The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) formally requested Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Qazi Faez Isa to recuse himself from bench handling cases relating to the party and its founder, Imran Khan, as reported by ANI via ARY News on Friday. In a statement released following the PTI core committee's meeting, the party emphasised the need for CJP Qazi Faez Isa to step aside from cases involving PTI and Imran Khan, citing concerns over potential bias and lack of impartiality. This demand arises as the Supreme Court prepares to convene on June 3 to address the reserved seats case of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC), with Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa presiding over the bench. Notably, Justice Musarrat Hilali will be absent from the proceedings due to health reasons. The PTI raised objections and claimed that the Chief Justice's involvement in their cases could adversely affect the fairness of the legal proceedings, ARY News reported. During a recent session, a three-member bench, chaired by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and including Justice Muhammad Ali Mazhar and Justice Athar Minallah, suspended a verdict regarding the allocation of reserved seats to other political parties. Justice Mansoor Ali Shah announced that the case has been scheduled for a hearing, adding, "We are suspending the ECP and PHC verdicts." In a separate instance, Imran Khan made an appearance before a Supreme Court bench, led by CJP Isa, concerning amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance 1999, just a day before the PTI's call for recusal. Recently, a local court acquitted former prime minister Imran Khan in two cases registered against him in connection with violent protests that broke out following his arrest on May 9 last year. Khan was also acquitted in two cases related to Azadi March held on May 25, 2022. The founding chairman of PTI is facing a string of cases, including those related to May 9 violence across Pakistan, and is incarcerated in Adiala jail. Six FIRs pertaining to May 9 riots were registered against Khan in different police stations of Islamabad. He has been accused of inciting people to block highways and attacking police, Dawn reported.
01 June,2024 06:50 PM IST | Islamabad | mid-day online correspondentPakistan officially stated on Friday that it had requested Afghanistan to turn over the suspected perpetrators of a recent terrorist incident that claimed the lives of five Chinese nationals and their Pakistani chauffeur, as per PTI. On March 26, their car was attacked in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province's Besham region. Pakistan's investigation revealed that the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) planned and carried out the attack from its bases in Afghanistan. According to the PTI report, Foreign Office spokesperson Mumtaz Zahra Baloch was questioned at the weekly press briefing about whether Pakistani diplomats had demanded that the Afghan Interim Government turn up the culprits of the Besham attack on March 26 during a meeting in Kabul on Thursday. In response, the representative stated, "yes, the answer is in the affirmative". "Pakistan shared the findings into the Besham attack and sought Afghanistan's assistance in apprehending the perpetrators," she said. She said the Afghan side had committed to prevent the use of their soil for any terrorist activity and agreed to examine the findings of the investigation and to work with Pakistan to take the investigation to its logical conclusion. Baloch said Pakistan was committed to fighting the terror elements, terror groups and their sponsors because law enforcement and security officials lost lives, and the people of the country paid a huge sacrifice. "So, Pakistan remains committed to fighting these terror elements," she said. Baloch said that Pakistan believes that terrorism is a threat not just for Afghanistan but for Pakistan and the wider region. She said it was important that action be taken against terror groups and their sponsors so that the people of Afghanistan, the people of Pakistan and people of the wider region live in peace and security. Earlier, on the special directions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Secretary Interior Muhammad Khurram Agha, visited Kabul on Thursday and held a detailed meeting with Interim Afghan Deputy Minister for Interior Muhammad Nabi Omari. "In the meeting, which focused on the terror attack of March 26 at Besham, the Secretary Interior shared the findings of the Government of Pakistan into the Besham attack and sought Afghanistan's assistance in apprehending the perpetrators," the FO said in a separate statement. The Afghan side reiterated its commitment to prevent the use of their soil for any terrorist activity against other countries, including Pakistan. The Afghan side also agreed to examine the findings of the investigation and expressed the resolve to work with the Pakistan side to take the investigation to its logical conclusion. The two sides agreed to remain engaged to confront the threat posed by terrorism to regional countries and to address the concerns raised by Pakistan.
