"The players have not yet received the daily allowance for the training camp held for Champions Trophy," said national side's skipper Rizwan Senior.
"We won't participate in the Asian Games if we aren't given our due daily allowance."
The national side's training camp was scheduled in Holland for the Champions Trophy.
"It's not a revolt we are asking for our due right," Rizwan added.
Senior player Imran Butt said that the team has conveyed their decision to the team management.
Pakistan Hockey Federation President Khalid Sajjad Khokar, in his reaction on the developments, said that there is a conspiracy underway against the national hockey team.
Khokar requested the players to not give any statement to the media regarding the pay issue.
"We will clear all dues before going to Asian Games. Unfortunately, our grant was stopped due to certain unknown reason," he said.
"If we don't get money from the money I will pay the players through my own means."
He urged the players to focus on their training.
The draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), published on Monday, includes only those able to prove they were in Assam before 1971, when millions fled Bangladesh's war of independence into the state.
Critics say it is the latest move by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to advance the rights of India's Hindu majority at the expense of its many minorities.
More than 30 million people had applied to be included on the list, of whom just over four million were excluded from the draft published on Monday, said Shailesh, the registrar general of India, who uses one name.
“No genuine Indian citizens need to worry as there will be ample opportunities given to them to enlist their names in the final NRC,” he told a news conference in Assam's biggest city Guwahati.
He said those wishing to appeal could do so under “well-laid-down procedures” starting August 30. The definitive NRC is due to be finalised in December.
“We are going to provide assistance to anyone whose names are not included in the document and whoever wishes to file a claim and objection in this regard,” Shailesh added.
Hindu nationalists
Modi's Hindu nationalist government — under whom extremist violence against Muslims has increased — has said the list must be revised to root out illegal migrants.
Hundreds of thousands fled to India from Bangladesh during its 1971 war. Most settled in Assam, which shares a long border with Bangladesh.
Rights groups have criticised the government's latest move, saying the deletion of people from citizenship rolls was similar to Myanmar's removal of rights and protections for its Rohingya community in 1982.
Avaaz, a US-based rights group, said there was no effective appeal body and those left out would not have enough time to present their case.
“It's just Muslims who will likely have to go through a complicated, unfair appeal with no right to counsel, ending in no hope of staying if they lose,” Ricken Patel, the executive director of Avaaz, said in a statement.
Assam, a state of 33 million people known for its lush tea estates, has for decades been racked by violence between indigenous tribes and settlers.
In one of the worst massacres, around 2,000 suspected migrants were butchered in a single day in Nellie in 1983. Nearly all were Muslim, and many were children.
In New Delhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh also sought to allay fears about Assam.
“No coercive action will be taken against anyone. Hence there is no need to panic,” Singh said in the upper house of parliament.
Satyen Garg, a home ministry official who was present at the Guwahati press conference, said there “was no question of sending anyone to detention camps based on the draft list”.
Speaking at a joint press conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday, Trump asserted that he would “certainly meet” with Iranians with “no preconditions.”
“It’s good for the country, good for them, good for us and good for the world. No preconditions. If they want to meet, I’ll meet,” said the US president.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on CNBC hours later to set some conditions.
"We've said this before," said the former CIA chief. “If the Iranians demonstrate a commitment to make fundamental changes in how they treat their own people, reduce their malign behavior, can agree that it's worthwhile to enter into a nuclear agreement that actually prevents proliferation, then the president said he's prepared to sit down and have the conversation with them.”
Trump’s latest stance towards Tehran runs counter to his recent threats against the nation as well as pulling Washington out of the Iran nuclear deal despite having the support of almost all US allies.
“I do believe that they will probably end up wanting to meet,” he claimed. “And I’m ready to meet any time they want to. And I don’t do that from strength or from weakness. I think it’s an appropriate thing to do.”
President Rouhani has not yet responded to Trump's latest comments but his adviser said on Twitter that the US should return to the nuclear deal.
"Respecting the Iranian nation's rights, reducing hostilities and returning to the nuclear deal are steps that can be taken to pave the bumpy road of talks between Iran and America," said Hamid Aboutalebi (pictured above).
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi suggested earlier in the day that engaging in negotiations with the "current America" is next to impossible.
He further asserted that a military confrontation between Iran and the United States is out of the question, yet the Islamic Republic is ready for such scenario.
Known for his anti-Iran sentiments from the campaign days, Trump ultimately pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May.
According to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Trump “should learn well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.”
Before the national fire service updated the official number of fatalities Sunday night, it had stood at 86. Greek officials previously had not provided a tally of the people reported missing.
The fire sped flames through the village without warning on July 23. A database maintained by the Centre for the Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels shows it as the deadliest wildfire in Europe since 1900.
The vast majority of victims died in the fire itself, though a number drowned in the sea while fleeing the flames.
Dozens of volunteer divers, some of them retired Navy Seals, kept searching the sea on Sunday looking for the bodies of more possible victims.
The meeting took place on Pakistan’s request. The two sides have had strong military relations.
The Pakistani ambassador visited Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, where he discussed ties between the two countries.
Among other things discussed in the meeting were the ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the regional security situation.
Pakistan’s Defence and Army Attaché Brigadier Kamal Anwar Chaudhry accompanied Tareen on his visit to the Pentagon.
A PTI delegation led by Jahangir Tareen met with the leadership of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Monday night to seek their support for government formation in the centre.
