THE two-day Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC) meeting of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) sets the stage for the second phase of the multibillion-dollar cooperation between the two nations.

It attempts to formalise the future roadmap for industrial and economic collaboration involving special economic zones along the CPEC stretch in Pakistan and adopt a Long Term Plan (LTP) 2030.

The main focus of the seventh JCC will remain special economic/industrial zones even though all the five joint working groups (JWGs) — Gwadar, energy, transport infrastructure, special economic zones and planning — would meet on the first day (today) to remove any irritant and suggest the way forward.

The JWGs comprise secretary-level officials of the two countries. The new projects, mostly small to medium size, will be finalised by these groups for inclusion in the overall portfolio.

Even though Pakistan had originally lobbied for its financing, it has already been settled in recent interactions that the $14 billion Diamer-Bhasha Dam would not be made part of the CPEC because of unacceptable demands from Beijing for the transfer of its ownership.

The key projects expected to formally become part of the CPEC are $8bn Main Line-I (the 1,875km railway line from Karachi to Lahore to Peshawar) and $3.5bn Karachi Circular Railway. The financial appraisal of these new projects has been completed and their future course of action will be approved.

On the second day, the JCC — led from the Chinese side by vice-chairman of the National Development and Reforms Commission (NDRC) and from the Pakistani by Minister for Planning Development and Reform Ahsan Iqbal — will meet all the four chief ministers, heads of regional governments and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

WASHINGTON: The US Depart­­ment of Defence persuaded Cong­ress to drop a provision that linked reimbursements to Pakis­tan with a demonstrable action against Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), diplomatic sources and media reports said.

The move came days before the visits of two senior most US defence officials to Islamabad — Defence Secretary James Mattis and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen Joseph Dunford.

Gen Dunford, who arrives in Islamabad early next week, will hold extensive talks with the country’s military leadership. Secre­tary Mattis, who arrives on Dec 3 for a day, will hold the final talks.

On Thursday, Congress passed a bill, which includes $700 million for Pakistan reimbursement for deploying forces along the Pak-Afghan border, but withheld half the amount. To receive the withheld amount, Pakistan has to take demonstrable action against the Haqqani network, which Washing­ton says still has hideouts in Fata and uses them for launching attacks inside Afghanistan.

An earlier version of the National Defence Authorisation Act, 2018 had named two militant groups — the Haqqani network and LeT. But the final bill only mentioned the Haqqani network. Lashkar was taken off the list.

Quoting sources in the Senate and House armed services committees, US and Indian media reported on Sunday that the Pentagon played a key role in removing LeT from the list.

One report claimed that in their meetings with members of the two committees, Pentagon officials insisted that curbing the Haqqani network “must remain the top priority and adding LeT was like shifting the goal post for Pakistan”.

The report said that while the omission disappointed the Indian government, it was satisfied with the overall US policy of reducing its assistance to Pakistan.

The condition for releasing the withheld amount requires the US secretary of defence to certify that Pakistan has taken the suggested “demonstrable action” against the proscribed group.

Since 2016, when this condition was first attached to the bill, Pakistan has lost about $750 million in Coalition Support Fund, which is used for reimbursing Islamabad.

Diplomatic sources in Washing­ton point out that the Pentagon’s decision to use its influence to remove LeT from the list showed Washington’s desire to keep Pakistan on its side.

Despite their disappointment with Islamabad’s alleged refusal to take on the Haqqani network, policy makers in Washington see Pakistan as key state in a very sensitive region. They point out that Pakistan is a nation of more than 200 million people with a large middle class, which has nuclear weapons as well.

They also acknowledge that the country provides the shortest land route for supplying US forces in Afghanistan.

ISLAMABAD: Signs of a negotiated end to the sit-in organised by some religious parties at Faizabad emerged on Saturday night when a ministerial-level government team held marathon meetings with the protest leaders.

Reports claimed the government had offered the sit-in leaders that all cases registered against them would be withdrawn and a committee would be appointed to look into claims that Law Minister Zahid Hamid was behind the now-withdrawn controversial change into the Khatm-i-Nubuwat declaration for electoral candidates.

The representatives of the protest leaders were expected to give their response to the offer after consulting their leadership

Minister for Planning and Development Ahsan Iqbal on Tuesday said the cooperation envisioned in the industrial sector under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project will ensure the transfer of technology, knowledge, and skills to Pakistan.

