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• US commerce chief Lutnick visited private island in 2012 • Musk inquired about ‘parties planned’ • Fed nominee Warsh on guest list for holiday gathering • Epstein ‘helped Bill Gates obtain drugs, facilitated illicit trysts’ • DoJ says papers carry ‘untrue and sensationalist claims’ about President Trump WASHINGTON: A fresh cache of files released on Friday related to the investigation into the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein contains documents that refer to numerous high-profile figures. President Donald Trump, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and SpaceX founder Elon Musk are among some of the people named in the documents. The disclosure offers a sprawling look into the elite circles Epstein inhabited before his death, implicating prominent figures in politics, business and entertainment. The documents were published following a deadline mandated by a bipartisan congressional law requiring the public release of all files relat...

• President summons National Assembly, Senate sessions; houses to adopt resolutions on Kashmir • Opposition expected to raise concern over Imran’s health, delay in ECP chief appointment ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari has summoned separate sessions of both houses of parliament on February 2, which are likely take up an amendment related to the National Accountability Ordinance to allow the incumbent NAB chief to remain in office beyond his term set to expire in the first week of March, said sources. The agenda of these sessions has not been shared but insiders said the NAB amendment would be the sessions’ highlight to pave the way for the incumbent NAB chairman to remain at the helm until the appointment of his successor. Retired Lt Gen Nazir Ahmad became the NAB chairman on March 4, 2023, for three years after his predecessor Aftab Sultan resigned citing “interference” and “pressure” as the reasons for his departure. The opposition PTI had claimed Mr Sultan was being coerced...

The government on Saturday hiked the rate for high-speed diesel (HSD) by Rs11.30, while leaving the price of petrol unchanged for the coming fortnight. In a late-night notification, the Petroleum Division said the revision followed movements in international markets and recommendations from the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (Ogra). According to the notification, the ex-depot price of HSD was set at Rs268.38 per litre from Rs257.08 per litre. Most of the transport sector runs on HSD. Its price is considered inflationary as it is mostly used in heavy transport vehicles, trains and agricultural engines like trucks, buses, tractors, tube-wells, threshers, and particularly adds to the prices of vegetables and other eatables. Meanwhile, the ex-depot petrol price was unchanged, remaining Rs253.17 per litre. Petrol is primarily used in private transport, small vehicles, rickshaws, and two-wheelers, and directly impacts the budgets of the middle and lower-middle classes. The notificati...

GENEVA: The world must seize the momentum from the first phase of the ceasefire to urgently alleviate the catastrophic human suffering in the Gaza Strip, International Committee of the Red Cross chief said on Friday, calling for an end to restrictions that have left millions in misery. ICRC President Mirjana Spoljaric emphasised that while recent prisoner exchanges allowed families to mourn or reunite, the civilian population remains in a desperate struggle for survival against harsh winter conditions and devastated infrastructure in the besieged territory. “States must harness the momentum generated by the first phase of the agreement between Israel and Hamas to urgently improve the dire humanitarian conditions in Gaza,” Spoljaric said. For the past 15 weeks, the ICRC has worked with mediators to facilitate the return of prisoners and the remains of the deceased. Israeli kills three more Palestinians in Gaza However, Spoljaric stressed that humanitarian steps are irreplaceabl...

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that audit observations by the Auditor General of Pakistan against government entities of the federal or provincial governments cannot be used by tax authorities to initiate audit proceedings against a taxpayer. “Any audit observation made by the Auditor Gen­eral in relation to the accounts of, e.g., the Inland Revenue Department or the FBR or any other governmental entity or any authority or body established by the federation or a province cannot form the basis of enabling or allowing any tax authority exercising powers and performing functions under a fiscal statute to regard that observation as information that would allow for the audit or inspection of the accounts or activities of a taxpayer or sustain the issuance of any notice or initiation of any proceedings under the fiscal statute,” affirmed Justice Munib Akhtar. Headed by Justice Akhtar, a two-member bench had taken up an appeal against the July 7, 2025, Peshawar High Court’s ...

