PAKISTAN'S EX-PRIME MINISTER IMRAN KHAN SURVIVES GUN ATTACK

Former Pakistan PM Imran Khan Thursday survived an assassination attempt in the middle of his long march to the capital, taking two bullets in his right leg as a lone gunman in the crowd fired at him and party colleagues waving at supporters from atop a container truck winding its way through the eastern city of Wazirabad.

A person identified as Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf supporter Muazzam Nawaz was killed and six others, including senior party functionaries Ahmed Chattha and Chaudhry Yousuf, were injured in the shooting at Allah Wala Chowk. The assailant, who was promptly overpowered and whisked away, said in a purported confessional video recorded in custody that he was on a mission to assassinate Imran as the latter had been "misguiding the people".

"I wanted to kill him. I tried to kill him," the arrested man is heard saying in the clip in response to a question from the police.

TV stations aired footage showing a conscious Imran with a bandaged leg being escorted into a black SUV after the attack. He was moved to Lahore's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital, named after his mother, and taken for surgery to remove the bullets in his leg, said Dr Faisal Sultan. He was in a stable condition but an operation was likely, aides said.

In a video message, PTI secretary general and lawmaker Asad Umar said Imran suspected three people of masterminding the attack. "Shortly before this video, Imran Khan called and told us to convey this message to the nation on his behalf that three people – Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, interior minister Rana Sanaullah and a senior military officer (Maj Gen Faisal Naseer of the ISI) – are behind the assassination attempt on him," he alleged.

President Arif Alvi called the incident "a heinous assassination attempt" while the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the influential military's media wing, termed it "highly condemnable".

NETANYAHU, ALLIES SECURE VICTORY IN ISRAEL ELECTION

PM Yair Lapid of Israel conceded Israel’s election on Thursday evening to Benjamin Netanyahu, paving the way for Israel’s opposition leader to return as prime minister at the helm of one of the most right-wing governments in Israeli history.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his right-wing allies secured a clear victory and a majority in Parliament following elections two days ago, Israel’s electoral commission said on Thursday.

Results released by the electoral commission said that with 99% of votes counted, Mr. Netanyahu and his far-right allies had secured a majority.

With 32 seats for Mr. Netanyahu’s Likud party, 18 for ultra-Orthodox parties and 14 for a far-right alliance called Religious Zionism, the right-wing bloc won a total of 64 seats, while caretaker Prime Minister Yair Lapid’s centrist bloc won 51 seats.

The commission added that the official and final results would be presented to Israel’s President on Wednesday.

Mr. Lapid called his rival Mr. Netanyahu to congratulate him on Thursday. Mr. Lapid’s concession sets the former premier up to form what may be the most right-wing government in Israeli history, while also spelling the end of an unprecedented period of political deadlock.

The 73-year-old Netanyahu secured his comeback after 14 months in the Opposition. He remains on trial over corruption allegations, which he denies, with the case returning to court on Monday.

Mr. Netanyahu has already begun talks with coalition partners on the make-up of a new government, Israeli media reported, but there was no immediate confirmation from his Likud party.

RUSSIA WARNS U.K. OVER DRONE ATTACKS AT ITS BLACK SEA FLEET

Russia on Thursday summoned the U.K. Ambassador and warned London of “dangerous consequences” after accusing Britain of helping Kyiv carry out an attack on Moscow’s Black Sea fleet in Crimea last week.

“Such confrontational actions of the English carry a threat of escalation of the situation and could lead to unpredictable and dangerous consequences,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Moscow said it had delivered a “strong protest” to U.K. Ambassador Deborah Bronnert. It claimed British forces were training Ukrainian special services, including for “sabotage operations at sea”.

On Saturday, Russia accused the U.K. of helping Kyiv orchestrate a drone attack on its ships in the port of Sevastopol in Moscow-annexed Crimea.

Bronnert arrived at Moscow’s towering Soviet-era Foreign Ministry building, with a line of people chanting ‘Britain is a terrorist state’, state media showed. The Foreign Ministry said it had handed “concrete facts” of London’s “hostile provocations” to her.

“A demand was put forward to stop them immediately,” it said.

Moscow claimed U.K. military specialists were training Ukrainian special forces in the southern city of Ochakiv, “including training for underwater saboteurs for operations in the waters of the Black and Azov seas”.

Russia last week also accused the U.K. of being implicated in explosions on the Nord Stream pipelines in September.

UKRAINE WAR: ZELENSKY ACCUSES RUSSIA OF 'ENERGY TERRORISM'

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused the Kremlin of resorting to "energy terrorism" as Russian troops make few gains on the battlefield.

Mr Zelensky said 4.5 million people were without power following Russian attacks on its energy network.

In recent weeks, Russia has carried out large-scale missile and drone attacks on Ukrainian power facilities.

