Pakistan

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Hafiz Naeem says move was made without parliamentary debate

At least three people were killed in a fire at a hotel in Lahore’s Gulberg, according to rescue officials. Punjab Rescue 1122 Spokesperson Farooq Ahmed said at least three people had been killed in the fire at the Indigo Hotel. He said the victims were identified as Shehreyar, approximately 25-years-old, Imran, approximately 30-years-old, and Riaz, approximately 30-years-old. Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif also shared several updates about the incident on the social media platform X. She also shared a video of Rescue 1122 Director General Rizwan Naseer, in which he termed the operation “difficult”, saying the building had 21 floors, three of which were located below the ground. He said that there was a boiler in the basement, which was being heated using LPG cylinders, where the fire ignited. He said initially, the hotel staff were trying to put out the fire on their own. He said Rescue 1122 received the call around 12:25pm. He said that rescuers entered the basement, a difficult task due to the he...

LAHORE: Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Saturday stated that despite their role in strengthening grassroots politics, local governments continued to be neglected by political parties, which had ultimately weakened civilian rule. The defence minister made the remarks while addressing a panel session titled “Devolution for Revolution” at ThinkFest, a political and literary festival. Also present alongside the minister were Lahore University of Management Sciences’ (LUMS) Vice Chancellor Ali Cheema, former State Bank governor Dr Ishrat Hussain and former MPA Mary James Gill. In his remarks, Asif said that three military rulers — Ayub Khan, Ziaul Haq and Pervez Musharraf — had remained in power longer than any civilian government largely because they introduced local government systems and drew political strength from them. He admitted that the failure to institutionalise local bodies was “a political failure on our part”. He noted that local government elections, whenever held, had historically been far less co...

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he would impose a 100 per cent tariff on Canada if it makes a trade deal with China and warned Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney that a deal would endanger his country. “China will eat Canada alive, completely devour it, including the destruction of their businesses, social fabric, and general way of life,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “If Canada makes a deal with China, it will immediately be hit with a 100pc Tariff against all Canadian goods and products coming into the USA.” Carney during a recent visit to China called the Asian superpower a “reliable and predictable partner” and in Davos encouraged European leaders to seek investment from the world’s second-largest economy. Trump suggested that China would try to use Canada to evade US tariffs. “If Governor Carney thinks he is going to make Canada a ‘Drop Off Port’ for China to send goods and products into the United States, he is sorely mistaken.” Tensions between the U.S. and its northern neighbour have grown...

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Snow and heavy rain have killed 61 people in Afghanistan in the past three days, disaster officials said on Saturday, with a major road and power also cut in several provinces. The deaths occurred mainly in central and northern provinces between Wednesday and Friday, according to a map released by Afghanistan’s disaster management authority (ANDMA). The “initial figures of casualties and destruction” also include 110 injured people and 458 houses that were either partially or fully destroyed, ANDMA said on social media platform X. A total of 360 families were affected, said a spokesman who asked people in a video message to avoid unnecessary travel on snowy roads. The spokesman also told AFP that most of the casualties were caused by roof collapses and avalanches, while many also died from frostbite in sub-zero temperatures. The emergency department in the southern province of Kandahar said six children were killed when the roof of their home collapsed in strong wind and heavy rain on Wednesday. Houses were a...

US Homeland Security says Border Patrol agents fired in defence at a man who approached them with a handgun

A sessions court on Saturday sentenced lawyer Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir and her spouse, Hadi Ali Chattha, to a total of 17 years in prison on multiple charges in a case about controversial social media posts, a day after they were arrested in Islamabad. According to the written order, Imaan “consistently disseminated highly offensive, misleading and anti-state contents on social media”, with the “active connivance” of Hadi. The order also observed that Imaan’s tweets made between 2021 and 2025 from “portrayed the agenda” of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Lawyers, activists and politicians expressed their outrage over the sentencing. Here are some of the reactions. ‘Completely illegal’ Digital rights expert and activist Usama Khilji said, “Completely illegal, unconstitutional and baseless order without any roots in due process, especially as the transfer application is pending in the high court.” He said that the sentencing of human rights lawyers for “tweets...

At the other end of the table West Ham United continued their revival

Police on Saturday registered a first information report (FIR) over the devastating Gul Plaza inferno, citing the incident as an “outcome of negligence and carelessness”. The deadly inferno, which erupted on the night of January 17 at the mall and took nearly two days to be fully extinguished, has left the ground-plus-three-storey building in ruins, with some sections collapsed. It has so far claimed 71 lives. South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza confirmed that the FIR had been registered on behalf of the state, through a police official, under relevant laws. According to the FIR, Nabi Bux Station House Officer (SHO) Inspector Nawaz Ali Zardari said the police received information about the fire in the plaza at around 10:30pm on January 17. The FIR added that the fire was “rapidly spreading and engulfed the entire plaza” while firefighters and other rescue personnel were engaged in efforts to extinguish the blaze. It further stated that the fire erupted in shop number 193, a flower and gift sho...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and the United States on Saturday decided to take joint action against fraudulent visa networks under comprehensive standard operating procedures (SOPs). The decision came during a meeting between US Charge de’ Affaires Natalie Baker and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi. According to a handout by the interior ministry, a detailed discussion was held on Pakistan–US relations and increasing cooperation in areas of mutual interest. Talks were also held on preventing illegal immigration and the effectiveness of the pre-immigration clearance system, the statement said. It added that an agreement was reached on increasing cooperation between law enforcement agencies, with a particular focus on police training. “The meeting decided that joint action will be taken against false and fraudulent visa networks under comprehensive SOPs,” the handout stated. Naqvi was quoted as saying that a zero-tolerance policy had been adopted against the “agent mafia” and welcomed cooperation with Washington in this s...

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Saturday thanked his Pakistani counterpart Ishaq Dar for his “strong support” and Pakistan’s position at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) amid the prevailing tense situation between Washington and Tehran. On Friday, the UNHRC adopted a resolution — with 25 votes in favour, seven against and 14 abstentions — to extend the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran for two years. The resolution also extended the mandate of the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Iran by one year and called for an urgent investigation by the mission, in the context of the deadly nationwide protests in Iran that started in December. Pakistan, along with China and India, voted against the resolution. In a post on X on Saturday, the Foreign Office (FO) said Dar, who is on a visit to Dubai, received a telephone call from Araghchi. The Iranian minister thanked the deputy prime minister for “his strong support and Pakistan’s position at the Unite...

Addressing the audience on the second day of ThinkFest 2026 at the Alhamra Arts Council, Federal Minister for Climate Change Dr.