PAKISTAN ARMY, ISI TRYING TO DESTROY MY PARTY, ALLEGES IMRAN KHAN

Pakistan’s embattled former Prime Minister Imran Khan has accused the powerful military and its intelligence agency of openly trying to destroy his political party, saying he had “no doubt” he would be tried in a military court and thrown in jail.

Khan has hinted previously at the military’s hand in a crackdown on his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party but his comments in an interview at his Lahore home on Saturday night were the most blunt yet.

“It is completely the establishment,” the former cricket hero told Reuters, when asked who was behind the crackdown. “Establishment obviously means the military establishment, because they are really now openly — I mean, it’s not even hidden now — they’re just out in the open.”

A bruising year-long standoff between Khan, Pakistan’s most popular leader according to opinion polls, and the army came to a head when military buildings and property were ransacked last month, allegedly by his supporters. Khan termed the violent protests, which erupted after he was briefly arrested, a “false flag operation” meant to target him.

Authorities have begun the process of trying dozens of people, including members of his party, suspected of involvement in the protests in military court – usually reserved for service members or those categorised as enemies of the state. “That’s the only way they are going to get me into prison,” Khan said, adding that the military wanted to stop him from returning to power in elections due by November.

CHINA WARNS 'NATO-LIKE' ALLIANCES COULD LEAD TO CONFLICT IN ASIA-PACIFIC

China's Defence Minister warned June 4 against establishing NATO-like military alliances in the Asia-Pacific, saying they would plunge the region into a "whirlpool" of conflict.

Li Shangfu's comments came a day after U.S. and Chinese military vessels sailed close to each other in the flashpoint Taiwan Strait, an incident that provoked anger from both sides.

"Attempts to push for NATO-like [alliances] in the Asia-Pacific is a way of kidnapping regional countries and exaggerating conflicts and confrontations," Mr. Li told a security conference in Singapore also attended by U.S. Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin.

Mr. Li warned that these alliances would "plunge the Asia-Pacific into a whirlpool of disputes and conflicts".

Mr. Li's comments echoed long-held Chinese criticism of the United States' efforts to shore up alliances in the region and counter China's rise.

"Today's Asia-Pacific needs open and inclusive cooperation, not buddying up into small cliques," Mr. Li said at the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit.

On June 3, Mr. Austin called for top-level defence talks with Beijing to prevent miscalculations.

"The more that we talk, the more that we can avoid the misunderstandings and miscalculations that could lead to crisis or conflict," Mr. Austin said.

Also on June 3, the United States deployed a destroyer from its 7th Fleet along with a Canadian naval vessel through the Taiwan Strait.

China responded by sending one of its naval ships close to the U.S. destroyer, the USS Chung-Hoon, according to the Pentagon.

Mr. Austin on Sunday described the incident as "extremely dangerous", saying the Chinese vessel crossed "probably 150 feet [46 metres]" in front of the Chung-Hoon.

"I call upon the [Chinese] leadership to really do the right things to rein in that kind of conduct, because I think accidents can happen that could cause things to spiral out of control," Mr. Austin told reporters in Singapore.

GERMANY TO SEND 2 WARSHIPS TO INDO-PACIFIC IN 2024 AMID TENSIONS OVER SOUTH CHINA SEA

Germany will send two warships to the Indo-Pacific in 2024, defence minister Boris Pistorius said on Sunday, amid rising tensions between China and Taiwan and over the disputed South China Sea. Speaking at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Pistorius said countries needed to stand up for the rules-based international order and the protection of major maritime passages. “To this end, the German Federal Government sent a frigate to the Indo-Pacific in 2021, and will again, in 2024, deploy maritime assets – this time a frigate and a supply ship to the region,” he said. He added the deployments were not directed against any nation, a remark apparently addressed at China. By showing a greater military presence in the region, Germany is walking a tightrope between its security and economic interests as China is Berlin’s most important trading partner.

KREMLIN HITS OUT AT FRANCE AND GERMANY OVER SUPPLY TALKS OF LONG-RANGE MISSILES

The Kremlin said on Sunday that any supply of long range missiles to Kyiv by France and Germany would lead to a further round of “spiralling tension” in the Ukraine conflict. Britain last month became the first country to supply Ukraine with long-range cruise missiles. “We are already starting to see discussions about deliveries from France and Germany of missiles with a range of 500 km or more,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “This will lead to, let’s say, another round of spiralling tension,” he said.

TIGHT SECURITY IN CHINA ON TIANANMEN PROTEST ANNIVERSARY, 24 DETAINED IN HK

Beijing : China tightened already strict access to Tiananmen Square in central Beijing on Sunday, the anniversary of 1989 pro-democracy protests.

In Hong Kong, which had been the last Chinese-controlled territory to hold commemorations, eight people, including activists and artists, were detained on the eve of the 34th anniversary of the crackdown, a move underscording the city’s shrinking room for freedom of expression. Another 16 or more people were detained around Victoria Park on Sunday.

