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.
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.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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).
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”.
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”.
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.
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).
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.”
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.
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.
Saudi Arabia agreed on Tuesday to buy Turkish drones in the biggest defence contract in Turkey’s history as President Tayyip Erdogan reaped the benefits of his diplomatic push to repair ties with Gulf powers and help Ankara’s struggling economy.
Erdogan and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman attended the signing ceremony between Turkish defence firm Baykar and the Saudi defence ministry, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
Erdogan arrived in the Saudi Red Sea city of Jeddah on Monday for the first stop of a Gulf tour.
Saudi Arabia will acquire the drones “with the aim of enhancing the readiness of the kingdom’s armed forces and bolstering its defence and manufacturing capabilities”, Defence Minister Prince Khalid bin Salman said in a tweet on Tuesday.
SPA did not give details about the value of the deal but Baykar CEO Haluk Bayraktar said it was the biggest defence and aviation export contract in Turkey’s history.
“We signed a contract with the Saudi Arabian defence ministry for the Bayraktar Akinci (unmanned combat aerial vehicle) export and cooperation,” he said in a Twitter post.
Investments and funding from the Gulf have helped relieve pressure on Turkey’s economy and its currency reserves since 2021 when Ankara launched a diplomatic effort to repair ties with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Turkey had been at odds for years with the two Gulf states over Ankara’s support of pro-democracy movements in the Middle East and North Africa and the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018.
Erdogan will travel to Qatar on Tuesday, the second stop of his first Gulf tour since being reelected in May. On Wednesday, he is due in the United Arab Emirates.
SPA said Erdogan and Prince Mohammed attended the signing of a defence cooperation plan by Prince Khalid and Turkish Defence Minister Yasar Guler.
Developing a local military industry has been part of an ambitious plan by Prince Mohammed to diversify the kingdom’s economy away from oil.
Baykar said in a separate statement that the agreement with Riyadh entails cooperation on technology transfer and joint production “in order to advance the high technology development capability of the two countries”.
The two countries also inked several memorandums of understanding in various sectors, including energy, real estate and direct investments, SPA said.
Last month, Turkish Vice President Cevdet Yilmaz and Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek travelled to the UAE to discuss “economic cooperation opportunities” with counterparts, and they met President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al-Nahyan, Ankara said.
Turkey’s budget deficit surged to seven times the year-ago levels in June, data showed on Monday, while last month’s annual inflation was close to 40 per cent with the lira nearly 29pc weaker this year.
Federal IT Minister Syed Aminul Haque said on Monday that the government had launched a crackdown on “illegal loan providers” and 43 loan applications had already been blocked in the country.
“The targeted companies, operating within the lending industry, were registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission,” he said in a statement.
The minister’s announcement comes as the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) probes a case of a man’s death in Rawalpindi, purportedly by suicide, after he was allegedly threatened by loan apps for failing to pay back ballooning interest on his debts.
During the course of its investigation, the FIA has arrested nine suspects, booked 19 and sealed several offices of loan apps in Islamabad.
The incident has prompted authorities into action, with the IT minister saying in a statement today that Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Major General (retd) Hafeezur Rehman had ordered immediate and swift action against illegal loan applications.
He also highlighted the severity of the issue, shedding light on the involvement of mafia groups operating through social media platforms, particularly Facebook, in such cases.
“These unscrupulous entities have resorted to blackmailing innocent individuals [and] exploiting their financial vulnerabilities,” Haque deplored.
In this connection, he said a comprehensive public awareness campaign had been launched to “safeguard the public”.
“The citizens are urged to report any suspicious loan applications or incidents involving the loan mafia groups to the PTA, the FIA’s (FIA) Cybercrime wing or their local police stations,” he said.
Moreover, the statement said, Haque was in “direct contact” with the FIA director general, to ensure effective coordination in the action against illegal loan apps.
The minister also condemned the “tactics employed by loan mafia groups, including threats of violence, blackmail, and misuse of personal data”.
These actions were in clear violation of the law and must be halted immediately, he stressed, advising the citizens to exercise caution when engaging in online financial transactions and refrain from sharing personal information with unknown parties.
