SWEDEN MOVES CLOSER TO NATO ENTRY AFTER TURKIYE DEAL

Sweden cleared the biggest hurdle to its NATO membership on Monday when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan removed his veto following a trilateral meeting with Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in Vilnius, Lithuania.

Stoltenberg announced after the meeting that Erdogan has agreed to forward Sweden's accession protocols to the Grand National Assembly — the Turkish parliament — as soon as possible and ensure ratification.

"We took a very big step toward the formal ratification of Sweden's NATO membership," Kristersson said.

The progress on Sweden's membership came on the eve of the two-day NATO meeting in Vilnius, which runs through Wednesday, when the Russia-Ukraine conflict is expected to dominate the agenda.

Turkiye and Sweden also agreed to create a "new bilateral security compact" and that Stockholm will present a "road map as the basis of its continued fight against terrorism in all its forms".

European Council President Charles Michel, who met with Erdogan on Monday, tweeted that he and Erdogan had "explored opportunities ahead to bring cooperation back to the forefront and reenergize our relations".

The Turkiye-Sweden joint statement also said that Sweden will actively support efforts to reinvigorate Turkiye's EU accession process.

The announcement was applauded by U.S. President Joe Biden and comes a day after he spoke with Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan about U.S. F-16s for Ankara, although any direct connection was unclear.

"I welcome the statement issued by Türkiye, Sweden and the NATO Secretary General this evening, including the commitment by President Erdogan to transmit the Accession Protocol for Sweden to Türkiye's Grand National Assembly for swift ratification," Biden said in a statement.

"I stand ready to work with President Erdogan and Türkiye on enhancing defense and deterrence in the Euro-Atlantic area," he continued. "I look forward to welcoming Prime Minister Kristersson and Sweden as our 32nd NATO Ally. And I thank Secretary General Stoltenberg for his steadfast leadership."

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Tuesday blasted as “absurd” the absence of a timetable for his country’s membership in Nato, injecting harsh criticism into a gathering of the alliance’s leaders that was intended to showcase solidarity in the face of Russian aggression.

PAKISTAN RECEIVES $2 BILLION FROM SAUDI ARABIA IN FINANCIAL SUPPORT

Islamabad : Saudi Arabia has deposited $2 billion in the Pakistan central bank days after Islamabad reached a staff-level agreement with the IMF on a$3 billion standby arrangement, Pakistan finance minister Ishaq Darsaid on Tuesday. “The State Bank of Pakistan has received a deposit of $2 billion from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” Dar said at a presser, adding that this inflow has increased forex reserves and that this will be reflected in the reserves for the week ending July 14. “On Friday, our reserves had closed in at less than $10 billion, standing at roughly $9. 67 billion, so you can now imagine them close to $11. 67 billion,” the minister said.

The inflows came after Islamabad signed a short-term deal with the IMF on June 30 under a standby arrangement that will disburse $3 billion over a nine-month period, subject to approval by the IMF’s board, which will meet on July 12. Saudi Arabia had pledged the money to Pakistan and waited for the much-awaited IMF deal to be announced before depositing it. The financial support will shore up the depleting foreign exchange reserves, which had dipped to cover barely a month of controlled imports.

PM Shehbaz Sharif expressed his gratitude to Saudi Arabia and Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman for ensuring financial support to Pakistan. “This deposit will strengthen Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves. It reflects the growing confidence of our brotherly countries and the international community in Pakistan’s economic turnaround. ”

6 KILLED AS COPTER WITH TOURISTS CRASHES NEAR EVEREST IN NEPAL

Kathmandu : All six people on board a helicopter carrying Mexican tourists were killed when it crashed Tuesday near Mount Everest in Nepal, authorities said. The helicopter crashed in the Lamajura area.

All the bodies were recovered and flown out of the area, said Basanta Bhattarai, the chief government administrator in the area. The five tourists were Mexican nationals and the pilot was Nepalese, the Civil Aviation Authority of Nepal said. The Mexicans included two men and three women. Two rescue helicopters were used to fly the bodies out of the crash site and then to the capital, Kathmandu.

The aircraft was returning to Kathmandu on Tuesday morning after bringing the tourists on a sightseeing trip to the world’s highest peak. It wasn’t clear what caused the crash. Weather conditions had caused the helicopter’s planned flight route to be changed, airport official Sagar Kadel said. The tourist and mountaineering season ended in May with the onset of the rainy season and tourist flights to the mountains are less common this time of year as visibility is poor and weather conditions become unpredictable.

Nepal has a booming private helicopter industry, flying tourists and goods to remote corners of the Himalayan nation where road access is limited. But the country is notorious for its poor air safety.

