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At least 28 people have been killed since protests began in June, as the region braces for a major protest march.

Islamabad, Pakistan – At least nine people were killed in clashes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on Tuesday, as a planned protest march to the region’s capital, Muzaffarabad, temporarily stalled amid rising tensions.

Security personnel raided a house on the outskirts of Rawalakot town in the region’s Poonch district after receiving a tip-off about a weapons cache, but came under fire, officials said. An officer was killed.

In a separate clash in Sudhnoti district, protesters blocked a security convoy, which officials said came under a barrage of stones and gunfire. Seven protesters and a police officer were killed, according to authorities. Police officials have said that security personnel acted in self-defence.

Deadly protests have periodically rocked the region since the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC), a group that is leading a major protest movement, was proscribed under anti-terrorism laws on June 5.

Protesters wait in Rawalkot before march on Muzaffarabad

Meanwhile, protesters gathered under the JAAC’s umbrella were still in Rawalkot on Wednesday evening, despite announcing they would set off at 2pm on Wednesday, officials told Al Jazeera. The government has severely restricted internet and phone access in the region, making it harder to reach the protesters directly.

Munir Qureshi, deputy commissioner of Muzaffarabad, said the situation in the capital and surrounding areas was calm.

“Muzaffarabad and its adjoining areas are all clear, and there is no disturbance to public life,” he told Al Jazeera. “Internet access is limited due to the security situation, but otherwise the situation is normal and there is no protest or violence.”

Liaqat Ali Malik, inspector general of police for Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), told Al Jazeera the crowd in Rawalakot was estimated at between 3,000 and 4,000 people.

“There has been no violence today,” he said.

But tensions continue to simmer. The current unrest stems from a long-running dispute over political representation.

Political dispute

At the centre of the dispute are 12 seats in the region’s legislature reserved for Kashmiri refugees who migrated to Pakistan after 1947 and now live outside the region.

The JAAC argues the arrangement allows Pakistan-based political parties to influence the government of Pakistan-administered Kashmir while diverting development funds intended for the region.

Last month, the Supreme Court of the region ruled that the seats are constitutionally protected and cannot be abolished without a constitutional amendment, a decision that hardened the group’s protest campaign.

Elections in the region are scheduled for July 27.

At least 28 people have been killed since protests began on June 4, according to officials, while 79 have been injured.

Authorities said about 4,000 police and paramilitary personnel have been deployed across the region before the planned march to Muzaffarabad.

Khan, the Poonch commissioner, said marchers would not be allowed to pass through Rawalakot and would instead have to use mountain trails to reach Muzaffarabad.

In contrast to heat pumps, continuing record sales of electric cars indicate they are all but set to replace their petrol and diesel counterparts in the coming years on UK roads.

Emma Pinchbeck, CEO of the Climate Change Committee, praised the improvement in greener transport.

“We’ve made big progress on things like electric vehicles, where one in four cars being bought in the UK today is now an EV.”

She said the growth had been accelerated by the Iran fuel crisis, which has seen significant increases in petrol and diesel prices at the pump pushing people to seek out other options.

“We can see in the numbers what people want – cheap cars and cars that will save them money, particularly as fossil fuels are volatile,” she said.

But the industry body, Society of Motor Manufacturers (SMMT), said most of this demand had been brought about by huge discounts offered by car manufacturers.

“This has cost the industry more than £10 billion since 2024 – an unsustainable amount when that money should be going into R&D, manufacturing and the workforce,” said Mike Hawes, CEO of SMMT.

It supported the government’s plan to weaken its Zero Emission Vehicles (ZEV) mandate – which sets a target for number of EVs manufacturers produce and a penalty for failing to meet that target.

The UKCCC disagreed and urged the government to keep the policy.

Ship tracking data shows sharp fall in transits as US and Iranian officials hold talks to save fragile peace framework.

Shipping in the Strait of Hormuz has plunged following Iran’s announcement that it has closed the waterway once again over Israel’s strikes on Lebanon, according to ship tracking data.

A total of 12 vessels crossed the strait on Sunday, down from 35 transits the previous day, an analysis by maritime intelligence company Windward showed on Sunday.

Five of eight vessels entering the strait had their Automatic Identification Systems turned off, according to Windward.

“The current traffic profile: dark, sanctioned, Iranian-linked, resembling the late-blockade baseline more than a functioning open strait,” Windward said in a post on X.

Maritime traffic in the strait had been showing signs of recovery since US President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding on ending the US-Israel war on Iran.

Twenty-five vessels transited the strait on Thursday, the highest number since mid-April, according to data from maritime intelligence provider Kpler.

Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps on Saturday declared the waterway shut, citing Israeli “crimes” in Lebanon and the failure of the US to maintain a ceasefire in the country.

US Central Command (CENTCOM) on Saturday denied that Iran had closed the strait, which normally carries about one-fifth of global oil and liquified natural gas supplies, saying that safe passage through the waterway remained “intact”, with 55 merchant ships transiting that day.

The cause of the discrepancy between the transit figures provided by CENTCOM and commercial ship tracking providers is unclear.

US and Iranian negotiators on Sunday held make-or-break talks in Switzerland as the conflict in Lebanon threatened to derail efforts to turn their 60-day ceasefire extension into a permanent peace deal.

In a briefing to Iranian media after the talks, Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said the sides had discussed the safe passage of ships through the strait, and “a mechanism was set up, which is important”.

Despite renewed tensions between Washington and Tehran and signs of slowing traffic in the strait, oil prices moved lower on Monday morning in Asia.

Brent crude, the primary international benchmark, was down about 0.9 percent as of 01:30 GMT, at just below $80 a barrel.

Asia’s major stock markets opened higher, with key indices in Japan, South Korea and Taiwan making substantial gains.

Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 and Seoul’s Kospi were up 1.8 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively, while the Taiex in Taipei surged 2.6 percent.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index bucked the rally, dipping 0.7 percent.

WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans appeared increasingly unlikely to meet their self-imposed deadline for passing a roughly $70-billion immigration enforcement bill this week as disputes over security funding for the White House and the Trump administration’s $1.8-trillion settlement fund effectively derailed progress.

Republicans were already expected to abandon $1 billion in security money for the White House complex and President Trump’s ballroom amid backlash from members of their own party. But then questions about the settlement fund added to some of the senator’s concerns. They are questioning who would get the money.

Republican senators met with acting Atty. Gen. Todd Blanche on Thursday as they worked to finalize the bill’s text and whether to put parameters on the settlement, which was designed to compensate Trump’s allies who believe they have been politically persecuted. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) told reporters that senators had questions and wanted to know “how we might make sure that it’s fenced in appropriately.”

But senators who emerged from the meeting were tight-lipped and indicated that lawmakers would not hold a vote on the package before leaving Washington for a Memorial Day break, risking failure to meet Trump’s June 1 deadline.

Asked about a vote this week, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) responded, “I don’t even know.” Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) was more blunt: “We’re going home,” he said.

The last-minute scramble comes as Democrats have criticized Republicans for trying to fund Trump’s ballroom when voters are concerned about basic affordability issues — and as some GOP lawmakers have grown increasingly frustrated with Trump. Several GOP senators have spoken out against the settlement, which was announced this week, and many were upset by the president’s endorsement Tuesday of Texas Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton in the party primary runoff next week against Sen. John Cornyn.

Asked Thursday at the White House if he was losing control of the Senate, Trump replied: “I don’t know, I really don’t know. I can tell you — I only do what’s right.”

Possible parameters on Trump’s settlement fund

The “anti-weaponization” fund, part of a settlement that resolves Trump’s lawsuit against the IRS over the leak of his tax returns, unexpectedly became one of the main complications in the bill. Democrats said they would force votes to block it or place restrictions on it.

Democrats have an opening because Republicans are trying to pass the immigration enforcement bill through a complicated budget process that requires a long series of amendment votes. Democrats are considering multiple amendments, potentially to block that new fund outright or to ban any payments to Trump supporters who harmed law enforcement officers in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Presenting a united front, Democrats from both the House and Senate rallied on the Capitol steps Thursday to show their opposition. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer of New York said the amendment process “will give Republicans countless chances to do the right thing.”

He added that if they declined to make changes, it would show voters that “Ballroom Republicans are not working for you, they are busy fighting for Trump.”

Those amendments, along with others, could pass as a growing number of Republicans have voiced reservations about the fund. So Republicans are now discussing their own last-minute additions to head that off, potentially placing some parameters on the settlement and who could receive compensation, according to two people with knowledge of the private discussions who requested anonymity to discuss them.

It was unclear how any Senate changes would be received in the House. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Wednesday that the House will pass the bill “whatever form it takes.”

Tensions rise between Senate and White House

As Republicans challenged the settlement and parts of his agenda, Trump unloaded on the Senate in a social media post on Wednesday.

He urged Republicans to fire the Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, who said over the weekend that parts of the $1-billion security proposal cannot remain in the ICE and Border Patrol bill. Trump also renewed his long-standing calls for the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, a Republican bill that would require all voters to prove U.S. citizenship, and to end the Senate filibuster.

