11 die, 400 houses collapse amid rains in Balochistan

KHARAN: This photo, provided by local authorities, shows an entire street of houses levelled by recent rains, flash floods.

QUETTA: At least 11 people were killed and over 400 houses collapsed in different districts of Balochistan due to downpour and flash floods over the last one week.

The province remained cut off with other areas of the country as heavy rains and flash floods triggered landslides and damaged bridges, blocking highways.

Officials of the Provi­ncial Disaster Manage­ment Autho­rity (PDMA), Balochistan, said on Monday that Panjgur, Kharan and Washuk districts were badly affected areas as most houses in these areas were destr­oyed by heavy rains which continued falling in these areas for four days, cutting off a large number of villages’ links with district headquarters and rendering hundreds of families homeless.

Officials said that dams in Panjgur, Washuk, Khar­an, Qila Saifullah, Pishin, Lasbela, Hub, Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Bark­han, Sibi and Bolan were filled up by rain- and floodwater and spillways of Mirani, Hub and other dams were opened for releasing the extra water, which submerged several villages situated in low-lying areas.

Four straight days of heavy rain take their toll on Panjgur, Kharan and Washuk

“Torrential rains and raging floodwaters broke a dam in Basima area of Washuk district, which badly affected a vast area, destroyed human settlement and rendered a large number of families homeless,” the PDMA officials said, adding that the authority was providing tents, sheets, rations and drinking water to the people marooned by the downpour and flash floods.

The Director General of PDMA, Balochistan, Jahanzeb Khan, visited flood-affected areas of Kharan and Washuk along with elected members.

According to PDMA officials, 11 people were killed in Dera Bugti, Awaran, Qila Saifullah, Pishin, Kech and Nasirabad districts which were badly affected due to rains and flash floods.

“At least 131 houses were swept away in flash floods while 305 were partially damaged and were unfit for accommodation,” the officials said.

Meanwhile, National Highway Authority officials claimed on Monday that Quetta-Sibi Highway had been opened for heavy traffic after a causeway built on the Bolan river was strengthened.

They said that efforts were under way to restore traffic between Balochistan and Punjab through Barkhan-Dera Ghazi Khan Highway as the traffic on the highway has remained suspended for the last couple of days due to landslides at Fort Monroe area.

Met officials said that more rains were expected in different parts of Balochistan next week.

Published in Dawn, August 1st, 2023

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Part of Karakoram Highway swept away by flood in Upper Kohistan, ‘hundreds of passengers’ stranded

A part of the Karakoram Highway was swept away by a flood in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Upper Kohistan district on Monday evening, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Irfanullah Mehsood said.

DC Mehsood told Dawn.com that heavy rainfall had caused flooding in the Lachi nullah in Upper Kohistan’s Harban tehsil.

A mosque, a police station, a hotel and multiple houses were damaged and a stretch of the Karakoram Highway was swept away by the flood due to which “hundreds of passengers”, including families and tourists, were left stranded on the road, he said.

The DC said the highway’s restoration would “take days” as no trace of the thoroughfare was left near Lachi nullah.

Asadullah Quraishi, tehsil chairman for the Harban-Bhasha area, told Dawn.com that police and residents vacated their quarters when the water flow in the Lachi nullah increased.

The tehsil chairman said “it seems there will be a food shortage in Upper Kohistan and Gilgit-Baltistan” because the Karakoram Highway was getting blocked on a daily basis.

He also said the restoration of the highway’s stretch swept away today may take a week or more.

The Karakoram Highway was blocked at nine different locations in the limits of Diamer on Sunday and was opened for light traffic at midnight but got blocked again in the evening today.

The Karakoram Highway is one of the international routes in Pakistan that connects the country with China at Khunjerab and over a million tourists travel on it to visit the scenic places of GB in the summer season.

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Eight trapped in Indonesia gold mine feared dead

BANYUMAS: Eight people trapped in an illegal gold mine on the Indonesian island of Java are feared dead, a local rescue official said on Sunday, as search efforts entered a fifth day with little progress.

Unlicensed mines — many with disregard for basic safety measures — are common across the mineral-rich Southeast Asian archipelago and accidents are frequent.

The workers were digging inside a hole with a depth of 200 feet in Pancurendang village in Central Java on Tuesday evening when water suddenly flooded the illegal mine.

Rescuers had deployed water pumps around the clock and worked to dam a nearby river in a frantic bid to get the water out of the mining shaft but it remained flooded on Sunday.

“This is already the fifth day. We expect the bad news that the victims have died,” local search and rescue agency head Adah Sudarsa told reporters on Sunday. Sudarsa said the rescue effort would continue until Tuesday in the hope of retrieving the miners’ bodies, which are yet to be found.

Authorities had planned to deploy divers to find the miners but local rescue official Priyo Prayudha Utama said, “it was not possible” because the mine shaft was too narrow.

Most of the trapped miners had moved from West Java to mine in the region, police said. On Friday, police charged four people with allegedly operating the mine without a permit.

The suspects, including one who remains at large, face up to five years in prison and 100 billion rupiah ($6.6 million) in fines. In 2021, six people were killed on Sulawesi Island after an illegal gold mine collapsed.

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PM Shehbaz opposes Ishaq Dar as interim prime minister

• Urges appointment of ‘neutral’ person to lead caretaker set-up
• Defends ‘hybrid regime’; says May 9 riots aimed at removal of army chief

ISLAMABAD / LAHORE: Amid widespread speculations, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sunday ruled out the appointment of Finance Minister Ishaq Dar as the caretaker prime minister, saying a neutral person would be selected to lead the interim set-up to make upcoming general elections transparent.

The premier, who also heads the PML-N, made these remarks on a Geo News programme, Jirga. The remarks came after rumours that Mr Dar would be appointed as the interim prime minister.

“A neutral person should be appointed to this position so that no one could question the elections’ results,” PM Shehbaz said, agreeing with his coalition partners who favoured a non-partisan politician to lead the caretaker set-up.

According to the PM, the caretaker set-up would be agreed upon after consultation with allied parties, PML-N supreme leader Nawaz Sharif, and the leader of opposition in the National Assembly Raja Riaz.

“I assure you there will be a very efficient interim government at the Centre,” he added.

It may be noted that a bill to empower the caretaker set-up to take policy decisions was recently passed by the parliament. PM Shehbaz said he will dissolve the National Assembly a few days before the expiry of his government’s term on Aug 12, which would allow the ECP to conduct polls within 90 days.

The PM said he had no intention to delay elections not even on the issue of the new census. “If notification regarding the new census is issued and even if the new census is notified, it would be up to the Election Commission of Pakistan to handle the issue,” he added.

The PM said his party will make adjustments with any other political party, including PPP and JUI-F, for polls. He said the ruling PML-N will field its own candidates where there will be no need for seat adjustment.

‘Plot to overthrow COAS’

PM Shehbaz revealed that the “May 9 conspiracy” was hatched against Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Syed Asim Munir to trigger a ‘civil war’ in the country.

“Being a prime minister, I am saying this on the basis of 100 per cent evidence that the May 9 conspiracy was aimed at overthrowing the army chief,” he said. “On that day, there was a plan to create anarchy and civil war in the country,” he added.

The PM said that those who had attacked military installations would be tried in military courts while those involved in ransacking other public properties would face prosecution in other courts.

The prime minister said transparent accountability was imperative against those who had hatched a conspiracy against the country.

About forthcoming elections, he said, Nawaz Sharif will be the next premier if his party came to power. He said Nawaz Sharif will soon return to the country, adding he was sent abroad on medical grounds on the basis of a medical report prepared on the directives of former prime minister Imran Khan.

The premier again called for unity among political forces and that they must agree on a Charter of Economy. “We had difficulty reaching an agreement with the International Monetary Fund, but now the nation has to change its mode of living. On the other hand, the new government will have to utilise all resources and do hard work to bring the country out of the economic crisis. If we fail to do so we will never be remembered as a nation,” he added.

Answering a question about why he was involving the army chief in major initiatives of his government, the PM said the “hybrid model of PTI government” was used to malign opposition, create hatred among people, annoy friendly countries, [and] jam the wheel of the economy.

“On the other hand, in our system we want agriculture reforms, to impart IT training to all students, dig out our natural resources and ensure that all state institutions work within their own domains so that all will work together to rid the country of crisis,” he added.

