Pakistan prime minister says those involved in violence of Khan detention will face terrorism trials

Supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan hold firework to celebrate their leader’s release at outside his home in Lahore on May 13, 2023. (AP)

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Updated 13 May 2023

May 13, 2023 18:34

Pakistan prime minister says those involved in violence of Khan detention will face terrorism trials

Shahbaz Sharif's warnings were a sign of further escalation in the long-running showdown between the government and Khan
The recent chain of events began Tuesday when Khan was dragged out of a courtroom and arrested in the capital of Islamabad

Updated 13 May 2023

May 13, 2023 18:34

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s prime minister said Saturday that authorities would go after those involved in violent protests following the detention of his predecessor, Imran Khan, including prosecution in anti-terrorism courts.
Shahbaz Sharif’s warnings were a sign of further escalation in the long-running showdown between the government and Khan, who has the backing of large numbers of supporters.
Khan returned to his home in the eastern city of Lahore early Saturday, after a court agreed to shield him from renewed arrest for two weeks. The 70-year-old former cricket star, who was toppled by parliament a year ago, planned to deliver a televised speech from his home later Saturday.
The recent chain of events began Tuesday when Khan was dragged out of a courtroom and arrested in the capital of Islamabad. His detention was met by violent protests by his supporters, who torched cars and buildings, including military installations. Hundreds were arrested in the aftermath.
Khan was released on Friday, but a long list of around 100 court cases, on charges ranging from fomenting violence to corruption, still stands against him. Khan said Friday that authorities only allowed him to travel when he threatened to tell the public he was being held there against his will.
Sharif on Saturday vowed to go after those involved in setting on fire the residence of the military’s corps commander in Lahore.
“The culprits including the planners, abettors and attackers” face trial in anti-terrorism courts, he told officials in Lahore. Sharif ordered the Law Ministry to increase the number of anti-terrorism courts to speed up the trials.
Khan has been in a standoff with the government that replaced him and has alleged the charges against him are politically motivated. Sharif maintains there is a “genuine corruption case” against Khan, “but the judiciary has become a stone wall protecting him.”
On the day of Khan’s arrest, protests were held at several places across the country that also witnessed violence. In Rawalpindi’s garrison city, baton-wielding protesters broke into the main gate of the military’s general headquarters.
Also, in the northwestern city of Peshawar, protesters set on fire the building of national broadcaster Radio Pakistan, which also housed the offices of state-run news wire Associated Press of Pakistan.
Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah on Saturday alleged that armed assailants were involved in the attacks on military installations and government buildings, rejecting a portrayal of the events as spontaneous protests.
Khan has a broad base of support around Pakistan. He presents himself as an outsider victimized by the military and the political dynasties that have long run the country. Opponents, meanwhile, call him a corrupt demagogue stirring his followers into violence.

M.S. Swaminathan, ‘father’ of India’s green revolution, dies at 98

Updated 11 sec ago

Reuters

September 29, 2023 09:16

M.S. Swaminathan, ‘father’ of India’s green revolution, dies at 98

Scientist revolutionized farming in 1960s when China was engulfed in deadly famine, India barely got by on hand-to-mouth imports
Swaminathan won many awards for his work in agriculture, including the first World Food Prize in 1987

Updated 11 sec ago

Reuters

September 29, 2023 09:16

NEW DELHI: Indian agricultural scientist Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan, who ushered a “Green Revolution” in India nearly six decades ago that helped end famine and transformed the country as a top producer of wheat, died on Thursday aged 98.

Swaminathan died at his home in southern India’s Chennai city following age-related illness, local media reported.

He revolutionized farming in the 1960s when China was engulfed in a deadly famine and India barely got by on hand-to-mouth imports.

Back then, Swaminathan was a young scientist who turned down plum positions in academia and the government to work in agricultural research. He helped to cross-breed wheat seeds that allowed India to more than treble its annual crop in just 15 years.

“His end came very peacefully this morning... Till the end, he was committed to the farmers’ welfare and to the upliftment of the poorest in society,” his daughter Soumya Swaminathan, former chief scientist at the World Health Organization, told ANI news agency.

President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined lawmakers, scientists and people from across the country in expressing condolences.

Swaminathan won many awards for his work in agriculture, including the first World Food Prize in 1987 and the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest civilian award, in 1989.

Back in 2008, when Swaminathan was 82, he told Reuters in an interview that conservation farming and green technology were crucial for a sustainable “Evergreen Revolution” of the 21st century that could push India to become an even bigger supplier of food to the world.

