Varsen Aghabekian Shahin says international community must take concrete steps to end Israeli impunity for abuses.
Varsen Aghabekian Shahin says international community must take concrete steps to end Israeli impunity for abuses.
The puerile standoff between the US and Russia ought to alert a slumbering public to a risk that is in many ways greater than during the cold war
Nuclear weapons – their lethal menace, dark history and future spread – are back in the headlines again and, as usual, the news is worrying, bordering on desperate. Russia’s decision last week to formally abandon the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty banning medium- and short-range nuclear missiles completes the demolition of a key pillar of global arms control. It will accelerate an already frantic nuclear arms race in Europe and Asia at a moment when US and Russian leaders are taunting each other like schoolboys.
Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, has repeatedly threatened the west with nuclear weapons during his war in Ukraine. Last November, Russian forces fired their new Oreshnik hypersonic, nuclear-capable intermediate-range missile at Dnipro. It travels “like a meteorite” at 10 times the speed of sound and can reach any city in Europe, Putin boasted – which, if true, is a clear INF violation. Moscow blames its decision to ditch the treaty on hostile Nato actions. Yet it has long bypassed it in practice, notably by basing missiles in Kaliningrad, the Russian exclave on the Baltic sea, and Belarus.
Simon Tisdall is a Guardian foreign affairs commentator
Mental health treatment should not be politicized | Opinion Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel Powered by WPeMatico
PTI’s Opposition Leader in the National Assembly Omar Ayub Khan and Opposition Leader in the Senate Shibli Faraz, were removed from their seats, according to notifications by the respective houses’ secretariats that came to light on Friday.
On Tuesday, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) had disqualified the Senate and National Assembly opposition leaders, Sunni Ittehad Council chief Hamid Raza and other PTI lawmakers following their convictions in cases related to the May 9 riots.
According to the notification by the National Assembly Secretariat dated August 7, “ Consequent upon disqualification and de-notification of Leader of the Opposition Omar Ayub Khan from being a member of the National Assembly (NA-18 Haripur) under Article 63 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan … the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly has become vacant with effect from August 5th, 2025.“
A similar notification for Faraz was issued by the Senate Secretariat: “Consequent upon disqualification and de-notification of Leader of the Opposition in the Senate Senator Syed Shibli Faraz, from being a member of the Senate under Article 63 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan … the office of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate has become vacant with effect from 5th August”.
The Peshawar High Court (PHC) on Wednesday halted ECP from taking any action against PTI leaders Faraz and Ayub.
A notification from the ECP had said Faraz, Ayub, Kharal, Raza, MNA Rai Hassan Nawaz Khan, Gul, MPA Muhammad Ansar Iqbal, MPA Junaid Afzal Sahi and MPA Rai Muhammad Murtaza Iqbal were now disqualified under Article 63(1h) (a person shall be disqualified from being elected [if] … he has been, on conviction for any offence involving moral turpitude, sentenced to imprisonment for a term of not less than two years) of the Constitution and their seats were vacant.
On May 9, 2023, PTI supporters, protesting the party founder Imran Khan’s arrest, staged violent protests throughout the country, vandalising military installations and state-owned buildings, while also attacking the Lahore corps commander’s residence. Following the riots, thousands of protesters, including party leaders, were arrested.
Last month, an anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Faisalabad sentenced over 100 leaders and workers of the PTI, including several key opposition figures, to jail terms of up to 10 years in connection with the May 9 riots.
NA Opposition Leader Khan, Senate Opposition Leader Faraz, MNA Zartaj Gul, Raza, Sheikh Rashid Shafique (nephew of former interior minister Sheikh Rashid), Kanwal Shauzab, Farah Agha, Rai Haider Kharal and Muhammad Ahmad Chattha were among those sentenced to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment.
Ayub had lambasted the ATC’s “bogus verdict” in a post on X, saying that he would contest it and the ECP’s disqualification in court.
He also posted a video of himself at the Peshawar High Court with other PTI leaders and lawyers, saying the court had given him a few days and bail would be granted to him on filing his appeal.
The ECP disqualification followed other recent disqualifications of PTI leaders and lawmakers.
On July 29, the ECP had disqualified MNA Abdul Latif from the NA-1 constituency (Upper and Lower Chitral), raising questions over the haste with which a flurry of similar decisions were taken in recent days.
On July 28, the commission had disqualified Senator Ejaz Chaudhry, MNA Mohammad Ahmed Chatta and MPA Ahmad Khan.
On December 21 and 26 last year, a military court had sentenced over 50 PTI leaders and activists, including Imran Khan’s nephew Hassaan Niazi, to up to 10 years for their involvement in the May 9 riots.
The ATCs have been hearing May 9-related cases daily to meet a deadline set by the Supreme Court for the conclusion of trials by August.
Stockholm’s 30,000-strong archipelago is rightly famous, but the sandy beaches and cabins just down the coast are more accessible and full of local flavour
I moved to Stockholm from London for work a decade ago. As a newcomer with a passion for nature, I remember being eager to soak up the region’s archipelago of 30,000 islands and rocky outposts. But I was overwhelmed by complex public ferry timetables to dozens of places ending in the letter “ö” (the Swedish word for island) and uninterested in pricey cruise boats packed with tour groups.
Then a former flatmate recommended Nynäshamn, which is on the mainland but embodies much of the nature and spirit of Stockholm’s archipelago. It’s home to a tasteful waterfront of colourfully painted bars and restaurants and a harbour packed with boats every summer, from simple dinghies to luxury yachts. Beyond, you can look across a clean, calm stretch of Baltic Sea, towards the island of Bedarön, flanked by pine trees and a smattering of dark red detached houses.
ITV News questioned the former SNP leader on the political and personal revelations in her book. Male rapists should “probably” lose the right to choose their gender, Nicola Sturgeon has said. The former first minister, in an interview with ITV to mark the release of her memoir, also said she was partly to blame for…
Ministers have said police should be more transparent about the nationalities of people who are charged. It comes after two men charged over the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl in Warwickshire were reported to be Afghan asylum seekers. Police have not confirmed this, and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has called their decision not…
