Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has said a staff level agreement for a crucial bailout deal with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was “very close” and expected in the next 24 hours.
The government is racing against time to unlock at least $1.1 billion under the lender’s ninth review of a $6.5-billion Extended Fund Facility agreed in 2019. The programme expires on Friday.
“We are very close to signing a staff level agreement with the IMF,” Dar told Reuters late on Thursday.
“I think it should come some time tonight or maximum within 24 hours … We have finalised everything.”
READ: Ishaq Dar loses his cool with reporter over question on IMF programme
A source familiar with talks told Reuters that Pakistan and the IMF were also in discussions for the release of the full $2.5 billion pending under the IMF programme.
The source said the staff level agreement was to set to initially unlock around $1.1 billion and then be followed by a “standby agreement” which could release the rest after the programme finishes on Saturday.
A representative for the IMF in Pakistan did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.
The agreement, which would be subject to approval by the IMF board, has faced an eight-month delay.
The funds under discussion would offer some respite amid an acute balance of payments crisis and falling foreign exchange reserves.
A total of $4 billion have already been released. Dar had earlier told media the government was working on a mechanism to try to unlock the full $2.5 billion pending under the IMF programme.
It was unclear what portion of the funds would be released in the announcement he expected in the next 24 hours.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday he had been invited to China and his office had informed close ally the United States about the planned trip to Beijing.
The announcement comes during tense ties between Israel and the US, whose President Joe Biden failed to invite Netanyahu for a visit after the Israeli’s re-election in November.
“The projected visit will be Prime Minister Netanyahu’s fourth visit to China,” Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, noting “the American administration was updated one month ago.”
It said the premier had also informed a bipartisan Congressional delegation about the trip, and told the Congress members that the “US will always be Israel’s most vital and irreplaceable ally.”
A spokesman for Netanyahu when contacted by AFP could not provide further details on the planned trip or when it was expected to happen.
Tensions have arisen over the Biden administration’s consistent calling for a two-state solution with the Palestinians, and also criticising settlement expansion under Netanyahu.
He returned to power in December in a coalition between his Likud party and extreme-right and ultra-Orthodox Jewish allies, including hardline settlers. Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have been stalled since 2014.
Biden has also called on Netanyahu to reach a compromise on his controversial legal reforms, denounced by critics as a threat to democracy, and which the government has vowed to advance after mediation efforts collapsed.
China has been on a diplomatic offensive in the Middle East, brokering the restoration of ties in March between Iran and Saudi Arabia — rivals in a region where Washington for decades has been the main diplomatic powerbroker.
Earlier this month, Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas visited China, and in April China’s Foreign Minister Qin Gang held telephone talks with top Israeli and Palestinian diplomats, telling them that Beijing was ready to help facilitate peace talks.
Washington’s top diplomat Antony Blinken last week made a rare visit to Beijing, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping said he saw headway in the strained relationship with the United States.
Hundreds of thousands of pilgrims walked or rode buses Monday to a giant tented city near Makkah for the climax of the annual Haj that Saudi officials say could break attendance records.
After performing the ritual circumambulation of the Kaaba, worshippers set off for Mina, about seven kilometres away, in suffocating heat.
Pilgrims in robes and sandals, many carrying umbrellas against the beating sun, undertook the journey on foot or crowded onto hundreds of air-conditioned buses provided by Saudi authorities.
They will spend the night in white tents in Mina, which every year hosts the world’s largest encampment, before the Haj’s high-point on Tuesday: prayers at Mount Arafat, where Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) delivered his final sermon.
“My dream has come true,” said Jamila Hammoudi, a 62-year-old Morrocan school teacher. “I will pray for everyone,” she told AFP after arriving in the tented city.
Shortly after midday, pilgrims packed most of the tents, which contain two to three beds and are fitted with water and food.
Many were overcome by the experience as they fulfil a lifelong dream at the sites where Islam began.
Saudi officials say this year’s Haj could be the biggest in history. After 2.5 million attended in 2019, numbers were capped in 2020, 2021 and 2022 because of the Covid pandemic.
The pilgrimage has seen multiple crises over the years, including militant attacks, deadly fires and a 2015 stampede that killed up to 2,300 people. There have been no major incidents since.
As part of the safety measures, helicopters and AI-equipped drones have been deployed to monitor the flow of traffic towards Mina, which sits in a narrow valley flanked by rocky mountains.
A small fleet of self-driving buses, seating up to 11 people, is in operation between the sites of the rituals, including Makkah, Mina and Muzdalifah.
One of the biggest risks this year at the Haj, which follows the lunar calendar, is heat, especially after maximum age restrictions were removed.
Habbia Abdel Nasser, a Moroccan woman who was performing the rituals with her husband, needed urgent medical treatment near the Grand Mosque because of the heat.
“The weather is very hot here compared to Morocco, and we feel exhausted,” said her husband, 62-year-old businessman Rahim Abdel Nasser, as he poured water on her head to cool her down.
The health ministry has recommended pilgrims use umbrellas during the day and has told the sick and elderly to stay indoors around midday to “avoid sunstroke”.
Four hospitals and 26 clinics are ready to deal with ailing pilgrims in Mina, and more than 190 ambulances have been deployed, officials said.
On Tuesday, the pilgrims will pray and recite the Holy Quran for several hours at Mount Arafat and spend the night nearby. The following day, they will gather pebbles and hurl them at three giant concrete walls for the symbolic “stoning of the devil” ritual.
The last stop is back in Makkah, where they will perform a final circumambulation of the Kaaba.
All Muslims who are capable are expected to perform the Haj at least once. About 1.6m foreigners had arrived for the pilgrimage by Friday evening, officials said.
“It is an experience that is worth it,” said Salim Ibrahim, a 39-year-old Nigerian, when asked about temperatures that have touched 46 degrees Celsius.
“Even if the heat gets stronger, I will repeat the Haj again,” he added.
Two former chief ministers of India-held Kashmir have demanded an investigation into an alleged incident of Indian soldiers forcing Muslim worshippers in a mosque in the valley’s Pulwama area to chant Hindu slogans, the Indian media has reported.
“Shocked to hear about army troops from 50 RR (Rashtriya Rifles) storming into a mosque at Pulwama and forcing Muslims inside to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’. Such a move when [Home Minister] Amit Shah is here and that too ahead of yatra (a Hindu pilgrimage) is simply an act of provocation,” said former CM Mehbooba Mufti in reaction to the reports.
