Israel wants complete occupation of Palestine: UN report

An independent commission of inquiry set up by the UN Human Rights Council after the 2021 Israeli assault on the besieged Gaza Strip said Israel must do more than end the occupation of land that Palestinian leaders want for a future state.

“Ending the occupation alone will not be sufficient,” according to the report released on Tuesday, urging that additional action be taken to ensure the equal enjoyment of human rights for Palestinians.

The report cites evidence that Israel has “no intention of ending the occupation”.

Israel is pursuing “complete control” over what the report calls the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which was taken by Israel in a 1967 war and later annexed in a move never recognised by the international community.

The Israeli government, the commission said, has been “acting to alter the demography through the maintenance of a repressive environment for Palestinians and a favourable environment for Israeli settlers”.

Citing an Israeli law denying naturalisation to Palestinians married to Israeli citizens, the report accuses Israel of affording “different civil status, rights and legal protection” for Palestinian citizens of Israel.

More than 700,000 Israeli settlers now live in settlements and outposts across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which is home to more than three million Palestinians. The Israeli settlements are fortified, Jewish-only housing complexes that are considered illegal under international law.

Leading human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International, have equated Israeli policies against Palestinians to apartheid.
The UN inquiry and report was prompted by the 11-day Israeli military offensive in May 2021 during which more than 260 Palestinians in Gaza were killed, and 13 people died in Israel.

In May 2021, Hamas fired rockets towards Israel after Israeli forces cracked down on Palestinian worshippers in the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound – Islam’s third holiest site – where dozens were injured and detained. It also followed an Israeli court decision to forcibly expel Palestinian families from Sheikh Jarrah, a neighbourhood in East Jerusalem.

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Without political stability, there can be no economic stability: PM

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif Tuesday addressed a day-long pre-budget business conference in the federal capital and said that the country's economy cannot be streamlined without political stability.

The conference was being held to explore avenues for consensus-based economic measures with all stakeholders on board. It brought together leaders from a wide range of industries on a single platform for a vibrant and interactive debate, in line with the prime minister's vision of the "Charter of Economy" and an inclusive economic policy-making approach.

The prime minister said since Pakistan’s inception 75 years back, the economic development in the initial 25 years and the economic development after that have a “stark” difference.

PM Shehbaz said Pakistan’s five-year development programmes were made by top-tier professionals, which allowed the country to progress and Islamabad was way ahead of other nations in the region.

“In the 1990s, the Pakistani rupee had better value than the Indian rupee. Pakistan also showed (India) how can we run the economy on modern lines; we liberalised Pakistan’s economy and India copied it,” he said.

PM Shehbaz added there were suggestions put forth by the conference’s participants, but "we should not limit ourselves to proposals and move ahead and implement them."

“But it is important to note that without political stability, there can be no economic stability, and vice versa,” he said, stressing the need for a “Charter of Economy”, which would lead to long-term stability.

“No matter what happens, whichever party comes into power, the goals set in the ‘Charter of Economy’ will remain unchanged. It will become our sacred trust, which will not change,” the prime minister said, adding: “We need this.”

Moving on, the prime minister said there was a need to develop rural areas as when people travel from underdeveloped to developed cities, they become a burden on the resources of that place.

“The rural areas, which comprise 65% of Pakistan’s population, should be developed. This can only happen when our children get quality education there,” the prime minister noted.

He added that there was a need to increase the agricultural yield through modern technology as it could change the fate of Pakistan, which would later be exported and help the national exchequer.

PM Shehbaz said following the 18th amendment, the provinces were empowered and the federation's powers were curbed. But he noted that the provinces and the Centre would have to work together to develop a comprehensive plan.

"For that, I will need your (businessmen's) help. I am not saying this for a mere speech. No, we are forming a task force but I will not go into details of it now," he said

Comparing the country's IT industry with that of India's, the prime minister said that the latter generates around $200 billion while Pakistan's industry was hovering around $2.5 billion. "We must go for special export industrial zones," he added.

The PM said that the government will make well-structured industrial zones. "To increase the export, the developed zone should be handed over to the investors to work on it. We need to fix ambitious targets."

