LAHORE: Thousands of mourners attended the funeral of former Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s wife in the eastern city of Lahore on Friday.
Kulsoom Nawaz, 68, was one of the country’s most well-regarded politicians. She died on Tuesday after months of lying in critical condition at a London hospital. She had undergone surgery for throat cancer last year.
Her body was brought to her home city of Lahore by plane early Friday, and she was laid to rest at her family’s graveyard.
Sharif, who was temporarily freed from prison along with his daughter and her husband, attended his wife’s funeral, as an estimated 10,000 of his supporters gathered outside his house to express their condolences.
Sharif and his two detained family members are serving prison terms for convictions on corruption charges.
Pakistan’s Supreme Court last year disqualified Sharif from holding office and later an anti-graft tribunal convicted him and his relatives. He served as prime minister three times during his political career, which began in the 1980s.
Sharif will be returned to jail along with his daughter and her husband on Monday, when a court is expected to rule on his bail application.
Sharif’s two sons, who live in Britain, missed their mother’s funeral in Lahore. They did not return home to avoid potential arrest over corruption cases. Hassan Nawaz and Hussain Nawaz attended a separate funeral for their mother in London on Thursday.
Thousands attend funeral of Pakistani ex-PM’s wife in Lahore
Thousands attend funeral of Pakistani ex-PM’s wife in Lahore
- Kulsoom Nawaz, 68, was one of the country’s most well-regarded politicians.
- She died on Tuesday after months of lying in critical condition at a London hospital.
Teenager charged with terrorism for stabbing TikToker Sydney bishop
- Police said the boy had traveled for 90 minutes to reach the church from his home and stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at least six times
- The 53-year-old Assyrian Church bishop has a popular youth following on TikTok and has been a target of criticism, hate and online trolling
SYDNEY, Australia: A 16-year-old boy has been charged with a terrorism offense for allegedly stabbing an Assyrian church bishop in Sydney during a church service, Australian police said on Friday, as investigations continued into a riot after the knife attack.
Police from the joint counter-terrorism team questioned the boy, who is in a hospital under police guard recovering from injuries, on Thursday and charged him with committing a terrorist act. If convicted, he could get a maximum penalty of imprisonment for life.
He has been refused bail and is expected to appear before a bedside court hearing on Friday, New South Wales state Police Commissioner Karen Webb said during a press conference.
Police will allege the bishop was stabbed as many as six times and that the boy had traveled for 90 minutes to reach the church from his home, Webb said.
A riot broke out outside the church soon after the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel after an angry crowd demanded the suspected attacker be handed over to them. More than 50 police officers were injured and 20 police cars were damaged.
The 53-year-old bishop has a popular youth following on TikTok and has been a target of criticism, hate and online trolling. His sermons range from homilies on the Bible to fiery criticisms of homosexuality, COVID-19 vaccinations, Islam and the election of US President Joe Biden.
Bishop Emmanuel, in an audio message on social media on Thursday, said he had forgiven his attacker and that he was recovering quickly.
Two knife attacks within three days — at a mall near Bondi beach that killed six people on Saturday and at the Assyrian Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Sydney’s west on Monday — have shocked residents of Australia’s most populous city.
The incidents have sparked calls for greater public security in Australia, where gun crimes and knife attacks are rare due to tough laws.
The shopping center will reopen for business on Friday, while a candlelight vigil will be held on Sunday to mourn the victims. The attacker, 40-year-old Joel Cauchi, was shot to death by police inside the mall.
Ukraine seeks urgent G7, NATO help for battered air defenses
- NATO chief says working on a solution
- UK seeks ‘creative’ deal on seized Russian assets
CAPRI, Italy: Ukraine warned foreign ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) major powers on Thursday they had to change strategy if they wanted Kyiv to withstand increasingly destructive Russian air assaults.
The G7 ministers meeting on the island of Capri acknowledged the need to get more air defense systems to Ukraine and applauded Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba as he joined them on the second day of their three-day gathering.
The G7, comprising Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Britain, the United States and European Union representatives, has been fiercely critical of Russia’s two-year long invasion of Ukraine.
