A complaint has been lodged against Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif by some overseas Pakistanis over the latter's alleged involvement in the attack on former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, ARY News reported on Sunday.
Calling Nawaz Sharif a 'mastermind' behind the assassination attempt on the PTI chief, the complaint by the overseas Pakistanis read, "the assassination attempt on Imran Khan was planned in London." Petitioners' counsel said that PML-N Vice President Maryam Nawaz and Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah were also nominated in the complaint. "The London police have assured action by giving the crime reference number," he added.
Imran Khan was shot during his long march in Wazirabad on Thursday, leading to bullet injuries in his legs. After sustaining injuries on his leg, he was shifted to a hospital for treatment.
A day after the alleged assassination attempt, the PTI chief said he knew beforehand that assassination was being planned against him. "A day before going to the rally, I knew that assassination was being planned against me either in Wazirabad or Gujrat," Khan said in his first address, since the "assassination" attempt on him.
Imran Khan has alleged that "four people plotted to kill him behind closed doors" and he has a video which will be released "if something happens" to him.
PTI chief also said that the attack on him in which bullets were fired was carried out at the behest of three people including Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the country's Interior Minister and a top ISI General and his remarks were based on information he had received.
Khan had said there are only two options left to the Pakistani public: a peaceful or a bloody revolution. "There is no third way out. I have seen the country wake up," he added.
Protesters calling for the closure of The Bell Hotel, believed to be housing asylum seekers, gather outside the council offices in Epping on August 8, 2025. (Photo: Getty Images)
Epping Forest District Council applies for High Court injunction over Bell Hotel use
Protests began after asylum seeker charged with assaulting a 14-year-old girl
At least six protests since July, with 28 arrests and 16 charges
Council cites breach of planning permission and community safety concerns
THE COUNCIL in Epping, northeast of London, has applied for a High Court injunction to stop asylum seekers being housed in a local hotel, following protests, some of which turned violent.
Epping Forest District Council is seeking an interim injunction to prevent the Bell Hotel from accommodating asylum seekers and refugees, citing “the clear risk of further escalating community tensions.”
“The current situation cannot go on. If the Bell Hotel was a nightclub we could have closed it down long ago,” council leader Chris Whitbread of the Conservative party said in a statement.
Protests and police action
Protests began in July after an asylum seeker was charged with sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl, which he denies. Since then, hundreds of people have joined protests and counter-protests outside the hotel. Anti-immigration demonstrations have also taken place in London and other parts of England.
Police said there have been at least six protests in Epping since July 17, with 28 people arrested and 16 charged in connection with disorder. Police officers and vehicles have been attacked during some protests.
Council’s concerns
The council says the building’s use breaches planning permissions because it is no longer operating as a hotel and is near schools and a care home.
“So far as the council is aware, there is no criminal record checking of individuals ... before being housed at the hotel,” Whitbread said.
“The use by the Home Office of the premises for asylum seekers poses a clear risk of further escalating community tensions already at a high, and the risk of irreparable harm to the local community.”
Prime minister Keir Starmer has pledged to reduce the number of migrants and asylum seekers in the UK to counter pressure from the Reform UK party. But Whitbread accused the government of “not listening.”
“We should not have to take this fight to the High Court, but we are left with no choice,” he said.
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Salal Dam on the Chenab, the first hydropower project under the Indus Water Treaty
AN INTERNATIONAL court ruling that said India must adhere to the Indus Waters Treaty in the design of new hydro-electric power stations on rivers that flow west to Pakistan endorses Islamabad's position, a senior Pakistani official said on Tuesday (12).
There was no immediate comment from India's foreign ministry.
Under the 1960 Indus Waters Treaty, three rivers that flow westwards were awarded to Pakistan, with India getting three eastern flowing rivers. Pakistan fears its neighbour India could choke its main water supply, with 80 per cent of the country's agriculture and hydro-power dependent on those three river flows.
In 2023, Pakistan brought a case to the Hague-based Permanent Court of Arbitration over the design of Indian hydro-power projects on rivers that were awarded to Pakistan under the treaty.
The court, in a ruling on Friday (8) that was posted on its website on Monday (11), said it had jurisdiction over the dispute and ruled the treaty "does not permit India to generate hydro-electric power on the Western Rivers based on what might be the ideal or best practices approach for engineering" of these projects.
Instead, the design of these projects must adhere "strictly" to the specifications laid down in the treaty, the court said.
Pakistan's attorney general, Mansoor Usman, said in an interview on Tuesday that, by and large, the court had accepted Pakistan's position, especially on the design issue of the new hydropower projects.
"I am sure it is clear now that India cannot construct any of these projects in violation of the court's decision," he told Reuters.
Pakistan's foreign ministry said late Monday that the court ruling said that India had to "let flow" the waters of the three rivers for Pakistan's unrestricted use.
The court said its findings are final and binding on both countries, according to the foreign office statement.
