BAKU, Azerbaijan: When more than two dozen world leaders deliver remarks at the United Nations’ annual climate conference on Wednesday, many are likely to detail their nations’ firsthand experience with the catastrophic weather that has come with climate change.
That could include Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose nation has seen deadly flooding this year from monsoon rains that scientists say have become heavier with climate change. Just two years ago, more than 1,700 people died in widespread flooding. Pakistan has also suffered from dangerous heat, with thousands of people hospitalized with heatstroke this spring as temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius (117 Fahrenheit).
Also on the list of speakers Wednesday is Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Edward Davis. Like many other countries in the Global South, the Bahamas has piled up debt from warming-connected weather disasters it did little to cause, including Hurricanes Dorian in 2019 and Matthew in 2016. Leaders have been seeking help and money from the Global North and oil companies.
Greece’s prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is also on the list. Along with the rest of southern Europe, his nation this summer was hammered by successive heat waves after three years of below-average rainfall. In Greece, the misery included water shortages, dried-up lakes and the death of wild horses.
Leaders from Italy, Tuvalu, Russia, Morocco, Congo, and the secretary of state of the Holy See — the government of the Catholic Church — are among others scheduled to speak.
Plenty of big names and powerful countries are noticeably absent from COP29 this year. That includes the 13 largest carbon dioxide-polluting countries — a group responsible for more than than 70 percent of the heat-trapping gases emitted last year — were missing. The world’s biggest polluters and strongest economies — China and the United States — didn’t send their No. 1s. Neither did India and Indonesia.
But UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer was there, and he announced an 81 percent emissions reduction target on 1990 levels by 2035, in line with the Paris Agreement goal to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. That’s up from the 78 percent the UK had already pledged.
The main focus of this year’s talks is climate finance — wealthier nations compensating poor countries for damages from climate change’s weather extremes, helping them pay to transition their economies away from fossil fuels and helping them with adaptation.
Wednesday’s agenda also includes an update on the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty, an idea modeled on predecessor treaty movements that sought to build international support for controls on nuclear weapons, plastic pollution and chemical weapons. Supporters say the treaty could help stop the expansion of climate-causing fossil fuel production, create a plan to fairly phase out oil, gas and coal and accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
The idea has been endorsed by countries and groups including Fiji, Colombia, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, Indigenous nations in Peru, the World Health Organization and the European Parliament.
At UN climate talks, nations like Pakistan get chance to bear witness to climate change
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At UN climate talks, nations like Pakistan get chance to bear witness to climate change
- World’s biggest polluters and strongest economies, China and US, didn’t send their No. 1s, nor did India and Indonesia
- Main focus of this year’s talks is climate finance or wealthier nations compensating poor countries for damages from climate change effects
PM hails Pakistan for ‘unstoppable, unbeatable’ performance in South Africa ODI series
- Green Shirts thrashed South Africa 3-0 after losing Twenty20 series 2-0
- Pakistan will now play three Tests against South Africa later this month
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday praised the Pakistan cricket team for winning a three-match One Day International (ODI) series against South Africa, describing their performance as “unstoppable and unbeatable.”
The Green Shirts completed a series clean sweep over South Africa in the third ODI at the Wanderers Stadium on Sunday, with rising star Saim Ayub smashing his second century of the series and his third from five innings.
The left-handed opening batsman made a sparkling 101 off 94 balls in a Pakistan total of 308 for nine. Heinrich Klaasen thrashed 81 off 43 balls for South Africa, but the hosts were beaten by 36 runs chasing an adjusted target of 308 because of rain.
“Unstoppable and unbeatable!” Sharif remarked in a post on X. “Congratulations to Team Pakistan on an outstanding 3-0 ODI series victory against South Africa.”
The prime minister also praised the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman for the team’s performance.
“Well done, boys! Your determination, skill, and teamwork under the leadership of the PCB Chairman Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi have made the entire nation proud,” he said.