“The ministry has noted the prevalence of online posts promoting money-making schemes,” the statement read, adding that the citizens were urged not to respond to such advertisements and avoid sharing sensitive data or money with such parties.
“As the operation [against illegal loan apps] progresses, the authorities remain vigilant in their efforts to bring the culprits to justice and protect the citizens from falling victim to fraudulent loan schemes,” the statement said.
Earlier this month, Dawn reported that scores of apps are currently out there luring average folk with instant credit, with misleading terms.
According to research done by Data Darbar, 27 of the apps featuring Google Play Pakistan’s top 100 finance apps were instant credit apps as of June 28. Of them, 19 were offering loans in the local rupee and the top eight alone had estimated downloads of 15.4 million since their launch.
There’s only one more licenced player operating in this space: Sarmaya Microfinance. Many are not registered entities, though the modus operandi of both kinds is similar. Promising low interest rates, they lure users to borrow, often even disbursing the amounts without their confirmation.
However, a sizable chunk of the amount is actually deducted at source, between 21 per cent and 38pc depending on the app, in the name of service and/or processing charges, which is often for 30-90 day periods, sometimes even less.
Yet the annual percentage rates, which is the total cost of borrowing in annual terms, are reported to be in the range of 11-39pc.
The Manghopir police have registered 14 first information reports (FIRs) as part of a crackdown against water theft in Karachi, according to a statement from Mayor Murtaza Wahab on Sunday.
“The noose is being tightened around water thieves,” the mayor said, adding that 26 illegal hydrants were demolished during an operation in Manghopir and its surrounding areas.
“Fourteen cases were filed against various water thieves, and arrests are also being made,” Wahab said, adding that operations were under way against the criminals on a daily basis.
He said that over 60 illegal hydrants were demolished in the last three days, adding that the action would lead to improvement in the city’s water distribution.
The FIRs were registered against different suspects under Sections 14 (servant of the state), 34 (common intention) and 430 (mischief by injury to works of irrigation or by wrongfully diverting water) of the Pakistan Penal Code for stealing water from pipelines, turning them into hydrants and selling to residents through water tankers in localities within Manghopir police station’s limits.
The complaints were lodged by various officials — mainly sub-engineers of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board.
Last month, a high-level meeting, presided over by Sindh Chief Secretary Dr Muhammad Sohail Rajput, had decided to take stringent measures against water theft, encroachments and illegal occupation of land in Karachi.
Addressing the meeting, the chief secretary had said that a strong operation would be carried out against encroachments and water theft in the city.
“An operation will be conducted against illegal hydrants in the East and West districts of the city,” he had said, warning that strict action would be taken against the station house officers concerned if illegal hydrants were reactivated.
Days of relentless monsoon rains have killed at least 66 people in India, government officials said on Wednesday, with dozens of foreign tourists stranded in the Himalayas after floods severed road connections.
Flooding and landslides are common and cause widespread devastation during India’s treacherous monsoon season, but experts say climate change is increasing its frequency and severity.
Torrential downpours have washed away vehicles, demolished buildings and torn down bridges in Himachal Pradesh, the worst-affected state.
At least 33 people have lost their lives in the state — popular for its picturesque Himalayan hill stations — since Saturday, said Onkar Sharma, head of the state disaster agency.
Rescue teams were mobilised to assist 40 foreign travellers — including 14 Russians and 12 Malaysians — stranded at tourist destinations alongside several hundred Indian nationals, state police chief Satwant Atwal told AFP.
“Due to heavy snowfall and bad weather it has become very difficult to evacuate them,” Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu said on Twitter.
“We are exploring all possible options.”
At least 12 people were killed in neighbouring Uttarakhand state, including nine on Tuesday when debris fell on their vehicles on a national highway, officials said.
A popular pilgrimage to the state’s Kedarnath temple, home to a revered shrine of the Hindu deity Shiva, was suspended due to heavy rains.
“In view of continuous rains in all the areas of the state, I request the people and pilgrims to avoid making unnecessary journeys,” Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami wrote on Twitter.