The push for a new revolution came as hybrid seeds that helped India in the 1960s made farmers overlook the potential ecological damage of heavy fertilizer use, drop in water tables due to heavier irrigation and the impact of repeated crop cycles on soil quality.

“The Green Revolution created a sense of euphoria that we have solved our production problem. Now we have a plateau in production and productivity. We have a problem of under investment in rural infrastructure,” he said afterwards.

Swaminathan is survived by three daughters.

“He leaves behind a rich legacy of Indian agriculture science which may serve as a guiding light to steer the world toward a safer and hunger-free future for humanity,” President Murmu said in a social media post.

Topics: Monkombu Sambasivan Swaminathan MS Swaminathan green revolution India

Blinken raises Sikh separatist murder with India’s Jaishankar — US official

Updated 4 min 18 sec ago

Reuters

September 29, 2023 09:10

Blinken raises Sikh separatist murder with India’s Jaishankar — US official

Canada says Indian government agents linked to murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia in June
India has dismissed Canada’s allegations, ties have become strained as both governments expelled diplomats

Updated 4 min 18 sec ago

Reuters

September 29, 2023 09:10

WASHINGTON/OTTAWA: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged India to cooperate with a Canadian investigation into the murder of a Sikh separatist during a meeting with Indian foreign minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar on Thursday, a US official said.

Speaking in Quebec earlier on Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who has alleged an Indian role in the killing, said he was certain that Blinken would broach the issue with Jaishankar.

India has dismissed Canada’s allegations as absurd, and ties have become strained with both governments expelling a diplomat in a tit-for-tat move.

“Blinken raised the Canadian matter in his meeting, (and) urged the Indian government to cooperate with Canada’s investigation,” the US official said, though a State Department statement made no mention of the issue.

Trudeau told parliament earlier this month that Canada suspected Indian government agents were linked to the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in the province of British Columbia in June.

Nijjar was a Canadian citizen but India had declared him a “terrorist.” He supported the cause of Khalistan, or an independent homeland for Sikhs to be carved out of India.

Traditional Canadian allies, including the United States, have appeared to take a cautious approach to the matter. Political analysts have said this is partly because Washington and other major players see India as a counterweight to the growing influence of China.

Blinken met Jaishankar on Thursday afternoon in Washington. Asked directly whether Blinken would bring up the case, Trudeau replied: “The Americans will certainly discuss this matter with the Indian government.”

The US State Department’s formal statement on its website after Blinken met his Indian counterpart made no mention of Nijjar’s murder or of Canada as a whole.

A short State Department summary of the issues discussed in the meeting between Blinken and Jaishankar, formally called a readout, listed points like India’s G20 presidency, the creation of an India-Middle East-Europe corridor and topics like defense, space and clean energy.

Jaishankar said on Tuesday that New Delhi has told Canada it was open to looking into any “specific” or “relevant” information it provides on the killing.

Trudeau, who is yet to publicly share any evidence, said last week he has shared the “credible allegations” with India “many weeks ago.”

Blinken and US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said last week the United States was “deeply concerned” about the allegations raised by Trudeau.

The US ambassador to Canada told Canadian television that some information on the case had been gathered by the Five Eyes intelligence alliance, which includes the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK.

Topics: India Canada Hardeep Singh Nijjar Sikh

ADB unveils capital moves to boost lending by $100 bln over a decade for Asia-Pacific

Updated 29 September 2023

Reuters

September 29, 2023 07:30

ADB unveils capital moves to boost lending by $100 bln over a decade for Asia-Pacific

World Bank said on Thursday it was proposing new capital measures to add over $100 billion in new lending
This is on top of $50 billion yielded by previous measures including use of debt-like hybrid capital

Updated 29 September 2023

Reuters

September 29, 2023 07:30

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) unveiled new capital reforms on Friday that will unlock $100 billion in new financing capacity over 10 years as the lender expands its development and anti-poverty mission to tackle climate change and other global crises.

The Manila-based lender said it was adjusting its risk appetite and reducing its minimum-level of capitalization in a way that preserves its top tier AAA credit rating while allowing it to expand its lending commitments by nearly 40 percent to about $36 billion annually.

ADB’s move to stretch its balance sheet follows similar measures announced by the World Bank earlier this year that will yield a $50 billion increase in lending over a decade. But the ADB’s effort will yield twice the new lending on an “apples to apples” comparison, ADB Managing Director General Woochong Um told Reuters in an interview.

ADB has traditionally taken a more conservative approach, maintaining a higher risk-adjusted capital ratio than the World Bank and other multilateral development banks, said Roberta Casali, vice president for finance and risk management.

