LONDON: Events unfolded in the UK at breakneck pace on Friday, the day after the general election. After the overnight scramble for results, the day began with Labour’s overwhelming 412-seat majority in the 650-member House of Commons becoming clear. This prompted a concession speech from outgoing PM Rishi Sunak, who made a bee-line for Buckingham Palace to submit his resignation. He had already announced his intention to step down as head of the Conservative Party. Speaking outside Downing Street for the last time, he said: “I have heard your anger, disappointment and I take responsibility for this loss.” Shortly afterwards,…
Author: Hasnain Abid Khanzada
Relative moderate Masoud Pezeshkian urged people on Saturday to stick with him on “the difficult road ahead” after beating a hardline rival to win Iran’s presidential election. Friday’s run-off vote was between Pezeshkian, the sole moderate in the original field of four candidates, and hardline former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili. Pezeshkian, a 69-year-old cardiac surgeon, has pledged to promote a pragmatic foreign policy, ease tensions over now-stalled negotiations with major powers to revive a 2015 nuclear pact and improve prospects for social liberalisation and political pluralism. However, many Iranians are sceptical about his ability to fulfil his campaign promises as Supreme Leader…
The chief organiser of an Indian preacher’s event where a stampede killed 121 people this week surrendered to police on Friday, a lawyer for the preacher said after police had launched a manhunt. Devprakash Madhukar was named a key suspect in an initial report registered by police under charges including attempted culpable homicide. Police had announced a reward of 100,000 rupees for information leading to his arrest. AP Singh, lawyer for self-styled godman Bhole Baba, said Madhukar was the main organiser of the Hindu religious event on Tuesday attended by about 250,000 people in a village in the northern state of Uttar…
THE claim that Justice Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb has filed a petition against the head of the an intelligence agency is untrue. On March 25, six IHC judges — out of a total strength of eight — wrote a startling letter to the Supreme Judicial Council members, regarding attempts to pressure judges through abduction and torture of their relatives as well as secret surveillance inside their homes. In a tweet on July 3, PTI MPA Fauzia Siddiqui had claimed that Justice Aurangzeb filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the chief of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), alleging that intelligence…
KARACHI: The Sindh government has planned a mega project to increase the storage capacity of Keenjhar Lake in district Thatta to meet the ever-increasing water demand of Karachi and approached the World Bank for its financing, it has emerged. Officials said that the proposal for expanding the storage capacity of the lake was finalised by the Sindh irrigation department and sent to the chief minister for formal approval and grant of funds. Keenjhar Lake is a major source of water for district Thatta and Karachi division. Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation chief executive Syed Salahuddin Ahmed told Dawn the storage…
QUETTA: PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has admitted that his party’s strategy before the budget was “weak” as it failed to engage the government for implementing the terms agreed in the written agreement for power-sharing. While addressing a press conference upon concluding his two-day visit to Quetta on Friday, the PPP leader said that it was decided in the agreement that the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) would be allocated with the consensus of all four provinces. “As far as the budget strategy is concerned, I believe our strategy was fairly weak,” he said, adding that the understanding among all four…
PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Khan Gandapur has called for a US Congress investigation into the alleged American plot to overthrow Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government, citing a diplomatic cipher. During a meeting with a delegation of the New York State Assembly and American-Pakistani Public Affairs Committee, led by Deputy Speaker Phil Ramos, here, the chief minister said the US Congress should uncover the truth behind the ouster of the Imran government by probing that cipher, which caused significant political turmoil in Pakistan. Adviser to the chief minister on finance Muzammil Aslam confirmed to Dawn that Mr Gandapur took up…
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Friday regretted that the recent provincial budgets for 2024-25 failed to allocate funds or propose effective strategies to address climate change, despite warnings from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) about urban flooding due to heavy monsoon rains in the country. “Climate change is a serious existential threat to the people of Pakistan which affects directly the fundamental rights of the people, still the recent provincial budgets have not allocated any climate fund for climate change or come up with any effective strategies,” regretted Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah in a three-page order he authored. “The lack…
ISLAMABAD: The PTI on Friday reiterated its demand for Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa to recuse himself from benches hearing cases related to the political party, while its founder revealed he was contemplating a hunger strike if he continued to be denied justice. Talking to the reporters after attending proceedings in the £190m corruption case on Friday, Imran Khan said that cases must not be decided on the basis of ‘like or dislike’, as all citizens are equal before the law. He pointed out that every other case involving his party was fixed before CJP Isa even though his counsel…
ISLAMABAD: In response to a letter circulating on social media purportedly from the Karachi University’s (KU) controller of examinations regarding the law degree of Islamabad High Court (IHC) judge Justice Tariq Mehmood Jahangiri, and the subsequent filing of a reference with the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the IHC is expected to issue an official statement to the campaign against the judge. Sources said that IHC judges will convene a meeting on Saturday (today) to discuss the matter. On Friday, several social media activists and journalists shared the letter and the reference against Justice Jahangiri allegedly sent to the SJC. Judges…
