At least seven people including two foreign ambassadors were killed when a Pakistan Army helicopter attempted a crash landing here in Gilgit. The deceased include the ambassadors of Norway and Philippines and the wives of Indonesian and Malaysian envoys.
The COAS said the Pakistan Army was standing by victims in this difficult time. He also vowed to provide all-possible assistance to victims.
Written off as a political insider lacking charisma just a few months ago, the 45-year-old had won plaudits for his tough campaign style and some observers saw leadership material despite his awkward image.
Centre-left Labour was neck-and-neck with the centre-right Conservatives in opinion poll after opinion poll, helping bolster Miliband against Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron — long seen as the slicker operator.
But results revealed the chasm between himself and Cameron, who won an overall majority.
“Britain needs a strong Labour Party. It’s time for someone else to take leadership of this party,” Miliband told supporters in his resignation speech on Friday.
“I am truly sorry I did not succeed, I have done my best for five years,” he said, adding: “I take absolute and total responsibility for the result”.
‘Moses moment’
Miliband’s gaffe-prone image was summed up in a photograph of him unattractively eating a bacon sandwich — an image much reproduced in Britain’s right-wing press during the campaign.
He stumbled following a televised debate and then unveiled a giant slab of stone etched with his key pledges in what was mocked as his “Moses moment”.
A father of two, married to environmental lawyer Justine Thornton, Miliband put living standards at the heart of his election campaign, insisting that an economic upturn under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition has not reached ordinary people.
But he was accused by opponents of leading a party with little economic credibility, and one that was held partly responsible for the pain of austerity inflicted on Britons following the global financial crisis of 2008.
By the early hours of Friday, there was growing pressure from Labour supporters for him to stand down.
“Ed Miliband has to go after general election humiliation — the only question is when,” the Daily Mirror tabloid, which endorsed Miliband in the campaign, said in an editorial.
Brother vs brother
Born to Jewish immigrant parents, a Marxist academic father and a campaigning activist mother, Miliband grew up in a London household where left-wing intellectuals from around the world came to dinner.
He became active in student politics while at Oxford University and after a stint as a journalist quickly rose through the ranks of the Labour party.
Miliband later served as energy minister and Treasury advisor in successive Labour governments.
In 2010 he alarmed many in the ranks of the party by standing against his own brother, David Miliband, in the party’s leadership contest. David, a protege of former prime minister Tony Blair, was seen as less left-wing than Ed.
David left politics and moved to the United States after his surprise defeat to his younger brother, who cast his victory as a break from the market-friendly “New Labour” of Blair and a return to the party’s left-wing roots.
Miliband has since said their relationship is “healing”.
But the challenge, seen by some as “an almost biblical act of fratricide” according to Miliband’s biographers, has not been forgotten.
In an interview during the campaign, Miliband was relentlessly questioned about his character and his ability to withstand the challenges ahead.
“I’ve been underestimated at every turn. People said I wouldn’t become leader and I did. People said four years ago he can’t become prime minister,” he said.
On Friday, the naysayers proved right after all. – AFP
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) in the press release issued on Thursday informed the depositors of KASB Bank Limited that in terms of the amalgamation scheme, KASB Bank Limited has been merged with and into BankIslami Pakistan Limited.
The moratorium placed on former KASB Bank Limited has been lifted with immediate effect, said SBP.
It further stated that depositors of the former KASB Bank Limited are now depositors of Bank Islami Pakistan Limited and are free to operate their accounts maintained at the respective branches of the former KASB Bank Limited as per their convenience.
Lifting of Moratorium on KASB Bank Limited, State Bank of Pakistan acknowledges the patience shown by the depositors of the former KASB Bank Limited as well as their confidence on the regulator during moratorium period.
State Bank of Pakistan reiterates its commitment to safeguard the interests of depositors and to ensure safety and soundness of the banking system of the country.
Theron said she was outraged when leaked Sony emails showed a gap in what male and female actors were paid for the film “American Hustle” and she insisted on being paid on par with co-star Chris Hemsworth for the Snow White sequel “The Huntsman”.
“I have to give them credit, because once I asked, they said yes,” Theron said in an interview with British magazine Elle UK.
“They did not fight it. And maybe that’s the message: that we just need to put our foot down.”
Her call for equal pay echoes Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination, who has also lamented the pay gap between men and women.
A report by the United Nations’ International Labour Organization (ILO) this year warned that the income of women workers globally will lag behind men for another 70 years if the gender pay gap continues to narrow at the present rate.
Women globally earn 77 percent of the amount paid to men, a figure that has improved by only three percentage points in the past 20 years, the ILO said.
South African-born Theron, 39, who won an Oscar for her portrayal of a serial killer in the 2003 film “Monster”, said women needed to stand up for equality and be proud to be feminists.
“This is a good time for us to bring this to a place of fairness, and girls need to know that being a feminist is a good thing,” said Theron, who will be on the big screen in this month’s action movie “Mad Max: Fury Road”.
