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Former Pakistan prime minister Jamali, who served after military coup, dies

Pakistan's former prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who served under military leader Pervez Musharraf, has died, his family announced.

The 76-year-old died in the city of Rawalpindi outside Islamabad on Wednesday after recently suffering a heart attack, his son Mir Muhammad Khan Jamali said.


Jamali was elected prime minister but with limited powers in November 2002, when president Musharraf allowed parliamentary elections to take place after he took power in a bloodless 1999 coup.

Musharraf went on to rule the country until 2008 but was forced to resign the same year after pro-military parties lost parliamentary elections and the country transitioned back to a democracy.

Jamali stepped down in the summer of 2004 after developing differences with the party leadership and Musharraf, paving the way for one of his cabinet ministers, Shaukat Aziz, to fill the post until the next parliamentary election in 2008.

Hailing from an influential political family, Jamali was the first and only prime minister to come from the oil-and-gas-rich province of Balochistan, which has seen several long-running Islamist and separatist insurgencies.

He was to be buried Thursday in his ancestral town of Rojhan Jamali.

"Saddened to hear of the passing of Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali. My condolences and prayers go to his family," prime minister Imran Khan wrote on Twitter.

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London tourist levy

The capital recorded 89 m overnight stays in 2024

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London to introduce tourist levy that could raise £240 million a year

Kumail Jaffer

Highlights

  • Government expected to give London powers to bring in a tourist levy on overnight stays.
  • GLA study says a £1 fee could raise £91m, a 5 per cent charge could generate £240m annually.
  • Research suggests London would not see a major fall in visitor numbers if levy introduced.
The mayor of London has welcomed reports that he will soon be allowed to introduce a tourist levy on overnight visitors, with new analysis outlining how a charge could work in the capital.
Early estimates suggest a London levy could raise as much as £240 m every year. The capital recorded 89 m overnight stays in 2024.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to give Sadiq Khan and other English city leaders the power to impose such a levy through the upcoming English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill. London currently cannot set its own tourist tax, making England the only G7 nation where national government blocks local authorities from doing so.

A spokesperson for the mayor said City Hall supported the idea in principle, adding “The Mayor has been clear that a modest tourist levy, similar to other international cities, would boost our economy, deliver growth and help cement London’s reputation as a global tourism and business destination.”

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