Muhammad Usman

<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PESHAWAR: Muhammad Sakhi leans over a steaming counter, lifting fresh plates of Mantu as customers line up shoulder to shoulder in the narrow basement restaurant. The air is warm with the scent of yogurt, spices, and rising steam.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Outside, the busy market of Peshawar, in Pakistan&rsquo;s northwestern frontier near the border with Afghanistan, roars with traffic, fruit vendors and old tea stalls but inside Sakhi&rsquo;s shop, the world slows to the rhythm of his hands &mdash; steady, graceful, familiar.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He has been doing this almost his entire life.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Now in his late 40s, Sakhi began working at the age of nine. &ldquo;I started this business in 1992,&rdquo; he tells Pakistan TV Digital, remembering the early days. &ldquo;I worked with someone else first and learned the craft from him.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The lessons stayed with him &mdash; how to knead dough the right way, how to balance spices, how to make food that feels like home. Today, his small kitchen is one of Peshawar&rsquo;s most well-known destinations for Afghani Mantu and the Afghani Burger, dishes tied to Afghan identity, memory and migration.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Mantu steamer sits tall and gleaming, each tier filled with dumplings carefully stuffed with minced meat, onions and warm Afghan spices. When cooked, Sakhi plates them with a wide, practiced motion: first the &ldquo;chaka,&rdquo; a thick Afghan yogurt; then a spoonful of warm lentils; a sprinkle of fresh salad; and finally, French fries, which melt slightly into the yogurt and sauce below. The dish is soft, rich and comforting &mdash; more than a meal, it is memory on a plate.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For Arshad Khan, a regular customer, it is the reason he keeps returning. &ldquo;Their specialty is the Afghani Burger and the Afghani Mantu,&rdquo; he says, watching Sakhi work.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;I personally love the Mantu because of the &lsquo;chaka&rsquo; they use. The taste... it&rsquo;s truly authentic Afghan flavor.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He explains that nothing about the dish is rushed. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s made very simply, steamed. We&rsquo;ve seen how they make it since we&rsquo;ve been coming here for a long time. The taste is excellent. It&rsquo;s really good. I love it!&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But if the Mantu is gentle, the Afghani Burger is bold. On the other side of the kitchen, naan warms on a hot griddle. Sakhi spreads it with fries, sliced meatloaf, sausages, smoked chicken, cheese, salad and a bright house-made tomato chutney.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">&ldquo;The Afghani Burger is the kind of food that... once someone tries it, they get hooked,&rdquo; he says with a smile. &ldquo;But only if the quality is good.&rdquo; Customization is part of the experience. &ldquo;We add sausages, meatloaf, smoked chicken, cheese... many items, brother.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If a customer asks for a special version, he adds more meat, more flavor, more heart.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People travel for this flavor.<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Naeem Ullah, holding a freshly wrapped burger, says, &ldquo;I&rsquo;ve traveled here from District Khyber. I&rsquo;ve been coming here for about three to four years. Their specialty, and what they&rsquo;re known for, is the Afghani Burger. I just had one, and it&rsquo;s incredibly tasty.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">He glances around the room. &ldquo;Their staff and the whole place are very clean and very high quality.&rdquo;<span style="font-size: 18px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: 400; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For Afghan families who crossed into Pakistan during difficult years, these dishes carry the taste of home. For Pakistanis, they have become beloved local favorites. For Sakhi, they are a life&rsquo;s work, served one plate at a time in the warmth of steam, spice and steady hands.

Afghan burgers from a shop in Peshawar (Muhammad Usman)

Culture

A crowded basement eatery fills with steam, spices, and conversation as customers line up for Mantu and Afghani burgers, foods carrying nostalgia, Afghan culinary tradition, and a devoted following built on flavor, memory, and generous hospitality.

