The Global News Desk 115

October 23 - (The Global News Desk 115) –   President Asif Ali Zardari left for Germany on Thursday for a 3-day official visit planned to Strengthen political, economic, security, and cultural relations between the two countries, as Pakistan and Germany prepare to observe the seventy-fifth anniversary of their diplomatic partnership. President Zardari was invited to Berlin by his German counterpart, Frank-Walter Steinmeier. The visit is described as an important diplomatic occasion, marking the first visit to Germany by a Pakistani President, Mr. Asif Ali Zardari, in over 20 years, as pointed out in the official statement. While his visit, the Mr Asif Ali Zardari, will meet  German counterpart, senior government personalities , and business communities to discuss Pakistan-Germany bilateral issues, with focus on economic and commercial collaboration. This visit constitutes part of the ongoing High-stakes diplomacy between Pakistan and Germany and carries significant import...

October 18 - (The Global News Desk 115) – A deadly blast at a Canadian military base has killed several people and injured many more. The explosion occurred on Saturday at a Canadian Forces Base in Wainwright, a town located in Alberta Province.  Law enforcement departments received a call about a fire at the Canadian Forces Base at 4:00 pm on Saturday local time (11pm GMT). A government report says at least seven people died in the blast.  A live-fire training exercise was in full swing when the blast rattled the base. An initial report says the exercise hit either a gas line or a gas well, causing the blast. Rescue teams and Firefighters have been fighting a large inferno between the base and the nearby town of Wainwright. Very strong winds with a blistering speed of 62 miles per hour have made the flames spread rapidly. Defense Minister David McGuinty said he was shocked by the fatalities and injuries that took place at the military base.  He did not reveal exact numbe...

About seventeen devotees have died, and many have been injured during a crowd crush at a Durga Puja celebration, government sources confirm. The incident took place in Kolkata, India, after sudden heavy downpours, with eyewitnesses reporting that people hurried to find a safe place. CM Suvendhu Adhikari of West Bengal confirmed that a 7-year-old girl was among the dead and that 25 people were under treatment due to injuries. Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the situation "tragic" and asked the state government to help victims' families. The provincial government said that 6 of the victims were identified. The senior police officer, speaking to the press, said the calamity occurred when rain started, and the crowd began "pushing, pulling and rushing forward before falling to the ground, leading to the stampede." The West Bengal Chief Minister visited the hospital to help organize medical assistance.  The Indian PM Narendra Modi announced that familie...

October 15 - (The Global News Desk 115) – A private school roof crumbled in the capital city of KPK, in Pakistan, on Thursday, killing 35 students, employees, and 1 female teacher.  Scores of others were hurt in the incident that occurred in Peshawar.  According to hospital reports, several injured staffers are in very critical condition.  6 teenagers girls were among those who died in the roof collapse incident.  The children who died or were injured were all teenagers, according to a government hospital administrator.  A rescue team revealed that the roof from a higher floor plummeted onto the roof of the first floor, and then collapsed onto classrooms.  The hospital declared an emergency while doctors and nurses helped the injured. Several students were buried under the building's debris at first.  The rescue team removed debris and pulled them out, the spokesman for emergency services said in a statement. Neighbours were the first to reach the scho...

October 12 - (The Global News Desk 115) – A deadly road mishap took place in Manisa, Turkey, involving a tour bus and a truck. The accident cost 11 lives and injured 27 other passengers. The government reported that the accident happened on a motorway in Manisa province as the bus departed from Bursa for the port city of Izmir on Sunday morning. The cause of the accident is still being investigated by government officials.  Ciftci designated the victims as "our citizens" in his statement. But  there was no information about the victims' identities or whether the driver was one of them.

The central government declared an emergency and placed the governor in charge of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as tensions between the federal government and the PTI-led provincial government continued to rise. The report explains that this strict step was taken due to disagreements over counterterrorism policies and the security situation.  A major change occurred in Pakistan's politics today, when President Asif Ali Zardari approved a proclamation dealing with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.  This came after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif gave him carte blanche.  Official documents explain that the province's government machinery wasn't working properly, and they invoked Articles 232 and 234 of the Pakistani Constitution. The documents reveal that Shehbaz Sharif advised the President to give approval to the proposal and release a proclamation.  A separate paper from the President's office states that the Prime Minister's advice was accepted and the proclamation order was offic...

October 11 - (The Global News Desk 115) – Pakistan's Home Minister, Mr. Mohsin Raza Naqvi, claimed that about 25 terrorist outfits had been operating from Afghanistan, posing a potential threat to Pakistan's peace and the world at large.  During the meeting with Antonio Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General Naqvi said.  He further said the international community must take action against this major threat.  Pakistan is already engaged in fighting it.  While recognizing Pakistan's role in the fight against terrorism, the head of the UN said Pakistan has been making great efforts in UN peace missions, and he also said Pakistan's work toward making the world peaceful is really fabulous. No sooner had the meeting concluded than Mr. Guterres concluded his 2-day visit to Pakistan. During the visit, Mr. Guterres had already spoken with President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Chief of Defence Forces and Chief of the Army Staff Field Marshal Asim...

