23-10-2025

Month: November 2023

Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has agreed to buy a 10% stake in Heathrow airport from Spanish infrastructure giant Ferrovial.

Another 15% in its parent company, FGP Topco, will be sold to French-based private equity fund Ardian.

Ferrovial, which has owned a stake since 2006, announced that the deal was worth £2.37bn ($3bn).

The transaction is still subject to regulatory conditions, according to the firm.

If approved, the deal would end Ferrovial’s investment in the UK airports’ operator which started at 56% but was reduced to 25% by 2013.

Other stakeholders in FGP Topco include Qatar Investment Authority, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Singapore’s GIC, Australian Retirement Trust, China Investment Corporation and Universities Superannuation Scheme.

The airport has been losing money this year because of its significant debt which is affected by aggressive hikes in the cost of borrowing.

The Civil Aviation Authority has also decided to lower passenger charges which go towards costs for terminals runways, baggage systems and security.

The average charge per passenger at Heathrow for 2023 is £31.57 but the regulator said this would fall to £25.43 in 2024 and “remain broadly flat” until the end of 2026.

It is understood bosses at Heathrow wanted charges to actually increase to more than £40, while airlines proposed they should be no more than around £18.50.

Saudi’s PIF is one of the world’s most active sovereign wealth funds with more than $700bn in assets thanks to its oil wealth, which has recently been investing in sport such as football and golf.

But the fund is controlled by Saudi Arabia’s prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud whose government has been accused of numerous human rights violations.

US intelligence has said it believes Prince Mohammed ordered the 2018 killing of a US-based journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, though the prince has been given immunity in the US and he has also been invited to visit the UK according to the Saudi Arabian embassy.

Middle East conflict in focus as Saudi commander meets COAS Munir

Commander of the Royal Saudi Land Forces (RSLF) Lieutenant General Fahd bin Abdullah Al-Mutair called on Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Syed Asim Munir at the General headquarters in Rawalpindi, the military’s media affairs wing said on Monday.

According to the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), during the meeting, both sides discussed various areas of mutual interest including cooperation in the fields of defence, security and military training as well as the regional situation and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Currently, Qatar, Egypt, the United States, the European Union and other countries are working to extend the temporary ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. During the temporary ceasefire agreement, both sides swapped dozens of hostages.

Since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas conflict on October 7, over 15,000 Palestinians — including more than 6,200 — lost their lives during the Israeli aggression and bombardment on civilian sites, including hospitals.

The visiting dignitary appreciated the Pakistan Army’s role in fighting the menace of terrorism and paid rich tribute to the sacrifices made in bringing peace to the region.

Gen Munir thanked the dignitary and said: “Pakistan deeply values its strategic and brotherly ties with the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia.”

Earlier on arrival at the GHQ, a smartly turned-out contingent of the Pakistan Army presented the guard of honour to the visiting dignitary.

PM’s UAE visit leads to signing of MoUs worth billions of dollars

Pakistan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) signed several Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) worth multi-billion dollars in a range of areas on Monday to boost economic and strategic cooperation between the two countries, caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar said.

The prime minister, who is on a two-day visit to the UAE, said with the signing of the MoUs, the bilateral economic and strategic relations had entered into a new era of bilateral cooperation.

Congratulating the people of Pakistan and the UAE, he said the foundation of friendship with Pakistan which was laid by Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan in the 1970s, had been taken forward by his son Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan to a new era.

 

Army Chief General Asim Munir and the federal ministers were present on the occasion while on the other side, all the important ministers of UAE were also present, according to state-run APP.

PM Kakar expressed the hope that the MoUs that were signed by the two countries would turn into tangible projects very soon.

Bilateral meeting

During the visit, PM Kakar held a bilateral meeting with UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed in Abu Dhabi and discussed global and bilateral matters

General Munir was also present on the occasion, according to a statement issued by the PM’s Office.

The leaders underlined that Pakistan and the UAE have historic and deep-rooted fraternal ties that have stood the test of time.

