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Seven years after floods, dozens of tribal families still live under tarpaulin roofs

Families continue to live in makeshift shelters despite receiving land titles months ago. While a new bridge over the Chaliyar River is nearing completion, allowing pedestrian access, the lack of permanent housing continues to leave residents exposed.

JAAC strike: Markets, streets deserted in AJK's Muzaffarabad but no demonstrations held

MUZAFFARABAD: Shops and markets were largely shut and vehicular traffic remained minimal in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), on Tuesday as the newly proscribed Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) observed a strike. Meanwhile, AJK Prime Minister Faisal Mumtaz Rathore urged a return to the negotiating table in a bid to end the tensions that have gripped the region over the past few days. During the day, Muzaffarabad’s streets were deserted, with hardly any vehicles on the roads. Riot police and paramilitary personnel remained deployed in the city. However, no demonstrations were witnessed in the capital. Meanwhile, reports from Mirpur said that hundreds of people had gathered in the town’s Quaid-i-Azam stadium. “Shops are closed here and traffic is off the roads,” local journalist Sajjad Jarral told Dawn by telephone. Witnesses in Kotli said that while the area observed a complete shutter-down and wheel-jam strike, hundreds of people led by JAAC core member Imtiaz Aslam were heading towards Poonch district via Tatta Pani. Another big rally led by JAAC core member Khawaja Mehran from Dadyal also entered Kotli for onward march towards Poonch. The legal fraternity of AJK boycotted judicial proceedings on AJK Bar Council’s call to protest the alleged arrest of senior lawyer Amjad Ali Khan, a core member of the JAAC. JAAC’s protest call for today centred on a highly contentious demand to abolish the 12 seats in the region’s Legislative Assembly that are reserved for refugees from Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir who settled in mainland Pakistan after 1947. JAAC alleges that these seats were often used by mainstream Pakistani political parties to influence the formation of governments in Muzaffarabad. The government, on the other hand, maintains that it is a constitutional matter and cannot be decided by one group. ‘Find a way out through talks’ In a post on X, the AJK premier reiterated his call for the issue to be resolved through talks. “Please come back to the negotiating table. I’m requesting everyone on daily basis to resolve matters through discussions instead of fire and blood,” Rathore wrote on X. He added that the protesters’ “abusive comments, constant threats and senseless agitation” were not helpful to anyone in AJK. “A political activist without the ability to debate and negotiate is like a pilot without the ability to fly an airplane. They both end up causing hurt and damage to people behind them,” the PPP leader remarked. “Everyone recognises your rights and liberties,” the AJK PM assured, stressing that both sides needed to “remain calm and find a way out through talks”. “The only weapon a political activist carries is his reasoning and negotiation skills,” Rathore said. In an interview he shared on X, Rathore noted that the PPP, PML-N and the JAAC had their own stances on the issue of reserved seats for refugees, but he emphasised there was “space for a path forward”. He remarked that protests by the JAAC could not secure a two-thirds majority in the assembly that was needed for a constitutional amendment, under which changes to refugee seats could be made. HRCP expresses concern over ‘escalating confrontation’ Separately, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said it was “deeply concerned by the escalating confrontation” in AJK and the loss of life among both protesters and law enforcement personnel. It urged an “immediate de-escalation of tensions and an impartial investigation into all deaths and injuries”. “The state must remember that proscribing popular movements invariably risks narrowing democratic space. Demands for constitutional change should be pursued through peaceful, representative and democratic processes rather than confrontation and violence,” the HRCP stressed. The HRCP had previously also expressed concern over the proscribing of JAAC. On Friday, the AJK government declared JAAC a proscribed organisation, stating that it was “engaged in terrorism” and had acted in a manner “prejudicial to peace and security” of the state. A day later, AJK authorities launched a crackdown on the JAAC, arresting scores of its leaders and activists from different areas. But tensions in the region particularly flared up after a violent protest in Rawalakot, during which at least four law enforcement personnel and seven civilians lost their lives. Islamabad has also dispatched federal paramilitary forces to reinforce the region’s thinly stretched police force, and intending visitors have been advised to postpone their trips until June 20. More to follow

