PTI's former information secretary to file lawsuit against termination from party

Former central information secretary of PTI Ahmed Jawad on Sunday announced that he will file a lawsuit against the party for terminating his membership.

the PTI had expelled Jawad from the party for "violating the party's constitution" on social media and "slandering" senior leadership.

Talking to Geo News, Jawad said that his termination from the party’s membership is "illegal," adding that, “PTI voters and workers have seen the true colours of Imran Khan now."

The ex-PTI member said that in the last 74 years, "no one ha deceived the nation like PTI did, while overseas Pakistanis were used like Automated Teller Machines (ATM)."

It is worth mentioning here that Jawad had criticised the policies of the ruling party.

Taking to his Twitter account, he had said that he will reveal the reasons why he stayed quiet for so long on the "fascism and incompetence of PTI," asking followers to "stay tuned".

He further asked Prime Minister Imran Khan: “How did your illegal Bani Gala house and Constitution Avenue flat become legal? Can't the houses of the poor be regularised like Constitution Avenue was regularised?"

Subsequently, the PTI expelled the former secretary of information for "violating the party's constitution" on social media.

According to a statement issued by the PTI’s Standing Committee on Accountability and Discipline (SCAD) on January 12, a show-cause was served to Ahmad asking him to explain his position within seven days of the receipt of the notice but the disgruntled leader did not respond to the notice.

After receiving the second show-cause notice, Jawad sent a reply, which was received by the SCAD on January 21; however, he did not explain his position, rather admitted that he had issued more than 40 tweets while SCAD took notice of only two of his tweets.

“The Sub Committee of the SCAD observed that there were different forums in the party for Jawad to express his feelings/narrative before the party while he used social, electronic media to get his objective [to] malign/slander the party senior leadership, causing severe damage to the party,” the statement read.

The sub-committee after analysing the facts of the case and reading Jawad's reply found him "committing a severe violation of the party constitution". Hence, it "unanimously decided to strike down the party membership of Ahmad Jawad from the party membership register”.

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PSL 7 is another opportunity for me to perform and make a comeback in national team : Wahab Riaz

Wahab Riaz targets the upcoming seventh edition of PSL an opportunity to perform and make a comeback to the national squad.

Addressing a virtual news conference Saturday, Riaz said, “When you play cricket, your target is always Pakistan.”

“I have performed. Even last season I was the second highest wicket-taker in the PSL. Sometimes you get the chance and sometimes you don’t get the chance. I have great passion for playing for Pakistan and that is why I am playing cricket,” Wahab said.

“This is another opportunity for me to perform and make a comeback. I feel that I can play for Pakistan for another two or three years. I will try my level best,” said the pacer, who is also captaining Peshawar Zalmi, one of the most successful franchises.

Asked whether he is in a position to perform better than Haris Rauf, Shaheen Afridi and Hasnain in the PSL right now, he said: “Hasnain, Shaheen and Haris are very good bowlers. If you say whether in the PSL I can perform better than them; so my record speaks about that,” Wahab said.

“It’s not necessary you take wickets every year, it is also counted how well you bowl. All my records in the PSL are in front of you and I will try to continue that. My competition is not with these bowlers but my competition is with myself because I want to perform and play for Pakistan,” Wahab said.

Wahab played his last Test in October 2018, last ODI in November 2020 and last T20I in December 2020.

 

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People protested across France against covid vaccination pass

Some 38,000 people protested across France Saturday, the interior ministry said, two days before a vaccination health pass becomes mandatory to take part in much of public life.

From Monday, those aged 16 and above will have to show they have been jabbed to access restaurants or bars, leisure activities or use inter-regional public transport.

A negative Covid test will no longer be sufficient, except to access health services.

Opponents of the policy say the reinforced measures will impinge upon daily "freedoms" and have railed against what they dub a form of social "apartheid".

An estimated 5,200 demonstrated in Paris, the ministry said, at rallies largely attended by supporters of the nationalist, anti-EU presidential candidate Florian Philippot.

Some demonstrators brought their children along and many of those marching did not wear masks as they waved French flags and bore banners demanding "freedom".

"Vaccine pass -- total resistance!" some shouted in marches.

Sophie, a 44-year-old legal worker, and Franck, a 56-year-old IT worker, told they had had their jabs but were against their daughter being pressured into also being vaccinated.