October 05 - (The Global News Desk 115) – Iran's Home Minister left for Qatar, the Iranian state-run media reported on Monday.  During his visit to Doha, Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni is scheduled to meet with his counterpart, Khalifa bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani.  Iranian Interior Minister Eskandar Momeni left for Doha after receiving an invitation form Qatari counterpart. Iran's interior minister's office reported that Mehdi Dosti (Deputy for Coordination of Economic Affairs and Regional Development) and Mohammad Ashouri Taziani (Tehran Governor) accompanied him.  In a discussion a few months ago, the home ministers of Qatar and Iran discussed regional progress and ways to enhance collaboration and cooperation and strengthen the bilateral relationship between the two countries.  

October 04 - (The Global News Desk 115)- 8 terrorists, including 3 local insurgent leaders, were killed in an IBO in DI Khan, ISPR and media outlets reported on Sunday. Security forces said they launched an Intelligence-Based Operation as soon as they were informed of TTP members' presence in a particular area. A large number of Weapons, ammunition, explosives, and foreign currency were confiscated from terrorists operating in the region. Pakistani Security Forces and Law Enforcement Agencies are boosting IBOS to eradicate foreign-backed terrorism, the ISPR said via a press release. Pakistani military and paramilitary forces started Operation Azm–e–Istehkam in KPK against TTP in June 2024 and are still continuing with superb results.  Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif praised the military and intelligence agencies for their success against the terrorists in Dera Ismail Khan.  

The United States' full military withdrawal from Iraq was accomplished on the 30th of last month, ending a military presence that had lasted for more than 20 years. The United States stayed for more than a 2 decades in Iraq and lost more than four thousand five hundred soldiers and officers in the war against the Saddam government and the terrorist group ISIL. Iran and its allies praised the US withdrawal.  Iran and its supporters have been enjoying a strong relationship with their brotherly country, Iraq. The Iraqi government said the US consented to the withdrawal a few years ago, when Biden was president.  The U.S. military invaded Iraq in 2003 to remove Saddam's government and install Jalal Talabani as Iraq's president, and aimed for a long military presence in Iraq.  Jalal Talabani was a Kurdish politician and father  of the PUK political party.  Talabani remained Iraq's 6th president from 2005 to 2014 and was the first Kurd to hold the presidency.  ...

September, 19 - (The Global News Desk 115) -  A blast at a mosque in Kohat's Police Lines during Friday prayers martyred approximately 21 people, including 15 policemen and 6 civilians.  KPK Police said that six of the attackers were also killed in both the explosion and the shootout that took place afterward. The initial incident report submitted by the DHQ Hospital Kohat medical superintendent and district health officer revealed that the deadly blast caused more than 100 casualties among the worshippers.  The local authorities claimed that a blast detonated at about 1:30 pm during Friday prayers at a mosque at Police Lines on Hangu Road in Kohat, backed by a terrorist attack carried out by at least five to seven armed men. The officials' report named Dr Israel Khan Aurakzai, Chief District Specialist (Paediatrics) at Liaqat Memorial Hospital, Kohat, as one of the deceased. Furthermore, the report revealed that 105 injured people were admitted to the two hospitals, with...

August, 30 - (The Global News Desk 115) - A bus Ferrying church visitors collided with a truck in central Zimbabwe, bringing about dozens of deaths.  The accident occurred near the town of Chivhu. The law enforcement department reported on Saturday that a bus accident in central Zimbabwe led to 27 deaths.  The minibus, which was carrying worshipers, collided with a truck, leaving 7 more injured.  Authorities said that Adherents of a native African Christian group, recognized for their white robes, were en route to a conference on Friday when their vehicle rammed into a truck on a main highway close to Chivhu, approximately 141 kilometers south of Harare.  The deadly mishap happened when the truck was trying to overtake another vehicle; the foreign-registered haulage truck collided with the minibus. According to a police officer's statement, both vehicles had an "unspecified" number of passengers on board. The accident happened when the overspeeding truck st...

August, 27 - (The Global News Desk 115) -  At least 160 people have reportedly been killed, and hundreds of travelers are still missing after deadly flash floods in Nepal’s border area with Tibet on Wednesday.  The floods have devastated villages, roads, and infrastructure, hampering rescue efforts. Nepal's Tourism Board has reported that an initial assessment indicates 384 travelers are missing in flood-affected regions. This group includes 291 foreign nationals and 93 people from Nepal. Among the foreign nationals, there were 105 Indians and 37 NRIs, as well as travelers from the United States, Britain, Malaysia, South Africa, Australia, and the Netherlands. The calamity has inflicted heavy losses upon the Himalaya, the mountainous area, impacting roads and key infrastructure, making it challenging to access certain communities. The Nepal Army has dispatched helicopters and disaster-response teams as search and rescue efforts are ongoing. Nepal Police spokesman t...