She requested Indian Lieutenant General Rajiv Ghai, who recently took command of India’s Chinar Corps in the area, to “immediately set up a probe” into the reported incident.
Similarly, former CM Omar Abdullah termed the reports “deeply distressing”.
“It’s bad enough they entered but then forcing people to chant slogans like ‘Jai Shree Ram’ as reported by the locals there, is unacceptable,” he said, referring to a Hindu religious slogan.
He expressed hope that Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would issue instructions for the reports to be investigated in a “timely and transparent manner”.
According to Indian news website The Wire, the residents of Zadoora — a village in occupied Kashmir’s Pulwama area — said the alleged incident took place on June 24 around 1:30am when soldiers of Rashtriya Rifles, a counter-insurgency force, arrived at the village, reportedly along with an unidentified officer.
“While the officer was sitting on the bonnet of one of the vehicles, the soldiers asked me to come out,” Mohammad Altaf Bhat, a Zadoora local and chairman of the Zadoora Civil Society group, told The Wire.
“I thought that they were looking for some suspects in the village,” he said, adding that the soldiers told him that a new team was being posted in the area and it was conducting a mock drill in the village to teach recruits how to carry out counter-insurgency operations.
“I told them that the operation could have been carried out during the day also and it was wrong to disturb villagers in the middle of the night,” the report quoted Bhat as saying, who said the villagers were kept awake till dawn.
Then around dawn, Bhat told The Wire, Indian army soldiers followed the muezzin (one who makes call for prayers). “In the middle of the azaan (call to prayer), the soldiers forced him to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans,” he alleged.
According to the report, area residents alleged that Indian army soldiers detained at least 10 villagers during their exercise and five of them were beaten up, including Bhat’s son.
“They (soldiers) forced the detained youngsters to chant ‘Jai Shree Ram’ slogans in chorus behind him also,” Bhat further claimed.
Moreover, The Wire quoted local sources as alleging that the army also vandalised the Jamia Masjid Zadoora.
Meanwhile, Indian news website Scroll.in reported that a similar incident reportedly took place in at least one other mosque in the area.
The Wire quoted a senior army officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as saying that the incident had “come into their notice”.
“We are ascertaining the facts. Once we have clarity about what has happened, we will share the details,” the report quoted the officer as saying.
Meanwhile, The Telegraph quoted Bhat as saying that high-ranking army officials had apologised to the villagers on Sunday, adding that the officials had said that an army major involved in the incident was also removed.
“We are satisfied with the army’s action but we don’t want a repeat of such incidents,” he said.
Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on Friday barred entry of non-residents inside the Nisar Shaheed Park located in the locality’s Phase IV.
In a tweet from its official Twitter account, the DHA issued a number of procedures for entrance into the park, saying that they were aimed at ensuring a “smooth and enjoyable experience for all visitors”.
The entry guidelines listed by the authority said residents could only visit the park with their family members while individual entry was not permitted.
“Residents of DHA who wish to visit the park for a walk must be appropriately dressed in a sports kit, or at the very least, joggers paired with a shalwar kameez or pant shirt,” the DHA said.
It added that the entry of non-residents into the park was not allowed “with or without family”.
It must be noted that Nisar Shaheed Park is managed by the DHA.
When Dawn.com reached out to the DHA spokesperson Farrukh Rizvi for further details, he briefly replied that the decision was taken “in the best interest of the society’s residents”.
“Rest [of the] details will follow,” he added.
The DHA spokesperson also did not specify how the authority planned to filter residents from non-residents.
Mohammad Naveed, a resident of Karachi’s Saddar, objected to the authority’s decision. “I often used to take my children to the park on weekends. Why is the park suddenly being closed only for us? Are we any less of Pakistan’s citizens?” he asked.
Meanwhile, a lawyer Dawn.com talked to, who wished not to be named, said access to any public space could not be restricted and questioned how the authority planned on stopping non-residents from entering the park.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi heads to the United States this week for a visit billed as a turning point for bilateral relations, with deeper cooperation in defence industry and sharing high technology in sharp focus.
According to Indian media reports, Modi is scheduled to land in New York tomorrow (Tuesday).
The visit is expected to give India access to critical American technologies Washington rarely shares with non-allies, strengthening a new bond that is underpinned by not just global politics but also business and economics.
Washington and New Delhi, whose relationship was marked by mutual suspicion during the Cold War, have been moving closer for over two decades now with successive US presidents displaying bipartisan support for stronger ties with the emerging Asian economy and regional power.
President Joe Biden has built on that legacy and expanded cooperation as the United States sees India as a vital partner in its efforts to push back against China’s expanding influence worldwide and strengthen security in the Indo-Pacific.
Washington also wants to wean India away from its traditional defence partner Russia. New Delhi continues to do business with Moscow and has increased its purchases of cheap Russian oil in the aftermath of the invasion of Ukraine, much to the frustration of the West.
India too has overcome its “hesitations of history” — as Modi put it in a 2016 address to US Congress — and looked West amid its own military tensions and fraying ties with China.
Though Modi has made several previous visits to the United States, this will be his first with the full diplomatic status of an official state visit, just the third of Biden’s presidency and third by any Indian leader.
“It’s a milestone in our relationship … It is a very significant visit, very important visit,” India’s Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra told reporters on Monday.
A key achievement expected to be showcased is in the area of defence cooperation, especially between military industries of the two countries, Kwatra said, as India seeks to produce more weapons and equipment at home for itself and also for export.
Major announcements expected during Modi’s visit are US approval to General Electric to manufacture engines in India for its domestically produced fighter jets, India’s purchase of 31 armed MQ-9B SeaGuardian drones made by General Atomics worth $3 billion, and removal of US obstacles that prevent smoother trade in defence and high technology.
“People will be looking back on this visit by Prime Minister Modi as a real springboard for the US-India relationship, as it relates to defence … issues in particular,” Ely Ratner, Assistant Secretary of Defence for Indo-Pacific Affairs, said at a June 8 event.
A stronger India that can defend its own interests and can contribute to regional security is good for the United States, he said, adding that there is an aspiration to see India as an exporter of security in the region.
Cooperation in semiconductors, cyberspace, aerospace, strategic infrastructure and communication, commercial space projects, quantum computing and the use of artificial intelligence in industrial and defence fields, will also be discussed, a senior Indian official said.
During the three-day visit that begins in New York on June 21, Modi will be hosted by President Biden for a state dinner and a private family dinner, attend lunch with Vice-President Kamala Harris and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and address a joint session of Congress for the second time in nine years.
