flights in the capital.

China

An eyewitness reported seeing plane debris and fire at the base of Beijing's tallest building on Friday, as AFP journalists saw a hole in the skyscraper's side.

Plane debris seen at Beijing's tallest building: witness

LAHORE: Indian farmers under the banner of the Kisan Mazdoor Morcha are back on the streets against the proposed India-US trade deal, alleging that the deal would harm farmers, traders, laborers, and youth.&nbsp; The demonstrations were marked not only by slogans against the central government but also by the burning of effigies of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, reflecting the intensity of opposition among participating groups. Under the banner of the Samyukt Kisan Morcha (SKM), protesters also directed their anger toward the visiting US trade delegation, urging it to leave and warning that the proposed agreement could inflict lasting damage on Indian agriculture. From Amritsar to Bathinda, from Ferozepur to Gurdaspur, from Hoshiarpur to Jalandhar, from Kapurthala to Ludhiana, from Moga to Patiala, and from Rupnagar to Sangrur, the message remained remarkably consistent: cancel the proposed India-US trade agreement. These are not the hallmarks of a routine demonstration. They are the indicators of a growing confrontation between India&#39;s agrarian community and the state, a confrontation that many believed had subsided after the repeal of the controversial farm laws. At the heart of the agitation lies a simple but consequential question: how can India&#39;s predominantly small and marginal farmers compete with heavily subsidized and large-scale agricultural producers from advanced economies? Farmer leaders argue that American agriculture enjoys substantial government support, extensive mechanization, and economies of scale that are simply beyond the reach of most Indian cultivators. The average Indian farmer operates on a small landholding and is already grappling with rising production costs, mounting debt, fertilizer shortages and uncertain returns. In such circumstances, many fear that greater market access for foreign agricultural products could place additional pressure on already fragile farm incomes. Particular concern has been expressed regarding the potential influx of imported agricultural commodities, including pulses, fruits, vegetables, dairy products and other food items. Protest leaders warn that increased imports could undermine domestic producers and weaken local agricultural markets. They further allege that current trade policies prioritize multinational corporations and global commercial interests over the welfare of farmers and rural communities. Yet the trade agreement represents only one layer of a much broader set of concerns. Farmers have renewed longstanding demands for a legal guarantee of Minimum Support Price (MSP) for all crops, relief from agricultural debt, expanded crop insurance coverage and pension support for elderly farmers. They have also raised objections to fertilizer shortages and have demanded the withdrawal of the Electricity Amendment Bill 2025 and the Seed Bill 2025. Opposition to the installation of smart electricity meters has likewise emerged as a prominent issue within the movement. The protest leaders insist that the consequences of these policies extend beyond farmers alone. In their view, agricultural laborers, small traders, employees, and ordinary citizens whose livelihoods depend upon the rural economy also stand to be affected. The movement is therefore being framed not merely as a farmers&#39; agitation but as a broader defence of rural economic interests. Another significant dimension of the protests concerns the process through which agricultural decisions are made. Farmer organizations accuse the government of repeating a pattern that they believe characterized the now-repealed farm laws: pursuing major policy changes without meaningful consultation with stakeholders. Whether one agrees with this assessment or not, it has become a recurring theme throughout the demonstrations and reflects a deeper trust deficit between sections of the farming community and policymakers. Farmer leaders argue that years of unfulfilled commitments have deepened mistrust between the government and the agricultural community. That mistrust, they contend, is now spilling back onto the streets. The significance of the protests therefore lies not only in their scale but also in what they reveal. The coordinated demonstrations across 21 districts suggest that concerns over trade, agricultural reform and rural livelihoods continue to resonate deeply within Punjab&#39;s farming community. More importantly, they highlight what many participants describe as a widening rift between the state and the agrarian sector. The government, for its part, views international trade agreements as important instruments of economic growth and strategic engagement. Supporters of such agreements argue that they can unlock new opportunities, strengthen commercial ties and enhance India&#39;s global economic position. The challenge, however, lies in reconciling these objectives with the concerns of millions of small and marginal farmers who fear they may bear the costs of economic transformation without receiving adequate protection or support. That is the central question raised by the protests unfolding across Punjab today. Can India pursue ambitious global economic integration while ensuring that the interests of its agricultural communities are not compromised in the process? Until that question is convincingly answered, the voices emerging from Punjab&#39;s fields are unlikely to fade. If anything, the scale and intensity of the latest mobilization suggest that they are becoming harder to ignore.

India

Indian farmers stage coordinated protests across Punjab against the proposed India-US trade deal, demanding its cancellation and warning that it would undermine small farmers, rural livelihoods, and agricultural markets, while renewing calls for legal MSP guarantees and policy reforms.

Indian farmers are back on the streets protesting India-US trade deal

MANILA: A 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern Philippines on Friday, the United States Geological Survey said, less than three weeks after a major tremor in the same area left more than 80 people dead. The quake struck at 7:42 pm (1142 GMT) at a depth of 52.4 kilometres (33 miles) in the waters about 35 kilometres southwest of Mindanao island&#39;s Jose Abad Santos town, according to the USGS, which revised the magnitude from an initial 6.7. No tsunami alert was issued. Santa Maria town rescue official Jerson Talahig told AFP there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. &quot;It was kind of strong, but it was quick. We saw the table and some of the lights shaking,&quot; he said. The 7.8-magnitude tremor that hit Mindanao on June 8 brought down buildings, triggered landslides and displaced thousands on the southern island, while also setting off tsunami warnings across the region. The powerful quake forced the seabed upwards by two metres (6.6 feet) on a long stretch of the coast, pushing previously submerged coral above the water and extending the shoreline by as much as 200 metres in a geological phenomenon known as &quot;coastal uplift&quot;. A series of strong aftershocks rocked the area from about two hours after the first quake, including a 6.5 magnitude tremor. As of Friday, the June 8 quake had killed 81 people and injured more than 1,300. Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific &quot;Ring of Fire&quot;, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin. The Cotabato Trench, which lies as close as 50 kilometres (31 miles) off the coast of southern Mindanao, is the site of frequent seismic activity, including a &quot;swarm&quot; of thousands of mostly small earthquakes recorded in January.

Natural Disaster

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake strikes off the southern Philippines, causing shaking but no immediate casualties or tsunami, less than three weeks after a devastating 7.8-magnitude quake killed 81 people and injured more than 1,300.

Pakistan president approves finance bill 2026, enacts $67.5 billion budget

Latest News

Cape Verde extend World Cup fairytale, France roll on

Pakistan president approves finance bill 2026, enacts $67.5 billion budget

Venezuela earthquakes kill 920, tens of thousands missing

Rubio terms trilateral framework between US, Lebanon, Israel ‘beginning of the beginning’

'Not a single drop of water': Could India’s threat trigger a war with Pakistan?