01 June,2024 06:30 PM IST | Islamabad | mid-day online correspondentOn Friday, US President Joe Biden urged US President Donald Trump, who was convicted on 34 charges of falsifying company records, to respect the legal system and refrain from acting recklessly or dangerously. "Donald Trump was given every opportunity to defend himself "it was heard by a jury of 12 citizens, 12 Americans tell people like you and millions of Americans who serve on juries. This jury has chosen the same way every jury in America has chosen. After careful deliberation, the jury reached a unanimous verdict. They found Donald Trump guilty on all 34 felony charges. Now he has been given the opportunity and he should appeal that decision just like everyone else has an opportunity. That's how the American system of justice works," Biden said. In his initial public statement following Trump's conviction on 34 charges of falsifying business records, Biden criticised Trump for his remarks regarding the verdict of the jury and asserted that the trial was manipulative. "It is reckless, it's dangerous, it's irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don't like the verdict," Biden told reporters at the White House. "Our justice system should be respected and we should never allow anyone to tear it down, it's as simple as that," said the president. Earlier in New York, Trump described the trial as unfair and rigged. "As far as the trial itself, it was very unfair. You saw what happened to some of the witnesses that were on our side. They were literally crucified by this man, who looks like an angel, but he's a devil," Trump told reporters in New York. (With Inputs from PTI)
01 June,2024 08:50 AM IST | Washington | mid-day online correspondentRussian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment block in Kharkiv and killed at least four people in a night-time attack, Ukrainian officials said Friday, a day after US President Joe Biden gave Kyiv a green light to strike back with American weapons at Russian military assets targeting the city. Russia launched five S-300/S-400 ballistic missiles at Kharkiv overnight, Ukraine’s air force said. One of them struck a residential building close to midnight and was followed by another missile 25 minutes later that hit first responders, officials said. Germany says use arms for defence Germany says Ukraine can use weapons it delivers against attacks from positions just over the Russian border. Germany said on Friday that, together with its closest allies and in consultation with Ukraine, it has been adapting its support to developments in the war. Recently, Russian attacks on Kharkiv have come from areas just over the border in Russia. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 June,2024 08:31 AM IST | Kyiv | AgenciesThe number of people fleeing their homes because of war, violence and persecution has reached 114 million and is climbing because nations have failed to tackle the causes and combatants are refusing to comply with international law, the UN refugee chief said. Filippo Grandi also criticised the UN Security Council, which is charged with maintaining international peace. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 June,2024 08:31 AM IST | United Nations | AgenciesNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un supervised an artillery demonstration drill of “super-large multiple rocket” launchers aimed at South Korea, Pyongyang state media said on Friday. The development comes a day after South Korea said North Korea fired about 10 short-range ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan on Thursday and days after an unsuccessful satellite rocket launch by Pyongyang. Kim directly gave an order to organize the “power demonstration firing” that took place Thursday in response to the South Korean Army’s show of force against North Korea’s legitimate exercise of its sovereign rights, according to KCNA as cited by Yonhap. The drill aimed to show that North Korea will not “hesitate to carry out a preemptive attack by invoking the right to self-defence,” the news agency added. South Korean military said yesterday that it detected the launch of around 10 short-range ballistic missiles from Pyongyang’s Sunan area, adding they flew about 350 kilometers before falling into the East Sea, also known as. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
