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Pakistan's top court rules former PM Khan’s party eligible for reserved seats

July 12, 2024 - 07:09
ISLAMABAD — In a much-awaited decision Friday, Pakistan's top court declared former Prime Minister Imran Khan's party was entitled to its share of reserved seats in the national and provincial assemblies, handing the incarcerated leader's supporters a major legal victory. The 8-5 decision, broadcast live, overturned an earlier verdict of the Election Commission of Pakistan, and backed by a provisional court, that deprived Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, of close to 80 reserved seats in the national and provincial legislatures. The decision that will see more than 20 seats in the National Assembly go to PTI deprives Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif's ruling coalition of a two-thirds majority. However, with more than 200 seats in hand it will retain a majority required to rule in the body of 336. PTI leaders hailed the victory, calling it a golden day in Pakistan's history. "It is a day of joy for supporters in and outside Pakistan. We finally got our right," PTI Chairman Gohar Ali Khan told media outside the court. The court's short order affecting the makeup of national and provincial assemblies comes five months after Pakistan went to the polls on February 8. The election that saw PTI-backed candidates win the largest number of seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of the country's bicameral parliament, faced widespread allegations of pre-poll rigging and result manipulation. The election commission and Sharif's ruling coalition have rejected foreign calls to investigate alleged electoral discrepancies. Addressing a press conference soon after the verdict came, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar told media the decision was painful. "It's painful that apparently the articles of the constitution were not interpreted but rewritten," Tarar said. He said repealing the verdict would be the Cabinet's decision. Background According to Pakistan's elections laws, seats reserved for women and non-Muslims are allotted to parties in proportion to the number of seats they win in the general elections. PTI was forced to run candidates as independents in the February 8 polls after the country's top court upheld the election commission's decision to strip it of a unified electoral symbol. The election commission took away the party's symbol after it declared PTI's intraparty elections invalid. PTI candidates still won 93 seats in the National Assembly, leaving behind Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party of the Bhutto dynasty. To maintain a unified presence in the legislature, PTI-backed candidates joined the Sunni Ittehad Council, or SIC, making the right-wing religious party the parliamentary face of PTI. However, the election commission rejected SIC's claim to reserved seats in March, citing technicalities, including that it did not submit a list of names for reserved seats before the election. The ECP then doled out reserved seats to other parties boosting PTI's opponents' position across national and provincial legislatures. Later the same month, the Peshawar High Court upheld the election commission's decision. In May, however, the Supreme Court suspended those verdicts, putting the ruling alliance's two-thirds majority on hold and the status of several lawmakers occupying reserved seats in limbo. Overturning the election commission and provincial court's decisions on Friday, the top court's majority declared PTI did not lose its status as a political party in the assemblies despite losing its electoral symbol prior to polls and running candidates as independents. The court asked PTI-backed lawmakers to declare their party affiliation with the commission. It ordered the commission to allot the party its share of reserved seats across all legislatures.

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July 12, 2024 - 07:00
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Australia accuses Russian-born couple of espionage

July 12, 2024 - 06:34
Sydney — Two Russian-born Australian citizens have been accused of spying for Russia.  Australian federal police arrested the married couple at their home in Brisbane on Thursday, accusing them of accessing documents related to national defense. Kira Korolev, a 40-year-old private in the Australian army, and her 62-year-old husband, Igor Korolev, appeared in court Friday. They have both been charged with one count of preparing for an espionage offense, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years imprisonment.   It is the first time this type of charge has been brought since foreign interference laws were enacted in Australia in 2018.  Investigators allege that Kira, an army information systems technician, traveled to Russia and that while there, she instructed her husband how to access material from her official work account with the intention of providing it to Russian intelligence officials. Mike Burgess, the head of ASIO, the Australian Security Intelligence Organization, the national security agency told reporters in Canberra Friday that spying is a serious crime. “Espionage was not some quaint Cold War notion," he said. "Espionage damages our economy and degrades our strategic advantage.  It has catastrophic real-world consequences.  Foreign intelligence services are capable, determined and patient.  They play the long game.  The problem for them is ASIO does, too.” It is unclear whether the two defendants passed on any documents to Russian intelligence or anyone else, or the nature of the information they are accused of trying to pass on. Australia police said that "no significant compromise" of military secrets had been identified. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Canberra Friday that spies will be tracked down. “Australia’s security agencies are doing their job and they are doing it well.  People will be held to account who interfere with our national interests and that is precisely what these arrests represent.”    Authorities say Kira Korolev was employed by the army for several years and held a security clearance within the military.  She became an Australian citizen in 2016. She and her husband did not apply for bail and have been remanded into custody.  A magistrate in Queensland state has adjourned the case until September 20.   The Australian Federal Police, which is leading the investigation, said Australia’s Five Eyes security alliance partners, the United States, Britain, New Zealand and Canada, could be confident that Australia would “continue to identify and disrupt espionage and foreign interference activity.” 

