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Tribal leaders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Kurram district on Saturday came to terms on an eight-month peace agreement ahead of Eidul Fitr.

Violence stemming from decades-old land disputes has claimed at least 130 lives in the fragile district, with multiple efforts to establish peace between tribes. A ceasefire agreement was reached following months of conflict in January.

However, the KP government had announced a fresh operation against militants in Kurram last month after security officials were martyred in multiple attacks. There were also several attacks on aid and supply convoys in the days after the ceasefire.

According to a press release issued by the jirga that inked the agreement, tribal elders gathered in Qila Abbas Saddar today to restore regional peace. Important decisions were taken in this jirga which would “promote harmony and cooperation among the people of the area”.

“In this jirga, the Shia leaders of Alizai and the Sunni leaders of Bagan agreed to a peace treaty to restore peace and establish tolerance in the area through mutual consultation,” the press release read.

“The representatives of both sects agreed on establishing a peace treaty for a period of eight months to prevent any kind of conflict in the area and to try to improve the situation.”

Under Saturday’s deal, the tribal elders decided that if any “unpleasant incidents” were reported on Kurram’s roads, then legal action would be taken according to the Kohat Agreement.

“In this agreement, both parties have pledged that in case of any incident detrimental to peace in the area, they will consult each other and find a solution through legal means,” the press release reads, adding that after reaching a consensus, the KP governor and military leadership will be consulted.

The press release added that Saturday’s agreement also aimed to establish “cooperation with state institutions” and ensure that they take steps to establish peace in the region. Additionally, it was agreed that federal and provincial institutions would jointly announce the formal opening of roads.

“As a result of this jirga, both sects recognised the importance of cooperation and establishing peace with each other, which will improve the lives of the people of the region,” the release added.

The jirga called Saturday’s agreement “a new message of hope” for Kurram and that an attempt would be made “to create an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity in the region”.

Thousands of Turks ramped up protests on Thursday despite a ban on street gatherings over what they called the undemocratic detention of Istanbul’s mayor Ekrem Imamoglu, as the opposition sought to pin the blame on President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Even as police erected barricades and dozens of people were detained over social media posts, protesters gathered at a municipal headquarters and police station in Istanbul and at universities and public squares across the country.

Imamoglu, 54, Erdogan’s main political rival, was taken in on Wednesday facing charges of graft and aiding a terrorist group, a move that the opposition condemned as a “coup attempt” and that sparked an initial round of demonstrations and criticism from European leaders.

The move against the popular two-term mayor caps a months-long legal crackdown on opposition figures that has been criticised as a politicised attempt to hurt their electoral prospects and silence dissent, charges the government denies.

In an interview, Ozgur Ozel, chairman of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP), including Imamoglu, said Erdogan feared facing the mayor in a vote and wanted to “take him out of the game” and cut his party’s ties with the city.

He said that any move barring Imamoglu from running for president in the next election would only strengthen the opposition’s support, adding the CHP will appoint him its candidate on Sunday at a scheduled vote.

“We believe Imamoglu will win. If his candidacy is blocked, we believe this will turn into much greater support,” Ozel told Reuters in his first interview with foreign media since the detention.

“This nation has never forgiven anyone trying to lift the legitimacy of the ballots,” he said next to a small room at the Istanbul municipality headquarters — with crowds gathering outside — where he intends to overnight until Imamoglu is released.

Warnings

Elections are not scheduled until 2028 but would need to come earlier if Erdogan, 71, who has run Turkiye for 22 years, wants to run again. Imamoglu leads the president in some polls.

The government rejects the criticism and says the judiciary is independent. It has warned against tying Erdogan or politics to Imamoglu’s arrest, after which it imposed a four-day ban on gatherings and restricted access to some social media to restrict communications.

Police blocked off roads and stationed trucks with water cannons near the police station where the mayor is held and other areas of Turkiye’s largest city.

Imamoglu on Thursday called on members of the judiciary and Erdogan’s ruling party to fight the injustice of his detention.

“These events have gone beyond our parties or political ideals,” he said on X. “It is time to raise our voices.”

Civil disobedience has been dramatically curbed in Turkiye since the nationwide Gezi Park protests against Erdogan’s government in 2013, which prompted a violent state crackdown.