‘Bad governance’

Talking to the media and speaking at the soft launch of the Haveli Bahadur Shah power project and a couple of other schemes at the Governor House Lahore, the premier said national economy was destroyed during the four-year rule of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf.

He criticised the “bad governance” and “criminal negligence” of the four-year rule of the Imran Khan government that led the country to the present state of affairs.

He was also critical of the PTI regime for suspending work on development projects only because these had been started by Nawaz Sharif, causing financial losses worth billions of rupees to the national exchequer.

“The bad and inefficient working of the past government and its criminal negligence (towards economic issues) steered Pakistan to the present condition.”

The Haveli Bahadur Shah was a project initiated by the Nawaz Sharif government, so work on it was suspended by Imran Niazi, which caused a loss of Rs77bn to the national kitty because of increase in the project cost, he said.

Power generation from the project, initiated in 2016, was to start in 2019. But work on it was stalled “due to criminal negligence of Imran Niazi and lack of interest of his government”, he added.

He asked who would be held accountable for such blunders and why the judiciary did not take a suo motu notice over the negligence.

Clarifying that he did not mean victimisation of anyone through this demand, PM Shehbaz highlighted the need for a transparent accountability system to fix responsibility for all such failures whether these were committed during a dictatorship or democratic government.

He bitterly recalled that the visit of Chinese president was postponed due to PTI’s sit-in back in 2014 as despite multiple attempts to convince Imran Khan to put off his protest he refused to vacate even D-Chowk in Islamabad to clear the route for the travel of the foreign dignitary.

He said the Chinese president then visited Pakistan a year later in 2015 and the CPEC agreement was signed. Under the CPEC agreement, the prime minister said, power-generating projects were to be executed in the country – two of them by the federal and two by the Punjab government.

“In 2017, we (as Punjab chief minister) decided to execute the thermal power projects — 1,150MW Bahadur Shah and 1,050MW Bhikki project. The Haveli Bahadur Shah project was to be completed in 2019 according to the agreement. But, due to the delay, the project cost Rs77 billion more.”

The prime minister said the Medical City project would be completed with all allied facilities and would be on a par with the world’s renowned health projects like the Pakistan Kidney & Liver Institute was ranked best among Asia’s top institutes.

Published in Dawn, July 31st, 2023

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44 held, 130 still at large in Sindh’s Narch village invasion case

SUKKUR: As many as 44 people have been arrested for their alleged involvement in the July 21 invasion of Narch village, falling within the limits of the Sangi police station of Pannu Aqil, police said on Friday.

The police and area residents said that around 170 people riding scores of motorcycles and many of them waving firearms had stormed their way into the village and opened fire killing two youths and kidnapping two women along with a young girl on the night of July 21.

They claimed that the invaders belonged to the Mahar clan and lived in Raza Goth, situated within the gang-infested riverine area of Pannu Aqil. They targeted a particular house but several others also came under the attack during their indiscriminate firing, the villagers claimed. The village is dominated by Kalhoro tribesmen.

The police said that a strong contingent of police equipped with sophisticated weapons had been raiding various places in and around Raza Goth since July 22 to apprehend the remaining suspects.

They said that APCs were also being used in the action.

Sukkur SSP Sanghaar Malik told the media that the Sangi police arrested four more suspects bringing the total number of those rounded up in the week-long action to 46. A large number of arms and ammunition had been seized during the action, he added.

On July 24, Sukkur police had rounded up 40 suspects after registering an FIR against 34 nominated and 140 unknown attackers of the village under various sections of the Pakistan Penal Code and Anti-Terrorism Act.

The SSP said 16 of the arrested suspects were among the 34 nominated in the FIR.

He said that the remaining suspects might have taken refuge in places located deep into the gang-infested riverine area to escape arrest.

He said that the two women (sisters) and the girl kidnapped by the Mahars had been safely recovered the very next day of the invasion.

Residents of Narch village said that the Mahars targeted the Kalhoro family after a woman member of the former went missing and they believed that she was kidnapped by a member of the family.

Neither the woman nor the accused youth could be traced out till Friday.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2023

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Eight killed in GB’s Diamer as van falls into ravine

GILGIT: At least eight people, including women and children, died and nine others were injured on Friday when a van carrying tourists plunged into a ravine near Babusar Top in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, officials said.

Rescue 1122 officials told Dawn that a van, carrying 18 tourists from Sahiwal was en route to Gilgit via Babusar Pass road, fell into a deep ravine and caught fire.

Diamer Assistant Comm­iss­ioner Sadaqat Ali said that Rescue 1122 perso­nnel and local police shifted the injured people, mostly women and child­ren, and one body to Regional Headquarters Hospital Chilas. Seven bodies and one unharmed tourist have been shifted to Naran-Kaghan in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Rescue officials said the accident occurred due to overspeeding while crossing the high-altitude road. The injured have been identified as Zahid, Reeda, Arooj Fatima, Amna, Abdul Malik, Atiya, Ayesha, Maryam, and Zaib-Nisa.

GB Chief Secretary Mohyuddin Ahmed Wani, visited the hospital to inquire about the health of the injured and directed hospital officials to provide every possible treatment to the injured.

Sources said the condition of most injured are stable. GB Chief Minister Haji Gulbarkhan expressed his condolences and heartfelt sympathy to the bereaved families.

Babusar Top, at a height of 13,691 feet above sea level, is a famous tourist destination that connects KP with GB. It is situated to the north of the 150km long Kaghan Valley, and it connects with Chilas on the Karakoram Highway via the Thak Nala.

Passengers and tourists travel between GB and other parts of the country through Babusar Pass road in summers. According to data, at least 45 people, including tourists, have lost their lives in accidents during the month of July on different routes like KKH, Babusar Pass road, and Juglot-Skardu road.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2023

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Asad Qaiser calls for end to ‘propaganda’ against PTI, demands free and fair elections

PTI leader Asad Qaiser on Saturday called for an end to what he called was ongoing “propaganda” against his party, and urged for “powerful quarters” to ensure free and fair elections in the country.

In a video statement, Qaiser, who unlike many of his peers did not leave the PTI in the aftermath of the May 9 violence, said: “The one-sided propaganda under way against the party and Imran Khan at this time, what do those in power and the PDM (Pakistan Democratic Movement) group think? Do they think they can eliminate the PTI through such propaganda?

“It is their misunderstanding. The more negative propaganda they are doing, the more the PTI is becoming popular,” he said as he criticised the incumbent government’s performance and questioned whether it had managed to tackle inflation and improved governance during its tenure.

“Show us one sector in which we can say the PDM has shown [good] performance. These 14 months were the worst disaster that is why I want to say to the powerful sectors to have mercy on this country and ensure fair and free elections within constitutional provisions to save it from any harm.”

He said there were “illegal and unlawful” crackdowns under way against the PTI and it was being deprived of its constitutional right to freedom of expression and political activity within the law.

“Every day there are raids on the homes of our workers and senior leaders. There are stories from all over the province (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) how the sanctity of houses is being besmirched, which from every angle is against the law and the Constitution,” he said.

Complaining that the law was being misused, he stressed the rule of law was important if the country’s rulers wanted it to progress.

“What crime has the PTI committed for which it is being deprived of its constitutional right and protection?” Qaiser questioned, further asking whether the alleged ploy to keep the party out of the upcoming elections would bring stability to the country.

He said it was the right of the people to bring a party into power or force it out, adding that only the nation will decide whether to bring the PTI chairman back to power or someone else.

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Trump to fight on in White House race even if sentenced

WASHINGTON: Former US president Donald Trump said on Friday he would not end his run for the White House if he were convicted and sentenced in any of the criminal investigations mounting against him.

The 77-year-old Republican frontrunner was asked about his reaction to the federal and state charges he faces as he bids for a second term in 2024, a day after federal prosecutors added three felony counts to the indictment against him over his handling of classified documents.

Asked by radio host John Fredericks if being sentenced would stop his campaign, he quickly responded: “Not at all. There’s nothing in the Constitution to say that it could. And even the radical left crazies are saying not at all, that wouldn’t stop (me) — and it wouldn’t stop me either. These people are sick. What they are doing is absolutely horrible.”

Trump said previous presidents including Barack Obama and George W. Bush “took documents”, suggesting falsely that his predecessors had engaged in conduct similar to the alleged crimes for which he has been charged.

“Nobody has ever gone through this. This is crazy,” he added, mischaracterising the law and a previous civil dispute over presidential documents to argue that he had done nothing wrong.

