Bangladesh authorities accused a container depot operator on Monday of not telling firefighters about a chemical stockpile before it exploded with devastating consequences, killing at least 49 people — nine of them from the fire service. The toll from the giant blast, which followed a fire at the BM Container Depot in Sitakunda and sent fireballs into the sky, was expected to …

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces a crunch Conservative Party confidence vote later on Monday after 54 of his Tory MPs triggered a contest following a string of scandals that have shattered confidence in his leadership. The beleaguered UK leader has spent months battling to maintain his grip on power after the so-called “Partygate” controversy saw him become the first serving UK …

Saudi Arabia joined a host of Muslim countries — including Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Iran and Pakistan — that took strong exception to derogatory remarks made against Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) by leaders of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). According to Hindustan Times, BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and another party leader, Naveen Kumar Jindal, made disrespectful remarks about the Prophet (PBUH) and …

ISLAMABAD: Capital police’s Special Branch, Counter Terrorism Department and Security Division, will audit security arrangements of foreigners, especially Chinese nationals, to address the issue of reluctance on their part to disclose their residences and keeping their movements secret. The purpose of the audit is to identify places where foreigners reside and find out if there is any shortcoming in the …

ISLAMABAD: Expressing concern over the ongoing global climate crisis, Minister for Climate Change Sherry Rehman on Sunday said Pakistan was set to become one of the first five water-scarce countries if no immediate action was taken. The country is particularly afflicted and the immediacy of climate change cannot be stressed upon any further,” the minister said on the occasion of …

ISLAMABAD: Another fire broke out on the Margalla Hills near Trail 3 on Sunday, leaving officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) no choice but to deploy a helicopter of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) to extinguish it. Army officials also assisted the civil administration in the operation, with two Pakistan Army (aviation) helicopters flying to the fire-hit area …

ISLAMABAD: The Pakis­tan Meteorological Depart­ment (PMD) on Sunday forecast very hot weather in almost all parts of the country in the next four to five days, saying that daytime temperature will continue to increase till June 9. Heatwave conditions will prevail in Islamabad, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Kashmir, Sindh and eastern parts of Balochistan during this period owing to a significant …

ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has abolished the option of more than two addresses of voters other than those mentioned on their Computerised National Identity Cards (CNICs) in an attempt to check fake votes, according to a senior official. However, voters can change their address anytime by following set procedure of the commission. The social media was inundated …

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Monday ordered that Dua Zehra — the teenage girl who went missing from Karachi’s Shah Faisal Colony in April — be sent to a shelter home and a medical test be carried out to determine her age. The order was passed by Justice Junaid Ghaffar after the police presented the teenager and Zaheer Ahmed, …

Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) General Nadeem Raza on Monday said “unnecessary and unfounded views” on Pakistan’s nuclear programme should be avoided, adding that Pakistan is a responsible nuclear power. According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), his comments came during a keynote address delivered at a seminar on “Regional Environment and Imperatives of Security” at the NUST …