US President Donald Trump said on Saturday he had asked mixed martial arts promoter Dana White to serve as White House press secretary and called on him to bring some fighters along as assistants “even though some are not from our country.”
White, chief executive of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, is a “violent Fighter and Warrior,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
Trump asked for six current or former UFC titleholders to join White, including two athletes from Russia’s Dagestan region, Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov; Americans Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier and “Kayla Harris,” likely a reference to Kayla Harrison; and Amanda Nunes, a Brazilian native who became an American citizen last year.
“We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left,” Trump wrote. White and UFC’s parent company, TKO Group Holdings, did not immediately return requests for comment.
Last month, White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia was “let go”, less than a week after she had taken on the role after Trump said he had told her to reconsider the job following public scrutiny.
“I told her: ‘I think you’re better off being happy, and I’m not sure you can ever be happy in this stuff.’ There’s nothing easy about this stuff,” Trump told reporters.
Zacharia had acknowledged that she had failed the bar exam, a prerequisite for practising law in the United States. She had earlier described herself as a lawyer during television appearances and on social media, and listed herself as general counsel of a California-based conservative nonprofit.
Thousands of people protested across France on Saturday in a new show of anger against the government, with clashes erupting between police and some protesters in Paris despite a lower turnout than in previous weeks.
The protests marked the fourth consecutive weekend of demonstrations against the rising cost of living, which have erupted as the country heads to presidential elections in five months’ time, where the far right sees its best chance yet to win power.
A total of 146,000 people took part in demonstrations across France on Saturday, including 46,000 in Paris, the interior ministry said. Unions put the figure at 250,000 protesters nationwide, with 75,000 in the capital.
A protestor runs through tear gas during a demonstration in Paris on November 7, 2026. — AFP
These figures were lower than the previous three weekends of protests but also came after a mass union protest on Thursday that rallied 575,000 people, according to the authorities — 1.6 million according to unions.
At the end of the protest in Paris, police used tear gas against individuals throwing projectiles and homemade fireworks at the security forces, an AFP correspondent said.
Police said a group of 200 violent individuals attacked officers as they were arresting a man who had set fire to a trash bin in the square.
Banned protests thwarted
Some 70,000 members of the security forces were deployed on Saturday, ready to move in quickly after mass protests on October 17 degenerated into the worst riots seen in France in years.
Unions had staged a march along a traditional route, from the Place de la Republique in central Paris to Place de la Nation in the east of the city where the clashes erupted at the end of the protest.
But the Yellow Vests movement — a group whose protests shook Emmanuel Macron in the early years of his presidency almost a decade ago — called for a rival demonstration at the Place de la Concorde in central Paris, a stone’s throw from the president’s Élysée Palace and the lower house of parliament.
This action has been banned by the authorities, and on Saturday a large police presence prevented protesters from getting close. Some 100 people who arrived were surrounded by police and one of the movement’s coordinators, Benjamin Ball, and its spokeswoman, Azelma Sigaux, were among those arrested by police, an AFP reporter said.
In the southeastern city of Lyon, police fired tear gas to disperse several hundred people in the city centre blocking a road during an unauthorised gathering.
‘This can’t go on’
The wave of demonstrations was sparked by a movement in late September by high school students angered by conditions at their establishments. These teens, joined by university students, remain at the heart of the protests.
“Today is a date that helps keep the pressure on,” said Sabine Kharbach, spokeswoman of the Student Union. “Many young people are mobilising because the government’s responses remain unsatisfactory.”
The police response has faced criticism for being heavy-handed, with dozens of internal investigations launched into allegations of brutality against demonstrators.
A protestor shoots fireworks during a demonstration in Paris, France on November 7, 2026. — AFP
Local businesses are also feeling the pain. “So this can’t go on, otherwise I think it will be a disaster before long,” said Paris shop manager Jean Emile Moulinier. His store is around the main protest route and he said hardly any customers brave security barricades on protest weekends.
Shop windows of stores in Paris and other cities were again barricaded with wooden shutters and often closed for the day to prevent potential ransacking.
The government is grappling with ways to find solutions but is constrained by France’s gigantic debt pile, which is already spooking markets.
Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu is to meet unions and employer federation representatives on Monday to discuss wages and purchasing power.
But student and teacher groups in France have called for a new strike on Tuesday to keep pressure on the government for more education spending, saying they were “in a position of strength [and] the government in a position of weakness and starting to yield”.
Polls indicate that far-right candidate Marine Le Pen is the favourite to win the Elysee in 2027, with her main rival currently not one of Macron’s centrist former allies but hard-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon.
Melenchon, addressing 20,000 at a rally outside Paris on Saturday, declared “we are going to win” and “everything must change”.
GWADAR: Balochistan Planning Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmad Buledi has said Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti’s recent remarks regarding the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) had been presented out of context.
Buledi’s clarification comes over a week after CM Bugti acknowledged shortcomings in FWO’s performance while responding to remarks made by National Party leader Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, who had also criticised the entity.