So as ADB took a more “granular” approach to analyzing risks, and adjusting downward estimates of unexpected losses, the lender had more room to squeeze new lending from its capital structure than some other banks had, Casali said.

Aiding the effort — and providing some comfort to credit ratings agencies — is the creation of a new, $12 billion Countercyclical Lending Buffer fund that can be used to aid ADB member countries in times of unexpected crises, helping to stabilize them and help avoid loan losses.

The World Bank said on Thursday it was proposing new capital measures that would add more than $100 billion in new lending over a decade on top of the $50 billion yielded by previous measures. These include use of debt-like hybrid capital and increased use of loan portfolio guarantees.

Discussions on expanding lending to fight climate change, pandemics, food insecurity and fragility will be a dominant topic at World Bank-IMF annual meetings in Marrakech, Morocco Oct. 9-15.

But with an estimated $3 trillion in annual climate transition financing needs in developing countries, far more capital, private sector participation and innovation will be needed, ADB officials said.

“At the end of the day, developing Asia needs trillions of dollars, so we need to go from billions to trillions,” Um said. “All of us — the World Bank, ADB — need to do everything we can to squeeze as much money as possible from our balance sheets.”

Shutdown looms as US Senate, House advance separate spending plans

Updated 29 September 2023

Reuters

September 29, 2023 06:11

Shutdown looms as US Senate, House advance separate spending plans

House Republicans are demanding a $120 billion cuts in an earlier agreed $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending in fiscal 2024
They also want tougher legislation that would stop the flow of immigrants at the US southern border with Mexico

Updated 29 September 2023

Reuters

September 29, 2023 06:11

WASHINGTON: The Democratic-led US Senate forged ahead on Thursday with a bipartisan stopgap funding bill aimed at averting a fourth partial government shutdown in a decade, while the House began voting on partisan Republican spending bills with no chance of becoming law.

The divergent paths of the two chambers appeared to increase the odds that federal agencies will run out of money on Sunday, furloughing hundreds of thousands of federal workers and halting a wide range of services from economic data releases to nutrition benefits.
The House of Representatives voted 216-212 on a bill funding the State Department and other aspects of foreign affairs, the first in a series of four partisan appropriations bills that would not alone prevent a shutdown, even if they could overcome strong opposition from Senate Democrats and become law.
The Senate earlier in the day had voted 76-22 to open debate on a stopgap bill known as a continuing resolution, or CR, which would extend federal spending until Nov. 17, and authorize roughly $6 billion each for domestic disaster response funding and aid to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia.
The Senate measure has already been rejected by Republicans, who control the House.
House Republicans, led by a small faction of hard-line conservatives in the chamber they control by a 221-212 margin, have rejected spending levels for fiscal year 2024 set in a deal Speaker Kevin McCarthy negotiated with Biden in May.
The agreement included $1.59 trillion in discretionary spending in fiscal 2024. House Republicans are demanding another $120 billion in cuts, plus tougher legislation that would stop the flow of immigrants at the US southern border with Mexico.
The funding fight focuses on a relatively small slice of the $6.4 trillion US budget for this fiscal year. Lawmakers are not considering cuts to popular benefit programs such as Social Security and Medicare.
McCarthy is facing intense pressure from his caucus to achieve their goals. Several hard-liners have threatened to oust him from his leadership role if he passes a spending bill that requires any Democratic votes to pass.
Former President Donald Trump has taken to social media to push his congressional allies toward a shutdown.
McCarthy, for his part, suggested on Thursday that a shutdown could be avoided if Senate Democrats agreed to address border issues in their stopgap measure.
“I talked this morning to some Democratic senators over there that are more aligned with what we want to do. They want to do something about the border,” McCarthy told reporters in the US Capitol.
“We’re trying to work to see, could we put some border provisions in that current Senate bill that would actually make things a lot better,” he said.
The House Freedom Caucus, home to the hard-liners forcing McCarthy’s hand, in an open letter to him on Thursday demanded a timeline for passing the seven remaining appropriations bills and a plan to further reduce the top-line discretionary spending figure, among other questions.

The Senate measure has passed two procedural hurdles this week with strong bipartisan support.
“Congress has only one option — one option — to avoid a shutdown: bipartisanship,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Thursday. “With bipartisanship, we can responsibly fund the government and avoid the sharp and unnecessary pain for the American people and the economy that a shutdown will bring.”
Credit agencies have warned that brinkmanship and political polarization are harming the US financial outlook. Moody’s, the last major ratings agency to rate the US government “Aaa” with a stable outlook, said on Monday that a shutdown would harm the country’s credit rating.
Fitch, another major ratings agency, already downgraded the US government to “AA+” after Congress flirted with defaulting on the nation’s debt earlier this year.

