LAHORE: Pakistan police appeared Wednesday to have given up an attempt to arrest former prime minister Imran after violent clashes with hundreds of his supporters.

AFP correspondents and witnesses near Khan’s home in the plush Zaman Park suburb of Lahore said police and paramilitary rangers had retreated after abandoning a series of roadblocks and checkpoints.

“The police and rangers sent to harm Imran Khan were pushed back by the people,” his official Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party tweeted, along with a video of supporters celebrating outside his house.

“More people are coming to Zaman Park and will never let the evil intentions of this imported government succeed, God willing.”

Police had fought pitched battles with Khan’s supporters throughout the night, firing fusillades of teargas and dodging rocks thrown by angry crowds.

Groups of police were seen running in disarray from the direction of the house Wednesday afternoon.

Khan was ousted from office by a no-confidence vote last year, and has been snarled in dozens of legal cases as he campaigns for early elections and a return to office.

Official social media accounts inside his garden, and jubilant supporters celebrating outside.

Police insist they have a warrant to arrest Khan following his failure to appear before an Islamabad court on graft charges, but the former premier and his lawyers say he has been granted bail on the charge.

“The PTI leader does not have protective bail for this particular case,” Muhammad Taqi Jawad, spokesman for Islamabad police, told AFP.

He said the arrest warrant would stand and denied police had retreated, adding: “Our actions will strictly adhere to the law, and we are committed to fulfilling our duty.”

Earlier Khan issued a video sitting in front of Pakistan and PTI flags at a desk decorated with spent teargas canisters.

“They will teargas our people and do other such things, but you should know that they have no justification to do so,” he said.

Residence ringed
On Wednesday morning hundreds of PTI supporters had ringed Khan’s residence in the plush neighbourhood, holding off fresh attempts by police to storm the premises.

Video circulating on social media — much distributed by official PTI accounts — showed several bloodied supporters and others struggling to cope with tear gas.

A PTI official tweeted that there was “an urgent need” for first aid kits at the Zaman Park neighbourhood.

“The way the police attack our people, there is no precedent for this,” Khan said.

“Water cannons, teargas… they shelled inside the house (grounds) where there were servants and women.”

Khan later tweeted pictures of bullet casings purportedly collected from the scene, but a Punjab government official denied live rounds were fired

“Clearly ‘arrest’ claim was mere drama because real intent is to abduct & assassinate,” Khan tweeted.

The Islamabad High Court was meeting Wednesday to hear a fresh petition from PTI to prevent Khan’s arrest, which could defuse the situation.

Khan, 70, has been summoned to court to answer accusations he did not declare gifts received during his time as prime minister, or the profit made from selling them.

Officers first made an attempt to arrest him earlier this month, but said the politician was “reluctant to surrender”, without offering further details.

Khan has been pressuring the coalition government that replaced him, led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, with popular rallies and daily addresses.

Sharif said on Wednesday that Khan considered himself “above the law”.

“He is defying each and every court of the country. It’s naked defiance,” he told reporters.

Last year the former international cricket star was shot in the leg during a political rally, an assassination bid he blamed on Sharif.

As the political drama unfolds ahead of an election due by October, Pakistan is in the grip of a stark economic downturn, risking default if help cannot be secured from the International Monetary Fund.

The security situation is also deteriorating with a spate of deadly attacks on police headquarters, linked to the Pakistani Taliban.

“The standoff in Lahore reflects the worst state of affairs in the country,” said Tauseef Ahmed Khan, an author, political analyst and human rights activist.

“On one side, it is failure of police and the law enforcement agencies… on the other, this has been a new trend in the South Asian politics — that a political leader is defying the arrest by using his workers and supporters.”

ANKARA: One month after a powerful quake devastated parts of Turkey and Syria, hundreds of thousands of people still need adequate shelter and sanitation, and an appeal for $1 billion to assist survivors is only 10 per cent funded, hampering efforts to tackle the humanitarian crisis, a United Nations official said Monday.

The Feb. 6 earthquake and strong aftershocks have killed more than 46,000 people in Turkey, destroyed or damaged around 230,000 buildings and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless — making it the worst disaster in Turkey’s modern history. The U.N. estimates that the earthquake killed around 6,000 people in Syria, mainly in the rebel-held northwest.

About 2 million survivors have been housed in temporary accommodation or evacuated from the earthquake-devastated region, according to Turkish government figures. Around 1.5 million people have been settled in tents while another 46,000 have been moved to container houses. Others are living in dormitories and guesthouses, the government said.

“Given the number of people that have been relocated, given the number of people that have been injured and given the level of the devastation, we do have extensive humanitarian needs now,” Alvaro Rodriguez, the U.N. Resident Coordinator in Turkey, told The Associated Press.

“We have some provinces where up to 25 per cent of the population — we’re talking sometimes half a million people — have relocated. So the challenge we have is how do we provide food, shelter, water for these communities?” he said.

The U.N. representative said tents are still needed even though they are not “the optimal solution” for sheltering people. He reported some cases of scabies outbreaks because of poor sanitary conditions.

