RIO JANEIRO: A technician was killed on Sunday in Rio de Janeiro setting up a stage where pop superstar Shakira is set to perform a free concert this week, authorities and organizers said. Crews have been working for weeks to assemble a stage on the sands of the Brazilian city&#39;s Copacabana beach, where crowds are expected from around the world to see the Colombian singer perform on May 2 as part of her record-breaking world tour. The man suffered crushing injuries to his legs in a lifting system, the fire department said in a statement. Workers managed to free the man and he was taken to hospital, but he did not survive, the state fire department (CBMERJ) said. &quot;Unfortunately, the technician passed away in hospital,&quot; concert organizer Bonus Track said in a statement. &quot;Out of nowhere, we saw people running, and when we looked, the structure was on the ground,&quot; Antonio Marcos Ferreira dos Santos, 51, who was on the beach at the time, told AFP. &quot;People were saying that a man had gotten trapped underneath. People rushed over to pull him out.&quot;

A police car is seen in front of the stage being set up for Colombian singer Shakira at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on April 26, 2026, the Colombian singer is scheduled to perform on May 2.

Americas

A technician died after being crushed by stage equipment while preparing for Shakira’s upcoming concert in Rio de Janeiro.

Technician dies installing stage for Shakira concert in Rio

Web Desk

ISLAMABAD: The Taliban have called on Afghan refugees currently stranded abroad to return home, asserting that the country is safe and that citizens face no security threat under their rule. In a statement issued on Saturday, the foreign ministry of &nbsp;the interim Afghan government said it had received reports that Afghan nationals in Qatar, many of whom are awaiting US visas, are being asked to choose between returning to Afghanistan or relocating to a third country.&nbsp; Among the countries reportedly under consideration is the Democratic Republic of Congo. Describing Afghanistan as &ldquo;the shared home of all Afghans,&rdquo; the ministry encouraged refugees to come back, assuring them they could do so without fear. It also stated that those wishing to migrate elsewhere could pursue opportunities later through &ldquo;legal and dignified&rdquo; channels. The statement emphasized the Taliban&rsquo;s willingness to cooperate with other governments through consular agreements to safeguard Afghan citizens&rsquo; rights.&nbsp; It further insisted that &ldquo;no one currently faces security threats in Afghanistan,&rdquo; dismissing concerns about instability or persecution. Uncertain futureThe appeal comes as uncertainty grows for roughly 1,100 Afghan refugees housed at As Sayliyah camp in Qatar. The group includes interpreters, former special forces personnel, and family members of individuals who worked with US forces.&nbsp; According to media reports, the US administration has halted resettlement programs for Afghan refugees, leaving many unable to travel to the United States.&nbsp; Officials have also indicated plans to shut down the camp, prompting discussions about relocating refugees to third countries. A senior US official said Washington is in talks with multiple nations regarding possible resettlement options, noting that keeping refugees indefinitely in Qatar is &ldquo;not a viable solution.&rdquo;&nbsp;However, the US has not formally confirmed any agreement to transfer refugees to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Meanwhile, Reuters reported that some Afghan refugees in Qatar have been offered financial incentives to return to Afghanistan, raising further concerns among aid groups. Concerns over safety persistDespite Taliban assurances, international organizations remain deeply skeptical.&nbsp; The United Nations and other human rights groups have repeatedly warned that Afghanistan remains unsafe for many returnees, particularly women, journalists, human rights defenders, and former government or military personnel. Human rights advocates argue that the Taliban&rsquo;s claims of nationwide security do not reflect the realities faced by vulnerable groups, many of whom fear persecution if forced to return.

The Taliban government said on Saturday that Afghans who fled to Qatar, fearing reprisals over their collaboration with US forces, may return home “with full confidence.” (AFP/File)

Afghanistan

The Taliban have urged Afghan refugees in Qatar to return home amid uncertainty over US resettlement and possible relocation to the Democratic Republic of Congo, despite ongoing international safety concerns.

