New Delhi, July 6 (IANS) A record number of 26 Indian-origin MPs are set to enter the UK Parliament after Friday’s General Election results, marking a significant increase from 15, five years ago.

Conservative Party leader Rishi Sunak, the first Indian-origin person to have served as the UK Prime Minister, leads the pack after having secured victory from Richmond and Northallerton constituency in Yorkshire.

Apart from Sunak, 25 other Indian-origin MPs — including 20 from the Labour Party and five Conservatives — also emerged victorious on Friday.

Priti Patel, Conservative MP of Gujarati descent, won from Witham, Essex. Patel, who has served in various capacities, including Secretary of State for International Development, has been representing the constituency since 2010.

Gagan Mohindra, a prominent politician from a Punjabi Hindu background, secured his seat in South West Hertfordshire. Mohindra has been a Conservative MP since 2019, following his initial election as a Parish Councillor in 2004.

Labour Party leader Seema Malhotra retained her Feltham and Heston constituency for a fourth term since 2011. Malhotra has held several shadow ministerial roles, including Shadow Minister for Skills and Further Education.

Valerie Vaz, Labour leader of Goan origin, won the Walsall and Bloxwich constituency for the fifth time. Vaz, who has been an MP since 2010, has served as the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons.

Lisa Nandy retained her seat in Wigan, making her the constituency’s first female MP and one of the first Asian female MPs since 2010. She has served as the Shadow Cabinet Minister for International Development.

Nadia Whittome, who made history in 2019 as the UK’s youngest MP at the age of 23, was re-elected from Nottingham East.

Preet Kaur Gill, the UK’s first female Sikh MP, defeated Conservative Ashvir Sangha in Birmingham, a seat she has held since 2017. Gill has served as the Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health.

Labour Party’s Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi retained his Slough constituency, although with a reduced victory margin.

Conservative leader Shivani Raja won the Leicester East constituency, where she was fielded against another Indian-origin Labour candidate, Rajesh Agrawal.

44-year-old Conservative MP Suella Braverman, who was embroiled in controversies and dismissed by the party for her statements, won from the Fareham and Waterlooville constituency for the fourth consecutive time.

Additionally, other Indian-origin Labour MPs to be elected to the UK’s House of Parliament include Navendu Mishra, Jas Athwal, Baggy Shanker, Satvir Kaur, Harpreet Uppal, Warinder Juss, Gurinder Josan, Kanishka Narayan, Sonia Kumar, Sureena Brackenbridge, Kirith Entwistle, Jeevun Sandher, Sojan Joseph and Murina Wilson.

–IANS

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Tokyo, July 6 (IANS) The Japanese government on Saturday hoped that Iran, under its newly-elected President Masoud Pezeshkian, will play a “constructive role” in easing tensions and stabilising the situation in the Middle East.

Pezeshkian emerged winner in the runoff of the presidential election held on Friday and was elected as the next President of the country.

“We hope that Iran, under President-elect Pezechkian, will play a constructive role in easing tensions and stabilizing the situation in the Middle East,” said the Japanese Foreign Ministry on Saturday.

“Based on our traditionally friendly relations with Iran, Japan will continue to make proactive diplomatic efforts toward easing tensions and stabilising the situation in the Middle East, and will also strengthen dialogue with the new Iranian government under President-elect Pezechkian,” it added.

In April, Tokyo had “strongly condemned” the escalation in the region following Iran’s attacks against Israel using drones and missiles citing that the peace and stability of the Middle East region remains of paramount importance to Japan.

–IANS

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Tehran, July 6 (IANS) Iran and Hungary highlighted the necessity to refrain from the escalation of tension in the West Asia region.

In a phone call, Iranian caretaker Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani and Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto exchanged views on Friday about regional issues of common interest and bilateral ties, according to a statement released by the Iranian Foreign Ministry, reports Xinhua news agency.

Bagheri Kani stressed the need to enhance stability and refrain from the escalation of tension in West Asia, noting that the continuation of Israeli “crimes” against Palestinians and the recent escalations between Israel and Lebanon had placed the region in a new situation.

He warned that any new move to cause further tension in the region would work to the detriment of the “warmongers”.

Pointing to bilateral ties, Bagheri Kani said Iran and Hungary had always had good relations with each other, and the ties had been reflecting a positive and growing trend.