Talking about the tough decisions being taken by the government, PM Shehbaz said that the non-productive assets should be taxed. "The windfall profits in the real estate should be taxed," he said.

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Musk-Twitter spam accounts spat deepens

Elon Musk threatened Monday to withdraw his bid to buy Twitter, accusing it of failing to provide data on fake accounts, in the latest twist in the Tesla billionaire’s push to acquire the social network.

Twitter has committed “a clear material breach” of its “obligations under the merger agreement and Mr Musk reserves ... his right not to consummate the transaction,” according to a document filed with securities regulators.

The filing marks an escalation of Musk’s prior statements that have highlighted fake accounts as a threat to his proposed $44 billion deal to take over Twitter.

The mercurial Musk agreed a deal in late April to purchase Twitter.

But the proposed sale has stoked protest from critics who warn his stewardship will embolden hate groups and disinformation campaigns.

US securities regulators have also pressed Musk for an explanation of an apparent delay in reporting his Twitter stock buys.

Musk began making significant noise about fake accounts in mid-May, saying on Twitter he could walk away from the transaction if his concerns were not addressed.

Some observers have seen Musk’s questioning of Twitter bots as a means to end the takeover process, or to pressure Twitter into lowering the price.

Musk’s latest statement on bots signifies he is “looking to walk away from deal,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said Monday on Twitter, noting that there is a $1 billion breakup fee in the Twitter-Musk transaction.

 “We continue to believe that Elon is playing hard ball... to gain leverage/options to either reduce his offer price or indeed completely walk away if he gets cold feet,” said CFRA Research’s Angelo Zino.

Twitter on Monday defended its responsiveness, and vowed to complete the deal.

 “Twitter has and will continue to cooperatively share information with Mr Musk,” a spokesperson said. “We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and terms.”

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British PM wins confidence vote, faces rebellion

Despite surviving a confidence vote, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced rebellion by 148 of his 359 Conservative Party lawmakers which has dealt a serious blow to his authority.

A majority of the Conservatives' lawmakers — at least 180 — would have had to vote against Johnson for him to be removed.

The result means Johnson secured the backing of 59% of his lawmakers, lower than the support given to his predecessor Theresa May in a confidence vote she faced in 2018.

Having scored a sweeping election victory in 2019, the prime minister has been under mounting pressure after he and staff held alcohol-fuelled parties in his Downing Street office and residence when Britain was under strict COVID-19 lockdowns.

Such is the anger that the party triggered a challenge, forcing an anonymous vote of confidence in a leader who had once seemed unassailable.

The move led to lawmakers from different wings of the party revealing that they had turned against their leader. One former ally accused the prime minister of insulting both the electorate and the party by staying in power.

 You have presided over a culture of casual law-breaking at 10 Downing Street in relation to COVID," Jesse Norman, a former junior minister, said before the vote.

Johnson's anti-corruption chief John Penrose also quit.

Dozens of Conservative lawmakers have voiced concern that Johnson, 57, could be losing his authority to govern Britain, which is facing the risk of recession, rising fuel and food prices and strike-inflicted travel chaos in the capital London.

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Shezad Akbar calls corruption accusations against him as "baseless"

Former adviser to the prime minister Shahzad Akbar Monday denied the allegations of corruption levelled against him and issued a clarification, saying that the news published against him by a news agency was "baseless".

Taking to Twitter, Akbar wrote: "A baseless news regarding me which does not make any sense has been published by a news agency."

آج آن لائن نیوز ایجنسی کی وساطت سے میرے بارے میں ایک بےسروپا اور بنیاد خبر شائع کروای ہے جسکا نہ ہی کوئی سر ہے نہ پیر، اور میں اسکی سختی سے تردید کرتا ہوں،میری جنگ اور دیگر معتبر اداروں سے درخواست ہے کہ ایسی غیر تصدیق شدہ خبریں چھاپنے سے گریز کریں، ۱/۲

— Mirza Shahzad Akbar (@ShazadAkbar) June 6, 2022

He also requested media organisations to stop publishing the news and warned of legal action against those who failed to comply.