The strikes come as officials say Russian troops are likely to withdraw from the key southern city of Kherson.

After suffering a series of painful defeats on the battlefield, Russia has stepped up attacks in recent weeks on electricity infrastructure in cities away from the front lines.

In just the last month, a third of the country's power stations have reportedly been destroyed, according to President Zelensky.

The Ukrainian government has been forced to urge the population to try and use energy sparingly as a result.

"Tonight, about 4.5 million consumers have been temporarily disconnected from energy consumption," President Zelensky said in his nightly address on Thursday.

He said Russia's targeting of energy infrastructure was a sign of "weakness" as Russian forces fail to make much ground on the frontline.

"The very fact that Russia is resorting to energy terrorism shows the weakness of our enemy," he said.

INDIANS MAKE UP HIGHEST NO. OF NON-UK-BORN RESIDENTS IN ENGLAND

London : One in six, or 10 million, usual residents of England and Wales were born outside the UK and the most common country of birth was India, according to new data released from the 2021 census.

The number of England and Wales residents born in India increased from 6,94,148 in the 2011 census to 9,20,361 (1. 5% of the usual resident population) in the 2021 census.

Out of the 59. 6 million usual residents in England and Wales in 2021, 49. 6 million (83. 2%) were born in the UK and 10 million (16. 8%) were born outside the UK – an increase of 2. 5 million compared to the 2011 census when 7. 5 million were born outside the UK.

In 2021, those born in the EU made up 3. 6 million of that population and the remaining 6. 4 million were born outside the European Union.

The three most common non-UK countries of birth forusual residents in 2021 were the same as in 2011: India, followed by Poland, which has increased to 743,000 (1. 2%), up from 579,000 in 2011; and Pakistan, which has increased to 624,000 (1%), up from 482,000 in 2011. The other most common non-UK countries of birth for usual residents in 2021 were Romania, Ireland, Italy, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Germany and South Africa. The countries no longer in the top 10 non-UK countries of birth are the US and Jamaica. Polish (760,000, 1. 3%), Romanian (550,000, 0. 9%) and Indian (369,000,0. 6%) were the three most common non-UK passports held by usual residents in England and Wales in 2021.

The data from “International Migration, England and Wales: Census 2021” shows the biggest increase in residents born outside the UK were arrivals from Romania, followed by India and Poland.

London remains the region with both the largest proportion of people born outside the UK and the largest proportion of people with non-UK passports. In 2021, more than 4 in 10 (40. 6%) usual residents in London were non-UK born, and more than 1 in 5 (23. 3%) had a non-UK passport. Of the top 20 local authorities with the highest proportion of nonUK passport holders, 15 were in London. The top three were the City of London (34. 0%), Westminster (33. 6%) and Newham (33. 3%). Outside of London, the highest proportions of nonUK passport holders were in Cambridge andSlough.

CHINA AUTHORITIES APOLOGISE AFTER 3-YEAR-OLD DIES IN COVID LOCKDOWN

Beijing : Chinese local authorities apologised Thursday after a three-year-old boy died of carbon monoxide poisoning when medical care was delayed because of a Covid lockdown, in a rare admission of responsibility. The northwestern city of Lanzhou has been locked down for nearly a month under China’s zero-Covid policy. Local police had earlier confirmed the death of a child in a Tuesday statement but did not mention delays in accessing medical treatment.

The boy’s father, surnamed Tuo, wrote on social media that he had been denied permission to leave his housing compound by workers stationed at a checkpoint, and that an ambulance did not arrive intime. Over an hour later, he managed to break out of the compound and flag down a taxi to a hospital, shortly after which his son was pronounced dead, he said. On Thursday district health authorities expressed their “condolences” to the boy’s relatives. The authorities admitted it took over 90 minutes to dispatch an ambulance after boy’s father rang an emergency hotline, and they confirmedlengthy interactions with staff took place at the compound gate.

NORTH KOREA LIKELY FIRED ICBM, MANY IN JAPAN TAKE SHELTER

Tokyo/Seoul : North Korea fired multiple ballistic missiles on Thursday, including a possible failed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that triggered an alert for residents in parts of central and northern Japan to seek shelter. Japan later said North Korea had fired an additional missile into sea, bringing the day’s total to at least four. Despite an initial government warning that a missile had flown over Japan, Tokyo later said that was incorrect. Officials in South Korea and Japan said the missile may have been an ICBM. South Korean officials believe the ICBM failed in flight. Spokespeople for South Korean and Japanese ministries of defence declined to confirm thefailure. Japanese defence ministry said the government lost track of the missile over Sea of Japan, prompting it to correct its announcement that it had flown over Japan. The US too condemned North Korea’s launch. The launches came after Pyongyang demanded the US and South Korea stop military exercises. It said a recent missile launches and military activities were in protest against such drills .