The Hungarian Foreign Minister, for his part, stressed the need to step up efforts to prevent the intensification of the conflicts in the region.

He stressed the importance of diplomacy in bilateral relations and the international arena, welcoming the strengthening of the bilateral ties with Iran.

The Israeli army has been waging a large-scale offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, after Hamas carried out an unprecedented attack on the Israeli towns adjacent to the strip, killing nearly 1,200 people.

The Palestinian death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks in the enclave has risen to 38,011, with 87,445 people injured, as updated by the health authorities in Gaza on Thursday.

Tension has mounted between Lebanon and Israel since October 8, 2023, after Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets toward Israel in support of the Hamas attacks on Israel, prompting Israel to respond by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

–IANS

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Tehran, July 6 (IANS) Masoud Pezeshkian, Iran’s former Health Minister, won the country’s 14th presidential election, Iran’s election headquarters Spokesperson Mohsen Eslami said on Saturday

Eslami announced this while disclosing the results of the presidential runoff held on Friday between reformist Pezeshkian and principlist Saeed Jalili, Iran’s former chief negotiator in the nuclear talks with world powers.

Masoud Pezeshkian, 69, is a cardiac surgeon and a lawmaker in the country’s Parliament. He was the Parliament’s first Deputy Speaker from 2016 to 2020 and Health Minister between 2001 and 2005 in the government of former Iranian President Mohammad Khatami.

He ran for President in 2013 but withdrew, and failed to qualify for the presidential race in his second attempt at the presidency in 2021.

Pezeshkian managed to secure 10,415,991 votes, more than 42 per cent of the total, in the first round of the presidential election.

The total number of votes cast in the runoff was 30,530,157, adding that according to the number of the used ballots, which stood at 30,573,931, the turnout reached 49.8 per cent.

Of all the votes, Pezeshkian secured 16,384,403, whereas Jalili garnered 13,538,179, said Eslami.

The runoff began at 8 a.m. local time at nearly 59,000 polling stations nationwide and abroad. It was scheduled to end at 6 p.m. local time but was extended thrice, each lasting two hours.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei cast his ballot at a polling station in Tehran immediately after the voting began and made a brief speech, calling the election “an important political affair of the country”.

Saeed Jalili, 58, is currently a member of Iran’s Expediency Discernment Council.

He was the secretary of the country’s Supreme National Security Council from 2007 to 2013 and was a chief negotiator in the nuclear talks between Iran and world powers.

He was a candidate in Iran’s 11th presidential election in June 2013 but finished in third place. He also ran for president in 2021 but withdrew in favour of late President Ebrahim Raisi before the election.

Jalili managed to garner 9,473,298 or more than 38 per cent of the votes in the first round of the presidential election.

–IANS

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Lilongwe, July 6 (IANS) Up to 4.2 million people in Malawi are expected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity between June and September, according to a report released on Saturday by the Malawi Vulnerability Assessment Committee, a government-led multi-agency body.

According to the report, the landlocked country, bordering Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania, experienced El Nino weather early in the year that caused drought and floods in 23 out of 28 districts, leading to a 17 per cent output drop in agricultural production, reports Xinhua news agency.

In 2023, Malawi produced 3.5 million metric tonnes of maize, the country’s staple food, but the output dropped to 2.9 million metric tonnes in the 2024 harvest season.

The report indicated that the situation is bound to worsen by October when the food-insecure population is estimated to increase to 5.7 million, 28 per cent of the population, as the country reaches the seasonal lean period.

The report further calls for the immediate distribution of more than 261,500 metric tonnes of maize to vulnerable households in the affected districts across Malawi.

The country’s Department of Disaster Management Affairs Spokesperson Chipiliro Khamula told the local media on Wednesday that the department is working on a response plan and the mobilisation of resources.

Meanwhile, the World Food Programme (WFP) is targeting 2.5 million people of the affected population with food assistance, said Simon Denhere, the organisation’s deputy country director.

The WFP country Chief told local media that the response programme requires $80 million but the organisation had only raised $20 million in anticipation of the food situation.

“We’re still engaging with our partners to mobilise the remaining funds and the response, so far, is positive,” Denhere, told the local media.

The World Bank estimates that about 72 per cent of Malawians will face poverty this year following the weather shocks as inflation is expected to average 27 per cent.

–IANS

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