PAKISTAN’S PML-N AND PPP AGREE TO FORM COALITION GOVERNMENT

After days of intense negotiations, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) have reached a significant agreement to form a new coalition government in Pakistan. This announcement came during a joint news conference late on Tuesday night, led by PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari and PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif.

During the press conference, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari revealed that Shehbaz Sharif, at 72 years old, is set to resume the role of Prime Minister, with Asif Zardari, aged 68, expected to become President once again. Bilawal expressed confidence in the coalition's ability to form the government, stating, "The PPP and PML-N have achieved the required number, and [now] we are in a position to form the government."

Shehbaz Sharif, in his remarks, acknowledged the successful negotiations and thanked the leadership of both parties for their efforts. He emphasized that the PML-N now possesses the "required numbers" with the PPP to establish the next government.

U.S. VETOES UN VOTE ON GAZA CEASEFIRE, PUSHES ALTERNATIVE

The United States has once again vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution regarding the Israel-Hamas conflict, rejecting a call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. Instead, the US is advocating for a temporary ceasefire linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas. Thirteen council members supported the resolution, with Britain abstaining. This marks the third US veto since the conflict began on October 7.

US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield indicated the US would veto the resolution to prevent potentially undermining talks involving the US, Egypt, Israel, and Qatar. These talks aim to broker a pause in the conflict and secure the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Thomas-Greenfield argued that demanding an immediate ceasefire without an agreement for Hamas to release hostages could prolong the conflict.

The resolution, drafted by Algeria and vetoed by the US, did not tie a ceasefire to the release of hostages. It instead called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages.

SOUTH AFRICA ACCUSES ISRAEL OF APARTHEID AGAINST PALESTINIANS

THE HAGUE: South Africa argued at the United Nations’ top court on Tuesday that Israel is responsible for apartheid against the Palestinians and that Israel’s occupation of land sought for a Palestinian state is “inherently and fundamentally illegal.” Israel rejects such claims. Israel is also not making a statement during the hearings.

PRINCE WILLIAM APPEALS FOR AN END TO FIGHTING IN GAZA AT THE EARLIEST

LONDON: Prince William, the heir to the British throne, called on Tuesday for an end to fighting in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible. In a statement released by his office at Kensington Palace, he stopped short of calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as the House of Commons prepares for a vote on that issue on Wednesday.

KREMLIN REJECTS CLAIM BY NAVALNY’S WIDOW THAT HE WAS KILLED BY PUTIN

Russian President Vladimir Putin did not see the video in which Alexei Navalny’s widow vowed to continue his fight against the Kremlin, his spokesperson said on Tuesday. The spokesperson also dismissed her allegations that Mr. Putin had killed the country’s opposition leader as “unfounded” and “insolent.”

In the video released on Monday, Yulia Navalnaya accused Mr. Putin of killing her husband in the remote Artic prison and alleged that officials’ refusal to hand over his body to his mother was part of a cover-up of their involvement in the death.

“They are cowardly and meanly hiding his body, refusing to give it to his mother and lying miserably while waiting for the trace of” poison to disappear, Ms. Navalnaya said.

She suggested her husband might have been killed with a Novichok-style nerve agent.

Russian authorities said that the cause of Mr. Navalny’s death on Friday is still unknown and the results of any investigation are likely to be questioned abroad.

“These are absolutely unfounded, insolent accusations about the head of the Russian state,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Navalny’s death has deprived the Russian opposition of its most well-known and inspiring politician less than a month before an election that is all but certain to give Putin another six years in power.

KREMLIN ARRESTS U.S.-RUSSIAN WOMAN ON CHARGES OF TREASON

MOSCOW: Russia’s FSB security services said on Tuesday it had arrested a U.S.-Russian woman suspected of treason for raising funds for the Ukrainian Army. The FSB in Yekaterinburg said it had “suppressed the illegal activities” of a 33-year-old woman, a resident of Los Angeles with dual citizenship, and taken her into custody.

IMRAN’S PARTY DEMANDS CEC RESIGNATION OVER ‘POLL RIGGING’

Islamabad : Jailed former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan’s party on Tuesday demanded chief election commissioner Sikandar Sultan Raja’s immediate resignation for failing to hold “free and fair” elections after allegations of massive poll rigging emerged.

The 71-year-old’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said that the CEC had “no right to stay in the position for a single day”.

Raja, a retired civil servant, was appointed as the head of the Election Commission in Jan 2020 by the govt of thenPM Khan. But Khan soon developed differences with him and began to criticise him. He doubled down on his criticism after the toppling of his govt in April 2022.