Incessant rain had caused significant damage across Punjab state, with at least 10 killed in flash floods.
“There is a huge loss of life and property, the loss is being assessed,” state revenue minister Brahm Shankar Jimpa told reporters a day earlier.
At least 11 people were killed in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most populous state, according to state officials.
The capital New Delhi has also been put on high alert for flooding after the Yamuna river, which snakes past the megacity, recorded its highest levels since 1978.
The waterway has already inundated homes along its banks and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was expected to rise further later on Wednesday evening.
The monsoon brings South Asia around 80 per cent of its annual rainfall and is vital both for agriculture and the livelihoods of millions of farmers.
But it brings destruction every year in the form of landslides and floods. Melting glaciers add to the volume of water while unregulated construction in flood-prone areas exacerbates the damage.
The rainfall is hard to forecast and varies considerably, but scientists say climate change is making the monsoon stronger and more erratic.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Monday said the assemblies could be dissolved earlier than the scheduled date of August 13 to “facilitate” the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP).
If the assemblies get dissolved on August 11 instead of August 13, the ECP will get more time — 90 days — to hold elections, he said while speaking on Geo News programme ‘Aaj Shahzeb Khanzada Kay Sath’ in reply to a question about the ruling party looking to delay elections till November.
However, he added that the 90-day period did not mean the ECP would hold elections on the 90th day but could do so at any date of its choosing, “be it after 64 days or 72 days”.
Nevertheless, he assured, “the assemblies will be dissolved after completing their term, after which the caretaker setup will come and elections will be held in accordance with the Constitution”.
He asserted that the PML-N and its supremo, Nawaz Sharif, were clear that assemblies should dissolve and elections be held on time.
Asked whether the intention behind delaying the dissolution of assemblies was to “facilitate the ECP or politics” so that verdicts were issued in cases against the PTI chief and Nawaz got time for the election campaign after his expected return before the polls, Sanaullah said, “I don’t think the difference of 20 to 30 days makes much of a difference”.
“We have been managing matters according to constitutional requirements,” he added.
Sanaullah’s statement comes as the final 30-day countdown to the end of the current parliament’s term and the government’s tenure is set to begin this week as the term of the National Assembly, along with the provincial assemblies of Sindh and Balochistan, is set to expire on August 12.
Following the dissolution of the assemblies, a caretaker setup will take over government affairs in Islamabad, Karachi and Quetta.
Similar interim administrations are already in place in Lahore and Peshawar, since the dissolution of the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies months ahead of their term-end in January.
At least 22 people were killed and scores injured in an air strike by Sudan’s army on western Omdurman, the Khartoum state health ministry said on Saturday, as the war between the country’s military factions entered its 12th week.
While the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) quickly dominated the capital Khartoum and its sister cities Omdurman and Bahri after fighting broke out on April 15, the army launched air and artillery strikes.
The fighting, for which no mediation efforts have succeeded thus far, threatens to drag the country into a wider civil war, drawing in other internal and external actors in the East African nation that lies between the Horn of Africa, Sahel, and the Red Sea.
Tensions between both sides had grown in the months leading up to the war over the chain of command and integration of their forces under a new transition to democracy.
At least 1,133 people have been killed in the fighting, according to the federal health ministry, which has flared in the capital and the Kordofan and Darfur regions, sparking ethnic violence in West Darfur state.
More than 2.9 million people have been uprooted, including nearly 700,000 who have fled to neighbouring countries.
The strife has also caused “alarming numbers” of rape and abduction of women and girls, according to aid agencies.
Fighting has focused on Omdurman in recent days, as the western part of the city is a key supply route for the RSF to bring reinforcements in from Darfur, its power base.
Strikes, including overnight on Friday, have also centered on the country’s state broadcasting complex in eastern Omdurman. Other overnight strikes hit southern and eastern Khartoum.
The army said in a post on Facebook that special forces had killed 20 “rebel soldiers” and destroyed their weaponry.
Indian authorities demolished the home of a man accused of publicly urinating on a member of a tribal community after footage of the assault sparked public condemnation, it emerged on Thursday.