Last month, the U.N. made a flash appeal for $397.6 million to help Syrian quake victims — just over half of which has come in — and a $1 billion appeal for victims in Turkey to cover emergency needs, such as food, protection, education water and shelter, for three months. Rodriguez said the appeal for Turkey is only about 10 per cent funded.

“The reality is that if we do not move beyond the roughly 10 per cent that we have, the U.N. and its partners will not be able to meet the humanitarian needs,” he said.

Rodriguez added: “Turkey has been a country that has supported 4 million Syrian refugees over the last few years, and this is an opportunity for the international community to provide the support that Turkey deserves.”

The World Bank has estimated that the earthquake has caused an estimated $34.2 billion in direct physical damages — the equivalent of 4 per cent of Turkey’s 2021 GDP. The World Bank said recovery and reconstruction costs will be much higher and that GDP losses associated with economic disruptions will also add to the cost of the earthquakes.

In Syria, the situation remained dire one month after the deadly earthquake, with aid groups citing fears of a looming public health crisis with families still packed into overcrowded temporary shelters and crucial infrastructure damaged by the quake.

The International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that Aleppo’s water infrastructure — already ageing and damaged by the war — had been further damaged by the quake, which “reduced the system’s efficiency and raised the risk that contaminated water could pollute the supply.”

Water contamination is of particular concern in Syria as the country had already been battling cholera outbreaks before the earthquake.

While the quake generated an initial outpouring of aid, relief organizations cited fears that the world’s attention will move on quickly, while basic humanitarian needs remain unmet. Meanwhile, political and logistical issues have in some cases blocked aid from reaching those in need.

Amnesty International said Monday that between Feb. 9 and 22, the Syrian government had “blocked at least 100 trucks carrying essential aid such as food, medical supplies and tents from entering Kurdish-majority neighbourhoods in Aleppo city” while Turkish-backed rebel groups in northwest Syria blocked at least 30 aid trucks sent by rival Kurdish groups from entering Turkish-controlled Afrin in the same period.

“Even in this moment of desperation, the Syrian government and armed opposition groups have pandered to political considerations and taken advantage of people’s misery to advance their own agendas,” Aya Majzoub, the rights group’s deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa, said in a statement.

Washington: China is the strongest and the most disciplined “enemy” that the US has ever faced, Republican presidential aspirant Nikki Haley has warned.

In an impressive speech addressing the Conservative Political Action Conference — the top annual event of the Republican Party and its support base — the Indian-American politician continued with her focus on America’s foreign policy, wherein she asserted that the US should not give aid to countries that hate it.

“Never in my life did I think Americans would look at the sky and see a Chinese spy balloon looking back at us. It was a national embarrassment,” she said on Friday referring to the recent spy balloon incident.

The balloon, which Beijing denies was a government spy vessel, spent a week flying over the United States and Canada before being shot down off the Atlantic Coast last month.

“Make no mistake: Communist China is the strongest and most disciplined enemy we have ever faced. We need to hold China accountable. Let us start with Covid,” she said.

The US accuses China of spreading the virus.

The Huanan market in central China’s Wuhan city was the epicentre of the pandemic. From its origin there, the SARS-CoV-2 virus rapidly spread to other locations in Wuhan in late 2019 and then to the rest of the world.

“And before we even talk about the cartels, we need to confront the fact that China is the one sending the fentanyl across our border,” Haley said.

The Huanan market in central China’s Wuhan city was the epicentre of the pandemic. From its origin there, the SARS-CoV-2 virus rapidly spread to other locations in Wuhan in late 2019 and then to the rest of the world.

The 51-year-old two-term Governor of South Carolina and the former US Ambassador to the United Nations formally launched her 2024 presidential bid last month.

Since then she has gained the attention of the party and the national audience as well. During the party primaries, she would be fighting against her former boss and former president Donald Trump. She is the only woman in the 2024 presidential race so far.

“I cannot believe what Joe Biden is letting China get away with. Chinese companies now own more than 380,000 acres of American soil, some of it right next to our military bases. What are we doing? We should never let an enemy buy land in our country. And we need to tell every university — you can either take Chinese money or American money, but you will no longer get both,” Haley said, articulating her policy on China.

China thinks the American era has passed and so do all the enemies of the US, said the former South Carolina governor. “But they are wrong. America is not past our prime. It is just that our politicians are past theirs,” she said.

Haley’s speech was welcomed by the audience, who have gathered in the national capital from across the country for the three-day conference, which among others is being addressed by Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy, the other Indian American to have entered the presidential race.

In her speech, Haley was very critical of the ruling Democratic Party, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.

“I am running for president to stop America’s downward spiral toward socialism and end the self-loathing that has taken over our country. I am running for president to renew an America that is strong and proud, not weak and woke,” she said.

“When I look to the future, I see our country rededicated to freedom and opportunity. But when I look at the present, I see the opposite. Joe Biden and the Democrats are giving us oppression, poverty and lawlessness,” she said and asserted that she has entered the race to the White House to overturn this.

“The Democratic Party is now a socialist party. Bernie Sanders and AOC (congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) are at least honest about it. Look at how much taxpayer money Biden has wasted since he took office. On Joe Biden’s watch, we hit USD 31 trillion in national debt. He has put us on track to add USD 20 trillion more in the next 10 years,” she said.