In Peshawar, Afghani burger and Mantu keep refugee traditions alive

PESHAWAR: Leaving the historic city of Peshawar, the gateway to Pakistan&rsquo;s northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, the landscape shifts dramatically as you approach the legendary Khyber Pass. Rugged hills give way to scenes of vibrant life: grills ablaze, smoke rising, and chefs shouting over the crackle of hot coals. Welcome to Khyber, where centuries-old culinary traditions are alive and thriving in the open air, and one dish takes centre stage: Pattay Tikkay. This is no ordinary street barbecue. Pattay Tikkay is both, primitive and simple. At its heart are chunks of fresh liver, half-cooked over glowing coals before being carefully wrapped in parda &mdash; a thin sheet of caul fat. As this fat slowly melts on the grill, it bastes the meat, transforming each skewer into a rich and flavorful marvel. Additional cubes of fat are threaded alongside the liver, ensuring each mouthful is tasty, smoky, and deeply satisfying. Seasoning is simple: just salt. &ldquo;The taste you get here, you won&rsquo;t find anywhere else,&rdquo; says Mujeeb Ullah, who travels from Waziristan to satisfy his craving. For him, and many others, Pattay Tikkay is a journey worth making. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a food of strength and tradition.&rdquo; The tradition runs deep. Once eaten by warriors before battle and by tribesmen preparing for harsh winters, the dish is rooted in survival &mdash; high in energy, easy to cook over fire, and intensely nourishing, unchanged over generations. &ldquo;The secret is simple,&rdquo; explains Nasir Khan, a veteran cook grilling skewers outside his roadside stall. &ldquo;Good meat, good fat, and the right fire. We don&rsquo;t need spices to hide anything.&rdquo; Pattay Tikkay is more than food &mdash; it&rsquo;s a living history. It captures the minimalism and raw honesty of Pashtun cooking, where nothing is wasted and every ingredient is treated with care. As dusk settles over the hills and smoke curls into the twilight sky, the fires continue to burn. Tourists, truckers, and locals gather shoulder to shoulder around the grills, united by the scent of sizzling fat and the pull of tradition. In Khyber, cuisine is not simply eaten &mdash; it is inherited, honored, and passed down from one fire to the next. And at the heart of it all, wrapped only in fat and flame, lie the Pattay Tikkay.

Pattay Tikkay—liver skewers wrapped in fat and grilled over an open fire—deliver a simple, traditional flavour reflecting the core of Pashtun cuisine.

In Khyber, near Peshawar, Pattay Tikkay—liver skewers wrapped in fat and grilled over an open fire—offer a rich, traditional flavor that embodies the essence of Pashtun cuisine and the rugged mountain heritage of the region.

In Pakistan’s northwest, barbecue is rich, fat, and rooted in tradition 

SANAA: Yemen&#39;s Houthis arrested three local United Nations staff, including two women, accusing them of spying for Israel, a security source from the rebel group told AFP on Sunday. &quot;Two women working for the World Food Programme were taken from their homes on Saturday&quot; in the rebel-held capital Sanaa, the source said, adding that a Yemeni man also working for the WFP was arrested that night. &quot;Security and intelligence services in Sanaa still have a list of people wanted for collaborating with the Israeli and American enemy,&quot; the source added. They are the latest in a wave of arrests targeting UN and other NGO workers, with seven other local UN staffers arrested earlier this week on accusations of colluding with Israel. Last week, the rebels raided the UN compound in Sanaa, holding 20 staffers, including 15 foreigners, inside before they were released shortly afterward. Twelve of the 15 international staffers left the country on Wednesday. The United Nations on Friday said that the Huthis had arrested 55 of its personnel since 2021. Rebel leader Abdulmalik al-Huthi has claimed that UN agencies, including the WFP and UNICEF, have participated in &quot;aggressive espionage.&quot; He accused some of them of playing a role in Israeli strikes that targeted a cabinet meeting in August, killing the rebel prime minister. Since the Gaza war began in October 2023, Yemen&#39;s Huthis have repeatedly targeted both Israel and Red Sea shipping routes in a campaign they say is in solidarity with the Palestinians. Israel has responded with heavy strikes on rebel-held areas of Yemen.

Middle East

Houthis arrested three local United Nations staff, including two women, accusing them of spying for Israel, a security source from the rebel group told AFP on Sunday.