The large public space had been the scene for an annual candlelight gathering to remember the hundreds or thousands killed when army tanks and infantry descended on the night of June 3 and into the morning of June 4, 1989. The death toll from the 1989 violence remains unknown and the Communist Parxty relentlessly harasses those at home or overseas who seek to keep the memory of the events alive.

In Beijing, additional security was seen around Tiananmen Square, which has long been ringed with security checks requiring those entering to show identification. Those passing by foot or on bicycle on Changan Avenue running north of the square were also stopped and forced to show identification. Those with journalist visas in their passports were told they needed special permission to even approach the area. Still, throngs of tourists were seen visiting the iconic site, with hundreds standing in line to enter the square.

Many Hong Kongers tried to mark the event in low-profile ways on Sunday. Chan Poying, leader of the League of Social Democrats, held a LED candle in one hand and two yellow paper flowers in another. She was taken away by police officers. At the city’s Victoria Park, scenes of people rallying for democracy have been replaced by a carnival organised by pro-Beijing groups to mark the city’s 1997 British handover to China. Organisers say it will feature a bazaar with food from across China.

UKRAINE PREZ SAYS 500 KIDS LOST TO WAR AS 2-YR-OLD DIES IN FRESH RUSSIAN STRIKE

Kyiv : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Sunday that Russia’s war, now in its 16th month, has killed at least 500 Ukrainian children. Zelensky provided the number hours after rescue workers found the body of a 2-year-old girl who died in one of the latest Russian strikes.

The president said in a statement that “Russian weapons and hatred, which continue to take and destroy the lives of Ukrainian children every day”, killed the hundreds who had perished since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine started on Feb. 24, 2022. “Many of them could have become famous scholars, artists, sports champions, contributing to Ukraine’s history. ”

Rescuers found the 2-year old’s body early Sunday while combing through the rubble of an apartment building in the suburbs of the city of Dnipro. The regional governor, Serhiy Lysak, said five children were among 22 people injured by Saturday’s attack, which damaged two residential buildings.

The Russians launched more strikes with drones and cruise missiles Sunday, targeting multiple areas of the country, including the capital, Kyiv. The Ukrainian air force said the country’s air defences downed three of the five Shahed self-exploding drones and four of the six cruise missiles fired. Ukrainian air force spokesman Yurii Ihnat said two missiles struck a military air base in Kropyvnytskyi, a city in central Ukraine’s Kyrovohrad province. He did not report what damage they caused.

Russia’s defence ministry said the military destroyed Ukrainian warplanes and ammunition depots in strikes on Ukrainian airfields, but didn’t give further specifics.

PRO-UKRAINE FIGHTERS CLAIM CAPTIVES, RUSSIA GOVERNOR AGREES TO HOLD TALKS

The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region said on Sunday that he was willing to meet a pro-Ukraine group of Russian partisans holding two Russian soldiers captive. The Freedom of Russia Legion and the Russian Volunteer Corps have claimed responsibility for as pate of cross-border attacks inside Russian territory. In a video, a man identifying himself as the commander of the Russian Volunteer Corps said he would hand over the two soldiers in exchange for a meeting with the governor.

KYIV SHELLING FORCES MOSCOW TO RELOCATE BELGOROD RESIDENTS

Ukrainian forces continued to shell Russia’s border region of Belgorod overnight into Sunday after two persons were killed the previous night and hundreds of children were evacuated away from the border, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said.

“Overnight, it was quite restless,” Mr. Gladkov said on the Telegram channel, adding that the Shebekino and Volokonovsky districts had suffered “lots” of damage from the latest shelling.

Mr. Gladkov later wrote that fires had broken out in the town of Shebekino after Ukrainian forces shelled a market area in the centre, adding that nobody had been injured. Shebekino is about 7 km from the Ukrainian border.

More than 4,000 people have been relocated to temporary accommodation in the region, Mr. Gladkov said.

On Saturday, Gladkov escorted about 600 children from the region’s Shebekino and Graivoron districts to the cities of Yaroslavl and Kaluga, far from the Ukrainian border. “The children of Shebekino are very worried about their hometown,” he said.

Shebekino, a town of about 40,000, and other places in Belgorod have been attacked repeatedly recently, with Mr. Gladkov telling Russian media that his region now lives in “conditions of actual war”.

PAK WON’T DEFAULT, SAYS FM, PROMISES LONG-TERM REFORMS

Islamabad : Debt-ridden Pakistan’s finance minister Ishaq Daron Saturday said that his country would not default on any sovereign commitments and overcome the current economic problems through long-term reforms. Speaking to a delegation of the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dar also said there is not a single day’s delay in Pakistan’s sovereign commitments. Recently, global lender IMF delayed the signing of a staff-level agreement to pave the way for $1. 1 billion in financing for Pakistan. It is believed that Pakistan would default if the IMF refused to provide funds but Dar has been pushing back such dire predictions.