However, military aid to Kyiv has slowed in recent months, with European partners apparently running low on ammunition and vital US funding blocked by Republicans in Congress.
Speaking to reporters as he arrived in Capri, Kuleba bemoaned the fact that while US, British and French forces had intervened on Saturday to help prevent Iranian missiles from hitting Israel, his own country lacked vital defenses.
“The strategy of our partners in Israel seems to be in preventing damage and death. ... In the last months, the strategy of our partners in Ukraine seems to be in helping (us) to recover from damage,” he said.
“So our job today is to find a way where our partners will design a mechanism, a way that will allow us also to avoid death and destruction in Ukraine.”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also took part in Thursday’s G7 meetings, telling reporters beforehand that the military alliance was actively seeking to send more air defense systems as quickly as possible.
“We are working at the possibility of (dispatching) more Patriot batteries to Ukraine. We are in dialogue with some specific countries,” he said.
In Washington, Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal told reporters that Ukraine had asked for additional air defense equipment and another Patriot missile battery, adding that Kyiv was looking for a minimum of seven Patriot systems.
Shmyhal declined to say how many Patriot systems Ukraine had currently, saying that was classified information.
He said US and White House officials had assured the Ukrainian delegation that weapons would be supplied in a matter of weeks, not months, once a $60.8 billion US aid package for Ukraine was approved by Congress.
“We hope it will take days, but not more than weeks,” he said.
Domestic political wrangling has delayed delivery of the US aid, but the US House of Representatives might finally get to vote on the package this weekend, bringing some hope to G7 ministers.
Looking to Washington
Germany has already said it would hand over one Patriot system. European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell urged other EU nations to do likewise to help stave off concerted Russian attacks on vital Ukrainian infrastructure.
“Otherwise the electricity system of Ukraine will be destroyed. And no country can fight without having electricity at home, in the factories, online, for everything,” he told reporters in Capri.
“In these turbulent times, it is a hopeful sign that there are now signals from the Republicans in the US that support for Ukraine can be continued intensively,” German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock told a news conference.
Another key issue under review is how to use profits from some $300 billion of sovereign Russian assets held in the West to help Ukraine, as European Union member states hesitate over concerns about the legality of such a move.
“It’s important we try and get agreement. ... That’s what we’re discussing here. I’m in no doubt we will find a way, but we’re going to have to be creative. We’ll have to be flexible,” said British Foreign Secretary David Cameron.
Shmyhal told reporters in Washington that he had detailed discussions with US and G7 officials about how to use the frozen Russian assets, and he expected some results on that front this year.
Kuleba said he hoped to get immediate pledges this week on the delivery of more Patriot and SAMP/T air defense systems and also new Western sanctions targeting Iran’s production of armed drones, which are being exported to Russia.
Hours later, the United States and Britain announced they would introduce new sanctions on Iran targeting its drone program in retaliation for the April 13 strike on Israel.
But some G7 ministers also urged Israel not to exacerbate an already tense situation with a major retaliation of its own.
“Our appeal is always for prudence and de-escalation,” said Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani. “We hope that Israel’s response, which will probably come, will be a targeted response and not something that provokes escalation.”
Germany holds 2 over military base attack plot for Russia
- NATO working on more air defenses for Ukraine, Stoltenberg says
BERLIN: Two German Russian nationals have been arrested in Germany on suspicion of plotting sabotage attacks, including on US military facilities, in what officials called a serious effort to undermine military support for Ukraine.
Authorities have searched the homes and workplaces of the two suspects who stand accused of working for a foreign secret service. One of them, identified as Dieter S., had since October 2023 discussed possible plots with a person linked to the Russian secret service, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Germany has become one of Kyiv’s biggest suppliers of military aid since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and is a major target for Russian spying operations, authorities have said.
“The suspicion that Putin is recruiting agents from us to carry out attacks on German soil is extremely serious. We will not allow Putin to bring his terror to Germany,” Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said.
Germany summoned the Russian ambassador over the arrests. Earlier, the Kremlin said it had no information about the issue.
Dieter S. had been prepared to carry out bomb and arson attacks on military facilities, including those operated by US forces, prosecutors said, adding that he took photos and videos of military transport and equipment.