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that it “looks like” Hamas would give up its weapons, a step the group has not confirmed, in what would be a major step forward in the fragile Gaza ceasefire with Israel. “A lot of people said they’ll never disarm. It looks like they’re going to disarm,” Trump told a cabinet meeting. Trump hailed cooperation with Hamas after Israeli forces brought back the remains of the last captive held in Gaza, Ran Gvili. “They did help us with those bodies, getting them back, and that family is so grateful,” Trump said. Trump had asked for an update on the Middle East from his roving special envoy Steve Witkoff, sitting in the side of the room as cabinet members and media listened. An upbeat Witkoff voiced high confidence in Hamas following through. “We’ve got the terrorists out of there and they’re going to demilitarise. They will because they have no choice,” Witkoff said. “They’re going to give it up. They’re going to give up the AK-47s,” he told...

• Temperatures drop below -15°C in the region in wake of snowfall • Residents protest against prolonged power outages GILGIT / ISLAMABAD: The difficulties of Gilgit-Baltistan residents intensified on Wednesday as snowfall disconnected road access to remote areas, with temperatures dropping below minus 15 degrees Celsius in the region. As freezing temperatures persisted, people took to the streets to protest prolonged power outages. A patient in Astore allegedly died due to the unavailability of transportation facilities for treatment. A fresh spell of snowfall on Monday and Tuesday brought life to a standstill across parts of GB amid freezing temperatures, power outages and road closures. The suffering of residents due to snow, harsh weather, lack of electricity and other basic facilities continued in remote areas on Wednesday. Police said up to six inches of snow was recorded in parts of Skardu, Astore, Ghanche, Shigar, Kharmang, Hunza, Nagar and Ghizer, disrupting routine life a...

At least two federal agents who were involved in Saturday’s fatal shooting of a US citizen in Minneapolis have been placed on administrative leave, two US media outlets said on Wednesday. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said the two immigration agents who discharged their weapons during the deadly encounter with Alex Pretti were put on leave as part of standard procedures, Fox News reported. MS NOW earlier reported that agents involved in the shooting of Pretti were being put on leave, citing an unnamed source. Representatives for DHS could not be immediately reached to confirm the reports. Immigration agents on Saturday fired multiple shots at Pretti, an ICU nurse at a hospital for veterans. His death was the second fatal encounter between Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents and US citizens in Minnesota this month, sparking a national uproar. US review of Pretti’s killing does not mention him brandishing firearm Meanwhile, an initial US government review of ...

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan and Australia on Tuesday discussed the possibility of an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for structured, long-term cooperation in Pakistan’s mining and mineral sector. The IGA between the two sides was proposed by Petroleum Minister Ali Pervaiz Malik here during his meeting with the new Australian High Commissioner (AHC) to Pakistan, Timothy Kane. It builds on a July 2025 Australian proposal made through former AHC Neil Hawkins for collaboration between Australian universities, mining firms, and Pakistani institutions to provide specialised training programmes in modern mining techniques and services and enhance local expertise and support Pakistan’s mining sector development. An official statement said the new AHC Kane and the petroleum minister discussed avenues for enhanced bilateral cooperation in the mining and gemstone sectors. The minister welcomed the strong interest of Australian companies in Pakistan’s mining sector and highlighted the country’s immen...

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Tuesday upheld a trial court order restraining singer Meesha Shafi from making statements related to sexual harassment allegations against actor-cum-singer Ali Zafar until the conclusion of the defamation suit filed by the latter against the former. In the written order seen by Dawn , Justice Ahmad Nadeem Arshad observed that the veracity of the allegations cannot be determined without recording evidence and that repeated public statements while the matter was sub judice could amount to a “parallel media trial, which is neither permissible nor desirable in the interest of justice and fair adjudication”. The judge subsequently dismissed the plea filed by Shafi challenging the gag order issued by the trial court on Jan 24, 2019. Zafar had claimed that the allegations levelled against him by Shafi were false and had damaged his reputation. Along with the defamation suit, he had sought an interim injunction to prevent the defendant female singer fr...