China says it’s conducting joint military drills with Russia

July 12, 2024 - 06:02
beijing — China said Friday it was conducting joint military drills with Russia along its southern coast, after a U.S.-led Western defense alliance met in Washington and Japan warned of a growing threat from Beijing's strong ties with Moscow. China's defense ministry said the two militaries had begun the exercises, called Joint Sea-2024, in "early July" and they would last until the middle of this month. The drills in the waters and airspace around Zhanjiang, a city in southern Guangdong province, are "to demonstrate the resolve and capabilities of the two sides in jointly addressing maritime security threats and preserving global and regional peace and stability," the ministry said. It added that the exercises "will further deepen China-Russia comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for the new era." They were taking place in accordance with Beijing and Moscow's annual plan for military engagement, according to the ministry. The announcement came in the same week that NATO leaders convened in Washington to reaffirm support for Ukraine amid Russia's invasion. China and Russia have drawn closer in recent years and tout their friendship as having "no limits," and both share hostile relations with NATO. NATO leaders said in a declaration on Wednesday that China had "become a decisive enabler" of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, prompting Beijing to warn NATO against "provoking confrontation." China maintains that it is not a party to the Ukraine conflict but has been criticized by Western leaders for giving political and economic support to Russia, including in the trade of goods with both civilian and military uses. Chinese forces are also staging drills this week with Belarus, another Russian ally, on NATO's eastern border. And Japan said Friday that joint China-Russia activities near its territory pose a "grave concern from the perspective of national security."

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July 12, 2024 - 06:00
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July 12, 2024 - 05:00
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July 12, 2024 - 04:00
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July 12, 2024 - 03:00
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Hungary's Orban, a NATO outlier on Ukraine, talks 'peace mission' with Trump

July 12, 2024 - 02:37
WASHINGTON — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban met with Donald Trump on Thursday and the pair discussed the "possibilities of peace," a spokesperson for the prime minister said as he pushes for a cease-fire in Ukraine. Trump and Orban met at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida "as the next stop of his peace mission," Orban's spokesperson said. "The discussion was about the possibilities of peace." Nationalist leader Orban, a longtime Trump supporter, made surprise visits to Kyiv, Moscow and Beijing in the past two weeks on a self-styled "peace mission," angering NATO allies. His meeting in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin in particular vexed some other NATO members, who said the trip handed legitimacy to Putin when the West wants to isolate him over his war in Ukraine. Orban traveled to Kyiv before visiting Moscow but did not tell Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy about his mission to Russia, Zelenskiy said, dismissing Orban's ambition of playing the peacemaker. "Not all the leaders can make negotiations. You need to have some power for this," Zelenskiy said earlier at a news conference at the NATO summit. White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan, when asked about Orban's initiative, said Ukraine would be rightly concerned about any attempt to negotiate a peace deal without involving Kyiv. "Whatever adventurism is being undertaken without Ukraine's consent or support is not something that's consistent with our policy, the foreign policy of the United States," Sullivan said. Orban's self-styled peace mission has also irked many members of the European Union, whose rotating presidency Hungary took over at the start of this month. The Hungarian embassy in Washington declined to comment on the planned meeting with Trump, which was first reported by Bloomberg. Orban has been attending a NATO summit hosted by Democratic President Joe Biden. Hungary's delegation voiced opposition to key NATO positions, while not blocking the alliance from taking action. Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto told Reuters on Wednesday that Hungary believes a second Trump presidency would boost hopes for peace in Ukraine. Orban hoped to bring an end to the war through peace talks involving both Russia and Ukraine, according to Szijjarto. Trump has said he would quickly end the war. He has not offered a detailed plan to achieve that, but Reuters reported last month that advisers to the former president had presented him with a plan to end the war in part by making future aid to Kyiv conditional on Ukraine joining peace talks. In the past several months, foreign officials have regularly sought meetings with Trump and his key advisers to discuss his foreign policy should he beat Biden in the November 5 election. Polls show Trump widening his lead over Biden. One adviser, Keith Kellogg, has met with several high-ranking foreign officials on the sidelines of the NATO summit, Reuters reported this week. NATO frustration Orban appeared isolated at the opening of a NATO meeting on Ukraine on Thursday, sitting alone while other leaders talked in a huddle. Two European diplomats told Reuters that NATO allies were frustrated with Orban's actions around the summit but stressed that he had not blocked the alliance from taking action on Ukraine. Multiple EU leaders made clear Orban was not speaking for the bloc in his discussions on the war in Ukraine. "I don't think there's any point in having conversations with authoritarian regimes that are violating international law," said Finnish President Alexander Stubb. Hungary also diverged from its NATO allies on China, which the alliance said is an enabler of Russia's war effort and poses challenges to security. Hungary does not want NATO to become an "anti-China" bloc, and will not support it doing so, Szijjarto said Thursday.