Taliban ask Afghan refugees in Qatar to return home

ISLAMABAD: More than 12,000 waqf properties covering an area tens of thousands acres have been deregistered by the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, raising serious concerns over religious rights and minority protection, Rights Group Indian American Muslim Council flagged on Monday. According to reports, the large-scale cancellations emerged following an audit of nearly 100,000 waqf properties uploaded to a government digitization portal. Authorities claimed that many registrations were rejected due to incomplete documentation and data entry errors.&nbsp;However, critics argue that the sweeping nature of the move has disproportionately impacted Muslim religious endowments, including mosques, graveyards, madrasas and other community assets.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2048533799001354480&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fdashboard%2F&sessionId=11100eefb450a3c6a8defbf4650f47b51c17189d&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 849px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;"></iframe></div></div>Waqf properties, which are charitable religious endowments under Islamic law, play a critical role in supporting community welfare, education and religious practices.&nbsp; Reports indicate that graveyards and mosques account for a significant portion of the affected properties, with some districts witnessing hundreds of cancellations.&nbsp;The audit is part of a broader digitization initiative linked to the implementation of the Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025, which mandates registration of such properties on a centralized portal.&nbsp; While officials maintain that the exercise is intended to improve transparency and governance, rights groups and observers say the process has been marked by technical glitches, tight deadlines and administrative hurdles, making compliance difficult for many institutions.&nbsp; The cancellations have sparked fears of dispossession and loss of religious spaces among affected communities.&nbsp; Advocacy groups have described the move as part of a wider pattern of marginalization, warning that the deregistration of such a large number of waqf properties could undermine the constitutional protections afforded to religious minorities in India. Affected institutions have reportedly been asked to reapply with corrected documentation before a government-imposed deadline, but concerns remain over whether smaller or resource-constrained bodies will be able to meet these requirements in time.&nbsp; The developments have intensified debate over the balance between administrative reform and the safeguarding of minority rights, with calls growing for greater transparency, accountability and independent oversight in the handling of waqf properties.

India

India’s BJP-led UP government deregisters over 12,000 Waqf properties, including mosques and graveyards, raising fears of dispossession, minority marginalization and religious persecution.

India deregisters over 12,000 Waqf properties in UP, fueling persecution concerns

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has reaffirmed Pyongyang&#39;s support for Russia&#39;s invasion of Ukraine, vowing to help Moscow achieve victory in its &quot;sacred&quot; war, state media reported on Monday. Pyongyang has sent missiles, munitions, and thousands of troops to assist Russia in Ukraine, and analysts say Moscow is sending financial aid, military technology, food, and energy to the diplomatically isolated country in return. A string of high-level Russian officials have visited North Korea in recent days, with Defence Minister Andrey Belousov meeting Kim on Sunday, according to official statements. North Korea &quot;will as ever fully support the policy of the Russian Federation to defend the national sovereignty, territorial integrity and security interests&quot;, Kim told Belousov, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). Kim expressed &quot;belief that the Russian army and people would surely win a victory in the just sacred war&quot;, KCNA reported. Both sides said their delegations had discussed deeper military ties, with Belousov saying Moscow was ready to sign a cooperation plan covering the period from 2027 to 2031. Kim, Belousov, and Russian parliamentary speaker Vyacheslav Volodin also attended the opening ceremony of a memorial complex honouring North Korean soldiers killed in Ukraine. The ceremony included a concert, a fireworks display, and an air force flyover, KCNA reported. The audience was moved by portrayals of &quot;life-and-death bloody battles&quot; and &quot;death-defying hand-to-hand fights and heroic suicidal explosions the young soldiers chose without hesitation&quot;, it said. North Korea and Russia signed a military treaty in 2024, obligating both states to provide military assistance &quot;without delay&quot; in the event of an attack on the other. The opening of the memorial coincides with what Moscow describes as the first anniversary of its recovery of parts of Kursk, a region in Russia where Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive starting in mid-2024. North Korean soldiers were deployed in the area to help beat back the Ukrainian advance. In his meeting with Belousov, Kim hailed the &quot;brilliant war results in liberating Kursk&quot;, according to KCNA. Russian President Vladimir Putin praised the &quot;extraordinary bravery and genuine devotion&quot; of North Korean troops in a letter to Kim, published by KCNA. Seoul estimates that about 2,000 North Koreans have been killed in the Ukraine war. North Korean soldiers are said to have been instructed to kill themselves rather than be captured in battle. Only two North Korean troops have been taken alive and are currently in the custody of Ukrainian authorities.