Sophie insisted the time had come to put faith in collective immunity two years into the pandemic.

In Bordeaux in the southwest, Anaelle, a nurse, denounced compulsory vaccination as "shameful".

"People who've been vaccinated get sick, so what's the point?" she asked.

Although the size of protests has dropped off in recent weeks, a hard core remain angry at French President Emmanuel Macron, who has made it clear he wants to put pressure on the unvaccinated until they accept a coronavirus shot.

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Oslo talks with West will 'transform atmosphere of war: Afghan Taliban

The Taliban's first official talks with the West on European soil since seizing power in Afghanistan will help to "transform the atmosphere of war" after a two-decade insurgency against NATO forces.

The group stormed back to power in August as US and foreign troops began their final withdrawal from the country following a stalemate on the battlefield.

No country has yet recognised the Taliban's government — notorious for human rights abuses during a first stint in power between 1996 and 2001 when they were ousted by a US-led invasion.

"The Islamic Emirate has taken steps for meeting the demands of the Western world and we hope to strengthen our relations through diplomacy with all the countries, including European countries and the West in general," Zabihullah Mujahid told.

The Taliban want to "transform the atmosphere of war... into a peaceful situation".

Talks between the Taliban and Western officials will open in Oslo on Sunday on human rights and humanitarian aid as a poverty crisis deepens.

The humanitarian situation in Afghanistan has deteriorated drastically since the Taliban's takeover. International aid came to a sudden halt and the United States has frozen $9.5 billion (8.4 billion euros) in Afghan central bank assets held overseas.

Hunger now threatens 23 million Afghans, or 55% of the population, according to the United Nations, which says it needs $5 billion from donor countries this year to address the humanitarian crisis in the country.

The visit from Sunday to Tuesday will see meetings between the hardline Islamists, Norwegian authorities and officials from a number of allied countries including Britain, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy and the United States, the Norwegian foreign ministry statement said.

The Taliban delegation is also expected to meet Afghans from civil society, including women leaders and journalists, at a time when the freedoms of those living in Afghanistan are being increasingly curtailed.

"These meetings do not represent a legitimisation or recognition of the Taliban" Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt said Friday.

"But we must talk to the de facto authorities in the country. We cannot allow the political situation to lead to an even worse humanitarian disaster."

The 15-member all male Taliban team, led by foreign minister Amir Khan Muttaqi, left Kabul on Saturday on a plane organised by the Norwegian government, a Taliban spokesman said.

Ali Maisam Nazary, the foreign relations chief for the National Resistance Front (NRF) — an opposition group that bills itself as the last bastion against total Taliban control — condemned Norway over the talks.

"We all must raise our voices and prevent any country from normalizing a terrorist group as the representative of Afghanistan," Nazary, who is based in Paris, tweeted on Friday.

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America, Russia agreed to keep working to ease tensions over Ukraine

Washington and Moscow's top diplomats on Friday agreed to keep working to ease tensions over Ukraine, with the United States promising a written response to Russian security requirements next week and not ruling out a presidential meeting.

As fears grew that Russia could invade its pro-Western neighbour, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken renewed warnings of severe Western reprisals as he met for 90 minutes with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Geneva.

The Russian foreign ministry said later that in his talks with Blinken, Lavrov had vowed "the most serious consequences" if Washington kept ignoring Moscow's security demands.

Blinken described the high-stakes talks as "frank", with Lavrov also voicing hope for a lowering of the temperature between the former Cold War foes.

Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border, denying it plans to invade but demanding security guarantees, including a permanent ban on the country joining NATO.

Blinken said that Washington will share written ideas with Russia next week in which it will also make clear its own positions.

"We didn't expect any major breakthroughs to happen today, but I believe we are now on a clear path in terms of understanding each other's concerns and each other's positions," Blinken told reporters.

"We anticipate that we will be able to share with Russia our concerns and ideas in more detail in writing next week and we agreed to further discussions after that," he added.

Speaking separately, Lavrov told reporters: "Antony Blinken agreed that we need to have a reasonable dialogue, and I hope emotions will decrease."

He added that another meeting could be held between the two, but that it was "premature" to start talking about another summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin, who met in Geneva last June.

