Afghan Govt releases 200 Taliban Prisoners

The Afghan government released nearly 200 Taliban prisoners from the group of 400 "hardcore" prisoners in a bid to push for peace talks.

This group of prisoners were released from the main jail in Kabul on Monday evening and Tuesday at the same time six Afghan special forces members held by the Taliban were freed, the officials said.

“We want to finish the prisoner swap so we could start the peace process as soon as possible,” said a senior government official, who declined to be name because of the sensitivity of the issue.

A source close to the process said the prisoner swap could be finished by today.

The 400 are the remainder of 5,000 Taliban prisoners set for release from Afghan jails as part of a pact in February between the United States and the Taliban allowing for the withdrawal of US troops. Their release was a condition for talks between the government and the insurgent group to start.

The Afghan government was reluctant to release any of the 400, which it says have been involved in some of the worst crimes including major attacks such as the 2017 truck bombing near the Germany Embassy in Kabul, until the Taliban released 24 Afghan special forces members and pilots first.

Keeping the prisoners went against the wishes of a loya jirga that gathered in Kabul last month. The loya jirga is a traditional assembly of thousands of Afghan elders and community leaders that meets to decide political issues.

The government responded by releasing about 80 of the 400 prisoners last month. A government official said the others were kept because the Taliban dismissed calls from the loya jirga for a ceasefire.

The exchange this week occurred as Taliban violence and clashes with Afghan troops have increased in recent days.

A Taliban car bomb killed three Afghan security forces in eastern Paktia province on Tuesday, a local official said, while a defense ministry statement said 13 Taliban insurgents were killed in southern Kandahar and 11 more were killed in northern Faryab in the last 24 hours.

Thousands of Afghan security forces and civilians have been killed since the February peace deal between the US and the Taliban, according to data released by United Nations and the government.

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Interior Ministry asked Cynthia Ritchie to leave Pakistan in 15 days

The Interior Ministry on Wednesday rejected US blogger Cynthia Ritchie’s request to extend her visa in Pakistan and asked her to leave the country in 15 days.

The Islamabad High Court on July 10 had asked the Interior Ministry to decide on a petition filed by a PPP leader, seeking to deport US blogger Cynthia D Ritchie after she was accused by the party of making derogatory remarks about former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The IHC had also urged the ministry to decide upon Ritchie’s stay in Pakistan and the extension of her visa.

In an earlier hearing, the court was told that her visa had expired on August 31.

Ritchie accuses PPP leadership of 'harassment' and 'manhandling'

In a video broadcast live on Facebook in May, Ritchie had alleged that senior PPP leader Rehman Malik had raped her while two others had "manhandled" her at a separate occasion.

She had stated that the incidents occurred in 2011 when the PPP was in power, and when the individual she accused of rape had been a senior minister.

Ritchie had further alleged that two other senior party leaders — a federal minister and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani (who has publicly responded to the allegation) — had "physically manhandled" her when the latter "was staying the President House".

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Floods, landsliding claim 29 lives in KPK and Punjab

At least 29 people have been killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab during the recent spell of rains and landsliding in the provinces.

Three women and two children were among those who died in Punjab during the recent spell of rain.

According to the Pakistan Disaster Management Authority, at least 20 people have died in KP from rain-related incidents while floods swept away and damaged several connecting bridges.

The floods also inundated several villages in the province, said the PDMA.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, the connecting roads have been sealed due to the landslide while land connection to the Phander district has been severed.

Nine swept away in Balakot floods

In Balakot, nine people were swept away in flash floods, which also caused the breaking down of the Madin bridge. At least 13 people were rescued after the flash floods hit them.

At river Kanhar, Sindh river, and Saran, locals have been asked to migrate to other areas for shelter.

In Chitral, a big part of a village at Raishan was submerged in water due to the floods, while in Azad Kashmir, several areas' roads were blocked due to landsliding and rains.

In Punjab, 15 villages were submerged due to flash floods which claimed the lives of three people while in Sargodha, two children died when the roof of a house collapsed.

In Jhang, due to a low-level flood in Chenab river, as many as 145 villages have been submerged in rainwater.

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Interior Ministry asked Cynthia Ritchie to leave Pakistan in 15 days

The Interior Ministry on Wednesday rejected US blogger Cynthia Ritchie’s request to extend her visa in Pakistan and asked her to leave the country in 15 days.

The Islamabad High Court on July 10 had asked the Interior Ministry to decide on a petition filed by a PPP leader, seeking to deport US blogger Cynthia D Ritchie after she was accused by the party of making derogatory remarks about former prime minister Benazir Bhutto.

The IHC had also urged the ministry to decide upon Ritchie’s stay in Pakistan and the extension of her visa.

In an earlier hearing, the court was told that her visa had expired on August 31.

Ritchie accuses PPP leadership of 'harassment' and 'manhandling'

In a video broadcast live on Facebook in May, Ritchie had alleged that senior PPP leader Rehman Malik had raped her while two others had "manhandled" her at a separate occasion.

She had stated that the incidents occurred in 2011 when the PPP was in power, and when the individual she accused of rape had been a senior minister.

Ritchie had further alleged that two other senior party leaders — a federal minister and former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gillani (who has publicly responded to the allegation) — had "physically manhandled" her when the latter "was staying the President House".

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Floods, landsliding claim 29 lives in KPK and Punjab

At least 29 people have been killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Punjab during the recent spell of rains and landsliding in the provinces.

Three women and two children were among those who died in Punjab during the recent spell of rain.

According to the Pakistan Disaster Management Authority, at least 20 people have died in KP from rain-related incidents while floods swept away and damaged several connecting bridges.

The floods also inundated several villages in the province, said the PDMA.