The meeting held at MQM-Pakistan’s Bahadrabad office was also attended by PTI leaders Firdaus Shamim Naqvi, Imran Ismail and Haleem Adil Siddiqui.
In a press conference held after the meeting, Tareen said that he had a positive meeting with the MQM leadership and has invited the party to join federal government, adding that the people of Karachi gave a joint mandate to the PTI and Siddiqui's party.
"To move forward we have to think of the masses. Its in the manifesto of PTI to resolve basic issues of the metropolis," he said. "We will resolve water, transport, infrastructural issues of the city."
Siddiqui said that the party found similar views on many of the issues with the PTI leader.
"Its a pleasant surprise for us that we have commonalities. We have an agreement over strong and independent local bodies system," he said. Siddiqui said that both the parties will help each other to address the reservations over the election results.
"We spoke on re-counting and census in our meeting. Imran Khan has already said that he would address the reservations of people on election results."
Siddiqui said that the bitter past between the two parties can change into co-operation in future.
During the meeting, MQM-P put forward its demands before the PTI leaders to get its six-member support in the lower house.
The MQM-P demands include Karachi Package, constitutional amendment for empowered local bodies, administrative units for the urban Sindh, community police and mass transit in Karachi, sources said.
The MQM-P has conditioned its support on the acceptance of their demands.
Mohammad Zubair meets MQM-P leaders
Earlier on Monday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair met with the leadership of MQM-Pakistan at its Bahadurabad.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Zubair remarked that the two parties will continue to stay in the touch in the coming few weeks, adding that MQM-Pakistan also has reservations regarding the way elections were conducted.
Regarding the meeting, he shared that the representatives of the two parties discussed the conditions in Sindh especially Karachi alongside the political situation which has emerged following the General Election 2018.
Moreover, MQM-Pakistan leader Faisal Sabzwari alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan was involved in the rigging the elections for the first time. "The failure of the result transmission system shows that ECP was unsuccessful in its task."
The returning officers must recount votes as per the law, he claimed.
"People whose own party wouldn’t vote for them won. How is this possible," Sabzwari asked.
With regards to Form 45, he questioned where was it filled? "Who knows where it was filled as the polling agents weren’t present at the time votes were being counted."
Form 45 was supposed to be submitted on the day of the election rather than being uploaded on the website after a week, he said.
When asked about the Karachi operation, Zubair clarified that it was held to bring peace to the city. "Karachi operation was not against MQM," he said.
The Chinese envoy, while presenting felicitations on behalf of his government to the prime minister-in waiting, reiterated Beijing’s desire to strengthen cooperation with Islamabad in all sectors.
"Yao highly appreciates Imran Khan s positive remarks on China Pakistan relations and is willing to work together with the new government to push China Pakistan relations to a new level," read a statement issued by the Chinese emabassy.
Modi also extended extended warm and cordial wishes to Imran Khan.
Both leaders agreed to overcome the past and to lay a new foundation for a prosperous political, social and economic future.
Modi told Khan that India is ready for a new era of ties with Pakistan and called for crafting collective strategy for combating regional challenges.
Khan also stressed on resuming talks while adding that issues can’t be solved through wars.
Khan stressed on initiating collective efforts for uprooting poverty from the region.
The fossil was found in the northwest of Argentina during a field trip.
The scientists found four skeletons in all, one of a new species and three of related dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs were the biggest animals to have walked the earth, with some weighing as much as a space shutt
Researchers compared the current high temperatures with historical records from seven weather stations, in different parts of Europe.
They also say the scale of the heatwave in the Arctic is unprecedented.
Researchers looked at data from seven weather stations, in Finland, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Researchers compared the current high temperatures with historical records from seven weather stations, in different parts of Europe.
They also say the scale of the heatwave in the Arctic is unprecedented.
Researchers looked at data from seven weather stations, in Finland, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation, Major (Retd) Qaiser Majeed Malik said that they have initiated a project Science Talent Farming Scheme and hoping that encouragement of such bright students would give long term results soon.
"The players have not yet received the daily allowance for the training camp held for Champions Trophy," said national side's skipper Rizwan Senior.
"We won't participate in the Asian Games if we aren't given our due daily allowance."
The national side's training camp was scheduled in Holland for the Champions Trophy.
"It's not a revolt we are asking for our due right," Rizwan added.
Senior player Imran Butt said that the team has conveyed their decision to the team management.
Pakistan Hockey Federation President Khalid Sajjad Khokar, in his reaction on the developments, said that there is a conspiracy underway against the national hockey team.
Khokar requested the players to not give any statement to the media regarding the pay issue.
"We will clear all dues before going to Asian Games. Unfortunately, our grant was stopped due to certain unknown reason," he said.
"If we don't get money from the money I will pay the players through my own means."
He urged the players to focus on their training.
Einstein’s 100-year-old general theory of relativity predicted that light from stars would be stretched to longer wavelengths by the extreme gravitational field of a black hole, and the star would appear redder, an effect known as gravitational red shift.
“This was the first time we could test directly Einstein’s theory of general relativity near a supermassive black hole,” Frank Eisenhauer, senior astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, told journalists.
“At the time of Einstein, he could not think or dream of what we are showing today,” he said.
A team of scientists at the European Southern Observatory started monitoring the central area of the Milky Way using its Very Large Telescope to observe the motion of stars near the supermassive black hole 26 years ago.
The black hole is 26,000 light years away from Earth and has a mass 4 million times that of the Sun.