Yemen's rebels arrest three UN staff on charges of spying for Israel

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Sunday a successful final test of a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, praising the &ldquo;unique&rdquo; nuclear-capable weapon with a range of up to 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles). &ldquo;The decisive tests are now complete,&rdquo; Putin, who is waging an offensive in neighboring Ukraine, said in a video released by the Kremlin during a meeting with military officials. He ordered the preparation of &ldquo;infrastructure to put this weapon into service in the Russian armed forces.&rdquo; Putin called the missile a &ldquo;unique creation that no one else in the world possesses,&rdquo; adding that the Burevestnik has &ldquo;unlimited range.&rdquo; During the last test on Oct. 21, the missile spent &ldquo;about 15 hours&rdquo; flying 14,000 km, said Russia&rsquo;s military chief of staff Valery Gerasimov, adding that this was not the upper limit for the weapon. &ldquo;The technical characteristics of the Burevestnik allow it to be used with guaranteed precision against highly protected sites located at any distance,&rdquo; he said.Putin announced the Russian military&rsquo;s development of the missile in 2018.

In this pool photograph distributed by the Russian state agency Sputnik, Russia's President Vladimir Putin gives a speech at a meeting of the Russian Geographical Society in Moscow on October 23, 2025. (Photo by Kristina Kormilitsyna / POOL / AFP)

Europe

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Sunday a successful final test of a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, praising the “unique” nuclear-capable weapon with a range of up to 14,000 kilometers (8,700 miles).

Putin says Russia successfully tested new nuclear-capable cruise missile

Web Desk

KUALA LUMPUR: US President Donald Trump on Sunday praised Pakistan&rsquo;s top leadership, describing Field Marshal Asim Munir as a &ldquo;good man&rdquo; and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as a &ldquo;great leader&rdquo; during his address at the ASEAN Summit 2025 in Malaysia. Trump said he had received reports of possible tensions between Afghanistan and Pakistan, but credited the Pakistani leadership for handling the situation swiftly and peacefully.&nbsp;&quot;I will solve the Pakistan and Afghanistan conflict very quickly,&quot; he added. &ldquo;I am a proponent of peace across the world,&rdquo; Trump said, claiming to have helped halt eight wars so far. &ldquo;I stopped wars through trade,&rdquo; he added, emphasizing that the United States prefers trade over conflict. Earlier, Trump witnessed the signing of an expanded ceasefire agreement between Thailand and Cambodia following recent deadly border clashes.&nbsp; Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet signed the accord at a ceremony themed &ldquo;Delivering Peace,&rdquo; building on a truce reached three months earlier. &ldquo;This declaration, if fully implemented, will provide the building blocks for lasting peace,&rdquo; Hun Manet said, noting that border communities had suffered greatly from past hostilities. Trump also attended a series of trade discussions on the sidelines of the ASEAN Summit, where he signed new trade and mineral cooperation deals with both Thailand and Cambodia.

US President Donald Trump speaks during the 13th ASEAN - United States Summit as part of the 47th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Kuala Lumpur on October 26, 2025. (Photo by Vincent Thian / POOL / AFP)

Foreign Affairs

Politics

US President Donald Trump praised Pakistan’s leadership at the ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur, commending Field Marshal Asim Munir and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif; says, "I will solve the Pakistan and Afghanistan conflict very quickly."

Trump praises Field Marshal, PM Sharif; says will solve the Pak-Afghan conflict 'very quickly'

