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☆ Pakistan election 2024: Millions will head to the polls in an election mired in controversy
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-08 | by ( Rhea Mogul | Sophia Saifi | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

Islamabad, Pakistan CNN —Millions in Pakistan will head to the polls on Thursday for a general election in which old dynasties are vying for power while the country’s widely popular former leader languishes behind bars unable to stand and militants ramp up deadly attacks. Mobile internet has been suspended in various districts of the province, leading to concerns of a nationwide blackout. A street is festooned with posters of Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore on February 4, 2024. Sharif remains widely popular in Pakistan’s Punjab province – the country’s most populous and a key electoral battleground – where his Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) party has been lauded for advancing mega infrastructural projects. Standing against him is Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the 35-year-old son of slain former leader Benazir Bhutto, seeking to reestablish his Pakistan People’s Party as a major political force.

Persons: languishes, Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, Nawaz Sharif, ARIF, Volker Türk, ”, Liz Throssell, Imran Khan’s, Khan, Sharif, Nawaz, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Benazir Bhutto Organizations: Pakistan CNN —, Islamic State, Mobile, Foreign, ARIF ALI, AFP, Getty, United Nations, Human Rights, “, Cricket, PTI, Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan People’s Party Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, country’s, Balochistan, Islamic State Pakistan Province, Iran, Afghanistan, Lahore, Imran Khan’s Pakistan, Punjab

☆ Analysis: At this general election in Pakistan, old dynasties vie for power and populist Imran Khan languishes in prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Sophia Saifi | Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +13 min

That sets the stage for a difficult road to recovery for whoever wins in a nation where no democratically elected prime minister has ever completed a full term in office. Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan attends a lawyers' convention in Lahore on September 21, 2022. Veteran Sharif will face a strong challenge, however, from first-time candidate for Prime Minister, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, 35, son of slain former leader Benazir Bhutto. Manahil Ahmed, 23, called Pakistan’s political environment “particularly hostile” right now. For Pakistan’s military and police forces, the last year was the bloodiest in a decade.

Persons: Imran Khan, –, Arif Ali, Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Benazir Bhutto, Khan –, Khan, Fareed Khan, ”, Rabiya Arooj, Khan’s, Bushra Bibi, Imran Khan's, Asad Zaidi, Pakistan’s, Farzana Shaikh, “, ’, Murtaza Solang, Maryam Nawaz Sharif, Mohsin Raza, he’s, Raja Ikram, Ameer Hamza, Manahil Ahmed, Shaikh, Hussain Nadim, Maurice R, Greenberg, ‘, Aamir Qureshi, Shoaib Tanveer, Baou Nadeem, ” Shaikh, Farooq Naeem, “ Sharif, He’s, Tim Willasey Organizations: Pakistan CNN —, Getty, PTI, World Bank, Pakistan, Bloomberg, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, CNN, for Research, Security Studies, Pakistan’s People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League, Baloch Liberation Army, Yale University, Pakistan Army –, Workers, King’s College London Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan CNN — Pakistan, Lahore, AFP, Karachi, “, Rawalpindi, Asia, Hafizabad, Khan’s, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, India, Afghanistan, Iran, State Khorasan, restive Balochistan, Balochistan, Punjab, Sharif, States, China, British

☆ Pakistan’s Lahore is the latest megacity to shut down as pollution chokes swathes of South Asia
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-10 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —Lahore has become the latest megacity to shut down as pollution chokes swathes of South Asia, where nearly 50 million people have been breathing toxic air for nearly a week. Commuters make their way through a busy street amid smoggy conditions in Lahore on November 7, 2023. The PM2.5 levels in all these cities far exceed the World Health Organization’s limit and illustrate a growing concern for South Asian countries as they experience rapid industrializations and population booms that are fueling pollution levels. Commuters make their way along the Signature Bridge amid heavy smog conditions in New Delhi on November 9, 2023. The study also found that every single one of India’s 1.4 billion residents endures annual average pollution levels that exceed guidelines set by the World Health Organization.

Persons: Mohsin Naqvi, Arif Ali, Arun Sankar Organizations: CNN, Authorities, Lahore –, Getty, Getty Images Dhaka, Energy, Institute, University of Chicago, World Health Organization, Doctors Locations: Lahore, South Asia, Swiss, Pakistan’s Punjab, Gujranwala, Hafizabad, AFP, Pakistan, India, New Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, India’s, Kolkata, Mumbai, Bangladesh, Delhi

☆ U.S. Forces Under Fire in Middle East as America Slides Towards Brink
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +10 min

By Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali and Ahmed RasheedWASHINGTON/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A defective drone in Iraq may have helped keep America from being dragged deeper into a widening Middle East conflict. The possibility of a major strike that draws America into a conflict is "a very realistic concern," he said. "I think they are calibrating the attacks to harass rather than kill en masse U.S. troops," he said of Iraqi and Syrian militias. Iran says it had no role in Hamas' Oct. 7 raid on Israel, though it has welcomed the attack. "We had rocket attacks, mortar attacks, before we got hit with the big bomb," he said.

