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Huge Crowds Cheer Britons HRH Prince William in Singapore

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Huge Crowds Cheer Britons HRH Prince William in Singapore

HRH Prince William arrived in Singapore on Sunday and visited Jewel Changi Airport before his work trip. The Prince of Wales, who landed at Changi Airport at about 5pm, visited the HSBC Rain Vortex, the indoor waterfall at Jewel, and met the public at the nearby indoor garden.

When Prince William reached Jewel around 5:30pm, gathered crowds started cheering. Ms Sim Ann, Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and National Development, accompanied him.

As Ms Sim led him towards the waterfall, he could be heard saying: “It’s enormous.”

Hundreds gathered around the Rain Vortex to glimpse the 41-year-old heir to the British throne. Some came bearing gifts such as soft toys and cards.

Among them was author David Seow, 55, who brought photos of the late Diana, Princess of Wales, the mother of Prince William, who died in 1997. Mr Seow had taken the photos in London in 1992.

Prince William Singapore

When Mr Seow said Prince William could keep one of the photos, the Prince said: “It’s for me? Thank you very much.”

Mr Seow later told The Straits Times he had been waiting for the Prince’s arrival since noon to give him three children’s books he had written about the royal family.

“I’ve been a supporter of the royal family since I was six. Prince William is doing a good job raising awareness about issues like mental health and the environment,” he said.

Jewel chief executive James Fong later showed Prince William a tembusu tree planted at the Forest Valley in honor of his visit.

This is the first time a tree has been planted at Jewel to mark the visit of a foreign dignitary, said Mr Fong.

Software engineer Jose Ricardo, 35, said he was visiting the newly reopened Changi Airport Terminal 2 when he heard Prince William would drop by at Jewel. A supporter of the Prince’s environmental advocacy, he waited more than an hour for the Prince’s arrival.

“I told him he was very handsome and he smiled,” said the Filipino, who has lived in Singapore for three years.

Prince William will be in Singapore until Wednesday.

Prince William Earthshot Prize

On Tuesday, Prince William will attend the ceremony to award the 2023 Earthshot Prize, a global environmental prize he founded in 2020 aimed at driving change to mend the planet over this decade.

The Earthshot Prize will award a grant of £1 million (S$1.7 million) each to five winners for developing solutions to environmental problems.

Prince William said in a statement: “It’s fantastic to be back in Singapore for this year’s Earthshot Prize ceremony, after 11 years.”

Co-hosting the ceremony, to be held at Theatre at Mediacorp, are American actor Sterling K. Brown and English actress Hannah Waddingham. Brown starred in the TV series The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story, while Waddingham was in the comedy series Ted Lasso.

Grammy-nominated artist Bebe Rexha will join the line-up of performers, including American band OneRepublic and British indie-pop band Bastille.

The winners will be announced by Australian actress Cate Blanchett, who is also an Earthshot Prize council member; Lana Condor, who starred in the romantic comedy To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before; Australian wildlife conservationist Robert Irwin; South African actress and humanitarian Nomzamo Mbatha; and Hong Kong actor Donnie Yen.

Prince William will make a speech to celebrate the work of this year’s Earthshot Prize finalists.

During his visit, Prince William will call on President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and meet Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong at the Istana.

This will be the Prince’s second visit to Singapore, after his official trip here in 2012 with his wife Catherine, Princess of Wales.

This article was first published in The Straits Times.

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Bangladesh Supreme Court to Rule on Controversial Job Quotas Amid Nationwide protests

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Bangladesh Supreme Court to Rule on Controversial Job Quotas Amid Nationwide protests

(CTN News) – The future of public service hiring regulations, which have provoked national conflicts between police and university students that have resulted in at least 133 fatalities so far, is set to be decided by Bangladesh’s Supreme Court on Sunday, or today.

Later in the day, the nation’s highest court will meet to declare its decision about the controversial job quotas—either in favor of or against their elimination.

