Imran Khan formally elected as Pakistan's new prime minister

Agencies
August 17, 2018

Islamabad, Aug 17: Cricketer-turned politician Imran Khan was elected as Pakistan's new prime minister today after he defeated veteran politician Shahbaz Sharif in a one-sided election in the National Assembly.

The election for the top post became just a formality after the Pakistan Peoples Party led by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari with 54 seats abstained from voting following a rift over Sharif's candidature.

Khan, 65, the chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), secured 176 votes while his only rival and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz chief Sharif got 96 votes, National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser announced.

After the announcement of the result, PML-N lawmakers chanted slogans against Khan and protested in the house.

Khan will take the oath tomorrow as Pakistan's 22nd prime minister.

A total of 172 votes in the 342-member lower house of Parliament are needed to form a government.

The voting was held in open through division of members in different galleries designated for different candidates. The PPP lawmakers remained seated during the voting process. The Jamaat-i-Islami did not take part in the voting.

In a last-ditch effort to pursue the PPP to vote for Sharif, senior PML-N leader and former speaker Ayaz Sadiq went to Bhutto's seat and tried to convince him to change his decision to abstain from voting, sources said.

Even Sharif spoke to Bhutto to persuade him not to abstain. However, Bhutto excused himself from voting, they added.

Sharif, the 66-year-old younger brother of jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, served as the chief minister of the politically crucial Punjab province from 2013 to 2018. He became PML-N president after his elder brother was barred from holding the top party position and public posts.

During the voting, Khan received support of smaller parties including Muttahida Quami Movement with seven seats, Balochistan Awami Party five, Balochistan National Party four, Pakistan Muslim League three, Grand Democratic Alliance three, Awami Muslim League and Jamori Watan Party one seat each.

Earlier, PML-N lawmakers including Sharif arrived in the National Assembly wearing black armbands to protest against alleged "rigging" of the votes during the July 25 general elections.

Sharif and Khan greeted each other and shook hands prior to the start of the session.

Earlier this week, PTI's nominees for Speaker and Deputy Speaker secured 176 and 183 votes respectively.

The PTI emerged as the single largest party with 116 seats in July 25 elections. Its number increased to 125 after nine independent members joined it and final tally reached 158 after it was allotted 28 out of 60 seats reserved for women and five out of 10 seats reserved for minorities. 

PTI spokesman Faisal Javed told the media yesterday that preparations are going on for the oath taking ceremony of Khan.

Javed said that Khan will wear a black sherwani on the occasion. The ceremony will be held at the President House and President Mamnoon Hussain will administer the oath to the premier. The ceremony will be kept simple.

Khan's government will be the third consecutive democratic government in Pakistan since 2008 when military ruler General Pervez Musharraf announced elections after serving as president from 2001 to 2008 following a bloodless coup in 1999.

The PPP formed the government in 2008, followed by the PML-N led by jailed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif in 2013.

Pakistan's powerful military has ruled the country through various coups for nearly half of the country's history since independence in 1947. Even during the civilian rule, the generals have wielded enormous power, setting the agenda for the country's foreign and security policies.

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Agencies
June 24,2020

Washington, Jun 24: Twitter has once again flagged a tweet from US President Donald Trump which promoted violence by saying if protesters tried to set up an "autonomous zone" in Washington, DC they would be met with "serious force".

This is the fourth time Twitter has red flagged Trump's tweet for glorifying violence or violating its policies.

Trump has been critical of the "autonomous zone" in Seattle, an area occupied by protestors for much of this month.

"We've placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our policy against abusive behaviour, specifically, the presence of a threat of harm against an identifiable group," Twitter's safety team tweeted late Tuesday.

Trump had tweeted: "There will never be an ‘Autonomous Zone' in Washington, D.C., as long as I'm your President. If they try they will be met with serious force!"

Twitter earlier labeled a video tweeted by him which mocked CNN as manipulated media.

According to Twitter, "this Tweet has been labeled per our synthetic and manipulated media policy to give people more context".

In May, Twitter labeled two Trump tweets that made false claims about mail-in ballots in California.

Twitter later labeled another Trump tweet glorifying violence in which he said, "when the looting starts, the shooting starts."

