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June 28, 2018
- Election tribunal disqualifies Ex-Prime Minister Abbasi for life
- In a surprise move, the appellate tribunal at the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court (LHC) not only barred former prime minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf`s (PTI) Fawad Chaudhry from contesting elections from their native constituencies NA-57 (Murree) and NA-67 (Jhelum), but also disqualified them for life for being not honest and sagacious.
- The presiding officer of the tribunal, Justice Ibadur Rehman Lodhi, also barred some other candidates from various districts from contesting the election.
- Interestingly, Justice Kayani also okayed Mr Abbasi`s nomination papers for elections in NA-53, after setting aside an order of returning officer (RO) Mohammad Adnan Khan.
- The RO had earlier rejected the ex-PM`s nomination papers for being incomplete.
- Pakistan placed on FATF grey list
- Pakistan was officially placed on a terrorism financing watchdog`s grey list on June 27, 2018, failing the country`s efforts to avoid the designation, diplomatic sources claimed.
- The report could not be confirmed independently and the FATF did not make an official announcement till late in night.
- The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) took this decision during a plenary meeting in Paris, arguing that Pakistan had failed to act against terror financing on its soil.
- FATF is a global body that combats terrorist financing and money laundering. The decision to place Pakistan on the global money-laundering watchdog`s grey list was made during its plenary meeting in February this year.
- As the FATF plenary began its proceedings on June 27, 2018, the Pakistani delegation apprised the watchdog of steps Islamabad had taken to stem money laundering and terror financing.
- National Security Adviser Nasser Janjua steps down
- National Security Adviser (NSA) retired Lt Gen Nasser Janjua on June 27, 2018 stepped down from his office.
- Soon after accepting Mr Janjua`s resignation, the caretaker government inducted former defence secretary retired Lt Gen Naeem Khalid Lodhi as a federal minister.
- Besides holding the charge of the national security division, Mr Lodhi was also assigned ministries of defence, defence production and aviation.
- Two more inducted into federal cabinet
- Less than a month ahead of the forthcoming general elections, the caretaker government on June 27, 2018 added two more federal ministers to its cabinet.
- President Mamnoon Hussain administered the oath to the new ministers during a ceremony held at the presidency.
- Former defence secretary Lt Gen Naeem Khalid Lodhi and a prominent businessman Mian Misbah ur Rehman were sworn in.
- Khalid Lodhi has been given the portfolios of the ministry of defence in addition to Aviation Division, National Security Division and the ministry of defence production.
- Mian Rehman has been given the portfolios of the ministry of textile and commerce and the ministry of trade and commerce.
- The size of the federal cabinet is smaller. This month a six-member caretaker federal cabinet was sworn in which included former governor of the State Bank of Pakistan Dr Shamshad Akhtar, Roshan Khurshid, Barrister Ali Zafar, former ambassador to the UN Abdullah Hussain Haroon, Azam Khan and Muhammad Yusuf Shaikh.
- Aamir Zulfiqar new IG NHMP
- Muhammad Aamir Zulfiqar Khan (PSP) has assumed the charge as Inspector General National Highways & Motorway Police.
- He is the 16th Inspector General of National Highways & Motorway Police.
- Before his posting as Inspector General NH&MP, he remained Additional Inspector General (Operations) in Punjab.
- Some of the key positions that he held during his career include DIG (Operations) Punjab, DIG (CTD) Punjab, RPO Multan, CPO Multan, SSP (Special Branch) Lahore Region, SSP (Operations) Lahore, PSO to Chief Minister Punjab and DPO Toba Tek Singh.
- His professional competence can be gauged from the fact that he was the first ever ASP to receive President Police Medal (PPM) and Quaid-e-Azam Police Medal (QPM).
- US, Russia agree to hold Putin-Trump summit
- Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to hold a summit with Donald Trump in a third country at talks on June 27, 2018 with the US leader`s hawkish national security adviser, voicing hope for an easing of tensions between the two nations.
- Adviser John Bolton was received in Moscow with top honours: a lunch hosted by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov followed by a markedly courteous meeting with Putin at the Kremlin.
- US-Russian relations have been strained by disagreement over the Syrian conflict, Russia`s annexation of Crimea, its involvement in eastern Ukraine and allegations of political meddling.
- The Kremlin`s top foreign policy aide said Putin and Bolton agreed that the two presidents would meet at a place and time to be announced on Thursday.
- Treasure trove worth $273m seized from ex-Malaysian PM
- A vast trove of items seized in raids on properties linked to Malaysia`s scandal-mired former leader, including cash, jewellery and luxury handbags, are worth up to $273 million, police said on June 27, 2018.
- The searches, part of investigations into scandal-hit sovereign wealth fund 1MDB, netted 12,000 pieces of jewelry, bags containing almost $30 million in cash across 26 different currencies, more than 400 watches worth $19.3 million, and other high-end designer goods.
- The items were worth between 910 million ringgit ($225 million) and 1.1 billion ringgit ($273 million). The official salary of Najib Razak, the former premier, while in office was 22,827 ringgit ($5,670) a month.
- Allegations of massive corruption were a major factor behind last month`s shock election loss of Najib`s long-ruling coalition to a reformist alliance headed by Mahathir Mohamad.
- Japan space probe arrives at asteroid to collect sample
- A Japanese probe has reached an asteroid 300 million kilometres away to collect information about the birth of the solar system and the origin of life after a more than three-year voyage through deep space.
- The Hayabusa2 probe successfully settled into an observation position 20 kilometres (12 miles) above the Ryugu asteroid.
- Researchers broke out into cheers when the probe arrived in place, a feat JAXA described as “shooting from Japan at a six centimetre target in Brazil”.
- “Today, we are at the beginning of a space science exploration that is unprecedented for humankind,” project manager Yuichi Tsuda told reporters.
- The successful mission came just days before the UN’s International Asteroid Day on June 30, a global event to raise awareness about the hazards of an asteroid impact and technological progress to counter such a threat.
- US will block F-35 sale if Turkey buys Russian missile
- The United States could still block the delivery of F-35 stealth jets to Turkey if Ankara buys Russia’s S-400 air defense system, a senior official said June 27, 2018.
- US defense giant Lockheed Martin delivered an F-35 to Turkish officials in Texas last week, but Assistant Secretary of State Wess Mitchell warned the program could still be halted.
- The advanced jets will remain on US soil in Arizona while their Turkish pilots are trained, giving the State Department time to intervene, the top official told a Senate hearing.
- WC Holders Germany out of World Cup
- Holders Germany crashed out of the World Cup in the group stage on June 27, 2018 as Sweden and Mexico qualified on a day of incredible drama in Russia.
- Germany finished bottom of Group F after a 2-0 defeat against South Korea.
- Sweden topped the group after a 3-0 win against Mexico.