Pakistan

Karachi - The death toll in the devastating fire at a shopping plaza in Pakistan’s financial capital Karachi increased to 61 on Wednesday after 30 bodies were found in a single shop on the mezzanine floor of the building, officials said.

KARACHI - Gold surged to a fresh record above Rs500,000 per tola for the first time on Wednesday, buoyed by safe-haven demand and a softer dollar.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Wednesday said that export-led growth was the only way forward for Pakistan. The premier made the remarks while addressing a breakfast event at the Pakistan Pavilion on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. In his remarks, the premier said Pakistan “is moving forward with a sense of achievement and a sense of purpose”, noting a drop in the inflation rate and a reduction in the policy rate. However, he noted that exports were facing challenges and that social indicators “need to be improved through continuous joint efforts”. “Our exports, collectively, do face different kinds of challenges,” the premier noted. “But the way forward is very clear: Pakistan has to have export-led growth,” he asserted. PM Shehbaz said that the government brought in “fundamental structural changes” to the system, such as digitalising revenue collection. He stated that the tax collection-to-GDP ratio stood at 10.5pc, compared to 9pc two years ago, hailing it as a “significant achi...

Defence Minister Khawaja Asif on Wednesday reiterated his argument in favour of an empowered local government system, saying that the “dispersal of power actually multiplies power” and “concentration of power diminishes it”. His fresh remarks come a day after he called for a “meaningful” constitutional amendment to introduce an empowered local government system in the country. During a speech in the National Assembly on Tuesday, he had also remarked that the 18th Amendment had proven to be a “farce” and had “concentrated all powers in provincial capitals”. The debate in the lower House of Parliament was sparked during a discussion on the Gul Plaza inferno, with Muttahida Qaumi Movement’s Farooq Sattar calling for the creation of more administrative units for better governance in Karachi and strengthening local government systems. Asif had endorsed Sattar’s views during the NA session. On Wednesday, he said on X that “empowering local governments means taking the government to the common man’s doorstep”. In su...

KARACHI: In a harrowing development, at least 30 bodies were recovered from a gutted shop as rescuers combed through the wreckage of Karachi’s Gul Plaza on Wednesday. Karachi South Deputy Inspector General Syed Asad Raza told Dawn that the remains of 30 humans had been recovered from a shop called “Dubai Crockery” located on the mezzanine floor. He said that earlier in the day, rescue workers had recovered three more bodies, which had taken the toll from 28 to 31. He added that with the discovery of the bodies from the gutted shop, the death toll was estimated to have risen to 61. However, he cautioned that a final conclusion about the death toll could only be reached after receiving the DNA reports. He said that the relatives of those missing as well as the shopkeepers had previously indicated the possibility of there being a large number of people at the shop. Raza said that as per the last contact with the victims, they had believed they would be safe and the fire would be controlled but had suffocated to ...

Pakistan and seven other Muslim-majority countries on Wednesday released a statement announcing their decision to join US President Donald Trump’s so-called ‘Board of Peace’. In a joint statement, the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar welcomed the invitation “extended to their leaders” by Trump. “The ministers announce their countries’ shared decision to join the Board of Peace. Each country will sign the joining documents according to its respective relevant legal and other necessary procedures, including Egypt, Pakistan, and the UAE, that have already announced to join,” the joint statement said. It should be noted that all eight countries had worked with Trump in October last year on a plan to end Israel’s genocide and invasion in Gaza. The UAE had announced its decision to join the board on Tuesday while Pakistan and Egypt had separately announced it on Wednesday. “The ministers reiterate their countries’ support for the peace efforts l...

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Production Ministry briefs NA on fate of PSM

Hears federal challenge over LHC directions on import curbs

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Low Chenab inflow to affect crops over 1.45m acres, NA told

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Issues notices on plea against authorities' failure to arrange lawyer's meeting with PTI founder

Ruling party MPs once again target constitutional tweak

An Israeli air strike killed an AFP freelancer and two other journalists in Gaza on Wednesday, the territory’s civil defence agency said, while the military said it struck “suspects” operating a drone. Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored ceasefire in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations. In a statement, the civil defence said “the bodies of the three journalists killed in an Israeli air strike in the Al-Zahra area southwest of Gaza City were transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah”. It named the dead as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim. Shaat had contributed regularly to AFP as a photo and video journalist, but at the time of the strike, he was not on assignment for the agency. In a statement, the Israeli military said troops had “identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip”. The military did not elaborate on what it meant by a “dr...

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