Latest world news
Jordan: Protests may force King Abdullah II to remove PM Mulki
High prices and new IMF triggered tax bill cause nationwide protests
Amidst mounting public pressure against price rise and proposed tax bill, Jordan’s King Abdullah was expected to ask Prime Minister Hani al-Mulki to resign on Monday. Sunday was the fourth day of public protests which are billed to be largest in five years in the most peaceful country in the region.
According to Riyadh based Al-Arabiya network, protesters were demanding dismissal of Mulki during the protests against IMF-backed tax increases that have shaken the kingdom. The sources said King Abdullah had ordered Mulki for an audience in his palace later on Monday.
The protesters near Prime Minister’s office chanted on Sunday evening, “We are here until we bring the downfall of the tax bill. This government is shameful. Our demands are legitimate. No, no to corruption”. The protesters were carrying national flags and signs reading “we will not kneel”.
Mulki was appointed in May 2016 and given the responsibility of reviving a sluggish economy and business sentiment hit by regional turmoil. He is considered to be a business-friendly politician.
Jordan and Egypt are the only two countries in the region having peace-treaty with Israel. Both are allied with US and Saudi Arabia. Jordan receives financial assistance from US, UAE and Saudi Arabia. It houses large number of Syrian, Palestinian and Iraqi refugees.
Read More: Mike Pompeo visits Saudi Arabia, Israel and Jordan
Several protesters told the foreign media covering the protests that Jordanian people were passing most difficult time.
“Women have started looking in rubbish bins to find food for their children, and every day we’re hit by price hikes and new taxes,” said one protester.
Another protester Mohammad Shalabiya, 28, said demonstrators wanted “to tell the government that the citizen’s income isn’t suitable for this kind of law and that we have a right to demonstrate”. Peoples’ pockets are empty in the most expensive country in the region with no resources, said the other protester.
Public anger over IMF-driven government policies has grown since a steep general sales tax hike earlier this year and the abolition of bread subsidies, a staple item for the poor. The protests were initiated by labor organizations.
Read More: Modi receives Jordan’s King Abdullah II at airport
Saturday evening was the fourth evening when people tried to reach to the government offices housing the cabinet and Prime Minister. Security personnel had tough time to manage the protesters.
Tens of thousands of Jordanians took to the street on Thursday evening being the weekend in most countries in the region. The protesters took to the streets across the kingdom – In the Irbid and Jarash provinces, the cities of Amman, Aqaba, Salt, Al-Karak and the Jordan Rift area – demanding to cancel the raising of taxes and staple food. They claim that the government measures will increase poverty and distress in the country.
Thousands of protesters gathered in front of the Prime Minister’s Office and blamed for deepening poverty accusing leaders of trying to close the budget deficit with draconian decisions at the expense of the working class.
On Friday, King Abdullah II, who is considered to be the stabilizing force among various sections, ordered to delay the decisions to raise petrol prices. He is also reportedly communicating with the protest organizers and considering meeting more demands. There are possibilities that King Abdullah II will order the formation of a new government and elect a new parliament.
Jordan’s economy has deteriorated in the last few years for several reasons, among which are the conduct of recent governments and the intake of over a million Syrian refugees.
The Al-Arabia reports that Jordan’s stability is a supreme security concern from Israel’s standpoint. At this point, officials in Jerusalem are closely following the demonstrations in Jordan as well as the regime’s efforts to halt the protest.
Saudi media has remarkable started calling Jerusalem as Israel’s capital after President Donald Trump has recently shifted US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. The phrasing of “officials in Jerusalem are closely following” indicates the change in Riyadh’s official working.
However, media in Iran and its allies: Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Houthi run government in Yemen call Jerusalem as “Al-Quds” as the capital of Palestine, an occupied territory. They condemn US for recognizing Jerusalem as Israeli capital and moving their embassy to Jerusalem.
Latest world news
Suicide bombing near Turkey Parliament building in Ankara, 2 cops injured
Turkey’s main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has slammed the attack in Ankara and stated that terrorism is a crime against humanity.
Turkey’s interior minister Ali Yerlikaya on Sunday asserted that two terrorists carried out a bomb attack in front of the ministry buildings in Ankara. He added that one of them died in the explosion and the other was “neutralised” by authorities there.
Earlier, Turkish media reported that an explosion was heard near the parliament and ministerial buildings, and broadcasters showed footage of debris scattered on a street near the Interior Ministry. A footage from Reuters showed soldiers, ambulances, fire trucks and an armoured vehicle gathered near the centre of Turkey’s capital, where the police have blocked multiple key roads.
Taking to social media X, formerly Twitter, Ali Yerlikaya, the interior minister, said that two police officers were slightly injured in the incident at 9:30 a.m. He added that two terrorists came with a light commercial vehicle in front of the entrance gate of the General Directorate of Security of their Ministry of Internal Affairs and carried out a bomb attack.
