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☆ Pakistan's ex-PM Nawaz Sharif declares victory in fraught election as opponents claim vote rigging
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-09 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Campaign posters for Nawaz Sharif, Pakistan's former prime minister, along a street ahead of Pakistan's national election in Lahore, Pakistan, on Friday, Feb. 2, 2024. Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif declared victory on Friday in the country's 2024 General Election, one that many Pakistanis and human rights groups are decrying as neither free nor fair. Sharif, 74, cited the Election Commission of Pakistan in saying that his party, the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), had won the largest share of the national vote. "Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will almost certainly win," Chaudhuri said as the polls opened. A lifetime ban from partaking in politics and multiple corruption convictions for Sharif were overturned by Pakistani courts last year.

Persons: Nawaz Sharif, Imran Khan, Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Chaudhuri, Sharif, mending Organizations: Pakistan Muslim League, Nawaz, Eurasia Group, CNBC Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Sharif, South Asia, U.K

☆ 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

☆ It Was Once Pakistan’s Military Stronghold. Now Even It Has Had Enough.
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Christina Goldbaum | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

As they head to the polls this week, residents in Pakistan’s most populous and affluent province are fed up. Just look around, they say: The economy is in free fall and inflation has soared. Everyone from young laborers to prominent influencers in the province, Punjab, have been jailed alongside him. And it’s become clear, many say, that a group once widely supported in Punjab is to blame: the country’s military. “We aren’t faulting the politicians anymore — now we know who to blame,” said Sibghat Butt, 29, a customer service representative in Lahore, the province’s capital.

Persons: —, ”, Sibghat Butt Locations: Pakistan’s, Punjab, Lahore, “

The highway is the most politically charged slice of a politically turbulent country. It winds 180 miles from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, through the fertile plains of Punjab Province to Lahore, the nation’s cultural and political heart. For centuries, it was known only as a sliver of the Grand Trunk Road, Asia’s longest and oldest thoroughfare, linking traders in Central Asia to the Indian subcontinent. As Pakistan heads into national elections on Thursday, the road is buzzing. Politics dominates the chatter between its vendors and rickshaw drivers, their conversations seeped in a culture of conspiracy, cults of political personality and the problems of entrenched military control.

Locations: Pakistan’s, Islamabad, Punjab Province, Lahore, Central Asia, Pakistan

☆ Costs, Crackdown Put a Damper on Pakistan's Election Campaigns
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Jan. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +3 min

By Ariba ShahidKARACHI (Reuters) - Higher living costs and political uncertainty have muted Pakistan's once boisterous election campaigns, with both candidates and those who supply them with materials bemoaning the need to do more with much less. Syed Arsalan Haider, a Karachi printer, said the cost of a square foot of banner was up by 130% since the last election. Khan, whose party won the last election, says the military wants to keep him from power, which the military denies. Meherbano Qureshi, a PTI candidate and daughter of the party's jailed vice chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi, said people were scared to show their support and hang campaign material. (Reporting by Ariba Shahid in Karachi and Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Editing by YP Rajesh and Miral Fahmy)

Persons: Shahid, Imran Khan, Jawad Jiwani, Syed Arsalan Haider, Abdul Aziz, Taj Haider, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, Faisal Subzwari, Khan, Meherbano Qureshi, Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Khurram Sher Zaman, They're, Ariba Shahid, Mubasher Bukhari, YP Rajesh, Miral Organizations: Monetary Fund, Pakistan People's Party, PTI, Mubasher, YP Locations: Shahid KARACHI, Pakistan, Karachi, festooned, Lahore

☆ Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan sentenced to 10-year jail term
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks to the members of the media at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan May 18, 2023. Former Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan has been sentenced to 10 years in jail on charges of leaking state secrets, his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) confirmed in a post on social media site X on Tuesday. The former national cricket captain became Pakistan's prime minister in 2018. What can be more ridiculous than that Pakistan has imprisoned its Prime Minister and Foreign Minister for exposing the foreign conspiracy! One month later, he was removed from power in a vote of no-confidence by opposition lawmakers alleging corruption and unconstitutional actions.

