Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Bilawal Bhutto appointed Pakistan foreign minister

Bilawal Bhutto appointed Pakistan foreign minister

THE SCION of Pakistan's most influential political dynasty was appointed foreign minister on Wednesday (27), the latest step up a ladder likely to take Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to the top of the country's leadership.

Aged 33, Bhutto becomes one of the world's youngest foreign ministers but inherits a diplomatic bag of issues that started well before he was born - including relations with arch-rival India.

Bhutto was sworn in two weeks after he helped lead an alliance that toppled Imran Khan and saw Shehbaz Sharif become prime minister.

His first foreign mission in the role will be accompanying Sharif on Thursday (28) to Saudi Arabia, a key trade partner and regular source of relief for Pakistan's struggling economy.

Bhutto is the son of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto and ex-president Asif Ali Zardari, as well as the grandson of another former prime minister, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

His grandfather also served as the foreign minister in the mid-1960s and was the founder of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) that Bhutto now leads.

He became party leader aged just 19, while a student at Oxford University, following his mother's assassination in 2007.

She, in turn, had taken over the party's stewardship from her mother Nusrat, who became chairwoman following the execution of her husband Zulfikar in 1979 under military dictator Zia-ul-Haq.

The new foreign minister is considered a progressive, in his mother's image, and has frequently spoken out on the rights of women and minorities.

With more than half of Pakistan's population aged 22 or below, Bhutto's social media savvy is also a hit with the young, although he is frequently mocked for a poor command of Urdu, the national language.

Political commentators have mixed opinions on Bhutto's abilities - or how long he can maintain good relations with Sharif, of the rival Pakistan Muslim League-N (PML-N) party.

"I believe he is an un-tested missile," analyst Hassan Askari Rizvi said.

"It is too early for a young MP like Bilawal Bhutto... and it will be difficult for him to handle issues Pakistan faces, with serious challenges on external fronts."

Fellow analyst Farzana Bari disagreed.

"I think Bilawal is intelligent enough to hold the fort," she said, adding he was "more progressive" than the leaders of other political parties.

(AFP)

More For You

Sara Sharif e1692881096452

Sara was discovered dead in her bunkbed on 10 August 2023.

Sara was discovered dead in her bunkbed on 10 August 2023.

'Chatterbox with biggest smile': Headteacher pays tribute to Sara Sharif

SARA SHARIF, a ten-year-old girl who suffered fatal abuse at the hands of her father and stepmother, is being remembered as a cheerful and caring pupil with a love for singing.

Her father, Urfan Sharif, 42, and stepmother, Beinash Batool, 30, were found guilty on 11 December of her murder at their home in Woking, Surrey, on 8 August 2023. Sara’s uncle, Faisal Malik, 29, was convicted of causing or allowing the death of a child.

Keep ReadingShow less
Healthcare workers hold placards as they demonstrate on Westminster Bridge, near to St Thomas' Hospital in London on May 1, 2023. (Photo: Getty Images)
Healthcare workers hold placards as they demonstrate on Westminster Bridge, near to St Thomas' Hospital in London on May 1, 2023. (Photo: Getty Images)

Teachers, nurses warn of strikes over 2.8 per cent pay rise proposal

TEACHERS and nurses may strike after the government recommended a 2.8 per cent pay rise for public sector workers for the next financial year.

Ministers cautioned that higher pay awards would require cuts in Whitehall budgets.

Keep ReadingShow less
A man walks past a mural that says ‘Northern Ireland’, on Sandy Row in Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 11, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)
A man walks past a mural that says ‘Northern Ireland’, on Sandy Row in Belfast, Northern Ireland, August 11, 2024. (Photo: Reuters)

Northern Ireland approves extension of post-Brexit trade rules

NORTHERN Ireland’s devolved government has voted to continue implementing post-Brexit trading arrangements under the Windsor Framework, a deal signed between London and the European Union in February 2023.

The vote in the Northern Ireland Assembly at Stormont extended the arrangement for four years.

Keep ReadingShow less
'Covid bereavement rates in Scotland highest among Asians'
Ethnic groups were found to be two-and-a-half times more likely to have experienced the loss of a close family member.

'Covid bereavement rates in Scotland highest among Asians'

THE bereavement rates due to Covid in Scotland have been highest among those identifying with ‘Any other’ ethnic group (68 per cent), followed by Indians (44 per cent) and Pakistanis (38 per cent), a new study revealed. This is significantly higher than the national average of around 25 per cent.

Ethnic groups were found to be two-and-a-half times more likely to have experienced the loss of a close family member during the Covid crisis.

Keep ReadingShow less
Harmeet Dhillon gives a benediction at the end of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,  on July 15, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)
Harmeet Dhillon gives a benediction at the end of the first day of the 2024 Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, 2024. (Photo: Getty Images)

Trump nominates Harmeet Dhillon for top Department of Justice role

US PRESIDENT-ELECT Donald Trump has nominated Indian-American attorney Harmeet K Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the Department of Justice.

“I am pleased to nominate Harmeet K Dhillon as assistant attorney general for civil rights at the US Department of Justice,” Trump announced on Monday on Truth Social, his social media platform.

Keep ReadingShow less