DUBAI: The United Arab Emirates will not allow attacks on Iran to be launched from its territory, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Monday. Last week, President Donald Trump said a US “armada” was heading toward the Gulf and that Washington was watching Iran closely after a crackdown on protesters. The foreign ministry said in a statement it “has reaffirmed the United Arab Emirates’ commitment to not allowing its airspace, territory or waters to be used in any hostile military actions against Iran”. The UAE hosts thousands of US personnel at Al Dhafra airbase near the capital Abu Dhabi, one of several American military bases in the Gulf. US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln arrives in Middle East; Hezbollah chief warns any war against Iran will ignite the region The UAE also refuses to provide logistical support for attacks, the statement said, adding that “dialogue, de-escalation, adherence to international law, and respect for state sovereignty” were the best wa...

QUETTA: Four bogies of the Quetta-bound Jaffar Express train coming from Peshawar were derailed in a blast on the railway track linking Sindh to Balochistan on Monday night. Railway officials in Sultankot confirmed that the blast occurred on the railway track between Sultankot and Jacobabad in Sindh. “Four bogies have derailed after a blast that damaged the track,” a senior official of the Pakistan Railway told Dawn , adding no deaths or injuries were reported in the blast. The railway officials added that repair on the track had begun after the area was cleared. They said a relief train had also reached the site to resume railway traffic on the main line. The Jaffar Express has come under attack several times over the past year. Last November, it had escaped an ar­­m­­ed attack in the Bolan Pass area of Kachhi distr­i­­ct, Balochistan. The same month it also escaped a bomb attack in Balochistan’s Nasirabad district. In October 2025, at least seven people were injured after ...

• Mandviwalla, Hassan lead push to exit 75-nation restrictive list; express confidence hurdles will be resolved soon • Senators urge direct parliament-to-parliament ties to boost trust; highlight need for a strategic partnership WASHINGTON: A high-level Pakistani parliamentary delegation have urged US lawmakers this week to remove their country from a list of nations subject to str­ict immigration visa res­tri­ct­ions , calling the current classification a significant hur­dle in diplomatic relations. Led by Senators Saleem H. Mandviwalla and Rana Mahmoodul Hassan, the delegation travelled to Washington to strengthen legislative ties and address specific bilateral concerns. Expe­rts from various sectors, inc­luding trade and business, were also part of the group. The central focus of the dialogue was Pakistan’s inclusion among 75 nations whose citizens face heightened scrutiny and difficulties obtaining visas. “Pakistan’s inclusion in the list of 75 countries whose nationals face v...

Indonesian authorities resumed search-and-rescue efforts for 80 people missing after a landslide killed 10 in a residential area of West Java province. The landslide early on Saturday was triggered by heavy rains starting the day before, which the weather agency warned could continue for a week in the province and several other regions. Resident Dedi Kurniawan, 36, said it was the first big landslide he had witnessed in Pasir Langu village in a hilly area of the province about 100 km (60 miles) southeast of Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. “Sometimes we have only small floods from the nearest river, but this time (the landslide) came from the forest,” he told Reuters. Rescuers were hampered on Saturday as unstable terrain and rain hindered them from deploying heavy machinery, Kompas TV reported, citing authorities. There were multiple reports of floods in West Java, including Jakarta. The floods have caused residents in heavily impacted areas to evacuate to higher ground or unaffect...

CISARUA: A predawn landslide killed at least eight people and left more than 80 missing on Indonesia’s main island of Java on Saturday, a disaster official said. Triggered by heavy rainfall, it struck villages in Java’s West Bandung region in the early hours — at around 2.30am (1930 GMT Friday) — and buried residential areas. Floods and landslides are common across the vast archipelago during the rainy season, which typically runs from October to March. “There was a rumbling noise, like thunder,” Oyoh, a resident of Pasirlangu village who, like many Indonesians, only has one name, told AFP. “It had been raining non-stop since the morning, and then it [the landslide] happened. I immediately felt scared.” Triggered by heavy rainfall, it struck villages in Java’s West Bandung region The 52-year-old had been evacuated to the village’s government office along with dozens of others, mainly women and children. She said her house survived the landslide, but her niece, her niece’s husb...

• Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi facilities up for grabs; Privatisation Commission assures domestic, foreign firms of level-playing field; abandons G2G mode amid investors’ high interest • Seeks proposals to appoint financial adviser for Roosevelt Hotel; plans joint venture for mixed-use development; aims to finalise transaction in a year ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission announced on Saturday that the outsourcing operation for the country’s three major airports — Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi — will move to an open bidding mode following a high level of interest from various investors. The commission said the shift from a government-to-government (G2G) mode to open bidding aims to generate a competitive process wherein all domestic and foreign investors will have a level playing field to participate in the bidding process. According to a commission statement, the envisaged competitive process priorities inclusivity by welcoming participation from all eligible entities, including...

UNDER normal circumstances, the journey from Bagh Markaz in Tirah to Bara — on the outskirts of Peshawar — should take no more than three to four hours. But ever since the authorities asked the people of Tirah to evacuate their homes — in preparation for an operation against terrorist elements who have infiltrated the area — this 110km route is taking several days to navigate. Although the northern parts of the country are in the grip of a severe cold spell , bringing with it rain and snow, this is not all that is holding up traffic on Bara Road. Families leaving the valley have to first register themselves with the authorities at Bara Markaz. From there, they must make their way to Dwa Thoye, where the road forks — with Peshawar in one direction and Afghanistan in the other. Here, they are supposed to be reimbursed for their transportation costs. After completing this stage, evacuees must then trek to Paindi Cheena and Mandi Kas. Here, they are given mobile phone SIMs and the off...

ISLAMABAD: Nearly 200 Pakistani students stranded in Afghanistan for months due to the closure of the border have demanded permission to cross the Torkham border, according to their representatives. Taliban authorities have told them that Pakistani diplomatic missions should officially approach them and verify the list with an official stamp. However, Pakistani officials are reluctant to do so, the affected students told Dawn from Kabul and Jalalabad. The Taliban allowed the first group of 26 students to cross Torkham on Jan 12, and Pakistani authorities also opened the border specifically for them. However, the students who arrived at Torkham on Jan 13 have not yet been allowed to cross, as Taliban authorities insist that the Pakistani embassy or the consulate in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, should officially verify the list. Dr Riazullah Wazir and Amanullah Wazir, representatives of the students in Kabul, said students had met the Nangarhar governor and offici...

A statement posted by the National Assembly’s official account on the social media platform X said that reports regarding the shutdown of its YouTube channel were “incorrect”. The statement came after the media reports emerged alleging that the YouTube channel had “disappeared”. The reports also said that NA proceedings, which are typically shown live, had not been broadcast on the official YouTube channel or on state television over the past few days. The reports had emerged as a joint sitting of Parliament was held in Islamabad on Friday. In the statement posted on X, the NA’s official account said, “It is hereby clarified that reports published and broadcast in newspapers and television channels regarding the shutdown of the NA YouTube channel are incorrect. “Furthermore, the YouTube channel was not shut down at any point,” the statement said. “Temporary technical issues occurred due to a social media server outage, which affected accessibility for a limited period have ...

• City admin to monitor festival using drones, safe city cameras for compliance • Nearly 2,500 kite sellers, traders and associations apply for registration LAHORE: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has imposed a ban on kite flying in public parks and greenbelts on Basant, as the Lahore administration decided to digitally monitor the three-day festival, starting Feb 6, to ensure compliance. PHA Managing Director Raja Mansoor Ahmad said the decision was made to ensure that kite flying and related celebrations did not harm trees and other park infrastructure. “Since the Basant festival is being held for three days in Lahore alone, the arrival of a number of people from other cities of Punjab, other provinces and abroad is expected here for kite flying and other related activities. In such a situation, the people may rush for the public parks and green areas for kite flying and other related celebrations…” he told Dawn. He said the decision was made to prevent any untow...

