By JON GAMBRELL and MUNIR AHMED, Associated Press

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Pakistan’s defense minister says his nation’s nuclear program “will be made available” to Saudi Arabia if needed under the countries’ new defense pact, marking the first specific acknowledgment that Islamabad had put the kingdom under its nuclear umbrella.

Defense Minister Khawaja Mohammad Asif’s comments underline the importance of the pact struck this week between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, which have had military ties for decades.

The move is seen by analysts as a signal to Israel, long believed to be the Middle East’s only nuclear-armed nation. It comes after Israel’s attack targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar last week killed six people and sparked new concerns among Gulf Arab nations about their safety as the Israel-Hamas war devastated the Gaza Strip and set the region on edge.

Minister’s remarks touch on the nuclear program

Speaking to Geo TV in an interview late Thursday night, Asif made the comments while answering a question on whether “the deterrence that Pakistan gets from nuclear weapons” will be made available to Saudi Arabia.

“Let me make one point clear about Pakistan’s nuclear capability: that capability was established long ago when we conducted tests. Since then, we have forces trained for the battlefield,” Asif said.

“What we have, and the capabilities we possess, will be made available to (Saudi Arabia) according to this agreement,” he added.

The two countries signed a defense deal Wednesday declaring that an attack on one nation would be an attack on both.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, with which both nations have monitoring agreements, did not immediately respond to a request for comment over the Pakistani defense minister’s remarks. Asif criticized Israel in the interview for not fully disclosing its suspected nuclear weapons program to the IAEA.

The pact comes after Israel’s attack on Qatar

Israel has not commented on the two nations’ defense pact. Pakistan long has criticized Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians, but has not been directly involved in any war against it. And while neither nation has diplomatic ties to Israel, American officials had sought to mediate a diplomatic recognition deal involving Saudi Arabia before Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel that sparked the war.

“We have not named any country whose attack would automatically trigger a retaliatory response. Neither has Saudi Arabia named any country, nor have we,” Asif said in the interview. “This is an umbrella arrangement offered to one another by both sides: if there is aggression against either party — from any side — it will be jointly defended, and the aggression will be met with a response.”

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The deal came a week after the attack in Doha as Gulf Arab countries weigh how to defend themselves. Israeli attacks since Oct. 7, 2023, have stretched across Iran, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Syria and Yemen.

Asked if others could join the pact, the minister added: “I can say the door is not closed to others.”

That idea was repeated by Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar.

“It is premature to say anything, but after this development, other countries have also expressed a desire for similar arrangements,” Dar told reporters in London in televised remarks. “Such things follow due process. Even with Saudi Arabia, it took several months to finalize.”

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have longstanding ties

Saudi Arabia has long been linked to Pakistan’s nuclear program. Retired Pakistani Brig. Gen. Feroz Hassan Khan has said Saudi Arabia provided “generous financial support to Pakistan that enabled the nuclear program to continue, especially when the country was under sanctions.” Pakistan faced U.S. sanctions for years over its pursuit of the bomb, and saw new ones imposed over its ballistic missile work at the end of the Biden administration.

Pakistan developed its nuclear weapons program to counter India’s atomic bombs. The two neighbors have fought multiple wars against each other, and again came close to open warfare after an attack on tourists in April in Indian-controlled Kashmir. India is believed to have an estimated 172 nuclear warheads, while Pakistan has 170, according to the U.S.-published Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.

Pakistan’s Shaheen 3 ballistic missile, believed to be able to carry both conventional and nuclear warheads, has a maximum range of 2,750 kilometers (1,700 miles) — making it capable of reaching Israel.

Ahmed reported from Islamabad.

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and Outrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/

By GEIR MOULSON and ANDREW WILKS, Associated Press

Estonia summoned a Russian diplomat to protest after three Russian fighter aircraft entered its airspace without permission Friday and stayed there for 12 minutes, the Foreign Ministry said, just over a week after NATO planes downed Russian drones over Poland and heightened fears that the war in Ukraine could spill over.

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Foreign Minister Margus Tsakhna said that Russia violated Estonian airspace four times this year “but today’s incursion, involving three fighter aircraft entering our airspace, is unprecedentedly brazen.”

Russian officials did not immediately comment.

Russia’s violation of Poland’s airspace was the most serious cross-border incident into a NATO member country since the war in Ukraine began with Russia’s all-out invasion in February 2022. Other alliance countries have reported similar incursions and drone crashes on their territory.

The developments have increasingly rattled European governments as U.S.-led efforts to stop the war in Ukraine have come to nothing.

The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas called Friday’s incursion “an extremely dangerous provocation” that “further escalates tensions in the region.”

Estonia, along with other Baltic states Lithuania and Latvia, are seen as being among the most likely targets if Russia one day decides to risk an attack on NATO. Neighboring Poland, though much larger, also feels vulnerable. All four countries are staunch supporters of Ukraine.

Italian F-35 fighter jets respond to Russian incursion

The Russian MIG-31 fighters entered Estonian airspace in the area of Vaindloo Island, which is a small island located in the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea, the Estonian military said in a separate statement.

The aircraft did not have flight plans and their transponders were turned off, the statement said, nor were the aircraft in two-way radio communication with Estonian air traffic services.

Italian Air Force F-35 fighter jets, currently deployed as part of the NATO Baltic Air Policing Mission, responded to the incident, according to the statement.

Separately, Maj. Taavi Karotamm, spokesperson for Estonian Defense Forces, told The Associated Press the Russian planes flew parallel to the Estonian border from East to West and did not head toward the country’s capital Tallinn.

