KARACHI: Officials were assessing damages after two fires gutted a garments factory and damaged four other manufacturing plants in Pakistan’s commercial capital of Karachi, they said on Friday.
In the first incident, a blaze broke out at the MashaAllah Factory, which processes imported second-hand clothing, and led to the total collapse of the building, according to Hasaan Khan, a spokesperson of Sindh Rescue 1122 service.
At least seven people were injured who were shifted to hospital, while the blaze later engulfed three nearby plants located within the Landhi Export Processing Zone.
“During the cooling-off period, another factory, named Home Furnishings, caught fire at around 11:30pm on Thursday,” Khan told Arab News.
“Our teams were present close to the site and immediately doused the blaze.”
The official said they were estimating losses and ascertaining the causes of the fires.
Factory fires are common in Karachi, a city of over 20 million, where industrial zones often suffer from poor safety standards, lack of fire exits, and inadequate enforcement of regulations.
In Nov. last year, a blaze at a shopping mall killed around a dozen people and injured several others. In April 2023, four firefighters died and nearly a dozen others were injured after a blaze erupted at a garment factory, while 10 people were killed in a massive fire at a chemical factory in the city in August 2021.
In the deadliest such incident, 260 people were killed in 2012 after being trapped inside a garment factory when a fire broke out.
Despite frequent incidents, industrial safety remains a persistent concern in the city, putting thousands of laborers and residents at ongoing risk.
Netanyahu acknowledges India’s use of ‘battle-tested’ Israeli weapons against Pakistan — Indian media
The India-Pakistan aerial combat during the conflict in May offered first real glimpse into how advanced Chinese military technology performs against Western hardware
Indian military used Barak missiles, jointly developed with Israel, and Tel Aviv’s HARPY drones to repel waves of Pakistan missiles over the 96-hour conflict, report says
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has acknowledged India’s use of “battle-tested” Israeli weapons in a recent conflict with Pakistan and said all of them had “worked well,” Indian media reported this week.
India and Pakistan engaged in a four-day military standoff, sparked by a militant attack in Indian-administered Kashmir, leaving nearly 70 people dead on both sides before agreeing to a United States-brokered ceasefire on May 10.
The conflict, the worst between the neighbors in over two decades, saw the use of Chinese-made beyond-visual-range (BVR) missiles, French-made Rafale jets, Israeli and Turkish drones and sophisticated air and ground warfare technologies.
Speaking to Indian journalists in Jerusalem on Thursday, Netanyahu said the military equipment supplied to India by Israel had performed well during ‘Operation Sindoor’ against Pakistan and that defense ties between New Delhi and Tel Aviv were on an upswing, The Telegraph newspaper, published in India, reported.
“Israel supplied military equipment to India before [Operation Sindoor]. All of them worked well. Israeli equipment used during Operation Sindoor were battle proven,” Netanyahu was quoted as saying.
“We don’t develop them in labs, but in battlefield. So they are battle-tested. We have a robust defense cooperation. It is on a pretty solid foundation.”
Netanyahu met Indian journalists after his meeting with India’s ambassador to Israel, J P Singh, the Israeli PM’s office said.
Israeli Prime Minister Banjamin Netanyahu shakes hands with Indian Ambassador to Israel J.P. Singh in Jerusalem on August 7, 2025. (Handout/X/@IsraeliPM)
“The Prime Minister and the Ambassador discussed the expansion of bilateral cooperation, especially on security and economic issues,” it said in a statement. “Prime Minister Netanyahu then met with senior Indian journalists and answered their questions.”
The four-day India-Pakistan clash marked the first time New Delhi and Islamabad utilized unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) at scale against each other.
The Indian military used Barak missiles, jointly developed with Israel, and Tel Aviv’s HARPY drones, in addition an impressive array of domestically manufactured weapons systems, to repel waves of Pakistan missiles over the 96-hour conflict, according to the Times of India newspaper.
Israeli Prime Minister Banjamin Netanyahu (4L) meets a delegation of Indian journalists during a meeting with New Delhi’s envoy J.P. Singh in Jerusalem on August 7, 2025. (Handout/X/@IsraeliPM)
“Israel is among India’s largest supplier of weapons and weapons systems,” the read said. “India has imported military hardware worth $2.9 billion from Israel over the last decade, including radars, drones, and missiles. Tel Aviv has ensured a steady supply of weapons to Delhi.”
On May 7, Pakistan and India fought in the air with some 110 aircraft involved, experts estimate, making it the world’s largest air battle in decades.
Pakistan declared a victory in the standoff, saying its air force used Chinese J-10C aircraft to shoot down six Indian fighter jets, including three French Rafales, and the army targeted several Indian military installations during the recent flare-up. While Indian officials have acknowledged losses, they have not specified the number of jets downed by Pakistan.
The hour-long fight, which took place in darkness, offered the world a first real glimpse into how advanced Chinese military technology performs against proven Western hardware, with Chinese defense stocks surging in its wake.