The scientists selected one star, S2, to follow. With an orbit of 16 years, they knew it would return close to the black hole in 2018.
Over 20 years, the accuracy of their instruments has improved and so in May 2018, they were able to take extremely precise measurements in conjunction with scientists from around the world.
This showed the star’s orbital velocity increasing to more than 25 million kph (15.5 million mph) as it approached the black hole.
The star’s wavelength stretched as it sought to escape the gravitational pull of the supermassive black hole, shifting its appearance from blue to red, Odele Straub from the Paris Observatory said.
The scientists now hope to observe other theories of black hole physics, she said.
“This is the first step on a long road that the team has done over many years and which we hope to continue in the next years,” MPE’s Reinhard Genzel, who led the international team, said.
The shallow 6.4-magnitude quake jolted the island in the early morning, sending people running outside in panic and triggering landslides on popular mountain hiking routes.
Scores of aftershocks sparked fear among survivors. More than 120 were recorded, the biggest with a magnitude of 5.7, Indonesia’s meteorology agency said.
Local officials have declared a three day state emergency, according to multiple television reports.
"Thirteen people have died, hundreds of people were injured and thousands of homes were damaged in the earthquake in East Lombok. We are still collecting data," Indonesian disaster mitigation agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said in a statement.
One Malaysian was killed and six injured, the Malaysian foreign ministry said.
"All of them were at the foot of Mount Rinjani when the incident happened," it said.
The constant aftershocks sparked terrified shouts among scores of people made homeless in the eastern village of Sembalun, an AFP reporter said.
Some 200 people from 35 families whose house were damaged or destroyed had pitched tents there.
"People are traumatised and too scared to return home for fear the aftershocks could destroy their homes completely," the reporter said.
"Everytime there is an aftershock they cry out in fear and tremors can still be felt constantly."
Evacuees told AFP they badly needed blankets and instant food because there was no time to bring anything when they fled their homes.
Popular trekking trails on Mount Rinjani were closed because of landslides, according to the disaster agency.
One local trek organiser described how rocks rained down on two Spanish hikers and their guide as they were caught on a mountain trail.
"My trekking guide who was accompanying two tourists from Spain suffered from minor injuries during the jolt. They were hiking from Segara Anak Lake to Plawangan and rocks were falling on them during the quake," said Karyadi, the owner of a guesthouse near Rinjani where the pair were staying.
The two Spaniards were also slightly hurt.
"Our guests were in shock because of the incident," said Karyadi, who like many Indonesians goes by one name.
The epicentre of the earthquake struck 50 km (30 miles) northeast of Lombok’s main city Mataram, the United States Geological Survey said, far from the main tourist spots on the south and west of the island.
USGS said two of the aftershocks measured more than 5-magnitude.
The jolt was felt some 100 km (60 miles) away in the bustling holiday island of Bali, although there were no immediate reports of damage there.
"The earthquake was very strong... and everybody in my house panicked, we all ran outside," said Zulkifli, a resident of North Lombok near the epicentre.
Addressing media, senior leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples’ Party, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and Awami National Party said there is no parallel of rigging on this scale in elections in the country, in which Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Imran Khan claimed victory.
PPP's Yousaf Raza Gilani and MMA chief Fazlur Rehman also decried media censorship.
"The entire world, the nation and ECP [Election Commission of Pakistan] should note that there is no instance of all parties rejecting election results unanimously like this ever," said Fazl.
Those stealing the mandate of masses should be ashamed of themselves, he said.
Gilani said that an all parties conference would be held soon, and a strategy would be formulated to take up the issue of rigging.
The parties will play the role of a strong opposition inside and outside the Parliament, the former prime minister added.
The decision to form a grand alliance was taken during ongoing meetings of the parties at the residence of Ayaz Sadiq. The political parties also agreed to protest inside and outside the assemblies.
The grand opposition will issue a white paper over rigging during the elections and meet for an All Parties Conference in two days.
The strength of the grand opposition will stand at 120 in the National Assembly, compared to 116 seats for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
According to sources, political parties in Balochistan will also be taken into confidence over the grand opposition alliance. Meanwhile, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has announced that the MMA will not boycott proceedings of the parliament.
The PPP delegation was led by Khursheed Shah includes Sherry Rehman, Naveed Qamar and Qamar Zaman Kaira, and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif led his party’s delegation which includes Khawaja Saad Rafique, Khawaja Asif among others.
Haji Ghulam Bilour and Mian Iftikhar are representing the ANP, while Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Maulana Anas Noorani are representing the MMA.
It is expected that following the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif will meet his brother and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was shifted from Adiala prison to PIMS hospital in Islamabad on Sunday.
Over 35 constituencies' results manipulated for Imran's victory: Shah
PPP leader Khursheed Shah claimed over 35 constituencies were manipulated to pave way for Imran's victory.
Manipulation "was carried out in constituencies of Yousaf Raza Gilani, Rasool Bux Chandio, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Aijaz Jakhrani and Saad Rafique," he said.
The meeting took place on Pakistan’s request. The two sides have had strong military relations.
The Pakistani ambassador visited Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, where he discussed ties between the two countries.
Among other things discussed in the meeting were the ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the regional security situation.
Pakistan’s Defence and Army Attaché Brigadier Kamal Anwar Chaudhry accompanied Tareen on his visit to the Pentagon.
A PTI delegation led by Jahangir Tareen met with the leadership of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Monday night to seek their support for government formation in the centre.
