The Houthi group, international organizations and United Nations organizations in Yemen have demanded that their American and British employees leave within one month, while Washington and London launch attacks on Houthi gatherings and headquarters in Yemen in response to their attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
The Houthi group gave Americans and Britons working for the United Nations and international organizations in areas under their control in Yemen a month to leave the country.
A United Nations official told Agence France-Presse on Tuesday that the Houthis demanded in a letter that the Americans and the British leave Yemen within a month “immediately upon the expiration of this deadline.”
The official confirmed that "the United Nations is waiting with its partners to see what the next stages will be."
This deadline comes after the United States and Britain this month carried out joint strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen to deter them from continuing to target commercial ships in the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea that they say are linked to or headed to Israel.
The United States also carried out more raids against sites containing missiles that it said represented an imminent threat to both civilian and military ships.
In "solidarity with Gaza," which has been subjected to a devastating Israeli war with American support since October 7, 2023, the Houthis targeted, with missiles and drones, cargo ships linked to Israel in the Red Sea, which negatively affected the movement of shipping, trade, and global supply chains.
At an intermittent pace since January 12, a US-led coalition has launched raids that it says target “Houthi sites” in various regions of Yemen, in response to its attacks in the Red Sea.
The Houthi military spokesman, Yahya Saree, announced earlier Tuesday that “the American-British aggression aircraft launched 18 air strikes during the past hours on several areas in Yemen,” threatening that “they will not go unanswered.”
The Houthi group announced, on Monday, that it had targeted an American military cargo ship in the Gulf of Aden.
Election 2024: Approval to deploy army in the country, Article 144 enforced in Punjab
In the notification of the Punjab Home Department, it was said that Section 144 is being imposed keeping in view the law and order situation in the province during the election campaign.
The caretaker federal cabinet of Pakistan has approved the deployment of the army in the country for the general elections to be held on February 8.
The Federal Cabinet meeting was held in Islamabad on Tuesday under the chairmanship of Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar.
The Federal Ministry of Interior had sent a summary to the Cabinet regarding the services of the army to provide security in the general elections.
The cabinet on Tuesday approved the summary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, after which 277,000 military officers and personnel will be deployed in the country for the general elections, while along with them, Rangers and FC personnel will also be deployed for security.
According to the declaration, the army and civil armed forces will perform duties as quick response forces in sensitive areas.
Section 144 enforced in Punjab
In Pakistan's Punjab province, the Interior Department has imposed Article 144 ahead of the general elections on February 8.
In the notification issued by the Punjab Home Department on Tuesday, it was said that 'Section 144 is being imposed keeping in view the law and order situation in the province during the election campaign.'
In the notification, it has been said that 'under Section 144 there will be a ban on illegal and illegal carrying of arms and aerial firing. Violation of the code of conduct issued by the Election Commission will also fall under the category of Section 144.
According to the Department of Interior, there are reports of security threats in the general election on February 8, apart from terrorism, there are possibilities of fights between the candidates. The implementation of Section 144 by the Punjab government will continue till February 12.
On the implementation of Section 144 during the election campaign, former President High Court Bar Maqsood Bitar, while talking to Independent Urdu correspondent Arshad Chaudhry, said that the government has implemented Section 144 keeping in mind the protection of life and property of the citizens. It is their prerogative to do so, but after the release of the election schedule, if a particular party is targeted, trying to stop their campaign, it will be discriminatory.'
He says that 'Already, a political party is being controlled in the election and is not being allowed to conduct election campaigns freely compared to other parties. Maybe under this law more strictness should be imposed on the workers of the same party.'
Ahead of the general elections in Pakistan, social media video app Tik Tok has released its code of conduct regarding election ethics measures on its platform.
According to the guideline issued by the platform, 'This initiative demonstrates Tik Tok's commitment to be a responsible and reliable source of information, especially during important social events.'
According to TikTok: 'We have taken strict measures to deal with misinformation, violence and hate speech in line with our Community Guidelines.'
"The platform strives at all times to remove misleading information about official factors such as voter registration, candidate eligibility, ballot counting and election results."
According to the statement: 'TikTok's policies prohibit content that threatens voters, affects the voting process, or incites violence.'
According to TikTok, it has more than 40,000 employees globally dedicated to ensuring the security of users on the platform with the latest technology, with the full support of intelligence firms, industry partners and civil society organizations.
To help prevent disinformation, TikTok works closely with local and regional fact-checkers to consistently and accurately remove false information from the platform.
Visas issued to 49 foreign journalists and observers for elections: Information Minister
Caretaker Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murtaza Solangi has said that international observers and journalists will visit Pakistan to monitor and cover the general elections on the 8th of next month , of which 49 visas have been issued and The rest are being processed.
He was addressing a news conference in Islamabad today along with Secretary Information Shaheera Shahid, Director General Radio Pakistan Saeed Ahmed Sheikh and Executive Director General External Publicity Wing Ambrin John.
He said that 49 visas have been issued to observers and foreign journalists while 24 visa applications received by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi are under consideration.
Giving the details of the processing of the applications, the supervising Federal Minister of Information said that 'Forty-nine visas have been issued to foreign journalists so far while the processing of 32 is in progress.'
The Information Minister said that a total of 175 applications have been received from various foreign media organizations.
Murtaza Solangi said that several international media organizations like CNN, BBC, DW and Japan are already present in Pakistan and they will cover the elections for the seats of national and provincial assemblies.
Murtaza Solangi said that the applications submitted by foreign observers are also being processed.
He said that 25 applications have been received from Britain, eight from Russia, 13 from Japan, five from Canada, two from South Africa and five from the Commonwealth.
The Federal Minister of Information said that international journalists and observers are being given permits to monitor and cover the election process in the three major cities of Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.
However, he said that if a foreign journalist wants to visit another city, his case will be processed on a case-by-case basis.
The Information Minister said that accreditation cards are being provided to local journalists for coverage of general elections and 6,065 accreditation cards have been issued across the country so far.
Murtaza Solangi gave the details by city and said that 1200 cards have been issued in Lahore, 1470 in Karachi, 1050 in Peshawar, 600 in Quetta, 355 in Hyderabad and 290 in Faisalabad.
In response to a question, the Information Minister said that it is the responsibility of the state to provide security to its citizens and we will also provide security to foreign journalists and observers.
"We have received requests from 14 countries to allow their journalists and observers to cover the elections," Executive Director General EP Wing Ambrin John said at a news conference.
He said that the Election Commission has also issued a code of conduct for foreign journalists and commentators.
Executive DGEP Wing said that a media cell will be set up in the Press Information Officer's office where all facilities will be provided to foreign observers and journalists including transport facility for movement.
He said that a cell has also been set up in the EP wing to issue accreditation cards to journalists.
Development funds of local and cantonment boards across Pakistan frozen: Election Commission
According to the notification issued by the Election Commission of Pakistan on January 17, 2024, the organization has mobilized the development funds of local bodies and cant boards across the country.
According to the notification: 'Development funds of the local bodies of Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Kent Boards will remain frozen till the completion of general elections 2024 while the local bodies will only deal with day-to-day affairs.'
The notification states that the local bodies will carry out cleaning and sanitation work till the elections and will not be able to issue new schemes or issue tenders.
"Those development works that were announced before the release of the general election schedule will continue."