They reaffirmed the resolve to further strengthen bilateral strategic cooperation and dialogue between Pakistan and the UAE.

Prime Minister Kakar expressed profound gratitude for the UAE’s firm support to Pakistan in the economic and financial domain.

The UAE is home to 1.8 million Pakistanis, contributing to the progress, prosperity and economic development of the two brotherly countries.

During the meeting, regional and global developments were also discussed with particular reference to the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in occupied Palestine.

The prime minister expressed Pakistan’s support for a just and durable solution to the Palestinian question anchored in international law and in line with relevant United Nations and OIC resolutions.

He also reiterated Pakistan’s full support of the UAE’s Presidency for COP 28, underlining its importance as an opportunity for meaningful progress towards effective and result-oriented global actions in key areas to mitigate climate impact including the establishment of the Loss and Damage Fund.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of MoUs between Pakistan and the UAE pertaining to investment cooperation in the sectors of energy, port operations projects, waste water treatment, food security, logistics, minerals, and banking and financial services.

The official statement said these MoUs will unlock multi-billion dollars of investment from UAE into Pakistan and will help realise various initiatives envisioned under Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC).

Kuwait visit

Following his visit to the UAE, PM Kakar will embark on a bilateral visit to Kuwait on November 28-29, the Foreign Office said in a statement.

During the visit, the prime minister will meet Sheikh Meshal Al Jaber Al Sabah, Crown Prince of State of Kuwait, and Sheikh Ahmed Nawaf Al Ahmed AL Sabah, Prime Minister of the State of Kuwait.

The visit will include the signing of various MoUs in the fields of manpower, information technology, mineral exploration and food security, energy, and defence.

Pakistan and Kuwait enjoy deep-rooted and historical ties spanning over six decades. The year 2023 marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations, as per the statement.

Pro-Khalistan activists heckle Indian envoy in New York

Viral videos showed activists confronting Ambassador Sandhu and making statements about attacks on Sikh activists Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Mr Sandhu visited the Gurunanak Darbar Gurdwara in Long Island, New York, on Sunday to participate in Gurpurab celebrations — the most important festival for the followers of the religion of Sikhism.

 

Nijjar was assassinated in the parking lot of a Sikh temple in British Columbia on June 18, 2023. In September, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau blamed India for the assassination.

Last week, the Financial Times reported that Washington recently thwarted another Indian plot to assassinate Pannun as well.

On Wednesday, the White House announced it was treating the reported assassination attempt on American soil “with utmost seriousness” and has raised the issue with the Indian government “at the senior-most levels”.

Videos from the Gurdwara show protesters chanting slogans against India’s attempt to suppress the Sikh movement. One protester can also be seen raising the Khalistani flag as the ambassador was leaving the Gurdwara.

“Ambassador Sandhu aborted his visit and fled the Hicksville Gurdwara in haste, embarrassed and without answering the questions raised by the pro-Khalistan Sikhs about his role in the assassination attempts,” Mr Pannun said in a statement.

“From the incoherent answers of… the fleeing ambassador” it was obvious that India was “using mercenaries to stop the Khalistan referendum voting,” he added.

“Despite India’s attempt to assassinate me, Khalistan referendum voting will continue, and the American phase is going to start from January 28, 2024, in San Francisco, California,” he said.

The activists asked the Indian ambassador if he was also involved in the failed bid to assassinate Pannun.

Himmat Singh, who leads pro-Khalistan Sikhs at the Gurdwara, claimed that New Delhi had assassinated Mr Nijjar. The slain Sikh leader was the president of Surrey Gurdwara in Canada and the coordinator for the Canadian chapter of Khalistan Referendum.

“I only wanted answers from Ambassador Sandhu as to why India is using violence to stop the global Khalistan Referendum voting,” said Himmat Singh, who heads the East Coast Coordination Committee.

At least 24 people have been killed by lightning and intense rain and hailstorms in India, officials said.

The weather damaged houses and killed livestock across western Gujarat state.

