LONDON: Rishi Sunak will on Tuesday be installed as Britain’s third prime minister this year, replacing the humiliated Liz Truss after just seven weeks and inheriting a daunting array of problems.

on Monday after rival contender Penny Mordaunt failed to secure enough nominations from Tory MPs, and Boris Johnson dramatically aborted a comeback bid.

The 42-year-old Hindu will be Britain’s first prime minister of colour and the youngest in more than two centuries.

Sunak will take power in a morning audience with King Charles III, who is anointing his first prime minister since ascending the throne just two days after his late mother Queen Elizabeth II appointed Truss.

The ceremony on September 6 was the last major public act of her record-breaking reign.

Truss will hold a final cabinet meeting before making a departing statement in Downing Street at around 10:15 am (0915 GMT), with Sunak expected to speak just over an hour later.

She leaves office as the shortest-serving premier in history, after a calamitous tax-slashing budget sparked economic and political turmoil.

The 47-year-old announced her Resigned last Thursday, admitting she could not deliver her “mandate” from Conservative members — who had chosen her over Sunak in the summer.

He has now staged a stunning turnaround in political fortunes, and vows to do the same for Britain as it confronts decades-high inflation, surging borrowing costs and imminent recession.

Addressing the public on Monday, Sunak promised “stability and unity” as well as bringing “our party and our country together”.

‘Choices‘ 
After delivering the now all-too-familiar new leader’s speech from the steps of Number 10 at around 11:35 am, Britain’s fifth prime minister in six years will start appointing his top team before facing his first session of “Prime Minister’s Questions” in parliament on Wednesday.

Finance minister Jeremy Hunt, appointed by Truss just 11 days ago in an ultimately futile bid to salvage her premiership, could remain in the role after stabilising the markets.

He endorsed Sunak on Sunday, writing in the Telegraph that he was a leader “willing to make the choices necessary for our long-term prosperity”.

Whoever heads the Treasury is set to unveil the government’s much-anticipated medium-term fiscal plans on October 31, Halloween, alongside independent assessments.

Sunak must also decide whether to appoint to his cabinet senior MPs who did not support him, such as Mordaunt, in a bid to unify his fractured party.

One so-called big beast unlikely to get a seat around the table is his former boss Johnson, who was driven out in July partly thanks to Sunak’s resignation.

The pair met late Saturday, when Johnson reportedly urged him to form a power-sharing partnership.

The ex-leader had only secured the public backing of a few dozen Tory MPs, compared to well over 100 for Sunak, and the offer was rebuffed.

A day later, Johnson bowed to political reality and announced he would not move forward with his audacious comeback.

“You can’t govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament,” he acknowledged.

‘No mandate’ 
Sunak, a wealthy descendant of immigrants from India and East Africa, is also facing calls for a general election after becoming the latest UK leader who lacks a direct mandate from the electorate.

Pollster Ipsos said Monday that 62 percent of voters want a vote by the end of the year.

“He has no mandate, no answers and no ideas,” Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner tweeted.

Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon, whose nationalist government wants to hold an independence referendum next year, echoed the comments — while recognising the significance of Britain getting its first leader of colour.

The next election is not due until January 2025 at the latest and opposition parties have no way to force one, unless dozens of Conservative MPs acquiesce.

That appears unlikely as a flurry of polls show Labour with its largest lead in decades.

YouGov modelling Monday showed Sunak faces an uphill battle to restore confidence in both the Tories and himself.

Weekend responses from 12,000 people found that Labour leader Keir Starmer was seen as the “best prime minister” in 389 constituencies, compared with Sunak’s 127.

former prime minister Imran Khan

Islamabad: In a major setback to former prime minister Imran Khan, Pakistan’s top election body on Friday disqualified him from holding public office for five years in the Toshakhana case for hiding proceeds from the sale of gifts he received from foreign leaders.

After the consensus ruling by a four-member bench headed by Chief Election Commissioner Sikander Sultan Raja, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chairman cannot become a member of the parliament for five years.

