New York | Pakistan

Two people were stabbed in New York on Thursday, with police saying that they had arrested a suspect and were evaluating the incident as a possible hate crime. The two victims, who were targeted in separate attacks near Manhattan’s Central Park, were “an Asian male and a Jewish male,” New York City police commissioner Jessica Tisch said on X, adding that they were both hospitalised and “expected to survive”. The New York Police Department (NYPD) arrested the suspect, identified as 51-year-old Raul Morales. “Detectives are continuing to work the case and determine motive, but according to victim and witness statements, Morales yelled ‘Allahu Akbar’ during both attacks,” Tisch said. “The NYPD is currently evaluating whether this is a potential hate crime.” She further said that “at this time, there is no known link between Morales and either of the victims, nor between the victims and each other”. Tisch added that the suspect has no record of psychiatric illness in police records. But New York Mayor Zohran Mamd...

New York became the first US state on Tuesday to halt construction of large new data centres, imposing a one-year moratorium as concerns grow that the facilities driving the artificial-intelligence boom are raising power costs, straining water supplies and burdening local communities. The moratorium positions New York at the forefront of a growing national debate over how to manage the infrastructure needed to support AI. While technology companies are racing to build new data centers, lawmakers and regulators in dozens of states are weighing measures to limit their effect on electricity grids, utility bills and local communities. “As data centre development threatens to hike up utility bills, deplete our natural resources, and create uncertainty for New Yorkers, it’s my responsibility to take action and lead,” said New York Governor Kathy Hochul. She will also pursue legislation to repeal sales tax exemptions for large data centres, Hochul added. The construction ban will apply to data centres that use 50 me...

New York moratorium highlights US debate over AI data centres’ impact on power grids, bills and communities

WASHINGTON: Police in New York City said on Thursday a man died from severe burns near the United Nations headquarters, and activists and a media outlet of exiled Tibetans identified him as a Tibetan who set himself on fire in an appeal for independence. A New York City Police Department spokesman said police, responding to an emergency call made around 6:30pm ET (2230 GMT) on Thursday, found the man badly burned. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital where he was pronounced dead, police said, adding an investigation was ongoing. Police did not name the man and did not provide any potential motive for his action. Voice of Tibet, a media outlet of exiled Tibetans, said Tibetan activist Lobga Rangzen “self-immolated outside the UN headquarters in New York after a live appeal for Tibetan independence and unity”. He was an Uber driver, local news site amNewYork reported. The website quoted fellow Uber driver Lobsang Paljor as saying he knew Rangzen from gatherings in the Tibetan community. A spokesperson for UN Secre...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar arrived in New York on Tuesday for an official visit scheduled from May 26 to 28, according to the Foreign Office.

ISLAMABAD - Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister (DPM/FM), Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar will depart for New York on Monday night to participate in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Open Debate on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security” following the conclusion of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will depart from Beijing on Tuesday for New York to participate in UN meetings, according to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In New York, Dar is set to participate in the United Nations Security Council’s open debate on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security: Upholding the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter and Strengthening the UN-centred International System.” The debate will be chaired by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. “Pakistan welcomes this timely initiative by China, which highlights the importance of strengthening multilateralism and upholding the central role of the United Nations in addressing today’s complex global challenges,” the ministry’s press release stated. On Thursday, Dar is scheduled to attend a meeting of the Group of Friends on Global Governance. The theme of the meeting is “Reforming and Improving Global Governance, Working Together to Address Global Challenges.” The group comprises 43 countri...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister (DPM/FM), Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar, will depart for New York on Monday night to participate in the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) Open Debate on “Maintenance of International Peace and Security” following the conclusion of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s high-level engagements.

A plane carrying dozens of people collided with a fire truck early on Monday on a runway at New York’s LaGuardia airport, killing the pilot and co-pilot and forcing a halt to flights, authorities and United States media reported. AFP pictures showed the heavily damaged nose and cockpit section of the Air Canada Express plane, which had arrived from Montreal, on the tarmac flanked by emergency vehicles with their lights flashing. The pilot and co-pilot were killed in the collision, US media including CNN and NBC reported. Another 13 people, including 11 passengers and two first responders, were taken to the hospital with injuries, according to broadcaster ABC. The aircraft operated by Jazz Aviation, a regional partner of Air Canada, struck a firefighting vehicle on Runway 4 at around 11:40pm on Sunday night (8:40am PKT on Monday) as it responded to a separate incident, New York’s port authority said. A preliminary passenger list showed the 76 people onboard included four crew members, Jazz Aviation said in a s...

New York counterterror police said they were carrying out an investigation on Saturday after a man threw “ignited devices” near far-right protesters demonstrating outside the mayor’s home. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the devices contained nuts, bolts and screws as well as a fuse — but it was not yet clear if they were functional improvised explosive devices, or hoax imitations. The Federal Bureau of Investigation said in an X post that its Joint Terrorism Task Force was “actively investigating” the matter along with New York City Police. There was no indication the incident was related to the ongoing hostilities in Iran, Tisch added. Police arrested six people over unrest at the protest, she said, including two suspects in connection with the devices. Far-right influencer Jake Lang was demonstrating against alleged “Islamification” and calling for an end to “public Muslim prayer” in New York in front of Gracie Mansion, the residence of Mayor Zohran Mamdani. His protest drew around 20 peopl...