Republicans need to “get smart and tough,” Trump said, or “you’ll all be looking for a job much sooner than you thought possible!”

While they have been loyal to Trump on most issues, Senate Republicans have resisted his repeated calls — even in his first term — to kill the filibuster, which triggers a 60-vote threshold in the Senate.

Hanging over the growing GOP rift is Trump’s surprise endorsement of Paxton. That intervention has Republican senators privately fuming that it could cost them their majority in November as they view the incumbent, Cornyn, as the better candidate in the November general election.

Secret Service request falters

Under the Secret Service’s request, about $220 million would fund security improvements related to the ballroom. The rest would go for a new screening center for visitors, training and other security measures.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) said the effort to add the security package to the bill was a “bad idea.” The bill should not have included the other security improvements, he said, “because it’s just giving everybody the ‘billion-dollar ballroom.’”

Several other Republicans in the House and Senate have questioned the request, and senators left a briefing with the director of the Secret Service last week saying they needed a lot more information.

People “can’t afford groceries and gasoline and healthcare, and we’re going to do a billion dollars for a ballroom?” asked Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost reelection in his GOP primary on Saturday after Trump endorsed one of his opponents.

Left in the bill is the money for ICE and Border Patrol, which Democrats have blocked for months in protest of the administration’s immigration enforcement crackdown.

Democrats demanded changes for the agencies, but negotiations with the White House yielded little progress. So Republicans are using the complicated budget maneuver called reconciliation — the same process that allowed them to pass Trump’s tax and spending cuts bill last year — to fund the agencies through the end of Trump’s term with a simple majority and no Democratic votes.

Still, passage requires sign-off from the parliamentarian and unity from Republicans.

Jalonick, Freking and Groves write for the Associated Press. AP writers Collin Binkley, Lisa Mascaro and Joey Cappelletti contributed to this report.

A BRAND new lido could be coming to one of the UK’s most beautiful cities under new plans.

A formal bid has been made to transform an old leisure centre into a prime swim spot in the city of Winchester.

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Winchester’s River Park Leisure Centre, which closed in 2021, would instead have an outdoor swimming pool, as well as lido a splash pad and food and drink stands.

The lido designs have been created by Design Engine Architects, with previous projects including university campuses and private homes across the UK.

The bid has been put to Winchester City Council by Sea Lanes which runs the lido in nearby Brighton and Hilsea Lido in Portsmouth.

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Harry Smith, director of Sea Lanes, said: “We submitted our bid as part of the consultation for the site. We worked with the (Winchester Lido) community group, which really supported the bid.

“We’re really excited to bring a lido to Winchester. I think the decision will be soon, if it’s still on track, and then we will be working with the city if we get the opportunity to pursue the project.

“There’s huge community support for the lido. We have worked with the community group, which contacted us about the site. It is something that has been bubbling around for a while.”

The plan has been met with positivity from locals.

On a Facebook post announcing the news, one said: “Absolutely stunning! Can’t wait to hear more about it!”

Another wrote: “Hard to imagine how this would not be good for everyone in Winchester. Wonderful first visual.”

A third added: “I swam in Hilsea Lido the other day – fantastic. This would be great.”

There was previously an open-air swimming lido in Winchester on Worthy Lane, which opened in the 1930s and closed in the late 1970s – since then, Winchester hasn’t had a lido.

Nearby Hilsea Lido had been closed since 2022 but reopened on May 2 after a £7.6million revamp.

New showers and toilets, including a Changing Places toilet, and a sauna were added as part of the upgrades.

Formerly a saltwater pool, the 220-foot lido now uses unheated chlorinated fresh water.

The lido served as a training centre for the Team GB diving team ahead of the 1936 and 1952 Olympics, and it also featured as a filming location for The Who’s 1975 film Tommy.

Compared to their second-half showing against England, where they bagged two late tries for a bonus-point, Wales could muster very little after the break in Belfast.

Ireland were utterly dominant with possession and territory, with last year’s player of the championship Aoife Wafer leading the charge.

Travelling fans’ only consolation was a 78th minute Jasmine Joyce try but it was not enough to prevent Wales from leaving empty handed.

“We’re ranked 12th in the world, we played the team ranked 5th in the world and you can clearly see when you’re away from home, you’ve got to be a lot more clinical,” said Wales head coach Sean Lynn.

“We said in the huddle at the end of the game, we’ve got to be better with our composure and accuracy.

“I wouldn’t have said the girls dropped their heads. They stuck at it, stuck to their processes, but Ireland kept the ball really well.

“The girls give everything out there and when you see them upset after the game it’s because they care, they want to be winning, so it is tough.”