Fazl gives August deadline to govt, says would march to Islamabad otherwise

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (Fazl) chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman said Sunday the federal government had an August deadline to step down, warning, otherwise, that his party and allies would march to Islamabad.

Speaking to the participants of the 'Million March' here in the provincial capital, Fazl termed today's march to be the last one and said the next one would be towards the federal capital.

The JUI-F noted that if the federal government resigned by August, it would then be able to save themselves from the Opposition's march. However, if the leadership failed to do so, then, in October, Fazl and his allies would march to Islamabad alongside the entire country. He termed the potential demonstration as 'Azadi March'.

Fazl spoke of how the 2018 general elections were rigged and he did not accept its results. All political parties desire fresh elections, he said, adding that one the one hand, there was "back-breaking" inflation, and, on the other, there taxes were being "rained down" on the people.

Fazl also slammed the new requirement of presenting the national identity card (CNIC) for purchases worth more than Rs50,000. That, he said, was not a documented economy but a "foreign agenda".

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) was trying to gain access to the pockets of shopkeepers at every nook and corner, he warned.

The JUI-F chief further criticised the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), saying the anti-graft watchdog carried out accountability during the tenure of former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and, at that time too, everyone knew of its character. However, the NAB had never been so completely unmasked before as it had been in the present, he noted.

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No lawsuit against British publication by Shehbaz: Akbar

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Accountability Shahzad Akbar on Sunday claimed that PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif had not initiated a case against British publication The Mail on Sunday and online news site Mail Online about an article published on July 14.

Akbar, while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, recalled that Sharif had issued a formal legal complaint against the publication and had deemed the "gravely defamatory" news report to be part of a politically motivated campaign against him.

Akbar claimed that the complaint issued via London-based legal firm Carter-Ruck Solicitors did not refute any specific allegation made against Sharif, nor did it say that a case had been filed against the publication.

Akbar added that the journalist behind the report, David Rose, is sticking to his story, and also shared a tweet from him dated July 26:

According to Akbar, although the complaint stated that the article did not include Sharif's version, it included his son's version and his office had also been contacted.

He said the complaint stated that reporting the story had not been in the public's interest. "How was it not in public interest?" Akbar asked, adding that this statement required clarification.

Akbar said that nowhere in the four-page complaint were the allegations in the article denied. "Not one word in the story [was] refuted," he asserted.

"According to Sharif's own law firm, no case has been initiated [against the British publication] as yet," Akbar said. "They complained to the Mail on Sunday saying, [...] 'We are thinking of filing a case against you.' This is not a lawsuit. Going to court is [initiating a lawsuit]."

"If you are in the right, why not go to court?" Akbar asked.

The PM's special assistant challenged Sharif to make his letter of complaint public despite its status as privileged communication.

Read: Shehbaz to file suit against The Mail, PM Imran for 'fabricated and misleading story'

Earlier, following the publication of the article, Akbar seemed willing to appear against Sharif in a London court. "In that court, I will [produce evidence] of every TT (telegraphic transfer) made by you; how kick backs were sent from here; how money was transferred through hundi and hawala." he had said.

Today, the premier's special assistant recalled his earlier statements, adding: "I can reveal 50-100 times more things [about Sharif's alleged embezzlement] than this story, come to court."

"I am feeling left out. You sent a legal notice to the Mail, send me one too. I have packed my suitcase and I'm ready to appear in court in London, where you likely won't go, and I will stand there and tell the truth about what you've done," he said.

The premier's special assistant also said that Sharif had vowed to take him to court. After publication of the report, the premier's aide had asked the PML-N leader not to back away from his "promise" of filing a case against him.

The story published earlier this month claimed that Sharif, the former chief minister of Punjab, had embezzled funds provided by UK's Department for International Development (DFID) for the rehabilitation of the 2005 earthquake.

It quoted Assets Recovery Unit Chief Shahzad Akbar and a few other individuals — none of whom were in an official position.

The story was quickly refuted by the PML-N and the party had insisted that it was published "on the behest of [Prime Minister] Imran Khan".

