World

ISLAMABAD — The son of Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took charge of Punjab province on Saturday, the country’s most politically important region, further bolstering the dynasty’s grip on power.

It comes weeks after cricket superstar turned politician Imran Khan was ousted from power in a no-confidence vote when the usually feuding families formed an opposition coalition.

Hamza Shehbaz Sharif took over as chief minister of Punjab — the country’s richest, most populous and politically influential province — after weeks of deadlock.

The region’s governor and a Khan loyalist refused to swear in the new chief, elected by the provincial assembly, forcing Lahore high court to step in.

“Today a month-long political crisis in Punjab has come to an end,” the 47-year-old Sharif told reporters after he was sworn in.

“I will seek guidance from the Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and will take coalition partners into confidence.”

The Sharif family, including three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, the brother of the new prime minister, have been embroiled in countless corruption and money laundering allegations — and Hamza Sharif is no exception.

The family deny the accusations and argue they are politically motivated.

The younger Sharif’s appointment as Punjab province’s chief minister comes days after Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, was appointed as one of world’s youngest foreign ministers at the age of 33.

Khan was voted in by an electorate weary of two-party dynasties in 2018 on a promise of sweeping away decades of entrenched corruption and cronyism.

But he struggled to maintain support with soaring inflation, a feeble rupee and crippling debt.

Since his ouster Khan has taken to the streets and held massive rallies that attract thousands in the hope of forcing an early election before the next October 2023 poll.

SEOUL — North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has repeated his warning that Pyongyang could “preemptively” use its nuclear weaponry to counter hostile forces, state media reported on Saturday.

Kim told top military officers that to “maintain the absolute superiority” of North Korea’s armed forces, the country should be able to “preemptively and thoroughly contain and frustrate all dangerous attempts and threatening moves... if necessary”, the official KCNA news agency reported.

Pyongyang should continue to build up its arsenal so that it can have the “overwhelming military muscle that no force in the world can provoke”, Kim said, calling it the “lifeline guaranteeing the security of our country”.

The leader’s comments followed similar remarks at a military parade on Monday, when he said he could use his atomic arsenal if North Korea’s “fundamental interests” were threatened.

Kim made his latest comments at a meeting with top brass to praise their work on Monday’s parade, which commemorated the 90th anniversary of the country’s armed forces and showcased its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles.

Despite biting sanctions, North Korea has doubled down on Kim’s military modernisation drive, test-firing a slew of banned weapons this year while ignoring US offers of talks.

Last month Pyongyang test-fired an ICBM at full range for the first time since 2017, and satellite imagery has shown signs of activity at a nuclear testing site.

The string of weapons tests comes as South Korea prepares for an incoming president, Yoon Suk-yeol, who takes a more hawkish approach to Pyongyang and has not ruled out a preemptive strike if necessary.

Analysts say Kim’s warning shows he is not open to dialogue with Seoul’s new government.

“Kim’s remarks demonstrate no interest in engaging with the incoming Yoon administration in South Korea or restarting denuclearisation talks with the United States,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor of international studies at Ewha University in Seoul.

ABUJA — A group of 4,000 Nigerians who fled years ago to neighbouring Niger because of violence have returned home despite ongoing insecurity and almost non-existent services in the area.

The refugees’ return to Mallam Fatori town in the Abadam district of Borno state on March 31 and April 1 is part of the authorities’ effort to shut crowded camps, bring back refugees and relocate internally displaced people who want to go home.

But aid workers are worried the returns to the north-eastern town, which has been deserted for half-a-decade and is close to areas still controlled by militants, will cause harm and more displacements.

Borno authorities did not respond to AFP’s multiple requests for comment on the returns.

But officials have previously said they only return people to safe areas, with the goal of weaning them off humanitarian assistance and encouraging farming activities.

The refugees had been living with more than 180,000 others in southeast Niger’s Diffa region, where they began arriving in 2014 when it was deemed safer than conflict-wracked northeast Nigeria.

However, Boko Haram and its rival, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) group, have since spread over the border, launching attacks from their island enclaves in Lake Chad.