“It doesn’t mean that you hate men. It means equal rights.” -Reuters
PM Nawaz also cancelled his to visit Gilgit after the incident in which six people including two foreign ambassadors were killed.
READ: Two Ambassadors among six killed in Pakistan Army helicopter crash
The Prime Minister has expressed his grief over the losses of life in Pakistan Army’s MI-17 helicopter crash in Naltar Valley.
Ministry of Defence has annonced support and sponsership for the family of martyred Shaheed Major Altamash and Shaheed Major Faisal.
Futhermore, Norway has expressed ‘great sadness’ over the death on Friday of its ambassador to Pakistan in a helicopter crash claimed by the Taliban.
Leif Larsen, 61, was “one of our best and most experienced diplomats” who was “very respected by his colleagues,” Foreign Minister Borge Brende told reporters, adding that his Pakistani counterpart had told him the causes of the crash were not fully known yet.
He said initial investigation reports suggested that the incident occurred due to technical fault.
Six people including two foreign ambassadors were killed when a Pakistan Army helicopter attempted a crash landing here in Gilgit.
The Ambassadors of Norway and Philippines and the wives of Indonesian and Malaysian envoys were killed in the deadly incident along with the two pilots of the helicopter.
Mourning call
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has declared one-day mourning over the Naltar helicopter crash.
On his directions, aircraft and helicopters have been placed to evacuate injured diplomats.
Mohammad Choudhry, 62, will spend the rest of his life behind bars for conspiring in two deaths carried out nearly 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) away from his Brooklyn home in 2013, US prosecutors said.
Choudhry was convicted by an American jury of conspiracy to commit murder in a foreign country, making threats and immigration fraud following a nine-day trial last summer.
US prosecutors say Choudhry’s American daughter, Amina Ajmal, was sent to Pakistan and held against her will for more than three years on her father’s orders and forced into an arranged marriage.
When she escaped and fled home to the United States — with help from the State Department — with the man she loved, Shujat Abbas, her father was furious.
Choudhry and his relatives in Pakistan subjected the Abbas family — who lived in Gujrat, Punjab province — to repeated threats.
On January 26, 2013 Choudhry’s brother and other relatives fired gunshots repeatedly at the Abbas parents’ car.
Choudhry then telephoned Abbas’s father, threatening to kill his entire family unless his daughter returned home.
“If our daughter will not come back to the home, we will kill all five of you. Otherwise, we will find your son and we’ll kill him,” US prosecutors quoted him as saying.
“This time we shoot on your car. It was threatening, but next time we will shoot in the chest of all five of you.”
Just days after Choudhry made similar threats to his daughter, Abbas’s father and 21-year-old sister were shot dead.
Witnesses said Choudhry’s brother and other relatives had stood over the victims, holding guns and desecrating the bodies.
The remaining members of the Abbas family then fled to America.
Choudhry was sentenced by Judge William Kuntz in the US federal court in Brooklyn.
“There is absolutely no honor in killing innocent victims whose only fault was helping a young woman find freedom in the United States,” said Raymond Parmer of Homeland Security Investigations. -AFP
The contact number of crisis management cell is 051-90569161.
At least six people including two foreign ambassadors were killed when a Pakistan Army helicopter attempted a crash landing here. Ambassadors of the Netherlands and Poland have sustained injuries.
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has expressed his grief over the losses of life in Pakistan Army’s MI-17 helicopter crash in Naltar Valley.
According to Foreign Office spokesperson, Heads of Diplomatic Mission of more than 30 countries and their family members as well as some Pakistani dignitaries were flown to Gilgit by a C-130 aircraft on Friday morning.
The spokesperson said such excursion trips are regularly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in consultation with the Diplomatic Corps.
The actor was on Wednesday found guilty at a sessions court of culpable homicide and other charges for driving his vehicle into a group of homeless men sleeping rough in suburban Mumbai in 2002.
He was convicted of all charges, including driving while under the influence of alcohol and without a licence, and was sentenced to five years in prison but released on bail for two days.
On Friday, lawyers for 49-year-old Khan argued at the city’s High Court that their client’s conviction should be overturned.
Judge Abhay Thipsay ruled the sentence would be suspended until an appeal was heard, expected to be in July, and set new bail terms for the film icon.
“The defence has raised pertinent points about the evidence presented by the prosecution, which need consideration,” the judge said.
“Also, the points based on which the culpable homicide conviction was passed need examination,” he added.
“It is not a case where the applicant is likely to abscond and both parties have no objection to hearing an appeal in a fast manner so the sentence is suspended until an appeal is disposed.”
Fresh bail
The judge told a packed courtroom the multi-millionaire, who was not present at Friday’s hearing, must post bail of 30,000 rupees ($468).
Khan’s lawyer Amit Desai said: “The prosecution has not established beyond doubt that it was my client who was driving that night.”
Bollywood stars reacted with delight to the announcement.
