RUSSIA TO TRANSFER WAGNER HARDWARE TO ARMY; PRIGOZHIN ARRIVES IN BELARUS

Russia prepared on Tuesday to take possession of heavy military hardware held by Wagner as Moscow moved to bring the mercenary group under its control after its aborted mutiny.

Russia’s FSB said on Tuesday that the criminal case against the group’s troops was now closed. “Preparations are underway for the transfer of heavy military equipment from Wagner to units of the Russian armed forces,” the Defence Ministry said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin told troops gathered on Tuesday at the Kremlin they prevented civil war after a revolt by Wagner mercenaries, and held a minute’s silence for pilots killed during the insurrection.

It was the latest in a series of addresses Mr. Putin has made after the rebellion. “You de facto stopped civil war,” Mr. Putin told troops from the Defence Ministry, National Guard, FSB security service and Interior Ministry.

He addressed them inside the Kremlin’s Cathedral Square, standing on a red carpet and facing men in different uniforms. Soldiers holding the Russian flag and bayonets stood behind the longtime leader. “You proved your loyalty to the people of Russia and the military oath. You showed responsibility for the fate of the motherland and its future,” he said.

He also said that Moscow had paid out last year just over $1 billion to the Wagner mercenary group, which last week staged a failed mutiny.

On Monday night, in an address to the nation, Mr. Putin had accused Ukraine and its Western allies of wanting Russians to “kill each other” during the revolt.

Meanwhile, Yevgeny Prigozhin arrived in Belarus on Tuesday, state news agency BELTA said, quoting Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

A plane linked to Mr. Prigozhin and believed to be carrying him into exile landed in Belarus from the southern Russian city of Rostov early on Tuesday, a flight tracking service said.

“I see Prigozhin is already flying in on this plane,” Mr. Lukashenko was quoted as saying by BELTA. “Yes, indeed, he is in Belarus today.”

PAKISTAN PASSES LAW PAVING WAY FOR RETURN OF EXILED FORMER PM

Pakistan’s national Assembly has passed legislation limiting how long lawmakers can be disqualified from office, a state spokesman said on Tuesday, paving the way for exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s return to politics.

Mr. Sharif served as Pakistan’s Prime Minister three times — the last before being ousted over graft allegations in 2017.

The Supreme Court barred him from politics for life and he was later sentenced to seven years in jail. In 2019, he was granted medical bail and flew to Britain, where he has remained ever since.

His brother Shehbaz Sharif became Prime Minister last year, and the country is due to hold fresh general elections.

On Tuesday, a government spokesman said that in the absence of President Arif Alvi who is abroad on the Hajj pilgrimage, the acting President had signed into law an amendment which says courts can only disqualify parliamentarians “for a period not exceeding five years”.

BIBI SAYS BEEN INVITED TO CHINA, BUT ALSO STRESSES US IS KEY ALLY

Jerusalem : Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that he has received an invitation for an official visit to China, but did not disclose whether or when the trip would take place.

The invitation follows several recent overtures by Beijing to increase its diplomatic footprint in the region and comes at a time of heightened friction between the Biden administration and Netanyahu’s ultranationalist and ultra-Orthodox government. President Joe Biden failed to invite Netanyahu for a visit after the Israeli’s reelection in November. Tensions have arisen over the Biden administration’s consistent calling for a two-state solution with the Palestinians, and also criticising settlement expansion under Netanyahu. Biden has also called on Netanyahu to reach a compromise on his controversial legal reforms, denounced by critics as a threat to democracy, and which the government has vowed to advance after mediation efforts collapsed.

Netanyahu’s office said the “projected visit” to China would be his fourth as PM. It said it notified the Biden administration, which has a rocky relationship with China, about the invitation last month. It said the premier had also informed abipartisan Congressional delegation about the trip, and told the Congress members that the “US will always be Israel's most vital and irreplaceable ally”.

China has taken a more strident role in West Asian diplomacy in recent months, brokering a deal to restore ties between Israel’s archenemy, Iran, and Saudi Arabia in April and hosting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Beijing earlier this month. Israel and China have close economic relations, but Israel’s diplomatic and security ties with the US have precluded closer collaboration with China.

NAWAZ, ZARDARI MEET IN UAE TO TALK POLLS

Former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif and former president Asif Ali Zardari have reportedly met in the UAE to consult and decide on the timing of the next general elections in the country and “their respective share” in the future set-up, a media report said on Tuesday. The meeting between Nawaz Sharif, the PML-N chief and Zardari, the co-chairman of PPP, both parties a partner in the ruling coalition PDM, happened in Dubai on Monday to hammer out a consensus on a number of key issues like finalising names for the caretaker set-up and deciding who will get what key position if the two partners win the next polls, Dawn News reported.