“CPEC is helping promote a knowledge-based economy in Pakistan,” the minister said while addressing the seventh meeting of the Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) of CPEC, held in Islamabad to review and approve various development projects.

Ahsan Iqbal and his Chinese counterpart jointly presided over the meeting.

More than 150 officials from Pakistan and China were in attendance. The chief ministers of all provinces, along with Azad Jammu and Kashmir Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider, were also present.

Moreover, the private sector was allowed to participate in the meeting for the first time.

Ahsan Iqbal said that the 7th JCC meeting was a milestone towards realising the potential of CPEC and noted that the people of Pakistan valued the multifaceted cooperation extended by the government and people of China to Pakistan.

He said the project was now heading towards completion of its first phase and the JCC meeting was of historical significance in the finalisation of the long-term project.

“The long-term plan will give new dimensions to the bilateral cooperation between China and Pakistan,” he said.

The minister said that the project would expand the scope of co-operation in various new areas, including the social sector, whereas, education and health sectors would also be upgraded.

Talking about Gwadar, Iqbal said that projects in Gwadar were of utmost importance for the people of the area as well as national development.

Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, during a meeting with a Chinese delegation led by China's Assistant Foreign Minister Kong Xuanyou, highlighted the need of an increase in cooperation between the two countries in order to ensure that the people benefit from CPEC.

Abbasi expressed satisfaction that the energy and infrastructure projects under CPEC were progressing smoothly, Radio Pakistanreported.

The matters pertaining to bilateral trade, security and law and order situation in Afghanistan were also discussed during the meeting, the report added.

The Chinese delegation had met Foreign Secretary Tehmina Janjua in Islamabad for the eighth round of strategic talks between Pakistan and China.

The National Assembly on Tuesday rejected — by a margin of 98 for, 163 against — a bill presented by PPP lawmaker Syed Naveed Qamar that sought to remove Section 203 from the Elections Act 2017.

The clause had allowed former prime minister Nawaz Sharif to retake his position as the president of PML-N following his disqualification by the Supreme Court (SC) on grounds that he was not 'honest'.

"Someone who is not sadiq [truthful] and ameen [honest] in the view of the apex court should not be eligible to hold party office," Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi observed while throwing his weight behind the legislation.

He said the rule had been introduced because "a party head controls the party's policies" and criticised Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi for allowing it to be dismantled, saying: "It is evident that the incumbent prime minister toes the line of the former prime minister."

"The insertion of Section 203 is a direct confrontation with the Supreme Court and in conflict with the Constitution," he said.

Qureshi also said that any legislation which only facilitates a particular individual cannot be termed "good legislation". "Your party has been ruling for the past 30 years. Isn't there one person [in your party] who is eligible [to head it] according to Article 62 [of the Constitution]?" he asked.

"Can you not even trust your brother? Can you not trust a senior parliamentarian like Nisar Ali Khan?" Qureshi added.

Opposing the bill, Law Minister Zahid Hamid said the real irony was that those belonging to the party of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto were opposing a move similar to one condoned by him.

He explained that the conditions for disqualification of political personality had been introduced through Section 5 of the Political Parties Act of 1962.

"When Bhutto came into power, the said article was removed in 1975 and no one objected until 2000," Hamid said.

"In 2000, [then] President Musharraf introduced the Political Parties Order 2000 because he wanted to keep Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif out," the law minister claimed.

He also recalled that none of the parties had objected when a committee and a sub-committee of the parliament looking into the Elections Act had suggested removing the provisions related to disqualification.

"The suggestions [of the sub-committee] went to the committee and a report was published. It was presented before this house and in the Senate. Everyone saw it and no one objected," Hamid recalled, adding that all of this happened before the Panama Papers had seen the light of day.

Hamid instead turned the tables and said that it was the amendment presented to parliament by the opposition that was person-specific, rather than the one the government had presented and approved after a proper review by a parliamentary committee and all political parties.

"If legislation is brought to benefit a single person the country's system is adversely affected," Naveed Qamar stated in response.

“If the bill does not pass [today], it will need to be presented before a joint session, since it has already been approved by the Senate,” he said.

Speaking before the law minister, PPP lawmaker Dr Azra Afzal said: "For one person, this house gets full; but it’s a disgrace that the house is empty when a proper and meaningful resolution is in order."