Persons: Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Ahmed Rasheed WASHINGTON, David Schenker, Joe Biden, Biden, Antony Blinken, Mohammed Shia Al, Sudani, Ali Turki, Arif al, didn't, Saddam Hussein, it's, Blinken, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, isn't, Biden's, Lloyd Austin, hasn't, Tom Cotton, Austin, Lindsey Graham, Austin demurred, Graham, David Madaras, Ahmed Rasheed, Amina Ismail, Parisa, Michael Georgy, Pravin Char Organizations: U.S, Israel, Pentagon, Washington Institute for Near, Sunday, Haq, IRAN Iraq's, U.S . Navy, Wednesday, U.S . Defense, Democrat, Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican, United Locations: BAGHDAD, Iraq, America, Erbil, Iranian, Syria, Gaza, U.S, Iran, Syrian, Israel, Sudani's, Baghdad, IRAQ, IRAN, Tehran, Iraqi, Lebanon, Russian, Washington, TEHRAN, Yemen, Ukraine, China, pullout, Afghanistan, Ohio, Beirut, United States

[1/2] A view shows smoke in the Gaza Strip as seen from Israel's border with the Gaza Strip, in southern Israel October 18, 2023. REUTERS/Amir Cohen/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsWASHINGTON/BAGHDAD, Nov 9 (Reuters) - A defective drone in Iraq may have helped keep America from being dragged deeper into a widening Middle East conflict. The possibility of a major strike that draws America into a conflict is "a very realistic concern," he said. "I think they are calibrating the attacks to harass rather than kill en masse U.S. troops," he said of Iraqi and Syrian militias. "We had rocket attacks, mortar attacks, before we got hit with the big bomb," he said.

Persons: Amir Cohen, David Schenker, Joe Biden, Biden, Antony Blinken, Mohammed Shia Al, Sudani, Ali Turki, Arif al, didn't, Saddam Hussein, it's, Blinken, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, isn't, Biden's, Lloyd Austin, hasn't, Tom Cotton, Austin, Lindsey Graham, Austin demurred, Graham, David Madaras, Phil Stewart, Idrees Ali, Ahmed Rasheed, Amina Ismail, Parisa, Michael Georgy, Pravin Organizations: REUTERS, U.S, Israel, Pentagon, Washington Institute for Near, Sunday, Haq, IRAN Iraq's, U.S . Navy, Wednesday, U.S . Defense, Democrat, Senate Armed Services Committee, Republican, United, Thomson Locations: Gaza, Israel, WASHINGTON, BAGHDAD, Iraq, America, Erbil, Iranian, Syria, U.S, Iran, Syrian, Sudani's, Baghdad, IRAQ, IRAN, Tehran, Iraqi, Lebanon, Russian, Washington, TEHRAN, Yemen, Ukraine, China, pullout, Afghanistan, Ohio, Beirut, United States

CNN —One year after catastrophic floods devastated swathes of Pakistan, some 4 million children in the South Asian nation remain without access to safe water, the United Nations children’s agency has warned. “Vulnerable children living in flood-affected areas have endured a horrific year,” Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan, said in the statement. “The climate-related disaster deepened pre-existing inequities for children and families in affected districts,” UNICEF said in the statement. Children pick vegetables from water at a flooded market after heavy rainfall in Lahore on June 26, 2023. Fadil from UNICEF said the agency has called on the government of Pakistan and its partners to “increase and sustain investment in basic social services for children and families.”He added: “We cannot forget the children of Pakistan.

Persons: ” Abdullah Fadil, “, Asim Hafeez, Dera Allah Yar, Fida Hussain, Imran Khan, Khan, ”, Stephen Innes, Arif Ali, Fadil Organizations: CNN, United Nations, UNICEF, UNICEF Representative, Bloomberg, Getty, International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Capital Economics, Analysts Locations: Pakistan, Karachi Division, Sindh province, Pakistan’s, Dera, Jaffarabad district, Balochistan, AFP, Asia, Lahore, South Asia, Afghanistan, India

