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Pakistan’s Imran Khan gets bail in state secrets case ahead of key election

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[File pic] Khan remains in jail and it is not yet clear if he will be released shortly (Aljazeera)

Pakistan’s former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been granted bail in a case alleging he leaked state secrets, but he remains in jail on other charges ahead of the general election due in February.

The Supreme Court on Friday granted Khan bail in the case, but it was not clear how he could be released while serving a three-year sentence for corruption and facing other charges.

Khan – detained since August – alleges the powerful military is colluding with dynastic parties that have long dominated Pakistan to crush his political party and prevent him from standing for office.

The 71-year-old has been pummelled by a barrage of legal cases since being removed from office in April 2022 after falling out with the top brass, and has twice been jailed.

“The case has completely collapsed, and Imran Khan and Shah Mahmood Qureshi have finally been granted bail,” lawyer Salman Safdar told reporters outside court, referring to Khan’s former foreign minister who is being held in the same case.

Prosecutors allege the two leaders mishandled a diplomatic cable, known as cypher, sent by Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.  Both have repeatedly denied the charge, saying the cable was proof of conspiracy by the Pakistani military and the US government to topple his government in 2022 after he visited Moscow just before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Washington and Pakistan’s military have denied the accusations.

A private trial in the cypher case took place inside jail until a legal challenge forced the court to restart open proceedings,  with observers and media present.

On Friday, the Supreme Court in its short order said “there are not reasonable grounds for believing” that an offence under the colonial-era Official Secrets Act, which carries a possible 14-year prison term or death sentence, was committed by Khan.

“There are sufficient grounds for further inquiry into their guilt of said offence, which is to be finally decided by the learned trial court,” the top court said.

Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said he remains incarcerated over numerous separate corruption cases, with scant chance he will leave prison to contest elections due February 8.

“The prospect of him obtaining relief in the near future appears to be very slim,” party lawyer Khalid Yousaf Chaudry told AFP news agency.

The fate of politicians in Pakistan has historically ridden on their relationship to the military establishment, which has directly ruled the country on several occasions.

Pakistan is scheduled to hold its general election on February 8, 2024.

Khan was disqualified by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in August for five years following his conviction in a case related to illegal purchase and sale of foreign gifts he received as prime minister.

Khan approached the Islamabad High Court to set aside his disqualification. However, on Thursday, the high court rejected his plea, blocking his way to contest the upcoming election.

The former cricket star-turned-politician’s legal team is now expected to file an appeal in the Supreme Court to allow Khan to contest the election.

(Aljazeera)



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Russian military parade marks 80 years since victory over Nazis

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Russia has marked the 80th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II with a massive military parade on Red Square in Moscow.

Attended by President Vladimir Putin, alongside foreign leaders including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the “Victory Day” spectacle, celebrated on May 9, is Russia’s most important secular holiday.

The parade and other ceremonies underline Moscow’s efforts to project its global power and cement the alliances it has forged while seeking a counterbalance to the West amid the conflict in Ukraine that has dragged into a fourth year.

The fight against the Nazis in World War II – known in Russia as the Great Patriotic War – is a rare event in the nation’s divisive history under communist rule that is revered by all political groups. Putin has used that sentiment to encourage national pride and underline Russia’s position as a global power.

The Soviet Union lost 27 million people as it fought Germany’s forces in 1941-45, an enormous sacrifice that left a deep scar in the national psyche.

Speaking at the parade, Putin hailed Russian troops fighting in Ukraine, saying that “we are proud of their courage and determination, their spiritual force that always has brought us victory”.

The event featured at least 11,500 soldiers and more than 180 military vehicles, including tanks, armoured infantry vehicles and artillery used on the battlefield in Ukraine. As a reminder of Russia’s nuclear might, launchers for the Yars nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles rolled across Red Square.

Fighter jets from the air force’s aerobatic team flew by in close formation, followed by jets that trailed smoke in the colours of the national flag.

After the show, Putin shook hands with Russian military officers. He also talked to a group of medal-bedecked senior North Korean officers who watched the parade, hugging one of them.

Last month, Putin thanked North Korea for fighting alongside Russian troops against Ukrainian forces and hailed their sacrifices as Pyongyang confirmed their deployment for the first time.

Putin had declared a unilateral 72-hour ceasefire starting on May 8 to coincide with the Victory Day celebration, but warned that Russian troops would retaliate to any attacks.

The events were overshadowed by Ukrainian drone attacks targeting Moscow and severe disruptions at the capital’s airports.

Russian flag carrier Aeroflot on Wednesday morning cancelled more than 100 flights to and from Moscow, and delayed at least 140 others as the military repelled repeated Ukrainian drone attacks on the capital.

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Mexico sues Google over ‘Gulf of America’ name change

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President Claudia Sheinbaum has asked the tech company multiple times to change the name [BBC]

Mexico is suing Google for ignoring repeated requests not to call the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America on Google Maps for US users, President Claudia Sheinbaum says.