US, South Korea sign nuclear guideline strategy to deter and respond to North Korea

July 12, 2024 - 02:16
WASHINGTON — The U.S. commitment to deterrence against North Korea is backed by the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear, U.S. President Joe Biden told South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in a meeting Thursday on the sidelines of a NATO summit. The two leaders also authorized a guideline on establishing an integrated system of extended deterrence for the Korean peninsula to counter nuclear and military threats from North Korea, Yoon's office said. The guideline formalizes the deployment of U.S. nuclear assets on and around the Korean peninsula to deter and respond to potential nuclear attacks by the North, Yoon's deputy national security adviser Kim Tae-hyo told a briefing in Washington. "It means U.S. nuclear weapons are specifically being assigned to missions on the Korean Peninsula," Kim said. Earlier Biden and Yoon issued a joint statement announcing the signing of the Guidelines for Nuclear Deterrence and Nuclear Operations on the Korean Peninsula. "The presidents reaffirmed their commitments in the U.S.-ROK Washington Declaration and highlighted that any nuclear attack by the DPRK against the ROK will be met with a swift, overwhelming and decisive response," it said. DPRK is short for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. ROK refers to South Korea's formal name, the Republic of Korea. Cheong Seong-Chang, a security strategy expert at the Sejong Institute and a strong advocate of South Korea's own nuclear armament, said the new nuclear guideline is significant progress that fundamentally changes the way the allies will respond to a nuclear threat from North Korea. "The problem is, the only thing that will give South Korea full confidence is a promise from the U.S. of an immediate nuclear retaliation in the event of nuclear use by the North, but that is simply impossible," Cheong said. "That is the inherent limitation of nuclear deterrence," he said, adding whether the nuclear guideline will survive a change in U.S. administration is also questionable. Yoon's office said the guideline itself is classified. North Korea has openly advanced its nuclear weapons policy by codifying their use in the event of perceived threat against its territory and enshrining the advancement of nuclear weapons capability in the constitution last year. Earlier this year, it designated South Korea as its "primary foe" and vowed to annihilate its neighbor for colluding with the United States to wage war against it, in a dramatic reversal of peace overtures they made in 2018. Both Seoul and Washington deny any aggressive intent against Pyongyang but say they are fully prepared to counter any aggression by the North and have stepped up joint military drills in recent months. Yoon reaffirmed South Korea's support for Ukraine, pledging to double its contribution to a NATO trust fund from the $12 million it provided in 2024, his office said. The fund enables short-term non-lethal military assistance and long-term capability-building support, NATO says. It made no mention of any direct military support for Ukraine. Yoon's office has said it was considering weapons supply for Kyiv, reversing its earlier policy of limiting its assistance to humanitarian in nature. 