A video shared widely on social media appeared to show Pravesh Shukla urinating on his young victim in a dark street while nonchalantly smoking a cigarette.
The attack took place last year in the central Sidhi district in Madhya Pradesh, but only came to public attention this week.
Local police said Shukla had been arrested and charged in connection with the assault, which could see him fined and jailed for a year.
According to a report by India’s Hindustan Times, Shukla was arrested around 2am on Wednesday after Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan issued strict directions to the police to book him under India’s National Security Act.
“The accused is currently lodged in Rewa Central Jail,” the report stated, adding that a case had been registered against the accused under sections 294 (obscene acts), and 504 (intentional insult to provoke breach of peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Authorities also demolished his home on Wednesday after it was “found to be illegally constructed”, police officer Ravinder Verma told AFP.
Local media showed a bulldozer clawing apart the roof and walls of Shukhla’s home in Madhya Pradesh state.
Meanwhile, Indian news website The Print reported that CM Mishra “washed the feet of the tribal man while sitting on the floor” of his residence in Bhopal today to express sorrow over the incident and apologised to him.
Indian news agencyANI said the country’s main opposition party, Congress, had formed a five-member committee to probe the incident.
Quoting a press release of the party, the report said the committee would investigate the matter after reaching the spot of the incident and submit a report on it by July 8.
ANI said the decision was taken after the incident became a major talking point amid the upcoming state elections.
India counts more than 100 million people as belonging to its diverse indigenous tribal communities, collectively known as Adivasis.
Along with those at the bottom rungs of Hinduism’s rigid caste hierarchy, Adivasis have been subjected to violence, prejudice and discrimination for centuries.
India has in recent years recorded numerous instances of authorities punishing suspected criminals by demolishing their homes with excavators.
Rights groups have condemned “bulldozer justice” as an unlawful exercise in collective punishment by India’s Hindu nationalist government that has disproportionately targeted the country’s Muslim minority.
The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) said it had arrested five Pakistanis on Wednesday on allegations of "illegal emigration" to Israel, which Islamabad does not recognise as a state.
All of the arrests were made in Pakistan, but scarce information is available regarding the timing of the arrival of all of the suspects in the country from Israel.
The FIA said in a tweet that its Mirpurkhas crime circle carried out the arrests, stating that the suspects had been working in Tel Aviv as "helpers and car washers".
Separately, FIA Sindh (Zone-II) Director Abdul Hameed Bhutto told Dawn.com that all five of the arrested men were residents of Mirpurkhas who "travelled to Israel with the help of an agent, said to be an Israeli citizen".
The FIA statement on Twitter said that each of the suspects paid the agent Rs300,000 to Rs400,000 to enter Israel while Bhutto stated that they paid over Rs2m to the agent to get employment in Israel.
Their arrests were a result of an inquiry initiated by the FIA on the basis of a strategic analysis report (SAR) regarding foreign remittances, Bhutto said.
"By travelling to a country that was not recognised, the suspects had violated multiple laws.
"FIRs (first information reports) have been registered against them on account of their illegal emigration to Israel, despite knowing that their passports do not validate their travel to or stay in the country for the purpose of employment," he added.
The official further said that the FIA had invoked Sections 8 (regulation of emigration) and 17(1) (punishment for unlawful emigration) of the Emigration Ordinance, 1917, Sections 3 (prohibition of departure from Pakistan without passport, etc) and 4 (Punishment for contravention of section 3, etc) of the Passport Act 1974 and Section 109 (punishment of abetment if the act abetted is committed in consequence and where no express provision is made for its punishment) of the Pakistan Penal Code in cases against the suspect.
Dawn.com was able to access one of the FIRs, which said that the FIA's Mirpurkhas branch recently initiated an inquiry on the basis of an SAR regarding outward and inward foreign remittances concerning individuals living in Mirpurkhas, who were allegedly involved in receiving remittances from Israel.
The suspect in this case, "was desirous to proceed to Israel for the purpose of employment," the FIR added, adding that he paid an agent — an Israeli national and his relative — Rs300,000 for "illegal emigration" to Israel.