PTI chief Gohar Khan told media after meeting Khan in the Adiala Jail that the former PM asked him to demand the resignation of Raja. He demanded that all the inquiries into poll discrepancies be impartial and without any interference.

He also sought protection for Rawalpindi commissioner Liaquat Chattha, who revealed over the weekend that he rigged Feb 8 elections on thirteen seats in the Rawalpindi region. “We demand that his life and his children’s security must be ensured so that he can take part in any inquiry.”

NEURALINK’S 1ST PATIENT ABLE TO ‘CONTROL MOUSE VIA THOUGHTS’

The first human patient implanted with a brainchip from Neuralink appears to have fully recovered and is able to control a computer mouse using their thoughts, the startup’s founder Elon Musk said Monday.

“Progress is good, and the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with no ill effects that we are aware of. Patient is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking,” Musk said in a Spaces event on social media platform X.

Musk said Neuralink was now trying to get as many mouse button clicks as possible from the patient.

Neuralink did not immediately reply to Reuters’ request for further details.

The firm successfully implanted a chip on its first human patient last month, after receiving approval for human trial recruitment in Sept. The study uses a robot to surgically place a braincomputer interface implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move, Neuralink has said, adding that the initial goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts.

Musk has grand ambitions for Neuralink, saying it would facilitate speedy surgical insertions of its chip devices to treat conditions like obesity, autism, depression, and schizophrenia.

Neuralink, which was valued at about $5 billion last year, has faced repeated calls for scrutiny regarding its safety protocols.

Reuters reported last month that the firm was fined for violating US department of transportation rules regarding the movement of hazardous materials.

PUTIN GIVES KIM A LIMO IN GIFT THAT VIOLATES UN SANCTIONS ON N KOREA

Seoul : President Putin has gifted North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a Russian-made luxury limousine for his personal use, both nations announced Tuesday, in another sign of their expanding cooperation. Observers said the shipment violates a UN resolution that bans supplying luxury items to North Korea, in an attempt to pressure the country to abandon its nuclear weapons.

Kim’s sister, Kim Yo-jong, and a senior North Korean official accepted the gift Sunday and she conveyed her brother’s thanks to Putin, the Korean Central News Agency said.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin gave Kim Jong-un a high-end Aurus Senat limousine that he showed to the North Korean leader when they met for a summit in Russia in Sept. Kim “liked the car, and so the decision was made” to present it to him as a gift, Peskov said. Tass earlier reported that Aurus was the first Russian luxury car brand, and it’s been used in motorcades of top officials since Putin first used an Anrus limousine during his inauguration ceremony in 2018.

Kim, 40, is known to possess many foreign-made luxury cars believed to have been smuggled into his country in breach of the UN resolution. During his Russia visit, he travelled between meeting sites in a Maybach limousine that was brought with him on one of his special train carriages.

During an earlier Russia trip in 2019, Kim had two limos waiting for him at Vladivostok station — a Mercedes-Maybach S600 Pullman Guard and a Maybach S62. He also reportedly used the S600 Pullman Guard for his two summits with then-President Donald Trump in Singapore in 2018 and Vietnam in 2019. In 2018, Kim used a black Mercedes limousine to return home after a meeting with South Korea’s then President Moon Jae-in at a shared Korean border village. Kim’s possession of expensive foreign limousines shows the porousness of international sanctions on the North.

Russia, a permanent Security Council member, voted for the ban on supplying luxury goods to North Korea, adopted in response to the North’s nuclear and missile tests.

CHILE TO REOPEN PROBE INTO MYSTERY DEATH OF POET PABLO NERUDA

Chile will reopen the investigation into the death of Nobel laureate poet Pablo Neruda, suspected by many to have been poisoned by the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, a court announced on Tuesday.

Neruda, a prominent member of Chile’s Communist Party, was preparing to flee into exile in Mexico to lead resistance against Pinochet when he died in hospital 12 days after the 1973 coup. The government attributed his death to prostate cancer, but doubts lingered.

The investigation began in 2011 when Neruda's driver and assistant, Manuel Araya, claimed Neruda was injected with a mysterious substance before he died. Araya died last year.

Neruda's remains were exhumed in 2013, but tests could not definitively prove poisoning. A 2017 scientific panel also failed to determine the cause of death, despite finding botulism-causing bacteria in his system.

The appeals court ordered a new analysis of Neruda's death certificate, a meta-analysis of previous expert findings, and testimony from new witnesses and a bacteria expert.

Neruda's family and the Communist Party have long sought clarity on his death, which remains a contentious issue in Chilean history.