SEOUL: North Korea is circumventing UN sanctions by using cryptocurrency to trade raw materials and military weaponry, and by deploying large numbers of IT workers abroad to launder funds and generate income for Pyongyang, an international sanctions monitoring group reported. Under leader Kim Jong Un, Pyongyang has ramped up cyber operations in recent years, turning hacking into a key source of foreign currency in the face of biting sanctions over its nuclear and weapons programs. The Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring Team (MSMT) found that North Korea&#39;s sophisticated cyber force had stolen at least $1.65 billion from January to September 2025, including $1.4 billion from crypto exchange Bybit in February. That was in addition to North Korea&#39;s ill-gotten cryptocurrency gains of $1.2 billion in 2024, the monitoring group said in a report Wednesday. Pyongyang funnels the funds into &ldquo;the unlawful development of its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programs,&rdquo; it said. The report&#39;s authors found that North Korean officials used a type of cryptocurrency called stablecoin &ldquo;for procurement-related transactions, including the sale and transfer of military equipment and raw materials such as copper, which is used in munitions production.&rdquo; The country further evaded UN sanctions by sending IT workers to at least eight countries. Most went to China, but others were dispatched to Russia, Laos, Cambodia, Equatorial Guinea, Guinea, Nigeria and Tanzania. MSMT also found that North Korea was planning to send &ldquo;40,000 laborers to Russia, including several delegations of IT workers.&rdquo; Under UN sanctions, North Korean workers are prohibited from earning money abroad. North Korea has secured crucial backing from Russia in recent years after sending weapons and thousands of North Korean troops to fight alongside Moscow&#39;s forces against Ukraine. The MSMT also cited a 2024 report by 38 North, a specialist analysis program run by the Stimson Center think tank, stating that North Korean IT workers &mdash; hiding their nationalities &mdash; secured contracts to work on animation projects that were being steered by Japanese and US companies like Amazon and HBO Max. An Amazon spokesperson contacted by AFP stressed that the company had never hired any such workers directly. &ldquo;We had previously worked with an animation studio that hired subcontractors who were allegedly involved in the scheme; however, they were not Amazon employees and didn&#39;t have access to internal systems,&rdquo; the spokesperson said. HBO did not respond to an AFP request for comment. The report said the North Korean animators also worked for companies such as Pyongyang&#39;s state-owned animation studio SEK &mdash; previously reported to have assisted in Western projects such as 2007&#39;s &ldquo;The Simpsons Movie.&rdquo; Seoul&#39;s intelligence agency last year said North Korean operatives had used LinkedIn to pose as recruiters and approach South Koreans working at defense firms to obtain information on their technologies. The MSMT, launched last October, monitors and reports violations of UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea, though it operates independently of the UN. It comprises Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, South Korea, the UK and the United States.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un speaks at a Pyongyang memorial groundbreaking on Oct. 23, 2025, highlighting growing ties with Moscow. (AFP)

Crypto

North Korea is evading UN sanctions by using cryptocurrency for illicit trade and deploying IT workers overseas to launder money, funding its weapons programs and generating income for Pyongyang.


North Korea uses crypto, IT workers to evade sanctions: report

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will embark on a three-day visit to Saudi Arabia from October 27 to 29 to attend the ninth edition of the Future Investment Initiative (FII9) in Riyadh, the Foreign Office said in a statement. The visit comes at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman. The prime minister will be accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar, along with senior cabinet members.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1982296143901163983&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2Fnew%2F&sessionId=7148bc4b91b2ea6321467daf2cd415cbe7e9521f&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 925px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div>This year&rsquo;s FII is themed &ldquo;The Key to Prosperity: Unlocking New Frontiers of Growth.&rdquo; The event will bring together global leaders, investors, policymakers, and innovators to discuss emerging opportunities and global challenges &mdash; focusing on innovation, sustainability, economic inclusion, and geopolitical shifts. During his stay, PM Sharif is scheduled to hold meetings with the Saudi leadership to explore avenues for enhanced cooperation in trade, investment, energy, and human resource sectors. Discussions will also touch upon regional and global issues of mutual interest and concern. On the sidelines of the FII, the prime minister will engage with leaders from other participating countries and heads of international organizations to highlight Pakistan&rsquo;s investment potential and commitment to sustainable development, in line with the &ldquo;Think, Exchange, and Act&rdquo; model. The visit underscores Pakistan&rsquo;s resolve to strengthen economic diplomacy and foster strategic partnerships in investment, technology, and sustainable development.

The visit comes at the invitation of Saudi Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman, the Foreign Office said.

