Former pro-Khalistan leader Jaswant Singh Thakedar said on Thursday that the Pakistani ISI promoted the referendums organised in Western countries, including Canada and the UK. He added that the calls for Punjab’s independence from India do not reflect the sentiments of Punjabi Sikhs.
On Thursday, Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal rejected former Pakistani PM Imran Khan’s plea to suspend the non-bailable warrant issued against him on corruption charges. While the Lahore police postponed the operation for his arrest till Friday, the judge directed Khan to appear before the court on 18 March.
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang told his Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba on a phone call on Thursday that “China hopes that all parties will remain calm, rational and restrained, and resume peace talks as soon as possible.” Qin also expressed hope that Russia and Ukraine “will not close the door to a political solution no matter how difficult and challenging the situation” is.
Citing the devastation of the more than two-year-old military coup in Myanmar, UN Special Envoy Noeleen Heyzer said that it was crucial that a “Myanmar-led process reflective of all voices — especially women, youth and minorities — be allowed to decide the country’s future.” Heyzer added that the country must design “sustainable solutions for the Rohingya people” in a “peaceful, inclusive, and democratic Myanmar.”
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that his country will “act against Iran’s aggression and terrorism” in the Middle East. Regarding Tehran’s threats to “annihilate” Israel, during a press conference alongside German Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin, Netanyahu stressed that the “Jewish people will not allow a second Holocaust." Netanyahu warned that Israel “will do everything necessary to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.”
Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Thursday announced that 21 people died in a coal mine collapse in Bogotá after ten miners, who were reported missing, were found dead on the same day. The mine collapsed on Tuesday after accumulated gas caused an explosion.
More than 400 people have been killed in Madagascar, Malawi, and Mozambique since Tropical Cyclone Freddy first hit Africa in February. The cyclone’s second landfall over the 11-12 March weekend caused the death toll to rise drastically. Although the storm has subsided, heavy rainfall is expected to continue, which may lead to more flooding in and around Malawi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed an audience of Russian billionaires at the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), in Moscow, on Thursday. Putin appreciated the “high mission” of the entrepreneurs who worked and helped for the public good, not just to gain profits. He added that a responsible entrepreneur “does not hide assets offshore, but registers companies here, in our country, and does not become dependent on foreign authorities.” Putin urged the business elites to invest in the country before Western sanctions cripple the Russian economy in the “medium term.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced humanitarian assistance of $150 million to West and Central Africa and the Sahel, including Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, and Niger, on Thursday. The assistance will also seek to help “Sahelian refugees and migrants in Libya” with all the funding necessary. The “life-saving support” of the US includes all the essentials like food, shelter, sanitation, and safe drinking water, among others.