“Russia’s increasingly extensive testing of boundaries and growing aggressiveness must be met with a swift increase in political and economic pressure,” Tsakhna, the foreign minister, said.

The Russian charge d’affaires was summoned and given a protest note, a ministry statement said.

British spy chief says ‘no evidence’ Putin wants peace

Earlier Friday, the head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency said there is “absolutely no evidence” that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin wants to negotiate peace in Ukraine.

Richard Moore, chief of the Secret Intelligence Service, or MI6 as it is more commonly known, said Putin was “stringing us along.”

“He seeks to impose his imperial will by all means at his disposal. But he cannot succeed,” Moore said. “Bluntly, Putin has bitten off more than he can chew. He thought he was going to win an easy victory. But he – and many others – underestimated the Ukrainians.”

The war has continued unabated in the three years since Russia invaded its neighbor. Ukraine has accepted proposals for a ceasefire and a summit meeting, but Moscow has demurred.

U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday during a state visit to the United Kingdom that Putin “ has really let me down ” in peace efforts.

Putin is ‘mortgaging the future’ of Russia

Moore was speaking at the British consulate in Istanbul after five years as head of MI6. He leaves the post at the end of September. The agency will then get its first female chief.

Moore said the invasion had strengthened Ukrainian national identity and accelerated its westward trajectory, as well as pushing Sweden and Finland to join NATO.

“Putin has sought to convince the world that Russian victory is inevitable. But he lies. He lies to the world. He lies to his people. Perhaps he even lies to himself,” Moore told a news conference.

He said that Putin was “mortgaging his country’s future for his own personal legacy and a distorted version of history” and the war was “accelerating this decline.”

Analysts say Putin believes he can outlast the political commitment of Ukraine’s Western partners and win a protracted war of attrition by wearing down Ukraine’s smaller army with sheer weight of numbers.

Ukraine, meanwhile, is racing to expand its defense cooperation with other countries and secure billions of dollars of investment in its domestic weapons industry.

MI6 unveils dark web portal

The spy chief was speaking as MI6 unveiled a dark web portal to allow potential intelligence providers to contact the service. Dubbed “ Silent Courier,” the secure messaging platform aims to recruit new spies for the U.K., including in Russia.

“To those men and women in Russia who have truths to share and the courage to share them, I invite you to contact MI6,” Moore said.

Not just Russians but “anyone, anywhere in the world” would be able to use the portal to offer sensitive information on terrorism or “hostile intelligence activity,” he said.

AP European security correspondent Emma Burrows in Vilnius, Lithuania contributed.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

By LINDSAY WHITEHURST, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Trump administration on Friday asked the Supreme Court to halt a judge’s order allowing transgender and nonbinary people to choose the sex marker on their passports.

The court order allows transgender or nonbinary people to request a male, female or “X” identification marker rather than being limited to the marker that matches the gender on their birth certificate.

The Justice Department argues the government can’t be required to use sex designations that it considers inaccurate on official documents.

The order came after a lawsuit challenging an executive order from President Donald Trump that required people choose “male” or “female” based on the designations on their birth certificate.

The plaintiffs said some transgender people had seen their applications returned with changed designations and others were afraid to submit applications.

The transgender actress Hunter Schafer said in February that her new passport had been issued with a male gender marker, even though she’d had female gender markers on her license and passport since she was a teenager.

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By KATHY McCORMACK and JOSH FUNK

Grammy award-winning country songwriter Brett James, whose string of top hits includes “Jesus Take the Wheel” by Carrie Underwood and “When The Sun Goes Down” by Kenny Chesney, died in a plane crash in North Carolina, authorities said Friday. He was 57.

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The small plane with three people aboard crashed Thursday afternoon “under unknown circumstances” in the woods in Franklin, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a preliminary report. There were no survivors, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol said in a statement.

James was on a Cirrus SR22T, which was registered to him under his legal name of Brett James Cornelius, according to information provided by the FAA. It was not known if he was the pilot. The patrol confirmed his death. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board said they will investigate the crash.

The other two people on the plane were Melody Carole and Meryl Maxwell Wilson, the patrol confirmed.

The plane had taken off from John C. Tune Airport in Nashville.

James was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2020. The organization posted an online statement of mourning.

FILE – Brett James, from left, Hillary Lindsey and Gordie Sampson hold their award for best country song, “Jesus Take the Wheel,” at the 49th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Feb. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian, File)

A native of Oklahoma City, James left medical school to pursue a musical career in Nashville, according his biography on the Hall of Fame’s site.

His first No. 1 hit was “Who I Am” in 2001, by Jessica Andrews. “Jesus, Take the Wheel,” which he co-wrote for Underwood, earned the 2006 Grammy for Best Country Song, among other honors.

James had more than 500 of his songs recorded, for albums with combined sales of more than 110 million copies, according to his Grand Ole Opry biography online.

Other artists who sang his songs include Faith Hill, Kelly Clarkson, Luke Bryan, Keith Urban, Nick Jonas and Meghan Trainor.

Additional hits include “Cowboy Casanova” by Underwood, “Out Last Night” by Chesney, and “Summer Nights” by Rascal Flatts.

“Heartbroken to hear of the loss of my friend Brett James tonight,” country singer Jason Aldean posted on X. “I had nothing but love and respect for that guy and he helped change my life. Honored to have met him and worked with him.”

James recorded his own album in 2020.

“At my stage in life, I’m not going to write about driving around in pickup trucks, chasing girls,” he was quoted as saying on the Opry site. “It needed to feel more classic, lyrically. They all wound up being love songs, but hopefully love songs with a twist, that haven’t all been written before.”

Associated Press reporter Kristin M. Hall in Nashville contributed to this story.