The World Briefly

March 28, 2024

Risks and Rewards

Pakistan

Five Chinese nationals working on a major infrastructure project died in a suicide bombing in northern Pakistan Tuesday, the latest in a series of attacks targeting Chinese interests in the country and elsewhere in the developing world, the Wall Street Journal reported. Pakistani authorities said a...

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The World Briefly

February 14, 2024

Future Imperfect

Pakistan

Thousands of protesters have blocked highways and gone on strike this week as part of demonstrations against the results of last week’s general election in Pakistan, Al Jazeera reported. The results of Pakistan’s parliamentary elections released this week showed that allies of jailed former Prime Minister...

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Need to Know

February 07, 2024

Skidding Off the Rails

Pakistan

Late last month, courts in Pakistan in different rulings convicted ex-Prime Minister Imran Khan on charges of revealing state secrets and corruption, sentencing him to 14- and 12-year terms in prison around a week before Pakistani voters went to the polls to elect a new...

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The World Briefly

January 31, 2024

Not Yet Crushed

Pakistan

Imran Khan and his wife Bushra Bibi were jailed for 14 years on Wednesday on charges of corruption, the second sentence handed to the former prime minister in two days, the BBC reported. A court had already sentenced the cricket star-turned-politician to 10 years in prison...

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The World Briefly

January 19, 2024

The Slow Leak

BaluchistanIranPakistan

Pakistan launched retaliatory strikes Thursday on militants in Iran’s Sistan and Baluchistan province, raising fears of a new conflict breaking out in a region already tense due to the war between Israel and Hamas and its reverberations, the Associated Press reported. Iran said that at least...

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The World Briefly

December 19, 2023

Bot and Order

Pakistan

Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan addressed an online rally this week using a clip crafted by artificial intelligence, a first-of-its-kind event ahead of the country’s elections next year, Reuters reported. Based on a written speech Khan approved in prison, the clip featured audio made...

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The World Briefly

October 24, 2023

Revolving Doors

Pakistan

A Pakistani court on Monday indicted former prime minister Imran Khan on charges of revealing official secrets after his 2022 ousting, a move that could lead to a death sentence and preempt the former cricket star from running in elections in January, the Associated Press reported. Khan...

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Need to Know

October 23, 2023

Walking the Plank

Pakistan

Around 700,000 Afghan refugees fled to neighboring Pakistan since 2021 when the Taliban assumed power after the exit of the US military and its allies. They brought the total of Afghans in the country to 3.7 million, according to Human Rights Watch, most having already...

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The World Briefly

October 05, 2023

Apples and Oranges

Pakistan

Pakistan ordered all undocumented migrants, including 1.7 million Afghans, to leave the country by next month, a crackdown that follows a surge in terrorist attacks in the country in recent months, Voice of America reported. Officials said “all illegal migrants” should leave Pakistan by Nov. 1,...

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The World Briefly

August 18, 2023

The Scorched Earth

Pakistan

A mob attacked a number of churches and homes belonging to Pakistan’s Christian minority this week, following accusations that members of the community had desecrated Islam’s holy book, a blasphemous act in the Muslim-majority country, CNN reported. The violence took place in the town of Jaranwala...

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The World Briefly

August 08, 2023

Fading Star

Pakistan

Pakistani police arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan this week, a move that could prevent the main opposition leader from participating in this year’s elections and ban him from politics, the Washington Post reported. Khan’s arrest in the city of Lahore came after a court sentenced...

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The World Briefly

July 31, 2023

My Brother, Myself

Pakistan

Up to 45 people died and at least 200 were injured after a bomb detonated at an Islamist party’s political rally Sunday in northwestern Pakistan, Reuters reported. The blast occurred at a rally of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) party on the outskirts of the city of...

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The World Briefly

May 10, 2023

Fed Up

Pakistan

Pakistani paramilitary forces arrested former Prime Minister Imran Khan in the capital Tuesday, a move that risks exacerbating the political and economic crises in the South Asian nation, NPR reported, as violent demonstrations erupted across the country. The troops arrested Khan at an Islamabad courthouse, where...

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The World Briefly

March 20, 2023

The Stand

Pakistan

Pakistan’s police have filed terrorism and other charges against Imran Khan and scores of his aides and supporters following clashes Sunday outside the court in Islamabad where he was already due to face charges of selling state gifts and hiding assets, Sky News reported. Former and current...

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The World Briefly

March 16, 2023

A Most Wanted Man

Pakistan

A Pakistani court ordered police to temporarily suspend an operation to arrest Imran Khan on Wednesday, following violent clashes this week between authorities and the former prime minister’s supporters, the Guardian reported. On Tuesday, Khan’s residence in Lahore became the scene of a major scuffle when...

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The World Briefly

March 08, 2023

A Weapon Called Honor

Pakistan

The Lahore High Court gave a last-minute conditional go-ahead Tuesday to a rally in the city in northeastern Pakistan highlighting women’s rights and oppression, Urdu Point News reported, just days after authorities had banned the march. Organizers and human rights groups decried the banning of the “Aurat”...

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Need to Know

February 20, 2023

Militants-in-Waiting

Pakistan

In Pakistan late last month, a terrorist disguised as a police officer detonated a bomb in a mosque packed with law enforcement officials in Peshawar, a city in the restive northwestern region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bordering Afghanistan, killing more than 100 people and injuring hundreds...

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The World Briefly

January 31, 2023

No Quarter

Pakistan

A suicide bomber detonated explosives inside a mosque in the city of Peshawar in northwestern Pakistan Monday, killing at least 93 worshippers and wounding scores more, the latest in a series of attacks that have become a flashpoint between Afghanistan and Pakistan, NBC News reported. The...

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Need to Know

December 23, 2022

Taunting the Bull

Pakistan

Pakistani and Indian diplomats recently traded barbs over who is a sponsor of terrorism, the Associated Press wrote. The kerfuffle was important because, as the Council on Foreign Relations explained, the two South Asian countries are nuclear powers that have fought wars in the past,...

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The World Briefly

November 04, 2022

Primary Target

Pakistan

A gunman shot and wounded former Prime Minister Imran Khan during a protest march in eastern Pakistan on Thursday, an attack that comes as the opposition leader has been building popular support across the country and calling for early elections, the Washington Post reported. Officials in...

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