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Pakistani authorities have opened a criminal investigation against jailed former prime minister Imran Khan on charges of leaking state secrets, after naming him and three aides in a fresh case, a top security source said on Monday. Khan is currently serving a three-year sentence in a graft case and has been barred from politics for five years. "Our investigation is collecting evidence to stand a case in a court to indict Imran Khan on charges of leaking official secrets," a security source, who is directly responsible for the investigation, told Reuters. Khan has formally been arrested in connection with the charges, which the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) is probing, the source said.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Khan, Rauf Hasan, Zulfi Bukhari, Arif Alvi, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Intazar Panjutha, Asif Shahzad, Devika Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Both Washington, Federal Investigation Agency, FIA, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Washington, U.S, Moscow, Ukraine, Both

☆ Pakistan's president refuses to sign new national security laws
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pakistan's President Arif Alvi speaks with Reuters in an interview after Pakistan's presidency was recognized as the world's first presidential secretariat running on clean energy, in Islamabad, Pakistan October 27, 2021. "As God is my witness, I did not sign Official Secrets Amendment Bill 2023 & Pakistan Army Amendment Bill 2023 as I disagreed with these laws," Alvi said on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. He said he had asked his staff to return the bills unsigned to the legislature within the stipulated time to make them ineffective. The ministry of law and justice said the president's decision was of "grave concern". "As the president didn't sign and return the bill within 10 days, it became a law," caretaker law minister Ahmad Iran told a news conference.

Persons: Arif Alvi, Pakistan's, Saiyna Bashir, Imran Khan's, Alvi, doesn't, didn't, Ahmad Iran, Murtaza Solangi, Solangi, Ariba Shahid, Susan Fenton Organizations: Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Pakistan, Twitter, Caretaker, Thomson Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Rights KARACHI, Alvi, Imran Khan's Pakistan

☆ Pakistan senator picked as caretaker PM to oversee elections
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-12 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

KARACHI, Pakistan, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and opposition leader Raja Riaz agreed on Saturday to name Senator Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar as caretaker premier to oversee elections, the Prime Minister's office said. "The prime minister (Sharif) and leader of opposition have jointly signed the advice which will be sent to the president for approval," the statement said. Under Pakistan's constitution, a neutral caretaker government oversees national elections, which must be held within 90 days of the dissolution of the parliament's lower house - which in this instance means early November. The choice of caretaker prime minister has assumed heightened importance this time because the candidate will have extra powers to make policy decisions on economic matters, and amid fears the elections may be delayed by as much as six months. Kakar has been serving a six-year term in Pakistan's Senate since 2018.

Persons: Shehbaz Sharif, Raja Riaz, Anwaar, Haq Kakar, Arif Alvi, Kakar, Gibran Peshimam, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Mark Potter Organizations: Pakistani, Geo News, Pakistan's Senate, Senate, Balochistan Awami Party, Thomson Locations: KARACHI, Pakistan, Balochistan, Pakistan's

The parliament's five-year term is due to expire on Aug. 12, but this move would dissolve it three days earlier. "I will tonight advise the president to dissolve the parliament," the premier told parliament. He said he would start discussions with the opposition leader on Thursday to pick a name from candidate lists of both sides to nominate as caretaker prime minister. The vote, however, could be delayed several months with the election commission set to start redrawing hundreds of constituencies based on a fresh census. The last general election in July 2018 was won by the party of cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who was sworn in days later as prime minister for the first time.

Persons: Shehbaz Sharif, Arif Alvi, Imran Khan, Khan, Sharif, Asif Shahzad, Gibran Peshimam, Andrew Heavens, Bernadette Baum Organizations: Pakistan, International Monetary Fund, Thomson Locations: ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Islamabad, Karachi

Yet the final days of Imran Khan’s political career tell a contrasting tale. Khan’s supporters – some armed with sticks and stones – marched through cities, chanting slogans against the ruling dispensation. To his supporters, Khan was seen as a political martyr, someone they had vowed to defend till the very end. Analysts say Khan’s arrest following a yearlong showdown with the military sends a pointed message to the former prime minister and his supporters. “Imran Khan’s political will wasn’t strong enough to begin with from what we saw.