This week’s protests over politically motivated admission quotas for highly sought-after government posts turned into some of the worst instability during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s watch.

Due to the ongoing turmoil, a curfew has been in place since Friday. In addition, the government has declared a two-day holiday during which all offices and institutions would be closed.

After riot police were unable to restore order, soldiers are now policing cities throughout Bangladesh, and since Thursday, there has been a statewide internet blackout that has severely limited the flow of information to the outside world.

SEE ALSO: Nearly 1,000 Indian Students Return from Bangladesh Amid Deadly Unrest Over Job Quota System

Hasina made hints to the public this week that the plan will be abandoned, which comes after her opponents accuse her government of using the judiciary to further its own agenda.

However, a positive decision is unlikely to calm the nation’s simmering rage in the wake of the intensifying crackdown and growing dead toll.

Business owner Hasibul Sheikh, 24, told AFP, “It’s not about the rights of the students anymore,” while observing a Saturday street demonstration in the capital city of Dhaka against a statewide curfew.

“Our demand is one point now, and that’s the resignation of the government,” he stated.

A system that reserves more than half of civil service positions for particular groups, like as children of veterans of the 1971 war, is the driving force behind the upheaval this month.

Hasina, 76, has ruled the nation since 2009 and won her fourth consecutive election in January following a ballot in which there was no real competition, according to critics who claim the program helps families who support her.

Rights organizations accuse Hasina’s government of abusing state institutions, including as the extrajudicial assassination of opposition activists, in order to strengthen its grasp on power and quell dissent.

Bangladesh’s 170 million people lack access to sufficient employment possibilities, therefore the quota system is a major cause of anger for recent graduates who are struggling to find work.

“The government’s actions have made the situation worse, rather than trying to address the protesters’ grievances,” Pierre Prakash, Asia director of Crisis Group, told AFP.

After a week of increasing violence, Hasina canceled her intentions to depart the nation on Sunday for a diplomatic trip to Spain and Brazil.

Source: The Indian Express

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Pakistani Government Plans to Ban PTI

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Pakistani Government Plans to Ban PTI

(CTN News) – The Pakistani government has announced measures to outlaw Pakistan Terheek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party of imprisoned former Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar made the declaration on Monday, only days after the Supreme Court declared the PTI eligible for a share of reserved seats in national and provincial assemblies.

After reviewing all relevant information, the government has decided to ban PTI. “We will file a case to ban the party,” he said, citing claims such as inciting violent protests last year and leaking confidential information.

Tarar stated that the case would be moved to the Supreme Court.

He also stated that the government intended to file treason charges against Khan and two other senior party leaders, former President of Pakistan Arif Alvi and ex-Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Qasim Suri, as well as a review appeal against the Supreme Court’s ruling that the PTI should be allocated some assembly seats reserved for women and members of religious minorities.

According to Sayed Zulfiqar Bukhari, a top PTI politician and party spokesperson, the government’s action “betrays their complete panic”.

“After realizing that they could no longer threaten, compel, or blackmail judges, they decided to make this move through the cabinet. “All of their attempts to stop us have been declared illegal by the courts,” he stated.

Last week, the Supreme Court recognized the PTI as a political party and confirmed that the party’s lack of an electoral emblem did not affect its legal right to field candidates.

The verdict was in response to the PTI being barred from competing in parliamentary elections in February using its party emblem, the cricket bat, forcing it to field candidates as independents.

Despite the setback, PTI-backed candidates emerged as the largest parliamentary bloc, winning 93 seats.

After Khan declined to cooperate with his political opponents, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) formed a coalition government with other smaller parties.

Ex-Governor Sindh Zubair, who formerly served in the PMLN, stated that the government’s action was in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling last week and warned of political upheaval ahead.

“The powers that be are trying to disenfranchise the largest majority of voters of the country, who voted for PTI,” he disclosed to Al Jazeera.

Khan was appointed prime minister in August 2018 but was dismissed from power in April 2022 after a parliamentary vote of no-confidence.