She was referring to the continued absence of lawmakers in large numbers from both houses of the parliament, which has thwarted legislation on key issues, including the passage of a constitutional amendment that will enable the upcoming general elections to be held on the basis of the provisional results of the 2017 census.

Opposition Leader Khursheed Shah added some sharp criticism of the law minister: "I pity Zahid Hamid," he began. "From 2002 to 2007, this man would defend Musharraf in the same manner as he is defending Nawaz Sharif today."

He, too, was quick to appreciate the unusually high attendance.

"The presence of members in the house increases its stature," Shah said dryly.

Also speaking on the occasion, Railways Minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said the PML-N was fighting the battle for democracy in the country.

"We will not allow a handful of people to decide the fate of 210 million people," he said in defence of his party's decision to stick with Nawaz as the only choice for its leadership.

After the assembly's business on the bill was done and dusted, the ousted prime minister's daughter sent out a Tweet that stated that Nawaz Sharif was not "one person" but an "ideology".

"One man. One man. One man," Maryam Nawaz began. "Everybody came together to 'minus' one man [from the political order] but they couldn't be successful because he was not one man."

Chinese social media and video game giant Tencent became more valuable than Facebook on Tuesday as investors sent the company soaring into the top five of the world's biggest firms.

Tencent's Hong Kong-listed shares have doubled in value this year, and on Monday it became the first Asian company with a market capitalisation of half-a-trillion dollars.

By the end of the trading day on Tuesday, Tencent's outstanding shares were worth a combined $523 billion, surpassing Facebook's $519 billion.

Despite its stratospheric climb, Tencent is still some way behind the world's most valuable company, Apple, which is currently valued at $873 billion.

Last week, Tencent said profit had grown nearly 70 per cent in the third quarter, when compared with the same period last year, outpacing expectations. Its accelerating growth has sent its shares shooting higher in recent days.

Critics say many of China's tech companies copy the latest idea seen in the United States. That has not been the case for Tencent, which has transformed its WeChat smartphone app into a product wholly unlike other social networking applications that are being used around the world.

“Tencent is an enterprise that focuses on innovation,” said Huang Hao, an associate researcher at the National Academy of Economic Strategy of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “Its product ideas are not simple emulations of those of foreign businesses.”

But it also has a distinct advantage over some of its western peers: Facebook and Twitter are blocked in China, cutting off a market of up to 1.3 billion people.

The nearly one billion users who flock to Tencent's WeChat app, and older platform QQ, can chat, post photos, play games, transfer money and pay for a variety of services in China. They exchange 38 billion messages each day.

WeChat has revolutionised China's tech industry and even daily life for millions of Chinese.

WeChat's QR codes, which look a lot like a barcode, are ubiquitous in China's shops and restaurants, and even fruit hawkers and some beggars carry around the scannable codes, allowing them to accept mobile payment.

The Wepay service, along with its competitor made by Alibaba, has helped China jump from a cash-based society to one at the global forefront of mobile payments.

Even the media and publishing sectors have seen changes in the way Chinese consume and pay for content, with millions of WeChat accounts publishing content directly to their followers.

That has rubbed up against Chinese censors, who shut down dozens of accounts publishing the latest tidbits of celebrity gossip over the summer.

Another key to Tencent's success has been its top game, the multi-player online battle “Honour of Kings”, which has been a smash hit that helped Tencent's revenue from smartphone games surge by 84 per cent in the third quarter.

Tencent's disruption of industries traditionally dominated by the state has also angered a number of behemoths — from the publishing to telecommunications to banking sectors.

These powerful enemies could pose a problem for the tech giant in the future, analysts say.

“Most of its profits are obtained by foreign investors,” said Huang of the government research institute.

“The government should face up to this issue and consider the ways to promote the development of entirely national enterprises in the future,” he said.

Scientists have warned that there will be a significant increase in the occurrence of potentially deadliest earthquakes in 2018, media reports said.

The assessment was made on the basis of the Earth's movement data that shows a significant uptick in earthquakes after a certain period of slowdown in the Earth's rotation.

According to the report, geophysicists are able to measure the rotational speed of Earth with extreme precision, calculating slight variations on the order of milliseconds. Geophysicists believe Earth's rotation is cyclical, slowing down by a few milliseconds per day then speeding up again, a geologist Trevor Nace said in the report.