Asia

Europe

Pyongyang has sent missiles, munitions and thousands of troops to assist Russia in Ukraine, and analysts say Moscow is sending financial aid, military technology, food and energy to the diplomatically isolated country in return.

North Korea's Kim reaffirms support for Russia's 'sacred' Ukraine war

Web Desk/AFP

Middle East

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and his Saudi counterpart Prince Faisal bin Farhan discuss regional developments and efforts to de-escalate and ease tensions in the region, according to a post shared on X on Monday by the Saudi Foreign Ministry.

Iran, Saudi FMs discuss efforts to de-escalate regional tensions 

BOGOT&Aacute;: The death toll in a weekend highway bombing in Colombia rose to 20, with another 36 people injured, the local department&#39;s governor said Sunday on X. The attack &mdash; which local and national officials are blaming on armed groups &mdash; comes one month before the country holds presidential elections on May 31. Cauca Department Governor Octavio Guzman described the bombing as the area&#39;s &quot;most brutal and ruthless attack against the civilian population in decades,&quot; adding that it left a crater 200 cubic meters in size. Fifteen women and five men, all adults, were killed, he said. Of the injured, three people remain in intensive care. Five children were also injured but &quot;are out of danger.&quot; The massive blast left buses and vans mangled on the Pan-American Highway in the restive southwestern region of Colombia. Several cars were flipped over by the force of the explosion. Military chief Hugo Lopez told a news conference on Saturday that the bomb had exploded after assailants stopped traffic by blocking the road with a bus and another vehicle. &quot;It is a terrorist attack against the civilian population,&quot; Lopez said. The attack comes just over one month ahead of national elections, in which voters will pick a successor to leftist President Gustavo Petro. &quot;Those who carried out this attack... are terrorists, fascists and drug traffickers,&quot; Petro said on X. &quot;I want our very best soldiers to confront them.&quot; Petro blamed the bombing on Ivan Mordisco, the South American country&#39;s most-wanted criminal, whom the president has compared to late cocaine kingpin Pablo Escobar. The violence came after a bomb attack Friday on a military base in Cali, Colombia&#39;s third-largest city, injured two people and set off a string of attacks in the Valle del Cauca and Cauca departments. According to Lopez, 26 attacks have been recorded in the two departments over the past two days. Authorities have boosted military and police presence in the areas, Defense Minister Pedro Sanchez said Saturday. Colombia has a history of armed groups &mdash; which finance their operations through drug trafficking, illegal mining and extortion &mdash; attempting to influence elections through violence. FARC remnants who rejected a 2016 peace deal with the government have been actively trying to disrupt stalled peace talks with Petro. Security is one of the central issues of the presidential election. Political violence was brought into sharp focus last June, when young conservative presidential frontrunner Miguel Uribe Turbay was shot in broad daylight while campaigning in the capital Bogota. He died two months later. Leftist Senator Ivan Cepeda, an architect of Petro&#39;s controversial policy of negotiating with armed groups, is ahead in polls. He is trailed by right-wing candidates Abelardo de la Espriella and Paloma Valencia, both of whom have pledged to take a hard line against rebel groups. All three have reported receiving death threats and are campaigning under heavy security.

The attack — which local and national officials are blaming on armed groups — comes one month before the country holds presidential elections on May 31.