The meeting held at MQM-Pakistan’s Bahadrabad office was also attended by PTI leaders Firdaus Shamim Naqvi, Imran Ismail and Haleem Adil Siddiqui.
In a press conference held after the meeting, Tareen said that he had a positive meeting with the MQM leadership and has invited the party to join federal government, adding that the people of Karachi gave a joint mandate to the PTI and Siddiqui's party.
"To move forward we have to think of the masses. Its in the manifesto of PTI to resolve basic issues of the metropolis," he said. "We will resolve water, transport, infrastructural issues of the city."
Siddiqui said that the party found similar views on many of the issues with the PTI leader.
"Its a pleasant surprise for us that we have commonalities. We have an agreement over strong and independent local bodies system," he said. Siddiqui said that both the parties will help each other to address the reservations over the election results.
"We spoke on re-counting and census in our meeting. Imran Khan has already said that he would address the reservations of people on election results."
Siddiqui said that the bitter past between the two parties can change into co-operation in future.
During the meeting, MQM-P put forward its demands before the PTI leaders to get its six-member support in the lower house.
The MQM-P demands include Karachi Package, constitutional amendment for empowered local bodies, administrative units for the urban Sindh, community police and mass transit in Karachi, sources said.
The MQM-P has conditioned its support on the acceptance of their demands.
Mohammad Zubair meets MQM-P leaders
Earlier on Monday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair met with the leadership of MQM-Pakistan at its Bahadurabad.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Zubair remarked that the two parties will continue to stay in the touch in the coming few weeks, adding that MQM-Pakistan also has reservations regarding the way elections were conducted.
Regarding the meeting, he shared that the representatives of the two parties discussed the conditions in Sindh especially Karachi alongside the political situation which has emerged following the General Election 2018.
Moreover, MQM-Pakistan leader Faisal Sabzwari alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan was involved in the rigging the elections for the first time. "The failure of the result transmission system shows that ECP was unsuccessful in its task."
The returning officers must recount votes as per the law, he claimed.
"People whose own party wouldn’t vote for them won. How is this possible," Sabzwari asked.
With regards to Form 45, he questioned where was it filled? "Who knows where it was filled as the polling agents weren’t present at the time votes were being counted."
Form 45 was supposed to be submitted on the day of the election rather than being uploaded on the website after a week, he said.
When asked about the Karachi operation, Zubair clarified that it was held to bring peace to the city. "Karachi operation was not against MQM," he said.
The Chinese envoy, while presenting felicitations on behalf of his government to the prime minister-in waiting, reiterated Beijing’s desire to strengthen cooperation with Islamabad in all sectors.
"Yao highly appreciates Imran Khan s positive remarks on China Pakistan relations and is willing to work together with the new government to push China Pakistan relations to a new level," read a statement issued by the Chinese emabassy.
Modi also extended extended warm and cordial wishes to Imran Khan.
Both leaders agreed to overcome the past and to lay a new foundation for a prosperous political, social and economic future.
Modi told Khan that India is ready for a new era of ties with Pakistan and called for crafting collective strategy for combating regional challenges.
Khan also stressed on resuming talks while adding that issues can’t be solved through wars.
Khan stressed on initiating collective efforts for uprooting poverty from the region.
Addressing media, senior leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples’ Party, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and Awami National Party said there is no parallel of rigging on this scale in elections in the country, in which Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Imran Khan claimed victory.
PPP's Yousaf Raza Gilani and MMA chief Fazlur Rehman also decried media censorship.
"The entire world, the nation and ECP [Election Commission of Pakistan] should note that there is no instance of all parties rejecting election results unanimously like this ever," said Fazl.
Those stealing the mandate of masses should be ashamed of themselves, he said.
Gilani said that an all parties conference would be held soon, and a strategy would be formulated to take up the issue of rigging.
The parties will play the role of a strong opposition inside and outside the Parliament, the former prime minister added.
The decision to form a grand alliance was taken during ongoing meetings of the parties at the residence of Ayaz Sadiq. The political parties also agreed to protest inside and outside the assemblies.
The grand opposition will issue a white paper over rigging during the elections and meet for an All Parties Conference in two days.
The strength of the grand opposition will stand at 120 in the National Assembly, compared to 116 seats for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
According to sources, political parties in Balochistan will also be taken into confidence over the grand opposition alliance. Meanwhile, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has announced that the MMA will not boycott proceedings of the parliament.
The PPP delegation was led by Khursheed Shah includes Sherry Rehman, Naveed Qamar and Qamar Zaman Kaira, and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif led his party’s delegation which includes Khawaja Saad Rafique, Khawaja Asif among others.
Haji Ghulam Bilour and Mian Iftikhar are representing the ANP, while Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Maulana Anas Noorani are representing the MMA.
It is expected that following the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif will meet his brother and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was shifted from Adiala prison to PIMS hospital in Islamabad on Sunday.
Over 35 constituencies' results manipulated for Imran's victory: Shah
PPP leader Khursheed Shah claimed over 35 constituencies were manipulated to pave way for Imran's victory.
Manipulation "was carried out in constituencies of Yousaf Raza Gilani, Rasool Bux Chandio, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Aijaz Jakhrani and Saad Rafique," he said.
The meeting took place on Pakistan’s request. The two sides have had strong military relations.
The Pakistani ambassador visited Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, where he discussed ties between the two countries.
Among other things discussed in the meeting were the ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the regional security situation.