Over the past five years, China has supplied 81 percent of Pakistan’s imported weapons, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Those exports include advanced fighter jets, missiles, radars and air-defense systems.
Israeli Prime Minister Banjamin Netanyahu meets a delegation of Indian journalists during a meeting with New Delhi’s envoy J.P. Singh in Jerusalem on August 7, 2025. (Handout/X/@IsraeliPM)
Some Pakistan-made weapons have also been co-developed with Chinese firms or built with Chinese technology and expertise. Beijing is also investing over $60 billion to build infrastructure, energy and other projects in Pakistan as part of its China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
India was planning to invest heavily in local industry and could spend as much as $470 million on UAVs over the next 12 to 24 months, roughly three times pre-conflict levels, Smit Shah of Drone Federation India, which represents over 550 companies and regularly interacts with the government, was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Netanyahu noted that Israel had developed “advanced technologies” and mentioned ongoing cooperation with India during his meeting with Indian journalists, WION, an English-language Indian news channel, reported on Friday.
“Israel was keen to finalize mutual defense and economic agreements with India at the earliest,” he was quoted as saying.
ISLAMABAD: Weather authorities have forecast another spell of monsoon rains in Pakistan from Aug. 8 till Aug. 13, with weeks of heavy showers and floods claiming at least 303 lives in the country.
The unusually heavy rains, which began on June 26, have injured more than 700 people and raised fears of a repeat of the catastrophic 2022 floods that submerged a third of Pakistan and killed more than 1,700 people.
“Under the influence of low-pressure systems developing in the surrounding regions, along with a western disturbance, isolated rainfall is expected across most parts of the country from August 8th to 13th,” Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said on Thursday.
The development came as a glacial lake outburst flood from Shisper Glacier swelled the Hassanabad Nullah in Hunza and damaged infrastructure, putting dozens of homes at risk in the mountainous Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region, local media reported, citing officials.
The heavy flood eroded the protective walls of the Karakoram Highway (KKH), a key road connecting Pakistan with China, and damaged farmland.
More showers are expected in GB’s Astore, Skardu, Hunza, Shighar and surrounding areas, along with Bagh, Neelum Valley and Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir between Aug. 8 and Aug. 13, according to the NDMA.
Rains are also likely in Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Murree, Galliyat, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Mianwali, Hafizabad, Sargodha, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Narowal, Okara, Lahore, Gujranwala, Gujrat and surrounding areas in Punjab, with occasional gaps during the forecast period.
“We request citizens to take precautionary measures during the monsoon season,” Irfan Ali Kathia, Director General of Punjab’s Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), said on Thursday.
“Keep children away from streams, low-lying areas, rivers and canals and strictly avoid swimming during rainfall.”
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will arrange special flights and coordinate with airlines to provide discounted tickets to Shia pilgrims traveling to Iraq for the Arbaeen pilgrimage, State Minister for Interior Tallal Chaudhry on Friday, following the closure of land route.
Thousands of Pakistanis travel to Iran and Iraq annually to visit religious sites, including observing Arbaeen (Arabic for “forty”), a significant religious occasion in Shia Islam that marks the end of a 40-day mourning period for Imam Hussain, who was “martyred” in the Battle of Karbala in 680 AD.
Islamabad last month suspended road travel to Iran and Iraq for the Arbaeen pilgrimage this year, citing public safety and national security concerns. Pakistanis traveling to the countries via road have often been targeted in sectarian attacks by armed groups in the country’s restive Balochistan province, which shares border with Iran.
The decision led to a protest by Shia religious and political parties, prompting Chaudhry to arrive in the southern port city of Karachi to hold hours-long negotiations with the protest leaders to defuse the crisis by facilitating pilgrims with discounted travel and payment refunds.
“For those whose Iraqi visas have already been issued and who wish to travel overland, the government will coordinate with airlines to provide discounted tickets,” the state minister told reporters.
“Special flights will be arranged to facilitate pilgrims during the travel season, and flight operations to Iraq for these pilgrims will begin in the next two to three days.”
He said the government took painful decision of closing the Rimdan border crossing due to some “security and other concerns,” and it was not being close permanently, requesting pilgrims to take alternate travel routes this year.
“For those who have made advance payments to bus and transport operators, the Government of Pakistan will play its role in ensuring that the tour operators refund those payments,” Chaudhry said, adding the government would set up a committee to resolve pilgrim issues.
Islamabad’s decision to restrict road travel came in the wake of a rise in militant attacks in the province by ethnic Baloch militant groups who demand a greater share of the province’s mineral resources from Islamabad.
Separately, the Pakistani government is introducing a new, centralized system for organizing pilgrimages to holy sites in Iran and Iraq that would require interested parties to register as tour operators, the Pakistani religious affairs minister announced in July.
The statement followed an announcement by Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi that Pakistani pilgrims would not be able to individually travel for religious pilgrimages from Jan. 1 next year. The decision was made after Iran, Iraq and Syria raised concerns with Islamabad about some of these Pakistani pilgrims overstaying their visas or working illegally in the host countries.
