FRIDAY, AUGUST 3, 2017
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Abbasi is Pakistan’s new PM
Abbasi has to eventually give way to Shahbaz Sharif, who is likely to compete for the National Assembly seat lying vacant following the ouster of his elder brother Nawaz Sharif IANS, ISLAMABAD
Shehbaz Sharif barred from campaigning
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ML-N leader Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday took oath as the 18th Prime Minister of Pakistan, after he swept the National Assembly election with a majority vote, five days after the disqualification of Nawaz Sharif by the Supreme Court. President Mamnoon Hussain administered oath to Abbasi, who secured 221 of 339 votes in the National Assembly. After winning the election, Abbasi said though he was the interim Prime Minister, he was not there just to “keep the seat warm”. Abbasi took oath of his office at a solemn ceremony, which had the armed forces chiefs, governors, members of the parliament, and prominent political and social figures in presence. A National Assembly session to
SHORT TAKES Rouhani’s 2nd term as President endorsed TEHRAN: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Thursday endorsed a second term for Hassan Rouhani as the country’s President. In a ceremony broadcast live on state television, Khamenei gave his official approval for Rouhani, reports Xinhua news agency. Rouhani won a landslide victory on May 19 by garnering 57 per cent of the ballots. His conservative rival Ebrahim Raisi came second with 38.5 percent.
India, Pak end water talks in Washington WASHINGTON: Pakistan and India have concluded the muchdelayed water talks here “in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation”, raising hopes of avoiding further tensions over an issue with far-reaching consequences. “The Secretary-level discussions between India and Pakistan on the technical issues on the Indus Waters Treaty took place this week in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation,” the World Bank said in a statement. “The parties have agreed to continue discussions and reconvene in September in Washington,” it added. In March, India and Pakistan held the annual Indus Waters Treaty talks in Lahore.
Shahid Abbasi
Shahbaz Sharif
elect a new Prime Minister had been called by President Hussain following a landmark Supreme Court ruling on the Panama Papers case on Friday, in which Nawaz Sharif was disqualified as PM after being deemed unfit to hold office. Following the SC verdict, the PML-N had agreed upon Abbasi, former Petroleum Minister, as its
candidate for Prime Minister for the interim period till a ‘permanent’ replacement is elected. Abbasi has to eventually give way to Shahbaz Sharif, who is likely to compete for the National Assembly seat lying vacant following the ouster of his elder brother and then stand for the chief executive’s office. Following the announcement of
ISLAMABAD: The Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has barred Punjab Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif from taking part in his own poll campaign for a by-election to a National Assembly seat left vacant after the disqualification of his elder brother and former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. The ECP code of conduct barred constitutional dignitaries, including the President, the Prime Minister, chairman and deputy chairman senate as well as provincial Chief Ministers from visiting the area of any constituency that is going to polls, the Dawn newspaper reported. The polling for the seat will be held on September 17, the report said. —IANS
US sanctions ‘trade war’ on Russia IANS, MOSCOW
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ussian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the new sanctions imposed by the US are tantamount to declaring a “full-scale trade war” against Moscow and the administration demonstrated complete impotence in the most humiliating manner, the media reported. Writing on his Facebook page on Wednesday, Medvedev said the sanctions package “ends hopes for improving our relations with the new US administration”, reports the BBC. “The sanctions regime has been codified and will remain in effect
Dmitry Medvedev
for decades unless a miracle happens.” US President Donald Trump had signed a sweeping sanctions measure that targets Russia, Iran and North Korea, the White House announced.
The US President’s signature on Wednesday came after some speculation that he could veto or not sign the legislation, which passed both chambers of Congress in overwhelming votes last week, CBS News reported. The law aims to punish Russia for its alleged meddling in the 2016 US elections, its actions in Ukraine and the annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. Moscow - which denies interfering in the US presidential election - had already retaliated last week when Congress passed the bill, by expelling 755 people from the US embassy and consulates in Russia, the BBC reported.
Abbasi’s victory by Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, the PML-N benches in the Lower House erupted with loud sloganeering in favor of Nawaz Sharif. Addressing the lower house after his victory was announced, Abbasi expressed his gratitude to everyone for the victory. Abbasi termed the Supreme Court’s verdict on the Panamagate case “unprecedented”, saying that although the party was blind-sided by the judgement, “we accepted it as it was”. “I will not go into details of Friday’s decision — I only want to say that there will soon be another court — one held by the people. There will be no JIT there,” he said, referring to the upcoming general elections in 2018. “I am sure that the real prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif, will return to this seat,” Abbasi added.
N.Korea slams US for military threat PYONGYANG: North Korea on Thursday slammed the US for escalating military threat, the state-run KCNA news agency said. The US and South Korean military officials “openly stated that it will concentrate its latest strategic assets on the vicinity of the Korean peninsula in an explicit manifestation of its intention to carry out an armed attack on North Korea”, KCNA quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying. He added that the military threats included the US dispatching two of its B-1B strategic bombers into the air above the Korean peninsula to conduct aerial bombardment drills.
Venezuelan prosecutor to probe ‘tampered’ poll results IANS, CARACAS
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enezuelan Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz has announced the opening of an investigation into the alleged manipulation of results from the July 30 Constituent Assembly election. “I have appointed two prosecutors to investigate the four directors of the National Electoral Council (CNE) for this very scandalous act,” Ortega said in a CNN interview on Wednesday, after the company responsible for the election’s voting system reported that the voter turnout data was “tampered with”.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (L) met 545 elected members of the National Constituent Assembly, in Caracas, on August 2. (Photo: Xinhua)
The newly elected National Constituent Assembly (ANC), a legislative body created to rewrite the nation’s constitution, will meet
for the first time on Friday, President Nicolas Maduro announced. Maduro made the announcement on Wednesday night in a
televised speech, reports CNN. “This constituent assembly is the hope of an entire country,” he said. All of ANC’S 545 members are supporters of the leftist leader. The ANC will replace the opposition-led National Assembly, and critics fear it will erode democracy and give rise to dictatorship. The opposition refused to take part in the Constituent Assembly election, considering it to be “fraudulent”. The election was held amid ongoing political and social upheaval in the country, where at least 121 people have been killed during anti-government protests that began on April 1.