In exchange for this amount, the FIR said, the agent arranged the suspect's ticket and other documents for the travel.
It added that the suspect departed from the Karachi airport for Kenya on November 15, 2016 for Kenya "on the strength of Pakistani passport" and entered Kenya "on the strength of a visit visa".
The FIR further stated that the suspect left Kenya on November 17, 2016 and "proceeded to Israel through the Jordon Airport along with agent ... and took illegal entry into the Tel Aviv city of Israel for the purpose of employment, despite knowing the fact that Pakistani passport is not valid for Israel as Israel is non-recognised state by the Government of Pakistan".
According to the FIR, the suspect worked as a car washer in Israel, "in clear violation of the Emigration Ordinance 1979, and returned back to Pakistan on December 18, 2019 on the strength of the same Pakistani passport using the route of Jordan, Dubai and then Karachi".
He returned "after working there (Israel) for about four years by way of illegal emigration," the FIR read.
It added that during his travel and stay in Israel, the suspect remained a holder of the Pakistani passport, "which was not valid for Israel in violation of the Passport Act of 1974".
“The accused person ... while working in Israel, used to send his salaries in the form of foreign remittances through the Western Union of Pakistan post office, Mirpurkhas, which were accordingly received by his relatives residing in Mirpurkhas, Sindh," the FIR stated.
Meanwhile, an FIA spokesperson told Dawn.com that the FIA had identified a total of eight suspects from Pakistan who were working in Israel and three of them were still at large.
Monday, July 3, was the hottest day ever recorded globally, according to data from the US National Centres for Environmental Prediction.
The average global temperature reached 17.01 degrees Celsius, surpassing the August 2016 record of 16.92 degrees Celsius as heatwaves sizzled around the world.
The southern US has been suffering under an intense heat dome in recent weeks. In China, an enduring heatwave continued, with temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius. North Africa has seen temperatures near 50 degrees Celsius.
And even Antarctica, currently in its winter, registered anomalously high temperatures.
Ukraine’s Vernadsky Research Base in the white continent’s Argentine Islands recently broke its July temperature record with 8.7 degrees Celsius.
“This is not a milestone we should be celebrating,” said climate scientist Friederike Otto of the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and the Environment at Britain’s Imperial College London.
“It’s a death sentence for people and ecosystems.”
Scientists said climate change, combined with an emerging El Nino pattern, were to blame.
“Unfortunately, it promises to only be the first in a series of new records set this year as increasing emissions of [carbon dioxide] and greenhouse gases coupled with a growing El Nino event push temperatures to new highs,” said Zeke Hausfather, a research scientist at Berkeley Earth, in a statement.
Clashes between Sudan’s army and paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) intensified on Sunday, as the war in the country’s capital and western regions entered its 12th week with no attempts in sight to bring a peaceful end to the conflict.
Air and artillery strikes as well as small arms fire could be heard, particularly in the city of Omdurman, as well as in the capital Khartoum, as the conflict deepens a humanitarian crisis and threatens to draw in other regional interests.
The RSF said it brought down an army warplane and a drone in Bahri, in statements to which the army did not immediately respond.
“We’re terrified, every day the strikes are getting worse,” 25-year-old Nahid Salah, living in northern Omdurman, said by phone to Reuters.
The RSF has dominated the capital on the ground and has been accused of looting and occupying houses, while the army has focused on air and artillery strikes.
Army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan last week called on young men to join the fight against the RSF and on Sunday, the army posted photos it said were of new recruits.
The Sudanese Doctors Union accused the RSF on Saturday of raiding the Shuhada hospital, one of the few still operating in the country, and killing a staff member. The RSF denied the accusation.
The war has also hit cities in the western Kordofan and Darfur regions, in particular the westernmost city of El Geneina, where the RSF and Arab militias have been accused of ethnic cleansing.
The Combating Violence Against Women Unit, a government agency, said on Saturday it had recorded 88 cases of sexual assault, which it said was a fraction of the likely real total, in Khartoum, El Geneina, and Nyala, capital of South Darfur, with victims in most cases accusing the RSF.