Pakistan’s Defence and Army Attaché Brigadier Kamal Anwar Chaudhry accompanied Tareen on his visit to the Pentagon.
A PTI delegation led by Jahangir Tareen met with the leadership of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Monday night to seek their support for government formation in the centre.
The meeting held at MQM-Pakistan’s Bahadrabad office was also attended by PTI leaders Firdaus Shamim Naqvi, Imran Ismail and Haleem Adil Siddiqui.
In a press conference held after the meeting, Tareen said that he had a positive meeting with the MQM leadership and has invited the party to join federal government, adding that the people of Karachi gave a joint mandate to the PTI and Siddiqui's party.
"To move forward we have to think of the masses. Its in the manifesto of PTI to resolve basic issues of the metropolis," he said. "We will resolve water, transport, infrastructural issues of the city."
Siddiqui said that the party found similar views on many of the issues with the PTI leader.
"Its a pleasant surprise for us that we have commonalities. We have an agreement over strong and independent local bodies system," he said. Siddiqui said that both the parties will help each other to address the reservations over the election results.
"We spoke on re-counting and census in our meeting. Imran Khan has already said that he would address the reservations of people on election results."
Siddiqui said that the bitter past between the two parties can change into co-operation in future.
During the meeting, MQM-P put forward its demands before the PTI leaders to get its six-member support in the lower house.
The MQM-P demands include Karachi Package, constitutional amendment for empowered local bodies, administrative units for the urban Sindh, community police and mass transit in Karachi, sources said.
The MQM-P has conditioned its support on the acceptance of their demands.
Mohammad Zubair meets MQM-P leaders
Earlier on Monday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair met with the leadership of MQM-Pakistan at its Bahadurabad.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Zubair remarked that the two parties will continue to stay in the touch in the coming few weeks, adding that MQM-Pakistan also has reservations regarding the way elections were conducted.
Regarding the meeting, he shared that the representatives of the two parties discussed the conditions in Sindh especially Karachi alongside the political situation which has emerged following the General Election 2018.
Moreover, MQM-Pakistan leader Faisal Sabzwari alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan was involved in the rigging the elections for the first time. "The failure of the result transmission system shows that ECP was unsuccessful in its task."
The returning officers must recount votes as per the law, he claimed.
"People whose own party wouldn’t vote for them won. How is this possible," Sabzwari asked.
With regards to Form 45, he questioned where was it filled? "Who knows where it was filled as the polling agents weren’t present at the time votes were being counted."
Form 45 was supposed to be submitted on the day of the election rather than being uploaded on the website after a week, he said.
When asked about the Karachi operation, Zubair clarified that it was held to bring peace to the city. "Karachi operation was not against MQM," he said.
The Chinese envoy, while presenting felicitations on behalf of his government to the prime minister-in waiting, reiterated Beijing’s desire to strengthen cooperation with Islamabad in all sectors.
"Yao highly appreciates Imran Khan s positive remarks on China Pakistan relations and is willing to work together with the new government to push China Pakistan relations to a new level," read a statement issued by the Chinese emabassy.
Modi also extended extended warm and cordial wishes to Imran Khan.
Both leaders agreed to overcome the past and to lay a new foundation for a prosperous political, social and economic future.
Modi told Khan that India is ready for a new era of ties with Pakistan and called for crafting collective strategy for combating regional challenges.
Khan also stressed on resuming talks while adding that issues can’t be solved through wars.
Khan stressed on initiating collective efforts for uprooting poverty from the region.
The regulatory body has recommended an increase of Rs2.75 per litre in petrol prices, Rs3 per litre for diesel, and Rs4 per litre for kerosene oil, sources familiar with the matter said.
The caretaker government, however, may leave the decision for a revision in petroleum prices to the incoming government, the sources added.
Earlier on July 1, the interim government had hiked the price of petrol by Rs7.54 to Rs99.50 per litre, diesel by Rs14 to Rs119.3 per litre and kerosene oil by Rs3.36 to Rs87.7 per litre. It had also raised rates of other petroleum products.
However, a week later, the prices were reduced after the Supreme Court took notice of heavy taxes on the sale of petroleum products.
Addressing media, senior leaders of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, Pakistan Peoples’ Party, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal and Awami National Party said there is no parallel of rigging on this scale in elections in the country, in which Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's Imran Khan claimed victory.
PPP's Yousaf Raza Gilani and MMA chief Fazlur Rehman also decried media censorship.
"The entire world, the nation and ECP [Election Commission of Pakistan] should note that there is no instance of all parties rejecting election results unanimously like this ever," said Fazl.
Those stealing the mandate of masses should be ashamed of themselves, he said.
Gilani said that an all parties conference would be held soon, and a strategy would be formulated to take up the issue of rigging.
The parties will play the role of a strong opposition inside and outside the Parliament, the former prime minister added.
The decision to form a grand alliance was taken during ongoing meetings of the parties at the residence of Ayaz Sadiq. The political parties also agreed to protest inside and outside the assemblies.
The grand opposition will issue a white paper over rigging during the elections and meet for an All Parties Conference in two days.
The strength of the grand opposition will stand at 120 in the National Assembly, compared to 116 seats for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.
According to sources, political parties in Balochistan will also be taken into confidence over the grand opposition alliance. Meanwhile, Maulana Fazlur Rehman has announced that the MMA will not boycott proceedings of the parliament.