Modi will also meet American CEOs and lead an International Yoga Day event at the UN headquarters.
“This is not a routine visit, this is a fundamental turning point between India and the US,” said C. Raja Mohan, senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute in New Delhi.
“This is not a question of containing China or anti-China. This is about producing a new balance of power in Asia, which is a multipolar Asia, where there is no single power dominating it,” he said.
The Saudi Arabian Supreme Court announced on Sunday that the first day of Zilhaj will be marked on June 19 as the new moon was sighted in the Kingdom, the Gulf News reported.
A statement posted on the news website said the Arafat Day will fall on Tuesday, June 27 and the first day of Eidul Azha would fall on Wednesday, June 28.
Similarly, Oman’s Religious Affairs Ministry also declared that Eidul Azha will be celebrated on June 28.
“The sighting of the crescent of the month of Dhu Al Hijjah for the year 1444 AH has been confirmed,” the Oman News Agency tweeted.
Meanwhile, in Pakistan, the Central Ruet-e-Hilal Committee will meet in Karachi tomorrow (Monday) to decide about the sighting or otherwise of the Zilhaj moon.
The meeting, to be held at the main offices of the Pakistan Meteorological Department, will be chaired by the chairman of the committee, Maulana Abdul Khabir Azad.
The meetings of zonal and district Ruet-e-Hilal Committees will be held at their respective headquarters on the same date and time.
PPP Chairman and Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari on Saturday made it succinctly clear that his party’s approval of the budget for the fiscal year 2023-24 depended on Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s decision to allocate funds for flood victims that were promised last year.
Addressing a rally in Swat, FM Bilawal said: “If the PML-N wants the PPP to vote on the budget then this cannot happen without [funds] for flood reconstruction expenditure and we hope that our demands and reservations about this budget will be soon addressed by [Finance Minister Ishaq] Dar and his team.”
The PPP chairman expressed concern about the lack of allocated funds for flood victims in the budget. He urged the prime minister to fulfil his promise regarding flood aid and monitor the ministers in his cabinet who failed to comply in enabling to premier to live up to his commitments.
Underlining the need for the allocation of funds for the reconstruction of flood-hit areas in the budget, Bilawal said the PPP strongly believed in people’s well-being and welfare.
The PPP chief apprised the people that his party sent a high-level delegation to the prime minister on June 16 to relay concerns over his party having little input in the budget.
Bilawal said he was surprised to know that no funds were allocated for any province for flood reconstruction, emphasising that the rehabilitation of flood victims was inevitable for economic growth.
“I don’t doubt the premier’s intention,” he said. “Members of his team are not fulfilling their promises.”
The foreign minister has previously raised his reservations as well against the federal government over the issues of funds for flood affectees and their relief and rehabilitation.
Fissures within the ruling coalition were visible in the National Assembly on Friday when lawmakers belonging to the PPP, while taking part in the debate on the federal budget, assailed the ruling PML-N for not providing promised funds to the Sindh government for rehabilitation and reconstruction of the flood-affected areas and “denying” the province its due share from the tax amount.
The PPP lawmakers in their speeches had blamed the PML-N for not taking sufficient measures to provide relief to the poor, reduce prices and resolve the energy crisis and expressed concern over the ambiguity regarding the allocation of development funds.
Holding the PML-N responsible for all the ills and defects in the budget, the PPP lawmakers had claimed that the credit for the increase in salaries and pensions of government employees went to former president Asif Ali Zardari upon “whose insistence the government agreed to give the raise”.
Similarly, a number of PPP MNAs had praised FM Bilawal for a “successful” foreign policy and for getting assistance for the flood-hit areas while effectively raising the climate change issue at the international forums.
No one from the PML-N, however, had given a direct response to the PPP members, but in their speeches, they had kept on praising PM Shehbaz and Dar for presenting the “best possible budget” under the prevailing economic conditions.
FM Bilawal also asserted that PPP had successfully eradicated terrorism and extremism from the country but the “selected rulers” once again handed over the country to terrorists after calling them back.
“I salute the resilience of Swat’s residents during the period of terrorism, at that time, Shaheed Benazir Bhutto had said that some people wanted to remove the flag of Pakistan from Swat, but she said she would never allow it to happen,” he said.
Bilawal commended the people of Swat for their unwavering resistance against terrorism, which led to lasting peace in the valley. He assured the Swati people that the PPP would stand with them and never abandon them.
Highlighting the importance of peace in both Pakistan and Afghanistan, Bilawal stated that the PPP was in contact with Afghanistan and emphasised the benefits of peaceful coexistence and increased trade between the two nations.
He called upon terrorists to surrender to the law, emphasising that those who had killed innocent people would not be spared. He vowed to establish lasting peace and remain steadfast against terrorism, emphasising the unity between the people of Swat and the PPP in this fight.
“Terrorism was already a problem in Pakistan, but now political terrorism has been started. Workers of PTI attacked institutions, monuments of our heroes, and GHQ (General Headquarters). If we forgive them, then there will be political terrorism in Pakistan and not politics,” he said.
He recalled that when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged, Benazir could have directed the workers to attack national institutions but she was a patriot and refrained from doing so. “PPP jails burnt themselves but did not attack our national assets,” he said.
The PPP chief further said that when Benazir was assassinated, people in the country were so angry that whatever the party leadership wanted to incite them, they would have done it. “At that time, I was only 19, but I said democracy is our only revenge,” he said, adding that PPP always chanted the slogan of that democracy because they were peaceful.
He added that PTI chief Imran Khan had incited his workers to attack military installations after his arrest. “PPP demands that strict legal action be taken against the political terrorism of PTI,” he said.
Regarding recent governments, Bilawal contrasted the rule of Zardari, Nawaz Sharif, and Imran. “While Imran Khan had caused chaos and darkness in the country, Zardari had provided jobs and prosperity to the poor,” he said.
He said that the elections should be held on time and the people of the country, especially the youth, would be ready to vote for PPP.
“I also ask the other political parties to prepare for the elections, and when the elections are held, the political party that wins will have the right to rule the country,” the foreign minister said, adding that PPP understood that its manifesto was the only solution of the people of Pakistan as it addressed the issues of poor people.
Bilawal called on the people of Swat to start the election campaign for the elections immediately without any delays.
Shahid Mehmood, a retired Pakistani civil servant, tried his best to persuade his son not to make the trip to Europe in search of a better life.
