Category: 2. World

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government has initiated the process to hire a new financial adviser for the partial sale of its New York-based Roosevelt Hotel, Adviser to the Finance Minister Khurram Schehzad confirmed this week, clarifying that the transaction would be completed this year.

Pakistan plans to sell a minority stake in the century-old Manhattan hotel and is seeking a redevelopment partner as part of a broader effort to offload loss-making state-owned assets under a $7 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Roosevelt Hotel, viewed as one of Pakistan’s most valuable foreign holdings, was closed in 2020 and has since operated intermittently, including as a migrant shelter.

Global real estate firm Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) last month resigned from its role as financial adviser for the hotel’s privatization, citing a conflict of interest due to client interest in the property.

A report in English-language newspaper ‘The News’ on Thursday claimed that if the Privatization Commission accelerates the process of hiring JLL’s replacement, it would require 18 months to do so. The delay will burden the national exchequer with at least $50 million in the form of debt servicing and maintenance, the report claimed.

“The advertisement for the new financial adviser has already been published and the selection process is underway,” Schehzad told Arab News on Thursday, responding to the report.

Pakistan has said it would not carry out an outright sale of the hotel but has decided to adopt a joint venture model to maximize long-term value.

Schehzad said JLL completed the entire transaction structure for the joint venture, which was approved by the Privatization Commission and the federal cabinet.

He said the new adviser would proceed with the same structure and would only be responsible for finding a development partner for the venture.

“Therefore, there will not be a delay of one-and-a-half years as reported,” the finance official clarified. “Instead, the transaction will be completed within this year as planned.”

Schehzad said JLL resigned from the process as the firm was interested in becoming a partner on the buyer’s side, which would have created a conflict of interest.

“They even committed to returning all the money they had received in their role as the financial adviser,” he said, adding that there were many parties interested in investing in the hotel.

The report had also said that a financial body had sent an official communication to the finance ministry, inquiring about the fate of its loan of $142 million to the Roosevelt Hotel after JLL resigned.

The report said the finance ministry did not respond to the institution, warning that debt servicing would continue to burden the national exchequer. It said the financial body had lent the money to the Roosevelt Hotel in 2020.

Schehzad confirmed the loan had been issued by the National Bank of Pakistan, saying its communication with the finance ministry was “a routine matter.”

“This issue will also be addressed when the partnership agreement is signed,” he said.

‘BETTER PLANNING, BETTER ENGAGEMENTS’

Pakistani economists viewed JLL’s resignation as a setback but said it would not derail the privatization process.

Dr. Sajid Amin, deputy executive director at Islamabad-based think tank Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), said it was unfortunate authorities were unable to privatize the property despite its prime location.

“We need better planning and better engagements so that we can privatize a prestigious property,” Amin told Arab News.

Amin believed the advisory firm’s withdrawal would not have a significant impact on the IMF reforms agenda that Pakistan had agreed to, since JLL had stepped down over a potential conflict of interest.

“The government will start looking for a new financial adviser firm and it will be sufficient to prove that the IMF commitments are on track,” he added.

Dr. Ali Salman, executive director of the Policy Research Institute of Market Economy (PRIME), an Islamabad-based independent economic policy think tank, said privatization has many models, and a joint venture — instead of a direct sale — was an impressive approach.

He said that the cost of the delay could be recovered through a joint venture deal if it was carried out professionally and transparently, according to the approved structure.

“We need to increase the capacity of the Privatization Commission to ensure timely and well-informed decisions,” Salman added.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new direction in the war on Gaza risks dragging Israel into a conflict with no clear endpoint.

The stated goal remains, at least outwardly, the total destruction of Hamas.

But attempting to eliminate an idea, particularly one tied to resistance and Palestinian national identity, is likely an impossible task.

The prime minister’s plan has now received approval from the security cabinet.

Follow the latest updates on the war in Gaza

Yet in many ways, this remains one man’s war.

Public opposition is growing. Protests have become a near-daily occurrence. Hostage families and their supporters continue to take to the streets, fearing the current strategy puts their loved ones in even greater danger.