But crowds in Istanbul, Ankara and other cities have been chanting anti-government slogans and, in Istanbul, they hung banners of Imamoglu and the nation’s founding leader Mustafa Kemal Ataturk alongside Turkish flags.

“They hastily detained our mayor, whom we elected with our votes,” said Ali Izar, an opposition supporter in central Istanbul. “I do not think this is a democratic practice and I condemn it.”

Market fall

The detention sparked a crash and partial recovery in the lira on Wednesday, which by Thursday was worth nearly 38 to the dollar, compared to 36.67 beforehand.

Amid worries about eroding rule of law and concerns over slower rate cuts, bank shares in particular tumbled on the Istanbul bourse, and the central bank hiked its overnight rate.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said that 37 people had been detained and accused of “provocative social media posts inciting crime and hatred” after the detention.

Authorities also seized a construction company co-owned by Imamoglu and handed control over to a court, according to the Istanbul Chief Public Prosecutor’s office and financial crime investigation reports.

Istanbul municipality staff made up the bulk of the 105 people arrested along with Imamoglu.

Countries, including the United States, cutting down funding for life-saving global health projects could jeopardise vaccination programmes that protect children and adults from deadly diseases, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Tuesday.

The recent abrupt changes in donor budgets and capacity in global health have put a severe strain on immunisation programmes, particularly on measles prevention efforts, at all levels, the UN health agency said.

Measles is a highly contagious airborne viral illness characterised by fever and a distinctive rash, which remains a significant cause of death among children globally, according to the WHO.

The best protection against measles is through the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine as there is no specific treatment once a person is infected. The WHO recommends two doses of the measles vaccine for all children.

The United States is currently battling one of the largest measles outbreaks it has seen in the past decade, with more than 300 cases since late January.

The outbreak has been fuelled by declining vaccination rates in parts of the US where parents have been falsely persuaded that such shots do more harm than good.

The backsliding in immunisation has partly been a result of “concerns that people have related to misinformation around measles vaccine, [which] is creating an environment where measles cases are occurring again in places around the world that have already eliminated measles”, said Kate O’Brien, director at the WHO’s immunisation department.

US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr had initially downplayed news that a school-aged child had died of measles in Texas, the first such death in a decade, calling such outbreaks ordinary and failing to mention the role of vaccination to prevent measles.

He had also told parents vaccination was a personal choice and urged them to consult with their physicians in his opinion piece published on Fox News.

Pope Francis acknowledged being fragile and “facing a period of trial”, as he thanked well-wishers on Sunday for their prayers in a message from hospital, where he has been slowly recovering from pneumonia.

The 88-year-old pope, who has weathered setbacks along with periods of improving health since being hospitalised on February 14, sent a particularly personal message to the faithful that referenced both his faith and his frailty.

“I am sharing these thoughts with you while I am facing a period of trial, and I join with so many brothers and sisters who are sick: fragile, at this time, like me,” wrote the pope in the message published by the Vatican.

“Our bodies are weak but, even like this, nothing can prevent us from loving, praying, giving ourselves, being for each other, in faith, shining signs of hope,” added the Argentine pontiff in the message marking the second Sunday of Lent, a 40-day period of prayer and reflection leading up to Easter.

Sunday was the fifth time in a row that the pope’s illness had prevented him from personally giving the Angelus prayer, usually delivered to a crowd gathered in St Peter’s Square following mass.

Although Francis has yet to appear at the window of his papal suite on the 10th floor of the Gemelli hospital, this has not dissuaded a steady stream of well-wishers from gathering, including tango dancers and dozens of children on Sunday.

Under grey skies, about a dozen couples in street clothes danced the tango in front of a throng of cameras as the Argentine pontiff recuperated inside.

“With this tango, he must be discharged,” enthused dancer Daiana Guspero, 38, who, like the pope, hailed from Buenos Aires. “I want him to feel our energy, our love for tango and for an Argentine pope,” she told AFP.

Earlier, a group of young scouts from a Catholic group stood at the foot of a statue of former Pope John Paul II at the hospital entrance, holding yellow and white balloons and vainly striving to catch a glimpse of the pope.

“You see the pope there!” shouted one of them eagerly, before being set straight by the group leader, Valerio Santobonio, 23: “I don’t think that’s him.”