The PPP delegation was led by Khursheed Shah includes Sherry Rehman, Naveed Qamar and Qamar Zaman Kaira, and former prime minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
PML-N president Shehbaz Sharif led his party’s delegation which includes Khawaja Saad Rafique, Khawaja Asif among others.
Haji Ghulam Bilour and Mian Iftikhar are representing the ANP, while Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Maulana Anas Noorani are representing the MMA.
It is expected that following the meeting, Shehbaz Sharif will meet his brother and former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, who was shifted from Adiala prison to PIMS hospital in Islamabad on Sunday.
Over 35 constituencies' results manipulated for Imran's victory: Shah
PPP leader Khursheed Shah claimed over 35 constituencies were manipulated to pave way for Imran's victory.
Manipulation "was carried out in constituencies of Yousaf Raza Gilani, Rasool Bux Chandio, Faisal Saleh Hayat, Aijaz Jakhrani and Saad Rafique," he said.
The FBR has warned holders of undeclared local and foreign assets will face consequences if they do not declare assets after the expiry of the tax amnesty scheme.
According to Chairperson of the Federal Board of Revenue Rukhsana Yasmin, there is no possibility in further extension of the deadline.
She urged the public to avail this last and final chance to get their undeclared assets declared since today is the last day today to avail tax amnesty scheme
The tax amnesty scheme was announced by the PML-N government earlier this year, came into effect on April 10, 2018 and was to end on June 30, 2018.
The scheme had been cited as an opportunity for people to file their local and foreign assets without facing any consequences.
According to details, selling price of dollar has reached to Rs. 123 during trading in inter bank market, while purchase price is Rs.122.80.
In an interview with CNBC television, Pompeo said the United States looked forward to engagement with the government of Pakistan’s expected new prime minister, Imran Khan, but said there was “no rationale” for a bailout that pays off Chinese loans to Pakistan.
“Make no mistake. We will be watching what the IMF does,” Pompeo said. “There’s no rationale for IMF tax dollars, and associated with that American dollars that are part of the IMF funding, for those to go to bail out Chinese bondholders or China itself,” Pompeo said.
The Financial Times reported on Sunday that senior Pakistani finance officials were drawing up options for Khan to seek an IMF bailout of up to $12 billion.
An IMF spokeswoman said: “We can confirm that we have so far not received a request for a Fund arrangement from Pakistan and that we have not had discussions with the authorities about any possible intentions.”
Pakistan is struggling to avert a currency crisis that has presented the new government with its biggest challenge. Many analysts and business leaders expect that another IMF bailout, the second in five years, will be needed to plug an external financing gap.
Pakistan, which already has around $5 billion in loans from China and its banks to fund major infrastructure projects, had sought another $1 billion in loans to stabilize its plummeting foreign currency reserves.
Officials in the Trump administration, including US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, have criticized China’s infrastructure lending to developing countries, arguing that this has saddled them with unsustainable debt.
The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a series of port and rail improvements associated with China’s One Belt One Road infrastructure push, has led to massive imports of Chinese equipment and materials, swelling Pakistan’s current account deficit.
Pakistan has had 14 IMF financing programs since 1980, according to fund data, including a $6.7 billion three-year loan program in 2013.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s former right-hand man in the ruling ZANU-PF party, faces opposition leader Nelson Chamisa of the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) in a historic vote for the southern African nation.
Officials overseeing the polls, in which a record number of candidates are standing, said early signs including long queues at some polling stations suggested a high turnout nationwide. “I just have to do this. I have to see a better Zimbabwe for my kids. Things have been tough,” Tawanda Petru, 28, an unemployed man voting in Mbare, a low-income district of the capital Harare, said.
“I’m going to vote for Chamisa, for change. I am not afraid.” Mugabe, 94, who was ousted by the military in November, voted at his customary polling station in Harare alongside his wife Grace after a surprise two-hour press conference at his home on Sunday during which he called for voters to reject ZANU-PF.
Mugabe, wearing a dark suit and red tie, was greeted with cheersat the polling station but did not answer journalists’ questions about who he voted for.
Mnangagwa, voting in his Kwekwe constituency in central Zimbabwe, said Mugabe had the right to express himself in the country’s new “democratic space”.
“I am very happy that the process for campaigning was peaceful (and) voting today is peaceful,” he added.
Mnangagwa, 75, has has promised change and is the clear front-runner benefitting from tacit military support, loyal state media and ruling party controls of government resources.
The party controls the lower house of parliament, which is also up for election. But Chamisa, a 40-year-old lawyer and pastor who has performed strongly on the campaign trail, hopes to tap into the youth vote.
“By the end of the day today we should be very clear as to an emphatic voice for change, the new, and the young — I represent that,” Chamisa said as he voted in Harare, supported by vocal supporters. He again raised fraud allegations saying his victory would be assured if rigged ballots were excluded.
On Twitter, he alleged there was a “deliberate attempt to suppress” voting in urban areas — MDC strongholds.
Zimbabwe’s generals shocked the world last year when they seized control and ushered in Mnangagwa after Mugabe allegedly groomed Grace succeed him.
The election is Zimbabwe’s first without Mugabe, who led ZANU-PF to power on independence from Britain in 1980 and clung to power for 37 years.
The draft National Register of Citizens (NRC), published on Monday, includes only those able to prove they were in Assam before 1971, when millions fled Bangladesh's war of independence into the state.
Critics say it is the latest move by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to advance the rights of India's Hindu majority at the expense of its many minorities.