Australia charges Russian-born married couple with espionage

July 12, 2024 - 02:01
SYDNEY — Australia said Friday it had arrested a Russian-born married couple on espionage charges, alleging the woman who was an information systems technician in the Australian Army sought to access defense material and send it to Russian officials. The Australian Federal Police (AFP) said the couple, who hold Australian citizenship, worked to access material related to Australia's national security though no significant compromise had been identified yet. "We allege they sought that information with the intention of providing it to Russian authorities," AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw said during a media briefing. "Whether that information was handed over remains a key focus of our investigation." The AFP said the woman, 40, traveled to Russia and instructed her husband in Australia to log into her official account to access defense materials. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese warned anyone considering acting against Australia's national security. "People will be held to account who interfere with our national interests and that's precisely what these arrests represent," Albanese told reporters. He declined to comment directly on the case saying it was before the court. Igor and Kira Korolev appeared in the magistrate's court in Brisbane, court filings showed, after being charged with one count each of preparing for an espionage offense, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in jail. The charges are the first under new laws introduced in 2018. They did not apply for bail and were remanded in custody until September 20 when they are next due to appear, media reported. The couple has been living in Australia for more than 10 years, with the woman getting Australian citizenship in 2016 and her husband in 2020. The arrests come as Australia on Thursday unveiled an $169 million military aid package for Ukraine at the NATO summit in Washington, the country's single largest aid package since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Australia is one of the largest non-NATO contributors to the West's support for Ukraine and has been supplying defense equipment to Kyiv, banned exports of aluminum ores to Russia and sanctioned more than 1,000 Russian individuals and entities. 

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July 12, 2024 - 02:00
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July 12, 2024 - 01:00
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Searing heat in parts of southern, central Europe prompts alerts

July 12, 2024 - 00:42
BELGRADE, Serbia — Weather alerts, forest fires, melting pavement in cities: A sizzling heat wave has sent temperatures in parts of central and southern Europe soaring toward 40 degrees Celsius in some places. From Italy to Romania, authorities warned people to be cautious, drive carefully if going on holiday, drink plenty of water and avoid going out during the hottest hours of the day. Italian authorities declared a red weather alert in seven cities on Thursday, mostly in the central parts of the country but also the capital Rome and Trieste in the northeast. Rome's municipal authorities issued a digital app to help people locate public drinking fountains as temperatures reached 38 C on Thursday. Dennis Mix, a visitor from the United States, said he skipped part of a planned tour of Rome and stayed in a van instead. "It is really affecting me," he said. The heat conditions are aggravated by humidity and could affect healthy people as well as those with health conditions, Italian authorities warned. Similar warnings were issued in neighboring Croatia and further east and south. Croatia's main tourism resort, the southern Adriatic Sea town of Dubrovnik, recorded 28 C at dawn, signaling there won't be relief when the sun goes down. Forest fires have been reported this week in Albania, near the border with Greece, as well as in Bosnia and Italy. Several blazes raged Thursday in Greece's southern Corinth area and on the eastern Aegean Sea island of Lesbos. Warnings were issued for the region surrounding the capital Athens and other parts of central Greece on Thursday, with a similar warning for the northeast of the country Friday. Greek authorities have said that the country faces its highest wildfire risk in two decades this summer, following a mild, largely rainless winter and spring that have left vegetation tinder-dry. Meteorologists said temperatures were even higher than officially reported in big cities where sizzling concrete radiates the heat above the ground and the asphalt softens under one's feet. "It was impossible to breathe yesterday," said Antonela Spičanović, from the Montenegrin capital of Podgorica, where temperatures reached 39 C on Wednesday. The city seemed deserted with many of its residents staying indoors or heading for the Adriatic Sea coast or the mountains. "I spend my days in the apartment, under the air conditioning," said Đorđe Stanišić, an electrical engineer also from Podgorica. "It's hell outside." Mendim Rugova, a meteorologist from neighboring Kosovo, said temperatures in the country have risen on average by 2.5 degrees since the 1980s. He said the current heat wave could last until the end of July. "In the region we could see temperatures above 40 C, in parts of Albania, Northern Macedonia, in Greece and also in parts of Serbia," he predicted. In the Czech Republic's capital of Prague, where temperatures reached 34 C Wednesday before dropping slightly Thursday, the city zoo delivered ten tons of ice to provide much-needed relief for the animals. The ice was strategically placed around the zoo Wednesday, creating cool spots where animals could find refuge from unusually high temperatures. In the Romanian capital Bucharest, street thermometers showed 42 C on Tuesday and Wednesday though the official measurements were a few degrees lower. Neighboring Serbia reported record temperatures so far this summer, with thermostats at 35 C Thursday morning in the north of the country. In the capital Belgrade, doctors reported treating people who collapsed, felt dizzy or complained of headaches due to the heat. Serbian authorities have said that the use of air conditioning led to huge power consumption similar to levels normally seen in winter, when many in the Balkan country use electricity for heating. During a previous heat wave last month, Montenegro, Bosnia, Croatia and Albania faced a major power outage amid the overload and a collapse of a regional distribution line. Earlier this month, a powerful storm swept the region after days of heat and killed two people, damaged houses while pulling out trees and flooding streets. Experts say human-induced climate change has brought wild weather swings, increasingly unpredictable storms and heat waves.