But 25-year-old Shehryar Sultan was determined to go.
Now, the father fears his son was among those lost in a disastrous boat capsize off Greece on Wednesday in which hundreds of people are thought to have died, among them Pakistanis. The family were praying for him to be recovered alive but by Friday evening had started to lose hope.
Mehmood, 60, said a local travel agent had charged Rs2.2 million for his son’s trip, with the promise he would earn well in Europe.
“I tried to stop him; told him to forget the whole thing. But the travel agent had totally brainwashed him, telling him: ‘You will only be on the way for two to three days,’” the father said. “My son was gullible, so he went along with them.”
He did not name the agent.
The economy is suffering record-high inflation and an economic slowdown compounded by last year’s devastating floods.
Mehmood said his son did not have any travel documents or an identity card or passport but the people who organised the trip flew him off from Faisalabad.
Mehmood said his son stayed two days in Dubai, then six days in Egypt, before boarding a plane to Libya that was so crammed it had people sitting on the floor.
Sultan spent roughly four months in Tripoli before setting out to sea, living in what the father said were squalid conditions. Mehmood said he tried to get the agent to send his son home when he heard about the conditions in Libya, but nothing came of it.
He said he last heard from his son when Sultan got on a boat, which he believes was the doomed vessel.
“He sent a [text] message saying that he was sitting in a boat with around 400-500 people. And they were expected to be at sea for five or six days,” recalled Mehmood.
On Friday, the family was able to confirm that a companion of Sultan was among the dead, said Sultan’s cousin, Adnan Iftikhar.
The death toll from Wednesday’s disaster could run to many hundreds as witness accounts suggested that between 400 and 750 people had packed the fishing boat that sank about 80 kilometres from the southern Greek town of Pylos.
Greek authorities have said 104 survivors and 78 bodies of the dead were brought ashore in the immediate aftermath. Hopes were fading of finding any more people alive.
Twelve Pakistanis were among the survivors of the boat capsize, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday, but it did not have numbers for how many Pakistanis died, or their identities.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in the unfortunate ferry disaster in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Greece,” Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif also tweeted.
Most of the people on board the capsized boat were from Egypt, Syria and Pakistan, Greek government officials have said.
“All this is very wrong. The government needs to crack down on all these types of [travel] agents,” said Mehmood. “This is cruelty. Sheer cruelty that gives heartache to parents which they will never get over all their lives.”
The residents of Keti Bandar, a small city in Sindh’s coastal district of Thatta, began returning to their homes on Friday after as the risk of it being hit by Cyclone Biparjoy subsided.
The cyclone made landfall in India’s Gujarat near Pakistan’s border on Thursday and had been losing intensity since then, according to the Pakistan Meteorological Department.
“So yes, people are returning now, and we are trying to provide conveyance to those wo had to shift to relief camps” due to the danger posed by the cyclone, Keti Bandar union council chairman Wahid Memon told Dawn.com during a visit to the city on Friday.
“The city is gradually opening,” he said.
Alongside him, Thatta district council’s vice-chairman Mumtaz Ali Jalbani agreed. “Since the threat [of the cyclone] has subsided, people are ready to return,” he said.
Away from their hometown, which was not directly hit by the cyclone but had to witnessed torrential rains and strong gales under its impact, the residents had escaped a disaster, according to Memon.
Recalling the destruction caused under the influence of the cyclone, he said, “Bodies were hanging from trees and forceful tides tossed boats faraway into the sea. Everything was gone and the losses were colossal.”
The residents had to be evacuated. “Evacuation was both voluntary and forced”, he said, adding that authorities ensured that the entire population left the area when the cyclone neared Sindh’s coastline before the landfall.
Meanwhile, empty boats lined the jetty in the area, with no fishermen onboard.
In Keti Bandar, people mostly fish for livelihoods, Memon told Dawn.com.
Among them is Mir Mallah, who said he had moved to the Miprur Sakro town with his family due to the threat of the cyclone.
On his return to Keti Bandar on Friday, he told Dawn.com that he had not been able to earn a single penny in the last few days as he was not able to fish at all.
“Until fishing is allowed, I will certainly look for some other menial labour work,” he said.
On Friday, Zarif Khero, a chief engineer and acting Sindh irrigation secretary, also visited Keti Bandar and oversaw the strengthening of dykes.
At least 79 migrants drowned early on Wednesday and hundreds more were feared dead or missing after their overloaded boat capsized and sank in open seas off Greece, in one of Europe’s deadliest shipping disasters.
As a painstaking search for survivors continued, a European rescue support charity said it believed around 750 people were on board the 20 to 30-metre-long vessel, while the United Nations’ (UN) migration agency cited an estimate of up to 400.
Greek authorities said it was too soon to speculate on the total number.
Greece is one of the main routes into the European Union for refugees and migrants from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Most cross over to Greek islands from nearby Turkey.
But since the previous conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis introduced tougher surveillance at the country’s migrant camps, increasing numbers have chosen to make a longer, more dangerous journey from Turkey to Italy via Greece.
Greek state broadcaster ERT said the boat that sank was en route for Italy, having set sail from the Libyan town of Tobruk, which lies south of the island of Crete. Greek authorities did not confirm the vessel’s departure port.
Alarm Phone, which operates a trans-European network supporting rescue operations, said it received alerts from people on board a ship in distress off Greece late on Tuesday, but subsequently lost contact.
“According to the people, there were 750 people on board … We now hear reports of a shipwreck and fear they are true,” it said on Twitter.
Greek authorities said it remained unclear how many the vessel was carrying when it went under, and that 104 people had been rescued by midday.
“It is not safe to give a number. We do not know how many people were in the hold,” Greek coast guard spokesperson Nikos Alexiou told Greece’s MEGA TV. “… There were too many people on the outer deck. It was full.”
Late on Tuesday, a few hours before the boat capsized, the boat’s occupants refused an offer of help, insisting on continuing their journey, the coast guard said.
The shipwreck is the deadliest off Greece this year and among the worst in Europe. In February, 96 people died when their wooden boat smashed into rocks on Italy’s Calabrian coast during a storm.
The Greek migration ministry blamed international smuggling networks for putting migrants’ lives at risk, while Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, called on governments to work together on creating safe pathways for people fleeing poverty and war.
Former US president Donald Trump was in custody at a Miami courthouse on Tuesday to face criminal charges that he unlawfully kept national security documents when he left office and lied to officials who sought to recover them.
