25-04-2026

Month: June 2023

Palestinian president to visit China next week

Beijing has positioned itself as a mediator in the Middle East, brokering the restoration of ties in March between Iran and Saudi Arabia — rivals in a region where the United States has for decades been the main powerbroker.

“At the invitation of President Xi Jinping, president of the state of Palestine, Mahmud Abbas will pay a state visit to China from June 13 to 16,” foreign ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said on Friday.

“He is the first Arab head of state received by China this year, fully embodying the high level of China-Palestine good relations, which have traditionally been friendly,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular briefing later.

Abbas is an “old and good friend of the Chinese people”, he added. “China has always firmly supported the just cause of the Palestinian people to restore their legitimate national rights.”

Beijing has sought to boost its ties to the Middle East, challenging long-standing US influence there — efforts that have drawn rebukes from Washington.

Xi last December visited Saudi Arabia on an Arab outreach visit that also saw him meet with Abbas and pledge to “work for an early, just and durable solution to the Palestinian issue”.

And during a trip to Riyadh this week, US State Secretary Antony Blinken said Saudi Arabia was not being forced to choose between Washington and Beijing, striking a conciliatory tone following tensions with the long-time ally.

Blinken has also this week sought to mediate Israel-Palestinian tension, urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to undermine prospects for a Palestinian state.

Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations have been stalled since 2014.

In April, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Israeli and Palestinian counterparts that his country was willing to aid peace negotiations, Xinhua reported.

And Qin told Palestinian foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki that Beijing supports the resumption of talks as soon as possible, according to the state news agency.

In both calls, Qin emphasised China’s push for peace talks on the basis of implementing a “two-state solution”.

“The Palestinian issue is the core of the Middle East issue. It bears on peace and stability in the Middle East and on international fairness and justice. “

Boris Johnson has stepped down as a Tory MP after claiming he was “forced out of Parliament” over Partygate.

The ex-PM saw in advance a report by the Commons Privileges Committee investigating if he misled the Commons over Downing Street lockdown parties.

In an explosive and lengthy statement, he called the committee a “kangaroo court” whose purpose “has been to find me guilty, regardless of the facts”.

The committee said it had “followed the procedures and the mandate”.

The cross-party committee of MPs – the majority of which are Conservative – added it would conclude its inquiry on Monday and “publish its report promptly”.

Mr Johnson’s resignation now triggers a by-election in his marginal constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

Delivering his announcement late on Friday evening, Mr Johnson said the draft report he had seen was “riddled with inaccuracies and reeks of prejudice”, adding it was clear the committee was “determined to use the proceedings against me to drive me out of Parliament”.

“They have still not produced a shred of evidence that I knowingly or recklessly misled the Commons,” he said, insisting “I did not lie”.

He also accused its chairwoman, Labour’s Harriet Harman, of “egregious bias”, saying he was “bewildered and appalled” at how he was being forced out.

The ex-prime minister previously admitted misleading Parliament when he gave evidence to the committee in a combative hearing in March – but denied doing it on purpose.

He said social distancing had not been “perfect” at gatherings in Downing Street during Covid lockdowns but insisted the guidelines, as he understood them, were followed at all times.

Mr Johnson also used his letter to attack the direction of the government, saying “we must not be afraid to be properly Conservative” and warning the party’s majority was at risk.

“We need to show how we are making the most of Brexit and we need in the next months to be setting out a pro-growth and pro-investment agenda,” Mr Johnson argued.

“Why have we so passively abandoned the prospect of a Free Trade Deal with the US? Why have we junked measures to help people into housing or to scrap EU directives or to promote animal welfare?”

It was a direct aim at Prime Minister Rishi Sunak – hours after he stepped off a plane from Washington where Mr Sunak was not talking about a free trade agreement with the US.

And Mr Johnson’s statement was an attempt to rally Brexiteers in his party, suggesting his demise was driven by a motivation to “reverse the 2016 referendum result”.

The statement contained further criticism of former senior civil servant Sue Gray, who investigated lockdown gatherings at Number 10.