The military also appears increasingly uneasy.

The chief of staff of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF), Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir, has raised strong objections.

He is warning of military fatigue, the risks of a prolonged occupation, and the danger of turning the Israeli army into a long-term policing force for millions of Palestinians.

Many within the military, like a significant portion of the Israeli public, would prefer a ceasefire that could lead to the release of more hostages.

Israel currently claims to control around 75 percent of the Gaza Strip.

Under the new plan, it will attempt to move into the remaining areas.

Under international law, Gaza is already considered under Israeli occupation.

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, 86.3% of the Strip falls within Israeli militarised zones.

The most intense operations for the new plan will likely focus on Gaza City, considered the de facto capital of the Strip and the administrative stronghold of Hamas.

Taking Gaza City is seen as a key step in weakening Hamas’s operational capabilities.

Its capture would also carry deep symbolic weight, potentially altering the political landscape of post-war Gaza.

Israel believes a large number of hostages are still being held in or near Gaza City.

This is one of the main reasons the IDF has previously avoided full incursions into those areas.

The risk to those in captivity remains high.

Nevertheless, none of these plans will unfold quickly.

The campaign could take months to prepare and many more to execute.

In the meantime, Israel risks accusations of committing to an open-ended war with no clear exit strategy.

Implementing control over Gaza would require a long-term project.

Observers suggest it could mirror the military and administrative template used in the occupied West Bank (which has persisted for decades). Such an effort in Gaza would likely take years to set up.

The Prime Minister’s Office has laid out five conditions that must be met before Israel agrees to end the war.

These are: the full disarmament of Hamas, the return of all fifty remaining hostages (twenty of whom are believed to be alive), the complete demilitarisation of Gaza, Israeli security control over the territory, and the replacement of both Hamas and the Palestinian Authority with a new civilian government.

These demands, while politically significant, will likely deepen Israel’s international isolation as the already horrendous civilian death toll in Gaza continues to climb.

Critics argue that the operation is increasingly tied to Netanyahu’s own political survival.

Since the Hamas-led attack on October 7, 2023, his popularity has collapsed.

Polls consistently show a deep loss of public trust, and many Israelis blame him for the intelligence and leadership failures that led to the worst terror attack in the country’s history.

Read more:
Israel’s security cabinet agrees full military takeover of Gaza
GHF aid sites in Gaza are scenes of ‘orchestrated killing’, charity claims

Mass protests, led especially by families of the hostages, have called for new elections and a change in leadership.

Netanyahu, however, may view the continuation of war as a means to delay accountability and avoid political defeat.

His coalition depends on the support of far-right ministers such as Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich.

Any sign of compromise or willingness to negotiate risks collapsing his fragile government.

It is also worth considering just how long this war has already dragged on.

After 22 months of devastating conflict, many in Israel believe that Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat.

Yet the war’s goals have become increasingly ambiguous, and its endpoint remains undefined.

Hamas has largely fully transitioned into a guerrilla force.

Israel now faces the same dilemma that has haunted major powers before it, fighting an asymmetric enemy deeply embedded in civilian areas.

As the United States discovered in Vietnam and the Soviet Union in Afghanistan, fighting such a war comes at a price that is hard to grasp until it is far too late.

A major wildfire started on Tuesday, August 5, near the village of Ribaute in southern France and has already burned an area bigger than Paris.

So far one woman has died and 13 people are injured, including 11 firefighters. Two of them are in serious condition.

Over 2,000 firefighters and 500 vehicles are still working in the Aude region. The army and police are also helping. Water dropping planes and helicopters have made more than 130 drops to control the flames.

Officials say the fire is now under control but not fully out. It may take many more days to finish the job. “The fire is continuing, but the danger is not over,” said a top local officer.

The wildfire has burned over 17,000 hectares of land. Villages like Jonquieres and Corbieres are badly affected. About 80 percent of Jonquieres is destroyed, and smoke can be seen from space.