She did not say where the lawsuit had been filed. Google did not respond to the BBC’s request for comment.

On Thursday, the Republican-led House of Representatives voted to officially rename the Gulf for federal agencies.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office in January.

He argued the change was justified because the US “do most of the work there, and it’s ours”.

However Sheinbaum’s government contends that Trump’s order applies only to the US portion of the continental shelf.

“All we want is for the decree issued by the US government to be complied with,” she said, asserting that the US lacks the authority to rename the entire gulf.

In January, Sheinbaum wrote a letter to Google asking the firm to reconsider its decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico for US users. The following month, she threatened legal action.

At the time, Google said it made the change as part of “a longstanding practice” of following name changes when updated by official government sources.

It said the Gulf – which is bordered by the US, Cuba and Mexico – would not be changed for people using the app in Mexico, and users elsewhere in the world will see the label: “Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)”.

The Associated Press (AP) news agency’s refusal to start referring to the Gulf of America led to a months-long conflict with the White House, which restricted AP’s access to certain events.

A federal judge ordered the White House in April to stop sidelining the outlet.

Trump hinted Wednesday that he may recommend changing the way the US refers to another body of water.

During an upcoming visit to Saudi Arabia, he plans to announce that the US will henceforth refer to the Persian Gulf as the Arabian Gulf or the Gulf of Arabia, AP reported.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi has responded by saying he hopes the “absurd rumours” are “no more than a disinformation campaign” and such a move would “bring the wrath of all Iranians”.

[BBC]

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Pope Leo XIV calls Church ‘a beacon to illuminate dark nights’ in first Mass

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The first North American pope delivering his inaugural homily on Friday [BBC]

The new Pope, Leo XIV, has called in his first Mass at the Vatican for the Catholic Church to “desperately” counter a lack of faith.

Speaking the day after he was elected as the 267th Pope and first US leader of the Church, he warned that people were turning away from faith and instead to “technology, money, success, power, or pleasure”.

Leo said he had been elected to be a “faithful administrator” of a Church that would act as a “beacon that illuminates the dark nights of this world”.

The ascension of Robert Francis Prevost has been celebrated by the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics, with joyous outbursts in his US homeland and in Peru, where he served for 20 years.

In his sermon on Friday, the new Pope said there were many settings where the Christian faith was considered “absurd” – with power, wealth, and technology dominating – but it was precisely there that missionary outreach was needed.

“A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society,” he said in the address delivered in Italian.

Pope Leo, 69, wore a white papal robe trimmed in gold as he addressed the seated cardinals in the Sistine Chapel, an event broadcast live by the Vatican administration.

In an unscripted introduction before the homily, Leo also called on Church unity from his cardinals, telling them in American-accented English: “I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me”.

Following weeks of anticipation, the previously-unknown Prevost was introduced as the new Pope to the world on Thursday evening in St Peter’s Square.

Tens of thousands of worshippers in the square burst into cheers when white smoke curled out of the Vatican’s chimney on the second day of the conclave’s voting.

Shortly after, the Chicago-born Prevost appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica. In his first words to the crowds he outlined a vision of a “missionary” Church which “builds bridges, which holds dialogues, which is always open”.

He echoed his predecessor, the late Pope Francis, in calling for peace.

“Help us, and each other, to build bridges through dialogue, through encounter, to come together as one people, always in peace,” he said.

World leaders have rushed to congratulate Prevost on his election, pledging to work with him on global issues amid uncertain times. US President Donald Trump called it a “great honour” to have the first American pope.

Prevost, who had previously been the Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, was only made an archbishop and then cardinal in 2023. He was elected by his fellow cardinals in what is believed to be four rounds of voting in the secret conclave that took place two weeks after Francis died.

He is seen as being aligned with the progressive late Pope, who was viewed as a champion of human rights and the poor and celebrated for his charismatic style that sought to make the Catholic Church more outward-facing.

Vatican watchers have noted that Francis appeared to have brought Prevost to Rome in recent years, perhaps to set him up as a potential successor.

The Augustinian missionary worked for decades with the poor and marginalised in Peru, where he obtained nationality in 2015.

In his previous role as Cardinal Prevost, he had also expressed or amplified criticism of the US administration under President Trump, including its anti-immigration policies.

On an X account under his name, he had criticised Vice President JD Vance in February. Vance, who is a Catholic convert, had said Christians should love their family, neighbours, community and fellow citizens in that order. Prevost had written: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others”.

As Pope now, he faces a momentous task in leading the Church in a time of significant global conflicts. Observers have expressed hope that he can offer a counterpoint to more divisive voices on the world stage.

His next appearances, at Sunday’s midday Regina Coeli prayer in St Peter’s Basilica and a Monday news conference with journalists, will be closely watched for signs as to which direction he intends to lead the Church and what kind of Pope he will be.

[BBC]

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