Politics
PM Shehbaz among 26 world leaders attending China’s biggest military parade
BEIJING: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is among 26 world leaders in China to witness on Wednesday the country’s biggest-ever military parade, a show of strength staged by President Xi Jinping to underline Beijing’s growing power on the global stage.
China kicked off its largest-ever military parade on Wednesday, a show of its growing firepower and geopolitical clout as President Xi Jinping seeks to cast Beijing as the custodian of a post-U.S. international order.
Flanked by Russia’s Vladimir Putin and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un, Xi was shown on television strolling up a red carpet to take his seat for the lavish event at Tiananmen Square to mark 80 years since Japan’s defeat at the end of World War Two.
Wearing a suit in the style of those worn by former leader Mao Zedong, Xi earlier greeted around two dozen largely non-western leaders in attendance, including Indonesia’s Prabowo Subianto, who made a surprise appearance despite widespread protests at home.
He was shown saying “Nice to meet you” and “Welcome to China” in English.
The highly choreographed “Victory Day” spectacle comes as US President Donald Trump’s “America First” stance and trade wars have strained Washington’s long-standing alliances.
Asked whether he sees the parade as a challenge to the United States on Tuesday, Trump said he didn’t and reiterated his “very good relationship” with Xi.
“China needs us much more than we need them,” he added.
More than 50,000 spectators at Tiananmen Square packed into stands in Tiananmen Square awaiting the 70-minute showcase of aerial displays, marching troops as well as cutting-edge military equipment such as hypersonic missiles, unmanned drones and outfitted tanks.
Major roads and schools have been closed in Beijing for the parade, the culmination of weeks of painstaking security preparations and midnight rehearsals.
Xi will review the troops lined up in formation before delivering a keynote speech atop the Gate of Heavenly Peace in Beijing, where a portrait of China’s late Chairman Mao Zedong overlooks Tiananmen Square.
Vision for new global order
Xi has described World War Two as a turning point in the “great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation”, in which it overcame Japanese invasion and humiliation to emerge as a rising global power.
He is expected to emphasise China and Soviet Russia’s role in defeating fascism and defending the postwar international order in his address.
Earlier this week, Xi outlined his vision of a new global order at a regional security summit, urging unity against “hegemonism and power politics” – widely seen as a swipe at the United States and Trump’s tariffs on both allies and rivals.
Putin has already used the occasion to sign deeper energy deals with China, while the gathering offers Kim an opportunity to gain tacit backing for his sanctioned nuclear programme.
Kim, attending his first major multilateral event, is the first North Korean leader to join a Chinese military parade in 66 years.
His daughter Ju Ae, viewed by South Korean intelligence as his likely successor, is making her first international appearance after years of being seen alongside him at domestic events.
Authorities have left nothing to chance for the high-profile event.
Local governments across China have mobilised tens of thousands of volunteers and Communist Party members to maintain security and prevent unrest ahead of the parade, according to online recruitment notices.
“President Xi will use this opportunity to demonstrate that the military is firmly behind him,” said Wen-Ti Sung, a fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Global China Hub.
Huge crowds took to the streets Saturday in all 50 US states to vent their anger over President Donald Trump’s hardline policies at “No Kings” protests that Republicans ridiculed as “Hate America” rallies.
From New York and Washington to smaller cities in Michigan and Trump’s second home in Florida, demonstrations in the eastern half of the United States revved up ahead of similar events due out west.
More than 2,700 protests are planned coast to coast, and organisers say they are expecting millions to attend.
“This is what democracy looks like!” chanted thousands at a protest in Washington near the National Mall, home to the city’s iconic landmarks.
“Hey hey ho ho, Donald Trump has got to go!” said protesters, many of them carrying American flags.
Demonstrators are up in arms over what they see as strongarm tactics since the Republican billionaire returned to the White House in January, including attacks on the media, prosecuting political opponents and a vast immigration crackdown.
A US government shutdown is now in its third week, with the Trump administration firing thousands of federal workers and lawmakers showing little sign they are ready to break the impasse.
Thousands flooded New York’s Times Square, Boston Common and Chicago’s Grant Park.
“I never thought I would live to see the death of my country as a democracy,” 69-year-old retiree Colleen Hoffman told AFP as she marched down Broadway.
“We are in a crisis— the cruelty of this regime, the authoritarianism. I just feel like I cannot sit home and do nothing.”