Trump and former aide Walt Nauta were booked, a court official said, ahead of an arraignment, scheduled for 3pm, when they were due to submit a plea.
The hearing was to be closed to cameras and live broadcasts.
It will be the second courtroom visit for Trump in recent months. In April, he pleaded not guilty to state charges in New York stemming from a hush-money payment to a porn star. Tuesday’s appearance in Miami was on federal charges.
Supporters wearing Make America Great Again hats and carrying American flags chanted “Miami for Trump” and “Latinos for Trump” as the motorcade paused outside the courthouse. A man could be heard chanting, “USA! USA!”
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez told reporters outside the courthouse that there had not been any security problems.
Authorities had braced for crowds of up to 50,000 people and prepared for possible violence, recalling the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol.
Trump has repeatedly proclaimed his innocence and accuses Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration of targeting him. He called Special Counsel Jack Smith, who is leading the prosecution, a “Trump hater” on social media on Tuesday.
Smith accuses Trump of risking national secrets by taking thousands of sensitive papers with him when he left the White House in January 2021 and storing them in a haphazard manner at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate and his New Jersey golf club, according to a grand jury indictment released last week.
Photos included in the indictment show boxes of documents stored on a ballroom stage, in a bathroom and strewn across a storage-room floor.
The indictment alleges Trump lied to officials who tried to get them back. The indictment of a former US president on federal charges is unprecedented in American history.
The indictment also alleges Trump conspired with Nauta to keep classified documents and hide them from a federal grand jury. Nauta, who has worked for Trump at the White House and at Mar-a-Lago, was due to appear with Trump.
Recent events have not dented Trump’s hopes of returning to the White House. After his arraignment, Trump was due to fly from Miami to his New Jersey golf club, where he was scheduled to speak.
Nor have Trump’s legal woes hurt his standing with Republican voters.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Monday showed Trump still led rivals for the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election by a wide margin, and 81 per cent of Republican voters viewed the charges as politically motivated.
“I never imagined that I was going to witness this. It’s unbelievable,” said a woman who gave her first name as Esperanza who carried a sign that read “I Stand With Trump” outside the courthouse.
Most of Trump’s Republican rivals for the nomination have lined up behind him. Vivek Ramaswamy, one of those candidates, told the crowd that he would pardon Trump if he were elected.
Other Republican candidates have accused the FBI of political bias and some have called for its dissolution, in a sharp turn from the party’s traditional support for law enforcement.
The 37-count indictment includes violations of the Espionage Act, which criminalises unauthorised possession of defence information, and conspiracy to obstruct justice, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Legal experts say the evidence amounts to a strong case, and Smith has said Trump, who will turn 77 on Wednesday, will have a “speedy” trial.
The judge assigned to the case, Aileen Cannon, was appointed by Trump in 2020 and issued a ruling in his favour during the investigation last year that was reversed on appeal. However as is typical for a federal arraignment, a magistrate, Judge Jonathan Goodman, was assigned to conduct Tuesday’s hearing.
Experts say it could be a year or more before a trial takes place, due to the complexities of handling classified evidence.
Trump’s lawyers could file a blizzard of motions to challenge Smith’s case before it reaches trial, which would lead to further delays.
In the meantime, Trump is free to campaign for the presidency and could take office even if he were to be found guilty.
Trump accuses Democratic President Joe Biden of orchestrating the federal case to undermine his campaign. Biden has kept his distance from the case and declines to comment on it.
RIYADH: Saudi Arabia announced on Sunday billions of dollars in investment deals between China and the Arab world, on the first day of the China-Arab business conference in Riyadh.
The meeting comes amid growing commercial and diplomatic ties between Beijing and Middle Eastern countries, including a recent landmark Chinese-brokered rapprochement between powerhouses Iran and Saudi Arabia that has shifted regional relations.
The oil-rich kingdom is hosting the conference, now in its 10th edition, for the first time. Over two days, it brings together more than 3,500 government and business officials from China and Arab countries, the Saudi investment ministry said in a statement.
The event “marked its first day with the signing of $10 billion in investment agreements”, the statement said — the vast majority of which are for projects in Saudi Arabia or by Saudi firms and government entities.
This figure includes a $5.6-billion memorandum of understanding between the Saudi investment ministry and Human Horizons, a Chinese maker of electric and self-driving cars.
More than half of the total sum is in the memorandum of understanding, as well as a separate “cooperation agreement” and a “framework agreement” involving other companies, according to the statement.
It detailed agreements in various fields, including technology, agriculture, renewable energy, real estate, natural resources and tourism.
At the launch of the conference, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan highlighted the potential in increased trade and economic ties between China and Arab countries.
“(This) meeting is an opportunity… to build a shared future towards a new, beneficial era for our peoples,” he said.
According to the Saudi statement, a $533-million deal was concluded between AMR ALuwlaa Company and Zhonghuan International Group (Hong Kong) for the establishment of an iron factory in Saudi Arabia.
Saudi ASK Group and the China National Geological & Mining Corp inked a $500-million cooperation agreement on copper mining in the kingdom, the statement added.
Published in Dawn, June 12th, 2023
Virat Kohli defied Australia on Saturday to give India hope of an extraordinary win in what could be a grandstand finish to the World Test Championship (WTC) final at The Oval.
India were 164-3 at stumps, still needing a further 280 runs to reach what would be a record-breaking total of 444 on Sunday’s scheduled fifth and final day.
Star batsman Kohli, however, was 44 not out, while Ajinkya Rahane was unbeaten on 20 after he had already marked his first Test in over a year by top-scoring with 89 in India’s first-innings 296.
India have won their last four series against Australia but a victory in south London might just surpass even those wins.
The scale of India’s task was emphasised, however, by the fact that only four teams in 146 years of Test cricket have made more than 400 to win in the fourth innings, with the West Indies’ 418-7 against Australia at St John’s in 2003 the highest such total.
Nevertheless India paceman Mohammed Shami, said after the match: “A hundred per cent everyone believes that tomorrow we will win the match, because we have always fought. We perform well around the world … It doesn’t matter if it’s Sydney or Brisbane, we are playing here.”
Australia, by contrast, require just seven more wickets on Sunday to win the only major global men’s trophy to have so far eluded them and ensure they head into next week’s Ashes opener against England at Edgbaston in buoyant mood.
India captain Rohit Sharma set the initial tone for a daunting chase with several boundaries, including a pulled six off left-arm quick Mitchell Starc.