The twice-impeached former president was first indicted in the classified documents case last month, accused of endangering national security by holding on to top secret nuclear and defence information after leaving the White House.

He denied wrongdoing in his handling of security tapes sought by federal investigators, a day after prosecutors added new charges alleging the former president ordered employees at his Florida resort to delete the videos.

Trump said he believed he wasn’t required to hand over security tapes from his Mar-a-Lago resort but did so anyway. “These were security tapes. We handed them over to them. ... I’m not even sure what they’re saying,” he remarked.

US Special Counsel Jack Smith filed three new criminal counts against Trump on July 27, bringing the total to 40, and charged a maintenance worker at the Mar-a-Lago resort, Carlos De Oliveira, with conspiracy to obstruct justice, accusing him of helping Trump to hide documents.

De Oliveira, 56, told another worker at the resort where Trump lives that “the boss” wanted security videos of the property in Florida deleted after the Justice Department subpoenaed them.

Prosecutors also charged De Oliveira with lying to the FBI during a voluntary interview, falsely claiming he had no involvement in moving boxes of classified documents at the resort.

Trump’s defiant radio interview came as he and rival Ron DeSantis prepared to appear on the same platform for the first in the campaign alongside almost the entire Republican presidential field at the Iowa party’s annual Lincoln Dinner.

DeSantis, who has been restrained in his responses as he has been attacked relentlessly by Trump, told SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” in a segment due to air Friday that he was against the former president’s prosecution. “I’m going to do what’s right for the country. I don’t think it would be good for the country to have an almost 80-year-old former president go to prison... I think the country wants a fresh start,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2023

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Niger military council takes control, names General Tiani as leader

Leaders of a coup in Niger declared General Abdourahamane Tiani as the new head of state on Friday days after saying they had ousted President Mohamed Bazoum in the seventh military takeover in West and Central Africa in less than three years.

The upheaval has raised concerns about the security of a region where Niger has been a key ally of Western powers seeking to contain insurgencies by groups linked to Al Qaeda and the militant Islamic State.

Tiani was the head of the presidential guard whose soldiers shut Bazoum inside his palace on Wednesday, leaving confusion over who was in control.

The general appeared on state television on Friday with a banner on the screen that described himself as the president of a newly formed military body, the National Council for Safeguarding the Homeland (CNSP).

“The President of the CNSP is the head of state,” an officer said, reading out a statement.

The constitution has been suspended, all government institutions dissolved and the CNSP will exercise all legislative and executive power until constitutional order returns, the statement added. It gave no timelines.

African countries, Western powers, regional and international organisations have reacted with alarm, insisting that Bazoum be freed and democracy restored.

Former colonial power France said on Friday it still recognised Bazoum as the legitimate leader.

One of the few to welcome the takeover was Wagner mercenary boss Yevgeny Prigozhin , who remains active despite leading a failed mutiny against the Russian army's top brass last month. He described the coup as an uprising against colonisers and offered his fighters' services to bring order.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said constitutional order should be restored.

Uncertain military future

Before the uprising, Niger was seen as the West's most stable ally in an unstable region. It borders three countries — Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad — hit by coups in the last two years.

France, Germany, Italy and the United States have troops in Niger on military training and counter-insurgency missions.

Niger is also the world's seventh-biggest producer of uranium, the radioactive metal widely used for nuclear energy and in nuclear weapons, as well as for treating cancer.

Like the military rulers of Mali and Burkina Faso, Tiani justified the coup by saying that the government had been failing to contain the Islamist insurgency.

Militants linked to Al Qaeda and the militant Islamic State have been spreading across West Africa's Sahel region for years. Niger so far has held them off better than Mali and Burkina Faso, where violence has only worsened since the military takeovers.

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said the situation was still dynamic and his priority was the safety of his country's soldiers on the ground.

“It is not yet clear how the leadership will position itself on the engagement of Western partners in the future,” he told Spiegel news magazine.

The juntas in Mali and Burkina Faso have increasingly turned toward Russia as a strategic ally and distanced themselves from traditional partners such as France, which has faced a growing wave of resentment towards its influence in the Sahel.

Foreign response

Bazoum has not made a statement since Thursday morning, when he vowed to protect “hard-won” democratic gains in a post on social media.

Several world leaders said that they have spoken to him since the coup, and that he is being detained with his family in the presidential palace but is “fine”.

Foreign countries have not announced any plan to intervene in Niger but Tiani warned against any attempts to extract Bazoum, saying a foreign military intervention would result in “the massacre of the Niger population and chaos”.

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) will hold an emergency summit in Nigeria on Sunday to discuss the situation.

Niger will be a another test for the regional bloc, which has struggled to convince soldiers to give back power after the latest wave of coups in member states Mali, Guinea, and Burkina Faso.

ECOWAS has wrangled with the juntas on transition timelines it deemed too lengthy and imposed sanctions on Mali and Guinea over their reluctance to cooperate.

The European Union has already threatened to cut budgetary support to Niger, while the United States said its cooperation with Niger's government was contingent on “democratic standards”.

The United Nations said it would still deliver aid in Niger even though it had not had any contact with the military since the coup.

Some 4.3 million people are in need humanitarian aid in Niger, according to the United Nations. More than 370,000 people are displaced within the country and it also hosts more than 250,000 refugees mainly from Nigeria, Mali and Burkina Faso.

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Putin pledges free grain for African nations

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday told African leaders he would gift them tens of thousands of tonnes of grain within months despite Western sanctions, which he said made it harder for Moscow to export its grain and fertilisers.

Speaking at a two-day summit in St Petersburg devoted to Russian-African ties, Mr Putin said Russia was expecting a record grain harvest and was ready to replace Ukrainian grain exports to Africa on both a commercial and aid basis to honour what he said was Moscow’s critical role in global food security.

“We will be ready to provide Burkina Faso, Zimbabwe, Mali, Somalia, Central African Republic and Eritrea with 25-50,000 tonnes of free grain each in the next 3-4 months,” Mr Putin told the summit, whose participants applauded.

“We will also provide free delivery of these products to consumers.”

Calls Western sanctions hurdle to supply of free fertiliser to poor nations; AU chair Assoumani urges Russia-Ukraine ‘peaceful co-existence’

Last year, Russia exported a total of 60 million tonnes of grain, of which 48m tonnes was wheat, he said.

The event follows Russia’s first Africa summit in 2019 and is part of a concerted push for influence and business on a continent where mercenaries from Russia’s Wagner Group remain active despite an abortive mutiny at home last month.

Responding to Western criticism of Moscow’s decision to quit the Black Sea grain deal, in which it allowed Ukraine to ship grain from its seaports despite the war, Mr Putin restated his argument that promises made to Russia about facilitating its own grain and fertiliser exports had not been met.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday that a jump in world food prices from the collapse of the Black Sea deal and Russia’s bombing of the Danube river ports that Ukraine has used as a roundabout export route was “especially devastating for vulnerable countries struggling to feed their people”.

‘Screwed over by West’

President Putin told the summit that over 70 per cent of Ukrainian grain exported thanks to the now-lapsed deal had gone to high- or above-average-income countries, including in the European Union, and that the poorest countries, like Sudan, had been “screwed over” and received less than 3pc of the shipments.

He made no mention, however, of the broader effect of Ukrainian supply in lowering global market prices.

He said Western sanctions, imposed in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”, had even prevented Russia from supplying free fertiliser to poor nations.

“A paradoxical picture is emerging. On the one hand, Western countries are obstructing supplies of our grain and fertilisers, while on the other they hypocritically blame us for the current crisis situation on the world food market,” said Mr Putin.

African Union chair Azali Assoumani, who shared the stage with Mr Putin, used his own speech to appeal for “peaceful co-existence” between Russia and Ukraine, saying this would save the lives of those who depended on their food exports.

Russia says 49 of the continent’s 54 states are represented in St Petersburg, including 17 by their heads of state and four by heads of government.

That is fewer than half the number of leaders who took part in the last summit in 2019 — a fall that the Kremlin has blamed in part on efforts by the United States, France and other Western countries to dissuade leaders from attending.

Mr Putin listed numerous sectors — such as energy, media, transport, trade, financial services, medicine, agriculture and car manufacturing — where Moscow was ready to share its expertise or do business. He also said Russia was ready to welcome more African students.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2023

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Gwadar port to be developed as one of the best in the world: PM Shehbaz

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday reiterated the government’s resolve to develop the Gwadar Sea Port as one of the best in the world and promised that the “fruit of development” in Balochistan would be directed towards the people of the province.