Santobonio told AFP that five to seven-year-olds don’t quite yet grasp who the pope is, nor his health situation. Nevertheless, their visit was “a bit like giving them a window onto a wider stage of Christian life”, Santobonio said.

Other children had arrived in the early morning from an impoverished town near Naples to deliver a letter to Francis, said Andrea Lacomini from Unicef, which organised the excursion.

“He loves children, he is the pope of the children, so we are waiting for him. We’re sure he will get better,” Lacomini told AFP. “We need an important leader like him, because at this time there aren’t many heroes in the world,” he added. “He’s the only one who talks about peace.”

Despite failing to appear at the window, Francis addressed his youngest well-wishers in his message.

“I know that many children are praying for me; some of them came here today to ‘Gemelli’ as a sign of closeness,” Francis wrote. “Thank you, dearest children! The pope loves you and is always waiting to meet you.”

‘Loving care’

Last week, the Vatican signalled that Francis was out of immediate danger after a series of breathing crises earlier in his hospitalisation had sparked fears for the pontiff’s life.

On Saturday, the Vatican said his condition continued to be stable and showing progress, but cautioned that he still needed therapies administered within the hospital setting.

“The Holy Father still requires hospital medical therapy, motor and respiratory physiotherapy; these therapies, at present, are showing further, gradual improvements,” it said.

That message appeared to quash speculation that the pope’s progress could signal an imminent release from hospital.

Although the Vatican has said he continues to work from his hospital suite when able, Francis’s absence is particularly felt as Easter approaches, the holiest period in the Christian calendar just five weeks away.

The head of the world’s nearly 1.4 billion Catholics traditionally presides over a busy programme of events during the period, including a Good Friday evening procession and Easter mass in St Peter’s Square before tens of thousands of faithful.

In his written message on Sunday — which also called for peace in war-torn countries including Ukraine, Myanmar and Sudan — Francis once again thanked his caretakers and those who have been praying for him.

“How much light shines, in this sense, in hospitals and places of care! How much loving care illuminates the rooms, the corridors, the clinics, the places where the humblest services are performed!” he wrote.

A cop was martyred while six others were wounded in a blast near a vehicle of Balochistan’s Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) in Quetta on Saturday, according to officials.

Brewery police Station House Officer (SHO) Mahmood Kharoti told Dawn.com that the ATF vehicle was targeted on Karani Road where a roadside remote-controlled explosive device killed one official and injured six others.

“The ATF vehicle was severely damaged in the explosion,” Kharoti said, adding that 2-3 kilogrammes of explosives were used in the device.

“Police and other law enforcement officials reached the scene, collected evidence and began investigating further,” the SHO said.

Bolan Medical Complex (BMC) Medical Superintendent Dr Sultan Lehri said that the explosion injured six people and the body of an ATF official was brought to the complex. He said the six were being provided medical treatment with three of them being seriously injured.

Provincial government spokesperson Shahid Rind confirmed the explosion and the martyrdom of the policeman.

“Six people were injured in an explosion near a police mobile on Karani Road and one policeman was martyred,” Rind said in a statement, adding that the injured were receiving medical treatment.

“Law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area and investigations are underway,” he added. “The nature of the explosion is being determined and initial evidence is being collected.”

The incident occurred amid a tense environment in the province following this week’s earlier terrorist attack on a Jaffar Express train near Bolan district.

The attack began on Tuesday afternoon when Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) terrorists ambushed the Peshawar-bound train carrying 440 passengers, opening fire and taking hostages. Security forces launched a two-day operation, concluding on Wednesday evening. Lt Gen Chaudhry confirmed that all 33 terrorists were neutralised, but no hostages were harmed in the final rescue phase. He also said the incident had changed the “rules of the game”.

The operation, which lasted over 36 hours, resulted in the rescue of 354 passengers. However, 26 hostages lost their lives, including 18 military and Frontier Corps personnel, three railway employees, and five civilians. Additionally, five security personnel were martyred. The casualty count could rise, as 37 of the rescued hostages sustained injuries and are being treated at hospitals.

Pope Francis, who the Vatican said is responding well to treatment for pneumonia, thanked his doctors and healthcare workers on Sunday as he missed delivering a fourth straight Angelus prayer in person.

The 88-year-old, in Rome’s Gemelli hospital since February 14, issued a written Angelus in which he thanked those who volunteer to help others in need, praising their “closeness and tenderness”.