Researchers found that roughly after every 32 years there was an uptick in the number of significant earthquakes worldwide. A team of researchers found this conclusion after analysing every earthquake which occurred since 1900 at a magnitude above 7.0.

The research concluded that after almost every 30 years, Earth experiences a slowdown in its rotation. The slowdown lasts for five years, with the last year triggering an increase in earthquakes globally. “In these periods, there were between 25 to 30 intense earthquakes a year,” said Bilham, a researcher.

“The rest of the time the average figure was around 15 major earthquakes a year,” he added.

Based on the calculations, the outgoing year is the fourth consecutive year that witnesses slowdown in Earth's rotation. So, the scientists are expecting more earthquakes in 2018.

The correlation between Earth’s rotation and earthquakes was recently highlighted at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.

At least three suspected militants and an army commando were killed on Tuesday in two separate clashes in the India-held Kashmir following a surge in fighting between government forces and separatists, police said.

Fighting erupted in the northwestern area of Handwara after Indian troops launched a counter-insurgency operation and killed three militants there, said Muneer Ahmed Khan, a senior police officer.

Also read: Kashmir talks: reality and myth

In another operation in the neighbouring Kupwara area, a special forces soldier was killed in a continuing gunbattle, police said.

Khan said the government forces were battling a few militants trapped in the area.

There was no independent confirmation of the two clashes, the latest in a string of deadly shootouts between Indian forces and militants in the restive Kashmir. At least eight separatists, an Indian air force commando and a policeman have been killed in the last two days.

Moreover, at least 190 rebels and 70 government soldiers have been killed in fighting this year.

Explore: What pellet guns have done to protesters in Kashmir

Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the region, and most people support the separatists' cause while also participating in civilian street protests against Indian control.

India accuses Pakistan of arming and training the militants, a claim which Pakistan denies.

Comilla Victorians’ Pakistani recruit Hasan Ali and Dhaka Dynamite's captain Shakib Al Hasan were penalised on Tuesday for breaching the code of conduct set by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) during the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League (BPL).

The BCB found Ali and Shakib guilty of violating level one and level two of the BCB code of conduct respectively, during a BPL match at the Sher-e-Bangla stadium on Nov 20.

Ali was fined 25 per cent of the match fees after he was found guilty of breaching Article 2.1.7 of the BCB code of conduct for players and players support personnel, which relates to "using language, actions or gestures which disparage or which could provoke an aggressive reaction from a batsman upon his dismissal during a match".

Ali confessed to his misconduct and accepted the sanction proposed by match referee Samiur Rahman. In addition to the fine, two demerit points have been added to Ali's disciplinary record.

Meanwhile, Shakib was fined 50 per cent of the match fee for his offensive reaction to an LBW appeal that was being turned down by the umpire. He was penalised under Article 2.2.4 of the BCB code of conduct.

The Article relates to "using language or gesture(s) that is seriously obscene, seriously offensive or of a seriously insulting nature to another player, player support personnel, umpire, match referee or any other third person during a match".

In addition to the fine, three demerit points have been added to Shakib’s disciplinary record.

Under Article 7.5 of the code, if a player reaches four or more demerit points in a tournament, the points will then be converted into suspension points. Four demerit points equate to a ban of one match.

A day earlier, Hasan Ali stunned his fans in Bangladesh as he took five wickets for just 20 runs in his first match of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL). He took five wickets in 3.3 overs putting his side, the Comilla Victorians, in a commanding position against the Dhaka Dynamites.

The number one ranked One Day International (ODI) bowler became only the second after Bangladesh's Rubel Hossain to have bowled five batsmen out in a single Twenty20 game.

An additional sessions judge in the district East of Karachi issued non-bailable arrest warrants for Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Malir Rao Anwar on Tuesday, Dawn reported.

The SSP is a prosecution witness in cases that were lodged in 1992 against Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) founding member Saleem Shahzad. However, after Anwar failed to show up for the case hearing, the court ordered Karachi East Deputy Inspector General Sultan Ali Khowaja to arrest him.

When contacted by Dawn, Anwar said he had a meeting with Sindh Home Minister Sohail Anwar Siyal due to which he "forgot" to attend the hearing on Tuesday.

The SSP added that he will attend the hearing on November 25 to record his statement as a prosecution witness.