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July 12, 2024 - 00:00
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Biden: “Am I getting the job done?”

July 11, 2024 - 23:35
U.S. President Joe Biden fielded question after question about his fitness to be president at his NATO news conference challenging reporters with the rhetorical question “Am I getting the job done?” It was 20 minutes into the news conference before he got his first question about NATO. The first Israeli military report on the October 7th attack finds that the army failed to protect civilians And, want to own a dinosaur? There’s one going up for auction!

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July 11, 2024 - 23:00
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Opposition mounts against security bill in South Sudan

July 11, 2024 - 22:57
Juba, South Sudan — In South Sudan, opponents of President Salva Kiir want him to send back to parliament a recently passed bill over concerns it will give state security agents too much power. Critics of the bill say it will allow the National Security Service to arrest and detain suspects without a warrant, thereby stifling dissent from the opposition and civil rights activists. South Sudan’s main opposition party, the SPLM-IO, and various civil rights activists, have united to oppose the security bill. The party’s deputy chairperson, Oyet Nathaniel, expressed dismay over the rushed passage of the bill, despite calls to revise certain sections beforehand. "We urge His Excellency, the president of the Republic of South Sudan, to honor the directives of the principals, the resolution of the Council of Ministers and the legal advice from the ministers of Justice and Constitutional Affairs to remove Sections 54 and 55 of the act,” he said. “We implore him not to approve this contentious National Security Service bill." Nathaniel, speaking at a news conference this week, also criticized the past misuse of power by the National Security Service, highlighting instances where individuals were detained without being presented in court, as required by law. He argued that granting security agents the power of arrest would exacerbate constitutional breaches and human rights violations. "Their mandate is explicitly to gather and analyze information and provide advice to relevant authorities,” he said. “Nowhere in the constitution does it grant them the authority to engage in armed conflict or war, make arrests or detentions without a warrant, or intimidate and harass." Ter Manyang Gatwech, executive director of the Center for Peace and Advocacy in South Sudan, argued that the bill’s provisions threaten all citizens, regardless of party. "Those who passed it may think it targets civil society, ordinary citizens and human rights defenders, but this is not the case,” he said. “I urge the president to return this bill to parliament for revision." However, some South Sudanese lawmakers who support the measure say it is necessary to protect the country from lawbreakers. John Agany, a lawmaker and former spokesperson for the National Assembly, defended the bill, asserting that the controversial sections are not unconstitutional. He emphasized the importance of responsible enforcement. "Our National Security Service is comprised of highly responsible and well-trained individuals,” he said. “Their effectiveness was demonstrated during the 2013 crisis when they maintained order and saved lives. We should not underestimate the efforts of these men and women who work tirelessly to secure our nation." Daniel Ali, a lawmaker from the ruling SPLM Party, supported the bill’s provisions for arrest without a warrant in cases involving threats to national security. "The bill does not allow for arbitrary arrests like those over domestic disputes,” he said. “It pertains to serious matters like coup attempts, where swift action is necessary. I urge the assembly to pass this law without delay." Several embassies have come out against the bill, warning that its enactment would further restrict civic and political freedoms at a critical time for South Sudan. "Enacting this bill into law would be regrettable under any circumstances, but especially now, when it undermines the transitional government’s commitment to fostering political and civic space,” said Michael Adler, U.S. ambassador to Juba. As the debate continues, stakeholders both within South Sudan and abroad emphasize the importance of preserving civic space and upholding human rights. They urge President Kiir to reconsider the bill and address its contentious provisions through constructive dialogue and legal revisions.

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July 11, 2024 - 22:00
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