NO BREAKTHROUGH IN NATO-TURKIYE TALKS ON SWEDEN; JUNE 12 MEET SET

Istanbul: Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg made no breakthrough on Sunday in talks about Sweden’s membership in the military organisation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, with officials from the two countries to meet in just over a week to try to bridge their differences.

Nato wants to bring Sweden into the fold by the time US and other allied leaders meet in Lithuania on July 11-12, but Turkiye and Hungary have yet to endorse the move. All 31 member nations must ratify a candidate’s accession protocol for it to join the trans-Atlantic alliance. Turkiye accuses Sweden of being too lenient on terror organisations and security threats, including militant Kurdish groups and people associated with a 2016 coup bid.

“President Erdogan and I agreed today that the permanent joint mechanism should meet again in the week starting on June 12. Membership will make Sweden safer, but also Nato and Turkiye stronger,” Stoltenberg said in Istanbul. “Sweden has fulfilled its obligations,” for membership, he said, noting that it has amended its constitution, strengthened anti-terror laws, and lifted an arms embargo on Turkiye.

‘80 GIRLS IN HOSPITAL IN AF AFTER POISON ATTACKS AT SCHOOLS’

Kabul : Nearly 80 girls were poisoned and hospitalised in two separate attacks at their primary schools in northern Afghanistan. It is thought to be the first time this kind of assault has happened since the Taliban swept to power in 2021. Girls are banned from education beyond sixth grade, including university, and women are barred from most jobs and public spaces.

An education official said the person who orchestrated the poisoning had a personal grudge but did not elaborate. The attacks took place in Sar-e-Pul province over Saturday and Sunday. “Both primary schools are near to each other and were targeted one after the other,” he said. “We shifted the students to hospital and now they are all fine. ” An investigation is on.

SUEZ CANAL TRAFFIC RESUMES AFTER STRANDED TANKER TUGGED AWAY

ISMAILIA: Egypt deployed three tugboats on Sunday to tow away an oil tanker that had broken down and caused brief delays in the Suez Canal, authorities said. Traffic in both directions returned to normal after a brief disruption when the Malta-flagged Seavigour experienced a “machinery malfunction” while en route from Russia to China.

N KOREA SLAMS UN FOR TALKS ON ITS BID TO LAUNCH SPY SAT

Seoul : North Korea denounced on Sunday the UNSC for discussing its recent satellite launch in response to a “gangster-like US request”, and it vowed to reject sanctions and take action to defend itself. The US called for a UNSC meeting last week to discuss North Korea’s attempt to put its first spy satellite in orbit, which ended in failure with the booster and payload plunging into the sea.

Kim Yo-Jong , sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and a powerful party official, said that in accepting Washington’s “gangster-like request” and ignoring North Korea’s right to space development, the security council was showing it was a US “politica l appendage”. “I am very unpleased that the UNSCso often calls to account the DPRK’s exercise of its rights as a sovereign state at the request of the US, and bitterly condemn and reject it as the most unfair and biased act of interfering in its internal affairs and violating its sovereignty,” Kim said. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea is North Korea’s official name. Referring to satellite launch, she said North Korea had a right to defend itself against threats from the US and its allies, which it says are ramping up tension with military exercises. Later on Sunday, South Korea’s defence minister Lee Jong-sup met his Japanese counterpart, Yasukazu Hamada, at a security conference in Singapore, and condemned the satellite launch.

POLISH OPPOSITION PARTIES STAGE MAJOR ANTI-GOVERNMENT PROTEST

WARSAW: People packed the streets of Warsaw, as Poland’s Opposition parties held one of the biggest anti-government protests in the 30 years since the end of communism. Lech Walesa, former President and Nobel Peace Prize winner, joined the march against “the high cost of living, for democracy, free elections and the EU”.

SAUDI ARABIA TO CUT OIL OUTPUT BY 1 MILLION BARRELS PER DAY

Saudi Arabia said on Sunday that it will reduce supply of oil to the global economy, taking a unilateral step to support the sagging cost of crude after two previous cuts to supply by major oil-producing countries in the OPEC+ alliance failed to push prices higher.

The announcement of Saudi’s cuts of 1 million barrels per day, which will start in July, followed a meeting of the alliance at OPEC headquarters in Vienna. The rest of the OPEC+ producers agreed to extend earlier production cuts through the end of 2024.

‘Grand day’

“This is a grand day for us, because the quality of the agreement is unprecedented,” Saudi Energy Minister Abdulaziz bin Salman said at a news conference.

Calling the Saudi reduction a “lollipop,” Mr. bin Salman said, “We wanted to ice the cake.” He said the cut could be extended and that the group “will do whatever is necessary to bring stability to this market.”

The slump in oil prices has helped U.S. drivers fill their tanks more cheaply and given consumers worldwide some relief from inflation. It’s possible the latest production cut could send oil prices up and with them, gasoline costs.