More than 30 million people had applied to be included on the list, of whom just over four million were excluded from the draft published on Monday, said Shailesh, the registrar general of India, who uses one name.
“No genuine Indian citizens need to worry as there will be ample opportunities given to them to enlist their names in the final NRC,” he told a news conference in Assam's biggest city Guwahati.
He said those wishing to appeal could do so under “well-laid-down procedures” starting August 30. The definitive NRC is due to be finalised in December.
“We are going to provide assistance to anyone whose names are not included in the document and whoever wishes to file a claim and objection in this regard,” Shailesh added.
Hindu nationalists
Modi's Hindu nationalist government — under whom extremist violence against Muslims has increased — has said the list must be revised to root out illegal migrants.
Hundreds of thousands fled to India from Bangladesh during its 1971 war. Most settled in Assam, which shares a long border with Bangladesh.
Rights groups have criticised the government's latest move, saying the deletion of people from citizenship rolls was similar to Myanmar's removal of rights and protections for its Rohingya community in 1982.
Avaaz, a US-based rights group, said there was no effective appeal body and those left out would not have enough time to present their case.
“It's just Muslims who will likely have to go through a complicated, unfair appeal with no right to counsel, ending in no hope of staying if they lose,” Ricken Patel, the executive director of Avaaz, said in a statement.
Assam, a state of 33 million people known for its lush tea estates, has for decades been racked by violence between indigenous tribes and settlers.
In one of the worst massacres, around 2,000 suspected migrants were butchered in a single day in Nellie in 1983. Nearly all were Muslim, and many were children.
In New Delhi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh also sought to allay fears about Assam.
“No coercive action will be taken against anyone. Hence there is no need to panic,” Singh said in the upper house of parliament.
Satyen Garg, a home ministry official who was present at the Guwahati press conference, said there “was no question of sending anyone to detention camps based on the draft list”.
Speaking at a joint press conference alongside Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on Monday, Trump asserted that he would “certainly meet” with Iranians with “no preconditions.”
“It’s good for the country, good for them, good for us and good for the world. No preconditions. If they want to meet, I’ll meet,” said the US president.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo appeared on CNBC hours later to set some conditions.
"We've said this before," said the former CIA chief. “If the Iranians demonstrate a commitment to make fundamental changes in how they treat their own people, reduce their malign behavior, can agree that it's worthwhile to enter into a nuclear agreement that actually prevents proliferation, then the president said he's prepared to sit down and have the conversation with them.”
Trump’s latest stance towards Tehran runs counter to his recent threats against the nation as well as pulling Washington out of the Iran nuclear deal despite having the support of almost all US allies.
“I do believe that they will probably end up wanting to meet,” he claimed. “And I’m ready to meet any time they want to. And I don’t do that from strength or from weakness. I think it’s an appropriate thing to do.”
President Rouhani has not yet responded to Trump's latest comments but his adviser said on Twitter that the US should return to the nuclear deal.
"Respecting the Iranian nation's rights, reducing hostilities and returning to the nuclear deal are steps that can be taken to pave the bumpy road of talks between Iran and America," said Hamid Aboutalebi (pictured above).
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qassemi suggested earlier in the day that engaging in negotiations with the "current America" is next to impossible.
He further asserted that a military confrontation between Iran and the United States is out of the question, yet the Islamic Republic is ready for such scenario.
Known for his anti-Iran sentiments from the campaign days, Trump ultimately pulled the US out of the Iran nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, in May.
According to Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Trump “should learn well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace and war with Iran is the mother of all wars.”
Before the national fire service updated the official number of fatalities Sunday night, it had stood at 86. Greek officials previously had not provided a tally of the people reported missing.
The fire sped flames through the village without warning on July 23. A database maintained by the Centre for the Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters in Brussels shows it as the deadliest wildfire in Europe since 1900.
The vast majority of victims died in the fire itself, though a number drowned in the sea while fleeing the flames.
Dozens of volunteer divers, some of them retired Navy Seals, kept searching the sea on Sunday looking for the bodies of more possible victims.
The meeting took place on Pakistan’s request. The two sides have had strong military relations.
The Pakistani ambassador visited Pentagon, the headquarters of the US Department of Defense, where he discussed ties between the two countries.
Among other things discussed in the meeting were the ties between Afghanistan and Pakistan and the regional security situation.
Pakistan’s Defence and Army Attaché Brigadier Kamal Anwar Chaudhry accompanied Tareen on his visit to the Pentagon.
A PTI delegation led by Jahangir Tareen met with the leadership of Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan on Monday night to seek their support for government formation in the centre.
The meeting held at MQM-Pakistan’s Bahadrabad office was also attended by PTI leaders Firdaus Shamim Naqvi, Imran Ismail and Haleem Adil Siddiqui.
In a press conference held after the meeting, Tareen said that he had a positive meeting with the MQM leadership and has invited the party to join federal government, adding that the people of Karachi gave a joint mandate to the PTI and Siddiqui's party.
"To move forward we have to think of the masses. Its in the manifesto of PTI to resolve basic issues of the metropolis," he said. "We will resolve water, transport, infrastructural issues of the city."
Siddiqui said that the party found similar views on many of the issues with the PTI leader.
"Its a pleasant surprise for us that we have commonalities. We have an agreement over strong and independent local bodies system," he said. Siddiqui said that both the parties will help each other to address the reservations over the election results.
"We spoke on re-counting and census in our meeting. Imran Khan has already said that he would address the reservations of people on election results."