“This very good news for all who are working with him. The law will obviously take its own course,” leading filmmaker Anees Bazmee told NDTV.
But many ordinary citizens on social media complained that justice was being compromised.
“Law is not equal for all. Looks like we have a separate judicial system for rich and powerful,” tweeted one.
Khan’s trial, which has gripped Indian media, began in earnest last year after a series of court hearings and lengthy legal hold-ups.
During the proceedings, Khan’s defence team had argued the actor’s driver was to blame for the September 2002 hit-and-run, which killed labourer Nurulah Mahbob Sharif and injured several others in the suburb of Bandra West.
They claimed the actor had been drinking water and had climbed out of the car through the driver’s side after the accident as the passenger side door had been damaged.
But Judge D.W. Deshpande on Wednesday rejected the claim after survivors of the crash testified that Khan was driving the vehicle when it ploughed at speed into the men sleeping on the street near a bakery.
One of the sleeping labourers injured in the accident said in his statement that “Salman was so drunk he fell”.
The body-building actor is no stranger to controversy and spent more than a week behind bars for killing an endangered Indian gazelle in 1998.
He has starred in more than 100 films and television shows since his first hit “Maine Pyar Kiya” (I Fell in Love) in the 1980s.
Khan had become the second big-name Bollywood actor to be sentenced to jail in the last two years. Sanjay Dutt, the star of a series of gangster movies, is behind bars over possession of weapons linked to several bombings in Mumbai in 1993.
The High Court is to reconvene again on June 15 to set a date for the appeal hearing. – AFP
High-profile lawmakers from Labour and the Liberal Democrats — the biggest losers of the election won by the Conservatives — are also on their way out.
Here are some of the most significant changes:
– Mhairi Black, Scottish National Party
Britain’s youngest MP since 1667, the 20-year-old Glasgow University politics student is the embodiment of an unprecedented nationalist surge in Scotland.
The no-nonsense blonde won with a majority of over 5,000 in Thursday’s election to topple Douglas Alexander, the Labour Party’s 47-year-old foreign affairs spokesman and campaign chief.
– Boris Johnson, Conservative Party
The ebullient mayor of London, 50-year-old Johnson was elected to the safe seat Conservative of Uxbridge and South Ruislip in west London and is seen as a potential future prime minister one day.
Known for his ruffled hair, his genuine star power marks him out in the Conservative Party. He became one of Britain’s most popular politicians by cultivating an image of a jolly, bumbling toff.
– Naz Shah, Labour Party
Shah, a 41-year-old disability rights campaigner who beat out her colourful left-wing rival nicknamed “Gorgeous George” Galloway in Bradford West, has an incredible life story of her own.
She was brought up in poverty, taken to Pakistan to escape domestic abuse and then forcibly married.
Shah’s mother ended up killing her abusive partner and going to jail after long suffering in silence.
– Ed Balls, Labour Party
The most shocking result of the night saw party heavyweight Balls, 48, lose his Morley and Outwood seat to the Tories by 422 seats.
A veteran of the governments of former prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Balls has served as shadow chancellor for four years, and was expected to become finance minister had Labour won power.
– Jim Murphy, Labour Party
The head of the Scottish Labour Party, the 47-year-old Murphy was one of the biggest victories for the nationalists on a night of stunning upsets.
Murphy conducted a street campaign against independence ahead of the referendum on September 18 in which the “No” vote won by 55 percent to 45 percent in favour of breaking away.
– Vince Cable, Liberal Democrats
A former deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats and business secretary in the outgoing cabinet, Cable looked visibly shaken as the result was announced.
The 71-year-old’s defeat may well spell the end of his political career.
– Danny Alexander, Liberal Democrats
A Treasury secretary in Cameron’s government, the 42-year-old Alexander also lost to a Scottish Nationalist Party candidate in one of the biggest upsets north of the border.
– Simon Hughes, Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrat rout claimed the 32-year Commons career of Hughes, 63, one of the party’s most senior figures, as he lost his Bermondsey and Old Southwark seat to Labour.
– David Cameron, Conservative Party
The prime minister was expected to comfortably hold onto his Witney seat, but defied pre-election expectations to keep hold of the top job at a canter.
As a bonus, 48-year-old Cameron saw his UKIP nemesis Nigel Farage fail in his bid to become an MP, relieving a source of pressure on the right wing of his party.
– Nick Clegg, Liberal Democrats
Despite having his majority slashed, the Liberal Democrat party leader, 48, managed to cling onto his Sheffield seat.
But that’s where the good news ended for Clegg, who was expected to resign after his party was reduced to rubble across Britain.
– Ed Miliband, Labour Party
Like Clegg, 45-year-old Miliband retained his seat but was expected to step down from his role as party leader after its cataclasmic performance.
– Douglas Carswell, UK Independence Party
The former Conservative MP will be UKIP’s only presence in the Commons after party leader Farage failed in his bid to become an MP.
The 44-year-old is now odds on to take over the helm with Farage expected to resign following his defeat. -AFP