ISLAMABAD, 10 April 2022, (TON): The opposition's no-trust motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan succeeded an hour past midnight on Sunday, with 174 members in the 342-strong house voting in favour of the motion.

PML-N's Ayaz Sadiq, who was chairing the session, announced the result.

According to PML-N spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb “Sadiq could not cast his vote as he was chairing the session. PTI dissenting members vote were not cast either.”

National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser resigned from his post.

He said "I will ask the panel chairman Ayaz Sadiq to run the session.”

After Sadiq took the chair, he paid tribute to Qaiser for remaining with his party and opting for an honourable exit.

RIYADH, 09 April 2022, (TON): Foreign ministers from Gulf Cooperation Council member states backed latest efforts to end the war in Yemen which they described as offering fresh hope of a roadmap for peace.

During the 151st session of the council, held in Riyadh, delegates also welcomed moves from the newly formed Yemeni presidential council to start negotiations with the Iran-backed Houthis.

Following his decision to step down as Yemen’s president, Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi delegated the presidential council to run the government and lead peace talks with the militant group, and the GCC ministers expressed their full support for the new authority.

Saudi political analyst, Mubarak Al-Ati, said “the Gulf states continue to assert that they are the ones who lead the joint Arab action by addressing the various Arab issues.”

MOSCOW, 09 April 2022, (TON): Russia said “it was shutting down the local offices of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that have been working in the country for the past 30 years.”

The announcement came on the 44th day of Russia’s military campaign in pro-Western Ukraine, with thousands killed and more than 11 million having fled their homes or the country in the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

Human Rights Watch has been operating in Russia for 30 years, while Amnesty has had a presence in the country since 1993.

The justice ministry said in a statement “all in all, 15 organizations have been taken off Russia’s registry of international organizations and foreign NGOs due to violations of the current legislation of the Russian Federation.”

Russia also shut down the local offices of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation, the Wspolnota Polska Association and other organizations.

MOSCOW, 09 April 2022, (TON): Russia will never betray its allies in the Transcaucasus for the sake of geopolitical games, unlike the United States and France, which, in a Russophobic frenzy, are ready to sacrifice the fate of the region and the Kara-bakh settlement.

This was stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov at a joint press conference following talks with his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan.

He noted “they sacrificed the fate of the region to their Russophobic tasks, at least the role that the troika could play in the fate of the region.”

This is a fact, and they set their priorities quite clearly “Russia will never sacrifice the interests of our closest allies to some geopolitical, much less propagandistic plans and games. We are fully committed to helping Armenia and Azerbaijan to establish a normal life.”

The head of the Russian diplomatic department drew attention to the fact that part of the work to normalize the situation is the delimitation of borders and that last year, at a meeting of the leaders of the Russian Federation, Azerbaijan and Armenia in Sochi, an agreement was reached on the creation of an appropriate bilateral commission with the advisory participation of Russia.

MOSCOW, 09 April 2022, (TON): Russia said “it was shutting down the local offices of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that have been working in the country for the past 30 years.”

The announcement came on the 44th day of Russia’s military campaign in pro-Western Ukraine, with thousands killed and more than 11 million having fled their homes or the country in the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

Human Rights Watch has been operating in Russia for 30 years, while Amnesty has had a presence in the country since 1993.

The justice ministry said in a statement “all in all, 15 organizations have been taken off Russia’s registry of international organizations and foreign NGOs due to violations of the current legislation of the Russian Federation.”

Russia also shut down the local offices of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation, the Wspolnota Polska Association and other organizations.

MOSCOW, 09 April 2022, (TON): Russia said “it was shutting down the local offices of Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International that have been working in the country for the past 30 years.”

The announcement came on the 44th day of Russia’s military campaign in pro-Western Ukraine, with thousands killed and more than 11 million having fled their homes or the country in the worst refugee crisis in Europe since World War II.

Human Rights Watch has been operating in Russia for 30 years, while Amnesty has had a presence in the country since 1993.

The justice ministry said in a statement “all in all, 15 organizations have been taken off Russia’s registry of international organizations and foreign NGOs due to violations of the current legislation of the Russian Federation.”