The decision was taken unanimously by the five-member bench. However, the member from Punjab was not present for the announcement.

The ruling coalition government lawmakers had filed a case with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) in August against 70-year-old Khan seeking his disqualification for failing to reveal the proceeds from the sale of gifts that he purchased at a discounted price from the state repository, also called Toshakhana.

The ECP after hearing the case had reserved its judgment on September 19 on the conclusion of the proceedings.

The bench of the ECP on Friday unanimously ruled that Khan was involved in corrupt practices and was disqualified as a member of the parliament. It also announced that action would be taken against him under the corrupt practices laws.

Asad Umar, Secretary General of Khan’s party, announced that the decision would be challenged in the Islamabad High Court.

Fawad Chaudhry, another PTI leader, rejected the verdict and asked Khan’s followers to stage protests.

The ruling came days after Khan’s party on Monday swept the crucial by-elections, winning six out of eight National Assembly seats and two out of three provincial assembly seats.

Khan, who contested seven National Assembly seats in the crucial by-elections held on Sunday, emerged victorious in six constituencies.

Khan, who came to power in 2018, apparently received expensive gifts from rich Arab rulers during official visits, which were deposited in the Toshakhana. Later, he bought the same at a discounted price as per the relevant laws and sold the same at hefty profits.

Though morally apprehensive for rulers like Khan, who always takes a high moral ground and leaves no occasion to castigate his opponents as corrupt , the purchase and sale were legally allowed.

The former premier informed the ECP during the hearing that the sale of the gifts that he had procured from the state treasury after paying Rs 21.56 million fetched about Rs 58 million.

The gifts, among others, included a Graff wristwatch, a pair of cufflinks, an expensive pen, a ring and four Rolex watches.

According to his opponents, Khan failed to show the sales in the income tax returns, making him liable.

The case filed with the ECP seeks his disqualification under Articles 62 and 63 of the Constitution which suggests disqualification if someone is not truthful.

Established in 1974, the Toshakhana is a department under the administrative control of the Cabinet Division and stores precious gifts given to rulers, parliamentarians, bureaucrats, and officials by heads of other governments and states and foreign dignitaries.

Khan was ousted from power in April after losing a no-confidence vote in his leadership, which he alleged was part of a US-led conspiracy targeting him because of his independent foreign policy decisions on Russia, China and Afghanistan.

The cricketer-turned-politician, who came to power in 2018, is the only Pakistani Prime Minister to be ousted in a no-confidence vote in Parliament.

KATHMANDU: The Kathmandu District Court on Monday granted seven days of police custody remand to further investigate the rape-accused Nepali cricketer and former captain Sandeep Lamichhane

Lamichhane was presented to the court today.

The 22-year-old cricket star was arrested last week. He also led the national cricket team at an early age and was apprehended by Nepal Police upon his arrival at Tribhuwan International Airport on October 6.

A girl, 17, filed a case alleging that Lamichhane took her to various places in Kathmandu and Bhaktapur all day on August 21 and brought her to a hotel in Sinamangal of Kathmandu where she was raped the same night. Soon after the registration of complaints, Lamichhane was suspended from his post and an arrest warrant was issued from Kathmandu District Court. While the incident unfolded back in Nepal, the star cricketer was abroad to play Caribbean Premier League (CPL) from Jamaica Tallawahs.

The District Court issued the arrest warrant against him on September 7 while the complainant had claimed the incident to occur on the night of August 21 in Kathmandu.

For over a month, Lamichhane remained off the radar but updated posts on his social media accounts claiming his innocence.

Upon his arrival back to Nepal via Doha on a Qatar Airways flight, he was handcuffed and taken into custody by Nepal Police as, the leg spinner in his post hours before the arrival had announced his expected time of arrival back to Kathmandu.

The court now can grant time up to 25 days from his arrest to investigate the case before filing a criminal case against him.

The cricketer has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. He has said that he is seeking legal support against, what he said was wrongful prosecution and allegations.