PAK PM SPEAKS TO IMF MD AGAIN, HOPES FOR LOAN NOD ‘IN DAYS’

Islamabad : Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif communicated on Tuesday with IMF managing director Kristalina Georgieva for the fourth time within a week, urging the multilateral lender’s boss to release funds for his cash-starved nation within a day or two to rescue it from possible default.

Pakistan’s ninth review by the IMF under the 2019 Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for release of $1. 2 billion — part of a larger $6. 7-billion bailout package — has been pending since October 2022, with only a few days left for the programme’s expiry on June 30. Rating agencies and economists warn that Pakistan could default on foreign debt if it fails to secure the $1. 2-billion loan. As the deadline for the programme inched nearer, Sharif had held back-toback meetings with Georgieva in Paris last week.

The PM’s office (PMO) issued a release following Tuesday’s communication mentioning the Paris meetings. According to the statement, PM Shehbaz expressed hope for a decision from the IMF in a day or two.

SL TO GET $500M FROM WORLD BANK

Colombo : Sri Lanka will enter into an agreement with the World Bank for $500 million in budgetary support after the cabinet approved it on Tuesday, the biggest funding tranche for the crisis-hit nation since an IMF deal in March.

The country is emerging out of its worst economic crisis in seven decades and its economy is likely to shrink 2% this year before returning to growth next year, following last year’s record contraction of 7. 8%.

AUDIO UNDERCUTS TRUMP’S CLAIMS ON CLASSIFIED FILES

An audio recording of former President Donald Trump in 2021 discussing what he called a “highly confidential” document about Iran that he acknowledged he could not declassify because he was out of office appears to contradict his recent assertion that the material he was referring to was simply news clippings.

Portions of a transcript of the two-minute recording of Trump were cited by federal prosecutors in the indictment of Trump on charges that he had put national security secrets at risk by mishandling classified documents after leaving office and then obstructing the government’s efforts to retrieve them. The recording captured his conversation in July 2021 with a publisher and writer working on a memoir by Trump’s final chief of staff, Mark Meadows. Init, Trump discussed what he described as a “secret” plan regarding Iran drawn up by Gen. Mark A. Milley, chair of the joint chiefs of staff, and the defence department. Trump was citing the document in rebutting an account that Milley feared having to keep him from manufacturing a crisis with Iran in the period after Trump lost his reelection bid in late 2020. The audio, which is likely to feature as evidence in Trump’s trial in the documents case, was played for the first time Monday by CNN and was also obtained by NYT.

FIRST IN 20 YEARS: US SEES MALARIA CASES IN TEXAS & FLORIDA

Washington : The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an alert Monday after five cases of malaria were confirmed, the first locally acquired cases of the disease in the US in 20years. Four cases of the mosquito-borne illness were confirmed in Florida and one in Texas, the CDC said,adding the cases in the two states did not seem to berelated. “All patients have received treatment and are improving,” it said. Florida has issued a mosquito-borne illness alert after cases were discovered in Sarasota County and Manatee County, warning residents to drain standing water where mosquitoes can breed and wear longsleeved shirts andpants. Texas issued a health advisory after a resident who worked outdoors in Cameron County was diagnosed. The Texas health department said no further cases had beenidentified so far.

SOUTH KOREANS BECOME YOUNGER UNDER NEW AGE-COUNTING LAW

South Korea has implemented a new law that aligns the nation's age-counting methods with international standards, making South Koreans a year or two younger. The traditional age-counting systems, which considered a person one year old at birth and added a year on January 1st, have been replaced. The switch to age-counting based on birth date took effect on Wednesday.

President Yoon Suk-yeol advocated strongly for this change, stating that the traditional methods imposed unnecessary social and economic costs. The old systems led to disputes over insurance payouts and eligibility for government assistance programs. The widely used "Korean age" system considered a person one at birth and added a year on January 1st, while the "counting age" system considered a person zero at birth and added a year on January 1st.

A poll conducted in January 2022 showed that three out of four South Koreans were in favor of standardizing the age-counting methods. Lawmakers voted to scrap the traditional counting methods in December. However, certain statutes that determine age based on the "counting age" calendar year system will remain in place. For example, South Koreans can purchase cigarettes and alcohol from the year they turn 19, rather than the exact day.

While the traditional age-counting methods were also used in other East Asian countries, most have already transitioned to the international standard. Japan adopted the international standard in 1950, and North Korea followed suit in the 1980s.