“I am afraid I no longer believe that it is any coincidence” that she will soon become “chief of staff designate” of the Labour leader Sir Kier Starmer, Mr Johnson wrote.

Ending his 1,000-word letter, Mr Johnson said he was “very sad to be leaving Parliament” before adding – “at least for now” – for anyone thinking he is about to retreat into obscurity.

Mr Johnson’s exit will trigger a by-election in his west London seat, which he held with a 7,000 vote majority in the 2019 election.

The Conservatives will also have to defend the Mid Bedfordshire seat of Nadine Dorries – a close ally of Mr Johnson – after she stepped down as an MP earlier on Friday.

Mr Johnson claims his removal is a “necessary first step” in attempts by some to reverse the 2016 Brexit result

Mr Johnson’s dramatic move came after he was given the committee’s findings, including details of criticisms it intended to make and evidence to support its conclusion.

He had faced a potential by-election if MPs recommended a suspension from the Commons as a punishment for misleading Parliament.

Responding to his statement, a Privileges Committee spokesperson said: “The committee has followed the procedures and the mandate of the House at all times and will continue to do so.

“Mr Johnson has departed from the processes of the House and has impugned the integrity of the House by his statement. The committee will meet on Monday to conclude the inquiry and to publish its report promptly.”

Elsewhere, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner condemned what she called a “never-ending Tory soap opera”.

For the Liberal Democrats, deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “Good riddance.”

And SNP deputy Westminster leader Mhairi Black said Mr Johnson “jumped before he was pushed”, adding “no-one in Scotland will be sorry to see the back of him”.

However, former home secretary Priti Patel, who was made a Dame in his resignations honours list also announced on Friday, praised Mr Johnson for his work as prime minister on the issues of Ukraine and Brexit, describing him as “a political titan”.

Boris Johnson’s local Conservative association chairman, Richard Mills, said the former PM “has delivered on his promises to local residents”.

Another sitting MP announced in the resignation honours list, Sir Michael Fabricant, criticised the Privileges Committee for what he called its “disgraceful treatment” of the former prime minister.

Mr Johnson was prime minister from July 2019 until September 2022, and has been an MP since 2001 – although not continuously, having served as mayor of London between 2008 and 2016.

PPP beats PML-N to win AJK by-election

MUZAFFARABAD/LAHORE: Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) candidate Sardar Ziaul Qamar on Thursday came out the winner in Azad Jammu and Kashmir’s (AJK) LA-15 by-election, the unofficial result suggested

The PPP and PML-N, which are allies in the centre, are among several others vying for the seat that fell vacant after Ilyas was disqualified over contempt.

After the counting of 189 polling stations, Qamar is leading with 25,755 votes, leaving behind the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Mushtaq Minhas, who has secured 20,485 votes so far.

The seat fell vacant after the AJK High Court disqualified former AJK PM Sardar Tanvir Ilyas, who had won the 2018 election with 20,010 votes.

Eighteen candidates are contesting the election, including PTI’s colonel (retd) Zamir and others.

The number of registered voters is 101,145 with male voters standing at 53,107 and female voters at 48,038.

PPP Co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari congratulated PPP candidate Qamar for winning the by-election in LA-15, Bagh, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, by defeating the former minister and PML-N candidate Minhas.

He thanked the people of AJK for showing trust in PPP.

PML-N accuses PPP of rigging

Meanwhile, PML-N lawmaker Hina Pervaiz Butt accused the PPP of rigging in the by-election for the seat that was vacated following the disqualification of former Azad Jammu and Kashmir prime minister Tanveer Ilyas by a high court in April.

“People from the PPP have been caught red-handed while rigging in Kashmir,” she tweeted along with a video, shortly after the polling concluded.

In the video, a man is heard saying that he was at a polling station where another man, whom he did not identify, had stamped ballot papers in a bid to rig the elections.