South China Morning Post

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The Guardian World

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Football regulator could force David Sullivan to sell West Ham stake

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China's Xi hails deeper understanding at end of North Korea summit

Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up on Tuesday his first visit to North Korea in seven years, saying it had established a deeper, more comprehensive understanding yielding a clearer path for development of ties, the official Xinhua news agency said. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Xi agreed to expand cooperation in the areas of politics, economy and culture at a summit in Pyongyang that opened a new chapter in ties, the North’s official KCNA news agency said. “The mutual understanding between China and North Korea has become deeper and more comprehensive, and the direction of future development has become clearer and more defined,” Xi told his hosts at a luncheon before his departure, Xinhua added. Kim waved both hands as Xi’s plane taxied down the tarmac, in footage from China’s state broadcaster CCTV, after an enthusiastic send-off by Pyongyang residents, who lined the road to the airport, waving flags and shouting friendship slogans. Earlier, the leaders jointly planted a fir tree in the grounds of a key political training school for party cadres, which Xinhua said symbolised “ever-renewing friendship”. On the second day of his visit to China’s only formal treaty ally, Xi had also visited Pyongyang’s Sino-Korean Friendship Tower that commemorates Chinese soldiers who died in the Korean War, the agency added. Both agreed to strive for closer strategic communication through visits by high-level officials, KCNA said. Kim told Xi he would fully support the “One China principle,” which Beijing views as meaning that both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one country, regardless of changes in the international situation, it added. China views democratically governed Taiwan as its own territory and has never renounced the use of force to bring the island under Beijing’s control, although Taipei rejects the sovereignty claims. Analysts see contrasting priorities Despite the expressions of goodwill, analysts saw contrasting priorities in the official summaries of the visit. While Xinhua detailed proposals ranging from high-level exchanges to trade and agriculture, along with restoration of transport links, KCNA cast the summit more broadly as a pact of equal partners, the analysts said. Pyongyang stressed regime dignity and the neighbours’ “special relationship,” added Lim Eul-chul, a professor at South Korea’s Kyungnam University, while Beijing emphasised practical state-to-state ties and its initiatives for international order. “North Korea removed elements that could make it look like a subordinate, dependent or beneficiary party, and rewrote the relationship as one between equals,” said Hong Min, a senior research fellow at the Korea Institute for National Unification. “It amplified signals of solidarity, such as anti-US and Taiwan-related messages, while erasing signals of dependence or subordination.” China is North Korea’s biggest trade partner and analysts have said Xi’s trip could focus on trade and tourism. Patriotic songs Xi and first lady Peng Liyuan attended a performance of Chinese and North Korean songs, accompanied by Kim and his wife, Ri Sol Ju, that highlighted “the value and closeness of DPRK-China friendship,” KCNA said. It was referring to the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Chinese-North Korean relations had reached a “new historical starting point,” Xi said at a banquet hosted by Kimfor the 65th anniversary of the neighbours’ friendship treaty, KCNA added. Xi vowed that Beijing would not swerve from its commitment to safeguard common interests, Xinhua said on Monday. But North Korean media did not say if Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons programme or relations with the United States figured in the talks. Such an absence suggests Beijing would like the visit cast in terms of neighbourly ties, said Ja Ian Chong, a political science professor at the National University of Singapore. During his first term, US President Donald Trump met Kim three times, before the unprecedented diplomatic effort broke down over US demands for North Korea to give up nuclear weapons. Trump has said he would be willing to restart talks. “It is doubtful that Xi will serve as a catalyst for US-North Korea talks,” said Leif-Eric Easley, professor of international studies at Ewha Womans University in Seoul.

AllAfrica Headlines

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Uganda: New Cabinet Members Sworn-in, Set for Orientation At Kyankwanzi

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AllAfrica Headlines

Uganda: Museveni Assures WHO of Uganda's Readiness to Contain Ebola

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National Post (Canada)

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Euronews

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Xi Jinping meets Kim Jong Un as China and North Korea tighten alliance

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Xi, Kim hold talks in Pyongyang, pledge to advance China-DPRK ties

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NL Times (Netherlands)

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South China Morning Post

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KBS World (English)

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The Korea Herald