Islamabad: Shehbaz Sharif, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) president, was elected unopposed as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan by Parliament on Monday after rival candidate Shah Mahmood Qureshi announced that his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party will boycott the voting and staged a walkout.

Shehbaz, 70, was the only candidate left in the race after Qureshi’s boycott of the election in the National Assembly.

In the House of 342, the winning candidate should get support of at least 172 lawmakers.

Shehbaz, the younger brother of former three-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif, received 174 votes – two more than the simple majority of 172.

He is the 23rd prime minister of Pakistan.

He has served as chief minister of the country’s most populous and politically crucial Punjab province thrice.

Former president and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) co-chair Asif Ali Zardari had proposed Shehbaz’s name for prime minister’s position in a joint opposition’s meeting to replace Imran Khan through a no-confidence motion.

The process of electing the new leader of the House began on Sunday after prime minister Imran Khan was removed from office through the no-confidence vote, becoming the first premier in the country’s history to be sent home after losing the trust of the House.

Pakistan has struggled with political instability since its formation in 1947 with multiple regime changes and military coups. No prime minister has ever completed a full five-year term.

Colombo (AP): Sri Lanka’s national medical association warned Thursday that hospitals will be unable to provide even emergency services in coming weeks because of critical shortages of drugs and medical equipment caused by the country’s economic crisis, leading to a catastrophic number of deaths if supplies aren’t replenished.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis in decades and has endured months of shortages of fuel and other essentials. Protests over the economic troubles have spread nationwide and expanded to criticism of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and his politically powerful family.

The Sri Lanka Medical Association sent a letter to Rajapaksa on Thursday saying that hospitals have already decided to curtail services such as routine surgeries and limit the use of available medical materials to treatment of life-threatening illnesses.

Unless supplies are urgently replenished, within a matter of weeks, if not days, emergency treatment will also not be possible. This will result in a catastrophic number of deaths,” the letter said.

Thousands of people, including health workers, have been demonstrating this week demanding a solution to the crisis and Rajapaksa’s resignation for economic mismanagement.

Rajapaksa has resisted the demands to step down, even after members of his own coalition joined them this week, with governing party lawmakers calling for the appointment of an interim government to avoid possible violence.

Rajapaksa earlier proposed the creation of a unity government, but the main opposition party rejected the idea.

His Cabinet resigned Sunday night, and on Tuesday, nearly 40 governing coalition lawmakers said they would no longer vote according to coalition instructions, significantly weakening the government.

This has turned the economic crisis into a political one, with no functioning Cabinet including crucial finance and health ministers. Parliament has failed to reach a consensus in three days of debate on how to deal with the crisis.

The president and his older brother, Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa, continue to hold power, despite their politically powerful family being the focus of public ire.

Five other family members are lawmakers, including Finance Minister Basil Rajapaksa, Irrigation Minister Chamal Rajapaksa and a nephew, Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa.

The government estimates the COVID-19 pandemic has cost Sri Lanka’s tourism-dependent economy USD14 billion in the last two years. Protesters also allege fiscal mismanagement.

The country has immense foreign debts after borrowing heavily for infrastructure and other projects. Its foreign debt repayment obligations are around USD7 billion this year alone.

The debts and dwindling foreign reserves leave it unable to pay for imported goods.

Rajapaksa last month said his government was in talks with the International Monetary Fund and had turned to China and India for loans, and appealed to people to limit the use of fuel and electricity. 

Pakistan PM Imran Khan with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Moscow/Islamabad: Russia has criticised the US for making another attempt of shameless interference into the internal affairs of Pakistan and asserted that Prime Minister Imran Khan was paying the price for being disobedient to Washington and being punished for visiting Russia in February this year.

Khan met Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on February 24, the day the Russian leader had ordered a special military operation against Ukraine.

In doing so, he had also become the first Pakistani premier to visit Russia in 23 years after former premier Nawaz Sharif travelled to Moscow in 1999.

On Monday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said despite pressure from the US to cancel his visit to Moscow, Khan went ahead with his trip.

Immediately after the announcement of the working visit of Imran Khan to Moscow on February 23-24 this year, the Americans and their Western associates began to exert rude pressure on the Prime Minister, demanding an ultimatum to cancel the trip,” Zakharova said in a commentary on the controversy over Khan’s allegation that the US was trying to effect a regime change in Islamabad.