Blinken, however, did not rule out fresh talks between the presidents after Biden twice warned Putin by telephone of consequences for any Ukraine invasion.

"If we conclude (and) the Russians conclude that the best way to resolve things is through a further conversation between them, we're certainly prepared to do that," Blinken said.

Biden bluntly assessed on Wednesday that Putin is likely to "move in" on Ukraine and warned of a "disaster for Russia".

A senior US official, speaking to reporters later Friday, said Washington was preparing to send proposals to the Russians and was in close coordination with "our allies".

"The United States does not plan a public release," she said.

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Pakistan urges UN to resolve Kashmir dispute on 'urgent basis'

Pakistan has called out to the United Nations to expedite its efforts and "urgently" resolve the Kashmir dispute in a bid to halt Indian atrocities in the territory and prevent a threat to regional and global peace.

"Peace and security must remain at the core of the functions of the United Nations," Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations Munir Akram told the UN General Assembly on Friday while commenting on the report of the UN chief on the work of the organisation.

"We urge the security council and the secretary-general to exercise their considerable authority to promote an early and peaceful resolution of the Indian-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJK) dispute and to end the Indian reign of terror against the Kashmiri people", the Pakistani envoy said.

The UN, he said, can do “much more” to address peace and security threats by fully using the authority provided by the United Nations Charter, such as in Article 99, and by taking action in the General Assembly if the Security Council is unable to do so.

The primary threat in South Asia, the Pakistani envoy said, is posed by the dispute over IOJK and India’s attempt to annex and transform the Muslim majority state into Hindu majority territory, "a grave violation of council resolutions that promised Kashmiris their right to self-determination through a United Nations supervised plebiscite".

Shedding light on the extensive illegal actions taken by India, the ambassador urged the council and the secretary-general to promote an early, peaceful end to the dispute.

He cited the rise of racial and religious hate and violence, with Islamophobia among its gravest manifestations, notably as characterised by lynching and calls for genocide of Muslims in India.

He said: "The worst manifestation of Islamophobia is the officially-inspired campaign of the ''Hindutva'' adherents in India against Muslims."

So far, the Pakistan envoy noted, there has been no accountability for India’s crimes.

Indian laws provide complete impunity to the 900,000 troops India had deployed in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Pakistan condemned the increasing harassment, illegal arrests and registration of fake criminal cases against journalists and civil society activists such as Khurram Pervez in the Indian-occupied territory, he said.

The recent attack and ban on the Kashmir Press Club, he added, is another manifestation of India’s entrenched use of brutal force and coercion to silence all those who raise their voice against its criminal and genocidal acts in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.

Ambassador Akram also drew attention to the statement made recently by the Head of “Genocide Watch”, Professor Gregory Stanton, in which he stated: “We are warning that genocide could very well happen in India."

"We call on the secretary-general and the United Nations to take decisive steps to combat Islamophobia and to prevent the danger of genocide against the Muslims of India," he said.

At the outset, the Pakistani envoy welcomed the United Nations mobilisation of humanitarian and other assistance for Afghanistan, calling last September’s flash appeal and the recent $5 billion appeal “timely and essential”.

He further added that the United Nations role in peacekeeping is a major success and "Pakistan will remain a steadfast partner in ensuring the effectiveness of such operations, notably the United Nations Military Observer Group for India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP), stationed in the IOJK region."

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Government is aware of inflation rate and is taking steps to reduce it: Shah Mehmood Qureshi

Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday said that the government is "aware of the inflation rate" and is "taking steps to reduce it".

While talking to the media, the minister said that the government had to take International Monetary Fund's (IMF) help, despite help from Saudi Arabia and China.

Qureshi admitted that times are tough, but claimed that Pakistan is on the path to economic recovery.

Talking about the former government, he said that the per capita income was $547 in the last year of PML-N's tenure, while it is $1,666 today.

The minister said that the government will take all the measures needed to fight against terrorists, adding that "the enemies of Pakistan want instability and chaos, however, they will fail".

"Talk of a presidential system is just speculation and such rumours are floated about routinely," he added.

Regarding the COVID-19 situation in the country, Qureshi said that the prime minister has already indicated we are not in favour of a lockdown, calling everyone who does not wear a mask "responsible" for the increase in positivity ratio.

He said that the government will give the nation "a surprise" in 2023.

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