But on the stroke of tea, opening partner Shubman Gill fell to a controversial catch when Cameron Green, who had taken an undisputed blinder in the first innings to remove Rahane, dived low to his left following an edge off Scott Boland.
The decision was referred by the on-field umpires to TV official Richard Kettleborough.
And with the ‘soft signal’ recently abolished, there was no on-field guidance for Kettleborough to follow in determining if the ball had brushed the turf after Green had grabbed hold.
Kettleborough eventually ruled in Australia’s favour, prompting chants of “cheats, cheats, cheats” from the massed ranks of India fans in a crowd of nearly 25,000 when the decision was flashed up on The Oval’s giant screens.
“I knew I caught it straight away,” Green told the BBC. “I know it looks a bit weird but I knew straight away I caught it.”
Shami, however, said the decision had been rushed.
“We could have taken some time, it’s the World Test Championship final, not a normal match that you let go,” insisted Shami. “It should have been checked better, zoomed in, but it’s okay, it’s part of the game.”
Rohit and Cheteshwar Pujara continued to attack Australia’s quicks as India looked to go one better after losing the inaugural 2021 WTC final to New Zealand in Southampton.
Spin, however, proved Rohit’s undoing on a wearing pitch when he missed an attempted sweep against Nathan Lyon, bowling from around the wicket, with the batsman lbw for 43 off 60 balls.
India lost another wicket without adding another run when Pujara, renowned as a patient accumulator of runs, attempted an extravagant upper-cut off Australia captain Pat Cummins on 27 only to guide a simple catch to wicketkeeper Alex Carey.
But Kohli regained the initiative for India by clipping and driving Starc for boundaries greeted by chants of “Kohli, Kohli, Kohli” from his adoring fans in the stands.
Earlier, Australia made 270-8 in their second innings before Cummins declared.
Left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja, who had accounted for first-innings century-makers Steve Smith and Travis Head on Friday, removed Green for 25 in a haul of 3-58.
But Carey, missed in the slips on 41, played Pujara well during his innings top-score of 66 not out and added a valuable 93 for the seventh wicket with the hard-hitting Starc (41).
In an uncharacteristically quiet National Assembly on Friday evening, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar presented the budget for 2023-24, with a total outlay of Rs14.46 trillion.
With no new taxes and a marked increased in the salaries of government employees, the budget is “not an election budget” and is focusing on the “elements of the real economy”, said Dar.
Dawn.com reached out to leading economists and commentators for their thoughts on the budget. Here’s what they had to say:
Political economist Uzair Younus is of the opinion that “this budget is evidence that this government has given up on trying to rescue the economy. The goal is to kick the can down the road, let whoever is in power later this year deal with the fallout of this ongoing crisis”.
“All we can conclude from this budget is that deficit financing through debt will continue, and more inflation and pain will be inflicted on ordinary citizens in the months to come,” he added.
Journalist Mehtab Haider agrees, calling the budget numbers “unrealistic”, especially non-tax revenue target.
Economist Ali Farid Khwaja, on the other hand, held that “so far, it looks like an honest budget rather than a populist or unreal budget which the previous ones [have been].”
Fahad Rauf, head of research at Ismail Iqbal Securities, was of a similar view. “This does not seem like an election budget full of populist action, other than increasing salaries for government employees. However, I will need to see the budget statistics for a test of logic.”
“So far, I don’t see any major deviations from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) path.”
“The budget speech by the finance minister reflects that the economy is probably intended to move towards more liberalisation with reduced taxation, import duties, and easy loans for productive activities — which is not bad. There are many encouraging initiatives, such as eliminating import duty on solar panel batteries and imported seeds, and no new tax on industry and agricultural machines,” said economist Dr Asma Hyder.
“It’s good to see that freelancer and IT exports will not be taxed. IT will get small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) status and will have to pay very concessional pay. This is good news for youth and nascent entrepreneurs. The government is hopeful of finalising the staff-level agreement with the IMF, but even with the IMF programme, we must acknowledge our fragile fiscal space. Thus, this expansionary budget will be very challenging for the government in the coming days,” she warned.
“A few popular but unnecessary measures, like the laptop scheme and an increase in the development budget of the Higher Education Commission (HEC), could be avoided. A better idea was to divert this budget towards primary and secondary education, which is terribly affected due to the recent floods.
“The issue of debt payment is not presented clearly and is somehow ambiguous. However, the defence budget increased from Rs1450bn in fiscal year 2022-23 (FY22-FY23) to Rs1804bn in FY23-FY24 without explaining this unnecessary increase,” added Hyder.
Economist Ali Hasnain argued that the budget seems to be reminiscent of previous PML-N policies, with no new ideas for a road to recovery.
“The finance minister’s remarks over the last two days and the broad strokes of the federal budget revealed today betray a failure on the part of the present government and the broader power elite of this country to face and understand an economic crisis that continues to build with no end in sight,” he said.
“At a time when the country needs clarity on the plan for recovery, he chose to spend a significant part of his speech laying the blame for our problems on an opposition removed from power more than a year ago, and recently routed from political relevance.
“Yesterday, the minister repeated his long-standing belief that the rupee should appreciate citing a statistic — the Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) — that he consistently ignored in his previous tenure and claimed not to understand as recently as last year.
“Today, the revenue measures revealed — such as an amnesty on declaring the source of certain remittances, an ad hoc ‘windfall’ tax, and creating taxes for non-filers’ cash withdrawals — carried echoes of past PML-N measures that created economic distortions and failed to fix structural problems. Difficult but obvious efforts to reduce tax evasion, energy theft, and public losses remain evasive.
“In sum, the country’s leadership and in particular this economic team look devoid of intent and ideas.”
“Dar presented a Rs14.5 trillion tax-free election budget without backing it up with convincing revenue streams,” senior journalist Afshan Subohi said to Dawn.com.
“The promised relief measures — increase in Benazir Income Support Programme to Rs450bn, jacking up the minimum wage to Rs32,000 from the current Rs25,000, 35pc ad hoc increase in the salary of government employees of grades 1-16 and 30pc for grades 17-22 public officers, 17.5pc increase in public servant pensions along with certain concessionary schemes for the youth — may be good but it leaves the majority to cope with the economic difficulties on their own.
“There are a little over three million government employees, less than two per cent of a population of about 241 million dealing with historically highest inflation levels,” she noted.
“The minister noted political instability as one of the key factors responsible for the economic meltdown but said nothing as to what the ruling government has done to improve the future predictability. The government could have announced the probable date of the dissolution of the national assembly to curb speculation,” she added.