Topics: US Shutdown

EU’s Mediterranean leaders meet on migration

Updated 29 September 2023

AFP

September 29, 2023 05:43

EU’s Mediterranean leaders meet on migration

UN refugee organization says more than 2,500 migrants had perished attempting to cross the Mediterranean so far this year
New impetus to reach a deal after a sharp rise in migrants landing on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa earlier this month

Updated 29 September 2023

AFP

September 29, 2023 05:43

VALLETTA, Malta: The leaders of nine Mediterranean and southern European countries, including France’s Emmanuel Macron and Italy’s Giorgia Meloni, meet Friday in Malta for talks set to focus on migration.
The summit comes a day after the UN refugee organization said more than 2,500 migrants had perished or disappeared attempting to cross the Mediterranean so far this year — substantially more than at the same point in 2022.
But it also comes as EU interior ministers finally made headway Thursday on new rules for how the bloc handles asylum seekers and irregular migrants, with a deal expected in the coming days.
Long in the works, there was new impetus to reach a deal after a sharp rise in migrants landing on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa earlier this month.
Meloni’s hard-right coalition government, elected on an anti-migrant ticket, has clashed with both France and Germany as she presses other EU countries to share the burden. So far this year, the number of arrivals at Lampedusa has already passed 133,000.
But Meloni and Macron have sought to ease tensions in recent days, and met Tuesday in Rome on the sidelines of the state funeral for ex-Italian president Giorgio Napolitano.
“There is a shared vision of the management of the migration question between France and Italy,” a French presidential source said.
Paris is hoping Friday’s so-called “Med9” summit will offer a “clear message” that migration requires a response at the European level, the source said.

The EU is poised to agree a revamped Pact on Migration and Asylum, which will seek to relieve pressure on frontline countries such as Italy and Greece by relocating some arrivals to other EU states.
Those countries opposed to hosting asylum-seekers — Poland and Hungary among them — would be required to pay the ones that do take migrants in.
Disagreements within the 27-nation bloc over the proposed revisions have now largely been overcome, EU home affairs commissioner Ylva Johansson said Wednesday after the interior ministers’ meeting.
A formal agreement is expected “in a few days,” she said.
Both Meloni and Macron also want to prevent boats departing from North Africa by working more closely with Tunisia, despite questions over the country’s human rights standards and treatment of migrants.
The European Commission said last week it was set to release the first instalment of funds to Tunisia — one of the main launching points for boats — under a plan to bolster its coast guard and tackle traffickers.
Italy’s Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi met with his Tunisian and Libyan counterparts in Sicily Thursday for talks on stopping the boats, the ministry said.

Rome and Paris are also keen to intensify EU controls at sea.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who will be at the Malta summit, included the possible expansion of naval missions in the Mediterranean in a 10-point action plan this month in Lampedusa.
There are fears arrivals could spiral further if instability in the Sahel affects North African countries.
The “Med 9,” which brings together Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain, is expected to call for greater investment by the bloc in the so-called Southern Neighbourhood.
Extra funding may be earmarked for countries across the Mediterranean’s southern shore in the review of the EU’s 2021-2027 long-term budget, a European diplomatic source told AFP.
The leaders will also discuss regional challenges posed by natural disasters — following a devastating earthquake in Morocco, flood disaster in Libya, and extreme weather events in Southern Europe.
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Topics: Mediterranean Malta Emmanuel Macron Georgia Meloni Med9 Summit Migrant crisis Ursula von der Leyen

Pakistan prime minister says those involved in violence of Khan detention will face terrorism trials

Pakistan prime minister says those involved in violence of Khan detention will face terrorism trials

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M.S. Swaminathan, ‘father’ of India’s green revolution, dies at 98

M.S. Swaminathan, ‘father’ of India’s green revolution, dies at 98

Blinken raises Sikh separatist murder with India’s Jaishankar — US official

Blinken raises Sikh separatist murder with India’s Jaishankar — US official

ADB unveils capital moves to boost lending by $100 bln over a decade for Asia-Pacific

ADB unveils capital moves to boost lending by $100 bln over a decade for Asia-Pacific

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Pakistan prime minister says those involved in violence of Khan detention will face terrorism trials

Pakistan prime minister says those involved in violence of Khan detention will face terrorism trials

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M.S. Swaminathan, ‘father’ of India’s green revolution, dies at 98

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Shutdown looms as US Senate, House advance separate spending plans

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