IMRAN FEARS RE-ARREST, SAYS HOUSE SURROUNDED BY COPS

Islamabad : Former PM Imran Khan said on Wednesday that police had surrounded his house in Lahore and that he expected to be rearrested soon, after the Punjab government warned him to hand over supporters who it blamed for attacks on the army.

Khan was arrested by a paramilitary force on May 9 on graft allegations, which he denies, triggering a wave of violence. The Supreme Court ordered Khan’s release on bail last Friday. But on Wednesday the Punjab government accused him of sheltering supporters wanted for rioting after his arrest, and warned he had 24 hours to hand them over or face a police operation.

Khan, 70, said his re-arrest was imminent. Hours earlier, Islamabad’s high court had granted him a bail extension until May 31. “Probably my last tweet before my next arrest,” Khan tweeted on Wednesday evening, In a live video statement, he said his opponents were out to trigger a fight between him and the army. “I’m afraid that this will bring a big backlash,” he said. He demanded a judicial commission headed by the chief justice to probe the violence.

Punjab province’s minister Amir Mir said intelligence agencies had identified that some 30 to 40 people accused of attacking military installations were hiding at Khan’s home. “We’re giving an ultimatum that these terrorists should be turned over to the police, or else there will be action. ”

Khan’s aide, Iftikhar Durrani, denied the claim.

CHINA FINES COMEDY TROUPE $2M FOR JOKE ABOUT THE MILITARY

A Chinese comedy troupe has been slapped with a 14.7m yuan ($2.1m; £1.7m) penalty over a joke about the military that invoked a slogan from President Xi Jinping.

The quip, which likened the behaviour of a comedian's dogs to military conduct, irked authorities.

They said Shanghai Xiaoguo Culture Media Co and comic Li Haoshi had "humiliated the people's army".

The company accepted the penalty and terminated Mr Li's contract.

The offending remark was made during a stand-up performance in Beijing on Saturday, when Mr Li alluded to two canines he had adopted which were chasing a squirrel.

"Other dogs you see would make you think they are adorable. These two dogs only reminded me of... 'Fight to win, forge exemplary conduct'," said Mr Li, whose stage name is House.

The punchline is part of the slogan that President Xi unveiled in 2013 as a goal for the Chinese military.

In an audio recording of the performance shared on China's Twitter-like platform Weibo, audience members can be heard laughing at the joke.

But it was much less welcome on the internet, after a member of the audience complained about it. Beijing authorities said they launched an investigation on Tuesday.

RUSSIA AGREES TO EXTEND UKRAINE GRAIN DEAL IN A BOOST FOR GLOBAL FOOD SECURITY

Russia agreed to extend a deal that has allowed Ukraine to ship grain through the Black Sea to other parts of the world, Turkish President Erdogan said on Wednesday, a boost to global food security after the war drove up prices. “The Grain Initiative has been extended by another two months,” Erdogan said. Turkiye and UN brokered the accord with the warring sides last summer, which came with a separate deal to facilitate shipments of Russian food and fertiliser that Moscow insists hasn’t been applied. Russia had threatened to bow out if its concerns were not ironed out by Thursday.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres welcomed the Turkish-brokered agreement on Wednesday to extend a pact to allow shipments of grain from Ukraine to the global market for another two months. “These matter for global food security; Ukrainian, Russian products feed the world,” Guterres said.

AUSTRALIA CANCELS QUAD MEETING IN SYDNEY AFTER U.S. PRESIDENT PULLS OUT

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out a Quad summit taking place in Sydney without President Joe Biden, saying the four leaders will talk at the Group of Seven meeting this weekend in Japan.

Albanese said on Wednesday he understands why Biden pulled out of the summit to focus on debt limit talks in Washington since they are crucial to the economy.

The summit including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida had been scheduled for May 24.

“The blocking and the disruption that’s occurring in domestic politics in the United States, with the debt ceiling issue, means that, because that has to be solved prior to June 1 — otherwise there are quite drastic consequences for the U.S. economy, which will flow on to the global economy — he understandably has had to make that decision,” Albanese said.