“He hoped for the revival of the IMF programme based on the verbal assurance given by the MD but did not share how the country will deal with the crippling $25bn debt liabilities if for some reason it fails to materialise.
“All in all, the budget is more of the same; high on promises and low on a trust-inspiring game plan to actually deliver relief to the people and better business environment to growth agents.”
Additional input from Reuters.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal said on Tuesday the government had approved an estimated 3.5 per cent GDP growth target for its 2023-24 financial year budget.
The government is set to present the annual budget on Friday, at a time when the South Asian country faces its worst economic crisis with months of delay in securing funding from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Iqbal said the growth target was realistic.
“We’re taking those choices which take the country toward stability,” he told a press conference in Islamabad after a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, approved the estimated budget figures.
The minister said that Rs1,150 billion was allocated for federal spending under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and the collective development budget for the provinces was set at Rs1,559bn.
Commenting on the decisions, economist Maha Rehman said the increase in the PSPD budget made it evident that the government would likely focus on “short-term relief” in this prospective election year.
The increase in the development budget also showed that the government was likely to focus on “either project completion or initiation of only new projects with a short life-cycle, though under a redefined agenda”, she told Dawn.com.
She added that “it is important to redirect the focus towards the most obvious goals that everyone has advised the government on, [which is] increasing exports by creating the right incentives for the key sectors to grow and attract investment” and increasing the tax base by “turning attention to new avenues like the land tax”.
During the press conference, Iqbal also pointed out the dismal condition of the economy, saying the government would not be able to pay off debt fully through federal revenue.
“This is a defining moment of where we’ve reached,” he said. “(The country) will need to borrow for the rest of budget that includes salaries for the government, defence budget, development budget, pension, subsidies.”
He also said a committee had been constituted to review the health card scheme.
Pakistan, which is also in political turmoil, has been caught up for months in an acute balance of payments crisis, with its central bank’s foreign exchange reserves dipping to as low as to cover hardly a month of controlled imports.
In these circumstances, the budget is being keenly watched as the government is caught between a painful fiscal adjustment reforms agenda set by the IMF, and to make room for any relief to the people ahead of a national election scheduled in early November.
For the outgoing fiscal year 2022-23, which ends on June 30, the country’s GDP growth fell to 0.29pc against last year’s annual budget target of 5pc, and a revised projection of 2pc by the central bank.
Inflation posted at 38pc in May is the highest in Asia.
The IMF’s $1.1 billion funding, stalled since November, is critical for Pakistan to unlock other bilateral and multilateral financing to avert a debt default.
ISLAMABAD: With ‘Beat Plastic Pollution’ this year’s theme, the World Environment Day, the United Nations’ principal vehicle for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the environment, will be observed today (Monday).
The theme for 2023 World Environment Day is “Beat Plastic Pollution”, which calls for urgent solutions to combat plastic pollution.
More than 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced every year worldwide, half of which is designed to be used only once. Of that, less than 10 per cent is recycled while an estimated 19 to 23 million tonnes end up in lakes, rivers and seas annually, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) said in a statement issued on eve of the World Environment Day.
Pakistan has established the National Plastic Action Partnership to provide platform of action for plastic waste management. A major outcome of this will be the creation and implementation of a circular economy framework to reduce plastic waste and pollution.
Shehbaz emphasises unwavering commitment to combat plastic pollution; Sherry seeks world action
The country has also encouraged industries and companies to collect their plastic waste and recycle it in an environmentally safe manner on the basis of polluter pay principles and extended producer responsibility.
Pakistan is, like every nation on the planet, no stranger to plastic pollution, and the country produced 3.9 million tonnes of plastic waste in 2020, over 65 per cent of which was mismanaged. Around 18 per cent of municipal solid waste produced in the country is plastics. Only three per cent of plastic used by the manufacturing industry in Pakistan is recycled material, the UNEP says.
The UN body says it is committed to working with Pakistan on plastic pollution issue.
UNEP Executive Director Inger Anderson recently said that UNEP would support Pakistan to develop its National Adaptation Plan.
The organisation is also fully behind the ‘Living Indus Initiative’, launched by the government, which aims to lead and consolidate initiatives to restore the ecological health of the Indus within Pakistan.
This initiative includes an element of plastic pollution, with the Zero Plastic Waste Cities along the Indus River aiming to reduce plastic ending up in the river.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of World Environment Day, established by the UN General Assembly in 1972. Over the past five decades, the day has grown to be one of the largest global platforms for environmental outreach.
PM’s message
In a message to mark the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif emphasised Pakistan’s unwavering commitment to combat plastic pollution and embark on a journey of reduction of plastics, APP reported.
He said the government had taken several steps to take Pakistan on the path to sustainable use of resources and emphasised the urgent need of combating plastic pollution under the global theme of “Beating Plastic Pollution”.
Mr Sharif said his government had prioritised the adoption of environment-friendly alternatives and it was actively working on the Plastics Prohibition Regulation 2023 for Islamabad Capital Territory.
This regulation, he said, would establish a comprehensive framework and timeline for phasing out single-use plastics, while also leading by example on a plan to reduce and then ban the use of single-use plastics by the entire federal government.
Minister seeks world action
Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Senator Sherry Rehman stressed the need for world action as plastic production was set to triple by 2060.
In a statement, she said that consequences of plastic pollution were intense and long term, irreversibly damaging environment and threatening the very fabric of life on earth, from the highest mountains to the deepest ocean trenches.
Ms Rehman urged world action as plastic production was set to triple by 2060, if the ‘business-as-usual’ approach continued.
She highlighted Pakistan’s commitment to promoting a sustainable circular economy for plastics by reducing waste, consumption and encouraging reuse, recycling, and material recovery.
The minister stressed the need for an incentive-driven approach to encourage consumers to change their plastic consumption habits.
Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2023
• Punjab IG says ATC decision to be challenged, claims to have ‘enough evidence’ against PTI leaders
• Forensic report claims ex-minister was present at corps commander’s house at time of attack; police trace 170 more suspects via WhatsApp messages
• Hammad says his father ‘taken away’
LAHORE: A day after an anti-terrorism court in Lahore discharged PTI leader Dr Yasmin Rashid in a case regarding the attack on the corps commander’s house, Punjab police chief Dr Usman Anwar on Sunday called the former health minister a ‘key planner’ of May 9 attacks and announced challenging the ATC decision in the high court.