The premier passed these remarks during a visit to Gwadar, where he inaugurated several development projects along with Chief of Army Staff General Asim Munir.

Addressing a ceremony at the China-Pakistan Expo Centre, PM Shehbaz said the fate of the people of Balochistan, especially those of Gwadar, would be changed through the ongoing development operation across the province.

He recalled that during the tenure of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, projects in power, infrastructure and other sectors were launched in Gwadar. However, he claimed that all these projects had been abandoned by the PTI government.

“But in the last 15 challenging months, the coalition government managed to lay the foundation of development and prosperity in the country, especially in Balochistan,” PM Shehbaz said.

Balochistan, he highlighted, was rich in minerals and other natural resources that needed to be explored. He promised that the fruits of development in the province would be directed towards the locals in the form of clean drinking water, health, education and employment.

PM Shehbaz went on to say the draft of the Gwadar port was one of the deepest among the world’s top ports but regretted that dredging of the port — which was a continuous process to prevent accumulating silt — was not ensured by the previous government.

Now, we have initiated the dredging process which would be completed by February next year, he said.

The prime minister also announced that the laptop quota for Balochistan had been increased to 14 per cent against the 6pc population share of the province and directed authorities to further increase the quota to 18pc for the next fiscal year.

Referring to the rollover of the $2.4 billion loan from China today, PM Shehbaz said the default risk for Pakistan had been averted due to support from brotherly countries such as China, Saudi Arabia and UAE.

He clarified that all the support from the friendly countries was completely “unconditional”.

The premier further directed relevant authorities to put the security of foreigners in the province on top priority.

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Pakistan condemns Indian defence minister’s ‘provocative’ remarks on crossing LoC

Pakistan on Wednesday condemned the “provocative remarks” made by Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh “boasting readiness to cross the Line of Control (LoC)” and counselled India to “exercise utmost caution”.

Earlier today, The Times of India reported that while addressing a Kargil War Memorial in Ladakh, Singh said: “India is a peace-loving nation which believes in its centuries-old values and is committed towards international laws, but to safeguard our interests, we will not hesitate in crossing the LoC.”

He further said that India would go to any “extreme” to maintain its honour and dignity, “if that includes crossing the LoC, we are ready to do that. If we are provoked and if the need arises, we will cross the LoC.”

Condemning Singh’s remarks in a press release issued later in the day, Foreign Office Spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said India’s “belligerent rhetoric is a threat to the regional peace and stability and contributes to destabilising the strategic environment in South Asia”.

She highlighted that this was not “the first time that India’s political leaders and senior military officers have made highly irresponsible remarks about Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan”, saying that such “jingoistic statements” must stop.

“The Indian leadership is reminded that Pakistan is fully capable of defending itself against any aggression.

“The practice of dragging Pakistan into India’s populist public discourse, with a view to stoking hyper-nationalism and reaping electoral gains, needs to end,” the FO statement said.

It added that “everything from history to law and from morality to the situation on the ground belies India’s claims about Jammu and Kashmir, which is an internationally-recognised disputed territory.”

The FO spokesperson noted that India would be “well-advised” to faithfully implement the relevant UN Security Council resolutions on the disputed territory rather than “entertaining any notions of grandeur”.

The Line of Control

In February 2021, both countries had recommitted themselves to the 2003 ceasefire arrangement at the LoC and agreed to address the “core issues” that could undermine peace and stability.

The surprise announcement had been made in a joint statement by the militaries of the two countries on a “hotline contact” between their director generals military operations (DGMOs).

Hotline contact is one of the oldest military confidence-building measures between Pakistan and India. The hotline contact was originally established in 1971, but its use followed ups and downs in the relations.

Pakistan and India had in November 2003 agreed to cease fire along the LoC and the Working Boundary. The agreement held for a few years, but regular violations have occurred since 2008.

A sharp spike in truce breaches had been witnessed since 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in India. In 2020, the Indian troops committed over 3,000 ceasefire violations in which 28 people were martyred.

In February 2019, both countries came close to a significant confrontation when Pakistan Air Force shot down two Indian planes that had violated Pakistani airspace.

One of the Indian pilots was captured by Pakistan but was later handed over as a gesture of peace.

Recently, violations from the Indian side have begun again with incidents in May and June.

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Cummins is bowler first, captain second ahead of ODI World Cup

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NDMA warns of flash floods as rains wreak havoc in parts of Balochistan, Punjab

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Wednesday warned of flash floods in parts of Balochistan and Punjab in the next 24-72 hours as rains inundated villages and swept away roads in the provinces.

According to the Balochistan Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), at least three people were killed in rain-related incidents in Kech, Khuzdar and Jal Magsi areas during the last 24 hours.

In Punjab, several villages were submerged after flood water entered houses.

In a weather advisory issued today, the NDMA said flash flooding of “moderate to high intensity” is expected in the nullahs of Balochistan in Loralai, Kalat, Sibbi, Makran and Naseerabad divisions. Hill torrents are predicted in Dera Ghazi Khan.

Flash flooding is also expected in the tributaries of the Kabul river, it said.

The NDMA said rain, wind and thundershowers with few heavy falls are expected in Kalat, Khuzdar, Lasbela, Awaran, Kech, Gwadar, Panjgur, Kharan, Noshki, Washuk, Mastung, Sibbi, Naseerabad, Zhob, Sherani, Barkhan, Musakhel, Kohlu, Jhal Magsi, Loralai, Ziarat, Quetta, Chaman, Pishin, Qila, Abdullah and Qila Saifullah in the next 24-72 hours.

A similar forecast was also made for Punjab’s DG Khan, Rajanpur, Multan, Khanewal, Bhakkar, Layyah, Kot Addu, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan. In Sindh, showers were expected in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Mirpurkhas, Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad, Dadu, Shaheed Benazirabad, Hyderabad, Sanghar, Badin, Thatta and Karachi.

Meanwhile, rain and thundershowers with isolated heavy falls are predicted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Galiyat, Chitral, Dir, Swat, Shangla, Buner, Mansehra, Kohistan, Abbottabad, Haripur, Peshawar, Mardan, Swabi, Nowshera, Kurram, Lakki Marwat, Kohat, Dera Ismail Khan, Bannu, Karak and Waziristan.

The NDMA said heavy falls are also predicted in Punjab’s Murree, Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal, Jhelum, Mandi Bahauddin, Sialkot, Narowal, Lahore, Sheikhupura, Hafizabad, Gujranwala, Gujrat, Kasur, Mianwali, Sargodha, Khushab, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh, Jhang, Sahiwal, Bahawalnagar and Okara.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, heavy showers are expected in Diamer, Astore, Ghizer, Skardu, Hunza, Gilgit, Ghanche and Shigar. A similar forecast was also issued for Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s Neelum, Muzaffarabad, Poonch, Hattian, Bagh, Haveli, Sudhnoti, Kotli, Bhimber and Mirpur.

“Flows in rivers and streams of Gilgit-Baltistan are likely to increase and high probability/risk of Glof incidents in vulnerable mountain valleys,” the authority said.

The NDMA also issued a list of guidelines given the forecast and directed city/district administrations to ensure contingency traffic plans for areas vulnerable to flooding in urban centres.

It also instructed the PDMAs of Balochistan and Punjab to undertake public awareness for risk reduction and ensure prompt response in vulnerable areas.

Separately, the Flood Forecasting Division said in a report issued today that the Indus river at Chashma and the Sutlej river at Sulemanki were at medium flood levels.

At least 3 killed in Balochistan

Balochistan PDMA said three people, including a child, were killed in incidents of roof collapse and lightning in parts of the province in the last 24 hours. Meanwhile, at least 200 houses were damaged in the province.

It added that 10 people had lost their lives in the province since June 19.

The PDMA added that the roads connecting Balochistan with the rest of the country had been restored.

According to the district administration, the Nivan, Piskol and Pardan dams in Panjgur reached their maximum capacity due to rainfall in the past three days, resulting in flood water entering villages and residential areas.

In Quetta, the electricity supply has been suspended for nearly 48 hours due to rain.

Flood alert issued in Punjab

Meanwhile, Punjab PDMA has issued a flood alert after water levels continued to rise in the Indus, Ravi and Sutlej rivers.

