February 26, 2024

Newly-elected Punjab Assembly Speaker Malik Ahmad Khan began the voting process for the election of chief minister on Sunday (today) with members of the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) boycotting the session.  The session, which began with over a 30-minute delay, was disrupted after SIC members walked out of the assembly after the speaker turned down their request to address the forum. At the start of the session, Speaker Khan administered oath to two MPAs and then assured the lawmakers that he would run the House without any bias. The speaker then briefed the Assembly that after completing the scrutiny of the nomination papers, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) Maryam Nawaz and SIC’s Aftab Ahmad Khan had emerged as the candidates vying for the chief minister’s slot. Following this, the speaker directed the secretary of the Assembly to brief the members about the voting process. Once this was completed, the SIC’s candidate for CM requested the speaker to address the House on a point of order but was barred from speaking. “In today’s session, only a chief minister has to be elected. You cannot talk in today’s meeting,” the PA speaker said, following which a commotion erupted and the SIC members walked out of the assembly. Speaker Khan constituted a four-member committee to convince the SIC members to participate in the CM’s election. The SIC members said they would not return to the house until they were given permission to talk on the point of order. The negotiating committee included Khawaja Salman Rafique, Imran Nazeer, Khalil Tahir Sindhu and Samiullah. The speaker said he had to run the house in accordance with the constitution and the point of order could not be held on election day. Meanwhile, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) candidate Maryam Nawaz, said that the opposition should not leave the house or boycott the election. “They should contest the poll, whether they win or get defeated, as it was the beauty of a democracy,” she maintained. The speaker then also sent PPP’s Ali Haider Gilani and PML-Q’s Chaudhry Shafay Hussain to convince the SIC MPAs to return for the last time. While sending them the speaker warned that if the lawmakers do not return then he would move forward with the proceedings. However, the efforts to bring back the SIC lawmakers went in vain and the speaker continued with the proceedings to elect a new speaker with female members casting their votes. The members will remain in the lobby till completion of the voting process. Who will win CM election? Maryam is expected to win the election as her party has the backing of a majority of the house members, 224, after the February 8 general elections. The PML-N’s senior vice-president will create a new history by becoming Pakistan’s first-ever female chief minister if elected. Maryam’s opponent, Aftab Ahmad Khan, is the candidate fielded by the SIC, who has the support of 103 MPAs in the house. Aftab has served as a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MPA for three terms in the Punjab Assembly in 1988, 1993 and 2002. He joined the PTI in 2013 and is now serving his fourth term. To win the CM’s election, a candidate needs to win the backing of the majority which is 187 members in the house that currently has 327 seats. The PML-N and SIC are expected to hold separate meetings of the parliamentary parties ahead of the assembly session. Maryam to be 4th Punjab CM from Sharif family Apart from becoming the first female chief minister in the country, Maryam will also become the fourth member of the Sharif family and the first woman member of her family to get elected as CM if she wins the contest. The PML-N’s chief organiser was elected on two seats in Lahore — NA 119 and PP-159 — but later she withdrew from the National Assembly seat. In the PP-159 constituency, she contested against the PTI-affiliated candidate Mehr Sharafat and won with a slim margin. Overall, she is the sixth member of the Sharif family who has been elected in a general or a by-election. Before her, Nawaz Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Abbas Sharif, Hamza Shehbaz and Begum Kalsoom Nawaz were elected from Lahore. PML-N decides cabinet members Meanwhile, the PML-N has started finalising the names for Maryam’s cabinet. Party sources said that it was decided that the provincial cabinet would be constituted in a phased manner and for the first phase some names were under discussion. They said the provincial cabinet of the PML-N leader will contain ministers from the allied parties. Sources said in the first phase, 15 to 20 ministers were expected to be included in the cabinet from the PML-N with two each from the PPP and Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q), and one from the Istehkam-e-Pakistan Party (IPP). The names under discussion included PML-N leaders Marriyum Aurangzeb, Azma Bokhari, Tahir Sindhu, Mian Mujtaba Shujaur Rahman, Khawaja Salman Rafiq, Bilal Yasin, Khawaja Imran Nazir, Rukhsana Kausar, Manshaullah Butt, Sardar Sher Ali Gurchani, Kazim Ali Pirzada, Colonel (retired) Muhammad Ayub Khan Gadhi, Malik Asif Bhai, Akhtar Bosal, Rahila Khadim Hussain, Mian Yawar Zaman, Fida Hussain Watto, Tanveer Aslam Malik, Malik Asad Khokhar, Farrukh Ali Javed and Sheikh Salman Naeem. Sources further claimed that PPP’s Syed Ali Haider Gillani, Malik Ghazanfar Abbas Chheena of the IPP and Chaudhary Shafay Hussain of the PML-Q are likely to be inducted into the provincial cabinet. Source:https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/1161693-punjab-assembly-to-elect-new-chief-minister-with-prospect-high-for-maryam