Addressing a hurriedly called press conference at the Central Police Office (CPO) along with Lahore police chief Bilal Siddique Kamyana, SSP investigation Dr Anoosh Masood Chaudhry, and SSP Imran Kishwar, the police chief said that attacks on Lahore Corps Commander House and GHQ were “well-planned by the PTI leaders”.
According to some police experts, the presser was called to express the reaction of the Punjab police to the ATC decision which discharged the PTI central Punjab president in the corps commander house attack case.
“We detected 41 calls of the PTI leader Dr Yasmin Rashid, among other party leaders, which were enough to produce as evidence in a court of law to prove them as planners and perpetrators of the attacks on the military installation,” the IG said.
He also played the video clips of Dr Rashid on a TV screen wherein, the IG claimed, she was “planning the attack on Jinnah House”.
Dr Usman also discussed the role of other PTI key leaders, including Hammad Azhar, Mian Aslam Iqbal and Murad Raas, saying police also traced the call record of these suspects to “prove their direct involvement in the attacks” on military installations.
“We are confident enough to prove in a court of law that these PTI leaders were not innocent and that the attacks were not carried out all of a sudden in reaction to the arrest of the PTI chairman,” he said.
He said they would challenge the ATC decision to release Dr Rashid and Hammad Azhar, saying police would present evidence that they had been making calls to protesters for attacks on the military installations.
“Dr Yasmin Rashid is nominated in [a] statement of [a] complainant and eyewitnesses recorded under Section 161 of CrPC [Criminal Procedure Code], but the learned judge ignored the same while discharging her from [the] case,” an informed source told Dawn on condition of anonymity.
“The judge wanted the name of the accused in the supplementary statement, which has no evidentiary value in the eyes of law; on the other hand, Dr Yasmin Rashid is nominated in statements recorded under Section 161 of CrPC, which is sufficient proof of her involvement in [the] case,” the source claimed in a comment on the case against the PTI leader.
Forensic test
A report of a forensic analysis issued by the Punjab police confirmed the presence of Dr Rashid outside the corps commander’s house. The report said video and audio clips were sent to the Punjab Forensic Laboratory for analysis which established the PTI leader’s presence outside the Jinnah House at the time of the attack. Her presence was also proved through a photogrammetry test, the report added.
“After forensic comparison analysis, it was concluded that the facial features of the accused person [Dr Yasmin Rashid] seen in the reference images and videos contained in the DVD (item#6) matched with one of the accused persons seen in the videos mentioned above at serial number 1 and 3 contained in the USB (item#5),” the report said.
‘215 calls made to incite mob’
The IG claimed that a total of 215 calls were made to incite the mob that attacked the military installation in Lahore. Out of them, 41 calls were made by Dr Yasmin Rashid, 75 by Mahmoodur Rasheed, 50 by Ijaz Chaudhry, 16 by Mian Aslam Iqbal, 23 by Murad Raas, and 10 calls by PTI leader Hammad Azhar.
He said 50 calls from Mianwali were linked to the five top leaders of the PTI regarding the attack on the Mianwali airbase. Similarly, 88 calls were detected from around the GHQ on May 8 and May 9, the IG Punjab said. He added said police have identified 708 suspects allegedly involved in the attack on the corps commander’s house; 125 have been arrested so far.
The police investigators have also traced 170 more attackers through WhatsApp groups and messages which were accessed through mobile phones of those arrested. “These 170 suspects were present in the Jinnah House at that time,” the IG said.
Action social media activists
During the press conference, the police chief criticised the social media influencers of PTI and claimed that they were sharing misleading information about the torture of party workers, particularly female activists, which warranted action by the FIA.
He alleged that they were misleading the public by “sharing old video clips and photos to defame” law enforcement agencies, making serious allegations that police were torturing the arrested workers.
They even alleged that female workers were harassed in the jails, he said, adding that due to the propaganda against the police, they have no option but to ask the FIA to proceed against them. He said a “malicious” social media campaign was launched, accusing the law enforcement agencies of killing 40 PTI workers. The number of killings as per these accounts was later reduced to 25, he added.
He said the social media activists had also accused the police of killing a suspect in custody who had stolen a peacock from the corps commander’s house. The police later shared the suspect’s video statement to refute the allegations, Dr Usman said, adding that many of the video clips and photos shared on social media were related to the incidents from 2019 and 2021.
The IG said that attackers on May 9 injured several police officers and other personnel of the police, leaving many of them with leg and arm fractures.
Late in night, Mr Azhar posted a tweet, saying his father Mian Azhar, the former governor of Punjab, has been “taken away”.
“My father, Mian Muhammad Azhar, 82 years of age with multiple health conditions, has just been taken by police and some unknown people to an undisclosed location,” he wrote.
Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2023
Saudi Arabia will make deep production cuts in July as part of a broader output-limiting Opec+ deal as the group faces flagging oil prices and a looming supply glut.
Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz said the cut of one million barrels per day (bpd) by Riyadh could be extended beyond July if needed. “This is a Saudi lollipop,” he said.
Opec+, which groups the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies led by Russia, reached a deal on output policy after seven hours of talks and decided to reduce overall production targets from 2024 by a further total of 1.4m bpd.
However, many of these reductions will not be real as the group lowered the targets for Russia, Nigeria and Angola to bring them into line with their actual current production levels.
By contrast, the United Arab Emirates was allowed to raise output.
Opec+ pumps around 40 per cent of the world’s crude, meaning its policy decisions can have a major impact on oil prices.
Opec+ already has in place a cut of 2m bpd agreed last year and amounting to 2pc of global demand.
In April, it also agreed to a surprise voluntary cut of 1.6m bpd that took effect in May until the end of 2023.
Saudi Arabia said on Sunday it would extend its portion of voluntary cuts of 0.5m bpd into 2024. It was not clear if the July reduction of 1m was on top of 0.5m bpd or if the latter would be included in the July reduction.
The April announcement helped to drive oil prices about $9 per barrel higher to above $87, but they swiftly retreated under pressure from concerns about global economic growth and demand. On Friday, the international benchmark Brent settled at $76.
Western nations have accused Opec of manipulating oil prices and undermining the global economy through high energy costs. The West has also accused Opec of siding with Russia despite Western sanctions over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
In response, Opec insiders have said the West’s money-printing over the last decade has driven inflation and forced oil-producing nations to act to maintain the value of their main export.
Asian countries, such as China and India, have bought the greatest share of Russian oil exports and refused to join Western sanctions on Russia.
