Actor Khaqan Shahnawaz faced backlash from Kareena Kapoor’s fans after jokingly suggesting he could play her son due to their age difference.

The comment, made on a TV show, sparked outrage on social media, with fans criticizing Shahnawaz for age-shaming.

Khaqan Shahnawaz’s comments on Indian megastar Kareena Kapoor Khan’s age have gone viral and triggered outrage from her fans across the border as well as Pakistan.

A fan of Khaqan’s had expressed her wish to see the actor with Kareena during his appearance to which he answered jokingly: “I can play her son. Yeah, I can play her son, definitely”.

The actor then pointed out that the “Jab We Met” megastar is much older than him and he can only act as her son.

The overall conversation did not sit well with fans who poured out in Kareena’s favour. One fan remarked, “Kareena wouldn’t even know who he is, even I’ve never seen a drama of his”. Another stated that the actor is “full of himself”.

The clip of Khaqan, shared on Instagram, received countless angry comments, calling out the actor’s attitude, including these: Another fan pointed out that these remarks will lead to Khaqan becoming famous as the interview has gone viral.

A powerful blast ripped through an explosives plant in northwestern Turkey on Tuesday killing 12 people and injuring five others, officials said.

Footage showed shards of glass and metal scattered outside the plant, where ambulances stood by.

“According to initial reports, 12 employees died and four were taken to hospital with injuries as a result of the explosion” in the Karesi district of Balikesir province, local governor Ismail Ustaoglu said.

“I wish God’s mercy upon our deceased citizens and a speedy recovery to our wounded,” he added.

Officials later revised the number of the injured as five and added they were not in a serious condition.

There were no staff members left inside the factory and the blaze was put out, they added.

The blast took place at 8:25 am (0525 GMT) at a section of the plant which local officials said collapsed under the force of the explosion.

Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said the cause of the blast at the factory, which is located away from residential areas, was not immediately known.

“We are trying to find out what caused it,” he said.

Local officials pointed to “technical reasons” without elaborating as experts were still investigation at the scene.

Authorities ruled out sabotage and prosecutors have launched a thorough investigation.

-‘Battlefield’-

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was “deeply saddened by the death of 12 brothers,” in a message on social platform X.

He said he was briefed by all relevant institutions soon after the blast and instructed that “the necessary investigation be initiated immediately in all aspects”.

The plant, located in the north of Balikesir, makes munitions, explosives and flares for the domestic and international markets.

Witnesses told local media that part of the building was “like a battlefield”.

The bodies of the dead were due to be carried to the morgue.

Security forces took measures in case of a second blast, Civilians and members of the press were not allowed nearby.

Turkey has become a major defence exporter, particularly for drones, with Erdogan a major supporter of the industry.

In 2020, an explosion at a fireworks factory in northwestern Turkey killed seven people and injured 127 others.

In 2023, a blast at a military explosives factory killed five people. That factory — some 40 kilometres (25 miles) east of the capital Ankara, was part of Turkey’s defence ministry.

The status of the Panama Canal is non-negotiable, President Jose Raul Mulino said in a statement on Monday signed alongside former leaders of the country, after Donald Trump’s recent threats to reclaim the man-made waterway.

The US president-elect on Saturday had slammed what he called unfair fees for US ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand control of the waterway be returned to Washington.

Mulino dismissed Trump’s comments Sunday, saying “every square meter of the Panama Canal and its adjacent areas belongs to Panama and will continue belonging to Panama”.

He reiterated Monday in a statement – also signed by former presidents Ernesto Perez Balladares, Martin Torrijos and Mireya Moscoso – that “the sovereignty of our country and our canal are not negotiable.”

The canal “is part of our history of struggle and an irreversible conquest,” read the statement, which the four politicians had signed after a meeting at the seat of the Panamanian government.

“Panamanians may think differently in many aspects, but when it comes to our canal and our sovereignty, we all unite under the same flag.”

Former leader Laurentino Cortizo, who did not attend the meeting, also showed support for the statement on social media, as did ex-president Ricardo Martinelli.

The 80-kilometer (50-mile) Panama Canal carries five percent of the world’s maritime trade. Its main users are the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Chile.

It was completed by the United States in 1914, and then returned to the Central American country under a 1977 deal signed by Democratic president Jimmy Carter.

Panama took full control in 1999.