Biden “expressed very much his disappointment” at being unable to come to the Sydney summit and to the national capital Canberra a day earlier to address Parliament, Albanese said.

The four leaders will soon be together in Hiroshima, Japan, for the Group of Seven summit and are planning to meet there, he said.

He said Modi will visit Sydney next week, noting the Indian leader was scheduled to give an address to the Indian diaspora at a sold-out 20,000-seat stadium on Tuesday. But Kishida will not visit.

“Prime Minister Modi will be here next week for a bilateral meeting with myself. He will also have business meetings, he’ll hold a very public event ... in Sydney,” Albanese told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Albanese said it was “disappointing” that Biden decided he could not come.

“The decision of President Biden meant that you can’t have a Quad leaders’ meeting when there are only three out of the four there,” Albanese told the reporters.

G7 SUMMIT: TAIWAN LOOMS LARGE AS JAPAN PREPARES TO HOST LEADERS

At Japan's Naha airbase in Okinawa, the roar of F-15 fighter jets dwarfs the sound of commercial planes that share the same runway.

Three jets take off one after the other, to start the day's training - mostly scenarios involving combat and aircraft interception.

At least a couple of jets have gone on "real life scrambles" or emergency calls to intercept suspected Chinese aircraft, say those here.

These routine exercises have taken on a new sense of urgency, according to Lt Col Masatoshi Tanaka.

"We're very nervous," he says. "We've been facing airspace violations of Japanese territory every day. Chinese activities have expanded in number and quality. They involve UAVs [drones], bombers and reconnaissance planes. There are many active aircraft carriers in this area."

Naha is part of the Okinawa island chain, which is on the frontline of any potential conflict between China and the self-ruled island of Taiwan. The territory, which Beijing claims and has vowed to take by force if necessary, has become one of the biggest flashpoints in the world, especially as tensions soar between the US and China.

As China becomes more assertive, Taiwan's security has become a growing concern for Japan, which is hosting the G7 summit in Hiroshima this weekend. And with China expected to dominate the agenda at the summit, Japan's role as a key player in building regional stability has only grown.

PRINCE HARRY, MEGHAN IN ‘NEAR CATASTROPHIC’ PAPARAZZI CAR CHASE

NEW YORK: Prince Harry and his wife Meghan were involved in a car chase while being followed by photographers following a charity event in New York, the couple’s office said on Wednesday. The pair was followed for more than two hours by a half-dozen vehicles with blacked-out windows, which “resulted in multiple near collisions”, it said.

39 MISSING AFTER CHINESE FISHING BOAT CAPSIZES IN INDIAN OCEAN

Beijing : Several ships and aircraft searched on Wednesday for 39 people reported missing after a Chinese fishing boat capsized in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said the accident happened around 3am (local time) on Tuesday. The report said the crew includes 17 from China, 17 from Indonesia and five from the Philippines.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping and PM Li Qiang have ordered Chinese diplomats abroad, as well as the agriculture and transportation ministries, to assist in the search for survivors. “All-out efforts” must be made in the rescue operation, Xi was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua news agency. Li ordered unspecified measures to “reduce casualties and strengthen safety management of fishing vessels at sea to ensure safe maritime transport and production,” Xinhua said. No word was given on the cause of the capsizing. Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines have also expressed their willingness to join in the search. Indonesia’s National Search and Rescue Agency said the capsizing occurred about 4,600km northwest of Australia. Several ships and an Australian defense force P-8A Poseidon aircraft have been searching the area.

NEXT FIVE YEARS SET TO BE HOTTEST PERIOD EVER: UN

It is near-certain that 2023-2027 will be the warmest five-year period ever recorded, the United Nations warned Wednesday as greenhouse gases and El Nino combine to send temperatures soaring.

Global temperatures are soon set to exceed the more ambitious target set out in the Paris climate accords, with a two-thirds chance that one of the next five years will do so, the UN's World Meteorological Organization said.

