As Pakistan tries to position itself as a peace broker and diplomatic power in the Middle East, it faces violence and political turmoil at home.

Regional elections in Pakistan-administered Kashmir have been marred by deadly clashes between protestors and security forces. A banned activist movement – the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) – called the protests to oppose the practice of reserving 12 legislative seats for candidates from India-administered Kashmir.

Meanwhile, an attack on a police checkpoint in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, near the Afghanistan border, has reportedly killed at least 11 officers. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. There has been a recent surge in violence along the border in recent months, as security forces battle the Pakistan Taliban or TTP.

And in Balochistan, militants groups are attacking economic targets, in response to claims that the Pakistani government has exploited resources and violated human rights. Activists and rights groups say thousands of ethnic Baloch people have disappeared over the past two decades, alleging that many were tortured and killed as part of the security forces’ operation against the long-running separatist insurgency. The government denies the charges.

Pakistan is still trying to act as mediator between the US and Iran, keeping lines of communication open with Tehran and the Trump administration.

We speak to the BBC’s South Asia specialist Anbarasan Ethirajan.

New episodes of the Global News Podcast are published twice a day. You can listen here: https://link.mgln.ai/GNP-YT

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00:00 Introduction
01:00 Protests in Pakistan-administered Kashmir
02:46 India and Pakistan
04:12 Violence on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border
05:57 Balochistan insurgency
08:12 Pakistan defence deals in the Gulf

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US President Donald Trump says the Board of Peace has reached an agreement for the “complete disarmament” of Hamas and other armed groups in Gaza.

A senior Hamas official has told the BBC they have agreed to a plan to completely disarm in Gaza and that an official statement will be released soon. Israel has yet to comment.

Trump said Israel would withdraw from Gaza “as disarmament is completed” and called the agreement “a critical step towards Gaza finally being governed by a new Palestinian government”.

The second phase of a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire plan includes the disarmament of Hamas.Subscribe to our channel here: https://bbc.in/bbcnews

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US President Donald Trump has vowed to hit Iran hard after a ballistic missile attack on US bases overnight in Jordan. It’s the first such attack since Trump ordered a halt to US strikes over the weekend.

In response, the American and Saudi Arabian forces quickly launched joint strikes on militant groups in Iraq who are aligned with Iran.

Twenty people were reportedly killed, including five Iranians. And the US President has threatened further strikes.

Iraq – which is a key US ally in the region – is furious, warning Washington and Riyadh it will defend its sovereignty against any further strikes.

On the Iran War Today, we bring you up to date with everything you need to know about the conflict and what might come next.

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The Health Secretary Matt Hancock has warned that the public to strictly abide by the current lockdown rules. He warned that the pressure on the NHS was now “very very bad”.

The Labour leader, Sir Keir Starmer has added his voice to government scientific advisers who who have warned that the current lockdown rules may not be tight enough to control the surge in the coronavirus pandemic.

Mr Hancock pledged that by the autumn every adult in the UK would have been offered a coronavirus vaccination.

Mishal Husain presents BBC News at Ten reporting by political correspondent Iain Watson, home editor Mark Easton and health correspondent Dominic Hughes.

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Amelia Dimoldenberg has spent more than a decade building Chicken Shop Date into a wildly popular YouTube series. But away …

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