“The entire polling station has been grabbed… Ziaul Qamar’s (PPP’s candidate) people first verbally abused the presiding officer and occupied the polling station… The Rangers here outside but not doing anything and Zia Qamar is sitting here,” he is heard saying.

Sharing another video on Twitter — in which a man is counting ballot papers that he said were “evidence” — Butt said: “The PPP has started stamping [ballot papers] in Kashmir as well. Rigging is not acceptable.”

Separately, another PML-N leader Attaullah Tarar claimed that his party’s candidate had a “clear lead” in the by-election.

“There are reports of rigging, [but] God willing, the PML-N will win. It is not possible that polling is completed 80-90 percent at some stations and 30-39pc at others,” he tweeted.

Meanwhile, PPP’s Faisal Karim Kundi congratulated his party on Twitter, saying: “Unofficially, Ziaul Qamar of the PPP is winning with a big margin in the by-election in Bagh, Kashmir.”

Official results of the by-election in AJK’s Bagh-II constituency are yet to be released.

Pakistan elected as key UN committee member for three years

UNITED NATIONS: Pakistan on Thursday was elected as a member of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) — the economic arm of the United Nations — for three years beginning January 1, 2024.

Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Thursday congratulated Pakistan for being elected as a member of the ECOSOC by the UN General Assembly.

“Congratulations to our UN team in MoFA and our Mission in New York for running a successful campaign,” he wrote on Twitter.

 

The South Asian country, received 129 votes in balloting in the 193-member assembly, becoming a member for three years beginning January 1, 2024.

Pakistan was contesting one of three Asian seats — also being contested by Iraq, Japan, Nepal and Tajikistan. A two-thirds majority — 124 votes — was required for the election.

“We hope to play yet once again our active role in the forum of ECOSOC by fostering agreement on the structure and content of new, more dynamic and equitable structure of international economic cooperation,” Ambassador Munir Akram said in an interview with APP after the election victory.

Pakistan, he said, would also help develop consensus on the measures for recovery from the current crises and revive the prospects of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“I also appreciate my team at the Pakistan Mission to the United Nations for their hard work and dedication in securing this election,” Ambassador Akram said.

“I feel privileged to play my role in representing Pakistan as an advocate of strengthening the development pillar of the UN and attach great importance to the work of ECOSOC.”

Others elected on the Asian seats are Japan with 127 votes, and Nepal with 145 votes. Meanwhile, Iraq with 50 votes, and Tajikistan, with 120 votes, did not make it.

Pakistan has in the past served on the ECOSOC 10 times and in the capacity as the 54-member body’s President six times — 1952, 1957, 1975, 1995, 2005 and 2020.

The ECOSOC, a principal UN organ, coordinates the economic, social, and related work of the 14 UN specialised agencies, functional commissions and five regional commissions. It serves as the central forum for discussing international economic and social issues, and for formulating policy recommendations addressed to member states and the United Nations system.

ECOSOC is responsible for promoting higher standards of living, full employment, economic and social progress, identifying solutions to international economic, social and health problems, facilitating international cultural and educational cooperation, and encouraging universal respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Saudi Arabia condemns attack on its embassy in Sudan

Saudi Foreign Ministry has condemned an attack on its embassy in Sudan as well as residences of Saudi employees at the embassy in a statement early on Thursday.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the embassy building was vandalized, in addition to the destruction of the residence and property of Saudi employees working at the embassy.

The Ministry expressed the Kingdom’s condemnation in the “strongest terms of the sabotage and tampering carried out by some armed groups,” the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.

It expressed the Kingdom’s absolute rejection of all forms of violence and sabotage towards diplomatic missions and representations, “stressing the importance of confronting these armed groups that are trying to undermine the return of security and stability to Sudan and its brotherly people,” the SPA added.

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan in Riyadh to discuss a range of bilateral, regional and global issues.

During the meeting, the two sides pledged to continue their strong cooperation to end the fighting in Sudan.

35 hurt in clashes as Israeli army raids Ramallah

The Palestinian health ministry said at least 35 people were wounded, including at least 20 by live bullets. Two people suffered serious abdominal wounds while a third was hit by a rubber bullet which penetrated his skull.