It was also rejected by DFID, that said the body's "robust systems protected UK taxpayers from fraud".

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Aaj kay Akhbar 28 July 2019

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Sada -e-Kashmir 28 July 2019

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Britain ramps up preparations for 'very real prospect' of no-deal Brexit

The British government is working on the assumption that the European Union will not renegotiate its Brexit deal and is ramping up preparations to leave the bloc on Oct 31 without an agreement, senior ministers said on Sunday.

Boris Johnson, who took over as British prime minister on Wednesday with a promise to deliver Brexit by the end of October “no ifs or buts”, has said he plans to seek a new exit deal with the EU. The EU has said repeatedly that the deal cannot be reopened.

Leading Brexit supporter Michael Gove, who Johnson has put in charge of 'no deal' preparations, wrote in the Sunday Times newspaper that the government would undertake “intensive efforts” to secure a better deal from the EU.

“We still hope they will change their minds, but we must operate on the assumption that they will not ... No deal is now a very real prospect and we must make sure that we are ready,” Gove wrote.

“Planning for no-deal is now this government's no. 1 priority,” he said, adding “every penny needed” for no-deal preparations would be made available.

The Sunday Times also reported that Dominic Cummings, the mastermind behind the 2016 referendum campaign to leave the EU and now a senior aide to Johnson, told a meeting of the prime minister's advisers that he had been tasked with delivering Brexit "by any means necessary".

Ministers are preparing for a no-deal emergency budget in the week of Oct 7, the newspaper added.

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, new finance minister Sajid Javid said he had ordered no-deal preparations in his Treasury department to be stepped up.

“In my first day in office [...] I tasked officials to urgently identify where more money needs to be invested to get Britain fully ready to leave on Oct 31 deal or no deal. And next week I will be announcing significant extra funding to do just that,” he said.

Javid, a former interior minister, said this would include funding for 500 new Border Force officers.

Reheat the dish
Johnson has said the Irish backstop, an insurance policy designed to prevent the return of a hard border between EU-member Ireland and the British province of Northern Ireland by provisionally keeping Britain in a customs union with the EU, must be removed from any Brexit deal.

It was one of the most hotly contested elements of the divorce agreement his predecessor Theresa May reached with the EU, and opposition to it was a key driver behind the deal being rejected three times by parliament.

“You can't just reheat the dish that's been sent back and expect that will make it more palatable,” Gove wrote. “We need a new approach and a different relationship. Critically, we need to abolish the backstop.”

Lawmakers from opposition parties and the governing Conservative Party have threatened to try and block Johnson taking Britain out of the EU without a divorce deal.

The Observer newspaper reported that former finance minister Philip Hammond, who quit last week before Johnson took office, held talks with the opposition Labour Party about how to stop a no-deal Brexit.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Sunday his party would do everything it could to prevent the country from leaving the EU without a deal.

Although Johnson has been adamant he will not hold an election before Brexit, his Conservative Party does not have a majority in parliament, are divided over Brexit and under threat of a no-confidence vote when parliament returns in September.

Speculation of an early election to break the deadlock is likely to be fuelled by a YouGov opinion poll in the Sunday Times, which showed the Conservatives had opened up a 10-point lead over Labour since Johnson took over.

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Such Baat With Nusrat Mirza 27 July 2019

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Tenancy Violation Case: Irfan Siddiqui grants bail

A local magistrate approved the bail of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s close aide Irfan Siddiqui on Sunday.

Police had arrested Siddiqui in violation of tenancy laws from the federal capital on Friday.

According to sources, the magistrate informed Siddiqui’s son Noman about his father’s bail and issued an order in this regard.

Read more: Irfan Siddiqui arrested for ‘violating’ tenancy law

Earlier, police said Siddiqui was arrested for violating tenancy laws and renting out his house without informing police. A case was registered under Section 188 at the Ramna police station.

Another man named Javed Iqbal, said to be the tenant at the house, was arrested along with Siddiqui and presented before the court.

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