01 June,2024 08:30 AM IST | Seoul | AgenciesThe United States and China will resume military-to-military communications "in the coming months," said US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin after meeting with his Chinese counterpart Dong Jun in Singapore on Friday at the Shangri-La Dialogue. According to a report of the meeting released by Pentagon, Austin and Dong met here on the margins of the Shangri-La Dialogue to discuss US- China defence relations along with regional and global security issues. The meeting was the first face-to-face meeting between the Chinese and US Defence Ministers after 18 whole months. Department of Defence Press Secretary Pat Ryder said in a statement that, Austin, in the meeting with his Chinese counterpart today at Shangri- La Dialogue, he emphasized the importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military communication between the United States and China. Not long ago, China has conducted a large scale, two-day military drill with relation to Taiwan and Beijing's efforts to aggressively assert territorial claims in the East and South Chine Seas. The two-day drill was also denouncing Washington's efforts to strengthen security ties with important allies like Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. The telephone conversations between theatre commanders will be resumed in the coming months, affirms Austin. The announcement was made by US President Joe Biden and his Chinese Counterpart Xi Jinping in November 2023. As Taiwan held presidential election and the inauguration of President Lai Ching-te this month, Austin also expressed concern about the recent proactive Chinese military activity around the Taiwan Strait. He reiterated that China should not use Taiwan's political transition part of a normal, routine democratic process. While affirming the importance of peace and stability across Taiwan Strait, the US Defence official also underscored that the United States remains committed to its longstanding one China policy, which is guided by the Taiwan Relations Act, the Three US-China Joint Communiques, and the Six Assurances. Austin also made clear that under the guidelines of the International Law, US will continue to fly, sail and operate; safely and responsibly. He said he understands and respects the freedom of navigation under International Law, especially in South China Sea. The US Defence Department will welcome a crisis-communications working group by the end of the year, said the US Department of Defence. Russia's unprovoked war against Ukraine and China's role in supporting Russia's defence industrial base was also discussed by the top defence officials in the Dialogue. The statement released by the Pentagon read; "The Secretary also expressed concerns about recent provocations from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), including its direct contributions to Russia's ongoing assault on Ukraine." Following the meeting Pentagon said the US officials will continue active discussions with their Chinese counterparts about future engagements between defence and military officials at multiple levels. Today's meeting follows Austin's April 16 video teleconference call with his Chinese counterpart. Defence chiefs and officials from around the world are attending the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual forum that began today and will culminate on Sunday. The Shangri-La Dialogue's today's keynote speech will be delivered by Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in 2018, had delivered the key note speech at the forum. Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese were some of the earlier keynote speakers.
31 May,2024 05:21 PM IST | Singapore | mid-day online correspondentAccording to an authority, numerous dead wild animals have been discovered in Cyclone Remal. Mihir Kumar Doe, senior forest conservator in Bangladesh's Khulna region, told the media: "We've found the bodies of 56 wild animals, including 54 deers and two boars, since Cyclone Remal hit the forest on Sunday." According to Xinhua news agency, he stated on Thursday that the animals' remains, which Cyclone Remal carried away, were found in locations within Sundarbans, which is one of the biggest mangrove forests globally. According to officials, the Remal storm that hit Bangladesh on Sunday night completely destroyed the Sundarbans' coastal regions. The storm was believed to have killed at least 16 persons in Bangladesh, according to the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief. In 19 of the 64 districts in the country, the cyclone affected 4,599,464 people in total. (With Inputs from IANS)
31 May,2024 02:56 PM IST | Dhaka | mid-day online correspondentFollowing an alleged attack on Bushra Bibi's former husband, Khawar Maneka, outside of a courthouse, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawyers have been booked, according to an ARY News report. Twenty to twenty-five people—among them Advocate Usman Riaz, Mirza Asim, Zahid Bashir, and Ansar Kiani—are charged in the FIR with attacking Khawar Maneka and causing his injuries. The attorneys are accused of trying to influence and threaten the legal process; they are also being accused of terrorism and nine other offences. According to ARY News, Fatehullah, together with Naeem Panjotha and Advocate Ejaz Bhatti, allegedly physically attacked Khawar Maneka, and the lawyers prevented officials Irshad and Waheed from intervening. Allegations include Fatehullah engaging in a dispute with Constable Khalid and damaging his uniform. The incident occurred during a court session presided over by Judge Shahrukh Arjumand, where Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi's legal plea against their Nikah Case conviction was under consideration. Earlier, Khawar Maneka had been targeted by women outside the courthouse, allegedly in response to derogatory remarks he made during the hearing. Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi's marriage in February 2018 in Lahore had been a private affair, attended only by close relatives and friends, with the notable absence of the PTI founder's sisters. The nikah, officiated by Mufti Saeed in the presence of former PTI leader Awn Chaudhary and former SAPM Zulfi Bukhari as witnesses, was challenged by Khawar Maneka on grounds of illegality under Sharia laws. Accusations of marrying within the "iddat period" following a divorce and engaging in fornication were levied against Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi. In a verdict deemed 'un-Islamic' by Judge Qudratullah, Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were sentenced to seven years imprisonment each and fined PKR 5,00,000 for the alleged violations, ARY News reported. (With Inputs from ANI)
31 May,2024 02:39 PM IST | Islamabad | mid-day online correspondentBoeing told federal regulators Thursday how it plans to fix the safety and quality problems that have plagued its aircraft-manufacturing work in recent years. The Federal Aviation Administration required the company to produce a turnaround plan after one of its jetliners suffered a blowout of a fuselage panel during an Alaska Airlines flight in January. "This is a guide for a new way for Boeing to do business," FAA Administrator Mike Whitaker said after he met with senior company leaders. Boeing has laid out a road map, "now they need to execute." Nobody was hurt during the midair incident on relatively new Boeing 737 Max 9. Accident investigators determined that bolts that helped secure the panel to the frame of the plane were missing before the piece blew off. The mishap has further battered Boeing's reputation and led to multiple civil and criminal investigations. Whistleblowers have accused the company of taking shortcuts that endanger passengers, a claim that Boeing disputes. A panel convened by the FAA found shortcomings in the aircraft maker's safety culture. In late February, Whitaker gave Boeing 90 days to come up with a plan to improve quality and ease the agency's safety concerns. He described the plan as the beginning, not the end, of a process to improve Boeing. "This is a guide for a new way for Boeing to do business," Whitaker told reporters Thursday. The FAA limited Boeing production of the 737 Max, its best-selling plane, after the close call involving the Alaska Airlines jetliner. Whitaker said the cap will remain in place until his agency is satisfied Boeing is making progress. Boeing's recent problems could expose it to criminal prosecution related to the deadly crashes of two Max jetliners in 2018 and 2019. The Justice Department said two weeks ago that Boeing violated terms of a 2021 settlement that allowed it to avoid prosecution for fraud. The charge was based on the company allegedly deceiving regulators about a flight-control system that was implicated in the crashes. Most of the recent problems have been related to the Max, however Boeing and key supplier Spirit AeroSystems have also struggled with manufacturing flaws on a larger plane, the 787 Dreamliner. Boeing has suffered setbacks on other programs including its Starliner space capsule, a military refuelling tanker, and new Air Force One presidential jets. Boeing officials have vowed to regain the trust of regulators and the flying public. Boeing has fallen behind rival Airbus, and production setbacks have hurt the company's ability to generate cash. The company says it is reducing "travelled work" " assembly tasks that are done out of their proper chronological order " and keeping closer tabs on Spirit AeroSystems. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
31 May,2024 01:20 PM IST | Washington | AP | PTITwo US sources familiar with the situation said President Joe Biden has permitted Ukraine to use US weapons inside Russia for the specific goal of defending Kharkiv. The officials emphasised that the US policy, which calls on Ukraine not to deploy long-range missiles and other munitions provided by the US to launch offensive strikes inside Russia, has not changed. The officials made this request while speaking about the sensitive subject. The action is being taken in response to increased requests from Ukrainian officials to the US administration to permit their forces to protect themselves against attacks coming from Russian territory. Politico was the first to report on Biden's decision. On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken attacked Russian efforts to foment unrest in democracies through disinformation, implying that the Biden administration may soon permit Ukraine to launch an internal attack within Russia using US-supplied weaponry. Blinken met with NATO foreign ministers in Prague after more officials said that Ukraine should be able to defend itself by attacking targets in Russian territory. He declared that Moscow's use of disinformation and misinformation was "poison" and signed a counter-agreement with the Czech government. He also toured a Czech military base, where he saw armoured vehicles that Prague is sending to Kyiv to help fight Russia's invasion and received a briefing on a Czech initiative to supply Ukraine with a million rounds of ammunition by the end of the year. "We know that a major front in the competition that we have, the adversarial relationship that we have, notably with Russia, is on the information front," Blinken said. He said the agreement with the Czechs " the 17th such accord the US has signed with partner nations " would help "to effectively deal with misinformation and disinformation, which is a poison being injected into our democracies by our adversaries". "The more we're able to do together both between our countries but also with other countries, the more effective we're going to be exposing it and dealing with it," Blinken told reporters at a signing ceremony with Czech Foreign Minister Minister Jan Lipavsky. Lipavsky agreed, noting that Czech authorities had recently exposed a major Russian-backed misinformation campaign. "We are facing confrontation between democracies and autocracies," Lipavsky said. "The Kremlin has started targeting democracies all around the world with cyber warfare, propaganda and influence operations and this danger simply cannot be underestimated any more." At a separate NATO-related event on Thursday, Lipavsky said Ukraine needs resources to counter Russia's relentless assault. "Ukraine cannot fight against Russia with one hand tied behind its back," he said. "Ukraine must be able to fight against Russia's barbaric invasion even on Russian territory. Political resolve must be backed by credible capabilities." Norway's foreign minister, Espen Barth Eide, told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that his country believes Ukraine "has a crystal-clear right under international law to attack Russia inside Russia as part of the defence of its territory". Russia's invasion of Ukraine and support for Ukrainian attempts to repel it will be a major focus of the NATO foreign minister meetings on Thursday and Friday " the alliance's last major diplomatic gathering before a leaders' summit in Washington in July to mark the 75th anniversary of its founding. Blinken stated on Wednesday in Moldova that US policy regarding Ukraine's use of US weapons is always changing, implying that Washington might lift an unwritten ban on Ukraine using US weapons in attacks against Russian land. Although US officials insist there is no formal ban, they have long made clear that they believe the use of American weapons to attack targets inside Russia could provoke an escalatory response from Moscow, something that Russian President Vladimir Putin has promised. That position appears to be being reconsidered, and Blinken noted that it was a "hallmark" of the Biden administration's stance on Ukraine to "adapt and adjust" as needed. Blinken visited Kyiv earlier this month and heard a direct appeal from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to use US military assistance to strike positions in Russia from where attacks on Ukraine are launched. "As the conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed in terms of how it's pursuing its aggression, escalation, we've adapted and adjusted too, and I'm confident we'll continue to do that," Blinken said at a news conference in Chisinau. "At every step along the way, we've adapted and adjusted as necessary, and so that's exactly what we'll do going forward," he said. "We're always listening, we're always learning, and we're always making determinations about what's necessary to make sure that Ukraine can effectively continue to defend itself, and we'll continue to do that." Earlier this week, French President Emmanuel Macron and NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said that Western countries should not object if Ukraine needs to strike inside Russia to defend itself. Stoltenberg reaffirmed that position on Thursday. "I believe that time has come to (re)consider some of these restrictions to enable the Ukrainians to defend themselves," he said. "We need to remember what it is. This is a war of aggression launched by choice by Moscow against Ukraine." The right to self-defence, he said, "includes also striking legitimate military targets outside Ukraine". (With Inputs from AP)
31 May,2024 10:16 AM IST | Washington | mid-day online correspondent | PTIADVERTISEMENT
