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At least 10 people have been killed and 22 injured after a fire tore through a shopping centre in Pakistan’s largest city.

The deadly blaze is reported to have broken out at the multi-storey RJ Mall in Karachi early on Saturday morning.

The centre is located in a commercial tower block that also houses call centres and software firms.

In an update on social media confirming the number of casualties, Karachi mayor Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui said: “Fire had been extinguished & cooling process is going on.”

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The cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.

Karachi is the capital of the southern province of Sindh, where such incidents are common.

Back in April, a blaze at a clothing factory killed four firefighters.

In August 2021, at least 10 people died in a fire at a chemical factory in the same city.

In the deadliest such incident, more than 260 people were killed after being trapped inside a garment factory when a fire broke out in 2012.

An Israeli boy who was kidnapped by Hamas has been reunited with his family more than six weeks after he was taken prisoner.

Ohad Munder, nine, was one of 13 hostages released after the warring sides agreed to a pause in the fighting.

More hostages expected to be released – live updates

In touching footage released by Israel‘s Schneider Children’s Medical Center, he is seen running down a corridor to embrace his father.

Ohad’s mother Keren, a teacher and volleyball coach also taken hostage during Hamas‘s attack on 7 October, is seen hugging other family members.

Ms Munder and her son were visiting his grandmother Ruthy when all three were kidnapped.

Ohad’s grandfather was also taken and is thought to still be in captivity.

Prisoner swaps set to continue

In total, Hamas kidnapped some 240 people.

The 13 prisoners who have been released were handed over after Israel released 39 Palestinians.

They were detained accused of a range of offences, from throwing stones to attempted murder.

Israel is preparing to release another 42 prisoners, with the country’s prisons service saying it has agreed to release three prisoners for every one hostage freed by Hamas.

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‘Huge relief’ to see hostages return

The truce deal, which was mediated by Qatar, is expected to see some 50 women and children freed from Hamas captivity over the course of the weekend.

It began on Friday with 24 Hamas hostages released from Gaza via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt.

Britain’s new foreign secretary, David Cameron, who met with Israeli and Palestinian leaders earlier this week, described the scenes of hostages being returned as a “huge relief”.

He added on X: “My thoughts are with all of those families who have been going through unimaginable trauma, especially those still waiting for their loved ones to come home.”

The pause in fighting is set to last until Monday.

Pope Francis has cancelled his scheduled audiences because of mild flu, according to the Vatican.

The 86-year-old pontiff holds regular meetings with officials on Saturdays, including a weekly one with the head of the department that oversees the appointment of bishops.

He was also due to hold a meeting with the president of Guinea Bissau.

The Vatican said in a statement: “The Holy Father’s audiences scheduled for this morning are cancelled due to a mild flu.”

The Pope’s next public appearance is scheduled for Sunday, when he is expected to address crowds in his weekly message in St Peter’s Square.

He is also due to attend the upcoming COP28 conference on climate change in Dubai where he is expected to hold bilateral meetings with world leaders attending the event.

Recently pressed over his health issues in an interview, Francis, who turns 87 next month, quipped in what has become his standard response: “Still alive, you know.”

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Earlier this month, the Pope did not read his prepared remarks at an audience with European rabbis as he was suffering from a cold, but later appeared to be in good health during a meeting with 7,000 children from over 80 countries.

In June, he spent nine days in hospital after undergoing surgery for a hernia.

It was his second major abdominal operation in two years.

Originally called Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Francis was archbishop of the Argentine capital Buenos Aires from 1998 until he was elected pope in 2013.

Since he assumed the papacy, he has been forced to cancel some events, sometimes at the last minute, because of illness.

He spent three days in hospital with a respiratory infection in March and in May had to skip audiences because of a fever.

He was first hospitalised in 2021 for an operation to remove part of his colon.

Francis is also missing part of one lung, which was removed when he was a young man in Argentina, and often uses a cane to walk due to knee pain.

Last year he hinted he may resign if his health continued to deteriorate.

That suggestion came after he was pictured using a wheelchair for the first time in public due to mobility issues.

The late Benedict XVI became the first pope to resign for more than 600 years in 2013 instead of ruling for life.

An avalanche in Iran has killed five mountain climbers and injured another four.

State-run news agency IRNA said rescue workers recovered five bodies from San Boran in Lorestan, around 186 miles southwest of Tehran.

The four survivors were taken to hospital following the incident on Friday.

IRNA reported that the nine-strong mountaineering team started their ascent on Thursday, despite local authorities warning them about risks.

In recent weeks San Boran peak, the highest on Iran’s Oshtorankuh mountain in the Zagros range at 4,150 meters, has seen heavy rain and snow.

In a statement, the Iranian Red Crescent said: “Yesterday, following the avalanche in Oshtorankuh, Lorestan, nine people had an accident, of which four people were taken to the hospital with the efforts of aid workers, and unfortunately five people were also missing.

“The bodies of two of the missing people were found yesterday. The bodies of three more missing climbers were found a few minutes ago with the efforts of the Red Crescent rescuers.”

Avalanches are relatively rare in the Middle Eastern country, but in 2020, 12 people were killed on Christmas Day.

Captives are expected to be released each day until Monday during pause in fighting.

United States President Joe Biden has said there is a “real” chance that a four-day pause in Israel’s war on Gaza could be extended.

“I think the chances are real,” he told reporters on Friday, while also refusing to speculate on how long the war that started on October 7 after a surprise Hamas attack inside Israel could last.

“My expectation and hope is that as we move forward, the rest of the Arab world and the region is also putting pressure on all sides to slow this down, to bring this to an end as quickly as we can,” Biden said, while reiterating his support for Israel.

He stressed that “eliminating” Hamas remains a “legitimate” mission for Israel.

He only said he has “encouraged” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to try to limit civilian casualties.

About 15,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, have been killed so far in Israeli bombardments following the Hamas attack that killed 1,200 people in Israel.

Under the terms of the truce, which came into effect early on Friday, 50 women and children held in Gaza are to be released over four days, in exchange for 150 Palestinian women and children who are among thousands imprisoned in Israeli jails.

On Friday, 39 Palestinians were released in the occupied West Bank in exchange for Hamas releasing 24 captives, including 13 Israelis. More are expected to be released on Saturday afternoon.

After the release of the first Hamas-held captives, Biden said: “It’s only a start, but so far it’s gone well.”

Both Israel and Hamas have promised that they will continue to fight, but Israel has signalled it is open to extending the truce if more captives are released at a rate of 10 per day – something Biden said he hoped would come to pass.

Hamas has said the non-civilian Israelis it is holding will only be exchanged for the thousands of Palestinians who are languishing in Israeli prisons in harsh conditions, many of them held without charge.

About 200 trucks with humanitarian aid also made their way into the besieged enclave as part of the truce on Friday, with the first deliveries into northern Gaza since the start of the war arriving on Saturday.

But the level of destruction remains high both in the north and in the south of the Gaza Strip, and the United Nations confirmed on Friday that Israel significantly ramped up its attacks in Gaza before the truce came into effect.