PM Sharif to lead Pakistan delegation to Saudi Arabia for Future Investment Initiative

BANGKOK: The year-long funeral ceremony of Thailand&#39;s former Queen Sirikit started on Sunday, with grieving royalists set to salute the procession bringing her remains to lie in state at Bangkok&#39;s Grand Palace. The royal family is venerated in Thailand, treated by many as semi-divine figures and lavished with glowing media coverage and gold-adorned portraits hanging in public spaces and private homes nationwide. Former Queen Sirikit, the mother of the current King Vajiralongkorn and wife of the nation&#39;s longest-reigning monarch, died late Friday at the age of 93. Digital advertising billboards in the Thai capital are displaying towering black tributes to the royal matriarch, while citizens have been asked to wear dark tones and curtail celebratory public events. The former queen&#39;s body is due late on Sunday afternoon to make the short trip from Chulalongkorn Hospital to the seat of the Thai royalty, where she will lie in state for one year before cremation. Throughout her 66-year marriage to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, Sirikit carved a dual reputation as a glittering fashionista and the nation&#39;s caring mother figure. Some Western media compared Sirikit favourably to former US first lady Jackie Kennedy in rapturous coverage of her tenure on the front pages of their glossy magazines. Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul delayed his departure to Malaysia on Saturday for a summit of ASEAN leaders where he was due to sign a peace deal with Cambodia, witnessed by US President Donald Trump. But he still jetted out for a quick turnaround endorsement of the pact, made after cross-border clashes in July killed more than 40 people and forced around 300,000 to flee their homes. &quot;I send my condolences to the Great People of Thailand,&quot; Trump said on social media, en route to Malaysia on Sunday morning. &quot;In order to accommodate everyone for this major event, we will be signing the Peace Deal immediately upon arrival.&quot; Sirikit&#39;s husband King Bhumibol Adulyadej&#39;s lengthy reign from 1946 until 2016 was bookended by World War II and Trump&#39;s first inauguration. Though Bhumibol&#39;s son inherited the throne about nine years ago, many still revere him as the nation&#39;s most steadfast figurehead -- and Sirikit as his constant companion. She retired from the public eye in recent years, her privacy sealed by strict lese majeste laws that limit what can be reported about the royal family. Sirikit had &quot;suffered several illnesses&quot; while hospitalized since 2019, including a blood infection this month, the palace said in a statement. But in her glamorous heyday in the 1960s she mingled with US presidents and superstars such as Elvis Presley, while at home touring Thailand to visit villagers in rural areas. She was referred to as the &quot;Mother of the Nation&quot; and her birthday was designated the country&#39;s Mothers&#39; Day.

Asia

Thailand’s former Queen Sirikit, revered as the “Mother of the Nation,” died at 93. Her year-long funeral began Sunday in Bangkok. Citizens mourn publicly, while the royal family remains central to Thailand’s cultural and political life.