A journalist said a large military convoy arrived in downtown Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian government in the occupied West Bank, leading hundreds of Palestinians to gather in the area.

 

Some Palestinian youths hurled stones at the Israeli soldiers, who fired live bullets, stun grenades and tear gas at the crowd, the journalist said. Trash bins that were set on fire blocked roads as ambulance sirens wailed.

Masked men kill five Arabs near Nazareth

The military said soldiers were confronted by crowds throwing petrol bombs and rocks and responded with live fire. It said a Palestinian photojournalist was hit by a rubber bullet and the incident was being reviewed.

The Israeli military said its forces carried out the operation to demolish the house of Islam Faroukh, who was arrested last year on suspicion of carrying out a deadly bombing attack in Jerusalem.

The attack in November killed two people, including an Israeli-Canadian teenager, and wounded at least 14 others in what police said were coordinated explosions of improvised bombs planted at bus stops near the city exit and in a junction leading to a settlement.

Shot dead at car wash

Five Arab Israelis were shot dead at a car wash in the country’s north on Thursday, police said, amid the worst crime wave in years to hit the minority. The shooting brought the number of Arab Israelis killed this year to 96.

Roni Halon, a reporter with Nazareth-based Radio Nas, said the Yafia shooting took place as a police helicopter was above the town searching for those behind the Kafr Kanna attack.

Speaking from the scene, Halon said two masked men had arrived on motorcycles and used automatic rifles to kill the men in the car wash.

In response, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s internal security agency Shin Bet would now help the police to tackle rampant criminal activity in the community.

Police said the shootings took place at Yafia, an Arab village just west of Nazareth, and a statement said forces were searching the area for suspects.

Speaking from the scene of the killings, police spokesman Eli Levy told public broadcaster Kan that “one person or more” opened fire at a group of men at a car wash.

A separate police official said the incident was most likely part of a gang war.

Maher Khaliliya, head of the Yafia local council, called the shooting a “massacre,” accusing police of responsibility due to lax enforcement.

He said he had no information about the background of the shooting, but said his town was “standing with the families of the victims as one”.

Arab Israelis, descendants of Palestinians who stayed on their land after Israel’s creation in 1948, comprise around 20 per cent of the country’s population.

On Thursday, he said he was “determined to stop this chain of murders” and would see that happen by not only reinforcing police but also “with the help of the Shin Bet”.

The internal security agency does not normally investigate criminal activity.

Earlier on Thursday, a 30-year-old man and a three-year-old girl were wounded in a separate shooting in Kafr Kanna, an Arab town north of Nazareth. They have long complained of discrimination and police inaction against violence and crime plaguing their communities.

On May 30, elected officials and representatives of the Arab minority protested in Jerusalem and called on the government to increase security.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu announced a decision to form a steering committee following a meeting with Arab lawmakers to discuss “solutions to the wave of murders in the Arab society”.

An explosion inside a mosque in north-east Afghanistan has killed 11 people and injured 30.

Reports say several local Taliban officials were among those killed or wounded.

A local official said the blast happened during a prayer service for the deputy governor of Badakhshan province, who was killed by a car bomb earlier this week.

The Islamic State militant group said it carried out the car bomb attack.

Thursday’s explosion happened at 11:00 local time in the provincial capital, Faizabad.

Mourners were attending the funeral of Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the acting Taliban provincial governor of Badakhshan, who was killed on his way to work on Tuesday. One other person was killed and six wounded in that attack.

Two sources confirmed to the BBC that two local Taliban officials were killed at the mosque. They include the former police commander of northern Baghlan province, Safiullah Samim, according to a statement offering condolences from another police chief.

“The Ministry of Interior of the IEA condemns this brutality of the disgraced enemies,” a statement said of the blast.

Eyewitnesses said gunfire could be heard after the explosion.

Footage sent to the BBC shows several casualties arriving at the hospital in the provincial capital by ambulance.