Multiple cases were registered against Shahzad at various police stations in Karachi in 1992. He was declared a proclaimed offender in the cases registered at Malir and Landhi police stations pertaining to kidnapping, wrongful confinement, criminal intimidation and rioting.

The MQM leader was also nominated in two cases pertaining to an attack on the house of Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi (MQM-H) chairman Afaq Ahmed's brother and the murder of MQM-H worker Shoaibullah in Landhi.

At that time, Anwar was posted as the station house officer at Gulshan-i-Iqbal police station and had arrested a suspect who confessed to committing murder and rioting across Karachi on Shahzad's orders.

Saudi authorities said on Monday they had detected an “advanced” cyber attack targeting the kingdom, in a fresh attempt by hackers to disrupt government computers.

The government's National Cyber Security Centre said the attack involved the use of “Powershell” malware, but it did not comment on the source of the attack or which government bodies were targeted.

“The NCSC has detected a new Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) that is targeting Saudi Arabia,” the agency said in a statement, adding the attack sought to infiltrate computers using email phishing techniques.

Saudi Arabia has come under frequent cyber attacks, including “Shamoon”, the aggressive disc-wiping malware employed in attacks against the Saudi energy sector in 2012.

Saudi Aramco, the world's biggest oil company, was among the firms hit by Shamoon, in what is believed to be the country's worst cyber attack yet.

US intelligence officials at the time said they suspected a link to the kingdom's regional rival Iran.

Britain on Monday pulled its candidate from a hard-fought race for a seat on the International Court of Justice (ICJ), allowing a judge from India to take the position.

It will be the first time since the ICJ was established in 1945 that there will be no British judge.

The election had turned into a stalemate between Britain's candidate Christopher Greenwood, who enjoyed support in the UN Security Council, and India's judge Dalveer Bhandari, who won the vote in the General Assembly.

“The UK has concluded that it is wrong to continue to take up the valuable time of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly with further rounds of elections,” British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft said on Monday.

“We are naturally disappointed, but it was a competitive field with six strong candidates.”

Greenwood had served one nine-year term at the ICJ based in The Hague and was seeking to serve a second.

Some diplomats attributed Britain's failure to rally support for its candidate at the General Assembly to a loss of influence, following London's decision to leave the European Union.

In June, the General Assembly voted to refer the legal status of the British-ruled Chagos Islands to the ICJ.

The other elected judges were Nawaf Salam of Lebanon, Ronny Abraham of France, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia and Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade of Brazil.

The US has declared North Korea a state sponsor of terrorism, returning the country to a short blacklist of targeted US foes.

The designation, announced by President Donald Trump on Monday, will expand the already substantial array of sanctions the US has imposed on trade with North Korea.

It will clamp down further on the North's access to banks and other financial institutions and, more importantly, deepen the stigma any potential trading partners will have to take into account before doing business with Pyongyang.

Even though many of the punishments against North Korea have already been enacted under previous sanctions measures, putting any country on the list is a very serious move by Washington.

There are only three other countries on the list: Sudan, Iran and Syria. Cuba, which had been on the list from 1982, was removed by then-President Barack Obama in 2015.

But how exactly does the terrorism charge fit North Korea? And how does North Korea compare to the other countries on the list? Here's a look, country by country:

In the 1980s, North Korea was particularly active in deadly acts of terrorism, including a bombing in Myanmar that killed South Korean Cabinet members and the downing of a South Korean commercial airliner.

It was blacklisted in 1988, but delisted in 2008 as Washington tried to entice it into a nuclear deal.

The most glaring recent case of what could be seen as terrorism backed by North Korea is the assassination of leader Kim Jong Un's estranged half brother last February at the international airport in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Two young Southeast Asian women are now on trial for allegedly carrying out the killing, but authorities believe the plot was masterminded by North Korean agents who recruited, trained and supplied the women with the extremely toxic VX poison used in the assassination.

VX is a sophisticated nerve agent that is almost exclusively produced with state backing for military use. Moreover, the US has accused the North of involvement in several highly disruptive cyber incidents that could fall into the terrorism rubric.

Syria has been on the blacklist since the designation was created in 1979. According to the US, Bashar Assad's regime supports a variety of terrorist groups that have a destabilising effect well beyond the region.

In particular, according to the US, it provides political and weapons support to Hezbollah, while helping Iran to keep the group armed.