Storms are unusual in Gujarat during winter, meteorologists said, and the fierce downpour caught many off guard.

Flash floods and lightning strikes kill thousands of people in India each year. Scientists are warning that rising global temperatures are fuelling a surge in extreme weather events.

Rising land and sea surface temperatures warm the air above and make more energy available to drive thunderstorms from where lightning emanates.

Rain and hailstorms were expected to continue in western India on Monday.

At least 18 of the 24 deaths were attributed to the lightning strikes, officials said in a statement late on Sunday.

Gujarat state was hit by heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and hailstorms on Sunday and Monday, with some areas receiving up to 144mm (5.7 inches) of rain in 24 hours, Reuters news agency reported citing state government data.

The collision of three weather systems over Gujarat caused the lightning strikes, according to Manorama Mohanty, head of the Indian Metrological Department in Ahmedabad.

“These are the easterly winds flowing from the Arabian Sea, the Western Disturbance over the Western Himalayas and the Cyclonic Circulation over South Gujarat,” Ms Mohanty told BBC Gujarati.

India’s Home Minister Amit Shah said he was “deeply saddened” by the deaths, adding that local authorities were engaging in relief work.

 

Farmer Yogesh Patel, 42, died on his farm when lightning hit a tree he was sheltering under in heavy rain.

Shantilal Patel, a close family friend, told the BBC that Mr Patel is survived by his three children and a wife.

“He was in his farm below a tree when the lightning hit him. When we saw his body, it seemed that the mobile phone in his left pocket of shirt was blasted due to lightning which killed him on the spot,” she said.

In India, lightning strikes killed more than 100,000 people between 1967 and 2019, according to official data. This is more than a third of fatalities caused by natural hazards during this period.

The number of lightning strikes in the country is also rising – but reported fatalities have been decreasing in recent years as the authorities improve their management of lightning risk, including forecasting and early warning systems.

India recorded more than 18 million lightning strikes between April 2020 and March 2021, according to a study by the non-profit Climate Resilient Observing Systems Promotion Council. This was a 34% rise over a similar period during the previous year.

Additional reporting by BBC Gujarati’s Daxesh Shah and Roxy Gagdekar Chhara

A diplomatic row has broken out between the British and Greek governments over the Parthenon Sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles.

The Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was due to meet Rishi Sunak in London, but No 10 cancelled the meeting at the last minute.

He told reporters he was “deeply disappointed by the abrupt cancellation” of the meeting.

Mr Mitsotakis rejected an alternative meeting with the deputy prime minister.

The cancellation came a day after Mr Mitsotakis told the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg that the marbles should be returned, as having some of the artefacts in London and the rest in Athens was like cutting the Mona Lisa in half.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis likens having some Elgin Marbles in the UK to ‘cutting Mona Lisa in half’

The Greek prime minister told reporters on Monday evening he was disappointed the meeting had been cancelled “mere hours before its slated time”, saying: “Those who firmly believe in the correctness and justice of their positions are never hesitant to engage in constructive argumentation and debate.”

Mr Mitsotakis said: “Greece and Britain share longstanding ties of friendship, and the scope of our bilateral relations is extensive.

“Our positions on the matter of the Parthenon Sculptures are well-known. I had anticipated engaging in a discussion with my British counterpart on this issue, as well as addressing significant global challenges such as the situations in Gaza and Ukraine, the climate crisis, and migration.”

Sources with knowledge of the mood in the Greek government said Mr Mitsotakis was “baffled” and “annoyed”.

The meeting had been due to happen at lunchtime on Tuesday and, the BBC understands, was due to last 45 minutes.

But Mr Mitsotakis’s appearance on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme had irritated Mr Sunak.

The British government confirmed the cancellation and offered the Greek PM a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden instead.

A senior Conservative source said: “It became impossible for this meeting to go ahead following commentary regarding the Elgin Marbles prior to it.

“Our position is clear – the Elgin Marbles are part of the permanent collection of the British Museum and belong here. It is reckless for any British politician to suggest that this is subject to negotiation.”