Persons: Imran Khan, Pakistan Imran Khan, Khan, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Khan's Organizations: Former, PTI Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Islamabad, Washington

☆ Pakistan court overturns ex-PM Nawaz Sharif's graft conviction - lawyer
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-29 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif addresses supporters upon his arrival from a self-imposed exile in London, ahead of the 2024 Pakistani general election, in Lahore, Pakistan October 21, 2023. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Nov 29 (Reuters) - A Pakistan court overturned the conviction of former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a corruption case on Wednesday, his lawyer said. The Islamabad High Court announced its decision after the national anti-graft body did not contest Sharif's appeal for his acquittal, lawyer Azam Nazeer Tarar said. "I had left it to the mercy of God," the former premier said in comments broadcast live on local TV after he left the court. Sharif had been out on bail pending the appeal and had always denied any wrongdoing, saying the charges were politically motivated.

Persons: Nawaz Sharif, Mohsin Raza, Sharif, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Asif Shahzad, Shivam Patel, Andrew Heavens Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Islamabad High Court, Thomson Locations: London, Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad

[1/3] Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan pauses as he speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. It has been conducting the trial in prison since Khan was indicted on the charges last month. The Islamabad High Court had ruled last week that holding Khan's trial inside jail premises on security concerns was illegal, and ordered it restarted in an open court. The 71-year-old former cricket star has been embroiled in a tangle of political and legal battles since he was ousted as prime minister. The election is shaping as a fight between Khan's party and that of another ousted former prime minister, Nawaz Sharif.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Khan, Naeem Panjutha, Nawaz Sharif, Asif Shahzad, Kim Coghill, Raju Gopalakrishnan Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Court, Twitter, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, United States

Pakistan's former Prime Minister Imran Khan, gestures as he speaks to the members of the media at his residence in Lahore, Pakistan May 18, 2023. REUTERS/Mohsin Raza/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Pakistan's Supreme Court accepted on Wednesday a bail application from detained former Prime Minister Imran Khan, his lawyer said, a day after another court declared illegal his trial on charges of leaking state secrets. The 71-year-old was jailed on Aug. 5 for three years jail for unlawfully selling state gifts during his tenure as prime minister from 2018 to 2022. His lawyer said the Supreme Court had accepted the bid for bail. No date had been set for the hearing, he said, adding that the Supreme Court would seek input from the government on the application.

Persons: Imran Khan, Mohsin Raza, Naeem Panjutha, Khan, Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Asif Shahzad, Robert Birsel Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Twitter, Court, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, United States

☆ Cricket World Cup 2023: Polluted air the common opponent
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-22 | by ( Vijdan Mohammad Kawoosa | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +12 min

Air quality during 2023 Cricket World Cup matchesChart categorises the 2023 cricket World Cup matches held in 10 Indian cities by the air quality observed during the matches they hosted. Twenty matches were held in ‘unhealthy’ air quality, 11 in air that was ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’, 12 in ‘moderate’ air quality and only two in ‘good’ air quality. Average 24-hour PM 2.5 levels on all cricket World Cup match days between 1983 and 2019Chart shows average PM 2.5 concentration on match days at places that hosted a cricket World Cup match between 1983 and 2019. Of all the regions that have ever hosted a cricket World Cup match, the Indian subcontinent has seen the most polluted air. Map shows average annual PM 2.5 levels in 2019 across the world and locations that have ever hosted a cricket World Cup match.

Persons: Delhi’s Arun, Arun Jaitley, ITO, Chandika Hathurusinghe, Joe Root, Ben Stokes, Suranga Lakmal, Mohammad Shami vomited Organizations: Sri Lankan, teams, Arun, ITO, Labs Inc, . Environmental Protection Agency, Delhi, United States Environment Protection Agency, U.S . Environmental Protection Agency, World Health Organization, Indian, Matches, Daily, International Cricket Council, Endurance Locations: New Delhi, Delhi, Lahore, Pakistan, Australia, Netherlands, India, ITO, Sri Lanka, England, Indian, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Sri Lankan, U.S, Canberra, United States, China, Bangladesh

Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan speaks with Reuters during an interview, in Lahore, Pakistan March 17, 2023. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Nov 21 (Reuters) - A Pakistani court on Tuesday declared the trial in jail of former Prime Minister Imran Khan on charges of leaking state secrets illegal, his lawyer said. "Islamabad High Court has declared illegal the notification for jail trial," said Naeem Panjutha, the lawyer, in a post on social media platform X. An order declared all proceedings of the trial conducted since Aug. 29 as void. "The proceedings and the trial conducted in jail premises in a manner that cannot be termed as an open trial stand vitiated," said the court order.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Khan, Naeem Panjutha, Nawaz Sharif, Asif Shahzad, Ed Osmond, Nick Macfie Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Court, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, United States

☆ Fact Check: Video of Muslim cleric purported assault is from Pakistan in 2021
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Accounts sharing the clip on social media falsely link it to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) were operating deep in Gaza City since entering on Oct. 27, Israel said on Nov. 7. It purportedly shows a Muslim cleric forcing himself on a student at a religious school in Lahore, Pakistan, in 2021. The video went viral on social media, Reuters reported on June 21, 2023, with posts on messaging platform X, formerly known as Twitter, in June 2021 (archived). Cleric Aziz-ur-Rehman was arrested, and local reports later said he confessed to assault.