August, 27 - (The Global News Desk 115)- There were only 15 newborns in the Gynae Ward at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in Islamabad when the fire broke out at 6:50 am local time on Wednesday, hospital administration reported.  Only one infant could be rescued, officials said. Federal Health Minister also confirmed that 14 babies had died. A heart-wrenching scene began when the compressor of an air-conditioning unit exploded in the infants' gynaecology ward, according to an early report from the hospital staff. The district magistrate of Islamabad has formed a multi-agency fact-finding committee, directing it to submit a report within a day.  The government press release said that the committee will look into the cause of the inferno, find out if proper fire safety steps were followed, analyze how the emergency was handled, and review the emergency response. President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, and former Foreign Minister Bilawal...

August, 26 - (The Global News Desk 115) – A UN report revealed that at least 47 people were killed and more than 50 others were abducted by a violent armed group in Haiti. The incident took place near Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, the UN said in a statement.  The United Nations reported on Tuesday that at least 47 people were killed, and more than 50 were kidnaped following an attack on a law-abiding community near Haiti's capital earlier this week. This terrorist act is thought to be the largest mass kidnapping in Haiti in recent times, with the gang lord threatening to harm the hostages if the government goes after any gang members while working to secure the area in the mountain peaks above the capital. Romain Le Cour, who heads the Haiti Observatory at the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, explained that the threat of executing hostages is a tangle: If the forces don’t act, it means they didn’t protect the hostages; if they do take measures and the...

Military aerial attacks on a monastic religious place in Myanmar killed 14 people on Friday, according to the armed forces. The rescue worker informed the media that all of the people who died were senior citizens, and a number of monks were wounded as well. The military attacked the sacred place twice. The pro-democracy rebel told the BBC that the victims were 11 men and three women. The strike occurred in Swel Le Oh village, Myaung district, central Myanmar, according to anti-government opposition organization spokesman Nway Oo. Located about 75 kilometers to the west of Mandalay, the second-largest city in the country, the village is facing a tragedy. Nway Oo from the Civil Defense and Security Organization of Myaung Township, also known as CDSOM, mentioned that three women were among those who died, with 20 others injured. The villager also noted that the second strike hit a nearby house, causing damage. The villager reported that over 100 devotees participated in a weeklong medita...

A Local source told the Global News Desk 115 on Monday that a blaze at a hotel near the Tarapith temple in Birbhum district killed at least 7 devotees and left many others wounded. The blaze broke out at dawn on the ground floor of the hotel in the temple town of Tarapith, when the rest of the devotees were sleeping. Firefighters put out the blaze as soon as they reached the  scene.  The  injured were quickly taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital for treatment. The medical hospital preliminarily informed that five worshipers had lost their lives in the fire incident. However, the police finally confirmed the 7 deaths.  The hotel manager asserted that a short circuit triggered the deadly blaze.

August, 16 - (The Global News Desk 115) –  A tourist bus crashed in Hungary  after it veered off the main road and plunged into a  ravine,  bringing  about 12 deaths and injuring several others. A dozen tourists lost their lives, and many more were wounded after a bus crashed on a motorway in Hungary on Sunday. Police preliminary report revealed that as soon as the driver fell asleep, the bus crashed into a ditch. The same source reported that a Polish tourists' bus was heading east near Mezokeresztes when it went out of control on the M3 motorway, about 140 kilometers east of Budapest, Hungary's capital, at about 1 a.m. on Sunday.  The Disaster Management Service of Hungary said that in the rescue operation, 35 people were saved. Lamentably, there were several others who got stuck underneath and couldn't be rescued.  Péter Magyar, the Prime Minister of Hungary, confirmed the death toll. He sent heartfelt condolences to the families of vict...

August, 16 - (The Global News Desk 115) – BNPB reported in its fresh statement that at least 47 people were killed after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake and several strong jolts rattled eastern Indonesia yesterday. Rescue teams faced difficulties reaching Nagekeo, the area nearest to the epicenter, due to landslides and earthquake devastation that cracked roads, destroyed communication systems, and damaged houses, officials said. A person living in Talibura village said, "The quake was really horrifying, and the shock was so solid." "There were more than a dozen of our family in the house, and we all left the residence very quickly to save lives." Meteorological, Climatological, and Geophysical Agency reported the first earthquake felt at 4:59 AM local time on Saturday, with a depth of 9 miles in the Flores area. After a few hours, a second earthquake of magnitude 6.1 shook northern Sumatra, Indonesia; however, during 2nd Earthquake, no casualties were reported...

August, 16 - (The Global News Desk 115) – The provincial government authorities informed the media on Friday that as many as 7 laborers were killed in a tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand province in the northern part of India.   The rescue operation for 3 missing workers is still continuing, the provincial government said in a statement. The landslide occurred at midnight, causing a rush of water and rubble into a tunnel under construction by Tehri Hydro Development Corporation Limited (THDC) in Pipalkoti. The government officials reported that there were 22 workers in the tunnel when the disaster occurred. The deadly incident took place in the Chamoli district. Wounded workers were transported to the hospital for speedy recovery.  The provincial CM visited the site of the incident on Friday and examined the rescue team's efforts.