A second person, Alexander J., began helping him from March at the latest, prosecutors said.
According to Spiegel magazine, the facilities included the Grafenwoehr army base in the southern state of Bavaria where Ukrainian soldiers receive training to use US Abrams tanks.
US, allied and partner training missions at Grafenwoehr, including the training of Ukrainians, continue, a US military spokesperson said, but referred inquiries about the arrests to the German authorities.
The prosecutors suspect Dieter S., whose last name has not been disclosed due to German privacy laws, was a fighter for Russian-backed forces in eastern Ukraine from December 2014 to September 2016 in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic.
He was in possession of a firearm, prosecutors said.
In a separate case, prosecutors last month charged an officer in Germany’s military procurement agency with attempting to pass secret information to Russian intelligence. News of Thursday’s arrests coincided with a surprise trip by German Economy Minister Robert Habeck to Ukraine.
Germany also issued an urgent appeal this week for countries to help shore up Ukraine’s air defenses as Russian forces continue to pound Ukrainian cities and infrastructure.
“We will continue to provide massive support to Ukraine and will not allow ourselves to be intimidated,” Interior Minister Nancy Faeser said.
Meanwhile, NATO is working to send more air defense systems to Ukraine, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said, adding that delays in providing such aid were harming Kyiv’s efforts to resist Russia’s attacks.
“We have compiled data about the different air defense systems we have in NATO and focused on the Patriot systems. And we are working with allies to ensure that they redeploy some of their systems to Ukraine,” he said in Italy.
Cameron tells Netanyahu UK will not ban IRGC: Report
- Stance relayed during face-to-face talks between British FM, Israeli PM Wednesday
- ‘We need to be able to pick up the phone. If we proscribed them it would not help the situation’
LONDON: The UK will not proscribe Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terrorist organization, the Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.
The stance was reportedly relayed by UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron during a face-to-face meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Israel Katz on Wednesday.
The Israeli government reportedly requested that the UK ban the IRGC following Iran’s drone and missile attack last week.
But Cameron, in what a source called a “blunt” response, told Netanyahu and Katz that doing so would hinder London’s ability to communicate with Tehran.
“We need to be able to pick up the phone. If we proscribed them it would not help the situation,” the source reported Cameron as saying.
If the IRGC were to be proscribed in the UK, it would make membership of it, attending its meetings, displaying its symbols or campaigning for it in the country illegal.
The move has been considered by the UK government for over a year, but Home Office officials have long warned that doing so would sever one of the few remaining diplomatic channels with Tehran. Instead, the IRGC has been sanctioned by the UK government on several occasions.
The US, which has banned the IRGC, has also suggested that the UK should proscribe it. The group’s navy was recently included in a new set of joint sanctions issued by London and Washington.
US vetoes widely backed Palestinian bid for full UN membership
- 12 members of the Security Council vote in favor of the resolution, with the UK and Switzerland abstaining
- The representative of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas tells council his people long to live in freedom, security and peace ‘in an independent state’
NEW YORK CITY: The US on Thursday vetoed a draft resolution, drawn up by Algeria, that proposed the State of Palestine be granted full membership of the UN, thereby effectively blocking the Security Council from recognizing Palestine as a state.
Twelve members of the 15-member council voted in favor of the resolution, with the UK and Switzerland abstaining and the US voting against it. To pass, a council resolution requires at least nine votes in favor and no use of the power of veto by any of the five permanent council members: the US, the UK, France, Russia and China.
A spokesperson for the US State Department said on Thursday: “Premature actions in New York, even with the best intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people.
“There are unresolved questions as to whether the applicant can meet the criteria to be considered as a state. We have long called on the Palestinian Authority to undertake necessary reforms to establish the attributes of readiness for statehood.
“Hamas, which is (a) terrorist organization currently exerting power and influence in Gaza, would be an integral part of the envisioned state, in this resolution. And for that reason, the United States is voting no on this proposed Security Council resolution.”
Robert Wood, the deputy representative of the US to the UN, had also reiterated that under his nation’s laws, full recognition by the UN of a Palestinian state would require that “funding would be cut off to the UN system, so we’re bound by US law.”