Persons: Israel, Aziz, Rehman, Read Organizations: Israeli Defense Forces, Facebook, Al, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Pakistan, Gaza, Israel, Gaza City, Beit Hanoun, Nusra, Lahore

☆ 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

☆ An Epic Pilgrimage Across Three Great Religions
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( Aatish Taseer | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +111 min

Before there was tourism, there was pilgrimage: a trip of endurance, hardship and ecstasy in celebration of one’s faith. On an epic pilgrimage of his own, one writer ventures into the heart of three great religions in Bolivia, Mongolia and Iraq. The Imam Hussein shrine in Karbala the day after Ashura. “They’re poor, but they come thousands of kilometers for the love of Imam Hussein.” PILGRIMAGE WAS A great equalizer. “Labaik ya Hussein,” came the solemn chorus of surrounding voices.

Persons: Eduardo Quintela Gonzáles, ” Quintela, JAN, “, ”, Quintela, Victor, Edith Turner, Chaucer, ferne, sondry londes, Vaishno Devi, Lyra Skinner, Lyra, Victoria Preston’s, —, Prophet Muhammad, Virgin Mary, Bath, Naipaul, Augustus, Ryan, garret, Virgin, Monica Machicao, Nicholas Casey, ” Monica, Casey, Evo Morales, sloughing, Columbus, Cortés, Francisco Pizarro, Monica, glitzy cholets, Peru —, Viracocha, it’s, Pablo Quisbert, Leandro Chitarroni, Eichmann, Father Chitarroni, Father Chitarroni’s, Conquistadores ”, Fernando Cervantes, Bernabé Cobo, Quisbert, Edgar Quispe, Tatiana Huayhua, Francisco Tito Yupanqui, Mary, Yupanqui’s, su, Yupanqui, Chitarroni, she’s, Friar Abelino Yeguaori, Friar Yeguaori, Friar Yeguaori’s, Irene, Juana, hajji, Waka, Aracely Alcón, Santiago, Alcón, ‘, don’t, ” Alcón, Tito Yupanqui, Uma Marka, Pachamama, haggard, Amaru Fiorilo Barrios, he’d, ” Fiorilo, Fiorilo, who’d, Valeria Alcón, Laureano Jose Quisbert, Elena Ticona Flores, Eduardo Quintela’s, Ensamble, pang, padre, consolations, Sincrético, El, Rodrigo Paz Pereira, Axel, amauta, strode, La, Aatish Taseer, Saint Helena —, Constantine I, La Paz, Orgilbaatar Tsolmon, Orgil, Genghis Khan, Edward Gibbon, ” Orgil, Araniko’s, Kublai Khan, Genghis Khan’s, Kubla Khan, Coleridge, Kublai, Stalin, sybarite, Khamar, Dalai Lama, Lama, Christopher Kaplonski, ger, I’d, banshtai tsai, Prim, Egi, Munkhdul, Gandantegchinlen, Haidav, herder, “ Um sain, boltugai, Danzanravjaa, Zanabazar’s, Erdene, Mandakhtsog Monkhbaatar, Monkhbaatar’s, Dalai Lamas, prostrated, He’d, Zuu, she’d, Santiago de, L.K, Advani, Emperor Babur, Ram, kar sevaks, Ayodhya, Narendra Modi, Munkhbaatar Batchuluun, Henry Wallace, Franklin D, Potemkin, Munkhbaatar, Gerelmaa, Giimaa, She’d, Eduardo Quintela, Aracely, Santiago’s, Joseph Brodsky’s, Muhammad’s, Hussein, William Keo, ” Khuder, pillion, Labaik, Hussein ”, O Hussein, hearkened, Prophet, Ali —, Ali, Yazid, Imam, crackling, chickpeas, Imam Ali, Imam Hussein, Saddam Hussein, Tusi, Qasim, Imam Hussein’s, Khuder, “ Will, Najaf, prestes, — I, Yasir Yaseen, Ashura, Ali Akbar, Abbas, Ali Asghar, “ We’re, Francisco Goya’s, Hussein’s, Groom, Joseph, ” Wissam, Turfi, Saddam —, Arbaeen, Saddam, “ Imam Hussein, WE, Muhammad, Barnaby Rogerson, Prophet Muhammad ”, ” Ali, Muhammad — Muhammad, formlessness, Muqtada al, Abrams, chiding, Abu Musab Al, Zarqawi, Al Qaeda, William, “ They’re, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, flagellants, ruddy, stylishly, Hussein — shahid —, Farman Ahsan, Syed Salman Raza —, Saddam’s, ” Raza, William “, Ali Zayn al, Abidin, Labaik ya Hussein, thrall —, Lloyd, Susanne Rudolph — Organizations: CITY LA, LA, LA PAZ, Virgin, Crusaders, Dolorosa, Sun, The New York Times, Bolivian, Spain, La, Cordillera, Universidad Mayor de, Catholic, Good, La Paz, Dominican, Pakistan, Caesars, Nissan, Coke, Communists, Communism, ardor, Communist, Hyundai, flails, sacra, Apache, Mahdi Army, Al, ISIS, Karachi —, Princeton Locations: Bolivia, Mongolia, Iraq, Aatish Taseer Bolivia Mongolia Iraq, CITY LA PAZ, BOLIVIA, NAJAF, IRAQ, ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA, LA PAZ, La Paz, Bolivian, Copacabana, Lake Titicaca, New York, Christian, British, sondry, India, Delhi, Varanasi, Europe, American, Mecca, Arabia, Long, Vino Tinto, Chile, Peru, Monica, Plurinational State, Bolivia —, Americas, Spain, Columbian, Aztec Mexico, Inca Peru, Calvary Hill, Virgen del Cerro, South America, Puerto Rico, Huatajata, ”, Argentine, Universidad Mayor de San Andrés, Mexican, revelry, Spanish, “, morena, La, “ India, multilayered, Potosí, Argentina, Warisata, Scotch, Santiago de Compostela, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Nepal, Nations, El Alto, Buenos Aires, Bombay, Tibet, Bolivia’s, Yamuna Rivers, United States, Buddhist Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolian, Istanbul, Asia, Islam, China, Beijing, Dadu, Erdene Zuu, Soviet, Gobi, Los Angeles, gers, Qing China, Karnataka, Töv Province, Karakorum, Khamar, Erdene, Ukraine, Korea, Golden, Bayankhongor, Lhasa, Dalai, Inner Mongolia, Mongol, Nalaikh, Santiago, Santiago de Compostela and Canterbury, Bulgan Province, Somnath, Gujarat, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, ger, East German, Uvs Province, Pakistani, Indian, Tennessee, Najaf, Baghdad, Khuder, —, abayas, KARBALA, Kufa, Medina, Saudi Arabia, Karbala, Imam Ali, Bab, Kuwaiti, Bohras, South Asia, Tajikistan, Zaydis, Yemen, Alawites, Anatolia, Syria, Iran, Bahrain, Azerbaijan, Sadr, U.S, Jordanian, Al Qaeda, Mesopotamia, Al, Multan, Pakistan, Punjab, Pakistan’s, Islamabad, Lahore, Kuwait, Karachi, Doha, Qatar

