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CISARUA: A predawn landslide killed at least eight people and left more than 80 missing on Indonesia’s main island of Java on Saturday, a disaster official said.

Triggered by heavy rainfall, it struck villages in Java’s West Bandung region in the early hours — at around 2.30am (1930 GMT Friday) — and buried residential areas.

Floods and landslides are common across the vast archipelago during the rainy season, which typically runs from October to March.

“There was a rumbling noise, like thunder,” Oyoh, a resident of Pasirlangu village who, like many Indonesians, only has one name, told AFP.

“It had been raining non-stop since the morning, and then it [the landslide] happened. I immediately felt scared.”

Triggered by heavy rainfall, it struck villages in Java’s West Bandung region

The 52-year-old had been evacuated to the village’s government office along with dozens of others, mainly women and children.

She said her house survived the landslide, but her niece, her niece’s husband and their two children were missing.

Abdul Muhari, a spokesman for the national disaster agency, confirmed that eight people were killed and 82 were unaccounted for.

West Bandung’s mayor Jeje Ritchie Ismail told reporters that the military, police and volunteers were assisting in the search.

However, he warned that the terrain was extremely difficult and the ground remained unstable.

The local search and rescue agency said it was conducting manual excavation, spraying the soil with water pumps and using drones to search for the victims.

Forest loss

The disaster comes after tropical storms and intense monsoon rains late last year triggered flooding and landslides that killed around 1,200 people and displaced more than 240,000 in Indonesia’s Sumatra island, according to official figures.

Environmentalists, experts and the government have pointed to the role forest loss played in the flooding and landslides that washed torrents of mud into villages.

Forests help absorb rainfall and stabilise the ground held by their roots, and their absence makes areas more prone to flash flooding and landslides, David Gaveau, founder of conservation start-up The TreeMap, told AFP in December.

Indonesia lost more than 240,000 hectares of primary forest in 2024, according to analysis by The TreeMap’s Nusantara Atlas project.

It is regularly among the countries with the largest annual forest loss as mining, plantations and fires have caused the clearance of large tracts of lush vegetation in recent decades, NGOs have said.

The government filed multiple lawsuits following the Sumatra floods, seeking more than $200 million in damages against six firms.

It also stripped more than two dozen permits this week from forestry, mining and hydroelectric companies in Sumatra.

This month, torrential rains battered Indonesia’s Siau island, causing a flash flood that killed at least 16 people.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2026

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• Islamabad, Lahore, Karachi facilities up for grabs; Privatisation Commission assures domestic, foreign firms of level-playing field; abandons G2G mode amid investors’ high interest
• Seeks proposals to appoint financial adviser for Roosevelt Hotel; plans joint venture for mixed-use development; aims to finalise transaction in a year

ISLAMABAD: The Privatisation Commission announced on Saturday that the outsourcing operation for the country’s three major airports — Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi — will move to an open bidding mode following a high level of interest from various investors.

The commission said the shift from a government-to-government (G2G) mode to open bidding aims to generate a competitive process wherein all domestic and foreign investors will have a level playing field to participate in the bidding process.

According to a commission statement, the envisaged competitive process priorities inclusivity by welcoming participation from all eligible entities, including those from partner nations, while affording equal opportunities to local and foreign investors.

This approach is designed to promote transparency and fair competition, deliver the most advantageous results for Pakistan’s economy and reinforce relationships with international partners, the commission said.

The government has been actively considering options for Islamabad International Airport, Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and Lahore’s Allama Iqbal International Airport through appropriate modes, including management contracts and long-term commercial concessions.

As part of this strategy, the Islamabad airport has been included in the active privatisation program, consistent with the ongoing process for the airports at Karachi and Lahore.

This follows constructive dialogue with entities from partner nations, including the United Arab Emirates, Turkiye and Saudi Arabia, as well as other international stakeholders.

