Connect with us

Regional

11 dead after a wall collapses in Pakistan during monsoon rains

Published

on

(Last Updated On: )

Eleven workers were killed early Wednesday after a portion of the outer wall of a sprawling compound collapsed after being weakened by rains near an under-construction bridge on the outskirts of Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, police and rescue officials said.

The wall fell while the workers sat inside their roadside tents at the construction site, Associated Press reported.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in a statement expressed his sorrow and grief over the deaths.

Local police official Mohammad Akram and Emergency Service Rescue 1122 said the collapse happened amid the monsoon rains near the neighborhood of Golra and that the bodies of the deceased were recovered. At least five construction workers were also injured, senior police officer Khan Zeb said.

Officials said the rains hadn’t caused any damage to the walls of the under-construction bridge and that the laborers were killed or injured when the wall of a nearby building collapsed, burying them under the rubble.

Monsoon rains have been lashing Pakistan since June 25, killing at least 112 people in weather-related incidents. The rains have also swelled Pakistan’s rivers in eastern Punjab province, swamping hundreds of villages and displacing at least 15,000 people.

The rains returned to Pakistan a year after climate-induced downpours inundated at one point one-third of Pakistan, killing 1,739 people. The floods also caused $30 billion in damage in cash-strapped Pakistan in 2022.

Regional

Iran’s Khamenei cites need to further develop Iran’s military after Trump threats

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday questioned U.S. sincerity in seeking talks with Tehran while imposing tougher sanctions echoing those Trump implemented during his first, 2017-21 term in office.

Published

on

(Last Updated On: )

Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday Iran should further develop its military, including its missiles, after U.S. President Donald Trump made threats of force against Tehran if it refused to negotiate over its nuclear programme, Reuters reported.

Khamenei spoke a day after Iran’s U.N. ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani, condemned what he called “reckless and inflammatory statements” by Trump in interviews with the New York Post and Fox News in which he said he preferred doing a deal to prevent Tehran developing a nuclear weapon to bombing the country.

“Progress should not be stopped, we cannot be satisfied (with our current level). Say that we previously set a limit for the accuracy of our missiles, but we now feel this limit is no longer enough. We have to go forward,” Khamenei said, citing a need to focus on innovation in the Iranian military.

“Today, our defensive power is well-known, our enemies are afraid of this. This is very important for our country,” he added after visiting a Tehran exhibition showcasing the latest developments in Iran’s defence sector.

The semi-official Tasnim news agency said that during the exhibition a jet-powered “suicide drone” – loitering munitions that hover over targets – was unveiled with imagery of a submarine-launched kamikaze drone displayed for the first time, read the report.

Tehran insists its ballistic missile programme is purely defensive but it is seen in the West as a destabilising factor in a volatile, conflict-ridden region.

Khamenei, who said on Friday that talks with the United States were “not smart, wise or honourable”, made no mention of Trump in his remarks on Wednesday

Trump last week restored his “maximum pressure”, policy towards Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero to push the Islamic Republic into a deal that would severely constrain its disputed nuclear programme.

Western powers have long suspected that Iran’s uranium enrichment programme is a disguised project to develop nuclear bomb material. Iran denies this, saying it seeks nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Monday questioned U.S. sincerity in seeking talks with Tehran while imposing tougher sanctions echoing those Trump implemented during his first, 2017-21 term in office.

Iravani, Tehran’s United Nations ambassador, wrote in a letter to the U.N. Security Council that the Trump administration’s policy “reinforces unlawful, unilateral coercive measures and escalates hostility against Iran.”

Though Iran has long denied nuclear weapon ambitions, it is “dramatically” accelerating its enrichment of uranium to 60% fissile purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief told Reuters in December, Reuters reported.

Tehran has in recent months announced new additions to its conventional weaponry, such as its first drone carrier and an underground naval base amid rising tensions with the U.S. and its regional arch-enemy Israel.

Continue Reading

Regional

Iran alerts UN to Trump threat of force, says it will defend itself

Iravani urged the U.N. Security Council to condemn Trump’s brazen rhetoric.

Published

on

(Last Updated On: )

Iran alerted the United Nations on Tuesday to what it described as “reckless and inflammatory statements” by U.S. President Donald Trump threatening the use of force, and warned that “any act of aggression will have severe consequences.”

In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, seen by Reuters, Iran’s U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani referenced remarks made by Trump in interviews with the New York Post and Fox News, in which he spoke of a preference to do a deal to stop Tehran getting a nuclear weapon over bombing the country, Reuters reported.

“These reckless and inflammatory statements flagrantly violate international law and the U.N. Charter,” Iravani wrote to the 15-member council.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran warns that any act of aggression will have severe consequences, for which the U.S. will bear full responsibility,” he said. “Iran will resolutely defend its sovereignty, territorial integrity, and national interests against any hostile action.”

Trump last week restored his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran that includes efforts to drive its oil exports down to zero in order to stop Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He also said he was open to a deal and expressed a willingness to talk to Iran’s President Masoud Pezeshkian, read the report.

Pezeshkian on Monday questioned the United States’ sincerity, while Iravani wrote in his letter that the U.S. policy “reinforces unlawful, unilateral coercive measures and escalates hostility against Iran.”

Iravani urged the U.N. Security Council to condemn Trump’s “brazen rhetoric.”

Iran has denied wanting to develop a nuclear weapon. However, it is “dramatically” accelerating enrichment of uranium to up to 60% purity, close to the roughly 90% weapons-grade level, the U.N. nuclear watchdog chief told Reuters in December.

Continue Reading

Regional

Egypt to host emergency Arab summit to discuss ‘serious’ Palestinian developments

Trump’s suggestion, made at a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week.

Published

on

(Last Updated On: )

Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday.

The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of U.S. President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.

Trump’s suggestion, made at a White House meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week, infuriated the Arab world, including Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia — key allies of Washington.

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2024 Ariana News. All rights reserved!