PDMA Director General Imran Qureshi said in a statement that a low-level flood alert had been issued at Balloki, Sulemanki and Chashma. He added that the district administrations of Nankana Sahib, Toba Tek Singh, Okara and Sheikhupura were alerted.

“Districts of Lahore, Sahiwal, Kasur, Okara, Pakpattan, Vihari, and Bahalingar may be affected by possible floods,” he warned, adding that the districts of Sargodha, Dera Ghazi Khan, Bahawalpur, Bhakkar, Leh, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur and Rahim Yar Khan were also at risk of flooding.

In light of the flood warning, DG Qureshi directed the district administrations to ensure the application of section 144 around the rivers and canals.

Earlier today, Punjab caretaker Chief Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited villages in Chiniot and inspected the evacuation efforts made by the authorities.

Talking to the media, he said 50 villages in the area had been affected and assured that the government was deploying efforts to move the residents to safer locations.

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US Fed hikes interest rates to highest level since 2001

The US Federal Reserve raised its benchmark lending rate on Wednesday to the highest level since 2001 to tackle above-target inflation and signalled the possibility of further increases ahead.

The quarter percentage-point rise lifts the Fed’s key lending rate to a range between 5.25 per cent and 5.5pc, the US central bank said, adding that it will “continue to assess additional information and its implications for monetary policy.”

The rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) used similar language when it voted to hold rates steady in June, and the latest statement suggests that policymakers are mulling another pause at their next meeting in September.

However, the Fed also said it would assess a range of data points “in determining the extent of additional policy firming,” which indicates that they also see more monetary tightening ahead.

This would be in line with the median forecast of two additional rate hikes this year at the last FOMC meeting in June.

The quarter percentage-point hike on Wednesday, which was also in line with analysts’ expectations, is the Fed’s 11th since it began an aggressive campaign last March in response to rising prices.

After peaking last year, US inflation continues to slow, but it is still above the Fed’s long-term target of 2pc — suggesting more policy action may be needed.

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Lees picks up where former team-mate Lyth leaves off as Durham launch pursuit in earnest

Pair won two Championship titles together for Yorkshire in 2014-15 before Lees joined Durham

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Ben Slater hundred lays platform for Nottinghamshire

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Emilio Gay 144 signposts way for Northants to gather rare batting points

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LeBron James’ son stable after suffering cardiac arrest in practice

Bronny James, the eldest son of NBA superstar LeBron James, is in stable condition after suffering a cardiac arrest during practice with his college basketball team, the James family said on Tuesday.

Bronny James, 18, collapsed on court while training with his University of Southern California team-mates on Monday in Los Angeles.

“Yesterday while practicing Bronny James suffered a cardiac arrest,” a spokesperson for the James family said in a statement to AFP.

“Medical staff was able to treat Bronny and take him to the hospital. He is now in stable condition and no longer in ICU.

“We ask for respect and privacy for the James family and we will update media when there is more information.

“LeBron and Savannah wish to publicly send their deepest thanks and appreciation to the USC medical and athletic staff for their incredible work and dedication to the safety of their athletes.”

The TMZ.com celebrity news website reported that James was unconscious before being rushed to hospital following the cardiac incident.

The James family meanwhile were given words of support from NFL player Damar Hamlin, who suffered a cardiac arrest while playing for the Buffalo Bills in January in an incident that shocked the sports world.

“Prayers to Bronny and the James family as well,” Hamlin wrote on Twitter.

“Here for you guys just like you have been for me my entire process,” added the 25-year-old, who subsequently made a full recovery and has since been cleared to resume his NFL career.

Los Angeles Lakers legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson also offered support.

“We are praying and hoping he makes a full and speedy recovery,” Johnson wrote on Twitter.

Bronny James committed to playing for the USC Trojans in May after becoming one of the top prospects in US high school basketball.

He capped a stellar senior year campaign at the exclusive Sierra Canyon school in Los Angeles with 15 points in an all-star game of top college candidates, sinking five 3-pointers.

His famous father — the NBA’s all-time leading scorer as well as a four-time NBA champion and four-time NBA Most Valuable Player — has long spoken of his desire to extend his career in order to play in the league with his son.

“I need to be on the floor with my boy, I got to be on the floor with Bronny … that would be ideal for sure,” James told ESPN in an interview in January.

Teen star James could be eligible for the NBA Draft after one season for the Trojans, who are expected to have a strong squad next season.

Some analysts have already marked James as a likely top-10 selection in the 2024 NBA Draft.

Bronny James would turn 20 in October of 2024, the same month that the 2024-25 NBA campaign will start. His father would turn 40 in December of 2024.

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Jamie Porter gives Essex the edge in title-challenge dogfight

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Andrew McDonald fires back at Pat Cummins' harshest Ashes critics

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Misbah-ul-Haq set to work with the PCB again

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Iraq condemns yet another Holy Quran desecration in Copenhagen

Iraq condemned yet another desecration of the Holy Quran in front of its embassy in Denmark on Monday and said Danish staff at the embassy in Baghdad had left the country after protests there, while Copenhagen said it had “not withdrawn from Iraq”.

Demonstrations have raged across Iran and Iraq after Denmark and Sweden allowed the Holy Quran’s burning under rules protecting free speech.

Protesters in Iraq set the Swedish embassy in Baghdad alight on Thursday.

Two anti-Islam protesters set fire to a copy of the holy book in front of the Iraqi embassy in the Danish capital on Monday.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said he condemned the burning.

“These provocative and shameful acts do not represent the views of the Danish government. Appeal to all to deescalate — violence must never be the response,” Rasmussen said in a tweet.

Iraq’s foreign ministry called on authorities of European Union countries to “quickly reconsider so-called freedom of expression and the right to demonstrate”.

Protesters gathered in Baghdad on Saturday amid heavy security, with bridges leading to the Green Zone that houses many foreign embassies shut after an attempt by demonstrators to get to the Danish Embassy.

An Iraqi foreign ministry spokesperson said Danish staff at the embassy had left Iraq two days ago.

He did not elaborate on the reason or the exact timing.

A spokesperson for the Danish foreign ministry said the embassy in Baghdad had been closed for summer vacation since July 22.

“We have not withdrawn from Iraq,” she said.

The spokesperson declined to comment on whether staff had left the country or not for the duration of the closure.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also had a conversation with Organisation of Islamic Council Secretary General Hissein Brahim Taha during which he said “we strongly condemned the repeated abominable and unacceptable Islamophobic acts of the desecration of the Holy Quran that unfortunately continue unchecked”.

Bilawal said in a tweet that both of them “reiterated our commitment to redouble collective efforts to effectively counter Islamophobia”.

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Rain denies India shot at full WTC points in Port-of-Spain

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Domestic worker from Sargodha allegedly tortured at judge’s house

A Sargodha police official said on Monday a man had been taken into custody in connection with a case of a domestic worker being tortured allegedly by her employers, said to be a judge and his family.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Usman Mir shared this information while answering reporters’ queries about the arrest of the man who allegedly took the girl to Islamabad from Sargodha for her to be hired as a domestic worker there.

“The person you’re talking about is already in our custody. He is being questioned and he will be included in the investigation and we will get her justice,” the ASP said.

He also said that their priority was to ensure that the domestic worker was provided with the best possible treatment.

“Th girl’s life is important for us.”

He did not share details about the injuries the girl sustained. Dawn.com has also not been able to confirm the exact age of the girl.

Meanwhile, a Dawn.com correspondent in Sargodha said her relatives staged a protest over the alleged torture she had been subjected to.

The girl’s father, Manga, who goes by one name, told DawnNewsTV that his daughter was a domestic worker and accused her employers of beating her and “breaking her arms and legs”.

“She was also hit on her head and infested with maggots,” he said, appealing to the Punjab police chief and other officials for justice.

The girl’s sister, Soniya, said she used to work at the house of a judge in Rawalpindi and alleged that his wife had been torturing her on the pretext of not doing her chores properly.

“They were torturing her daily,” she said, adding that they had brought her sister back to Sargodha but her treatment was not possible there due to the severity of her injuries.

“Acid was poured on her face. It was a full attempt to kill her,” Soniya alleged, saying that her sister needed to be taken to Lahore for treatment.

She appealed to the chief minister for justice.

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Russia strikes Odesa as Putin says Kyiv counterattack failed

• Blinken claims 50pc occupied land recaptured by Ukraine
• Minsk, Moscow hold strategic dialogue

KYIV: The Ukrainian port city of Odesa came under renewed Russian missile attack early on Sunday, just hours before President Vladimir Putin declared that Kyiv’s counteroffensive had “failed” as he began two-day talks with his Belarus counterpart and ally Alexander Lukashenko.