On March 9 alone, gunmen attacked three villages in Niger where Nigerian refugees were present, according to a local researcher who tracks the conflict.

“They killed about 45 people and abducted 22 others,” Malik Samuel of the Institute for Security Studies told AFP. “So, many refugees want to come back to Nigeria.”

Mines, mortars 

Nigeria’s military has conducted clearance operations and patrols alongside Nigerien troops ahead of the returns, but Abadam remains a stronghold for ISWAP, which has taken over from Boko Haram to become the dominant threat in the region.

For years, the insurgents have infested the area with improvised explosive devices (IEDs), laying road ambushes and, more recently, firing mortar bombs towards military posts.

“Even troops are cautious about going on patrol,” said a security source in the state capital Maiduguri, adding that in Mallam Fatori, the “troops’ preoccupation is securing the base from the terrorists”.

According to a second security source who collects conflict data and asked to remain anonymous, there were almost 50 attacks in Abadam in the past six months alone, including 38 on Mallam Fatori.

Attacks have often had little impact, as there were hardly any civilians in the area until these returns, but in February ISWAP said it had killed at least 30 soldiers in two ambushes.

ISWAP has also warned the government not to return civilians to the area, even infiltrating the town earlier in March and burning down shelters that were built by the authorities for the refugees.

A local official who said he was with the governor when the refugees returned told AFP that a detachment from the Multinational Joint Task Force, comprising troops from Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria, was stationed in the town.

“But their mandate is only for two months,” he said, asking to remain anonymous.

Since the refugees’ return, no large-scale attacks have been reported on the town but the real test will come next month, when the rain starts and farming activities can resume.

Some civilians could try and go beyond the trenches to access fields, where the risk from mines and kidnapping is high.

Limited water 

In the meantime, access to essential services is limited and aid workers cannot fill gaps because they consider the area out of reach due to insecurity.

What’s more, there are no safe roads to and from the town, which is only accessible through Niger.

“We are concerned about the untimely repatriation... to Mallam Fatori,” said Camilla Corradin, a spokeswoman for the INGO Forum which represents 54 international NGOs providing humanitarian and development assistance in Nigeria.

Repatriations that “do not align with international legal frameworks”, she added, “will be unsustainable and cause harm, including subsequent displacement”.

A senior humanitarian official based in the northeast and who gathered information from the town said there was sparse access to drinking water.

“The only water point is in the military base. They have working hours so there are limited times when returnees can access it,” the aid official said, asking to remain anonymous.

Borno gave food and cash to the refugees and built temporary shelters, classrooms and a healthcare centre, according to a statement in March from the governor’s spokesman Isa Gusau.

But according to the aid official, the school does not yet have teachers and medical supplies are lacking at the clinic.

A second humanitarian source based in Abuja said they had received the same details from “informants” in the town.

Both said that there was also no functioning market, with the closest one located across the international border, in Niger.

“The truth is,” the first security source said, “the refugees... are literally living in a concentration camp. They are kept in the town, without access to basic needs, and they can’t move out.”

OTTAWA — Ottawa police deployed in force on Saturday in the Canadian capital's centre amid a motorcyclists-led anti-establishment protest, after making multiple arrests when a crowd became "combative" overnight.

At least seven participants in the "Rolling Thunder Ottawa" rally, which comes two months after a three-week-long trucker-led occupation of the city, have been arrested, police said on Friday.

Canadian authorities have vowed to prevent the motorcyclists' rally from becoming as disruptive as the truckers' demonstrations, which choked central Ottawa before the government invoked extraordinary powers to dismantle it.

Three city blocks around the Parliament have been barricaded since the end of the truckers' demonstration.

On Friday night, "Public Order Units were deployed... to disperse an aggressive and combative crowd", police said, noting that the seven were held on charges including assaulting police. Twenty-four vehicles have also been towed.

The bikers have not made their demands explicit, though several said in social media posts that they sought to "defend their freedom", while others bitterly criticised Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his policies.

Early Saturday, protesters on foot converged on a war monument in central Ottawa, said an AFP journalist. Among the protesters were military veterans wearing medal-bedecked vests, their participation reminiscent of the truckers' protests, when former police and retired soldiers helped coordinate protest actions.