“Keep raising the green flag high!“
South Africa won the T20I series 2-0 after the third match was washed out on Dec. 14. The ODI series win comes ahead of the upcoming International Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy, which Pakistan will hosting in February and March 2025.
Pakistan will also play three Tests against South Africa later this month.
Government opens long-awaited talks with Imran Khan’s party amid deepening polarization
- Negotiations began after Khan threatened civil disobedience, seeking release of political prisoners
- The government formed a negotiating committee a day earlier to engage with Khan’s PTI team
ISLAMABAD: The government and the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday began long-awaited negotiations to resolve issues fueling political polarization and straining the country’s fragile economy, National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq confirmed.
The government announced the formation of a committee a day earlier to hold talks with PTI. This followed ex-premier Khan’s threat to launch civil disobedience by urging overseas Pakistanis, his party’s key support base, to halt remittances if his demands, including the release of political prisoners, were not met by Dec. 22.
Khan, who has been imprisoned for over a year on charges he claims are politically motivated, has also called for judicial commissions to investigate violent protests on May 9 last year and Nov. 26 this year, which the government says involved his party supporters.
Known for taking hard-line political positions, Khan formed a seven-member committee to negotiate with the government. This was done amid growing concerns he may face trial by the military for allegedly inciting attacks on sensitive security installations during violent protests following his brief detention last year in a graft case.
“We will talk about Pakistan’s interests instead of our own,” the National Assembly speaker said while addressing the initial round of talks. “We will try to sit and discuss matters for the sake of Pakistan.”
“The solution to every problem is through talks,” he added. “We implied a democratic way and talks are being held in the parliament only.”
The government’s committee includes key figures from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), such as Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar, Political Adviser Rana Sanaullah and Senator Irfan Siddiqui, alongside representatives from allied parties.
The PTI team has Khan’s loyal lieutenant Asad Qaiser, Sunni Ittehad Council Chairman Sahibzada Hamid Raza, and Majlis Wehdat-i-Muslimeen’s Senator Raja Nasir Abbas.
Sadiq said the seriousness of purpose on both sides was reflected by the seniority of the people representing them.
He informed that a second meeting would follow the deliberations in the initial one.
The negotiations come days after Pakistan’s military announced prison sentences for 25 people involved in the May 9, 2023, protests, which PTI has demanded be investigated. The military said it had gathered “irrefutable evidence” against those prosecuted and reiterated its commitment to bringing the planners of the violence to justice.
The country has remained gripped by political unrest and uncertainty since Khan’s ouster from power through a parliamentary no-confidence vote, which has also exacerbated Pakistan’s economic hardships.
Senior government representatives have recently acknowledged that negotiations could offer a pathway out of the current political impasse. However, they have cautioned that it is too early to determine which of PTI’s demands might be addressed.
Ancient winter festival in Pakistan’s Chitral concludes with rituals, traditional dance
- Chawmos festival is celebrated in December by the Kalash people, who are numbered around 4,000
- Festival marks welcoming of new year, celebrated with dance, animal sacrifice, singing and feasting
PESHAWAR: A religious winter festival celebrated by the Kalash people in the northwestern Pakistani district of Chitral has concluded after featuring rituals, traditional dance and other festivities for two weeks, provincial tourism authority said on Monday.
The Kalash are a group of about 4,000 people, possibly Pakistan’s smallest minority, who live in the mountains of the Hindu Kush, where they practice an ancient polytheistic faith.
They come together each year in December to celebrate the two-week Chawmos festival after the community finishes fieldwork and stores cheese, fruit, vegetables and grains for the year.
The festival features various rituals, animal sacrifice, dance, songs and feasting, preserving the Kalash culture and attracting a number of tourists to Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
“The religious Chawmos festival of the ancient Kalash Valley has concluded,” Mohammad Saad, a spokesperson for the KP Tourism Authority, said in a statement.
“The festival continued from Dec. 8 in the three valleys of Bumburet, Birir and Rumbur.”
