The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has asked the Pakistan government to renegotiate the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) energy deals before making payments of around 300 billion PKR to the Chinese power plants, putting Islamabad in a tight spot. The global lender has asked the government to treat the Chinese CPEC power plants at par with the power plants established under the 1994 and 2002 power policies, highly placed sources said. The IMF’s demand came after China’s refusal in the past to renegotiate the terms of agreements with the independent power producers (IPPs). Sources said the IMF suspected that the Chinese IPPs might have been overcharging Pakistan and there was a need to reopen these deals.
22 dead as van falls into ravine in Balochistan
At least 22 people, including women and children, were killed and several others injured as a van they were travelling in fell hundreds of feet into a ravine in Pakistan’s mountainous Balochistan province, an official said. The vehicle plunged into the ravine when the driver apparently failed to negotiate a sharp bend in the mountainous area of Akhtarzai near Killa Saifullah, which is at an elevation of 1,572 metres. Deputy commissioner of Zhob district, Hafiz Muhammad Qasim, said, “The vehicle fell from a hilltop near Akhtarzai. We have so far recovered 10 bodies as rescue operations are difficult due to the deep ravine,” he said
9 arrested after violent assault on women in China eatery
Chinese authorities arrested nine people on suspicion of assaulting several women at a restaurant after surveillance footage of the attack sparked widespread outrage. Footage from a barbecue restaurant in Tangshan in Hebei province showed one of the men approaching a table where a party of four women were seated and placing his hand on a woman’s back. She rebuffed him several times before he flew into a rage and slapped her, prompting her to fight back. A brawl ensued, with a group of men entering the restaurant and brutally attacking the woman and her partners. Footage from outside the restaurant also showed the attackers dragging a woman out of the establishment before being beaten. Photos of her lying on a stretcher, with a swollen and bloodied face, and footage of the attack, went viral.
Iran currency hits new record low
Iran’s currency dropped to its lowest value ever as talks to revive the country’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers remained deadlocked. Traders in Tehran exchanged the rial at 332,000 to the US dollar, up from 327,500 on Saturday. That marked more than a 4.4% change compared to June 1 when it traded at 318,000 to the dollar. The rial’s new low came as US sanctions are still in force. Iran’s economy is struggling mostly because of the US pullout from the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers that restored sanctions on Iran’s oil and banking sectors. Talks in Vienna to renew the agreement have been deadlocked for months.
2-year-old accidentally shoots dad dead
A two-year-old boy accidentally shot and killed his father in Florida after his parents left a loaded gun unattended, authorities said. When police officers arrived at the victim’s home, they found the child’s mother providing CPR to her husband, Reggie Mabry. The gun was in a bag that Mabry had left on the ground and the child came across it and shot his father in the back while he was playing a video game. The five family members, including a five-month-old girl, were in the same room at the time of the incident.
US, S Korea fly 20 fighter jets amid tensions with North
South Korea and the US flew fighter jets in formation over South Korea’s western sea in a show of force amid signs that a North Korean nuclear test explosion could be imminent. The flight came as US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman travelled to Seoul for discussions with South Korea and Japanese allies over the gathering North Korean threat and warned of a “swift and forceful” response if the North proceeds with a nuclear test, which would be its first in nearly five years.
If staged, the test would mark another leap forward in North Korean leader Kim Jongun’s goals to build an arsenal that could viably threaten regional US allies and the American homeland. That would escalate a pressure campaign aimed at forcing the US to accept the idea of the North as a nuclear power and negotiating economic and security concessions.
Australian court curtails citizenship powers of govt
Australia’s highest court found a cabinet minister illegally cancelled a suspected Islamic State group fighter’s citizenship in a landmark ruling that curtails how governments can deal with extremists.
The high court, in a 6-to-1 judgment, restored Delil Alexander’s Australian citizenship that was removed in July last year by the then-home affairs minister Karen Andrews. Alexander, who was born in Australia and has Turkish citizenship by descent, is in a Syrian prison on terrorism convictions. He had left Australia in 2013, crossed the Syrian border and was arrested by a Kurdish militia in 2017. Andrews cancelled Alexander’s citizenship based on an intelligence report that he had joined the IS and had likely engaged in fighting and recruiting for the group. The court ruled the power she used was unconstitutional because it gave her the power of a court to determine criminal guilt.
Kenya, Somalia agree to ease relations
Somalia has agreed to lift a ban on air freighting khat (miraa) from Kenya that had been in place for more than two years, Kenya's agriculture minister Peter Munya said. The announcement, which comes a day after Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta visited Mogadishu for the inauguration of Somalia's new president Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud, marks an easing of relations between the two countries. Peter Munya said that the two countries had agreed on trade deals, one of which will allow Kenya to resume exports of miraa, a popular plant that is chewed for its stimulant and appetite-suppressant properties, while Somalia will sell fish and other products to its neighbor.
Microplastics found in Antarctic snow
Scientists have found microplastics - plastic pieces much smaller than a grain of rice - in freshly fallen Antarctic snow for the first time, which they said can influence the climate by accelerating melting of ice. The findings bring to light a serious threat to the Antarctic region. Previous studies have found that microplastics have negative impacts on the health of the environment, limiting growth, reproduction, and general biological functions in organisms, as well as negative implications for humans. The researchers found an average of 29 microplastic particles per litre of melted snow.
Mystery plane flies across 7 east Europe nations
A two-seater plane whizzed through half a dozen eastern European countries without permission, alerting air forces, before being abandoned in Bulgaria by a mysterious crew, the defence ministry in Sofia said. The aircraft flew over Hungary, crossed briefly into Serbia and then Romania before entering Bulgarian airspace, the Bulgarian defence ministry said. The twin-engine Beechcraft with two people onboard had no approved flight plan and its transponders were turned off. The pilot did not respond to radio requests. Two Hungarian fighter jets, two US F-16s and two Romanian F-16s intercepted the intruder one after the other and escorted it until it entered Bulgarian airspace. Bulgaria’s interior ministry later found it abandoned in an old airfield. Interior minister Boyko Rashkov said the crew had vanished.