Persons: Imran Khan’s, Khan, Khan’s, –, ”, Arifa Noor, “, Imran Khan, Jemima Goldsmith, Patrick Durand, Sygma, Pervez Musharraf, Arif Ali, Noor, “ Imran Khan’s, Shehbaz Sharif, Aamir Qureshi, Mr, Syed Zulfiqar Bukhari, Salaar Khan, Khawaja Asif, Khan won’t, “ Imran, ” Noor Organizations: CNN, Cricket, Getty, Oxford University, Movement for Justice, PML, AP, Pakistan’s, PTI, CNN Monday Locations: Pakistan, Lahore, Islamabad, British India, It’s, Melbourne, Australia, Khan, British, AFP, India, Afghanistan, United States, Gujranwala

Arif Ali | AFP | Getty ImagesAbout 90% of the global population in 2022 experienced unhealthy air quality, and only six countries met the World Health Organization's recommendations of safe air pollutant levels, according to a new report from Swiss air quality technology company IQAir. The report found that the top five most polluted countries in 2022 were Chad, Iraq, Pakistan, Bahrain and Bangladesh. Lahore's air quality worsened to 97.4 micrograms of PM 2.5 particles per cubic meter in 2022 from 86.5 in the year prior, making it the most polluted city in the world. The 2022 report used air quality data from more than 30,000 regulatory air quality monitoring stations and air quality sensors from 7,323 cities across 131 countries, regions and territories. "Too many people around the world don't know that they are breathing polluted air," Aidan Farrow, senior air quality scientist at Greenpeace International, said in a statement.

☆ Pakistan ex-President Pervez Musharraf dies in Dubai after years in exile
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/7] Pakistan's General Pervez Musharraf salutes during the playing of Pakistan's national anthem at the Joint Staff Headquarters in Rawalpindi November 27, 2007. REUTERS/Mian KhursheedISLAMABAD, Feb 5 (Reuters) - Pakistani former President Pervez Musharraf died on Sunday following a prolonged illness at a hospital in Dubai, after years in self-imposed exile. Musharraf joined what Washington called its "war on terror" after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. This made Musharraf a target for militants in Pakistan as well as causing him to lose support among conservative elements in Pakistan. Allowed abroad for medical treatment even as he faced a treason case in Pakistan, Musharraf last flew to Dubai in 2016.

One month since Arshad Sharif was killed, Kenyan and Pakistani authorities have not concluded their reports nor have there been any arrests in the case. “I have no faith in the Pakistani government,” his mother, Riffat Ara Alvi told CNN in a video interview. But I request all the international journalistic organizations and United Nations to investigate this killing,” his widow, Javeria Siddique told CNN. Arshad Sharif Sharif was a critic of the Pakistani military and an ally of former prime minister Imran Khan. Sharif and Khurram Ahmed left Ammodump around 8:30 p.m. local time, a detective involved in the case told CNN.

☆ Preşedintele Maia Sandu propune micşorarea tarifelor la gazele naturale. Un proiect de lege în acest sens a fost transmis Parlamentului
▼ + stars: | 2021-04-17 | by ( Publika.Md - Aici Sunt Știrile | ) www.publika.md time to read: +1 min

Preşedintele Maia Sandu propune micşorarea tarifelor la gazele naturale. Un proiect de lege în acest sens a fost transmis Parlamentului. Maia Sandu susţine că din actualul tarif al gazelor naturale trebuie scoase cheltuielile de amortizare introduse nejustificat după reevaluarea activelor companiei MoldovaGaz. Tarifele trebuie să includă doar cheltuielile justificate, care să asigure o funcţionare normală a întreprinderilor reglementate", susţine preşedintele. Maia Sandu mai spune că iniţiativa va duce la reducerea tarifului la tranzitul gazelor şi va stimula creşterea volumului gazelor tranzitate pe teritoriul Republicii Moldova.

Persons: Maia Sandu Organizations: Parlamentul Locations: Republicii Moldova

☆ Primăria municipiului Chișinău: În zilele de weekend, pe străzile Capitalei va circula un troleibuz turistic
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-11 | by ( Milena Onisim | ) www.zdg.md time to read: +1 min

Primăria municipiului Chișinău a anunțat luni, 11 ianuarie, că în zilele de sâmbătă și duminică, pe străzile Capitalei va circula un troleibuz turistic, care va parcurge cele mai importante puncte de atracție turistică din oraș. Potrivit instituției, până la primăvară, ruta va fi în regim de testare, cu călătorie gratuită, după care se va propune Consiliului municipal Chișinău (CMC), aprobarea unui tarif al cursei. Troleibuzul turistic va porni de la Aeroportul Internațional Chișinău și va staționa la cele mai importante locuri și monumente istorice din Capitală. Potrivit Primăriei municipiului Chișinău, proiectul „Troleibuz turistic” a fost dezvoltat în comun cu Agenția Națională pentru Turism Receptor, în cadrul Planului de acțiuni care presupune dezvoltarea turismului în municipiul Chișinău. În restul zilelor, troleibuzul va circula pe una din rutele ordinare deservite de Î.M.

Organizations: Internațional Chișinău, Agenția Națională, Electric Chișinău Locations: Chișinău, Capitalei, Capitală

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