The commission noted that the primary objectives are to enhance efficiency, improve service delivery, maximise revenue generation, upgrade infrastructure and attract private sector investments. These efforts align with the nation’s economic vision to cultivate collaboration to modernise the aviation sector.

Roosevelt Hotel

Separately, the Privatisation Com­m­ission has invited technical and financial proposals for the appointment of a financial adviser for the Roosevelt Hotel in New York, aiming to secure a joint venture for mixed-use development of the elite Manhattan property owned by the Pakistan government.

According to the commission’s website, proposals can be submitted by Feb 16. The government intends for the transaction regarding the Roosevelt Hotel to be completed in one year.

The commission intends to offer the property for setting up a joint venture project through the “best suited transaction structure and mode of privatisation”.

The appointed financial adviser will be tasked with conducting market sounding to validate investor interest in the hotel.

The adviser must identify potentially interested parties and assess the level of interest in the transaction structure options covered in the transaction structure report and recommendations of the earlier financial adviser.

Additionally, the financial adviser will develop and implement an effective marketing strategy with the approval of the Privatisation Commission.

This includes developing and implementing a plan for introducing the Roosevelt’s site and projecting its image to bolster its value, “enabling expression of interest in the property from prospective investors”.

The adviser will also be required to arrange meetings with potential investors in order to develop a better understanding of investor profiles and the investment climate.

Located in midtown on Madison Avenue, the Roosevelt Hotel is the only real estate entity on the government’s privatisation program.

The 19-storey property is considered among the elite hotels in Manhattan, comprising 1,025 rooms with a covered area of over 600,000 square feet. It is wholly owned by PIA Investments Ltd (PIAIL), which is owned and managed by the Pakistan government.

Published in Dawn, January 25th, 2026

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A man shot by federal agents in Minneapolis on Saturday has died, local and federal officials said, the second fatal shooting involving federal agents this month during a surge in immigration enforcement in the northern US city.

The man, who has not been identified, was armed with a handgun and two magazines, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

A video circulating on social media and aired on cable news stations showed people wearing masks and tactical vests wrestling with a man on a snow-covered street before shots are heard. In the video, the man falls to the ground, and several more shots are heard.

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz called for an immediate end to the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in the state.

“I just spoke with the White House after another horrific shooting by federal agents this morning,” Walz wrote on social media platform X.

“This is sickening. The President must end this operation. Pull the thousands of violent, untrained officers out of Minnesota. Now.”

Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey on Saturday called on US President Donald Trump to end the sweeping immigration crackdown in the northern city after the shooting.

“I just saw a video of more than six masked agents pummeling one of our constituents and shooting him to death,” Frey told a press conference.

“To President Trump: this is a moment to act like a leader. Put Minneapolis, put America first in this moment — let’s achieve peace. Let’s end this operation.”

Tina Smith, a Democratic US senator from Minnesota, called the shooting “catastrophic.”

Minneapolis officials urged calm as the incident is investigated. Video from the area showed immigration agents deploying tear gas on a growing crowd of onlookers.

“We ask the public to remain calm and avoid the immediate area,” a post by the City of Minneapolis read.

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ISLAMABAD: Nearly 200 Pakistani students stranded in Afghanistan for months due to the closure of the border have demanded permission to cross the Torkham border, according to their representatives.

Taliban authorities have told them that Pakistani diplomatic missions should officially approach them and verify the list with an official stamp. However, Pakistani officials are reluctant to do so, the affected students told Dawn from Kabul and Jalalabad.

The Taliban allowed the first group of 26 students to cross Torkham on Jan 12, and Pakistani authorities also opened the border specifically for them.

However, the students who arrived at Torkham on Jan 13 have not yet been allowed to cross, as Taliban authorities insist that the Pakistani embassy or the consulate in Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province, should officially verify the list.

Dr Riazullah Wazir and Amanullah Wazir, representatives of the students in Kabul, said students had met the Nangarhar governor and officials at the Pakistani embassy and the Jalalabad consulate, but the issue remained unresolved.

