PAKISTAN'S SUPREME COURT TO HEAR DISMISSAL OF NO-TRUST VOTE AGAINST IMRAN KHAN, DISSOLUTION OF PARLIAMENT TODAY

Prime Minister Imran Khan dissolved Pakistan’s National Assembly and called for new elections on Sunday, blocking a no-confidence vote that had been widely expected to remove him from office and plunging the country into a constitutional crisis. Khan, who was not in Parliament on Sunday, went on national television to announce he was submitting the dissolution request.

Pakistan's Supreme Court will hear on Monday the dismissal of a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan by the deputy speaker and the subsequent dissolution of Parliament by the President on the advice of the embattled premier, a day after taking a suo motu cognizance of the current political situation in the country.

President Arif Alvi had dissolved the National Assembly (NA) on the advice of Prime Minister Khan, minutes after Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri rejected a no-confidence motion against the premier, who had effectively lost the majority in the 342-member lower house of Parliament.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, after taking a suo motu cognizance of the current political situation in the country, said that all orders and actions initiated by the prime minister and the president regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly will be subject to the court's order as he adjourned for one day the hearing of the high-profile case.

A three-member bench held the initial hearing despite the weekend and issued notices to all the respondents, including President Alvi and Deputy Speaker of the NA Suri.

The Supreme Court ordered all parties not to take any "unconstitutional" measures and adjourned the hearing until Monday.

Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the ruling given in the National Assembly by the deputy speaker for the dismissal of the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Khan was final and could not be challenged in any court of law.

Earlier, the Opposition had demanded the top court to intervene and Shehbaz Sharif, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, announced his party's decision to challenge the dissolution of the NA.

Ahsan Bhoon, President, Supreme Court Bar, said that the action of the prime minister and deputy speaker was against the constitution and they should be prosecuted for treason under Article 6 of the constitution.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also filed a petition asking the court to declare the ruling of the deputy speaker as unconstitutional along with the dissolution of the parliament.

The crisis erupted after Suri rejected the no-confidence motion, providing Prime Minister Khan to send an advice to the president of the country to dissolve Parliament, which he could not do until any outcome of the no-confidence vote.

Leading constitutional lawyer Salman Akram Raja said that the entire procure by the deputy speaker and the advice by the premier to dissolve the assembly was unconstitutional.

Raja said the illegality of the ruling would also make the advice as illegal as the prime minister cannot give advice to the assembly after a no-confidence motion was presented in the parliament against him.

Imran Khan has been de-notified as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. However, under Article 224 of the Constitution of Pakistan, he can continue as the Prime Minister for 15 days till the appointment of a caretaker Prime Minister. He will not be empowered to make decisions that an elected head of the government can make.

GLOBAL LEADERS CONDEMN 'DESPICABLE' BUCHA KILLINGS

As Ukraine claimed its forces had retaken all areas around Kyiv, the Mayor of a liberated town said 300 residents had been killed during a month-long occupation by the Russian Army, and victims were seen in a mass grave and still lying on the streets.

Ukraine’s troops have retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched its invasion.

At Bucha, a town neighbouring Irpen, just 37 km northwest of the capital, Reuters journalists saw bodies lying on the streets.

Mayor Anatoliy Fedoruk said more than 300 residents had been killed. Many residents tearfully recalled brushes with death and cursed the departed Russians.

Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova said bodies of 410 civilians have been removed from areas near Kyiv. “Ukrainian prosecutors were only able to enter the towns of Bucha, Irpin and Hostomel for the first time on Sunday and they need more time to work out the extent of the crimes, she said.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister called on the G7 on Sunday to impose “devastating” new sanctions on Moscow and accused Russia of carrying out a deliberate “massacre” in Bucha.

The civilian killings in Bucha sparked outrage with many Western countries accusing Russian troops of war crimes.

“Russia’s despicable attacks against innocent civilians in Irpin and Bucha are yet more evidence that Putin and his army are committing war crimes in Ukraine,” British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement saying it had found “several cases of Russian military forces committing laws-of-war violations” in Russian-controlled regions such as Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Kyiv.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that images of large numbers of dead Ukrainians in Bucha following Russia’s withdrawal were a “punch in the gut”.

“Those responsible for these war crimes must be made accountable. We will tighten the sanctions against Russia and will assist Ukraine even more in defending itself,” said Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.

Russia has denied Ukrainian allegations that it had killed civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, describing footage and photographs of dead bodies as a "provocation" and a "staged performance" by Kyiv.