US President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that he will sue The New York Times over an unfavourable opinion poll and suggested that what he called “fake” surveys should be criminalised. Trump lashed out after publication of a New York Times /Siena University poll finding only 40 per cent approval for the 79-year-old Republican — in line with multiple other polls showing declining support a year into his second term. “The Times Siena Poll will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform. “They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing!” Expanding on the threat, Trump posted that “Fake and Fraudulent Polling should be, virtually, a criminal offence”. Trump has fired off multiple defamation lawsuits against media companies, including the BBC , CNN , Wall Street Journal , CBS and ABC . Some have ended in multi-million-dollar settlements. He first filed a $15 billion defamation su...

• Report highlights trade-based money laundering in solar kit imports • Senate panel fumes over absence of economic minister, provincial secretaries ISLAMABAD: Another episode of massive under-invoicing for tax evasion and trade-based money laundering through the import of solar kits came to light before a parliamentary committee, which expressed serious displeasure over the continued absence of the minister for economic affairs and provincial secretaries. The Senate Secretariat released selected operational parts of a report presented to the Senate Standing Committee on Economic Affairs by the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), detailing grave irregularities in the import of solar home system kits under the Sindh Solar Energy Project (SSEP). The report revealed that solar kits were declared at $16-$23.4 per unit for tax purposes by contractors, while payments of up to $112.44 per unit, or about 700 per cent higher, were made by the World Bank for the SSEP, reflecting a difference of ...

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 e...

ISLAMABAD: The world is experiencing the dawn of an “era of water bankruptcy”, according to a United Nations report. The report, released on Tuesday, invited leaders to facilitate “honest, science-based adaptation to a new reality” amid chronic depletion of groundwater, over-allocation of water, land and soil degradation, deforestation, and pollution — all compounded by global warming. Titled “Global Water Bankruptcy: Living Beyond Our Hydrological Means in the Post-Crisis Era”, the report was produced by the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health. It noted that in many regions, water systems were already in a “post-crisis state of failure”. Leaders urged to wake up to ‘new reality’ as the world is living beyond its ‘hydrological means’ Over decades, societies have extracted more water than climate and hydrology can provide, drawing down not only the annual ‘income’ of renewable flows but also the ‘savings’ stored in aquifers, glaciers, soils, wetl...

• US, Israel, Gulf allies all were underprepared for retaliation • Regime remained resilient as security forces stay loyal • Backchannel pledged to ‘stop the killing’ offered exit ramp WASHINGTON: The crisis in Iran, driven by economic collapse, soaring inflation and deep public anger, has underscored both the limits of external military intervention and the resilience of Tehran’s clerical regime, analysts and former officials said. US President Donald Trump publicly encouraged Iranian protesters, warning Tehran that it would face consequences if it “violently kills peaceful protesters”. But behind the scenes, Washington came close to — and then stepped back from — military action, exposing the operational, political and strategic constraints shaping US policy. According to a detailed Axios investigation , senior military, political and diplomatic officials across Washington and the Middle East believed US strikes on Iran were imminent. Preparations were real, officials stres...

Asset tokenisation is clearly gaining popularity in Pakistan. Already, Pakistan’s Finance Ministry has signed a non-binding memorandum of understanding with the global crypto giant Binance for consultations on the tokenisation of sovereign bonds, treasury bills, and commodity reserves valued up to $2 billion. Separately, Pakistan’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority has also granted No Objection Certificates to Binance and HTX to begin local licensing processes. With an estimated 30–40 million Pakistanis actively using digital assets, the government has been increasingly positioning blockchain as a key element in its quest for financial transformation. In simple words, asset tokenisation is the process of turning a physical or financial asset into its digital copies, or tokens, that can then be traded or owned in a blockchain network. One of the main benefits of tokenisation is that it allows the fractionalisation or breakup of non-fungible or indivisible assets into smaller, affo...