Mr Mitsotakis met the Labour leader Keir Starmer earlier.

He will now return to Greece on Tuesday after his scheduled meetings in the morning – declining the meeting with Mr Dowden.

‘Slippery slope’

Don’t underestimate the politics of this row.

The Conservatives argue it was naive of Labour Leader Sir Keir Starmer to meet the Greek leader, given the public view he expressed on the future of the marbles on Sunday.

Labour’s view is they wouldn’t stand in the way of a loan arrangement between the British Museum and Athens if one was arranged.

Mr Mitsotakis met Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer in London on Monday

A spokesperson for the British government said there were “no plans” to change the 1963 British Museum Act – which prohibits the removal of objects from the institution’s collection.

But a loan does not require a change in the law and so could happen irrespective of the view of the British prime minister.

Many Conservatives believe such an arrangement would be a “slippery slope”, as one put it to me.

“Keir Starmer is clearly keen to ignore the contributions generations of British taxpayers have made to keep them safe and share them with the world,” one party source claimed.

But a Labour source said their position was long-standing – a Labour government would not change the law to allow the sculptures to be permanently moved – and Mr Sunak’s behaviour was “pathetic”.

Another source said “what a bizarre piece of culture war theatre”.

A Labour spokesperson said: “If the prime minister isn’t able to meet with a European ally with whom Britain has important economic ties, this is further proof he isn’t able to provide the serious economic leadership our country requires. Keir Starmer’s Labour Party stands ready.”

Loan arrangement explored

The sculptures are arguably the most high-profile artworks in the increasingly contested debate about whether museums across the world should return items to their countries of origin.

Lord Elgin, a British soldier and diplomat, removed them from the Parthenon temple in Athens in the early 19th Century. The sculptures were then bought by the British government in 1816 and placed in the British Museum.

The marble figures are part of a frieze that decorated the 2,500-year old temple, made by the sculptor Phidias.

The Parthenon Gallery at the Acropolis Museum was built more than a decade ago to house the sculptures. The exhibition combines the original marble sculptures with plaster copies of those held in the British Museum and other foreign museums.

The trustees of the British Museum are currently exploring the prospect of a loan arrangement with Greece.

The British Museum’s Chair of Trustees, George Osborne, who is the former chancellor, has previously said he is looking to find “some kind of arrangement to allow some of the sculptures to spend some of their time in Greece”.

Speaking to the Culture, Media and Sport Committee in October, Mr Osborne said any deal would have to see “objects from Greece coming here” for the first time.

It is thought any decision is at least months away.

39 more Palestinians reunited with loved ones

JERUSALEM: Israel’s pri­son service said 39 Pales­tinian detainees were relea­sed on Sunday under the terms of a truce agreement, while Hamas hand over 17 prisoners on the third day of a truce with Israel.

The release of some of the prisoners includes, 13 Israeli prisoners, three Thais and one with Russian citizenship.

Meanwhile, holding a news conference, President Joe Biden said a 4-year-old US citizen was also released. Biden said he hoped the pause in Israeli aggression against Gazans can go on as long as prisoners are getting released. He said he hoped more Americans would be released by Hamas although he did not have firm news.

In addition, a source close to Hamas said the group was willing to extend the current truce with Israel in Gaza for two to four days beyond its initial expiry on Monday.

“Hamas informed the media­tors that the resistance movements were willing to extend the current truce by two to four days. The resistance believes it is possible to ensure the rel­ease of 20 to 40 Israeli prisoners,” the source told AFP.

Farmer killed

The killing of a Palestinian farmer in the central Gaza Strip had earlier added to concerns over the fragility of the truce.

The farmer was killed when targeted by Israeli forces east of Gaza’s long-established Maghazi refugee camp, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.

Meanwhile, the Hamas also said on Sunday that four of its military commanders in the Gaza Strip had been killed, including the commander of the North Gaza brigade, Ahmad Al Ghandour. It did not say when they had been killed. Qatar, Egypt and the United States are pressing for the truce to be extended beyond Monday but it is not clear whether that will happen.