An Indian official pointed to a June statement by India's foreign ministry, which said that India has never recognised the existence in law of the Court of Arbitration.
Tensions between the two countries over the Indus Waters Treaty soared when India unilaterally said in April that it would hold the treaty in abeyance in response to the killing of 26 civilians in Indian-controlled Kashmir, an attack it blamed on Islamabad. Pakistan denied involvement.
Conflict then erupted in May, the most serious fighting between the two countries in decades, before it ended with a cease-fire announcement by US president Donald Trump.
(Reuters)
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The forecast, produced by Imperial College London, prompted the mayor’s office to trigger the alert. (Representational image: Getty)
A HIGH air pollution alert has been issued for London on Tuesday as temperatures are forecast to exceed 30 degrees celsius.
City Hall said strong sunshine and hot weather are expected to lead to high ozone levels, with airflow from mainland Europe likely to worsen the situation.
The forecast, produced by Imperial College London, prompted the mayor’s office to trigger the alert, BBC reported.
Warnings will be displayed on bus stop countdown boards, London Underground signs and sent to schools and borough councils.
Mete Coban, deputy mayor for environment and energy, said London’s “toxic air” is linked to about 4,000 premature deaths in the city each year.
“We are urging Londoners to look after themselves in this pollution alert during the hot weather, stop their engines idling, and refrain from burning wood or garden waste – all of which contribute to high levels of pollution,” he said, according to BBC.
High air pollution can affect older people, young children and those with existing heart and lung conditions. The alert system, introduced in 2016, uses the government’s Daily Air Quality Index.
The UK Health Security Agency has issued heat health alerts for all of England until Wednesday, with London among the hottest areas at up to 34 degrees celsius.
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A group of migrants get on an inflatable dinghy to leave the coast of northern France in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain as tougher migration controls were announced, from the beach of Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais, France. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
MORE THAN 50,000 people have made the perilous Channel crossing to the UK in small boats since Keir Starmer became prime minister last July, official figures showed on Tuesday (12).
Starmer came to power promising to "smash the gangs" of people smugglers operating the boats, but 474 more people made the crossing on Monday (11), bringing the total to 50,271 since he came to power on July 5, 2024.
The issue of cross-Channel migration has become a major headache for Starmer's year-old Labour government, as support for the upstart anti-immigrant Reform UK party soars.
More than 27,000 migrants have made the Channel crossing in rudimentary vessels this year alone.
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative party that was defeated last year, on Tuesday said that she would "quickly" stop the crossings if she was in power.
"Stopping people from coming here in the first place -- if they think they're going to be sent to Rwanda and not get here, get a free hotel, get benefits, then they won't come here," she said.
London and Paris last month unveiled a "pilot" programme to return to France some of the migrants arriving in the UK on small boats, with the first detentions made last week.
Starmer called the deal "groundbreaking" and capable of stemming the record numbers of people who have embarked on the journey so far this year.
Although Starmer did not say how many people might be returned to France, media reports suggest it could initially total around 50 people a week.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the deal "a humiliation for Brexit Britain".
(AFP)
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Ireland India Council and Shubh Connection kick off the International Day Of Yoga & Solstice Day in Meath on June 21. (Photo: Ireland India Council)
ONE of Ireland’s largest events celebrating Indian culture has been postponed following recent violent incidents targeting members of the Indian community, the Ireland India Council said on Monday.
“We feel that the situation at the moment for holding India Day is not conducive,” council co-chairman Prashant Shukla told reporters after meeting Ireland’s Deputy Prime Minister Simon Harris.
The annual event, scheduled for Sunday, has been organised by the council in collaboration with the Irish government since 2015 and features cultural performances.
Shukla said the decision to postpone the celebration was “very difficult” but taken for the “safety” of the community.
“I completely condemn the despicable acts of violence and racism that we have seen against some members of the community in recent weeks,” Harris said in an X post after meeting Indian community leaders.
Ireland’s police force did not provide details about the number or nature of the incidents when asked by AFP.
Earlier this month, the Indian Embassy in Dublin issued a safety advisory after “an increase in instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently”.
The embassy advised Indians “to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially in odd hours”.
The Irish Embassy in New Delhi said it “condemns” the attacks and is in contact with police regarding investigations.
Local media reported that a six-year-old girl of Indian origin was assaulted and called racial slurs last week in southeast Ireland. The Irish Times also reported that an Indian taxi driver in Dublin was attacked with a broken bottle by two passengers and told to “go back to your country”.
Shukla said there was concern about “the speed of hate coming on our social media” and cited “extreme right propaganda and some false perception” that Indian immigrants were responsible for Ireland’s housing problems.
According to an Irish government website, India Day is “one of the largest India-related events in Ireland”. The new date will be announced later.
India marks its independence from British colonial rule on August 15, with celebrations held worldwide by the Indian diaspora.
An estimated 80,000 people of Indian descent live in Ireland, making up around one per cent of the population.