In New York’s Queens borough, demonstrators carried colorful signs that read “Queens Say No Kings,” and “We protest because we love America and want it back!” while some chanted, “We love our country, we can’t stand Trump!”
In Los Angeles, organizers plan to float a giant balloon of Trump in a diaper. They said they expect 100,000 people to attend.
So far, Trump’s response to Saturday’s events has been muted.
“They’re saying they’re referring to me as a king. I’m not a king,” he told Fox News show “Sunday Morning Futures.”
But his top surrogates were in more fighting form, with House Speaker Mike Johnson calling the day of protest the “Hate America rally.”
“You’re going to bring together the Marxists, the Socialists, the Antifa advocates, the anarchists and the pro-Hamas wing of the far-left Democrat Party,” he told reporters.
Republican lawmaker Tom Emmer also used the “Hate America” phrase and referred to participants as the “terrorist wing” of the Democratic Party.
‘Country of equals’
Beyond the United States, the “No Kings” movement is even organizing events in Canada, and small protests took place Saturday in Malaga, Spain and Malmo, Sweden.
On Thursday, Deirdre Schifeling, chief political and advocacy officer for the American Civil Liberties Union, said protesters wanted to convey that “we are a country of equals.”
“We are a country of laws that apply to everyone, of due process and of democracy. We will not be silenced,” she told reporters.
Leah Greenberg, co-founder of the Indivisible Project, slammed the Trump administration’s efforts to send the National Guard into US cities and crack down on undocumented migrants.
Trump has ordered National Guard troops into Los Angeles, Washington and Memphis. Planned deployments to Chicago and Portland, Oregon have so far been blocked in the courts.
“It is the classic authoritarian playbook: threaten, smear and lie, scare people into submission,” Greenberg said.
Top Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer encouraged demonstrators to let their voices be heard.
“I say to my fellow Americans this No Kings Day: Do not let Donald Trump and Republicans intimidate you into silence. That’s what they want to do. They’re afraid of the truth,” he wrote Saturday on X.
“Speak out, use your voice, and exercise your right to free speech.”
More than seventy Khwarij belonging to Gul Bahadur group, including key Khwariji leader Farman alias Al-Karamah, have been killed during effective precision strikes on terrorist hideouts of Khwariji Gul Bahadur group in the areas of Paktika.
According to credible intelligence sources, these strikes were carried out in the night of 17th of October.
According to security officials, the Khwariji Gul Bahadur group is involved in major and numerous acts of terrorism in Pakistan while infiltrating from Afghanistan.
On October 17, the same group also carried out a failed VBIED attack in Khadi area of North Waziristan, in which three women, two children and a jawan were martyred.
Moreover, other Khwariji leaders Gulab alis Deewana, Rehmani, Adil,Siddiqullah Dawar, Ghazi Maddah Khel, Muqarrab, Qismat Ullah and Fazal-ur-Rehman were also killed in the attacks.
Khwariji Fazal-ur-Rehman is the close relative of Gul Bahadur. Similarly, Khwariji Ashiq Ullah alias Kausar and Younus were also killed in these strikes.
The security officials termed the killing of important Khwarji leaders as a significant and big success
- “All aircraft are safe,” says airport official Masudul Hasan.
- Blaze disrupts both domestic and international flights.
- No immediate information on what caused blaze.
Flights out of Bangladesh’s main airport were delayed or diverted on Saturday after a major fire broke out in the cargo terminal, officials said.
Thirty-six firefighting units are working to douse the flames, Talha Bin Zasim, an officer at the Fire Service and Civil Defence Media Cell, told Reuters.
Operations at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport were suspended, airport official Masudul Hasan told reporters, adding all aircraft are safe.
There was no immediate information as to what may have caused the blaze.
Both domestic and international flights were affected.
An IndiGo flight from Delhi to Dhaka was diverted to Kolkata, and an Air Arabia flight from Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates was sent on to Chittagong.
Meanwhile, a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong was seen circling in the sky after failing to land at Dhaka airport, officials said.
The army, navy, and air force joined the fire service in efforts to bring the blaze under control.
This is the third major fire reported in Bangladesh this week. A fire on Tuesday at a garment factory in Bangladesh and an adjacent chemical warehouse killed at least 16 people and injured others. On Thursday, another fire burned down a garment factory building in an export processing zone in Chittagong.
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