Talks hosted in Jeddah and sponsored by the United States and Saudi Arabia were suspended last month, while a mediation attempt by East African countries was criticised by the army as it accused Kenya of bias.
Last week, army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and his deputy on the country’s Sovereign Council Malik Agar expressed openness to any mediation attempts by Turkey or Russia, though no official efforts have been announced.
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has invited political parties to submit applications for the allocation of poll symbols ahead of general elections expected to be held later this year.
In a statement issued on Saturday, the ECP asked the parties to submit applications, duly signed by the party head, to its Islamabad secretariat by July 19.
The political parties have been advised to file applications for symbols according to the requirements of Section 216 of the Elections Act, 2017.
According to the section, the applications should contain the list of symbols applied for in order of preference; symbol or symbols, if any, allocated to the political party during the previous general elections; and the address of the party’s head office.
Besides, every such application is to be signed by the party head, by whatever name designated, the section says.
The ECP clarified that the political parties that submitted applications for symbols for elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies in February and March would have to apply afresh.
“The incomplete applications or requests through fax will not be entertained. The applications received prior to the issuance of this press release shall also not be considered. Thus, all such parties who sent applications prior to the issuance of this press release are requested to make fresh applications,” the ECP said.
Similarly, applications received after the due date, July 19, would not be entertained.
After the commission receives applications from the political parties, it will ascertain their eligibility in the light of Section 215 of the Election Act 2017.
Section 215, titled ‘Eligibility of party to obtain election symbol’, says that a political party enlisted under the Elections Act is eligible to get an election symbol for contesting elections for parliament, provincial assemblies or local government.
Besides, a combination of enlisted political parties shall be entitled to obtain one election symbol for an election only if each party constituting such combination submits the certificates and statements referred to in relevant sections.
The section also notes that an election symbol already allocated to a political party will not be allocated to others.
Moreover, if a political party fails to comply with the provision of Section 209 (certification by the political party) or Section 210 (information about the sources of funds), the ECP will issue a show-cause notice to such party as to why it might not be declared ineligible to obtain an election symbol.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2023
QUETTA: The Balochistan government has ordered a combing operation for the arrest of 13 under-trial prisoners who escaped a district jail in Chaman on the first day of Eid, whereas a jailer and other officials were suspended for negligence.
Home and Tribal Affairs Minister Ziaullah Langove has ordered a probe into the incident.
Officials said that 17 prisoners kept in the district jail were facing trial in cases related to ‘heinous crimes’ and added that the suspects escaped after attacking the jail and security staff when they were brought out of their cells for morning prayers.
“The prisoners attacked the jail staff, opened fire after snatching a weapon from a security guard and managed to injure police personnel,” Naeem Achakzai, Chaman’s senior superintendent of police, told Dawn.
He added that with the help of weapons snatched from police, they also broke the locks of the gate and escaped.
Police teams rushed to the site and started chasing prisoners, during which an exchange of fire took place, killing one prisoner. At least two others were injured and shifted to the district hospital Chaman. According to a hospital official, the condition of the injured prisoners was “serious”.
The deceased prisoner was identified as Abdul Bari, a resident of Chaman, while the injured prisoners were identified as Abdul Salam Badezai and Mohammad Omer Alizai.
“One prisoner who escaped from the jail has returned back to the jail voluntarily,” SSP Achakzai said, adding that a search operation was underway in Chaman, especially near the border area with Afghanistan.
He said that mostly 25 security personnel performed security duty in the jail where under-trial prisoners were kept during the hearing of their cases.
He said that at least 17 under-trial prisoners were detained in jail and added that most of the security staff, including police personnel, were sent for security duty at mosques and public places on account of Eid congregations.
A senior security official said that prisoners might have planned a jailbreak in light of lax security in the jail. Officials said it seemed that the prisoners have crossed into Afghanistan after escaping from the jail.
The SSP Chaman suspended a deputy superintendent of police and other jail staffers for their negligence. Further investigation is underway.
Published in Dawn, July 2nd, 2023