This is another attempt of shameless interference by the US in the internal affairs of an independent state for its own selfish purposes. The above facts eloquently testify to this, Zakharova said.

The US-led West has imposed a series of crippling sanctions on Russia since it invaded Ukraine and has been pressing other nations to reduce their dependence on Russian oil and other products.

The senior Russian diplomat said that the sequence of events left no doubt that Washington had decided to punish a disobedient Imran Khan, which also explained why a number of members from Khan’s ruling coalition decided to switch sides and shift their allegiances ahead of the April 3 no-trust vote.

Khan, 69, stunned the Opposition on Sunday by recommending snap elections within three months, minutes after a no-confidence motion against him was dismissed by the deputy speaker of the National Assembly.

Khan then got Pakistan President Arif Alvi to dissolve the 342-member National Assembly.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the deputy speaker’s decision to reject the no-confidence motion against the premier, who had lost majority in the lower house of Parliament.

Khan had named senior US diplomat Donald Lu as the person who was allegedly involved in the foreign conspiracy to oust his government through a no-confidence vote tabled by the Opposition.

Pakistan’s Opposition leaders have ridiculed Khan’s allegation, and the US has dismissed these claims.

Zakharova said Moscow was keenly watching the events unfolding in Islamabad over the last three days as well as the events preceding it.

In her commentary, she exuded hope that the Pakistani voters would be well-informed about these circumstances when they come to vote in the elections that are scheduled to be held 90 days after the dissolution of the National Assembly.

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s new Finance Minister Ali Sabry on Tuesday resigned, a day after President Gotabaya Rajapaksa appointed him after sacking his brother Basil Rajapaksa amidst the island nation’s worst economic crisis.

In a letter to the President, Sabri said that he took up the job as part of a temporary measure.

However, after much reflection and deliberation and taking into consideration the current situation, I am now of the view for Your Excellency to make suitable interim arrangement to navigate the unprecedented crisis fresh and proactive, and unconventional steps needs to be taken including the appointment of a new finance minister, Sabry said in the letter.

He was among the four new ministers appointed by President Rajapaksa on Monday.

Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in history. With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts, the public has been suffering for months.

Budapest(AP): A train derailed after striking a vehicle in southern Hungary early Tuesday, leaving several people dead and others injured, police said.

The accident occurred just before 7 am in the town of Mindszent. Police said a van drove onto the train tracks and was struck by a train, which derailed from the force of the collision.

In a statement, Hungarian state railways indicated that all those killed had been travelling in the van.

It said that 22 people were on the train at the time of the collision. Two people were seriously hurt and eight others suffered mild injuries.

According to unconfirmed reports from local news website delmagyar.hu, seven people died.

The Csongrad-Csanad county police said they had closed the entire width of the road during the on-site inspection and rescue. Traffic was diverted to surrounding streets. (AP)

COLOMBO: Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa on Monday invited all political parties to join a unity Cabinet as part of the government’s bid to tackle the raging public anger against the ongoing hardships caused by the island nation’s worst economic crisis.

On Sunday night, all 26 Cabinet Ministers submitted letters of resignation.

Speaking to reporters, Education Minister and Leader of the House Dinesh Gunawardena said the ministers handed over their resignations to Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. He provided no reason for the mass resignation.

The government’s invitation to all the Opposition parties came as mass public agitations mounted against the ruling Rajapaksa family for its mishandling of the economic situation triggered by the foreign exchange crisis and the balance of payment issues.

The public thronged the streets asking the president to resign. The protests triggered the imposition of curfew after a state of emergency was declared by the President.

When the protests intensified, the government clamped a social media ban for 15 hours on Sunday. The people defied the curfew to protest against long queues for fuel and gas and long hours without electricity.

Governor of the Central Bank Ajith Nivard Cabraal has also announced his resignation. “In the context of all Cabinet ministers resigning, I have today submitted my resignation as Governor,” Cabraal said.

He was blamed for his rigid stance on Sri Lanka seeking an economic bailout through an International Monetary Fund (IMF) structural adjustment facility.