Speaking on a point of order in the Balochistan Assembly in late October, Baloch, a former chief minister, had criticised the contracting process for road projects and alleged that the FWO had awarded work according to its own preferences.
In reply, CM Bugti expressed his dissatisfaction with the FWO’s performance, adding that the elected provincial assembly shared these concerns. The chief minister said even roads constructed in his own area had deteriorated.
He said the organisation was awarded projects with the expectation of quality work, but claimed that the entity handed projects to smaller subcontractors, resulting in poor execution.
Regarding projects by the National Highways Authority (NHA), Bugti said security-related challenges also affected some road schemes and that the government was addressing those issues.
On Friday, addressing an informal dialogue programme at the Turbat Press Club auditorium, Buledi emphasised that the FWO had rendered invaluable services for the construction of highways in Balochistan.
Buledi also highlighted the Balochistan government’s efforts to prioritise infrastructure development, education, healthcare and youth employment.
Reiterating his position on the broader situation and development agenda in Balochistan, Buledi defended the FWO, terming its overall performance in the province commendable.
Criticising certain political opponents, the PPP leader claimed they opposed the province’s progress and had attempted to create negative narratives around infrastructure projects.
He cited their opposition to the Hub Industrial Zone, Gwadar Port, Mirani Dam, Gishkor Dam, and the South Balochistan Package, accusing them of misleading the public for political gain despite these initiatives being vital for regional prosperity.
In August, a high-level meeting of the Communication and Works (C&W) Department reviewed progress on Phase I and II of road-sector projects launched across the province under the Balochistan Socio-Economic Development Programme.
Chairing the meeting, C&W Secretary Babar Khan expressed dissatisfaction over the slow pace of work on certain critical projects.
Poland’s police said on Saturday that six people were killed and around a dozen wounded after a gunman opened fire in the historic centre of its second city, Krakow.
A man drove a car onto Krakow’s Main Square and began shooting at random people, said police. Officers shot a suspect who is now in custody, they added.
“As a result of the incident, five people were killed and around a dozen others were wounded,” a Krakow police spokesman told AFP by phone.
“The perpetrator was shot by police” and was transported to a hospital, regional police said on X.
The gunman acted alone and is Polish, a police spokeswoman told AFP.
“There is one perpetrator; it is a Polish man,” she said by phone.
An AFP reporter on site noted ambulances and multiple police cars at the scene as police cordoned off the area — one of Poland’s landmark tourist hotspots popular with locals and foreign visitors.
“The police are investigating the background and all the circumstances of the attack,” said Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk, calling it “a tragic shooting”.
“I saw a man shooting at people and walking around the square,” Annette, a woman in her sixties, told AFP. “It’s a tragedy for Krakow, we’ve never seen anything like this before,” she added.
The EU’s top diplomat called the incident a “tragedy”, adding that “Poland does not stand alone”.
“The tragic loss of life in the shooting in Krakow is a tragedy that will be felt far beyond Poland,” Kaja Kallas said on X. “My thoughts are with the victims and their families and the first responders.”
‘Dramatic events’
Deadly shootings are rare in Poland, a European Union and Nato member with 38 million people. But the country was on high alert following a series of stabbings in October, which Tusk denounced as a “cult of violence”.
Warsaw, a staunch ally of Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, has repeatedly warned of Russian sabotage and hybrid warfare on Polish soil, accusations rejected by Moscow.
The historic city of Krakow, in southern Poland, which was once Poland’s capital, attracts millions of tourists annually. In 2025, it was visited by 16.2 million people, the city said.
Poland’s conservative-nationalist president Karol Nawrocki said on X he was “in contact with the relevant authorities” and awaiting “a full explanation of the circumstances surrounding these dramatic events”.
“The safety of Poles is an absolute priority,” he added.
ISLAMABAD – Lawyer and human rights activist Imaan Mazari and her husband, Hadi Ali Chattha, on Friday challenged their convictions in the security breach case before the Islamabad High Court (IHC), seeking to have the verdicts set aside.
ISLAMABAD – The STEM Careers Programme celebrated the achievements of 23 Pakistani students who represented the country at the 2026 International Science Olympiads (ISOs), securing 1 Silver Medal, 6 Bronze Medals, 5 Honourable Mentions, 1 Certificate of Merit and 1 Certificate of Recognition across Biology, Chemistry, Physics,.
ISLAMABAD – The National Cyber Crime Investigation Agency (NCCIA) continued physical recruitment tests at F-9 Park Islamabad for the third consecutive day on Friday, with drones and Safe City cameras being used to monitor the process and ensure transparency.
ISLAMABAD – The Federal Government of Pakistan, through the Ministry of Energy (Power Division), is committed to promoting digitalisation, transparency and the delivery of efficient, modern and customer-friendly services across the power sector.
Rawalpindi – The Rawal Foundation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Central Jail Rawalpindi to provide free medical treatment to jail employees and their children.