Colombia road bombing death toll rises to 20	

WASHINGTON: Investigators on Sunday said the gunman who tried to storm a gala dinner attended by Donald Trump planned to assassinate the US president and multiple top officials, as scrutiny grew over the event&#39;s security. Trump, who was rushed out of the hotel ballroom in Washington by Secret Service agents, posted surveillance footage of the gunman attempting to sprint past a checkpoint. After a brief exchange of gunfire with agents, the suspect was detained at the scene on Saturday evening and was being questioned before he is due to appear in court Monday. Trump shared photos of the suspect handcuffed on the carpeted hotel floor. &quot;He&#39;s not actively cooperating. I expect that he will be formally charged tomorrow morning in federal court in Washington,&quot; acting US Attorney General Todd Blanche told CBS&#39;s &quot;Face The Nation.&quot; &quot;We do believe, based upon just a very preliminary start to understanding what happened, that he was targeting members of the administration.&quot; Blanche added that no further motive was known for the attack, and confirmed the suspect &mdash; who officials said was armed with a shotgun, handgun and knives &mdash; was staying at the Washington Hilton hotel where the black-tie dinner was held. &quot;We believe that he traveled by train from Los Angeles to Chicago, and then from Chicago to Washington,&quot; Blanche said. &quot;It appears he purchased these firearms in the past couple years.&quot; Guests hid under tables Trump, without providing details, said the gunman had written an &quot;anti-Christian&quot; manifesto. &quot;The guy is a sick guy,&quot; Trump told Fox News. &quot;His sister or his brother actually was complaining about it. They were even complaining to law enforcement.&quot; The New York Post said the suspect, widely named as Cole Allen, 31, had written in a note shared with his family shortly before the attack that his targets would be &quot;prioritized from highest-ranking to lowest.&quot; In the seconds after the shooting a floor above, Secret Service agents swarmed into the ballroom, prompting chaotic scenes as attendees dove under tables. Crowded into the ballroom were Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, Vice President JD Vance, several cabinet members and top lawmakers, and hundreds of guests in black tie. Trump said at a hastily arranged late-night news conference at the White House that he first thought the noise was a tray being dropped, before realizing it was gunfire. He said he hoped the annual gala, hosted by the White House Correspondents Association, would be rescheduled within a month. &quot;They seem to think he was a lone wolf, and I feel that too,&quot; the president said. One officer was shot at close range in his safety vest and appeared to be not seriously harmed. Trump added that the hotel venue was &quot;not a particularly secure&quot; facility, as questions swirled about the president&#39;s safety protocols. Multiple attempts on Trump&#39;s life Trump was the target of an assassination attempt during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024. A gunman fired several shots, killing an audience member and lightly wounding the president in the ear. A few months later, another man was arrested after a Secret Service agent saw the barrel of a rifle poking from the bushes on the perimeter of the West Palm Beach golf course where Trump was playing a round. The Washington Hilton, where Saturday&#39;s gala was taking place, is the site where Republican President Ronald Reagan was shot by a would-be assassin in 1981. &quot;This keeps happening,&quot; Brian Raftery, an attorney, told AFP in Washington on Sunday. &quot;One of these times, unfortunately, something very bad is going to happen if we continue to have these types of attacks on political leaders.&quot; Trump on Sunday said the shooting underlined the security reasons that he has cited for planning a huge new ballroom next to the White House, a project that has faced legal challenges. The White House Correspondents&#39; Association invited Trump to its gala this year despite his repeated attacks on the media. Before this year and unlike all other presidents from the past 100 years, Trump had never attended while in office. The dinner brings together journalists and the who&#39;s who of Washington to raise funds for scholarships and awards. The incident came less than 48 hours before King Charles III and Queen Camilla begin a four-day state visit to Washington.

US Attorney General Blanche says no further motive known for the attack, confirms the suspect was staying at the Washington Hilton hotel, where the black-tie dinner was held; Trump says gunman had written an "anti-Christian" manifesto.