Despite his opposition, the government in the last fortnight approached the international lender for support. During his governorship, the Central Bank was accused of printing large volumes of money, triggering inflation.

The country is grappling with what is said to be its worst economic crisis since independence from the UK in 1948. It is caused in part by a lack of foreign currency, which is used to pay for fuel imports.

People are languishing in long queues for fuel, cooking gas and endure power cuts lasting multiple hours. Sri Lanka is currently experiencing its worst economic crisis in history.

With long lines for fuel, cooking gas, essentials in short supply and long hours of power cuts, the public has been suffering for weeks.

Rajapaksa has defended his government’s actions, saying the foreign exchange crisis was not his making and the economic downturn was largely pandemic driven with the island nation’s tourism revenue and inward remittances waning.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Supreme Court will hear on Monday the dismissal of a no-confidence vote against Prime Minister Imran Khan by the deputy speaker and the subsequent dissolution of Parliament by the President on the advice of the embattled premier, a day after taking a suo motu cognizance of the current political situation in the country.

Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial, after taking a suo motu cognizance of the current political situation in the country, said that all orders and actions initiated by the prime minister and the president regarding the dissolution of the National Assembly will be subject to the court’s order as he adjourned for one day the hearing of the high-profile case.

A three-member bench held the initial hearing despite the weekend and issued notices to all the respondents, including President Alvi and Deputy Speaker of the NA Suri.

The Supreme Court ordered all parties not to take any “unconstitutional” measures and adjourned the hearing until Monday.

Former information minister Fawad Chaudhry said that the ruling given in the National Assembly by the deputy speaker for the dismissal of the no-trust motion against Prime Minister Khan was “final” and could not be challenged in any court of law.

Talking to the media outside the Supreme Court, the close aide of Khan said that the NA deputy speaker’s ruling came after completion of the constitutional process over the no-trust motion.

Earlier, the Opposition had demanded the top court to intervene and Shehbaz Sharif, the Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, announced his party’s decision to challenge the dissolution of the NA.

Ahsan Bhoon, President, Supreme Court Bar, said that the action of the prime minister and deputy speaker was against the constitution and “they should be prosecuted for treason under Article 6 of the constitution.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) also filed a petition asking the court to declare the ruling of the deputy speaker as unconstitutional along with the dissolution of the parliament.

The crisis erupted after Suri rejected the no-confidence motion, providing Prime Minister Khan to send an advice to the president of the country to dissolve Parliament, which he could not do until any outcome of the no-confidence vote.

Leading constitutional lawyer Salman Akram Raja said that the “entire procure by the deputy speaker and the advice by the premier to dissolve the assembly was unconstitutional”.

Raja said the illegality of the ruling would also make the advice as illegal as the prime minister cannot give advice to the assembly after a no-confidence motion was presented in the parliament against him.

KYIV: Russian troops left the heavily contaminated Chernobyl nuclear site early Friday after returning control to the Ukrainians, authorities said, as eastern parts of the country braced for renewed attacks and Russians blocked another aid mission to the besieged port city of Mariupol.

Ukraine’s state power company, Energoatom, said the pullout at Chernobyl came after soldiers received “significant doses” of radiation from digging trenches in the forest in the exclusion zone around the closed plant. But there was no independent confirmation of that.

The exchange of control happened amid growing indications the Kremlin is using talk of de-escalation in Ukraine as cover to regroup, resupply its forces and redeploy them for a stepped-up offensive in the eastern part of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian withdrawals from the north and center of the country were just a military tactic to build up forces for new powerful attacks in the southeast. A new round of talks between the countries was scheduled Friday, five weeks into a conflict that has left thousands dead and driven 4 million Ukrainians from the country.

“We know their intentions,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation. “We know that they are moving away from those areas where we hit them in order to focus on other, very important ones where it may be difficult for us.”

“There will be battles ahead,” he added.

Meanwhile in Mariupol, Russian forces blocked a convoy of 45 buses attempting to evacuate people after the Russian military agreed to a limited cease-fire in the area. Only 631 people were able to get out of the city in private cars, according to the Ukrainian government.

Russian forces also seized 14 tons of food and medical supplies in a dozen buses that were trying to make it to Mariupol, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said.