Year-long funeral starts for Thailand's former queen Sirikit

BRUSSELS: The EU accused Meta and TikTok of breaking the bloc&#39;s digital content rules, putting the companies at risk of hefty fines. The European Union has a bolstered legal armoury that demands Big Tech prevent the spread of illegal content and ensure digital markets are open to competition. On Friday the European Commission said Meta&#39;s Facebook and Instagram platforms and TikTok breached the Digital Services Act (DSA), the EU&#39;s content moderation law attacked by US President Donald Trump&#39;s administration. It is the first time the commission has accused Meta of breaching the DSA, which the US giant rejected. Although the announcement includes TikTok, owned by China&#39;s ByteDance, it risks angering Trump, who has threatened to impose fresh tariffs on countries with regulations that seek to &quot;harm&quot; American technology. Despite his threats, the EU has said it will enforce its rules. Brussels said in its preliminary view that Meta and TikTok were failing to grant researchers &quot;adequate access to public data&quot;. EU regulators insist the rules are not just about transparency but ensuring researchers are able to carry out essential work, such as understanding how much children are exposed to dangerous content on popular platforms. TikTok insisted it was &quot;committed to transparency&quot;. &quot;We are reviewing the European Commission&#39;s findings, but requirements to ease data safeguards place the DSA and GDPR in direct tension,&quot; a TikTok spokesperson said, referring to the bloc&#39;s landmark data protection rules. &quot;If it is not possible to fully comply with both, we urge regulators to provide clarity on how these obligations should be reconciled,&quot; the spokesperson said. Risk of fines The EU also said Meta&#39;s platforms Facebook and Instagram were not providing user-friendly mechanisms to flag illegal content, and not providing effective systems for their users to challenge content-moderation decisions. Regulators accused Facebook and Instagram of suspected deceptive practices -- known as &quot;dark patterns&quot; when it comes to the &quot;Notice and Action&quot; mechanisms. &quot;Such practices can be confusing and dissuading,&quot; the commission said. The DSA stipulates that platforms must explain content-moderation decisions, which Facebook and Instagram have been failing to do, the EU said. Meta said: &quot;We disagree with any suggestion that we have breached the DSA&quot; and continued its talks with the EU. &quot;In the European Union, we have introduced changes to our content reporting options, appeals process, and data access tools since the DSA came into force and are confident that these solutions match what is required under the law,&quot; it said in a statement. &#39;Protecting free speech&#39;&nbsp; Meta and TikTok will now be able to access the EU&#39;s files and offer commitments that address Brussels&#39; concerns. If Brussels is not satisfied with the giants&#39; proposals, it can impose fines on the companies per breach per platform. EU digital spokesman Thomas Regnier pushed back on Friday against accusations, especially from the United States, that the DSA is a tool of censorship. &quot;When accused of censorship, we prove that the DSA is doing the opposite. It is protecting free speech, allowing citizens in the EU to fight back against unilateral content moderation decisions taken by Big Tech,&quot; he said. Both Meta and TikTok are under investigation in several EU probes, including one looking into concerns they are not doing enough to combat the addictive nature of their platforms for children.

Artificial Intelligence

The European Union has a bolstered legal armoury that demands Big Tech prevent the spread of illegal content and ensure digital markets are open to competition.

EU accuses Meta, TikTok of breaking digital content rules

TEHRAN: Iran declared one of the country&#39;s largest private banks bankrupt with its assets absorbed by the state, official media reported Saturday, in a rare move in the country grappling with international sanctions. Founded in 2012, Ayandeh Bank had a network of 270 branches across the country, including 150 in the capital Tehran alone. But it had more recently been crippled by debt, with accumulated losses amounting to the equivalent of about $5.2 billion and roughly $2.9 billion in debts, according to the ISNA news agency. On Saturday, queues of customers could be seen outside a former Ayandeh Bank branch in Tehran, with police also present, an AFP journalist reported. The state-owned Melli Bank has absorbed the assets of the now-defunct Ayandeh Bank, following a decision by the Central Bank, which has given assurances that depositors will be able to recover their savings. &quot;The transfer from Ayandeh Bank to Melli Bank is now complete,&quot; said Melli Bank director Abolfazl Najarzadeh on state television on Saturday. On Thursday, Iranian Economy Minister Ali Madanizadeh said Ayandeh Bank customers had &quot;nothing to worry about&quot;. An official at the Central Bank of Iran, Hamidreza Ghaniabadi, said &quot;bad debts&quot; had prompted the bankruptcy. He told Iran&#39;s IRNA news agency that &quot;more than 90 percent of Ayandeh Bank&#39;s funds were allocated either to parties related to the bank or to projects managed by the bank itself,&quot; which were never repaid. Ayandeh Bank had been behind lavish projects such as the immense Iran Mall shopping complex in Tehran, which includes an ice rink and cinemas. In addition to Ayandeh, five other banks -- Sarmayeh, Day, Sepah, Iran Zamin and Melal -- are also facing difficulty, according to Iran&#39;s Tasnim news agency. The United Nations reimposed tough sanctions on Iran in September after months of tense diplomacy aimed at reviving nuclear talks derailed since June, when Israeli and US forces bombed Iranian nuclear facilities. The sanctions are a &quot;snapback&quot; of measures frozen in 2015 when Iran agreed to major restrictions on its nuclear program&nbsp;under a deal that President Donald Trump withdrew from in 2018 during his first term.