☆ Pollution Forces City-Wide Closures of Businesses, Schools in Eastern Pakistan
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-08 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +2 min

By Mubasher BukhariLAHORE (Reuters) - Heavy pollution-fuelled smog forced authorities to close schools and markets this week in Pakistan's most populous province, including the eastern city of Lahore which has risen to one of the world's worst cities for hazardous air quality. Schools, offices, restaurants and businesses, aside from priority services like pharmacies, hospitals and courts, would all close to limit residents' movement outside, according to a directive from the provincial government. Heavy smog blanketed Lahore this week, reducing visibility and leading residents to complain of a threat to their health. In neighbouring India, authorities in Delhi have announced they would restrict use of vehicles next week to curb rising pollution as air quality in the capital remained dangerously unsafe despite mitigation efforts. (Reporting by Mubasher Bukhari in Lahore; Writing by Charlotte Greenfield; Editing by Michael Perry)

Persons: Mubasher Bukhari, Amir Mir, Mohammad Salahuddin, Charlotte Greenfield, Michael Perry Organizations: Schools Locations: Mubasher, Mubasher Bukhari LAHORE, Pakistan's, Lahore, Punjab, Swiss, Delhi, Karachi, South Asia, India

☆ Militants attack air force base in central Pakistan, says military
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-04 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ISLAMABAD, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Nine Islamist militants attacked an air force training base in the central Pakistani area of Mianwali on Saturday damaging three "non-operational" aircraft, the military said, adding that all assailants had been killed by security forces. Three militants were killed before they entered the base while the others had been cornered before the clearance operation began, the military said in a statement. The military said nine militants had been killed in the attack on the Pakistan Air Force Training Airbase Mianwali. "No damage has been done to any of the Pakistan Air Force's functional operational assets, while only some damage was done to three already phased out non-operational aircraft during the attack," the military statement said. Islamist militant group Tehreek-e-Jihad Pakistan (TJP) claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement sent to journalists by its spokesperson.