The longtime leaders met for the first time since Lukashenko helped end a mutiny by Russian Wagner mercenaries in Russia last month, in the biggest threat to Putin’s more than two-decade rule.

“There is no counteroffensive,” Lukashenko said, before being interrupted by Putin: “There is one, but it has failed.”

On the other hand, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in an interview to CNN on Sunday claimed that Ukraine took back about 50pc of the territory that Russia had initially seized, although Kyiv’s counteroffensive would extend several months. “These are still relatively early days of the counteroffensive. It is tough,” he said, adding: “It will not play out over the next week or two. Were still looking I think at several months.”

Hours before Lukashenko’s meeting with Putin in St Petersburg for “strategic” dialogue, Russian strikes targeted Odesa, which has been bombed several times since the start of the invasion.

Ukrainian leader Zelensky promised to strike back at Russia for the deadly attack. “Missiles against peaceful cities, against residential buildings, a cathedral,” Zelensky said. “There will definitely be a retaliation against Russian terrorists for Odesa.”

Also, Unesco while condemning the attack on Odesa stated: “Unesco is deeply dismayed and condemns in the strongest terms the brazen attack carried out by the Russian forces, which hit several cultural sites in the city centre of Odesa, home to the World Heritage property ‘The Historic Centre of Odesa’”.

At Saint Petersburg, it was the first time Putin and Lukashenko have met since the latter helped end a dramatic mutiny by Russian mercenaries from the Wagner group.

The Belarus strongman now hosts Wagner fighters on his territory, after brokering a deal that convinced its leader Yevgeny Prigozhin to end a march on Moscow and exile himself to Belarus.

Lukashenko said Minsk was “controlling” the situation with the notorious Wagner fighters, and restricting them to staying in the centre of the reclusive country. Wagner’s presence in Belarus has rattled EU and Nato member Poland, which has strengthened its border.

Both Putin and Lukashenko accused Warsaw of having territorial ambitions on Ukraine and Belarus, with the Belarusian strongman issuing a veiled threat.

Lukashenko accused Poland of trying to “rip off a western chunk” of Ukraine. He also accused Poland of bringing mercenaries to the border, saying he had “brought him a map of moving armed forces of Poland to the borders of the union state”.

After their talks, Putin and Lukashenko greeted crowds in the naval town and base of Kronstadt on Kotlin Island in a rare walkabout.

Earlier, Ukraine’s southern operational command said Odesa was targeted with at least five types of missile, including Kalibr cruise missiles. “Air defence forces destroyed a significant amount of the missiles,” it said.

“The rest caused damage to port infrastructure,” and several buildings, it said, adding that a missile had hit the Orthodox cathedral in the city centre.

The Orthodox Transfiguration Cathedral in Odesa was damaged, according to a video posted by city hall on its Telegram channel.

The strategic port has come under repeated attack since Moscow pulled out of a grain export deal last week.

More missiles

The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andriy Yermak, repeated Kyiv’s call for more missiles and defence systems after the latest attack on Odesa. “The enemy must be deprived of the ability to hit civilians and infrastructure. More missile defence systems, as well as ATACMS — this will help Ukraine,” he said on Telegram, referring to the long-range tactical missiles that Kyiv wants Washington to supply.

Kyiv has accused Russia of targeting grain supplies and infrastructure vital to any resumption of Ukrainian grain exports.

Moscow has claimed it only targeted military sites.

The attack on Odesa comes a day after a Ukrainian drone strike blew up an ammunition depot in Crimea, forcing the evacuation of the surrounding population and temporary suspension of rail traffic on the peninsula annexed by Russia in 2014.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023

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Joel Paris moves to Melbourne Stars in the BBL

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US deeply concerned by India sexual assault case in Manipur viral videos

The United States said on Sunday it was deeply concerned by reports of viral videos showing two women paraded naked in India’s northeastern state of Manipur, a sexual assault case that enraged the country.

The assault, in which a mob allegedly raped and paraded the naked women, took place over two months ago, but it captured national and global attention as the video went viral on social media in the past week. Police have made some arrests.

A US State Department spokesperson called the incident “brutal” and “terrible” and said the United States conveyed its sympathies to the victims.

The assault was reported by the victims aged 21 and 19 in May during intense ethnic clashes between the tribal Kuki people and the majority ethnic Meitei over potential changes to economic benefits given to the Kuki.

The trouble was quelled after New Delhi rushed thousands of paramilitary and army troops to the state of 3.2 million people. But sporadic violence and killings resumed soon afterwards and the state has remained tense since.

At least 125 people have been killed and more than 40,000 have fled their homes since the violence erupted in Manipur.

The United States encouraged a peaceful and inclusive resolution to the Manipur violence and urged authorities to respond to humanitarian needs while protecting all groups, homes, and places of worship, the State Department spokesperson said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Thursday condemned the assault as “shameful” and promised tough action.

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Special envoy concludes Kabul visit

ISLAMABAD: Special Representative on Afgha­n­istan Ambassador Asif Durrani, who is back home after his maiden visit to the neighbouring country for talks with the interim government, has reiterated Islamabad’s firm co­m­mitment to work closely with Kabul in promoting the mutually reinforcing goals of regional peace and security.

Ambassador Durrani reaffirmed that the country will continue to acti­v­ely engage with the int­erim Afghan government on all issues of interest.

He is back home after a three-day visit to Afghan­istan, making his first official visit to the country since assuming his responsibilities as special representative.

Ambassador Durrani met Acting Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Kabir, Acting Minister for Foreign Affairs Amir Khan Muttaqi, Acting Minister for Commerce Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister for Public Health Dr Qalandar Ibad and Acting Minister for Higher Education Sheikh Nida. The wide-ranging discussions encompassed the entire gamut of bilateral relations.

The visit took place amidst surge in cross-border terror attacks from the Afghan side.

A day earlier, while responding to a volley of questions about continued use of Afghan soil for attacks inside Pakistan and whether the issue was raised by Mr Durrani with Afghan authorities, the foreign office spokesperson had stated that the issue of terrorism is a matter of serious concern to Pakistan.

The spokesperson said Pakistan has raised this issue with the Afghan authorities on multiple occasions and during every important engagement between Pakistan and the Afghan interim authorities.

“We have discussed the threat of terrorism emanating from the Afghan soil,” she said.

Regarding the agenda of Ambassador Durrani, she said that she does not have a readout of those meetings but said all aspects of mutual cooperation and concern are on the agenda.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2023

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'Now people will recognise us' - Nigar Sultana pleased after sharing ODI series against India

Fargana Hoque, who became Bangladesh's first century-maker in women's ODIs, admits to panicking in the 90s, but says she drew inspiration from the top men's batters

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Prior to $3bn deal approval, IMF’s reservation was that polls be held on time: PPP’s Mandviwalla

PPP’s Saleem Mandviwalla, who was part of the party’s economic team that met International Monetary Fund (IMF) representatives ahead of the finalisation of a new $3bn deal, said on Saturday the global lender’s reservation at the time of consultation was that elections should be held on time.

The IMF had held meetings with political parties in the ruling coalition, as well as the opposition PTI, before its executive board approved a $3bn Standby Arrangement earlier this month — a bailout package deemed crucial to support the country’s ailing economy — just as a previous one expired.

The consultations were held to seek assurances from political parties about the implementation of the new lender-supported programme that will span three governments.

However, another member from the PPP’s economic team, Syed Naveed Qamar, said back then that no talks regarding elections were held as it was not the mandate of the IMF team.

Meanwhile, reports said PTI chief Imran Khan had sought a guarantee for elections to be held on time during the meeting with the IMF.

When asked about the consultations today during DawnNews programme ‘Doosra Rukh’, Mandviwalla said, “They (IMF) had just one reservation — that elections should be held on time.”

To a question about the Fund having reservations regarding the caretaker setup that would take over the country’s reign after the dissolution of the National Assembly, the PPP senator replied in the negative.

He was of the view that “we are responsible for relations going sour with the IMF”.

“Five finance ministers came and all of them blamed each other. The IMF feels that although the government agrees to its terms, but political parties begin a blame game.

“So they (IMF) have basically taken a commitment from all political parties that they will follow the Fund’s programme … They have taken a commitment from us and we have given them a commitment,” he said.