Earlier, a news agency alleged that Akbar had formed a group and bought properties worth "billions of rupees" under the garb of making the accountability process better.

The news agency also alleged that Akbar "misused government's resources and officials, hoarded money, and disappeared."

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Shezad Akbar calls corruption accusations against him as "baseless"

Former adviser to the prime minister Shahzad Akbar Monday denied the allegations of corruption levelled against him and issued a clarification, saying that the news published against him by a news agency was "baseless".

Taking to Twitter, Akbar wrote: "A baseless news regarding me which does not make any sense has been published by a news agency."

آج آن لائن نیوز ایجنسی کی وساطت سے میرے بارے میں ایک بےسروپا اور بنیاد خبر شائع کروای ہے جسکا نہ ہی کوئی سر ہے نہ پیر، اور میں اسکی سختی سے تردید کرتا ہوں،میری جنگ اور دیگر معتبر اداروں سے درخواست ہے کہ ایسی غیر تصدیق شدہ خبریں چھاپنے سے گریز کریں، ۱/۲

— Mirza Shahzad Akbar (@ShazadAkbar) June 6, 2022

He also requested media organisations to stop publishing the news and warned of legal action against those who failed to comply.

Earlier, a news agency alleged that Akbar had formed a group and bought properties worth "billions of rupees" under the garb of making the accountability process better.

The news agency also alleged that Akbar "misused government's resources and officials, hoarded money, and disappeared."

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Loadshedding to be reduced to 3.5 hours from tomorrow: Abbasi

PML-N leader and former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said on Monday that the duration of loadshedding would be reduced to three-and-a-half hours from tomorrow (Tuesday).

He made the announcement while addressing a press conference alongside State Minister for Petroleum Musadik Malik, Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan and Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb.

Abbasi began the press conference by presenting the reasons for the energy shortfall, holding the former government responsible. The country's electricity demand has exceeded 25,000MW during the summer, he said.

He highlighted that when the current government assumed charge, the electricity generation capacity was at 17,000MW which was increased to more than 21,000MW over the past three weeks.

He went on to say that the government and cabinet were sorry for the current loadshedding but asked for time to resolve the existing issues.

"Today, we are producing 21,000MW which means we have a shortfall of 4,000MW," he said, adding that this translated into a little more than four hours of loadshedding to fill the supply and demand gap.

We have decided that from tomorrow (Tuesday) we will reduce loadshedding to three-and-a-half hours, he said, adding that additional money had been paid while oil had also been arranged to ensure this. "We are hopeful that by tomorrow loadshedding will be reduced to 3.5 hours."

In the next phase when coal is imported, the duration of loadshedding will further reduce by June 16, he said. "By June 30, the duration will be less than two hours, close to an hour-and-a-half."

He expressed the hope that the government would be able to reduce this further during the month of July.

The PML-N leader further said that the government was not interested in making excuses and was focused on fixing the issues plaguing the country.

He lashed out at the former government for the lies it told regarding establishing power plants, saying that Pakistan was unable to fulfil its electricity demand for the summer.

The press conference comes days after Prime Minis­ter Shehbaz Sharif dire­cted authorities to come up with an "emergency plan" within 24 hours that was aimed at reducing electricity loadshedding.

He had issued the directives while presiding over a meeting on Saturday. The meeting came amid reports about hours-long loadshedding in various parts of the country, leaving the people to suffer in high temperatures.

The meeting which lasted five hours reviewed the loadshedding situation in the country and discussed measures to reduce the electricity shortfall.

Over the weekend, Defence Minister Khawaja Asif had suggested the nation take advantage of "365 days of sunshine" and operate markets in the daytime as opposed to the convention of "opening markets at 1pm and closing them at 1am".

"Our markets open at 1pm and close at 1am. This [practice] is found nowhere in the world," Asif had tweeted late Saturday night. "God has given our country 365 days of sunshine and yet we turn on the lights in the dark to do business."

If markets set the right business hours then — with Karachi excluded — 3,500MW of electricity can be saved. "Tough circumstances call for tough decisions," he had said.

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