“I, too, experience the thoughtfulness of service and the tenderness of care, in particular from the doctors and healthcare workers, whom I thank from the bottom of my heart,” he said.

“We need this, the ‘miracle of tenderness’ which accompanies those who are in adversity, bringing a little light into the night of pain,” he said in the text published by the Vatican.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics has spent time at the Gemelli before, notably for colon surgery in 2021 and a hernia operation in 2023.

This hospitalisation has been more serious, however, with Francis suffering several respiratory crises, prompting fears the road to recovery would be long, or might force the elderly pontiff to resign.

On Saturday, the Vatican said the pope appeared finally to be responding well to treatment and had seen “a gradual, slight improvement”, marking several days without crises.

Though the pope does not have a fever, his doctors want to see more positive results “in the coming days” before giving a prognosis, an evening medical bulletin said.

On Sunday, the Vatican press office said the pope was “stable”.

“The doctors confirmed the situation remains the same as yesterday,” and the pope had seen “slight improvements … in a complex overall picture”, it said.

The next bulletin is expected on Monday afternoon.

‘Given so much’

Francis has been alternating rest, prayer and bits of work when he feels up to it. On Sunday, he received Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s secretary of state, and Edgar Pena Parra, a Venezuelan archbishop who is also a senior Vatican official.

He continued his treatment, doing both his physiotherapy and his breathing exercises, the press office said.

Francis also followed spiritual exercises being held at the Vatican via video link, though while he could see participants, they could not see the pope, it said.

People who gathered in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, where Francis would usually stand at a Vatican window to read the Angelus to crowds below, said his presence was sorely missed.

“He is a wonderful person who has given so much and I hope that he can return as soon as possible,” said Diana Desiderio, who volunteers with the civil protection agency in the Italian city of Pescara.

She and fellow volunteers are praying that Francis will “return to the window again and bring peace and serenity to everyone, because we need it”, she told AFP.

The pope ended the Angelus with his traditional call for peace in conflicts, “in particular in tormented Ukraine, Palestine, Israel, Lebanon, Myanmar, Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo”.

He said he had “learnt with concern of the resumption of violence in some areas of Syria: I hope that they cease definitively, with full respect for all ethnic and religious components of society”.

Catholics have also been gathering at the Gemelli hospital to pray for Francis or leave flowers, candles and cards.

Giuseppe Antonio Perazzo, 74, was at the hospital for the second Sunday in a row, dressed smartly in a suit and tie in the hope that the pontiff might appear at the window.

A sign he propped up in sight of the windows of the pope’s rooms urged the Argentine pontiff — a notoriously headstrong patient — to “keep doing what the doctors and nurses tell you to do”.

China has rolled over a $2 billion loan to Pakistan, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad told Reuters in a text message on Saturday.

The government is working to strengthen its finances after securing a $7bn International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout in September 2024. The first installment of the loan is currently under review, and if successful, the country will receive an additional $1bn.

Securing external financing has previously been a key condition for the IMF to approve bail-out deals for the cash-strapped nation.

The government needs to repay over $22bn in external debt in fiscal year 2025, including nearly $13bn in bilateral deposits, global credit rating agency Fitch said last month.

According to the World Bank’s International Debt Report released in December, China has become Pakistan’s largest creditor with almost $29bn in loans.

The World Bank put Pakistan’s total external debt (including IMF) at $130.85bn in 2023, accounting for 352 per cent of its total exports and 39pc of gross national income (GNI). Pakistan’s total external debt servicing amounted to 43pc of total exports and 5pc of GNI.

According to the report, China had the single largest share of debt to Pakistan with 22pc share (about $28.786bn), followed by World Bank’s 18pc share ($23.55bn) and Asian Development Bank’s 15pc share ($19.63bn).

Saudi Arabia stood out as the second largest bilateral lender to Pakistan with 7pc of total debt or about $9.16bn.

A lawyers’ protest organised by the Karachi Bar Association (KBA) and Hyderabad Bar Council in the provincial capital on Saturday led to a major traffic disruption on Sharea Faisal near the FTC flyover and roads leading to the press club.

The legal bodies were protesting against controversial canal projects, the 26th Constitutional Amendment, handing over Sindh’s lands for corporate farming and the Prevention of Electronic Crimes (Amendment) Bill, 2025.