He said the Fund conveyed to political parties during the meetings that “you are a sovereign country and you have to follow what you agree to”.

Mandviwalla’s remarks have come as political parties prepare for general elections with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif having announced the the assemblies would be dissolved in August.

But confusion persists about whether the coalition partners would go for the normal dissolution of the NA on completion of its term on August 12, or advise the president for an early dissolution.

According to Article 224 of the Constitution, “A general election to the National Assembly or a provincial assembly shall be held within a period of 60 days immediately following the day on which the term of the assembly is due to expire, unless the Assembly has been sooner dissolved”.

In case of early dissolution, the ECP is bound to hold the general elections within a period of 90 days after the dissolution, according to Article 224(2).

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Jonny Bairstow: 'People say you're limping, yeah, well I am'

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‘Strays into censorship territory’: HRCP expresses concern over Pemra bill elaborating on disinformation

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has expressed concern over a Pemra amendment bill, saying the definition of disinformation under it “strays into censorship territory”.

The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) Amendment Act 2022 was introduced in the National Assembly by Information and Broadcasting Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb on Thursday and elaborates on disinformation.

It was unanimously approved by the NA’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting today, according to state broadcaster Radio Pakistan.

The bill says that “disinformation means verifiably false, misleading, manipulated, created or fabricated information which is disseminated or shared with the intention to cause harm to the reputation of or to harass any person for political, personal, or financial interest or gains without making an effort to get other person’s point of view or not giving it proper coverage and space, but does not include misinformation”.

According to the bill, “Disinfor­mation and misinformation has been added to the definitions in order to provide legal measures to provide challenges of false, misleading, manipulated, created or fabricated information”.

The HRCP said in a statement on Twitter today it was concerned that the legislation had assigned the Pemra “the role of disseminating what it terms ‘authentic news’ in a bid to curb disinformation”.

“While any responsible journalist is honour-bound to eschew false information intended to deliberately create harm, we are concerned that the given definition of ‘disinformation’ in this bill strays into censorship territory and may allow powerful groups or individuals to stonewall journalists seeking both sides of a story.

“This violates Article 19 of the Constitution protecting freedom of expression,” the statement read.

The HRCP also sought revision of the bill’s provisions pertaining to the payment of media workers’ salaries.

“While the bill takes an important step in protecting electronic media workers’ salaries — a longstanding demand f media trade unions and rights activists — it should be reviewed to ensure that media practitioners’ salaries are paid within 30 rather than 60 days, in keeping with labour laws,” it said.

Similar observations were made in a Dawn report today, which said the bill was generally lauded by the industry stakeholders, “but prima facie sets new definitions related to dissemination of information, thus making it hard to be accepted without a grain of salt”.

The bill

Under the bill, major changes have been proposed in the structure as well as operation of the Pemra, for example, the number of members in the authority has been enhanced to 13 from 12, apart from its chairperson.

However, a longstanding demand of broadcasters and workers has been accommodated to some extent, as non-voting honorary members — one each from the broadcasters and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) — will be in the authority. The preamble of the Pemra law has been amended to “ensure timely payment of salary to the electronic media employees working with the licensee of the Authority”.

Among the responsibilities of the regulator, its role now also includes dissemination of ‘authentic news’ instead of just ‘news’.

The chairperson alone will not have the powers to suspend the broadcast of any channel, as under the proposed amendment the powers to stop the airing of any satellite electronic media can be delegated to ‘chairman and two Pemra members’.

The new section inserted in the Pemra law is “20A-Obligation of licensee to pay electronic media employees’ salaries timely. The licensee of the Authority shall ensure timely payment of salaries not later than two months to the electronic media employees working with it”.

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Imran doubts veracity of Azam Khan’s alleged statement on cipher controversy

PTI chief and former prime minister Imran Khan on Thursday questioned the veracity of a statement being attributed to his former principal secretary on the matter of cipher controversy, saying he would not believe it was from Azam Khan until he has heard him say it himself.

“The Azam Khan (former principal secretary) I know is an honest and capable man. And he cannot say what I have read in the cipher (sic). I will not believe it unless I hear him saying it because this is not reality,” Imran said as he addressed his supporters via video.

“Or he may have been forced into giving the statement … I don’t believe that Azam Khan has said many of the things written in the cipher (sic) and even that many of them are true.”

Imran’s rejection came a day after an alleged confession of Azam surfaced on social media wherein it was claimed that the narrative behind the cipher — which the PTI chief has for long presented as evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him from the top office — was fabricated.

He said a proper inquiry into the cipher, which he said the FIA could not do, would determine who was involved in the “conspiracy” to topple his government and destroy the economy. “The inquiry should be into which player played what role,” he said.

Azam Khan’s alleged confession

The alleged confession being attributed to Azam Khan said when Imran saw the cipher, he was “euphoric”, termed the language used in it a “blunder” of the US and said it could be “manipulated for creating a narrative against the establishment and opposition” and used to divert the public’s attention from the no-confidence motion he was facing as the prime minister at the time.

The statement, seen but not independently verified by Dawn.com, further alleged that Imran told Azam that he would display the cipher to the public and “twist the narrative that a foreign conspiracy was being hatched in collusion with local partners and play the victim card”.

According to the statement, Azam had handed over the cipher to Imran who later told him that he had misplaced it and did not return it despite repeated requests.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said in a press conference yesterday that the alleged statement was recorded by Azam before a judicial magistrate under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and Section 161 of the CrPC on the notices issued to him by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Later, he confirmed during Geo News show ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Saath’ that the statement that had surfaced was the one Azam had recorded before the FIA.

Meanwhile, the FIA has summoned Imran in the case to appear before a joint inquiry team on July 25 (Tuesday).

‘Whistleblower’ returns home

In a surprising turn of events, Azam Khan, who had been missing since last month, resurfaced after a letter attributed to him regarding his statement against Imran emerged. He has now returned home, his lawyer told Dawn.

However, lawyer Qasim Wadud told Dawn that his client was “not in a condition” to comment on the statement being attributed to him.

Azam went missing on June 15 and a case regarding his kidnapping was registered by the Islamabad police. According to the complaint, he left his house in the capital in the evening and did not return.

A petition seeking the recovery of Azam Khan is also pending before the IHC.

Speaking to reporters during a court appearance on Wednesday, Imran said: “Azam Khan is an honest man; until I hear [this] from him myself, I will not believe it.”

Who is Azam Khan?

Following the PTI chief’s ouster in April 2022, Azam’s name was put on a no-fly list along with other members of the PTI government. He was then posted to the Establishment Division.

In September 2022, a clip had surfaced on social media — seemingly featuring a conversation between Imran and Azam — about a cipher that the PTI chief has for long presented as evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” to oust him from the top office.

Following the emergence of the clip, the federal cabinet discussed it in a meeting and Sanaullah said that the clip revealed that Imran had hatched a conspiracy to fulfil his “anti-state agenda”.

Meanwhile, Imran had responded to the questions about the leak by saying: “The [US] cipher should leak so it comes out before everyone and everyone can know how big a foreign conspiracy happened.”

Another audio leak that surfaced days later had also supposedly featured Azam, along with Imran and PTI leaders Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Asad Umar.

During Imran’s tenure, he was given a clean chit by the National Accountability Bureau in the 275-acre Malam Jabba skiing-chairlift resort case in the light of recommendations of a special committee formed on the directive of the Peshawar High Court in March 2021.

Cablegate

The controversy surrounding the no-confidence motion against Imran took a dramatic turn when the embattled former premier brandished a letter at a rally on March 27, 2022 — days before his ouster — claiming it contained evidence of a “foreign conspiracy” hatched to topple his government.

Imran had kept mum about the contents of the letter when he first unveiled it but he spilled the beans days later by naming the United States when the exit of his government appeared imminent.

However, in November 2022, he had taken back his statement about US involvement and said he no longer “blamed” the US administration for his removal from power.

Imran’s allegation that the US spearheaded his exit from power was based on a cipher received from Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US Asad Majeed, in which the envoy had reported about a meeting with Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Affairs Donald Lu.

Majeed had reportedly said that Donald Lu warned that Imran’s continuation in office, who was set to face a vote of no confidence, would have repercussions on bilateral relations.

The US was said to be annoyed with Imran over his “independent foreign policy” and visit to Moscow.

The Pentagon and the State Department have repeatedly rejected the accusations, saying there was no veracity to them.