Banking

The bank had recently been crippled by debt, with accumulated losses amounting to the equivalent of about $5.2 billion and roughly $2.9 billion in debts.

Iran declares major lender bankrupt

KWALE:Division and suspicion have gripped five villages near Kenya&#39;s coast as global powers from the United States to China eye a forest that is rich in rare earths -- minerals vital to high-tech and low-carbon industries. The US government under President Donald Trump has made securing critical minerals central to its diplomacy in Africa, including through a peace deal in the resource-rich Democratic Republic of Congo this year. Mrima Hill -- a forest of around 390 acres near Kenya&#39;s Indian Ocean coastline -- could be another target. It sits quietly on huge rare-earth deposits that Cortec Mining Kenya, a subsidiary of UK and Canada-based Pacific Wildcat Resources, estimated in 2013 were worth $62.4 billion, including large stores of niobium, used to strengthen steel. US official Marc Dillard visited the hill in June when he was serving as the interim ambassador to Kenya. Other foreigners also attempted to visit in recent months, including Chinese nationals who were turned away, according to Juma Koja, a guard for the Mrima Hill community. An Australian consortium of mining firms RareX and Iluka Resources announced a bid this year to mine rare earths on the site, and locals say land speculators are flocking to the area. Buried riches The interest is worrying the community, mostly of the Digo ethnic group, who fear they will be evicted or denied a share in future mining windfalls. The lush forest is home to their sacred shrines and has long supported farming and livelihoods, though today more than half the population lives in extreme poverty, according to government data. AFP was initially barred access to the forest. &quot;People come here with big cars... but we turn them away,&quot; said Koja. His stance stems from past encounters with prospective investors -- a process he says was not transparent. &quot;I do not want my people to be exploited,&quot; he said. Kenya revoked a mining licence in 2013 that had been granted to Cortec Mining Kenya, citing environmental and licensing irregularities. Cortec claimed in court that the licence was revoked after it refused to pay a bribe to then&ndash;mining minister Najib Balala, an allegation he denied. The company lost multiple legal efforts over the revocation. In 2019, Kenya imposed a temporary ban on new mining licences over concerns about corruption and environmental degradation. But it now sees a major opportunity, particularly as China -- the biggest source of rare earths -- increasingly limits its exports. Kenya&#39;s mining ministry announced &quot;bold reforms&quot; this year, including tax breaks and improved licensing transparency, aimed at attracting investors and boosting the sector from 0.8 percent of GDP to 10 percent by 2030. Daniel Weru Ichang&#39;i, a retired economic geology professor at the University of Nairobi, said Kenya had a long way to go, especially in gathering reliable data on its resources. &quot;There&#39;s a romantic view that mining is an easy area, and one can get rich quickly... We need to sober up,&quot; he told AFP. &quot;Corruption makes this area, which is very high-risk, less attractive to invest in.&quot; Competition between the West and China is driving up prices, but if the country wants to profit, it &quot;must stick to the law, and individual interests must be subjugated to that of the nation,&quot; he said. &#39;Mrima is our life&#39; On Mrima Hill, locals worry for their livelihoods, sacred shrines, medicinal plants, and the forest they have known all their lives. &quot;This Mrima is our life... Where will we be taken?&quot; said Mohammed Riko, 64, vice chairman of the Mrima Hill Community Forest Association. Koja is concerned about the loss of unique indigenous trees like the giant orchid, already a problem before mining has even started. &quot;In my heart I am crying. This Mrima has endangered species that we are losing,&quot; he said. But others, like Domitilla Mueni, treasurer of the Mrima Hill association, see an opportunity. She has been developing her land -- planting trees, farming -- in order to push up the value when mining companies come to buy. &quot;Why should we die poor while we have minerals?&quot; she said.

Business

The US government under President Donald Trump has made securing critical minerals central to its diplomacy in Africa, including through a peace deal in the resource-rich Congo this year.

Articles by Muhammad Usman