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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The World Briefly

October 25, 2022

Trials and Tribulations

Pakistan

A Pakistani court rejected a request by former Prime Minister Imran Khan to suspend a ruling by the country’s Election Commission that banned him from running for office for five years, the National reported Monday. Last week, the five-member panel of the commission disqualified Khan as...

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The World Briefly

October 13, 2022

The Right to Safety

Pakistan

Thousands of people took to the streets in Pakistan’s Swat Valley to protest against rising insecurity in the region following the murder of a bus driver by an unknown assailant this week, Al Jazeera reported. Local officials said that more than 15,000 people attended Tuesday’s demonstrations...

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Need to Know

September 22, 2022

Treading Water

Pakistan

Record floods have turned lowland farms in Pakistan into lakes, highlighting the fragility of an unstable developing nation in the era of climate change. “We are living on an island now,” farmer Muhammad Jaffar said in an interview with the New York Times. Jaffar’s cotton...

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The World Briefly

August 31, 2022

When the Waters Come

Pakistan

Pakistan’s severe rains and floods have killed more than 1,100 people, 386 of whom were children, since mid-June, which authorities have described as “unprecedented” and “the worst humanitarian disaster of this decade,” CNN reported. Within 24 hours of Aug. 29, 119 people died and 71 people...

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The World Briefly

August 23, 2022

Upping The Ante

Pakistan

Pakistani police filed terrorism charges against former Prime Minister Imran Khan this week, a move that could further inflame political tensions in the country as the ousted leader seeks to return to power, NBC News reported Monday. The charges come a few days after Khan held...

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Need to Know

August 19, 2022

Two Diamonds

IndiaPakistan

India and Pakistan had the rare experience of separating from one another at the same time they achieved independence from Britain, 75 years ago this month, on Aug. 15, 1947. Both countries appear to still be in search of themselves since then. Prime Minister Narendra Modi...

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The World Briefly

August 10, 2022

When Peace is a Casualty

AfghanistanPakistan

A bomb blast killed a top leader of the Pakistani Taliban in southeastern Afghanistan this week, an incident that paused the peace talks between the extremist group and Pakistani officials aimed at ending years of violence between the two sides, the Washington Post reported. Pakistan’s Tehrik-e-Taliban...

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The World Briefly

July 19, 2022

Leverage

Pakistan

The party of former Prime Minister Imran Khan secured a major win in Pakistan’s most populous province Monday, a victory that would allow him to push for snap parliamentary elections just months after being ousted from office, the Financial Times reported. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf – or...

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The World Briefly

May 03, 2022

Pointing Fingers

Pakistan

Pakistani authorities charged former Prime Minister Imran Khan and 150 other individuals with blasphemy this week, a move that critics called an effort by the new government of using religion “as a tool” to intimidate political rivals, Voice of America reported. Officials said that the charges...

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Need to Know

April 28, 2022

The Comeback Kid

Pakistan

Tens of thousands of Pakistanis attended a recent rally in support of former Prime Minister Imran Khan in Lahore. A former jet-setting cricket star who allied with religious conservatives, Khan told his supporters that he was the victim of a US-led conspiracy that was in...

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The World Briefly

April 11, 2022

Bowled Out

Pakistan

Pakistani lawmakers approved a no-confidence motion against Prime Minister Imran Khan over the weekend, a vote that plunges the country into a political crisis and early elections amid economic woes, the New York Times reported. Lawmakers passed the motion with 174 votes in Pakistan’s 342-seat parliament,...

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The World Briefly

April 04, 2022

Checkmate

Pakistan

Pakistani President Arif Alvi dissolved the country’s parliament Sunday following a request by Prime Minister Imran Khan, a move that plunges Pakistan into a constitutional crisis and possible snap polls, NPR reported. Alvi’s move came a few days after a number of lawmakers from Khan’s party...

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The World Briefly

March 31, 2022

Game Over

Pakistan

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is under pressure to resign after a major ally in his coalition switched to the opposition on Wednesday, a move that comes ahead of a no-confidence vote next week, Al Jazeera reported. The Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) party said it...

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The World Briefly

February 25, 2022

Words and Swords

Pakistan

Pakistan toughened laws to stop the spread of fake news that would regulate posts on social media platforms, a move many critics described as an attempt to crack down on journalists and opponents of the government, Bloomberg reported. Earlier this week, President Arif Alvi approved an ordinance...

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