“I am sure I will get justice and will return to the cricket ground soon to make the name and fame of my beloved country and I pray for a speedy trial. I will fully cooperate in all stages of the investigation and will fight a legal battle to prove my innocence. Let the justice prevail,” he had said in a Facebook post.

As Lamichhane was arrested on Thursday (6 October) on the 11th day of Dashain and it would be the fourth day of his being kept in jail, the Police would now have a total of 21 days to investigate the matter.

Upon Lamichhane’s arrival back in Kathmandu via Doha, the Police conducted his medical examinations and kept him in custody. With the countdown Dashain holidays ending on Sunday and re-opening the government offices, the Police are sure to face a shortness of time to investigate and file a stronger case. 

UNITED NATIONS: Ukraine denounced Russia as a “terrorist state” at an urgent United Nations General Assembly meeting Monday following its neighbour’s latest attacks, as Western powers sought to underscore Moscow’s isolation.

The UN called the debate to discuss Russia’s declared annexation of four partly occupied Ukrainian regions, but the debate was overshadowed by strikes on Kyiv and other cities in one of the most punishing assaults on Ukraine in months.

“Russia has proven once again that this is a terrorist state that must be deterred in the strongest possible ways,” said Sergiy Kyslytsya, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN in his opening remarks, adding his own immediate family had come under attack.

“Unfortunately, you can hardly call for a stable and sane peace as long as an unstable and insane dictatorship exists in your vicinity,” he added, telling member states at least 14 civilians were killed and 97 wounded in the attacks.

Responding, Vasily Nebenzya of Russia did not directly address the missile strikes but defended his country’s annexation of Ukrainian regions.

“We are being accused when we are trying to protect our brothers and sisters in eastern Ukraine,” he said.

Ahead of the General Assembly session, and with tensions at a boiling point, UN chief Antonio Guterres described Russia’s attacks as an “unacceptable escalation of the war,” his spokesman said.

US President Joe Biden, meanwhile, condemned the strikes in stark terms, saying they “demonstrate the utter brutality” of Putin’s “illegal war.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed even more “severe” retaliation after the recent explosion that damaged a key bridge in Moscow-annexed Crimea.

– ‘Illegal annexations’ –

The decision to bring the annexation matter before the General Assembly, where the 193 UN members have one vote each — and no one wields veto power — was taken after Russia used its veto in a Security Council meeting September 30 to block a similar proposal.

The vote is expected no sooner than Wednesday.

“We do not and will never recognise the illegal so-called ‘referenda’ that Russia has engineered as a pretext for this further violation of Ukraine’s independence,” said Silvio Gonzato, a representative of the European Union, which helped draft the text.

The resolution condemns Russia’s “attempted illegal annexations” of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson following “so-called referendums,” and it stresses these actions have “no validity under international law.”

It calls on all states, international organizations and agencies not to recognize the annexations, and demands the immediate withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine.

In response to the resolution, Russia had written to all member states in a letter attacking “Western delegations” whose actions “have nothing to do with the protection of international law and the principles of the UN Charter.”

Nebenzya said that given the circumstances, the General Assembly should vote by secret ballot — a highly unusual procedure normally reserved for matters like electing the rotating members of the Security Council.

– ‘A bit of desperation’ –

But Albania tabled a resolution against a secret ballot, winning with 107 votes in favour, 13 against, and 39 abstentions. Russia lost a subsequent appeal to the motion.

Guterres himself has bluntly denounced the annexations as being “against everything the international community is meant to stand for,” he said.

“It has no place in the modern world. It must not be accepted.”

During last month’s Security Council vote, no other country sided with Russia, though four delegations — China, India, Brazil and Gabon — abstained.

Some developing countries have complained the West is devoting all its attention to Ukraine, and others might be tempted to join them this week.

The vote will provide a clear picture of exactly how isolated Russia has become. Given the high stakes, backers of the draft are going all out to win over potential abstentionists.

On Monday, Ukrainian diplomat Dmytro Kuleba issued a plea to African nations, telling them: “Neutrality will only encourage Russia to continue its aggression and malign activities across the world, including in Africa.”