The interior minister further mentioned that one of the terrorists blew himself up and the other was neutralised, which usually means was killed. He noted that their struggle will continue until the last terrorist is neutralised.
Reports said that Ankara’s chief prosecutor initiated an investigation into what it also called a terrorist attack. Authorities did not identify any specific militant group, as yet.
Meanwhile, Turkey’s main opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu has slammed the attack in Ankara and stated that terrorism is a crime against humanity. The leader of the Republican People’s Party mentioned that no matter from whom and where it came from, they will fight it together as a country and will never give treacherous ambitions a chance.
The concerned authorities in Ankara have cautioned the citizens over suspicious packages and bags that are being detonated in a controlled manner. Ankara Security Directorate asked citizens not to panic.
Latest world news
Balochistan blast: Pakistan alleges India’s involvement in suicide attack, toll rises to 60
Sarfaraz Bugti told media that civil, military and all other institution will jointly strike against the elements involved in the Mastung suicide bombing.
Pakistan interior minister Sarfaraz Bugti in a shocking claim alleged India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) intelligence agency for the suicide blast in Balochistan. The blast that took place on Friday claimed the lives of nearly 60 people, leaving 60 others injured. The Indian government, on the other hand, is yet to make an official statement on Sarfaraz Bugti’s allegations.
The suicide bomb attack targeted a procession which gathered to celebrate Prophet Muhammad’s birthday near the Madina Masjid at a place called Mastung. The blast tore through the mosque in the southern province of Balochistan after the bomber denoted his explosive near a police vehicle where the people gathered for the procession.
Sarfaraz Bugti told media at Quetta that civil, military and all other institution will jointly strike against the elements involved in the Mastung suicide bombing. Without providing much details or evidence, the Pakistan minister claimed that RAW is involved in the suicide attack.
Wasim Baig, the spokesman for Balochistan’s health department, asserted that seven more people had died in hospital since Friday, which had caused the rise in the death toll. He added that more patients remained in critical condition.
In addition, a second attack on Friday at a mosque in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had killed nearly five people. Police on Saturday lodged a report to initiate an investigation, mentioning that they had sent DNA from the suicide bomb attacker to be analysed.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for either attack. A surge in terror attacks in Pakistan’s western provinces has cast a shadow on preparations and public campaigning in the run-up to January’s general elections, but until now the attacks had mostly targeted security forces.
The Pakistani Taliban (TTP), which is responsible for some of the bloodiest attacks in Pakistan since the group’s formation in 2007, denied responsibility for Friday’s blasts. On Saturday, a statement from the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) said that an FIR with murder charges and terrorism offences has been registered against an unidentified attacker.
The caretaker government of Balochistan announced three days of mourning in the wake of the attack.
Latest world news
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, Mahmood Qureshi held guilty in cipher case
The PTI leaders’ trial has been requested by the FIA, and it is expected that they would be sentenced in accordance with the law.
Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi were found guilty on Saturday by Pakistan’s top investigating agency in the cypher case, a case involving the alleged exposure of state secrets.
The charge sheet against Khan, the Tehreek-e-Insaf party chairman, and Qureshi, who are both presently being held in custody on judicial remand, was submitted by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to a special court set up under the Official Secrets Act, according to the Pakistan Observer website.
Imran Khan, 70, was detained last month following the filing of a complaint against him for allegedly breaking the Official Secrets Act by revealing a covert diplomatic cable (cypher) issued by the nation’s embassy in Washington last year in March.
The PTI leaders’ trial has been requested by the FIA, and it is expected that they would be sentenced in accordance with the law.
The vice chairman of PTI is 75-year-old Shah Mahmood Qureshi. Asad Umar, the former general secretary of the PTI, is not on the FIA’s list of suspects, but former principal secretary Azam Khan has been portrayed as a key witness in the FIA’s case against Imran Khan, according to GeoTV, a well-known news outlet. The challan also contains Azam Khan’s statement recorded under sections 161 and 164.
The speeches by Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Imran Khan from March 27 are also included in the FIA’s attachment.
The Pakistan Observer further noted that the FIA had provided the court with a list of 28 witnesses in addition to the charge sheet. According to the report, the list of witnesses includes names such as current foreign secretary Asad Majid, previous foreign secretary Sohail Mahmood, and additional foreign secretary Faisal Niaz Tirmizi.
Imran Khan had been imprisoned on remand three times earlier on September 26. Along with Qureshi, his judicial remand was initially extended until September 13 and then again until September 26.
The former PM was transferred from Attock prison to the Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on the same day, one day after the Islamabad High Court instructed authorities to do so.