The National Security Committee (NSC), which includes all services chiefs as well as the head of Pakistan’s top intelligence agency, took up the matter on March 31 with then-premier Imran in the chair. The forum decided to issue a “strong demarche” to a country that it did not name over what it termed as “blatant interference in the internal affairs of Pakistan”.

It had also termed the interference “unacceptable under any circumstances” and said the language used in the communique was undiplomatic.

While the forum had stopped short of calling the interference a conspiracy at the time, another meeting of the NSC was held on April 22 with newly elected premier Shehbaz Sharif in the chair, and which included the same military chiefs who attended the March 31 session.

During its second meeting, the NSC statement said it “reaffirmed the decisions of the last NSC meeting” and explicitly went on to add that it found no evidence of a foreign conspiracy.

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After 18-year delay, GB LG polls likely this year

GILGIT: The Gilgit-Baltistan cabinet at its first meeting on Wednes­day decided to hold the local bodies elections in the region, bringing an end to a legal battle over the issue.

Chief Minister Haji Gulbar Khan, who was in the chair, issued instructions to GB Chief Election Commissioner Raja Shahbaz Khan to make arrangements for the long-delayed vote.

The cabinet meeting, held at the CM Office in Gilgit, was also attended by Chief Secretary Mohyuddin Ahmed Wani and Inspector General of Police Afzal Mahmood Butt, according to a press release.

When contacted, CEC Shahbaz Khan told Dawn that his department was prepared to hold the exercise, adding that local bodies elections would be conducted in the first week of November.

“Local bodies elections have not been held in GB for the last 18 years,” he recalled.

The CEC said that 1,300 employees from various departments were being deputed to carry out door-to-door verification of the voter list, indicating the process for the democratic exercise has been set in motion.

In April 2021, the GB Chief Court had directed the government and the election commission to hold local bodies elections in the region immediately.

A two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Malik Haq Nawaz and Justice Ali Baig had passed the judgement while hearing a petition seeking holding of LB elections.

In its short judgement, the chief court had said the GB government had been illegally running local bodies institutions through non-elected administrative officials who had been allocating funds in the name of local bodies which, the verdict said, was against the principles of fair distribution, transparency and good governance.

As the verdict remained unimplemented, the chief court on June 12, 2022 ordered the region’s government to issue the schedule for LB polls within a month.

However, the then chief minister Khalid Khurshid Khan challenged the verdict in the GB Supreme Appellate Court which suspended the chief court’s order. The case has been pending in the appellate court since then.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2023

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Video emerges of mob parading 2 women naked in India’s Manipur, case filed against ‘800-1,000’ miscreants: reports

A video has emerged of two women being paraded naked by a mob in what has been identified as India’s violence-hit Manipur state, according to local media reports, which say that a case has been registered over the incident against “800-1,000 unknown miscreants”.

Violence in Manipur between members of the mainly Christian Kuki ethnic group, who mostly live in the hills, and the mostly Hindu Meiteis, the dominant community in the low lands, erupted on May 3, sparked by resentment over economic benefits and quotas in government jobs and education reserved for hill people.

The EU parliament last week said the violence has “left at least 120 people dead, 50,000 displaced and over 1,700 houses and 250 churches destroyed” in the state on the Myanmar border that is governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s party.

Today, Indian news website Scroll.in reported a video of two Kuki women, in which “scores of young men can be seen walking alongside [them] as other men drag the distressed-looking women into the fields” had emerged.

Scroll.in said it spoke to one of the women seen in the video who said the incident took place in her village in Kangpokpi district on May 4, a day after clashes erupted.

The woman said she and her family, among others, were escaping after they heard that Meitei mobs were “burning homes” in a nearby village. But a mob found them, she added.

She told Scroll.in that one of her neighbours and his son were killed by the mob, which also assaulted women, asking “to strip off our clothes”.

“When we resisted, they told me: ‘If you don’t take off your clothes, we will kill you,’” the report quoted her as saying.

She said she took off “every item of clothing” only in order to “protect herself”. All this while, she continued, the men slapped and punched her.

The report further quoted the woman as saying that she was dragged to a paddy field near and ordered to “lie down”.

“I did as they told me, and three men surrounded me … One of them told the other, ‘let’s rape her’, but ultimately they did not,” she said.

Scroll.in, citing a police complaint filed by the relatives of one of the survivors, reported that a woman was also gang-raped during the episode.

According to the report, based on the complaint, police said a zero first information report (FIR) was registered in the Saikul police station of the Kangpokpi district on May 18.

A zero FIR allows any police station to accept and lodge a complaint before forwarding it to the relevant station, the report explained.

It said an official at the Saikul police station said rape and murder charges were registered against “800-1,000 unknown miscreants” in the FIR.

“The particular incident, according to the complaint, involves five residents of the village who were fleeing ‘towards the forest’ to save themselves.

“The group comprised two men and three women. Three of them belonged to the same family: a 56-year-old man, his 19-year-old son and 21-year-old daughter. Two other women, one 42 years old and the other aged 52, were also part of the group,” the report elaborated on the FIR’s contents.

According to the FIR, the report said, these five individuals were on their way to the first when they were “rescued” by a team from the Nongpok Sekmai police station.

They were then “blocked on the way by a mob and snatched from the custody of the police team by the violent mob near Toubu”, the report cited the FIR, further stating that the mob was said to have immediately killed the old man after “all the three women were physically forced to remove their clothes and were stripped naked in front of the mob.”

The FIR said the 21-year-old woman was “brutally gang raped in broad daylight” while the other two women “managed to escape from the spot with the help of some people of the area who were known to them”.

It added that the 21-year-old’s younger brother attempted to defend his sister but he was “murdered by members of the mob on the spot”.

Meanwhile, India Today reported that the Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum demanded that the central and state governments, National Commission for Women and National Commission for Scheduled Tribes “take cognisance of the offence and bring the culprits before the law”.

It added that members of the Kuki tribe were also planning to highlight the incident during a planned protest march on Thursday.

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Auction of old Washington chancery building called into question

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Priva­tisation has raised questions on the approval process for the auction of the old chancery building in Washington DC, and sought a report from the foreign ministry.

At a meeting on Tuesday, the committee expressed concerns about the approval of the chancery building without the consent and intervention of the Privatisation Commission.

Further concerns were raised when a senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs informed the committee that the decision to sell the building was taken during a meeting in which representatives of the Ministry of Finance and the Privatisation Commission were present.

However, the privatisation secretary denied that the commission was made part of the approval process at any stage.

A foreign ministry official told the committee that the old chancery building was sold to Abdul Hafeez Khan, a Pakistani-American who offered the highest bid of $7.1 million.

Official says $7m loan was taken for its renovation, but a ministerial committee later approved its sale

He said that the cabinet considered the summary moved by the foreign ministry and appro­ved the recommendations of an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) to sell one of the buildings.

“The building was from the 1980s and a very old one,” he said. He further informed the committee that a loan of $7m had already been taken for its renovation, but the IMC later decided to sell the property.

Convention centre

Deliberating the privatisation of the Jinnah Convention Centre in Islamabad, the committee was briefed by an additional secretary from the interior ministry. He stated that the privatisation of the convention centre was not an attractive option unless there was a structured alternative plan ready for the purpose.

He said that the convention centre was an expensive property to maintain and a plan should be framed in a way that it is economically viable and the government has to bear no further cost.

When asked by the committee chairman whether or not the ministry wants to privatise the convention centre, the official said that a meeting had been arranged with the Capital Development Authority on the essentials of the transaction structure.

Etisalat payment

The committee also took up the matter of an outstanding payment of $800m by Etisalat against the privatisation of PTCL, and was informed that as per the sale purchase agreement (SPA), Etisalat made an upfront payment of $1.4 billion in April 2006 against the total bid amount of $2.59bn, whereas, the balance payment of $1.2bn was to be paid in nine biannual installments.

The committee was told that Etisalat paid the initial three installments, totaling $400m, and has not made any further payments since January 2008, and therefore a balance amount of $800m is still pending. The body was informed that the privatisation commission held various meetings for an early resolution of the issue and and efforts were underway to reach an amicable solution.

The committee was also briefed on the privatisation of distribution companies (Discos) following the constitution of a 13-member committee by the prime minister to transfer these to the provinces.

Since the subject matter falls within the purview of the Council of Common Interests (CCI), its approval has to be obtained to transfer ownership of the Discos to the provincial governments.

Published in Dawn, July 19th, 2023

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