One person was killed and four were injured in May when a helicopter crashed in eastern Nepal after dropping off goods for a hydroelectricity project. Multiple helicopter accidents claimed more than a dozen lives during rescue and relief operations in the aftermath of 2015 earthquake. Plane crashes are also common in the Himalayan republic, home to remote and tricky runways. The weather can change quickly in the mountains, creating treacherous flying conditions. All 72 people aboard a flight to the tourist city of Pokhara were killed in January when the plane plummeted into a steep gorge, smashed into pieces and burst into flames. In 2018, a US-Bangla Airlines plane crash-landed near Kathmandu airport, killing 51 people. In 1992, in Nepal’s deadliest air accident, all 167 people aboard a PIA plane died when it crashed on approach to Kathmandu airport.

CHINA MIN KNOWN FOR ‘WOLF WARRIOR DIPLOMACY’ MIA

Beijing : Chinese foreign minister Qin Gangis unwell and the country’s senior diplomat will take his place at a two-day summit of the Asean this week in Jakarta, Indonesia, the foreign ministry said on Tuesday. A spokesman gave no details of what was ailing Qin, who has not been seen in public in more than two weeks.

Wang Yi, a former foreign minister and the current head of the Communist Party’s Central Commission for Foreign Affairs, will represent China at the meetings. Wang Yi drew controversy last week with comments saying Westerners are incapable of distinguishing among Chinese, Koreans and Japanese, and suggesting the three countries with vastly different societies and polities form an alliance based on racial and cultural similarities.

Qin, 57, rose to prominenceas an outspoken spokesperson who popularised an aggressive in-your-face style that came to be known as “wolf warrior diplomacy”. He previously served as ambassador to the US and head of protocol for the ministry. In March, Qin warned Washington of “conflict and confrontation”, striking a combative tone amid conflicts over Taiwan, Covid-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The “wolf warrior” approach has been adopted by many diplomats, but has also fallen out of favour at times. One of its most famous exponents, former ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian, was transferred in January to a department overseeing land and sea borders in what was seen as a demotion. Current Chinese envoy to the US Xie Feng has taken a generally upbeat tone since taking office in May.

9 YRS AFTER COUP, THAILAND PM PRAYUTH QUITS POLITICS

Bangkok : Thailand’s PM Prayuth Chan-ocha announced on Tuesday his retirement from politics, nine years after he took power in a military coup, and promised to stay in charge only temporarily. His announcement was widely expected after his military-backed United Thai Nation party was thumped in a May 14 election, in which it won just 36 of the 500 house seats. He will remain caretaker premier until a new government is formed. The former army chief, a staunch royalist, led a junta until an election in 2019 and was chosen by parliament to remain PM for four more years, an outcome his opponents insist was pre-determined.

Prayuth, 69, has denied that and Tuesday said he had “achieved many successes”. “I as PM have worked hard to protect the nation, religion,monarchy for the benefit of the . . . people. The result is currently bearing fruit for the public,” he said. “I have tried to strengthen the country for stability and peace and overcame many obstacles domestically and internationally. ”

In the nine years since his coup, Prayuth has survived multiple challenges via court cases, house confidence votes and street protests by opponents who saw him as an opportunist who lacked a public mandate. His government has faced intense criticism over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economy, with Thailand recording its worst economic performance since the 1990s under his tenure. His announcement comes as the new parliament prepares to convene on Thursday to hold a vote on who will be the next prime minister.

IN UK, 19 FLYERS TOLD TO GET OFF PLANE AS IT WAS ‘TOO HEAVY’ TO TAKE OFF

In a bizarre incident, 19 passengers onboard an easyJet flight flying from Lanzarote to Liverpool were asked to disembark as the plane was “too heavy to take off”. The incident took place on July 5. The flight which was scheduled to take off around 9. 45pm, was delayed due to poor weather conditions and the plane’s weight. It finally took off at 11. 30pm after several passengers were asked to volunteer to “choose not to fly”. The pilot said, “It’s a pretty heavy aircraft we’ve got today. Heavy aircraft combined with a fairly short runway here in Lanzarote, and some winds which aren't completely favourable mean that the aircraft is too heavy at the moment to depart. ” He then invited up to 20 passengers to choose to leave the plane and “not fly toLiverpool tonight”. The pilot said easyJet would provide incentives of up to € 500 to each passenger who disembark.

TOILET LIMITS FOR TRANSGENDER ILLEGAL: JAPAN SC

Tokyo : Japan’s Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that restrictions imposed by a government ministry on a transgender female employee’s use of restrooms at her workplace are “illegal”, in a landmark decision that could promote LGBTQ+ rights in a country without legal protections for them. The judges said in a unanimous ruling that the restrictions, which forced the plaintiff to use either a nearby men's room or women's restrooms that were at least two floors away, were “extremely inappropriate”. It was the first ruling on the working environment for LGBTQ+ individuals.