Dr Noman Amir, the students’ representative in Jalalabad, said the current tensions had multiplied their problems, leaving them stuck in Afghanistan for months. He added that the students could not cross the border despite repeated requests to authorities on both sides.

“Visas of many students have expired, and they cannot travel to Islamabad due to the border closure. Dozens of students are also stuck in Pakistan and are facing difficulties attending exams and classes in Afghanistan,” Dr Amir, a final-year medical student in Jalalabad, told Dawn.

Foreign Office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi said the Pakistani Embassy in Kabul remained in contact with the Pakistani community and assistance was extended to those who approached it.

“We will explore how these 200 students can be facilitated. It is currently winter holidays, and many students may be seeking to return during this time. We will review the situation accordingly after receiving updated information from our embassy,” Mr Andrabi said at his weekly briefing.

However, Dr Amir said that the parents of a couple of students had passed away in Pakistan, but the students were unable to attend their funerals.

“Our exams have ended and winter vacations have already started in Afghanistan, but students still cannot go to Pakistan,” he said. He added that students had contacted officials on both sides, but no one had taken “our problems seriously”.

He appealed to PM Shehbaz Sharif and President Asif Ali Zardari to take notice of their situation and find a solution to their problem.

A Pakistani official, requesting not to be identified, told Dawn that the Torkham border was meant to remain open for two days, Jan 12 and 13. He said Pakistan had taken the decision after students stated in a video that the Afghan side had promised to allow them to cross the border.

“We held consultations in Islamabad and decided to open Torkham for our students. But now the Taliban have attached conditions for allowing them to cross,” he said, adding that Pakistan had also agreed to open the border for more students even after Jan 13.

The problem started when students arrived at Torkham on Jan 13 after the first group had already entered Pakistan.

“We spent two nights at Torkham and were hoping to cross the border, but it did not happen,” students said in a video posted online.

One student said the Afghan interior ministry told them to have the list verified with an official stamp from the Pakistani embassy. He claimed that neither the embassy nor the consulate agreed to the demand. However, a consulate official said the mission was in contact with the students as well as officials in Islamabad to resolve the issue.

An official in Islamabad said Pakistan would not make any official communication with the Taliban authorities.

“If they allow the students [to cross], we will open the border crossing,” the official told Dawn.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2026

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A statement posted by the National Assembly’s official account on the social media platform X said that reports regarding the shutdown of its YouTube channel were “incorrect”.

The statement came after the media reports emerged alleging that the YouTube channel had “disappeared”. The reports also said that NA proceedings, which are typically shown live, had not been broadcast on the official YouTube channel or on state television over the past few days.

The reports had emerged as a joint sitting of Parliament was held in Islamabad on Friday.

In the statement posted on X, the NA’s official account said, “It is hereby clarified that reports published and broadcast in newspapers and television channels regarding the shutdown of the NA YouTube channel are incorrect.

“Furthermore, the YouTube channel was not shut down at any point,” the statement said.

“Temporary technical issues occurred due to a social media server outage, which affected accessibility for a limited period have been resolved after Friday, following which the YouTube channel became fully operational again,” the statement said.

It added that the proceedings and the speeches of the joint session of Parliament held earlier in the day had been “duly uploaded” and were available on the YouTube channel.

The channel was accessible on Friday night, with videos from the joint parliament session uploaded to it.

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DERA ISMAIL KHAN: At least five people were killed while 10 others were injured in a suicide attack at the residence of a peace committee member near Qureshi Mor on Friday night, according to officials.

In a statement, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Rescue 1122 spokesperson Bilal Ahmed Faizi said five bodies and 10 injured had been taken to the hospital.

He said that seven ambulances, a fire vehicle and a disaster vehicle reached the site of the incident soon after it was reported, adding that a rescue operation was still under way.

Dera Ismail Khan District Police Officer (DPO) Sajjad Ahmed Sahibzada confirmed the number of casualties to Dawn. He said the attack occurred at the residence of peace committee leader Noor Alam Mehsud, where a wedding ceremony was being held.

