The beheading of a 17-year-old girl, allegedly by her husband, in western Iran’s Khuzestan province last week has once again raised concern over the country’s laws around murder and gender-based violence.
Pakistan, foreign mining firm to revive megaproject
Pakistan has reached an out-of-court deal with a foreign firm that has agreed to waive $11 billion in penalties and revive a mining project stalled since 2011, officials said Sunday.
The consortium Tethyan Copper company — of which Canadian gold firm Barrick and Chile’s Antofagasta Minerals control 37.5 percent each — had found vast gold and copper deposits at Reko Diq in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
The hugely lucrative open-pit mine project came to a standstill in 2011 after the local government refused to renew Tethyan Copper’s lease, and in 2013 Pakistan’s top court declared it invalid.
In 2019, the World Bank’s arbitration tribunal committee imposed a 5.8 billion penalty on Pakistan for unlawful denial of mining.
After a decade-long legal battle, Pakistani officials announced the out-of-court settlement with Barrick Gold on Sunday.
“The agreement has nullified the award of around $11 billion on us and secondly Barrick and its partners will invest $10 billion,” Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said during a press conference.
“It will benefit Pakistan and Balochistan for the next 100 years,” he added.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the project “will potentially be the largest gold & copper mine in the world”.
“It will liberate us from crippling debt & usher in a new era of development & prosperity,” he said in a statement.
Balochistan — which borders Iran and Afghanistan — is Pakistan’s poorest province, despite its abundance of natural resources.
Mining in Balochistan is dominated by small companies focused primarily on marble and granite, experts have said, which waste up to 80 percent of potential yield because of poor extraction techniques.
The country is fighting several low-level insurgencies in the province, waged by Islamist, separatist and sectarian groups.
In recent weeks separatists have stepped up attacks with a series of bold raids on state security bases.
Legal expert Osama Malik told AFP that Pakistan’s settlement was the only solution and best deal for the provincial Balochistan government.
“There were no further appeals available for the Pakistani side. The country also didn’t have the resources to pay the exorbitant damages, one of the highest ever granted by the World Bank’s arbitration forum,” he said.
After reconstitution of the project, Barrick will own 50 percent, the Pakistan federal government enterprises 25 percent, and the Balochistan government 25 percent.
International, MNA | Pakistan has reached an out-of-court deal with a foreign firm that has agreed to waive $11 billion in penalties and revive a mining project stalled since 2011, officials said Sunday.
‘Perfect storm’ for country’s equities as surging virus cases add to geopolitical concerns
www.ft.com
Foreign investors dump Chinese stocks at record pace
‘Perfect storm’ for country’s equities as surging virus cases add to geopolitical concerns
Foreign investors have dumped a record $6bn worth of Chinese shares in the first three months of 2022 as they take fright at new coronavirus outbreaks and the risk that western countries will sanction Beijing if it supports Russia’s war in Ukraine.
In very much both sad and really retarded murder related news.
Former rugby Argentine player Federico Aramburu was shot dead in Paris last Saturday, and the suspected murderer; a former soldier with links to the far right supposedly killed him after a bar brawl/dispute and was eventually caught in Hungary.
Loik Le Priol, 27, was arrested in Hungary on Wednesday on suspicion of killing Federico Martin Aramburu, 42, outside a bar in Paris in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Pakistan, foreign mining firm to revive megaproject
Pakistan has reached an out-of-court deal with a foreign firm that has agreed to waive $11 billion in penalties and revive a mining project stalled since 2011, officials said Sunday.
The consortium Tethyan Copper company — of which Canadian gold firm Barrick and Chile’s Antofagasta Minerals control 37.5 percent each — had found vast gold and copper deposits at Reko Diq in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.
The hugely lucrative open-pit mine project came to a standstill in 2011 after the local government refused to renew Tethyan Copper’s lease, and in 2013 Pakistan’s top court declared it invalid.
In 2019, the World Bank’s arbitration tribunal committee imposed a 5.8 billion penalty on Pakistan for unlawful denial of mining.
After a decade-long legal battle, Pakistani officials announced the out-of-court settlement with Barrick Gold on Sunday.
“The agreement has nullified the award of around $11 billion on us and secondly Barrick and its partners will invest $10 billion,” Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin said during a press conference.
“It will benefit Pakistan and Balochistan for the next 100 years,” he added.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said the project “will potentially be the largest gold & copper mine in the world”.
“It will liberate us from crippling debt & usher in a new era of development & prosperity,” he said in a statement.
Balochistan — which borders Iran and Afghanistan — is Pakistan’s poorest province, despite its abundance of natural resources.
Mining in Balochistan is dominated by small companies focused primarily on marble and granite, experts have said, which waste up to 80 percent of potential yield because of poor extraction techniques.
The country is fighting several low-level insurgencies in the province, waged by Islamist, separatist and sectarian groups.
In recent weeks separatists have stepped up attacks with a series of bold raids on state security bases.
Legal expert Osama Malik told AFP that Pakistan’s settlement was the only solution and best deal for the provincial Balochistan government.
“There were no further appeals available for the Pakistani side. The country also didn’t have the resources to pay the exorbitant damages, one of the highest ever granted by the World Bank’s arbitration forum,” he said.
After reconstitution of the project, Barrick will own 50 percent, the Pakistan federal government enterprises 25 percent, and the Balochistan government 25 percent.
International, MNA | Pakistan has reached an out-of-court deal with a foreign firm that has agreed to waive $11 billion in penalties and revive a mining project stalled since 2011, officials said Sunday.
If I were Imran, I would be excited about this no doubt, but I would also be cold-sweat nervous as hell. The Baluchis have been deadly effective lately.
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