Prior to a previous meeting of the Security Council this month, Wood restated Washington’s long-held position that full Palestinian membership of the UN “is a decision that should be negotiated between Israel and the Palestinians … They need to work out an agreement and that’s how full membership should come about.”
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas submitted an application for UN membership in 2011. It was not considered by the Security Council but the following year the General Assembly granted the “State of Palestine” the more limited status of non-member observer state.
Algeria’s concise draft resolution text adhered to the typical format for Security Council resolutions suggesting a state be granted UN membership. It proposed that the Security Council, having examined the application by the State of Palestine for admission to the UN, recommend to the General Assembly that the State of Palestine be admitted as a full member.
The vote on Thursday followed a long day of high-level debate in the council chamber about the issue. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres opened the meeting by warning that the Middle East was “on a precipice,” and calling for “maximum restraint.”
He added that it is “high time to end the bloody cycle of retaliation. It is time to stop.”
He reiterated his condemnation of Iran’s attack on Israel this week, and of the latter’s attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus this month.
“In Gaza, seven months of Israeli military operations have created a humanitarian hellscape,” said Guterres.
“Tens of thousands of people have been killed. Two million Palestinians have endured death, destruction and the denial of lifesaving humanitarian aid. They are now staring down starvation.
“An Israeli operation in Rafah would compound this humanitarian catastrophe,” he added, referring to threats by Israeli authorities of a ground offensive in the city in southern Gaza, which has become the last refuge for more than a million Palestinians displaced by fighting in other parts of the territory.
Ending the hostilities in Gaza would significantly help to defuse rising tensions across the region, Guterres said as he repeated his calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the release of all hostages being held in the territory.
Ziad Abu Amr, the representative of the Palestinian president, said his people long to practice their right to self-determination and to live in freedom, security and peace “in an independent state similar to other countries around the world.”
Addressing the US directly, he added: “To those who say that recognizing the Palestinian state must happen through negotiations and not through a UN resolution, we wonder once again, how was the State of Israel established? How was it recognized? Wasn’t that through a UN resolution, which is Resolution 181?
“It is high time for the Security Council to shoulder its historic responsibility and give justice to the Palestinian people by adopting a resolution to accept Palestine as a full member of the United Nations.”
Jordan’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, called on the Security Council to “accept the state of Palestine as a full-fledged member of the United Nations.”
He added: “Do so to uphold justice, to make peace triumphant, to reject injustice, to cry out against falsehood. Do not leave the future of the region in the hands of the most extremist elements of the Israeli government.”
Russia’s permanent representative to the UN, Vasily Nebenzia, said: “The minimum we’re compelled to do, based on all moral imperatives, is to satisfy Palestine’s aspiration for UN membership.
“We’re convinced that recognition of Palestine, on a status on a par with Israel, will help the long-term settlement of the Palestine-Israeli conflict.”
Spain’s foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albares Bueno, said his country has joined the 139 others that have already officially recognized the State of Palestine, and supports its admission to the UN.
“Spain will recognize the State of Palestine because the people of Palestine cannot be condemned to be a people of refugees,” he said. “Also because this is the way to peace in the Middle East, and because this is good for the security of Israel.
“Spain will recognize a Palestinian state because they have a right to a future with hope, just as the Israeli people have a right to a future in peace and security, and following so many decades of pain.”
Brazil’s foreign minister, Mauro Vieira, told council members that the “time has come for the international community to finally welcome the fully sovereign and independent state of Palestine as a new member of the United Nations.”
China’s ambassador to the UN, Fu Cong, called on members of the council “to take a responsible attitude in light of history and cast a favorable vote to support Palestine joining the UN family as a full member.”
Algeria’s foreign minister, Ahmad Attaf, said that full membership of the UN for Palestine is a “historical right,” and failure to grant it will guarantee the Arab-Israeli conflict is prolonged.
The UK’s representative to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said that recognition of a Palestinian state “cannot come at the start of the process but it does not have to be the very end of the process.”
She added: “Our long-standing position has been that we will recognize a Palestinian state at a time that is most conducive to the peace process. That pathway will start with fixing the immediate crisis in Gaza.”