“The explosion was a suicide blast. It is premature to say anything about the casualties,” DPO Sahibzada said. He said that an emergency had been imposed at the District Headquarter Hospital.

Meanwhile, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Faisal Karim Kundi sought a report into the incident, according to a statement from his office.

“All possible medical assistance should be provided to the injured in the Dera blast,” he was quoted as saying, expressing grief over the incident.

Earlier this month, armed assailants had killed four members of a peace committee in KP’s Bannu district.

In November 2025, seven people were killed when a peace committee office was attacked, also in KP’s Bannu district. Police officials told Dawn that one among those killed was a ‘good Talib’ — a term used to refer to a former militant who has surrendered to the state — and the rest were his relatives.

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This is a developing story that is being updated as the situation evolves. Initial reports in the media can sometimes be inaccurate. We will strive to ensure timeliness and accuracy by relying on credible sources, such as concerned, qualified authorities and our staff reporters.

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• City admin to monitor festival using drones, safe city cameras for compliance
• Nearly 2,500 kite sellers, traders and associations apply for registration

LAHORE: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has imposed a ban on kite flying in public parks and greenbelts on Basant, as the Lahore administration decided to digitally monitor the three-day festival, starting Feb 6, to ensure compliance.

PHA Managing Director Raja Mansoor Ahmad said the decision was made to ensure that kite flying and related celebrations did not harm trees and other park infrastructure.

“Since the Basant festival is being held for three days in Lahore alone, the arrival of a number of people from other cities of Punjab, other provinces and abroad is expected here for kite flying and other related activities.

In such a situation, the people may rush for the public parks and green areas for kite flying and other related celebrations…” he told Dawn.

He said the decision was made to prevent any untoward incident, including damage to the plants, greenbelts and other infrastructure.

“Lahore, in addition to its huge number of permanent residents, may also have a considerable number of people from other cities and countries starting from the Feb 4 evening, since Feb 5 is also a public holiday (Youm-i-Kashmir),” he added.

“The parks would remain open to the people, but they wouldn’t be allowed for kite flying,” he said, adding that the PHA enforcement staff has been put on high alert.

According to an official notification by the PHA, the directors concerned have been asked to ensure strict implementation of the ban within their respective zones.

The authority emphasised that any violation of these instructions will be considered unacceptable, and in case of any damage or untoward incident, the respective director would be held responsible.

Digital monitoring

Meanwhile, the city district administration said that strict digital monitoring of Basant would be carried out through drone cameras and the Lahore Safe City Authority’s cameras. A control room would be set up at the DC office.

It was revealed in a meeting presided over by Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Ali Ijaz.

“Kite flying will only be allowed from Feb 6 to 8, whereas the material will be sold through registered dealers alone,” the DC said while speaking on the occasion.

He said that kites bigger than the ap­­pro­ved sizes will be prohibited. More­over, none of the bikers would be allowed to drive without safety wires. Basant would only be allowed at specific grounds or no­­tified rooftops, including in the Walled City or other locations across the district.

Registration of kite manufacturers

On the other hand, as many as 2,437 kite manufacturers, sellers, traders and associations have applied for registration with the city administration for the festival.

According to a document seen by Dawn, as many as 1,334 kite sellers applied for registration till Jan 22, 2026. Out of this, 161 applications were currently in process, whereas 1,107 had been approved.

A total of 838 kite manufacturers applied for registration, 697 applications had been approved, whereas 85 were in process. However, 51 applications were rejected.

Similarly, 250 kite traders applied for registration, out of which 19 applications were in process and 223 had been appro­ved. Eight applications were rejected.

Moreover, 18 kite flying associations applied for registration, of which 12 were approved, two are in process, while four applications were rejected.

It is pertinent to mention that the provincial government decided in December last year to celebrate a limited Basant in Lahore with strict conditions.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2026

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