Persons: Zeeshan Niazi, TJP, Gibran Peshimam, Saud Mehsud, Dera Ismail Khan, Mubasher Bukhari, William Mallard, Jamie Freed Organizations: Nine, Reuters, Pakistan Air Force Training, Pakistan Air, Jihad, Thomson Locations: ISLAMABAD, Mianwali, Jihad Pakistan, Balochistan, Lahore

NEW DELHI, Nov 3 (Reuters) - India's capital New Delhi was wrapped in a thick layer of toxic haze on Friday and some schools were ordered closed as the air quality index (AQI) plummeted to the "severe" category. In India, the annual average concentration of particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) in the air is the highest in northern regions. Officials said they saw no immediate improvement in the air quality. Delhi hosts a World Cup match on Monday between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Poor air quality also caused respiratory problems, irritation in the eyes and restlessness in pet animals.

Persons: Aheed Khan, Ashwani Kumar, Prabhat Gangwar, Tanvi Mehta, Rajesh, Blassy Boben, Manoj Kumar, Raju Gopalakrishnan, Mark Heinrich Our Organizations: joggers, Residents, Officials, Control Committee, Farmers, Health, Friendicoes, Thomson Locations: DELHI, New Delhi, Swiss, Pakistani, Lahore, Delhi, India, Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Mumbai, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka

☆ Air pollution sparks alarm, dims World Cup cheer in India
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-02 | by ( Blassy Boben | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

An aerial view shows residential buildings and a stadium shrouded in smog in New Delhi, India, October 27, 2023. Air Quality Index (AQI) stood at 415 on a scale of 500 in the capital's Anand Vihar area on Thursday, indicating "severe" levels of pollution that can affect healthy people and those with existing ailments. The dip in air quality in the region during the winter months is often accompanied by a spike in respiratory illnesses, spurring school and factory closings. The worsening air quality has cast a shadow over the cricket World Cup as fans flock to stadiums across Indian cities. Players have expressed concern about the toxic air, with England's Joe Root complaining of breathing difficulties during a game and India's Rohit Sharma urging change for "future generations".

Persons: Altaf Hussain, Anand, Joe Root, India's Rohit Sharma, Gerry Doyle Organizations: REUTERS, BCCI, Thomson Locations: New Delhi, India, DELHI, Delhi, Anand Vihar, Pakistan's Lahore, Swiss, India's Mumbai, AQI, Mumbai, Sri Lanka

☆ Pakistan's Imran Khan indicted in official secrets case - party
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-23 | by ( Gibran Naiyyar Peshimam | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

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, Oct 23 (Reuters) - A Pakistani court indicted former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his deputy in an official secrets acts case on Monday, his party said, in another blow for the jailed former cricket star ahead of a general election expected in January. Both the United States and the Pakistani military deny that. The sentence was suspended but he remains in prison in connection with other cases, including instigating violence and the official secrets case. A guilty verdict under the Official Secrets Act could bring up to 14 years in prison or even a death sentence, lawyers say.

Persons: Imran Khan, Akhtar Soomro, Khan, Shah Mahmood Quershi, Nawaz Sharif, Gibran Peshimam, Jacqueline Wong, Robert Birsel Organizations: Pakistani, Reuters, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Pakistan, Rights ISLAMABAD, Islamabad, Washington, U.S, Moscow, Ukraine, United States, Adyala

☆ Returning to Pakistan, Nawaz Sharif Aims for a Splashy Comeback
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-21 | by ( Salman Masood | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Nawaz Sharif, a three-time prime minister, planned a grand return to Pakistan on Saturday after years of self-imposed exile, seizing an opening in the country’s turbulent politics and economic disarray to attempt another dramatic comeback. In late 2019, an ailing Mr. Sharif left Pakistan for London in an air ambulance after being granted bail from a seven-year prison sentence. While he is Pakistan’s longest-serving prime minister, Mr. Sharif has never finished any of his terms in office, running afoul of the country’s powerful military or, in the latest case, being toppled by corruption allegations. On Saturday, a politically revitalized Mr. Sharif, 73, boarded a plane from Dubai bound to Pakistan, where he plans to hold a big gathering the same day in Lahore, his hometown and Pakistan’s political heart. The rally in Lahore will be a gauge of the popularity of Mr. Sharif and his party, the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), before an upcoming general election.