US, UK forge ‘Atlantic Declaration’ to counter new threats

In a White House summit, US President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak discussed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the lightning-fast evolution of artificial intelligence.

But Sunak came away empty-handed on Britain’s ambitions for a post-Brexit free-trade agreement with Washington, settling instead to tack along with Biden’s plan to craft a new green economy through vast industrial subsidies.

An “Atlantic Declaration” adopted by the leaders aims to boost industry ties on defence and renewable energy, in the face of growing competition from China.

“We face new challenges to international stability — from authoritarian states such as Russia and the People’s Republic of China; disruptive technologies; non-state actors; and transnational challenges like climate change,” the declaration read.

As he welcomed Sunak to the Oval Office, Biden was asked by reporters if the “special” transatlantic relationship was in good shape. He gave a thumbs-up and replied: “In real good shape.”

 

Both leaders concurred that the world economy was undergoing the biggest changes since the Industrial Revolution, in part driven by AI, which is bringing doomsday warnings that sentient machines could wipe out humanity unless governments coordinate a response.

Sunak said Biden backed his plan to convene “likeminded” countries for the world’s first AI summit in Britain later this year — and the prime minister also wants the UK to host a future AI regulator.

 

 

Yet there are headwinds for Sunak’s ambitions, with the United States and European Union already engaged in their own dialogue on an AI code of conduct as industry figures plead for regulation.

“One thing I’m confident won’t change is the strength of our partnership, our friendship, and we will put our values front and center, as we’ve always done, to deliver for the British and American people,” he told Biden.

Sunak said the Atlantic Declara­tion would help the allies face up to the chronic instability in energy markets caused by Russia’s actions — although they are reluctant yet to blame Moscow for this week’s calamitous destruction of a dam in Ukraine.

But Sunak’s first White House summit was equally about re-forging personal relationships after Britain went through three prime ministers last year, and after Biden made clear his displeasure about its handling of Northern Ireland.

On Ukraine, the US and UK governments are moving closer to offering advanced fighter jets to help Kyiv counter the Russian invasion.

Sunak said the dam breach was an “appalling act and hundreds of thousands of people are being affected by it”, promising UK aid relief to the victims.

But while giving up hope for now on a trade deal with the United States, Sunak headed into the summit arguing that the Ukraine war proves the need for transatlantic economic alignment.

“Just as interoperability between our militaries has given us a battlefield advantage over our adversaries, greater economic interoperability will give us a crucial edge in the decades ahead,” he said.

Sunak did win a promise from Biden to discuss US relief to UK carmakers, via greater access to critical minerals used in batteries, after the president’s Inflation Reduction Act offered new subsidies to companies with US operations.

Sunak has meanwhile been talking up British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as a candidate to lead Nato before the Western military alliance holds a summit next month in Lithuania, with the prime ministers of Denmark and Estonia also seen as contenders.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg’s term in the job is due to end in October.

For now, Biden has given no indication of whom he supports — and his vote will be decisive in an alliance where the United States is by far the biggest player.

 

Hearings on cases against PTI chairman in IHC, local courts today

ISLAMABAD: The hearings on Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan’s bail pleas in separate cases registered in the federal capital are scheduled to be held at the Islamabad High Court (IHC) and a local court today (Thursday).

Eight of the said hearings will be held at an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in the Islamabad judicial complex, two will be held at the high court, while one will be held at another local court present inside the same complex.

The former prime minister will visit the federal capital to attend the hearings in the said courts, meanwhile, a plea seeking his exemption from hearing in the case about threatening a female judge has been filed in kacheri court.

It may be noted that the Islamabad police had served a court summons to the cricketer-turned-politician for today (June 8).

The ex-PM is facing a barrage of legal woes since his ouster in a no-confidence vote in April last year by a united opposition led by his successor, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

The cases against him include the infamous £190 million settlement case related to the transfer of multi-million pounds from the UK’s National Crime Agency (NCA), in which his wife Bushra Bibi is also an accused.

After the hearings, the PTI chief will appear before the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) at its Rawalpindi office for the investigations of the corruption case.