Israel had said the ceasefire could be extended if Hamas continued to release at least 10 prisoners a day. A Palestinian source had said up to 100 prisoners could go free.

West bank violence

Israeli troops killed eight Palestinians over a 24-hour period in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry said.

Five people were killed by Israeli army fire in Jenin, the ministry said, during an incursion by a large number of armoured vehicles into the city, which was recently the scene of the deadliest Israeli raid in the West Bank in almost 20 years.

Medical sources told AFP 15 people were wounded, while witnesses reported that an Israeli drone had carried out an air strike on Jenin’s refugee camp.

Other witnesses said on Saturday that the Israeli army had surrounded Jenin’s public hospital and the Ibn Sina clinic, and that soldiers were searching ambulances.

The Israeli army said it had arrested the suspected perpetrator of an attack that killed two Israelis in August.

A 25-year-old doctor was killed on Saturday outside his home in Qabatiya, near Jenin, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

A Palestinian was also killed in El-Bireh, near the city of Ramallah, and another during an Israeli army raid on a village south of Nablus, it said.

Indian army digs by hand to free 41 trapped tunnel workers

Soldiers plan to use a so-called “rat-hole mining” technique, digging by hand to clear the rocks and rubble over the remaining nine metres, with temperatures plummeting in the remote mountain location in the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand.

 

Last week, engineers working to drive a metal pipe horizontally through 57 metres of rock and concrete ran into metal girders and construction vehicles buried in the earth, snapping a giant earth-boring augur machine.

“The broken parts of the auger (drilling) machine stuck inside the tunnel have been removed”, senior local civil servant Abhishek Ruhela told AFP on Monday, after a specialised superheated plasma cutter was brought in to clear the metal.

“Preparations are being made to start manual drilling work,” he added.

“Indian Army engineering battalion personnel, along with other rescue officers, are preparing to do rat-hole mining”.

Engineers in the bitterly cold conditions will use manual drills to clear the route, a tough task in the narrow pipe, just wide enough for a man to crawl through.

‘Challenging’

In a separate effort, vertical drilling has reached more than a quarter of the 89m down to the men, a risky route in an area that has already suffered a collapse.

A drilling machine was brought up to the forested hill above the tunnel on a specially-constructed track.

“Vertical drilling is going on at a fast pace,” with teams having reached 19m by late Sunday, said Mahmood Ahmed, a top official in the national roads ministry.

Work is ongoing at “full speed but with caution”, he added.

Digging, blasting and drilling have also begun from the far side of the road tunnel, a much longer third route estimated to be around 480m.

The 41 construction workers have been trapped in the Silkyara road tunnel since November 12.

Efforts have been painfully slow, complicated by falling debris and repeated breakdowns of drilling machines.

Hopes that the team was on the verge of a breakthrough on Wednesday were dashed, with a government statement warning of the “challenging Himalayan terrain”.

For the distraught relatives of the trapped men, it has been an ordeal without an imminent end in sight.

But Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami vowed on Monday that all the men would be rescued.

“Do not worry, all the labourers will be taken out safely”, he said on X, formerly Twitter.

 

The workers were seen alive for the first time on Tuesday, peering into the lens of an endoscopic camera sent by rescuers down a thin pipe through which air, food, water and electricity are being delivered.

Though trapped, they have plenty of space in the tunnel, with the area inside 8.5m high and stretching about two kilometres in length.

Pak-UAE bilateral ties to top agenda in Kakar’s meeting with Mohamed bin Zayed

ISLAMABAD: In his visit to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar will today meet with the Gulf nation’s President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi.

According to a statement released by the PM Office, the premier and President Nahyan will discuss bilateral relations and other crucial matters.

“The two leaders will exchange views on enhancing brotherly bilateral relations between the two countries in the fields of economy, trade, investment, cultural, defence and fostering people-to-people contacts,” the statement read.