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that 31,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action in the two years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Speaking at the “Ukraine. Year 2024” forum in Kyiv, Zelenskyy said that “each of these losses is a great sacrifice” for Ukraine. end of list He added that “tens of thousands of civilians” had been killed in occupied areas of Ukraine, but said that no exact figures would be available until the war was over. It’s the first time that Kyiv has confirmed the number of its losses since the start of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Russia has also provided few official casualty figures. Independent Russian news outlet Mediazona said on Saturday that about 75,000 Russian men died in 2022 and 2023 fighting in the war. A United States intelligence report declassified in mid-December 2023 estimated that 315,000 Russian troops had been killed or wounded in Ukraine. If accurate, the figure would represent 87 percent of the roughly 360,000 troops Russia had before the war, according to the report. Delays in arms shipments It has been two years since Russia invaded Ukraine and commemorations to mark the second anniversary brought expressions of continued support, new bilateral security agreements and new aid commitments from Ukraine’s Western allies. But Ukraine’s Defence Minister Rustem Umerov highlighted that they still needed to deliver on their commitments if Kyiv is to have any chance of holding out against Moscow and stressed that delays in arms shipments will cost lives. “We look to the enemy: Their economy is almost $2 trillion, they use up to 15 percent official and nonofficial budget [funds] for the war, which constitutes over $100bn annually. So basically whenever a commitment doesn’t come on time, we lose people, we lose territory,” he said, speaking at the Kyiv forum. Europe has admitted it will fall far short of a plan to deliver more than one million artillery shells to Ukraine by March, instead hoping to complete the shipments by the end of the year. Umerov highlighted that such delays put Ukraine at a further disadvantage “in the mathematics of war” against Russia, which the West has said is increasingly building a war economy. Kyiv has also been weakened by the blocking of a vital $60bn US aid package amid political wrangling in the US Congress. US President Joe Biden said the hold-ups directly contributed to Ukraine being forced to withdraw from Avdiivka. On Sunday, Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said he was “deeply convinced that the US will not abandon Ukraine in terms of financial, military and armed support”. ‘Plan for new offensive against Russia’ In recent weeks, fighting has intensified on parts of the front line. On Sunday, Russian shelling and rocket strikes continued to pummel Ukraine’s south and east, as local Ukrainian officials reported that at least two civilians were killed and eight others were wounded in the Zaporizhia and Kherson provinces. Moscow and Kyiv also continued to trade nightly drone attacks, with Ukraine’s air defences shooting down 16 of 18 Iranian-made Shahed drones launched overnight by Moscow and a Russian drone on Sunday morning striking an unspecified facility in Ukraine’s western Khmelnytskyi region, the regional military administration reported without giving details. Russian troops also appeared to be pressing on west of Avdiivka, the strategic city whose capture this month handed Moscow a significant victory. Zelenskyy told a news conference on Sunday that Ukraine has a clear plan for a new counteroffensive against Russian forces. Kyiv’s troops conducted a counteroffensive last year, but were unable to break through prepared defensive lines in the Russian-occupied south and east. Advertisement AD “There is a plan [for a counteroffensive], the plan is clear, I can’t tell you the details,” Zelenskyy said. He said that a major shake-up that saw the head of Ukraine’s military replaced earlier this month was connected to the new plan of action on the battlefield. “This plan is related to the change of management; there are corresponding changes. Several plans will be prepared due to a leak of information,” Zelenskyy said, without elaborating. Earlier he said that Kyiv’s plans to conduct a counteroffensive last year had been leaked and ended up “on a desk in the Kremlin” before the operation had even begun. Meanwhile at the forum in Kyiv, besides highlighting issues in military deliveries, Umerov insisted that Ukrainian forces were doing “everything that’s possible, and also what’s impossible, to secure a breakthrough” this year. The defence minister said that a “strong” military strategy is already in place for the coming months, but did not disclose details. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/25/ukraines-umerov-says-delays-in-western-arms-deliveries-costing-lives