Many demonstrators carried Canadian flags — brandished as a symbol of protest when the truckers, angered over anti-COVID protocols and broader government policies, rallied in Ottawa.

On Saturday, drones could be seen flying overhead and the smell of cannabis wafted through the area, as helmeted police maintained a heavy presence.

Motorised vehicles are banned on weekends from the central area where the Parliament and the prime minister's residence are located.

Police say they are monitoring social media for "threatening or intimidating behaviours”.

A protest organiser, Neil Sheard, had said on a YouTube video that the restrictions on vehicle traffic could spark a "free for all".

On Twitter, the police noted that some protesters were wearing protective gear. It added, "We are reminding everyone to remain lawful, respectful and follow police direction."

On the fringes of Saturday's protest, counter-protesters — many of them local residents unhappy about the latest intrusion — expressed their own frustrations.

BEIJING/ Paris — Russia's foreign minister urged the US and NATO to stop supplying Kyiv with arms if they are "really interested in resolving the Ukraine crisis", Chinese state media reported on Saturday.

Months into an invasion that failed in its short-term aim of capturing Kyiv, Moscow is now intensifying operations in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region. 

But Sergei Lavrov told China's official Xinhua news agency that the "special military operation... is proceeding strictly according to plan".

China has avoided condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine and defends its firm friendship with Moscow, with state media often echoing the Russian line on the war.

"If the US and NATO are really interested in resolving the Ukraine crisis, then first of all, they should wake up and stop supplying the Kyiv regime with arms and ammunition," Lavrov said.

The Kremlin had previously called Western arms deliveries to Ukraine a threat to European security.

In his interview with Xinhua published on Saturday, Lavrov said that Russia can "retool" its economy to guard against potential "unlawful hostilities".

He added that the sanctions-hit country will focus on moving away from the US dollar and lean less on imports, while boosting its tech independence, Xinhua reported.

Moscow has pursued a “de-dollarisation” policy for several years, calling on partners such as China and India to conduct payments in other currencies. 

Since the invasion, Western nations have imposed sanctions that largely cut Russia’s financial sector off from the global economy.

Ukrainian prosecutors say they have pinpointed more than 8,000 war crimes and are investigating 10 Russian soldiers for suspected atrocities in Bucha, where dozens of bodies in civilian clothes were found following Moscow’s retreat.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Saturday that France would “intensify” its supply of military and humanitarian support following a conversation with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky thanked France for “large-scale military shipments that contribute to the Ukrainian resistance”, Macron said, adding “that this support will continue to intensify, as will the humanitarian assistance provided by France”.

“The mission of French experts contributing to the collection of evidence to fight against impunity and allow the work of international justice concerning crimes committed in the context of the Russian aggression will continue,” he said. 

The United States, France, the Czech Republic and other allies have provided Kyiv with hundreds of long-range artillery pieces to help it counter Moscow’s offensive in the Donbas. 

Paris is sending its ultra-modern Caesar canons. 

The French presidency said on Saturday that aid to Ukraine amounted to “more than 615 tonnes of equipment, including medical equipment, generators for hospitals, food aid, shelter aid and emergency vehicles”.

MOSCOW — UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called during a visit to Russia Tuesday for Moscow and Kyiv to work together to set up aid and evacuation corridors in war-torn Ukraine.

"We urgently need humanitarian corridors that are truly safe and effective," he told a press conference after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. 

"To that end I have proposed the establishment of a humanitarian contact group bringing together the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United Nations to look for opportunities for the opening of safe corridors," he said.

Guterres also called for an independent investigation into "possible war crimes" in Ukraine.

"I am concerned about the repeated reports of violations of international humanitarian and human rights law and possible war crimes. And they require independent investigation for effective accountability," Guterres said.

Lavrov said Moscow was ready to cooperate with the United Nations to help civilians in Ukraine. 

"Our goals are primarily to protect the civilian population and here we are ready to cooperate with our colleagues from the UN to alleviate the plight of the civilian population," Lavrov said.

