Pakistan launches crackdown on protesters; 1 cop killed, over 200 injured

Violent protests erupted across Pakistan on Saturday after security forces launched an early-morning crackdown on thousands of religious demonstrators camped on a highway in the capital in which a policeman was killed and 200 hundred people were injured. The authorities ordered private television channels to go off the air.

Roughly 8,500 elite police and paramilitary troops in riot gear were seen throwing rocks and using slingshots in the bid to followers of the cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi of the Tehreek-e-Labaik party who began rallying near Faizabad interchange soon after dawn.

The protests had erupted after the Pakistani Parliament approved an amendment to the electoral law earlier, removing an oath public servants had to take before assuming office, reiterating their belief in Prophet Muhammad.

ALSO READ: Pakistan media blackout: TV channels go off air amid Faizabad crackdown

The amendment was deemed a "clerical error" by the government and was rectified. But the protesters still demand the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for his alleged role in the controversy. They attacked his home in Pasrur but the minister and his family were not present at that time.

Security forces resorted to rubber-bullets after the protesters put up the resistance. The law enforcement agencies lobbed tear gas shells and used water cannons to disperse the crowd. In return, the demonstrators pelted stones on the security personnel.
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Pervez Musharraf: The Pakistani General who wouldn't go away

Along stretches of highway and railway tracks across Pakistan, walls bear a familiar inscription: Mard kabhi boorha nahin hota, a man never grows old. It’s an advert by quacks and herbalists peddling eternal virility to aging Pakistani men. It would appear that Pakistan’s former military leader Gen. Pervez Musharraf has taken this roadside assurance too seriously.

Nine years after his ouster from the presidency, and many humiliating attempts to reclaim political relevance later, he is at it again. In a recent interview with Sky News, he said that if he could return to power now he would have more legitimacy than the first time around because back then some people thought he was a dictator. He said this with a straight face.

Musharraf’s dreams are as hopeless as the claims of the roadside quacks, but that doesn’t stop him from coming up with elaborate plans to bring them about. Despite what the aphrodisiac sellers say, men do get old, and they don’t get any wiser with age.

Back in his day, Musharraf sold himself to the world as the last man standing between the Taliban and Western civilization. In the bargain, he achieved everything that a developing country’s military dictator could want: a trip to Camp David, a house in Dubai, a flat in central London, a book deal, his own TV show. You would think that after all that, he would retire, play golf and occasionally show up on the after-dinner lecture circuit. But earlier this month he announced the creation of a 23-party political alliance and appointed himself its chairman.

Many of those parties were previously unheard-of, and some of the ones that were known announced that they had nothing to do with Musharraf or his grand alliance. Still, within days Musharraf was back on TV reminiscing about his glorious rule and pitching himself as a savior-in-waiting — the man who would deliver Pakistan from its current political crisis, caused by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s disqualification from office on corruption charges.
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China tells $151-bn unqualified micro-lending sector to stop 'cash loans'

The National Internet Finance Association of China issued a risk warning letter late on Friday telling "unqualified institutions" to immediately stop offering loans as Beijing steps up a crackdown on the micro-loan sector to fend off financial risks.

The 1 trillion yuan ($151.5 billion) short-term, unsecured lending sector, known as "cash loan" in China, has been accused of charging exorbitant interest rates and violent debt collection practices.

In Friday's warning letter, the Internet Finance Association, a government-backed industry group, said the unqualified microlenders are disrupting economic and social orders and must stop lending immediately.

"Some institutions are not qualified to issue loans but have used false promotion to attract clients, conduct violent debt collection, and charge extremely high interest rates and fees, causing financial risks and social problems in some regions," it said in the letter released on its website.

Qualified lending institutions should also increase self-discipline, charge interest rates at a reasonable level, and increase information disclosure, the association added.

The companies are not allowed to conduct violent debt collection or harass unrelated people, it said.

China has started to take steps to rein in the loosely regulated lending market.
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Oxford Street chaos not terror; due to altercation between two men: Police

The incident at the busy Oxford Circus area in London on Saturday that sparked a "mass evacuation" and left 16 people injured was caused by an "altercation" between two men, police said, ruling out a terror attack.

The Oxford Circus area, one of the busiest shopping zones in the heart of the city, was placed under temporary lockdown after police received reports of shots being fired.

However, Scotland Yard later released CCTV images, saying an altercation between two men led to the chaos in the area.