SRI LANKA'S CABINET MINISTERS RESIGN AS CRISIS PROTESTERS DEFY CURFEW

Sri Lanka's cabinet ministers have resigned en masse after protests over the government's handling of the worst economic crisis in decades.

All 26 ministers submitted letters of resignation - but not Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa or his brother, President Gotabaya Rajapaksa.

Earlier protesters defied a curfew to take to the streets in several cities.

The country is grappling with what is said to be its worst economic crisis since independence from the UK in 1948.

It is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which is used to pay for fuel imports. With power cuts lasting half a day or more, and shortages of food, medicines and fuel, public anger has reached a new high. Sri Lanka has been devaluating its currency since March while it seeks loans from other nations, trying to put the national economy back on track.

Education Minister Dinesh Gunawardena told reporters on Sunday that the cabinet's ministers had tendered their resignation letters to the prime minister.

The prime minister's own son, Namal Rajapaksa, was among those who resigned, tweeting that he hoped it would help the president and PM's "decision to establish stability for the people and the government".

On Sunday, soldiers armed with assault rifles blocked an attempt by a crowd of hundreds of protesters to march to Independence Square in the capital.

In Kandy, a city of 125,000 people in Central Province, police fired tear gas at hundreds of protesting students near the University of Peradeniya.

Authorities blocked access to major social media sites and messaging apps in the early hours of Sunday, reportedly seeing them as forums for anti-government mobilisations, but it was revoked later.

HUNGARY ELECTION: NATIONALIST PM VIKTOR ORBAN CLAIMS VICTORY

Hungary's nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban has declared victory in general elections after partial results gave his Fidesz party a big lead - and called Ukraine's President Zelensky an "opponent" in his victory speech.

With 94% of votes counted, the right-wing Fidesz had 53%.

An opposition alliance led by Peter Marki-Zay was far behind with 35%.

"This was a huge victory," Mr Orban told supporters in the capital Budapest.

"They can see it from the Moon, but certainly from Brussels as well."

The president added: "We never had so many opponents," citing "Brussels bureaucrats... the international mainstream media, and finally the Ukrainian president".

Hungary shares a border with Ukraine and has taken in more than half a million refugees so far. Mr Orban insists that by helping the people, but refusing to supply weapons to Ukraine, he is keeping Hungary out of the war.

TALIBAN ORDER BAN ON POPPY CULTIVATION

The Taliban announced on Sunday a ban on the cultivation of narcotics in Afghanistan, the world’s biggest opium producer.

“As per the decree of the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, all Afghans are informed that from now on, cultivation of poppy has been strictly prohibited across the country,” according to an order from the Taliban’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.

“If anyone violates the decree, the crop will be destroyed immediately and the violator will be treated according to the Sharia law,” the order, announced at a news conference by the Ministry of Interior in Kabul, said. The order said the production, use or transportation of other narcotics was also banned.

The Taliban banned poppy growing towards the end of their last rule in 2000 as they sought international legitimacy, but faced a popular backlash and later mostly changed their stance, according to experts.

Afghanistan’s opium production — which the United Nations estimated was worth $1.4 billion at its height in 2017 — has increased in recent months, farmers and Taliban members said.

The country’s dire economic situation has prompted residents of south-eastern provinces to grow the illicit crop that could bring them faster and higher returns than legal crops such as wheat.

Taliban sources told Reuters they were anticipating tough resistance from some elements within the group against the ban on poppy and that there had been a surge in the number of farmers cultivating poppy in recent months.

UKRAINE'S ZELENSKY APPEARS IN TAPED VIDEO AT GRAMMY AWARDS

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday appealed to viewers of Grammy Awards to support Ukrainians "in any way you can". In a video message aired at the music awards ceremony, Zelenskyy likened the Russian invasion of Ukraine to a deadly silence threatening to extinguish the dreams and lives of the Ukrainian people.

"What is more opposite to music? The silence of ruined cities and killed people," said Zelenskyy in his Grammy message aired ahead of a performance by American singer John Legend and Ukrainian poet Lyuba Yakimchuck.

The Ukrainian president told the viewers that the musicians in the war-hit country “wear body armour instead of tuxedos” and "sing to the wounded in hospitals, even to those who can’t hear them."

"Fill the silence with your music. Fill it today, to tell our story. Support us in any way you can. Any, but not silence," he added. “Tell the truth about the war on your social networks, on TV, support us in any way you can any, but not silence. And then peace will come to all our cities.”