He said Russia was in favour of resolving the conflict in Ukraine with peace talks, but said it was "depressing" the way the Kyiv delegation and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky behaved. 

Nearly 5.3 million Ukrainians have fled the country since Russia launched its invasion two months ago, the UN said Tuesday, warning that three million more were expected to follow this year.

In total, 5,264,767 people have fled Ukraine as refugees since February 24, according to the latest data from the UN refugee agency, UNHCR.

That marks an increase of 32,753 over Monday’s figure.

While the outflow has slowed significantly since March, UNHCR said Tuesday it now projects that three million more Ukrainians could become refugees by the end of the year.

UNHCR spokeswoman Shabia Mantoo said the new projection of 8.3 million Ukrainian refugees was a planning figure, and that it was unclear when it would be reached amid a “highly dynamic” situation.

“This displacement has been on such an expansive scale, and the rapidity of this we haven’t seen in recent times,” she told reporters in Geneva.

RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany — Forty countries will hold emergency talks in Germany on Tuesday on bolstering the defence of Ukraine, which the US Pentagon chief believes "can win" against Russia if given the necessary means and backing.

The meeting called by the US at its Ramstein airbase in south-western Germany is "focused on doing things to generate additional capability and capacity for the Ukrainian forces", said Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin following his visit Sunday to Kyiv.

"We believe that they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support," Austin said.

Just ahead of the talks, Germany signalled that it was ready to authorise the deliveries of tanks to Ukraine, in what would be a major switch in Berlin's cautious policy vis-a-vis defence equipment supply for Kyiv.

Austin, accompanied by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, had met Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky in their first visits to Kyiv since Russia invaded Ukraine two months ago.

The US is already the biggest supplier of international military aid to Ukraine.

And it pledged to do "everything that we can to get them the types of support, the types of artillery and munitions that will be effective in this stage of the fight", Austin told a press conference in Poland.

Kyiv is seeking heavy artillery and tanks to repel Russian forces trying to seize complete control of its vast southern plains and the eastern region of Donbas.

But the Russian-made equipment which Ukrainians have been trained to use is now rare.

Some countries in eastern Europe which still had stocks have sent them to Kyiv, sometimes in exchange for newer generation US equipment, as journalists accompanying the US ministers were able to witness.

Diapers and howitzers 

Austin and Blinken held their press conference in Poland following their visit to Kyiv at a warehouse stacked high with tonnes of humanitarian and military aid ready to be packed onto trucks bound for Ukraine.

Next to the pallets of medical material and diapers were hundreds of Russian-made shells and rockets provided by countries that prefer to remain discreet on their participation in arming Ukraine.

Outside the warehouse, seven vehicles towing howitzers with a range of 30 kilometres were awaiting transfer. They were parked in front of hundreds of pallets of carefully packed shells and various ammunitions.

But all that is insufficient, and Washington, which had in the beginning limited its deliveries to so-called "defensive" weapons, has started to send heavy US-made arms, like howitzer cannons and various armoured vehicles.

"We're also engaging our colleagues in other countries for the same type of capability, and we see indications early on that... many countries are going to come forward and provide additional munitions and howitzers," said Austin.

France is delivering Caesar cannons with a range of 40 kilometres and Britain has provided Starstreak anti-air missiles and tanks.

The meeting is also aimed at ensuring Ukraine's security in the longer term once the war is over.

"It's really largely about modernising and making sure their military is still potent and capable going forward. It's not about security guarantees, it's about their actual military posture," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby on Friday.

The meeting on Tuesday will not be held under the auspices of NATO, even if the alliance's secretary general Jens Stoltenberg will be attending.

"As you know, NATO as an alliance is not providing security assistance to Ukraine, so this is not being done under the NATO umbrella at all," stressed Kirby.

Among the 40 invited countries are not only Washington's European allies, but also countries further afield like Japan or Australia, which fear that a Russian victory in Ukraine could set a precedent and spur on the territorial ambitions of China.

Finland and Sweden, traditionally neutral countries now looking at joining NATO following Russia's aggression in Ukraine, are also among countries at the talks.