Pakistan and the UAE will also sign memorandums of understanding (MoUs) in various fields including investment cooperation in the fields of energy, port operation projects, wastewater treatment, food security, logistics, mining, aviation and banking and financial services.

PM Kakar landed in Abu Dhabi on an official UAE visit a day earlier where he was received by the Gulf nation’s Minister of Justice Abdullah Sultan bin Awad Al Nuaimi and Pakistani diplomatic officials at Al Bateen Airport.

According to the Foreign Office, the premier’s visit will end on November 28 (Tuesday).

Pakistan and the UAE enjoy warm and long-standing fraternal ties that have stood multiple tests of time, it added.

Moreover, PM Kakar will also lead a delegation to attend the celebrations of the 52nd National Day of the UAE and the 28th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 28) in Dubai.

According to The News, 90 heads of the states including Pakistan and 7,000 representatives across the world will be a part of the celebrations.

The foreign heads of state and representatives were invited to the celebrations of the National Day of UAE on December 2.

Therefore, the reception of National Day on behalf of the UAE Embassy has been cancelled in Islamabad. The UN Climate Change Conference of 2023 will be held in UAE from November 30 to December 12.

Various programmes of the international climate change conference will continue in UAE till December 15.

On the invitation of the UAE president, a high-level delegation of Pakistan headed by PM Kakar and caretaker ministers of trade, climate change, health and finance will supervise Pakistan during the celebrations which are to take place on December 1 and 2.

On this occasion, the premier will hold meetings with world leaders and representatives of foreign countries including the prime minister of UAE and ruler of Dubai.

Indian envoy flees NY Gurdwara after questions on New Delhi’s role in failed plot to assassinate Sikh leader

NEW YORK: The Indian envoy in the US had to flee a Gurdwara in New York after pro-Khalistan activists confronted him over his role in the failed Indian plot to assassinate Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, general counsel to Sikhs For Justice (SFJ) and spokesperson for the global Khalistan Referendum campaign.

Pro-Khalistan activists asked questions from Indian envoy Taranjit Singh Sandhu over his role in the failed bid to assassinate Pannun.

Himmat Singh, who led the pro-Khalistan Sikhs at Hicksville Gurdwara in New York, also accused Sandhu of New Delhi’s role in the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. The slain Sikh leader was the president of Surrey Gurdwara in Canada and the coordinator for the Canadian chapter of the Khalistan Referendum.

Agitated by the questioning, Sandhu aborted his visit and fled hastily without answering any of the questions raised by the Sikhs.

“I only wanted answers from Ambassador Sandhu as to why India is using violence to stop the global Khalistan Referendum voting,” said Himmat who heads the East Coast Coordination Committee.

“American constitution gives US citizens the right to peacefully question anyone irrespective of their affiliation or position in the government,” said Pannun who was the target of India’s assassination plot.

“Despite India’s attempt to assassinate me, Khalistan Referendum Voting will continue and the American Phase is going to start from 28th January 2024 in San Francisco, California,” stated Pannun.

Last week, the US authorities said they thwarted an Indian conspiracy to assassinate Pannun on American soil and issued a warning to New Delhi over concerns it was involved in the plot, according to multiple people familiar with the case who spoke to the Financial Times (FT).

The UK media report citing intelligence people familiar with the case said that the Indian government was behind the plot to kill Pannun.

The lawyer is running a worldwide campaign called Khalistan Referendum in which over 1.3 million Sikhs have voted, so far.

The US informed some allies about the plot following the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Canadian Sikh separatist killed in Vancouver in June.

In September, Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said there were “credible allegations” linking New Delhi to Nijjar’s fatal shooting.

The publication said that one person familiar with the situation said the US protest was issued after Prime Minister Narendra Modi made a high-profile state visit to Washington in June.

FT revealed that separate from the diplomatic warning, US federal prosecutors have filed a sealed indictment against at least one alleged perpetrator of the plot in a New York district court, according to people familiar with the case.

The US justice department is debating whether to unseal the indictment and make the allegations public or wait until Canada finishes its investigation into Nijjar’s murder, said the paper.

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