- 'Curious' Dupont eyes position change after claiming Top 14 award
- Man Utd stadium regeneration could add £7.3bn to British economy
- At COP16, Colombia seeks to lead by example on biodiversity
- Dupont caps off Olympic gold season with Top 14 player award
- Leeds to expand Elland Road to 53,000 capacity
- Mysterious 18th century diamond necklace set for auction
- World's oceans near critical acidification level: report
- California sues oil giant Exxon over plastic recycling 'myth'
- As wars rage, UN's critics say global body is failing its mission
- Amazon forest has lost an area the size of Germany and France
- Nadal, Alcaraz and Sinner in Davis Cup finals teams
- Telegram's Durov announces new crackdown on illegal content
- African players in Europe: Ice-cool Jackson strikes twice
- Man City's Rodri 'out for season' after ACL injury: reports
- Venezuelan court issues arrest warrant for Argentina's Milei
- Arsenal not yet a match for Man City-Liverpool rivalry, says Silva
- Iran's new president calls Israel warmonger as he seeks talks with West
- Berlin warns UniCredit against Commerzbank takeover attempt
- Black Eyed Peas star harnesses AI for novel radio product
- England cricket captain Knight reprimanded over 'blackface' photo
- Barca goalkeeper Ter Stegen set to miss season after knee operation
- 'I lived a lie', tearful witness tells French mass rape trial
- 274 dead in Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon
- Gunman revealed Trump plot months before golf course arrest: DOJ
- Trial opens in Italy student murder case that opened eyes to femicide
- Iran president accuses Israel of seeking conflict, says opposes war
- Swedish battery maker Northvolt to slash 1,600 jobs, quarter of staff
- Joshua says boxing career 'far from over' after Dubois defeat
- Stock markets inch higher on rate hopes
- 182 dead in Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon
- Friedkin Group reach deal to buy Everton
- UniCredit ups stake in Commerzbank to 21 percent
- Big rate cut was 'appropriate' first step: Fed official
- Stock markets diverge as eurozone economy struggles
- Lebanon says 100 dead in Israeli strikes on Hezbollah strongholds
- Man City's Akanji sends defiant title message after Arsenal battle
- Madrid's 'many styles' key to unbeaten streak: Ancelotti
- UK's Labour pledges economic rebuild amid free gifts row
- Barca goalkeeper Ter Stegen to undergo knee operation
- French mass rape trial moves on to new defendants
- Israel warns Lebanese as intense strikes target Hezbollah
- UK's Labour looks to be more cheerful despite gifts and welfare row
- Eurozone business activity slumps after Olympics boost
- Russia, Ukraine cross swords in sea dispute court battle
- Albania plans Sufi Muslim microstate within its borders
- EU launches WTO challenge against China dairy probe
- Murdoch's REA ups offer for property website Rightmove
- India's one-horned rhino numbers charging ahead, govt says
- Rescuers comb muddy riverbanks after Japan floods kill seven
- Asian stocks boosted by US rate cut, China stimulus hope
CMSC | -0.32% | 25.07 | $ | |
BCE | 0.17% | 35.1 | $ | |
SCS | 0.73% | 13.015 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.06% | 25.005 | $ | |
RBGPF | 3.11% | 58.83 | $ | |
JRI | -0.23% | 13.29 | $ | |
NGG | 1.28% | 70.455 | $ | |
GSK | 0.13% | 40.855 | $ | |
RIO | 1.56% | 64.575 | $ | |
BCC | 3.01% | 141.76 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.56% | 7.06 | $ | |
AZN | -1.61% | 77.14 | $ | |
VOD | 0.99% | 10.11 | $ | |
BTI | 1.2% | 37.895 | $ | |
BP | 0.65% | 32.855 | $ | |
RELX | 1.75% | 48.845 | $ |
Pakistan PM Khan faces boot after court orders parliament restored
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan faces being booted from office at the weekend after the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that parliament had been illegally dissolved and a no-confidence vote on his government must go ahead.
Khan's coalition lost its majority in the national assembly last week, but he avoided being dismissed when the deputy speaker blocked a no-confidence motion against him and the president dissolved parliament and ordered fresh elections.
"All actions taken are of no legal effect and quashed," the Supreme Court said after hearing four days of argument on the matter.
"The national assembly continues to remain in session," it added, with officials saying it would sit again Saturday.
The court's judgement was broader than expected after the chief justice said earlier this week they would only rule on the legality of the no-confidence motion being blocked.
The decision -- which the court said was unanimous -- was met with jubilation by opposition supporters in the capital, with packed cars racing through the streets, sounding their horns.
There was no immediate reaction from Khan, but Shehbaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) and likely to be the next prime minister, said the decision "has saved Pakistan and the constitution of Pakistan".
Pakistan People's Party (PPP) leader Bilawal Zardari Bhutto, who had joined forces with Sharif to oust Khan, tweeted: "Democracy is the best revenge".
Khan claimed the opposition had colluded with the United States for "regime change" when the deputy speaker -- a loyalist -- refused to allow the no-confidence motion.
Simultaneously, Khan asked the presidency -- a largely ceremonial office also held by a loyalist -- to dissolve the assembly.
- Refused to cooperate -
President Arif Alvi has already told the feuding factions to nominate candidates for interim prime minister and asked the country's election commission to fix a date for a new national ballot.
The opposition had refused to cooperate.
There had been high hopes for Khan when he was elected in 2018 on a promise of sweeping away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism, but he struggled to maintain support with soaring inflation, a feeble rupee and crippling debt.
On Thursday the rupee was trading at a historic low of 190 to the dollar, and the central bank raised the key interest rate by 250 basis points to 12.25 percent -- the biggest hike in over a quarter of a century.
Pakistan has been wracked by political crises for much of its 75-year existence, and no prime minister has ever seen out a full term.
Khan has blown anti-US sentiment into the political atmosphere by saying the opposition had colluded with Washington.
The cricketer-turned-politician says Western powers wanted him removed because he will not stand with them against Russia and China.
The Supreme Court is ostensibly independent, but rights activists say previous benches have been used by civilian and military administrations to do their bidding throughout Pakistan's history.
Publicly the military appears to be keeping out of the current fray, but there have been four coups since independence in 1947 and the country has spent more than three decades under army rule.
N.Fournier--BTB