Socialism, Haley said, is weakening the US at the worst possible moment.

“We need an economy that can out-compete China. But the only competition Democrats want is who is the most ‘triggered’,” she added.
Haley, the former US ambassador to the United Nations, urged her fellow Republicans to vote for the younger generation.

“I have a particular message for you, my fellow conservatives. We have lost the popular vote in seven of the last eight presidential elections. Our cause is right, but we have failed to win the confidence of a majority of Americans. That ends now. If you are tired of losing, then put your trust in a new generation. And if you want to win — not just as a party, but as a country — then stand with me,” she said.

After Haley concluded her speech, some of the attendees chanted “Trump, Trump, Trump”.

Born Nimrata Nikki Randhawa to immigrant Punjabi Sikh parents, Haley is the third Indian-American to run for the US presidency in three consecutive election cycles. Bobby Jindal ran in 2016 and Vice President Kamala Harris in 2020.

Days after Haley announced her White House bid, Indian-American tech entrepreneur Viveak Ramaswamy, another Republican, also launched his 2024 presidential bid.

Before entering the presidential ballot, Haley has to win the Republican Party’s presidential primary which will start in January next year.

The next US presidential election is scheduled to be held on November 5, 2024.

Jakarta : A large fire broke out at a fuel storage depot in Indonesia’s capital on Friday, killing at least 17 people, injuring dozens of others and forcing the evacuation of thousands of nearby residents after spreading to their neighbourhood, officials said.

The Plumpang fuel storage station, operated by state-run oil and gas company Pertamina, is near a densely populated area in the Tanah Merah neighbourhood in North Jakarta. It supplies 25 per cent of Indonesia’s fuel needs.

At least 260 firefighters and 52 fire engines were struggling to contain the blaze in the nearby neighbourhood, fire officials said.

Video of the fire broadcast on television showed hundreds of people in the community running in panic while thick plumes of black smoke and orange flames filled the sky and firefighters battled the blaze.

A preliminary investigation showed the fire broke out when a pipeline ruptured during heavy rain, possibly from a lightning strike, said Eko Kristiawan, Pertamina’s area manager.

He said the fire would not disrupt the country’s fuel supply.

Satriadi Gunawan, who heads Jakarta’s fire and rescue department, said people living in the residential area were still being evacuated and were being taken to a nearby village hall and a mosque.

“The fire caused several explosions and quickly spread to residential houses,” Gunawan said.

He said at least 17 people were dead, including two children, and 50 had been hospitalized, some with severe burns.

Indonesia’s minister of State-Owned Enterprises, Erick Thohir, expressed his condolences to the victims and their families and ordered Pertamina to thoroughly investigate the fire and focus on quickly assisting the community.

“There must be an operational evaluation in the future. I’ll continue to monitor this case,” Thohir said in a video statement.

Friday’s fire was the second large blaze at the Plumpang fuel depot. In 2014, a fire engulfed at least 40 nearby houses but no casualties were reported.

Fahmi Radhi, an energy analyst, urged Pertamina and the government to immediately move the depot away from the nearby community settlements.

“Pertamina has been negligent by not using international standard security systems,” he said in an interview with KOMPAS TV. He said that since the 2014 fire there had been no efforts to put such a system in place and that regular inspections should be conducted to avoid future fires.

“Pertamina’s board of directors should be held responsible for this deadly fire by being dismissed immediately,” Radhi said.

An oil spill in 2018 caused a fire that killed five people and sickened hundreds in the port city of Balikpapan. Authorities said it came from a broken pipe that Pertamina was using to transfer crude oil.

In March 2021, a fire at Cilacap gasoline storage facility at the largest oil refinery on the main island of Java prompted the evacuation of 80 nearby residents and injured at least 20 people.

Cilacap is one of six Pertamina refineries with a processing capacity of 270,000 barrels a day. Eight months later, more than 900 people were evacuated after a fire broke out at the Pertamina Balongan Refinery in West Java province.

ANKARA: A magnitude 5.6 earthquake shook southern Turkey on Monday — three weeks after a catastrophic temblor devastated the region — causing some already damaged buildings to collapse, an official said. A father and daughter were reported trapped beneath the rubble of one building.

Monday’s earthquake was centred in the town of Yesilyurt in Malatya province, the country’s disaster management agency said.

Yesilyurt’s mayor, Mehmet Cinar, told HaberTurk television that a number of buildings in the town collapsed, including a four-story building where a father and daughter were trapped. Cinar said the pair had entered the damaged building to collect belongings.

Elsewhere in Malatya, search-and-rescue teams were sifting through the rubble of another building that toppled on top of some parked cars, HaberTurk reported.

Malatya was among 11 Turkish provinces hit by the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that devastated parts of southern Turkey and northern Syria on February 6.

That quake led to more than 48,000 deaths in both countries as well as the collapse or serious damage of 173,000 buildings in Turkey.

AFAD, Turkey’s disaster management agency, said that close to 10,000 aftershocks have hit the region affected by the quake since February 6.