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WASHINGTON: The United States and Taliban are set to sign an agreement in Doha, Qatar, on Saturday that both hope would bring peace to Afghanistan and end America’s longest war. Last week, the two sides concluded a “reduction in violence” deal, agreeing that if violence remained contained for a week, they would sign the peace agreement in Doha on Saturday. And on Friday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated that the US felt the condition had been met and was ready to sign the deal. “We have seen just these last six days a significant reduction in violence in Afgha­nistan,” he told House of Represe­ntatives Foreign Affairs Committee. But the same day, 22 House Republicans sent a letter to Mr Pompeo, expressing “serious concerns” about the Trump administration’s plans to sign the deal. “We are seeking assurances that you will not place the security of the American people into the hands of the Taliban, and undermine our ally, the current government of Afghanistan,” they wrote.

The World Health Organization raised on Friday its global risk assessment of the new coronavirus to its highest level after the epidemic spread to sub-Saharan Africa and financial markets slumped. The virus has proliferated around the globe over the past week, emerging on every continent except Antarctica, prompting many governments and businesses to try to stop people from travelling or gathering in crowded places. It has killed more than 2,800 people and infected over 84,000 worldwide — the vast majority in China — since it emerged apparently from an animal market in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late December. But it is its rapid spread to new zones that has authorities concerned — in the past 24 hours, it has affected nine new countries, from Azerbaijan to Mexico to New Zealand. “We have now increased our assessment of the risk of spread and the risk of impact of COVID-19 to very high at global level,” WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters. “We do not see

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Friday condoled with Turkey over the killing of its 33 soldiers in Syria’s Idlib region and expressed support for Turkey’s “legitimate security and humanitarian concerns”. “Pakistan expresses its deep concern at the recent developments in Syria’s Idlib region, and conveys heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the leadership and people of Turkey over the loss of lives of a number of Turkish soldiers in an attack yesterday,” the Foreign Office said in a statement. Around 33 Turkish soldiers were killed in Syria’s Idlib province in an aerial attack by Syrian forces on Thursday renewing fears of a full-blown conflict. “The recent developments are not only a grave threat to regional peace and security but will also exacerbate the deteriorating humanitarian situation in the region,” the FO said. Syrian government has over the past few weeks launched a massive aerial campaign to clear last rebel held area of Idlib. Turkish soldiers were present in the region as par

KASUR: Five people were killed and nine others were severely wounded as boiler of a factory, situated in Kasur district, exploded here on Saturday. According to the police, the incident took place in the area of Phool Nagar. The boiler explosion claimed lives of five labourers and injured nine others. The injured were rushed to a nearby medical facility in critical condition by the rescue teams. Identities of the dead and injured could not be ascertained , according to the initial reports. Read more:  Two labourers killed in Lahore factory boiler explosion In the month of February 2017, more than 20 people were injured when a factory boiler exploded in Sheikhupura. A boiler of a factory — located near Khanpur– had exploded, due to which 20 people suffered burns. A portion of the factory building also collapsed following the explosion. Rescue sources had said that 20 injured were rushed to District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ) Sheikhupura for medical treatment. The post Factory

ISLAMABAD: During Friday’s Senate session, the government was urged to disclose the terms of agreement reached with International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get a $6 billion bailout package. Speaking in the lower house of parliament, PPP leader Mian Raza Rabbani said the three-member team which negotiated the deal with the IMF consisted of the adviser to the prime minister on finance, a technocrat, the State Bank of Pakistan governor – a former employee of the IMF, and the finance secretary, a bureaucrat. “This makes it clear that elected representatives have no value,” he added. Mr Rabbani said reports suggested that electricity tariff would go up under a condition set by the agreement despite Prime Minister Imran Khan’s announcement of plans to freeze power and gas tariffs. “Will the IMF override decisions taken by the prime minister and the cabinet?” he asked. On Mr Rabbani’s demand, Senate Chairman Sadiq Sanjrani asked the adviser to the PM on finance to come and share with the Hous

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday instructed the foreign ministry to submit an updated list of Pakistani prisoners repatriated from jails in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Justice Ayesha A. Malik sought a report on the efforts made to ensure repatriation of the prisoners since Feb 18, 2019, when the Saudi crown prince had announced immediate release of 2,107 Pakistanis. The judge was hearing a petition by the Justice Project Pakistan (JPP) on behalf of 10 Pakistanis on death row in the Gulf countries. The petition sought enforcement of the fundamental rights of Pakistani citizens facing execution in jails across the Middle East. Further hearing was adjourned for a month. On Nov 12 last year, a list of 579 Pakistani prisoners released from the kingdom was submitted by the ministry to the court. An analysis of the list revealed that less than five per cent of the prisoners had returned after the crown prince’s announcement. The rest had been repatriated before that. A resea

KARACHI: More than half of the country’s population is overweight or faces obesity, which is making a majority of the people vulnerable to multiple diseases and health complications that could prove fatal, says a study conducted by an official research body. Officials and experts who helped write the report about a recent survey conducted by the Pakistan Health Research Council said the fresh data showed alarming trends in society, where not only adults but children too were fast becoming patients of obesity-linked diseases. “In the countrywide study two cutoffs were put as standards by the experts,” said a source citing findings of the study. “According to the WHO [World Health Organisation] 58.1 per cent people of Pakistan are overweight and 43.9 per cent of population is suffering from obesity. Similarly, according to the Asian cutoffs, 72.3 per cent people of Pakistan are overweight and 58.1 per cent of the population is suffering from obesity. These are fresh figures suggesting