Siddiqui said that the bitter past between the two parties can change into co-operation in future.
During the meeting, MQM-P put forward its demands before the PTI leaders to get its six-member support in the lower house.
The MQM-P demands include Karachi Package, constitutional amendment for empowered local bodies, administrative units for the urban Sindh, community police and mass transit in Karachi, sources said.
The MQM-P has conditioned its support on the acceptance of their demands.
Mohammad Zubair meets MQM-P leaders
Earlier on Monday, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz leader and former Sindh governor Mohammad Zubair met with the leadership of MQM-Pakistan at its Bahadurabad.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, Zubair remarked that the two parties will continue to stay in the touch in the coming few weeks, adding that MQM-Pakistan also has reservations regarding the way elections were conducted.
Regarding the meeting, he shared that the representatives of the two parties discussed the conditions in Sindh especially Karachi alongside the political situation which has emerged following the General Election 2018.
Moreover, MQM-Pakistan leader Faisal Sabzwari alleged that the Election Commission of Pakistan was involved in the rigging the elections for the first time. "The failure of the result transmission system shows that ECP was unsuccessful in its task."
The returning officers must recount votes as per the law, he claimed.
"People whose own party wouldn’t vote for them won. How is this possible," Sabzwari asked.
With regards to Form 45, he questioned where was it filled? "Who knows where it was filled as the polling agents weren’t present at the time votes were being counted."
Form 45 was supposed to be submitted on the day of the election rather than being uploaded on the website after a week, he said.
When asked about the Karachi operation, Zubair clarified that it was held to bring peace to the city. "Karachi operation was not against MQM," he said.
The Chinese envoy, while presenting felicitations on behalf of his government to the prime minister-in waiting, reiterated Beijing’s desire to strengthen cooperation with Islamabad in all sectors.
"Yao highly appreciates Imran Khan s positive remarks on China Pakistan relations and is willing to work together with the new government to push China Pakistan relations to a new level," read a statement issued by the Chinese emabassy.
Modi also extended extended warm and cordial wishes to Imran Khan.
Both leaders agreed to overcome the past and to lay a new foundation for a prosperous political, social and economic future.
Modi told Khan that India is ready for a new era of ties with Pakistan and called for crafting collective strategy for combating regional challenges.
Khan also stressed on resuming talks while adding that issues can’t be solved through wars.
Khan stressed on initiating collective efforts for uprooting poverty from the region.
The fossil was found in the northwest of Argentina during a field trip.
The scientists found four skeletons in all, one of a new species and three of related dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs were the biggest animals to have walked the earth, with some weighing as much as a space shutt
Researchers compared the current high temperatures with historical records from seven weather stations, in different parts of Europe.
They also say the scale of the heatwave in the Arctic is unprecedented.
Researchers looked at data from seven weather stations, in Finland, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Researchers compared the current high temperatures with historical records from seven weather stations, in different parts of Europe.
They also say the scale of the heatwave in the Arctic is unprecedented.
Researchers looked at data from seven weather stations, in Finland, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Chairman Pakistan Science Foundation, Major (Retd) Qaiser Majeed Malik said that they have initiated a project Science Talent Farming Scheme and hoping that encouragement of such bright students would give long term results soon.
"The players have not yet received the daily allowance for the training camp held for Champions Trophy," said national side's skipper Rizwan Senior.
"We won't participate in the Asian Games if we aren't given our due daily allowance."
The national side's training camp was scheduled in Holland for the Champions Trophy.
"It's not a revolt we are asking for our due right," Rizwan added.
Senior player Imran Butt said that the team has conveyed their decision to the team management.
Pakistan Hockey Federation President Khalid Sajjad Khokar, in his reaction on the developments, said that there is a conspiracy underway against the national hockey team.
Khokar requested the players to not give any statement to the media regarding the pay issue.
"We will clear all dues before going to Asian Games. Unfortunately, our grant was stopped due to certain unknown reason," he said.
"If we don't get money from the money I will pay the players through my own means."
He urged the players to focus on their training.
Einstein’s 100-year-old general theory of relativity predicted that light from stars would be stretched to longer wavelengths by the extreme gravitational field of a black hole, and the star would appear redder, an effect known as gravitational red shift.
“This was the first time we could test directly Einstein’s theory of general relativity near a supermassive black hole,” Frank Eisenhauer, senior astronomer at the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, told journalists.
“At the time of Einstein, he could not think or dream of what we are showing today,” he said.
A team of scientists at the European Southern Observatory started monitoring the central area of the Milky Way using its Very Large Telescope to observe the motion of stars near the supermassive black hole 26 years ago.
The black hole is 26,000 light years away from Earth and has a mass 4 million times that of the Sun.
The scientists selected one star, S2, to follow. With an orbit of 16 years, they knew it would return close to the black hole in 2018.
Over 20 years, the accuracy of their instruments has improved and so in May 2018, they were able to take extremely precise measurements in conjunction with scientists from around the world.
This showed the star’s orbital velocity increasing to more than 25 million kph (15.5 million mph) as it approached the black hole.
The star’s wavelength stretched as it sought to escape the gravitational pull of the supermassive black hole, shifting its appearance from blue to red, Odele Straub from the Paris Observatory said.
The scientists now hope to observe other theories of black hole physics, she said.
“This is the first step on a long road that the team has done over many years and which we hope to continue in the next years,” MPE’s Reinhard Genzel, who led the international team, said.
