Pak Police Break Into Imran Khan's Home Hours After He Leaves For Court

"Meanwhile Punjab police have led an assault on my house in Zaman Park where Bushra Begum is alone," Imran Khan said.

Pak Police Break Into Imran Khan's Home Hours After He Leaves For Court

Lahore/New Delhi: Pakistan police entered the home of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Lahore on Saturday while he was on his way to Islamabad for a court hearing in a corruption case, officials from his party said.

Bushra Begum, Mr Khan's wife, was at home when police removed the barricades and broke into his house, they said.

During the operation, at least 10 Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf workers were injured and over 30 arrested, news agency PTI reported.

His party shared a video on its official Twitter account that showed Mr Khan's supporters at his home being lathicharged by the policemen.

"Meanwhile Punjab police have led an assault on my house in Zaman Park where Bushra Begum is alone. Under what law are they doing this? This is part of London Plan where commitments were made to bring absconder Nawaz Sharif to power as quid pro quo for agreeing to one appointment," Mr Khan tweeted.

The move follows days of standoff and intense clashes between his supporters and the police when the attempts were made to arrest him for skipping multiple previous hearings.

Earlier this week, security forces had fired tear gas and water cannons at hundreds of Mr Khan's supporters who had cordoned off his home in an effort to prevent his arrest.

The Islamabad High Court yesterday suspended non-bailable arrest warrants issued against Mr Khan till today, providing him with a chance to appear before the district court to defend charges that he unlawfully sold state gifts given to him by foreign dignitaries while he was Prime Minister from 2018 to 2022.

During the hearing, Imran's lawyer submitted an undertaking to the high court, assuring the PTI chief would appear in court on March 18.

Imran Khan, who was shot and wounded while campaigning in November, 2022, had said in an interview that the threat to his life is greater than before.

Mr Khan was ousted 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.

As the political drama unfolds, the nation is facing a stark economic downturn, risking default if help cannot be secured from the International Monetary Fund.

11 children killed in unexploded ordnance blast in South Sudan

The accident occurred on Thursday in a remote village in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state, northwest of the capital Juba.

Image used for representational purpose only.

JUBA: Eleven children were killed and one injured in an accident involving unexploded ordnance in South Sudan, the spokeswoman for the UN mission in the violence-wracked country (UNMISS) said on Friday.

The accident occurred on Thursday in a remote village in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state, northwest of the capital Juba, spokeswoman Linda Tom told Radio Miraya, a station owned and operated by UNMISS.

"As many as 11 children died and one is still receiving medical treatment," Tom said.

"The scale of this drama is immense, we convey our deepest condolences to the families of the victims," she added.

South Sudan was plunged into a brutal civil war in 2013, two years after achieving independence from Sudan.

The conflict lasted five years and killed nearly 400,000 civilians before the warring leaders Salva Kiir and Riek Machar agreed to lay down their arms.

Landmines and unexploded bombs still cover large areas of the world's youngest country, posing yet another threat to a population already grappling with armed violence, natural disasters and hunger.

Globally, "every year, large numbers of civilians are killed and injured by 'explosive remnants of war' – unexploded shells, grenades, bombs, etc. left behind after a conflict," according to the International Committee of the Red Cross.

In June 2022, the United Nations Office for Refugees said that experts from the United Nations Mine Action Service had destroyed more than one million explosive devices in South Sudan, including "40,121 mines, 76,879 cluster bombs and 974,968 other unexploded devices".

Brahmapuram fire: NGT slaps Rs 100 crore penalty on Kochi Corporation

The order came after observing the State of Kerala and its authorities being an 'utter failure' and rampantly violating the statutory solid waste management rules and orders of the Supreme Court.

The National Green Tribunal.

KOCHI: The Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal has imposed an environmental compensation of Rs 100 crore on Kochi corporation for its failure in waste management resulting in a major fire at the Brahmapuram waste dump yard.

The order came after observing the State of Kerala and its authorities being an 'utter failure' and rampantly violating the statutory solid waste management rules and orders of the Supreme Court.

The Bench headed by Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel issued the order on the suo motu proceedings based on the media report of a serious environmental emergency caused due to fire at the Brahmapuram waste dump site as a result of the utter failure of the state authorities in performing their inalienable basic duties of providing pollution-free environment.

It directed to deposit the amount with the Chief Secretary, Kerala within one month for necessary remediation measures, including dealing with the public health issues of the victims.

"It is self-evident that good governance in the matter of waste management is being neglected for a long time to the detriment of the environment and public health and no one has taken moral responsibility for the such gross failure of rule of law and damage to public health. It is difficult to understand what is the value of citizens’ right to life and safety with such an attitude of total neglect by authorities in Government. This calls for soul searching and also high-level enquiry to determine culpability in the larger public interest," said the Bench.

The Bench also flayed the government for not fixing responsibility for flaws.

"No accountability for such serious failure has been fixed and no senior person has been held accountable so far. Except for giving future plans, no fixing of accountability is proposed even now which is a matter of regret. No prosecution has been launched against the guilty for criminal offences under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986 and also under relevant provisions of IPC nor action taken for violation of the Supreme Court orders," said the Bench.

The attitude of State authorities is a threat to rule of law. The Bench expressed hope that the situation is remedied at the higher level in the State such as the DGP and the Chief Secretary to uphold the Constitution and the mandate of environmental law.

It directed the Chief Secretary, Kerala to fix the accountability of concerned officers for such gross failures and initiate action under criminal law as well as by way of departmental proceedings, following due process and placing the same in the public domain within two months.