People cannot go back to their homes yet. Seventeen shelters have been set up for them. The road remains closed due to fallen power lines and other risks. Forests in the area are off limits until Sunday.

Prime Minister Francois Bayrou called it a “huge disaster” and blamed climate change. Hot weather, strong winds, and dry plants helped the fire spread fast. The environment minister also said global warning made the fire worse.

President Emmanuel Macron has promised full support and told the public to stay alert.

The World Health Organization on Thursday said nearly 100,000 cholera cases had been reported in Sudan since July last year, as it warned of more hunger, displacement and disease to come.

Since April 2023, Sudan has been torn apart by a power struggle between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and Mohamed Hamdan Daglo, commander of the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces. The fighting has killed tens of thousands.

“In Sudan, unrelenting violence has led to widespread hunger, disease and suffering,” said WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

“Cholera has swept across Sudan, with all states reporting outbreaks. Nearly 100,000 cases have been reported since July last year.”

Oral cholera vaccination campaigns had been conducted in several states, including the capital Khartoum, he told a press conference with the Geneva UN correspondents’ association ACANU.

“While we are seeing a declining trend in numbers, there are gaps in disease surveillance, and progress is fragile,” he said.

“Recent floods, affecting large parts of the country, are expected to worsen hunger and fuel more outbreaks of cholera, malaria, dengue and other diseases.”

Cholera is an acute intestinal infection that spreads through food and water contaminated with bacteria, often from faeces.

It causes severe diarrhoea, vomiting and muscle cramps.

Cholera can kill within hours when not attended to, though it can be treated with simple oral rehydration, and antibiotics for more severe cases.

There has been a global increase in cholera cases, and their geographical spread, since 2021.

– Malnutrition –
As for hunger, Tedros said there were reports from El-Fasher, the besieged capital of North Darfur state, that people were eating animal feed to survive.

Across the country, millions are going hungry and around 770,000 children under five years old are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year.

“In the first six months of this year, nutrition centres supported by WHO have treated more than 17,000 severely malnourished children with medical complications. But many more are beyond reach,” Tedros warned.

The UN health agency’s efforts were being held back by limited access and a lack of funding, he added, with the WHO having received less than a third of the money it has appealed for to provide urgent health assistance in Sudan.

The WHO director-general said that as long as the violence continues in Sudan, “we can expect to see more hunger, more displacement and more disease”.

This is likely the first phase of a full takeover of Gaza by Israel’s militarypublished at 06:05 British Summer Time

06:05 BST

Hugo Bachega
Middle East correspondent, reporting from Jerusalem

Image source, Getty Images

The takeover of Gaza City approved by the Israeli security cabinet is likely to be the first phase of a full takeover of Gaza by the military, as Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu says this is his intention.

His plans have faced strong opposition from the military leadership, with the army’s chief of staff, Lt Gen Eyal Zamir, warning him of a “trap”.

The families of the hostages say an expansion of the offensive, which is likely to last months, will put the 20 captives believed to be alive at risk. There have also been warnings that a push will kill even more Palestinians and worsen the humanitarian crisis in the territory.

Polls suggest most of the Israeli public favour a deal with Hamas for the release of the hostages and the end of the war. Israeli leaders say Hamas, for now, is not interested in negotiating as, in their view, the group is feeling emboldened by the international pressure on Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

There has been some speculation that the threat of full occupation could be part of a strategy to put pressure on Hamas to make concessions in stalled talks.

Throughout the war, Netanyahu has been accused of prolonging the conflict to guarantee the survival of his coalition, which relies on the support of ultranationalist ministers who have threatened to quit the government if there is any deal with Hamas.

In an interview shortly before the cabinet’s meeting, Netanyahu said that Israel planned to hand over the control of Gaza to “Arab forces”, although he did not give details about possible arrangements or which countries could be involved. Still, this was a rare indication of what he might be envisioning for a post-war Gaza.

Congress said PM Modi’s claim of having a special relationship with U.S. President Donald Trump “now stands totally exposed”. File

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