Caravans of lawyers belonging to different district bars of the province arrived at the FTC flyover on Sharea Faisal where contingents of law enforcers were already deployed with containers parked, triggering traffic chaos and long lines of vehicles.

The lawyers held successful talks with the police and district administration under which they were allowed to take the route of Lines Area towards the Karachi Press Club (KPC).

The march, led by senior lawyers Javed Qazi, Sajjad Chandio, Asghar Narejo, Aqib Rajpar, Ashraf Samoo, Abid Khan Jatoi, Sameer Memon and others, reached the KPC where they chanted slogans against both federal and provincial governments and vowed to resist the canal projects.

The lawyers alleged that “One-Unit” had been imposed in the country, adding that construction work on the controversial projects had been almost half completed without the mandatory approval of the Council of Common Interest.

They said the people rejected such canal projects and would resist their construction.

South Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Syed Asad Raza told Dawn.com that the lawyers, belonging to Hyderabad, Mirpur Khas, Badin, Jamshoro, Thatta and Malir, reached Sharea Faisal and moved towards KPC through FTC bridge, Lucky Star, Rex Centre, Zainab Market and Fawara Chowk, which caused disruption in flow of traffic on main arteries in the city centre.

He said the protest was led by Hyderabad Bar president Ayaz Tunio, KBA president Amir Nawaz Waraich and Qazi Javed.

Around 500-600 lawyers chanted slogans and dispersed after the protest in a peaceful manner.

Javed told Dawn.com that it was a joint protest by the lawyers of Karachi and Hyderabad against a host of issues, such as the 26th Amendment; however, the primary demand was concerned with the water issue.

Javed, who is also a columnist, said the lawyers were giving a new dimension to emerging protests against the controversial water projects, accusing the PPP-led government and district administration of attempting to disrupt the protest.

Two people were killed on Saturday, while another was injured in separate incidents in Karachi as the death toll from traffic accidents across the metropolis rose.

According to Moachko police Station House Officer (SHO) Faisal Latif, a man was killed and another critically injured after a dumper (loaded truck) hit them on the main Hub River Road early in the morning.

While speaking to Dawn.com, he said that the victims were travelling when an “apparently recklessly driven dumper” hit them from the side near Quetta Maulana Hotel.

SHO Latif said that the driver had escaped from the spot along with the truck, adding that the injured men were transported to the Civil Hospital Karachi’s (CHK) trauma centre. Shah Mohammed, 45, was pronounced dead after reaching CHK, while Imran — who is in critical condition — was admitted for treatment.

The police have registered a case against the unknown driver on the complaint of the deceased’s cousin Mohammed Iqbal, the officer said, adding that the deceased had arrived from Pishin in Balochistan at Hub Chowki.

“He was coming to Karachi to his relatives at Naval Colony in rickshaw when the accident happened,” the SHO said.

In a separate incident, an unidentified young man was killed in a hit-and-run incident on the main National Highway in Malir.

Shah Latif Town poilce SHO Raja Abbas told Dawn.com that the man in his early 30s was crossing the highway near Anwar Baloch Hotel when an unidentified vehicle hit him.

The man was taken to Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, where he was pronounced dead. SHO Abbas said that his identity could not be ascertained immediately.

Rules restricting the movement of heavy vehicles were recently implemented in the metropolis amid rising traffic accidents involving dumpers and tankers and protests over the deaths of citizens.

Last month, the provincial government banned the entry of heavy vehicles into the city during the daytime, only allowing them to operate from 11pm to 6am.

Exemptions, however, were granted to trucks carrying water, petroleum products, medicines, meat and other essential goods.

The Sindh government has also made it mandatory for all heavy vehicles in Karachi to have a physical fitness certificate amid the rising number of traffic accidents involving dumper trucks.

Rights activists and members of civil society said yesterday that the increasing number of fatal road accidents in the city and the poor state of traffic law enforcement are violations of human rights, which the state has failed to safeguard.

Last month, provincial lawmakers belonging to the MQM-P criticised the traffic police for its “failure” to control the heavy vehicles that claimed over 80 lives in January alone.

Four people, including a 10-year-old, were killed, and one was injured in three separate accidents across Karachi yesterday.