Gunman sought to kill Trump, cabinet at gala dinner

Muhammad Imad Abbas

ISLAMABAD: A mortar shell fired from the Afghan territory struck a residential area in the southwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early in the morning, injuring three people, including a female police constable, police authorities confirmed to Pakistan TV Digital.&nbsp;According to district police, the shell landed in a house near the border in South Waziristan district , wounding two women, one of them a police constable, and a male resident.&nbsp;Officials said the women sustained minor injuries, while the man was reported to be in serious condition.&nbsp;The incident occurred during the early hours, when the mortar was reportedly launched from across the Afghan border into Pakistani territory, hitting the civilian neighborhood.

Security

A mortar shell fired from the Afghan territory struck a residential area in the southwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province early in the morning, injuring three people, including a female police constable, police authorities confirms

Mortar shell from Afghan side hits residential area, woman constable among three injured 

KHARTOUM: A drone attack hit an aid truck in Sudan&#39;s North Darfur state, destroying all the supplies on board, the UN refugee agency said on Sunday, without identifying who was responsible.&nbsp;Drone strikes by both the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), who have been locked in a brutal war since April 2023, have escalated in recent months, often killing dozens at a time.&nbsp;The UNHCR-operated vehicle &quot;came under drone attack&quot; on Friday while transporting emergency shelter kits to Tawila, home to more than 700,000 displaced people who fled fighting elsewhere in the western Darfur region, the agency said.&nbsp;The driver escaped unhurt, but all supplies were destroyed in the resulting fire, it added.&nbsp;UNHCR condemned the attack, warning that it would &quot;leave 1,314 families living in desperate conditions in Tawila without shelter&quot; at a time when humanitarian needs are already overwhelming.&nbsp;More than 127,000 people fled El-Fasher, North Darfur&#39;s capital and the army&#39;s last stronghold in the region, after it fell to paramilitary forces in October, with reports of mass killings, sexual violence, looting, and rape following the takeover.&nbsp;Fighting has since spread to neighbouring Kordofan, now the main theatre of the war, and the southeastern Blue Nile state, raising fears of a longer and increasingly fragmented conflict.&nbsp;According to the UN, nearly 700 civilians have been killed in drone strikes by both sides since January alone.&nbsp;UNHCR voiced &quot;deep concern&quot; over the rising use of drones, calling repeated attacks on humanitarian operations &quot;particularly abhorrent&quot;.&nbsp;According to an assessment by the UN&#39;s Food and Agriculture Organization, 28.9 million people, around 62 percent of Sudan&#39;s population, are facing acute food insecurity.&nbsp;That includes 10.2 million who face severe food insecurity, in particular in the wider Darfur region and South Kordofan state.&nbsp;Famine was declared last year in El-Fasher and Kadugli, the capital of South Kordofan, with 20 other areas at risk in Darfur and Kordofan, a UN-backed assessment found.&nbsp;The conflict has already killed tens of thousands, uprooted over 11 million, and created the world&#39;s largest displacement and hunger crises.

Africa

A drone attack destroyed a UN aid truck in North Darfur, burning all supplies. The driver escaped unharmed, and no group was identified.

Drone attack hits Sudan aid truck: UN

Muhammad Usman Amin

<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: -0.07px; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">One hundred and six meters of steel and glass, built on the legacy of a nine-year-old genius, this is the heartbeat of Pakistan&rsquo;s digital revolution.

Shorts

One hundred and six meters of steel and glass, built on the legacy of a nine-year-old genius, this is the heartbeat of Pakistan’s digital revolution.

Technician dies installing stage for Shakira concert in Rio

Latest News

Technician dies installing stage for Shakira concert in Rio

Taliban ask Afghan refugees in Qatar to return home

India deregisters over 12,000 Waqf properties in UP, fueling persecution concerns

North Korea's Kim reaffirms support for Russia's 'sacred' Ukraine war

Iran, Saudi FMs discuss efforts to de-escalate regional tensions