UNRWA was last able to deliver aid to northern Gaza on January 23, says UN agency chief Philippe Lazzarini as he describes the “looming famine” as a “man-made disaster”. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday will conclude its six-day hearings into the legality of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories since 1967. Israel is due to report to the ICJ on Monday on the progress it has made in implementing the top UN court’s last month’s order of preventing genocide in Gaza. This case was brought by South Africa. Netanyahu says military operation in Rafah “will be delayed somewhat” if a captives deal is reached, but “it will happen” regardless. At least 29,692 Palestinians have been killed and 69,879 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 attacks stands at 1,139. Dozens arrested as Israeli forces conduct raids across the occupied West Bank The Israeli military has arrested eight Palestinians, three children among them, from the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports. Israeli forces stormed the village of Deir Ammar, west of Ramallah and arrested three 17-year-olds. They also stormed the town of Silwad, east of Ramallah, and arrested five Palestinians. Wafa also reports that the Israeli military has arrested eight people in Hebron Governorate. Four men were arrested from the town of Ithna, west of Hebron, while four people, including a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old, were arrested in the town of Beit Ummar. Six Palestinians, including a 16-year-old, have also been arrested in the Hizma and Al-Issawiya neighbourhoods of occupied East Jerusalem. Wafa also reports that Israeli forces have arrested “dozens” of Gazan workers in the city of Nablus. A Palestinian from Nablus was also arrested in the raids. Click here to share on social media Return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza not something Israel will ‘allow’: Report One of the points of dispute in the negotiations between Israel and Hamas is the Palestinian group’s request to allow the return of displaced Gaza residents to their homes in the north of the Strip, says Israeli army radio correspondent Doron Kadosh in a post on X. According to the post, Israel rejects the notion altogether, saying it’s not something it will “allow” as it wants to avoid a potential return of Hamas members. Separately, Israel is reportedly considering setting up tent cities in Gaza’s central area and Khan Younis for residents who have lost their homes. More than 30 Palestinian fighters killed in 24 hours: Israeli military The Israeli military has released its daily update in which it also made other claims: In central Gaza, Israeli forces say they killed more than 10 Palestinian fighters. In Khan Younis, they claim to have killed a fighter armed with an RPG with the help of a fighter jet. With the use of snipers and tanks, the Israeli military claims to have killed an unspecified number of Palestinian fighters from close quarters in western Khan Younis. Click WATCH: Gaza residents embrace biking amid damaged roads, surging fuel prices People in Gaza have turned to bicycles for transport as the Israeli bombing of the Strip leaves full neighbourhoods, roads and cars destroyed. Some have set up makeshift repair shops to help put old bicycles to use. Watch our report below: Click here to share on social media Israeli industry minister meets Saudi counterpart at WTO conference Nir Barkat met his Saudi counterpart, Majid bin Abdullah Alkassabi, on the sidelines of a UAE-hosted WTO conference and voiced confidence that the countries can “make history together”, according to the Israeli economy and industry minister’s spokesperson. Before Israel’s war on Gaza, Saudi Arabia signalled its willingness to normalise relations with Israel in exchange for a US defence pact and civilian nuclear programme. However, after Israel began its military assault on the enclave, it appeared that Saudi Arabia had put the US-backed plans to normalise ties on ice. Saudi Arabia on Tuesday called for an end to decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, deeming it “illegal”. Saudi Ambassador Ziad al-Atiyah told the ICJ that “Israel’s actions indicate that it has no intention of making peace”. “The Israeli occupation is illegal and must be ended without conditions,” he added. Riyadh backs the international consensus that Israel must withdraw from lands it captured in the 1967 war for the realisation of a viable Palestinian state. The 1993 Oslo Accords raised hopes of a Palestinian state, but Israel has since built more settlements on Palestinian lands in violation of the pacts brokered by the US. Source:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2024/2/26/israels-war-on-gaza-live-man-made-disaster-as-israel-blocks-food-aid Click here to share on social