Persons: Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Imran Khan, Nawaz Organizations: Pakistan Muslim League Locations: Pakistan, London, Dubai, Lahore

ISLAMABAD, Oct 21 (Reuters) - Pakistan's three-time Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is scheduled to arrive back home on Saturday after four years of self-imposed exile in London to kick-start his party campaign three months ahead of a general election. Sharif has not set foot in Pakistan since he left for London in 2019 to receive medical treatment while serving a 14-year prison sentence for corruption. When he was removed as premier in 2017, Pakistan's GDP growth rate was 5.8% and inflation was hovering around just 4%. In September, inflation registered at over 31% year-on-year, and growth is projected to be less than 2% this financial year. "Over his long political career, Sharif's relationship with the military brass has blown hot and cold.

Persons: Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Imran Khan, Khan, Sharif's, Shehbaz Sharif, Michael Kugelman, Asif Shahzad, Stephen Coates Organizations: London, International Monetary Fund, South Asia, The Wilson, Thomson Locations: ISLAMABAD, London, Lahore, Dubai, Pakistan

He had arrived in the United Arab Emirates on Friday from Saudi Arabia after traveling there last week from London. He said Pakistan's economy and political situation both declined in recent years, according to multiple videos shared by his Pakistan Muslim League party on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. In 2020, an anti-graft court in Islamabad issued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to return home. Another federal court has granted Sharif bail until Oct. 24, giving him protection from arrest until then. His party became hugely unpopular after Khan's removal when Nawaz Sharif's brother Shehbaz Sharif replaced Khan, a former cricketer turned politician.

Persons: — Pakistan's, Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Allah, ”, Imran Khan, Khan, Sharif's, Nawaz Sharif's, Shehbaz Sharif Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Pakistan Muslim League, Twitter Locations: ISLAMABAD, Dubai, London, Lahore, Pakistan, Islamabad, Saudi Arabia, Sharif

Sharif, who has served as Pakistan’s prime minister three times and was once ousted in a military coup, landed at Islamabad airport on Saturday, according to airport officials. Sharif was the former head of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), or the PML-N, one of two dynastic parties that have traditionally dominated the country’s politics. Supporters of Nawaz Sharif wait for his arrival for a welcoming rally at a park in Lahore on October 21, 2023. Nawaz Sharif’s younger brother, Shehbaz, welcomed the news of his brother’s bail, writing on Twitter that it was a “fundamental right.”“The elected prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, was disqualified based on a fictitious and fabricated story,” Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter. Nawaz Sharif is expected to head its election campaign.

Persons: Pakistan CNN — Nawaz Sharif, Sharif, Nawaz, Imran Khan, Khan’s, Nawaz Sharif, Aamir Qureshi, Nawaz Sharif’s, Shehbaz, ” “, ” Shehbaz Sharif, Khan, Shehbaz Sharif Organizations: Pakistan CNN, Pakistan Muslim League, Getty Locations: Islamabad, Pakistan, Sharif, Lahore

Ousted Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif gestures as he boards a Lahore-bound flight due for departure, at Abu Dhabi International Airport, UAE July 13, 2018. REUTERS/Drazen Gorgic/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsISLAMABAD, Oct 19 (Reuters) - A Pakistan court on Thursday barred authorities from arresting a former three-time prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, upon his expected return home on Saturday from four years in self-imposed exile, his lawyer said. Nawaz Sharif was in 2018 convicted on corruption charges, which he denied, in two cases and sentenced to a total of 14 years in prison. Upon his return on Saturday, he would address a rally in his old stronghold of Lahore, Tarar said. Sharif returned to Pakistan and to politics in 2007.

Persons: Nawaz Sharif, Drazen Gorgic, Azam Nazeer Tarar, Sharif, Shehbaz Sharif, Tarar, Pervez Musharraf, Musharraf, Asif Shahzad, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Robert Birsel Organizations: Pakistani, Abu, Abu Dhabi International Airport, REUTERS, Rights, Thomson Locations: Lahore, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Rights ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, London, U.S

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