Russia also shut down the local offices of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, the Aga Khan Foundation, the Wspolnota Polska Association and other organizations.

LONDON, 09 April 2022, (TON): A statement issued by UK Ministry of Defence said “two additional RAF Typhoon jets will join four already in Romania.”

Together with eight Typhoons stationed in Cyprus, this uplift will bring the total number of RAF fighter jets stationed in South-Eastern Europe to 14. The two additional jets are expected to remain in Romania until the end of July.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace made the announ-cement on a visit to Mihail Kogalniceanu Airbase in Romania alongside Chief of the Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Sir Mike Wigston, where they met Romanian officials and observed UK jets taking part in NATO’s Air Policing mission.

The announcement reaffirms the UK’s commitm-ent to our bilateral defence relationship with Romania.

The Typhoon jets and Royal Air Force personnel have deployed to Romania to join the long-standing NATO Air Policing mission for the Black Sea region.

Operation Biloxi is the British name for the NATO Air Policing mission.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace MP said “the UK and Romania are steadfast in the defence of our shared values and commitment to NATO’s collective security, in the air, at sea, and on land.”

BRUSSELS, 09 April 2022, (TON): In light of Russia’s continuing war of aggression against Ukraine, and the reported atrocities committed by Russian armed forces in Ukraine, the Council decided to impose a fifth package of economic and individual sanctions against Russia.

The agreed package includes a series of measures intended to reinforce pressure on the Russian government and economy, and to limit the Kremlin’s resources for the aggression.

These latest sanctions were adopted following the atrocities committed by Russian armed forces in Bucha and other places under Russian occupation.

The aim of our sanctions is to stop the reckless, inhuman and aggressive behaviour of the Russian troops and make clear to the decision makers in the Kremlin that their illegal aggression comes at a heavy cost.

Josep Borrell, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy

The package comprises: – a prohibition to purchase, import or transfer coal and other solid fossil fuels into the EU if they originate in Russia or are exported from Russia, as from August 2022. Imports of coal into the EU are currently worth EUR 8 billion per year.

MANILA, 09 April 2022, (TON): Filipino and US forces on Friday concluded their largest joint military drill in the Philippines in recent years.

The two-week training exercise, involving nearly 9,000 soldiers from the northern coast of Luzon to Palawan islands, came amid rising tensions in the disputed South China Sea, a strategic waterway claimed by China almost entirely, while it is also contested by the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The annual drill, Balikatan, which means shoulder-to-shoulder in Tagalog covered maritime security, amphibious maneuvers, live-fire training, urban and aviation operations, counterterrorism, and humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Andres Centino said “this exercise effectively capacitates our armed forces as we fulfill our respective responsibilities in maintaining peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific Region.”

He added “the exercise was one of the Southeast Asian nation’s proactive measures in dealing with unprecedented and real-world challenges.”

WASHINGTON, 09 April 2022, (TON): At $773 billion, the fiscal 2023 Defense Budget Request is huge, but that doesn’t mean that painful choices are not necessary, defense leaders told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

A case in point is divestiture of capabilities no longer needed as the National Defense Strategy changes.

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and Army Gen. Mark A. Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told “with the change to strategic competition with China and Russia, that some of the capabilities resident in the Defense Department are no longer needed.”

The Navy seeks to decommission some cruisers, littoral combat ships and dock landing ships. The Navy also looks to retire the RQ-21 unmanned reconnaissance aircraft.

The Air Force looks to divest some A-10s, the E-3 Sentry aircraft, the E-8 JSTARS aircraft, some KC-135 refuelers and some C-130H aircraft.

The secretary said “the savings from cancelling, retiring or divesting these capabilities would allow the department to redirect resources to higher defense necessities.”

Austin said “in fact, if this budget is approved, DOD would receive $2.7 billion that it could reinvest in other, more pressing, systems.”

He said, confronting powers like China and Russia means that the US military must maximize “capability and capacity resident in every warfighting domain, air, land, space, sea and cyber, and that we’re able to network those capabilities in new and different ways.”