Sharaa was declared president for a transitional phase on Wednesday, less than two months after he led a campaign that toppled Bashar Assad. He was also empowered to form a temporary legislative council for a transitional period and the Syrian constitution was suspended. On Thursday, Sharaa said he will form an inclusive transitional government representing diverse communities that will build institutions and run the country until it can hold free and fair elections.
He was addressing the nation in his first speech since being appointed president by the military command that ousted Assad in a lightning offensive last year. The group that led the offensive, Hayat Tahrir Al-Sham, has since set up an interim government that has welcomed a steady stream of senior Western and Arab diplomatic delegations keen to help stabilize the country after 13 years of civil war. It followed a similar incident in Gulistan-e-Jauhar, which claimed three lives a day ago.
Fatal road accidents are common in Pakistan where traffic rules are rarely followed and roads as well as a majority of vehicles are in poor condition. Road crashes have killed at least 96 people, including 71 men, 12 women and 13 children, and injured nearly 1, others in Karachi in the last two months, local media reports, citing police. The chief secretary directed inspection of all water tankers of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board within a month, while the Sindh Solid Waste Management Board, which collects garbage with the help of dumper trucks, was ordered to shift operations to nighttime within 3 months.
The Pakistani government launched a hybrid civil-military government body, the Special Investment Facilitation Council SIFC in June to attract foreign investment from allies and other nations. The SIFC seeks to target investment in key economic sectors such as energy, mines and minerals, infrastructure, agriculture and livestock, among others.
The Finance Minister expressed his desire to make relations between the two countries more sustainable, saying that warm ties between Pakistan and the UK were based on mutual trust and partnership. Beach met Pakistani officials and spoke to media during his two-day visit to the country. Pakistan and the UK have a long and multifaceted relationship, with the latter hosting a large Pakistani diaspora community. Pakistan is also a member of the Commonwealth, a voluntary association of 56 countries out of which the vast majority are former British territories.