The hottest eight years ever recorded were all between 2015 and 2022 -- but temperatures are forecast to increase further as climate change accelerates.

"There is a 98-percent likelihood that at least one of the next five years, and the five-year period as a whole, will be the warmest on record," the WMO said.

The 2015 Paris Agreement saw countries agree to cap global warming at "well below" two degrees Celsius above average levels measured between 1850 and 1900 -- and 1.5C if possible.

The global mean temperature in 2022 was 1.15C above the 1850-1900 average.

The WMO said there was a 66 percent chance that annual global surface temperatures will exceed 1.5C above pre-industrial levels for at least one of the years 2023-2027, with a range of 1.1C to 1.8C forecasted for each of those five years.

While this does not mean that the world will permanently exceed the Paris benchmark, "WMO is sounding the alarm that we will breach the 1.5C level on a temporary basis with increasing frequency", said the agency's chief Petteri Taalas.

"A warming El Nino is expected to develop in the coming months and this will combine with human-induced climate change to push global temperatures into uncharted territory.

"This will have far-reaching repercussions for health, food security, water management and the environment. We need to be prepared."

DOZENS OF SERBIA SCHOOLS GET BOMB THREATS FOLLOWING MASS SHOOTINGS

Belgrade : Dozens of Serbian schools on Wednesday received bomb threats, the education ministry said, amid security concerns following two mass shootings early this month, including one in an elementary school. The education ministry said 78 elementary schools and 37 high schools in Belgrade received warnings by email on Wednesday that explosive devices had allegedly been planted. Classes were postponed and students evacuated as police checked thebuildings.

There have been no reports that bombs were found in any of the schools, and police are yet to issue their report. Similar multiple threats have been sent to school addresses in the past, in Serbia and other countries in the region, and have proven false each time. But, the threats could further heighten security fears after the May 3 and May 4 shootings that left 18 people dead and 20 injured. Authorities already have deployed police in schools and launched agun crackdown. The first shooting happened at an elementary school when a 13-year-old boy took his father’s gun and opened fire. A day later, a 20-yearold shot randomly at people with an automatic weapon in two villages near Belgrade.

IRAN, RUSSIA INK DEAL TO COMPLETE MAJOR TRANSPORT NETWORK

Iran and Russia agreed on Wednesday to collaborate on the construction of the final part of a commercial transport network linking to the Gulf and India while avoiding Western sea lanes.

Iranian Transport Minister Mehrdad Bazrpash, who signed the agreement with his Russian counterpart in Tehran, said the 164-kilometre railway in Iran’s north would be completed within three years.

It is the only missing link in the International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) from northeast Russia via Azerbaijan to Iran’s southern coastline and on to India by sea.

Russia and Iran are both under international sanctions that restrict trade.

The freight network of ship, rail and road routes, which covers some 7,200 kilometres, avoids the Suez Canal between the Mediterranean and the Red Sea which would otherwise transport some Russian seaborne cargo.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, who attended the signing ceremony, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who spoke there via videoconference, both hailed the economic opportunities the agreement presents.

The planned railroad would connect Rasht, a city in northern Iran, and the Astara crossing on the border with Azerbaijan.

NEPALI SHERPA SETS RECORD WITH 27TH EVEREST ASCENT

Kathmandu : A Nepali sherpa scaled Mount Everest for arecord 27th time on Wednesday, beating his own record, a government official and his hiking company said. Kami Rita Sherpa, 53, scaled the 8,849 metre (29,032-foot) mountain early in the morning along the traditional southeast ridge route, guiding a foreign climber.

Separately, Ishwari Paudel of the Himalayan Guides company said British climber Kenton Cool, 49, made his 17th ascent of the mountain on Wednesday, the most by any foreign climber.

Kami Rita, who refers to himself by his first names,scaled Everest for the first time in 1994 and has climbed it almost every year since, except in 2014, 2015 and 2020, when climbing was halted for various reasons.