In Gilgit-Baltistan, the connecting roads have been sealed due to the landslide while land connection to the Phander district has been severed.

Nine swept away in Balakot floods

In Balakot, nine people were swept away in flash floods, which also caused the breaking down of the Madin bridge. At least 13 people were rescued after the flash floods hit them.

At river Kanhar, Sindh river, and Saran, locals have been asked to migrate to other areas for shelter.

In Chitral, a big part of a village at Raishan was submerged in water due to the floods, while in Azad Kashmir, several areas' roads were blocked due to landsliding and rains.

In Punjab, 15 villages were submerged due to flash floods which claimed the lives of three people while in Sargodha, two children died when the roof of a house collapsed.

In Jhang, due to a low-level flood in Chenab river, as many as 145 villages have been submerged in rainwater.

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PM Imran khan to raise voice for Kashmir at UNGA once again

Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to address the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) via video link on September 25, according to an initial list of speakers officially released on Tuesday.

The general debate of the 193-member assembly, which is traditionally a high-profile annual UN event, will open on September 22. However, this year it is expected to be a slimmed-down affair, with world leaders staying away from New York because of the coronavirus pandemic.

They will be contributing set-piece speeches via video link.

According to the list, PM Imran, who last year made his debut at the UN as head of state, is the sixth speaker in the afternoon session on September 25.

“I expect that the prime minister will once again raise the cause of the Kashmiri people for self-determination and azadi [freedom] from Indian oppression," Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN Munir Akram told APP.

Akram added that the prime minister will also talk about Pakistan’s facilitation of and hopes for the peace process in Afghanistan, its successful response to the coronavirus crisis, debt relief for developing countries and other international issues in his wide-ranging address.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to speak on September 26, a day after the Pakistani leader’s address.

US President Donald Trump is set to address on the morning of September 22, the opening day of the general debate, which will run through September 29.

The US is traditionally the second speaker in the high-level debate after Brazil.

New arrangements

UNGA President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, last month had said each Member State, Observer State and the European Union were invited to submit a pre-recorded video, delivered by its designated high-level official, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall.

Speeches will be limited to 15 minutes.

The iconic General Assembly Hall will not be empty as videos will be introduced by a representative of each state, who will be physically present.

The same procedure will apply for a series of special high-level sessions scheduled to take place, including a commemoration of the landmark 75th anniversary of the United Nations; a summit on biodiversity; and a meeting to commemorate and promote, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Side-events, such as New York Climate Week, are unlikely to welcome attendees to New York venues this year, following Muhammad-Bande’s suggestion that they should be moved online.

The decision to introduce pre-recorded videos to the High-Level General Debate, which takes place at the beginning of the 75th session of the General Assembly, was made by the UN body on Wednesday, using the novel ‘silence procedure’ method.

Under this method, draft resolutions are circulated by the UNGA president which gives member states a deadline of at least 72 hours to raise objections.

If there are no objections, the president circulates a letter, confirming that the resolution has been adopted.

Ahead of the 75th session, Ambassador Akram will meet UNGA President-elect Volkan Bozkir on August 21 and discuss the items inscribed on the Assembly's agenda.

Bozkir, a veteran Turkish diplomat, will assume the office as UNGA President on September 15, the day the 75th session gets underway.

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PM Imran khan to raise voice for Kashmir at UNGA once again

Prime Minister Imran Khan is likely to address the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) via video link on September 25, according to an initial list of speakers officially released on Tuesday.

The general debate of the 193-member assembly, which is traditionally a high-profile annual UN event, will open on September 22. However, this year it is expected to be a slimmed-down affair, with world leaders staying away from New York because of the coronavirus pandemic.

They will be contributing set-piece speeches via video link.

According to the list, PM Imran, who last year made his debut at the UN as head of state, is the sixth speaker in the afternoon session on September 25.

“I expect that the prime minister will once again raise the cause of the Kashmiri people for self-determination and azadi [freedom] from Indian oppression," Pakistan’s ambassador to the UN Munir Akram told APP.

Akram added that the prime minister will also talk about Pakistan’s facilitation of and hopes for the peace process in Afghanistan, its successful response to the coronavirus crisis, debt relief for developing countries and other international issues in his wide-ranging address.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to speak on September 26, a day after the Pakistani leader’s address.

US President Donald Trump is set to address on the morning of September 22, the opening day of the general debate, which will run through September 29.

The US is traditionally the second speaker in the high-level debate after Brazil.

New arrangements

UNGA President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande, last month had said each Member State, Observer State and the European Union were invited to submit a pre-recorded video, delivered by its designated high-level official, which will be played in the General Assembly Hall.

Speeches will be limited to 15 minutes.

The iconic General Assembly Hall will not be empty as videos will be introduced by a representative of each state, who will be physically present.

The same procedure will apply for a series of special high-level sessions scheduled to take place, including a commemoration of the landmark 75th anniversary of the United Nations; a summit on biodiversity; and a meeting to commemorate and promote, the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Side-events, such as New York Climate Week, are unlikely to welcome attendees to New York venues this year, following Muhammad-Bande’s suggestion that they should be moved online.

The decision to introduce pre-recorded videos to the High-Level General Debate, which takes place at the beginning of the 75th session of the General Assembly, was made by the UN body on Wednesday, using the novel ‘silence procedure’ method.

Under this method, draft resolutions are circulated by the UNGA president which gives member states a deadline of at least 72 hours to raise objections.

If there are no objections, the president circulates a letter, confirming that the resolution has been adopted.

Ahead of the 75th session, Ambassador Akram will meet UNGA President-elect Volkan Bozkir on August 21 and discuss the items inscribed on the Assembly's agenda.

Bozkir, a veteran Turkish diplomat, will assume the office as UNGA President on September 15, the day the 75th session gets underway.

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