NAB’s combined investigation team (CIT) had summoned the former prime minister to answer the questionnaire, given to him on his last appearance on May 23.

Female judge threatening case

PTI chief’s lawyer Salman Safdar filed the exemption plea in a district and sessions court, maintaining that six new cases had been registered against his client.

“PTI chairman will appear before the courts in 17 different cases,” the lawyer informed the court, reiterating that the former premier had also survived an assassination attack.

Judicial Magistrate Malik Aman adjourned the hearing till the prosecutor appears.

It should be noted that the charges, in this case, are related to a speech by the ex-PM in which he allegedly threatened police and a female judge last year after one of his close aides, Shahbaz Gill, was denied bail in a sedition case.

Army calls for tightening ‘noose of law’ around May 9 ‘planners, masterminds’

RAWALPINDI: The formation commanders of the Pakistan Army on Wednesday called for a tightening of the “noose of law” “around the planners and masterminds” that launched a “rebellion against the state and state institutions”, a statement issued by the military’s media wing said.

“It has been further stressed that, while the legal trials of perpetrators and instigators have commenced, it is time that the noose of law is also tightened around the planners and masterminds who mounted the hate-ripened and politically driven rebellion against the state and state institutions to achieve their nefarious design of creating chaos in the country,” the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The statement was issued after Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Asim Munir presided over the 81st Formation Commanders Conference at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi.

The meeting was attended by corps commanders, principal staff officers and all formation commanders of the army.

The top commanders while condemning the May 9 attacks reiterated their “firm resolve” that the desecrators of martyrs monuments, Jinnah House and attackers of military installations would “certainly be brought to justice speedily under the Pakistan Army Act and Official Secret Act which are the derivatives of the Constitution of Pakistan”.

“In this regard, efforts to create distortions and attempts to take refuge behind imaginary and mirage Human Rights Violations to create smoke screen for hiding the ugly faces of all involved, are absolutely futile and do not stand the abundantly collected irrefutable evidences,” said the commanders.

They also stressed that “endeavours by any quarter to create obstructions and stymie the conclusive defeat of ill design of inimical forces will be dealt with iron hands”.

Commanders pay tribute to martyrs

In the meeting, the forum paid tribute to the “supreme sacrifices” of the martyrs including officers and men of the armed forces, law enforcement agencies and from civil society. It also offered Fateha for the martyrs.

“The state of Pakistan and Armed Forces will always keep Shuhadas (martyrs) and their families in highest esteem and will continue to honor them and their sacrifices with utmost respect and dignity,” the forum was quoted by the ISPR.

As per the military’s media wing, the meeting was also briefed on prevalent environment, challenges to internal and external security, and the operational preparedness of the army in response to the evolving traditional and non-traditional threats.

The meeting was also briefed on the “structural changes and niche technologies” being added to the armoury for the enhancement of the “operational preparedness besides upgradation of essential logistic infrastructure corresponding to emerging security imperatives”.

“Pakistan Army will remain committed towards their national obligations of safeguarding territorial integrity and sovereignty [of the country],” the army chief told the participants. He also added that the bond between the people and the armed forces “would remain central” to their undertakings and the May 25 events “were a clear manifestation of same”.

“Unfounded and baseless allegations on law enforcement agencies and security forces for custodial torture, human rights abuses and stifling of political activities are meant to mislead the people and malign armed forces in order to achieve trivial vested political interests,” the forum stated.

The army chief told the forum that “hostile forces and their abettors” designs to create “societal division and confusion through fake news and propaganda” will continue to “defeated with the full support of the nation”.

Gen Munir also stressed on maintaining high standards of professionalism and motivation during operations and achieving excellence during training of their formations. He lauded the commanders for their constant focus on the wellbeing and high state of morale of their soldiers who remain the foundation of army’s operational readiness.

“Forum concluded by affirming resolve to render all sacrifices necessary for the security and stability of the country with the perpetual support of the proud people of Pakistan,” said the ISPR.

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