The Kalash community’s religion incorporates animiztic traditions of worshipping nature as well as a pantheon of gods, and its people live mainly in the three Kalash valleys of Bumburet, Birir and Rumbur.
The Chawmos festival is celebrated to welcome the new year, with the Kalash people indulging in religious practices and distributing vegetables and fruit among each other, according to the official.
The festival was attended by a large number of domestic and foreign tourists who were fully facilitated by the provincial tourism authority.
Pakistan defense minister blames judiciary for delayed verdicts in May 9 cases
- National problems require decisions at the earliest, says Khawaja Asif while talking to media in London
- Protests erupted in several Pakistani cities on May 9, 2023, over ex-PM Imran Khan’s arrest in a graft case
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif on Sunday blamed the judiciary for delaying verdicts in the May 9, 2023, cases, which have so far led to the conviction of 25 supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party for attacking government buildings and military properties last year.
On Dec. 21, the Pakistan Army sentenced 25 people for participating in the violent protests that erupted in several Pakistani cities following Khan’s brief detention on corruption charges, resulting in damage to major military facilities and martyrs’ monuments in the country.
However, several suspects are also facing legal charges in anti-terrorism courts, with the military hoping for early verdicts in their cases, according to a statement announcing the sentencing of the 25 individuals, which described the rioting as “politically provoked violence.”
The PTI has denied any involvement in the violence, describing the May 9 incident as a “false flag” operation aimed at crushing the party.
“The judiciary created the biggest hurdle in this [the conviction of May 9 suspects] while this thing was allowed to linger for one and a half years,” Asif said while speaking to the media in London, the city he is currently visiting.
Describing the May 9 protests as a national problem, he said all the cases related to it required verdicts at the earliest.
The conviction of the 25 individuals followed a ruling by a seven-member Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan on Dec. 13, allowing military courts to share their verdicts. Prior to that, the court had unanimously declared last year that prosecuting civilians in military courts violated the Constitution.
Khan’s PTI party rejected the military’s announcement, with opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan saying they were “against the principles of justice.”
The sentencing of the 25 individuals also raises concerns about Khan, who faces charges of inciting attacks against the armed forces and may potentially be tried in a military court.
Earlier, Asif had regretted the delay in announcing the verdicts, saying that it “raised the morale of the accused and their facilitators.”
“Right now, only the workers, who were used [to generate violence], have been punished under the law,” he had said. “This will not end until the ones, who planned this terrible day, are not brought before the law.”
Pakistan PM reviews security situation amid rising militancy, sectarian clashes
- PM Sharif was briefed by Mohsin Naqvi who recently attended a security meeting in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Security remained a concern for Pakistan this year, which witnessed renewed attacks on Chinese nationals
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif evaluated the security situation during a meeting with Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore on Sunday, focusing on measures taken by the authorities to ensure peace across the country.
The talks come days after Naqvi attended a high-level security meeting in the volatile Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, which borders Afghanistan and has seen a surge in cross-border militant attacks.
The region’s Kurram district has been gripped by sectarian clashes since last month, leaving well over 100 people dead, according to local reports.
During the meeting in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Naqvi and other stakeholders decided to enhance the capacity of law enforcement agencies with the federal government’s full cooperation to combat mounting security challenges.
Pakistan has also faced unrest in its southwestern province of Balochistan, where separatist attacks intensified throughout the year.
“Federal Interior Minister Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi provided a detailed briefing to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif on the overall security situation in the country,” the statement from the PM Office said. “The Prime Minister expressed satisfaction with the measures taken to ensure law and order in the country.”
The meeting also included discussions on the country’s political situation, the statement added.
Security remained a major concern for the government this year, which witnessed renewed attacks on Chinese workers, including five fatalities when their convoy was targeted by an explosive-laden vehicle near Besham city in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Later in October, two Chinese engineers lost their lives in a blast near Karachi airport.
On Sunday, Pakistan’s army chief, General Asim Munir, vowed to hunt down militants and their facilitators, following a deadly attack on a military outpost in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa that left 16 soldiers dead.