"We are releasing CCTV images of two men we would like to speak with, following the incident at Oxford Circus earlier today," the Metropolitan Police said.

The British Transport Police (BTP) said the altercation took place inside the busy Oxford Circus underground train station, "triggering a mass evacuation".

"Officers believe an altercation erupted between two men on the platform. They would now like to speak to these two people in the CCTV images, who they believe may have information about the incident and the circumstances around the incident," a BTP statement said.

"They would also like to speak to anyone who was at the station or in the area at the time and saw or heard anything that would have caused mass evacuation," it added.

One person was transferred to a major trauma centre for leg injuries, while eight people were taken to central London hospitals for minor injuries. Another seven patients were treated at the scene.

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Trump appoints WH budget chief Mick Mulvaney as financial watchdog head

US President Donald Trump on Saturday appointed White House budget director Mick Mulvaney to head a financial watchdog that the administration has sought to overhaul as part of its deregulation push.

Mulvaney, who described the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) as a "sick, sad joke" in a 2014 interview, will serve as acting director until a permanent head is nominated and confirmed, according to a White House statement.

Since the start of his presidency, Trump has decried financial rules and regulations, put in place through the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform legislation, to combat the excesses that led to the 2008 financial crisis.

Richard Cordray, the first director of the CFPB who had long been in the banking industry's crosshairs, announced last week he would step down by the end of the month, several months early.

Trump's Treasury Department has produced three reports calling for a whittling down of rules imposed on mid-size banks, a scaling back of stress tests and a restructuring of the CFPB.

Republicans have long deemed the bureau, which was founded in 2011 under the administration of former president Barack Obama, too far outside political control.

Last month, the US Senate voted to terminate a rule created by the agency that would have allowed class-action suits against banks or credit card companies.

The rule would have addressed fine-print clauses that bank and credit card consumers must agree to which bar them from seeking redress through litigation.

The vote was criticised by many Democrats as a sop to Wall Street.
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Time magazine wanted me to be the 'Person of the Year'; I declined: Trump

United States President Donald Trump claimed that he denied being named Time's 'Person of the Year' after the magazine told him he "probably" would be selected "like last year."

"Time Magazine called to say that I was PROBABLY going to be named "Man (Person) of the Year," like last year, but I would have to agree to an interview and a major photo shoot. I said probably is no good and took a pass. Thanks anyway!" Trump tweeted.
 
The magazine named Trump 'Person of the Year' in 2016, following his shocking victory over Hillary Clinton.

"It's a great honor. It means a lot," Trump said at the time. "To be on the cover of Time magazine as the person of the year is a tremendous honor," reported the Hill.

Time defended the controversial decision by saying the award is given to "the person who had the greatest influence, for better or worse, on the events of the year".

Time began conducting a reader poll for its Person of the Year competition earlier this month.

Trump's tweet came in the backdrop of an online readers' poll that shows Trump being outperformed by singer Taylor Swift and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz for this year's honor.
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News digest: S&P holds India rating, insolvency ordinance, and more

S&P refuses to do a Moody's; maintains status quo on India's rating

Credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s (S&P) on Friday retained India’s sovereign rating at the lowest investment grade with a stable outlook. It attributed its decision to a weak fiscal position, particularly of states, high government debt, and low per capita income.

S&P’s rating remains at BBB-, one notch above junk and a notch below what Moody’s Investors Service upgraded India to recently. Read more

India needs to look beyond Buenos Aires, says Suresh Prabhu

With a little over a fortnight left before the World Trade Organization’s biennial ministerial conference gets underway at Buenos Aires in Argentina, Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu tells  that India should focus on strategising how to scale up its exports in tandem with the economy reaching the $5 trillion mark in less than a decade. Read more

Cancer, cardiac among 51 essential drugs under NPPA price cap

National drug pricing regulator NPPA on Friday said it has capped prices of 51 essential formulations, including those used for the treatment of cancer, pain, heart conditions and skin problems. The prices have been slashed in the range of 6 to 53 per cent. Read more

Insolvency Code ordinance: Promoters' loss is PEs' gain

Private equity (PE) players are getting ready to bid for stressed assets, which they expect to bag at attractive valuations after an ordinance amended the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC). The ordinance has practically barred most promoters of the defaulting companies from bidding for their assets in the bankruptcy auction. Read more
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