The US claim against Syria also includes concerns about weapons of mass destruction according to the State Department, it has used chemical weapons repeatedly against its own people.

Iran's listing goes back to 1984. A State Department report in July called Iran the world's foremost sponsor of terrorism and said it has supported Shia militias in Iraq and attempted to smuggle weapons to Palestinian terrorist groups in Gaza.

The WMD issue, also a factor with North Korea and Syria, has been cited by the State Department regarding Iran because of the proliferation threat posed by its nuclear program.

This East African nation, home to Osama bin Laden for several years in the 1990s, made the blacklist in 1993. But along with the terrorism links, and a president who is wanted by the International Criminal Court on genocide charges, the State Department has asserted that Sudan's government flouts the rule of law and lets its security forces commit abuses with impunity.

The US government, however, has recently credited Sudan with some improvements. Just before leaving office, Obama issued an executive order that lifted decades-old sanctions on a probationary basis. Trump formalised that last month and is reportedly willing to delist Sudan if improvements continue.

A security personnel was martyred and three others were injured in an exchange of fire with suspected terrorists in Balochistan's Turbat area on Tuesday.

The deceased's identity has yet to be verified.

According to security sources, two suspects were also killed in the incident in Turbat's Buleda area.

A search operation is underway for suspects who escaped from the site shortly after the exchange of fire.

Tuesday's incident has taken place in the same area where twenty bullet-riddled bodies were found over the past week.

On Nov 15, fifteen bodies were found. The victims had been killed by unknown gunmen in the Buleda Gorak area. Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) had taken responsibility of the attack and an alleged BLF commander involved in the incident was later killed.

A few days later, on Saturday, five more bodies were found. Levies had said that the victims belonged to to Punjab's Gujrat district.

Balochistan has experienced incidents of violence and targeted killings for over a decade. In recent months, the province has faced a number of security challenges, with security personnel in the province often being targeted in roadside explosions and suicide attacks.

On Nov 15, Superintendent of Police (SP) Muhammad Ilyas and three members of his family were killed in a gun attack in Quetta's Nawan Killi.

On Oct 18, eight people, including seven policemen were killed in an explosion targeting a truck carrying police officials in the Sariab Mill area of Quetta. 24 others were injured in the attack.

Fifteen people, including eight soldiers, were martyred when a suicide bomber targeted a military truck near the Pishin bus stop in Quetta on August 13.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on Tuesday arrested eight suspected human traffickers from Gujranwala and Gujrat as part of a crackdown against trafficking that began following the recovery of the bullet-riddled bodies in Balochistan's Turbat last week.

The bodies of 20 victims were found in Turbat in two separate incidents last week. The victims were identified as residents of Punjab wanting to illegally cross into Iran on their way to Europe.

The Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) had claimed responsibility for the deaths and an alleged BLF commander suspected of involvement in the incident was later killed during an intelligence-based operation by Frontier Corps (FC) last week.

In a raid conducted by FIA officers 

The Trump administration on Monday asked the United States Supreme Court to allow its latest travel ban to take full effect.

A federal appeals court ruling last week had allowed President Donald Trump's newest version of the ban to take effect partially.

That ruling by the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals allowed the administration to ban people from six mostly Muslim countries unless they have a “bona fide” relationship with someone in the US.

Last month, a federal judge in Hawaii had blocked most of Trump's third travel ban just before it was due to take effect.

A judge in Maryland separately blocked it to a lesser degree, saying Trump could bar people from Chad, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Syria and Yemen as long as they did not have “bona fide” relationships with people or organisations already in the US.

The travel ban also applies to travellers from North Korea and to some Venezuelan government officials and their families, but the lawsuits did not challenge those restrictions.

The application filed on Monday by the US Justice Department asked the Supreme Court to put the Hawaii judge's ruling on hold.

Preventing the president from enforcing “his national-security and foreign-relations judgement will cause ongoing irreparable harm to the government and the public, especially by requiring the executive to disregard the identified inadequacies and by undermining the proclamation's goal of inducing cooperation by other nations,” the government's application said.

If granted, the full ban would be in effect while the government's appeal makes its way through the courts.

Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin said on Monday, “We look forward to the Supreme Court's review of this matter, and to the oral argument before the court of appeals in two weeks.”