Pakistan previously had no formal structure for people to travel to Iran and Iraq for religious purposes. Although a system was approved in 2021 to organize these pilgrimages, but little progress was made on its implementation.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government has initiated the process to hire a new financial adviser for the partial sale of its New York-based Roosevelt Hotel, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad confirmed this week, clarifying that the transaction would be completed this year.
Pakistan plans to sell a minority stake in the century-old Manhattan hotel and is seeking a redevelopment partner as part of a broader effort to offload loss-making state-owned assets under a $7 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Roosevelt Hotel, viewed as one of Pakistan’s most valuable foreign holdings, was closed in 2020 and has since operated intermittently, including as a migrant shelter.
Global real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) last month resigned from its role as financial adviser for the hotel’s privatization, citing a conflict of interest due to client interest in the property.
A report in English-language newspaper ‘The News’ on Thursday claimed that if the Privatization Commission accelerates the process of hiring JLL’s replacement, it would require 18 months to do so. The delay will burden the national exchequer with at least $50 million in the form of debt servicing and maintenance, the report claimed.
“The advertisement for the new financial adviser has already been published and the selection process is underway,” Schehzad told Arab News on Thursday, responding to the report.
Pakistan has said it would not carry out an outright sale of the hotel but has decided to adopt a joint venture model to maximize long-term value.
Schehzad said JLL completed the entire transaction structure for the joint venture, which was approved by the Privatization Commission and the federal cabinet.
He said the new adviser would proceed with the same structure and would only be responsible for finding a development partner for the venture.
“Therefore, there will not be a delay of one-and-a-half years as reported,” the finance official clarified. “Instead, the transaction will be completed within this year as planned.”
Schehzad said JLL resigned from the process as the firm was interested in becoming a partner on the buyer’s side, which would have created a conflict of interest.
“They even committed to returning all the money they had received in their role as the financial adviser,” he said, adding that there were many parties interested in investing in the hotel.
The report had also said that a financial body had sent an official communication to the finance ministry, inquiring about the fate of its loan of $142 million to the Roosevelt Hotel after JLL resigned.
The report said the finance ministry did not respond to the institution, warning that debt servicing would continue to burden the national exchequer. It said the financial body had lent the money to the Roosevelt Hotel in 2020.
Schehzad confirmed the loan had been issued by the National Bank of Pakistan, saying its communication with the finance ministry was “a routine matter.”
“This issue will also be addressed when the partnership agreement is signed,” he said.
‘BETTER PLANNING, BETTER ENGAGEMENTS’
Pakistani economists viewed JLL’s resignation as a setback but said it would not derail the privatization process.
Dr. Sajid Amin, deputy executive director at Islamabad-based think tank Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), said it was unfortunate authorities were unable to privatize the property despite its prime location.
“We need better planning and better engagements so that we can privatize a prestigious property,” Amin told Arab News.
Amin believed the advisory firm’s withdrawal would not have a significant impact on the IMF reforms agenda that Pakistan had agreed to, since JLL had stepped down over a potential conflict of interest.
“The government will start looking for a new financial adviser firm and it will be sufficient to prove that the IMF commitments are on track,” he added.
Dr. Ali Salman, executive director of the Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME), an Islamabad-based independent economic policy think tank, said privatization has many models, and a joint venture — instead of a direct sale — was an impressive approach.
He said that the cost of the delay could be recovered through a joint venture deal if it was carried out professionally and transparently, according to the approved structure.
“We need to increase the capacity of the Privatization Commission to ensure timely and well-informed decisions,” Salman added.
Pakistan suspends cricketer Haider Ali over UK police criminal investigation/node/2611045/pakistan
Islamabad: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said on Thursday it has decided to place cricketer Haider Ali under provisional suspension, saying it was informed that the Greater Manchester Police was conducting a criminal investigation against the athlete.
Without sharing details of the investigation, the PCB said the probe relates to an incident that reportedly occurred during the Pakistan Shaheens’ cricket team’s recent tour of England.
The board said in line with its duty to ensure the welfare and legal rights of all its players, the PCB has ensured that Haider Ali has received “appropriate legal support” to protect his rights throughout this process. The cricket board added that it respects the legal procedures and processes of the UK and acknowledges the importance of allowing the investigation to run its due course.
“Accordingly, the PCB has decided to place Haider Ali under provisional suspension, effective immediately, pending the outcome of the ongoing investigation,” it added.
The cricket board said that once the legal proceedings conclude and all facts have been duly established, the PCB reserves the right to take “appropriate action” under its Code of Conduct.
“Until such time as the legal process reaches its conclusion, the PCB will not offer further comment on the matter,” the board concluded.
Ali, 24, is a right-handed aggressive batter who has featured for Pakistan in only two ODIs but 35 T20Is and 164 T20s. In T20Is, he has scored 505 runs at an average of 17.41 and made three half-centuries. In T20s, the batter has scored 3,141 runs and scored 17 fifties.
He has played for renowned Pakistan Super League franchises such as Islamabad United and Peshawar Zalmi.