The finance ministry said on Thursday that Pakistan and the United States had formally launched a strategic economic initiative, including collaboration regarding the operation, maintenance, renovation and redevelopment of the Roosevelt Hotel in New York. In a statement, the ministry said that the initiative would include collaboration with the US General Services Administration (GSA) for the redevelopment of the hotel. “This engagement was negotiated and stewarded by US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump,” it said. “To advance this partnership, both governments have signed an MoU formalising their cooperation,” the ministry added. The statement said the MoU was signed by GSA Administrator Edward C Forst and Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb, and was witnessed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Witkoff. “It establishes a structured, time-bound framework for joint evaluation of the technical, commercial, and economic parameters of cooperation, reflecting a shared ...

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar will visit New York on February 18 to participate in a high-level United Nations Security Council (UNSC) briefing on the situation in Palestine, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Tuesday. In a statement, the FO said that the meeting will be chaired by the United Kingdom’s foreign secretary as president of the UNSC. The statement said that during the briefing, Dar will reaffirm Pakistan’s “principled and consistent position on Palestine”. “He will reiterate Pakistan’s strong opposition of Israel’s recent illegal decisions to expand its control over the West Bank, emphasise the need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, full implementation of Security Council resolution 2803, scaled-up humanitarian assistance, and the early commencement of Gaza’s recovery and reconstruction,” the statement said. “The deputy prime minister will also underscore Pakistan’s continued engagement with international and regional partners, including the group of eight Arab and Islamic cou...

Zohran Mamdani, the young upstart of the US left, was sworn in early on Thursday to take over as New York mayor for a four-year term sure to see him cross swords with US President Donald Trump. The 34-year-old Democrat took his oath of office at an abandoned subway stop under City Hall just after midnight to take the helm of the United States’ largest city. He will be New York’s first Muslim mayor. His office said the understated venue beneath City Hall reflected his commitment to working people, after the 34-year-old Democrat campaigned on promises to address the soaring cost of living. NBC News reported that Mamdani took the oath with his hands on two copies of the Holy Quran — one belonging to his grandfather and the other from the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Centre for Research in Black Culture. View this post on Instagram “Happy New Year to New Yorkers, both inside this tunnel and above,” said Mamdani, standing beneath a vaulted ceiling with the words City Hall over his head. “This is truly an ho...

The Pakistan Super League’s 11th edition is planned to be held from March 26 to May 3, 2026, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi said on Saturday, while also announcing that the auction for two proposed new franchises would take place on January 8. The announcements were made during a PCB investor roadshow in New York, part of an overseas promotional campaign aimed at attracting commercial interest ahead of a potential expansion of the league from six to eight teams. The PCB has previously indicated that expansion is under consideration, though the addition of new franchises has not yet been formally ratified. Addressing attendees at the event, Mohsin said the PCB had taken administrative control of the Muzaffarabad Cricket Stadium and intended to begin renovation work. He added that efforts were under way to have the venue ready in time for the PSL, though he acknowledged that completion before the tournament was not guaranteed. “We are starting Muzaffarabad’s stadium, which we have taken over...

New York’s Democratic mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani on Wednesday apologised to the New York Police Department (NYPD) for remarks he made in 2020 during the height of the George Floyd protests. “I apologise for the language that I used, and I spoke to them about the fact that I want to work with them to deliver public safety because what we’re seeing in the city right now is we’re asking officers to do nearly everything we can think of,” Mamdani said in an interview on US media outlet Fox News. “We used to ask officers to focus on serious crimes. Now we’re asking them to focus also on the mental health crisis, to focus also on homelessness. In one year alone, the NYPD receives 200,000 mental health calls,” he added. Fox host Martha MacCallum said officers she spoke with had requested a public apology from Mamdani. He responded: “I’ll apologise to police officers right here, because this is the apology that I’ve been sharing with many rank-and-file officers. I apologise because of the fact that I’m looking t...

The Trump administration has announced plans to terminate dozens of clean energy projects and freeze billions of dollars for major projects in New York, intensifying a stand-off with Democrats over a United States government shutdown. US media outlets described the moves announced by the energy and transportation departments as part of the administration’s efforts to pressure Democrats in Congress to agree on a deal to end the shutdown. US President Donald Trump had raced to enact hard-right policies even before the shutdown began after midnight on Tuesday, threatening mass firings and to slash government departments, and blaming Democrats for Congress’ failure to resolve a funding stand-off. The Department of Energy announced on Thursday “the termination of 321 financial awards supporting 223 projects, resulting in a savings of approximately $7.56 billion for American taxpayers”. It said in a statement that those projects — overseen by the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, the Office of Energy Efficienc...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif is participating in the formal opening ceremony of the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif departed from London on Monday for New York, where he will lead Pakistan’s delegation at a high-level segment of the United Nations General Assembly’s (UNGA) session. At the UNGA session, PM Shehbaz “will urge the international community to resolve the situations of prolonged occupation and denial of the right to self-determination,” particularly in India-occupied Kashmir and Palestine, an earlier statement by the Foreign Office (FO) said. “He will also highlight Pakistan’s perspective on the regional security situation, as well as other issues of international concern, including climate change, terrorism, Islamophobia, and sustainable development.” The FO, in its statement, said PM Shehbaz would attend several “high-level events” on the sidelines of the UNGA session, including a moot of “select” Muslim leaders with US President Donald Trump. Further, during his visit, he will meet several world leaders and senior UN officials to exchange views on issues of mutual interest. “He w...

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday departed from London for New York to participate in the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA).

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Ishaq Dar has arrived in New York to participate in the high-level segment of the 80th Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), scheduled from September 22 to 26, 2025.