Arguments are scheduled for Dec 6 at the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Seattle. The Maryland case is due to be argued before the 4th US Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec 8.

In a separate 9th Circuit ruling on Monday, a request by six states to intervene in the Hawaii lawsuit was denied. California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, Oregon and Washington filed a motion last month asking to be parties in Hawaii's lawsuit. They agree with Hawaii that the ban is unconstitutional.

At least 50 people were killed on Tuesday when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a mosque in northeast Nigeria, police said, in an attack blamed on Boko Haram militants.

The blast happened during early morning prayers at the Madina mosque in the Unguwar Shuwa area of Mubi, some 200 kilometres (125 miles) by road from the Adamawa state capital, Yola.

"So far, we have at least 50 dead from an attack at a mosque in Mubi," Adamawa state police spokesman Othman Abubakar told AFP.

"Several people were injured. We don't have the figure now because they have been taken to several hospitals for treatment," he said. "It was a (suicide) bomber who mingled with worshippers. He entered the mosque along with other worshippers for the morning prayers."

"It was when the prayers were on that he set off his explosives."

Asked who was responsible, Abubakar said: "We all know the trend. We don't suspect anyone specifically but we know those behind such kind of attacks."

The attack bore all the hallmarks of Boko Haram, the Islamist militants whose insurgency has left at least 20,000 people dead and more than 2.6 million others homeless since 2009.

Haruna Furo, head of the Adamawa state emergency management agency, and Musa Hamad Bello, chairman of the Mubi north local government area, both confirmed the attack.

They gave lower death tolls but both said that the number of those killed was likely to rise.

Another emergency services official described the blast as "devastating". He said only that there were "high casualties".

Abubakar Sule, who lives near the mosque, said he had just returned home when he heard the blast.

"I was there when the rescue was on and 40 people died on the spot and several others were taken to hospital with severe and life-threatening injuries," he added.

"The roof was blown off. People near the mosque said the prayer was mid-way when the bomber, who was obviously in the congregation, detonated his explosives.

PML-N leader Hanif Abbasi on Tuesday filed before the Supreme Court a written response pertaining to the "nature of a beneficial interest in trust relationships."

On Nov 15, a three-member bench of the apex court — headed by Chief Justice Saqib Nisar and comprising Justice Faisal Arab and Justice Umar Ata Bandial — had concluded hearing a petition filed by Abbasi against Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and party's secretary-general Jahangir Tareen.

The petition seeks the disqualification of the two PTI leaders.

As the apex court had reserved its verdict in the case, the chief justice had asked the petitioner as well as the respondents to submit additional written material if they wanted to.

The response submitted by Abbasi on Tuesday stated that, according to Black's Law Dictionary, a trust should be considered to be an asset.

It further identifies a bare trust ─ "which has a single beneficiary" ─ as one in which "the beneficiary has an identifiable, equitable interest in some property." The response states that the case against Imran "involves a bare trust."

It argues that Imran's offshore company, Niazi Services Limited, operated on his instructions and it therefore cannot be said that the PTI chief is not the owner of the company.

The response also states that the case concerning Tareen involves a discretionary trust where "although the beneficiary has an interest in the trust [sic] there is no commitment on the part of the trustee to confer on him the benefit of any defined property."

"It is within the discretion of the trustee as to who, one or more, of the beneficiaries shall have the benefit of the trust property."

"Nevertheless, a beneficiary under a discretionary trust has an 'interest' to be considered as a potential recipient of benefit under the trust and a right to have his interest protected by the court of equity," the response states.

"The whole class of beneficial beneficiaries, under a discretionary trust, can call upon the trustee to surrender the property according to the instructions of the beneficiaries."

The response states that Tareen therefore cannot refuse ownership of a trust through which he had bought property in Britain. In a previous hearing of the case, Tareen's lawyer had told the court that the trust was established on May 5, 2011.

The response concludes that "anything that can be disposed of for value is, by definition, an asset."

"Therefore, in the cases of Imran Khan Niazi and Jahangir Tareen, their interest in the trust property was in the nature of a proprietary interest that could be disposed of, and constituted as an asset."

Abbasi's response maintains that Tareen and Imran did not disclose the trust and the offshore company, respectively, in their nomination papers.

When the court reserved its verdict in the case, the chief justice had told all parties not to expect an early decision. A week later, it has still not been announced when the verdict will be issued.