Facebook also removed a Trump campaign ad featuring a symbol used by Nazis for political dissenters, saying the ad violated its policies.

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Agencies
March 8,2020

Washington, Mar 8: An attendee at last week's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), which also saw the participation of US President Donald Trump, has tested positive for COVID-19, the American Conservative Union (ACU) said.

The exposure occurred prior to the conference held in National Harbor, Maryland, just south of Washington D.C., Xinhua news agency quoted the ACU as saying in a statement on Saturday.

A New Jersey hospital tested the person, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the positive result, said the statement.

"The individual is under the care of medical professionals in the state of New Jersey, and has been quarantined," it said.

Trump and Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the gathering, which took place from February 26-29.

Also present at the event were a number of administration and cabinet officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, and newly-appointed White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows.

White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement Saturday that the White House was aware of the development.

"At this time there is no indication that either President Trump or Vice President Pence met with or were in close proximity to the attendee," Grisham said in a statement.

"The President's physician and US Secret Service have been working closely with White House Staff and various agencies to ensure every precaution is taken to keep the First Family and the entire White House Complex safe and healthy."

The news emerged as Washington D.C. and neighbouring state of Virginia respectively confirmed their first cases of COVID-19 on Saturday.

In a press conference on Saturday night, Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said a resident in his 50s showed symptoms of a respiratory virus in February. He was admitted to a hospital in the District on March 5.

The patient had no history of recent international travel, nor had he been exposed to anyone who was confirmed to be infected, according to Bowser.

The Mayor said D.C. health authorities were investigating the man's contact with other people before he went to the hospital.

A US Marine assigned to Fort Belvoir in Fairfax County, Virginia, tested positive on Saturday for COVID-19 and is currently being treated at Fort Belvoir Community Hospital, according to a Pentagon spokesman.

"The Marine recently returned from overseas where he was on official business," tweeted Jonathan Rath Hoffman, adding that Secretary of Defence Mark Esper and the White House have been briefed.

As of Saturday night, more than 420 cases of COVID-19 were reported in the US with 17 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

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News Network
January 15,2020

Srinagar, Jan 15: The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Tuesday evening allowed mobile Internet in parts of Jammu region and broadband in establishments providing essential services, days after the Supreme Court ordered a review of the curbs imposed in the Union Territory.

The order comes into effect from January 15 and shall remain in force for seven days, a government communication said.

In a three-page order, the administration asked Internet service providers to offer broadband facility (with Mac binding) to all institutions dealing with essential services such as hospitals, banks and government offices.

In order to facilitate tourism, the broadband Internet services would be provided to hotels and tour and travel establishments, the order said.

Mac Binding essentially means to enforce a client machine to work from a particular Internet Protocol address.

"Prior to giving such facility, the service providers have been asked to install necessary firewalls and carry out white-listing of sites that would enable government websites and website dealing with essential services like e-banking," the order said.

However, all social media sites remain out of bounds. "There shall be complete restrictions on social media applications allowing peer-to-peer communication and virtual private network applications for the time being," the order said.

The institutions and government offices that are being provided Internet access shall be responsible to prevent misuse, according to the order.

It said the 2G mobile connectivity on post-paid mobiles for accessing white-listed websites including e-banking will be allowed in districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Udhampur and Reasi -- all in the Jammu region.

The order said that the police has brought material relating to the terror modules operating in Jammu and Kashmir including handlers from across the border who are attempting to aid and incite people by transmission of fake news and targeted messages through use of Internet.

The relaxation came days after the Supreme Court said access to the Internet is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Constitution.

The SC verdict had come on Friday on a batch of pleas challenging the curbs imposed in Jammu and Kashmir after the Centre's abrogation of provisions of Article 370 on August 5 last year.

The court had also asked the Jammu and Kashmir administration to review within a week all orders imposing curbs in the Union Territory.

It had asked the J-K administration to restore Internet services in institutions such as hospitals and educational places providing essential services.

The J-K administration's Tuesday communication said that in view of the Supreme Court directions, the situation has been reviewed and Internet has been opened whereever it was possible keeping in view the security consideration.

In Kashmir, 400 additional Internet kiosks will be established, besides the 900 terminals which are already operational in the Valley.

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