The city has been the scene of some of the worst suffering of the war. Tens of thousands have managed to get out in the past few weeks by way of humanitarian corridors, reducing the population from a prewar 430,000 to an estimated 100,000 by last week, but other relief efforts have been thwarted by continued Russian attacks.

The International Atomic Energy Agency said it had been informed by Ukraine that the Russian forces at the site of the world’s worst nuclear disaster had transferred control of it in writing to the Ukrainians. The last Russian troops left early Friday, the Ukrainian government agency responsible for the exclusion zone said.

Energoatom gave no details on the condition of the soldiers it said were exposed to radiation and did not say how many were affected. There was no immediate comment from the Kremlin, and the IAEA said it had not been able to confirm the reports of Russian troops receiving high doses. It said it was seeking more information.

Russian forces seized the Chernobyl site in the opening stages of the Feb. 24 invasion, raising fears that they would cause damage or disruption that could spread radiation. The workforce at the site oversees the safe storage of spent fuel rods and the concrete-entombed ruins of the reactor that exploded in 1986.

Edwin Lyman, a nuclear expert with the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, said it “seems unlikely” a large number of troops would develop severe radiation illness, but it was impossible to know for sure without more details.

He said contaminated material was probably buried or covered with new topsoil during the cleanup of Chernobyl, and some soldiers may have been exposed to a “hot spot” of radiation while digging. Others may have assumed they were at risk too, he said.

Early this week, the Russians said they would significantly scale back military operations in areas around Kyiv and the northern city of Chernihiv to increase trust between the two sides and help negotiations along.

But in the Kyiv suburbs, regional governor Oleksandr Palviuk said on social media Thursday that Russian forces shelled Irpin and Makariv and that there were battles around Hostomel. Ukrainian forces counterattacked and some Russian withdrawals around the suburb of Brovary to the east, Pavliuk said.

At a Ukrainian military checkpoint outside Kyiv, soldiers and officers said they don’t believe Russian forces have given up on the capital.

“What does it mean, significantly scaling down combat actions in the Kyiv and Chernihiv areas?” asked Brig. Gen. Valeriy Embakov. “Does it mean there will be 100 missiles instead of 200 missiles launched on Kyiv or something else?”

Chernihiv came under attack as well. At least one person was killed and four were wounded in the Russian shelling of a humanitarian convoy of buses sent to Chernihiv to evacuate residents cut off from food, water and other supplies, said Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova.

Elsewhere, Ukraine reported Russian artillery barrages in and around the northeastern city of Kharkiv.

Ukraine’s emergency services also said the death toll had risen to 20 in a Russian missile strike Tuesday on a government administration building in the southern city of Mykolaiv.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said intelligence indicates Russia is not scaling back its military operations in Ukraine but is instead trying to regroup, resupply its forces and reinforce its offensive in the Donbas.

“Russia has repeatedly lied about its intentions,” Stoltenberg said. At the same time, he said, pressure is being kept up on Kyiv and other cities, and “we can expect additional offensive actions bringing even more suffering.”

The Donbas is the predominantly Russian-speaking industrial region where Moscow-backed separatists have been battling Ukrainian forces since 2014. In the past few days, the Kremlin, in a seeming shift in its war aims, said that its “main goal” now is gaining control of the Donbas, which consists of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including Mariupol.

The top rebel leader in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin, issued an order to set up a rival city government for Mariupol, according to Russian state news agencies, in a sign of Russian intent to hold and administer the city.

With talks set to resume between Ukraine and Russia via video, there seemed little faith that the two sides would resolve the conflict any time soon.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that conditions weren’t yet “ripe” for a cease-fire and that he wasn’t ready for a meeting with Zelenskyy until negotiators do more work, Italian Premier Mario Draghi said after a telephone conversation with the Russian leader.

As Western officials search for clues about what Russia’s next move might be, a top British intelligence official said demoralized Russian soldiers in Ukraine are refusing to carry out orders and sabotaging their equipment and had accidentally shot down their own aircraft.

U.S. intelligence officials have concluded that Putin is being misinformed by his advisers about how badly the war is going because they are afraid to tell him the truth.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the U.S. is wrong and that “neither the State Department nor the Pentagon possesses the real information about what is happening in the Kremlin.”