News update - 31 May 19

*News Update - 31 May 19*
*Domestic*
▪ Tehsil council Mansehra through a unanimous resolution has demanded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government to cancel contract agreement of Jinnah Plaza being constructed at a cost of Rs220 million to enhance the revenue of the tehsil municipal administration, *News*
▪ Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday said the country was facing an unprecedented economic crisis, as the National Economic Council (NEC) approved the national development outlay of Rs1,837 billion and macroeconomic framework for the next budget 2019-20, *News*
▪ A number of young and educated locals were part of various gangs busted by the police in the last few years for involvement in criminal activities and terrorism, it has been learnt, *News*
▪ Vowing to maintain the writ of state at all costs, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Minister Shaukat Yousafzai has said that it doesn’t behove parliamentarians to take up arms and attack the army check-post and anyone doing so would face the law of the land, *News*
▪ Pakistan’s airspace along its eastern border with India will remain closed until 5am on June 15, a notice issued to airmen (NOTAM) by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) said on Wednesday, *Dawn*
▪ A special flight on Wednesday brought back 320 Pakistanis who had been stranded in Malaysia mainly due to the closure of eastern airspace of Pakistan for foreign airlines, *Dawn*
▪ As many as seven members of the federal cabinet are among the lawmakers to have been issued notices to explain material discrepancy in their statements of assets and liabilities for the current financial year, *Dawn*
▪ Army Chief Gen Qamar Bajwa discussed border management and the Afghan reconciliation process with National Security Adviser of Afghanistan Hamdullah Mohib, *Dawn*
▪ At least 14 prisoners in Adiyala Jail got a get-out-of-jail-free card on the visit of Islamabad District and Sessions judge. All the released prisoners were doing time for petty crimes. District and Sessions Judge Islamabad East Chaudhry Mukhtar Hussain during his visit to Adyala Jail ordered release of 14 prisoners. Civil judge Yasir Hafeez and Assistant Commissioner Saad bin Asad were also present, *Tribune*
▪ The government of Japan has donated four fully equipped ambulances to the Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) to enhance the operational and outreach capacity of the organisation in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi in the wake of unexpected calamities and emergencies, *Tribune*
▪ The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has sealed seven private schools responsible for spreading hate and inciting parents to violence, resulting in attacks on polio vaccination teams and mass hysteria in Peshawar last month, *Tribune*

*Regional*
▪ ORDINARILY, the gesture — a gift of sweets — would have gone unnoticed. It was the timing that was of momentous significance. After years of diplomatic dog-fighting, bare-fanged belligerence, and a dress rehearsal for war, Smt. Sushma Swaraj (India’s external affairs minister) suddenly and uncharacteristically presented her Pakistani counterpart with a box of sweets that she hoped would remove the bitterness of previous dialogues, *Dawn*
▪ Guests arriving at the Pakistan high commission for the traditional Iftar were harassed by Indian security personnel, in a repeat of a similar happening during the Pakistan Day celebrations in New Delhi in March, reports said on Wednesday, *Dawn*
▪ A meeting was held with President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani on the chair, discussing security of the capital Kabul, a statement from the Presidential Palace said Tuesday. Security officials of Kabul shared reports about their works and plans on the capital and its entire districts security with the president, according to the agency, *Kabul Times*
▪ Chief Executive Dr. Abdullah Abddullah met with Oguzhan Ertugrul Turkish ambassador to Afghanistan at the Sapidar Palace on Tuesday, Bakhtar News Agency (BNA) reported, *Kabul Times*
▪ Iran on Wednesday categorically rejected claims by US National Security Adviser John Bolton blaming the Islamic Republic for sabotage attacks on four commercial ships off the United Arab Emirates’ coast on May 12, *Iran Daily*
▪ An assailant carried out a fatal stabbing attack against a local clergyman in the southwestern Iranian province of Fars, *Iran Daily*
▪ Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday visited the National War Memorial here and paid tribute to the jawans who laid down their lives for the country post-independence, *Times of India*
▪ Security forces have arrested a big food contractor for the Ministry of Interior (MoI) on charges of "stealing AFs600 million ($7.5 million)" from meat supply in one year by over-billing the security agency, sources said, *Tolo News*
▪ A group of Afghan politicians led by former President Hamid Karzai and a 14-member Taliban team led by the co-founder of the group Abdul Ghani Baradar sat for the second day in Moscow to discuss the Afghan peace, but behind the closed doors, *Tolo News*

*Intl*
▪ Seven South Koreans have died and 19 others are missing after a tourist sightseeing boat capsized and sank on the Danube in Budapest, Hungarian and South Korean officials said Thursday *News*
▪ Saudi Arabia's foreign minister  Wednesday called on Islamic nations to reject Iran's "interference" in the affairs of other countries, *News*
▪ A top US military officer said Wednesday that Russia is "probably" violating the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, opening a new area of disagreement as the two powers negotiate arms control, *News*
▪ The US military's top general said Wednesday that Chinese President Xi Jingping reneged on promises not to militarize the South China Sea and called for "collective action" to hold Beijing responsible, *News*
▪ Israel’s parliament voted early Thursday to hold new elections only months after April polls in an unprecedented move provoked by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s attempts to remain in power despite failing to form a coalition, *Tribune*
▪ A leaked post in the latest document dump from The Intercept's ‘SIDToday’ archive—a series of top secret National Security Agency newsletters provided by whistleblower Edward Snowden—reveals that the United States discussed spying on Russian non-military targets with the help of the Norwegian Intelligence Service (NIS), *Sputnik*
▪ Hong Kong dismissed US warnings that it could face penalties if it does business with an oil tanker that allegedly violated sanctions on Iran), *Sputnik*