The cricketer-turned-politician has since faced a slew of legal issues, including charges of misplacing and leaking the contents of a confidential cable delivered to Islamabad by Pakistan’s then-ambassador in the US in 2022.

Khan has continually disputed the charge, claiming that the dossier contained evidence that his resignation as prime minister was orchestrated by his political opponents and the country’s powerful military, with assistance from the US administration. Both Washington and Pakistan’s army deny the accusation.

Despite multiple recent court verdicts in his favor, Khan has been in prison since August of last year.

Source: Aljazeera

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NAB Re-Arrests Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi After Iddat Case Conviction Overturned

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NAB Re-Arrests Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi After Iddat Case Conviction Overturned

(CTN News) – Former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his wife, Bushra Bibi, were acquitted in the Iddat case by a sessions court on Saturday, less than 24 hours after the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the PTI in reserved seats.

However, their relief was short-lived when Imran Khan was detained by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for selling official goods. Bushra Bibi was also rearrested in this case while being released from Adiala Jail’s Gate No. 3.

According to sources, the NAB detained Bushra Bibi after the bureau’s chairman issued arrest warrants for her and Imran Khan. Both are to be investigated in Adiala Jail.

Opposition leader Omar Ayub Khan condemned Bushra Bibi’s imprisonment and criticized the Adiala Jail administration. He also cautioned the jail superintendent of the repercussions and announced that a privilege motion would be filed against him.

Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were acquitted in the Iddat case after Additional District and Sessions Judge (ADSJ) Mohammad Afzal Majoka reversed their previous verdict, which sentenced them to seven years in prison on February 3, five days before the general election.

Imran Khan’s lawyers, Usman Gill and Zaheer Abbas, were in court when the verdict was pronounced.

In the 28-page ruling, Judge Majoka rejected Khawar Fareed Maneka, Bushra Bibi’s ex-husband,’s arguments that Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi’s nikah was illegally performed and that Mr. Maneka was denied Buju (reconciliation rights) under religious law.

The court also rejected the allegation of fornication under provision 496-B of the Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), stating that no charge was filed under this provision against both Imran Khan and his spouse “because there was no evidence of a second witness”. The trial court heard only one witness, Mr Maneka’s domestic servant.

“In these circumstances, it cannot be said that the appellants committed fornication,” the judge wrote. Regarding the charge of contracting marriage fraudulently during the Iddat period, the judge found that in a video given as evidence during the trial, Mr. Maneka lauded his ex-wife, Bushra Bibi, and “deposed that his ex-wife is a pious lady.”

The magistrate inquired about “how this witness [Mr Maneka] can claim that the appellant No. 2 [Bushra Bibi] committed fraud with him” .

The court announced its decision: “From a perusal of Section 496 PPC and the above-mentioned esteemed citations, this court is of the view that the appellants have not gone through any marriage ceremony fraudulently or with dishonest intention because none of the parties claimed that nikah was not performed and fraudulently he or she was supposed to believe that marriage ceremony was solemnised.”

The court judgment added: “In the instant instance, it is the complainant’s case that the appellants’ nikah was done on January 1, 2018, followed by the second nikah in February 2018. By no stretch of the imagination, it was a marriage with dishonest or deceptive intentions.”

Regarding Mr. Maneka’s claim that he was denied reconciliation rights and so deceived by Imran Khan and Ms. Bibi, the court noted that during cross-examination, Mr. Maneka stated that he learned of the appellants’ marriage on the second day of their nikah.

Before submitting the complaint, the judge questioned why Mr Maneka had been silent on his reconciliation rights for six years.

The judge stated, “The complainant has failed to prove his case against the appellants.” As a result, both appeals filed by appellants No. 1 [Imran Khan] and No. 2 [Bushra Bibi] are accepted, the judgment of the learned trial court of February 3, 2024, is overturned, and both appellants are acquitted of the accusation.”

The court ordered their freedom unless they needed to be imprisoned in other cases.

Source: DAWN

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