Pakistani Authorities Charge Former Prime Minister With Terrorism
Investigators in Pakistan charged (WaPo) former Prime Minister Imran Khan under the country’s antiterrorism act yesterday, escalating tensions that have simmered since Khan was ousted in an April vote. Police said Khan had threatened officials in a speech on Saturday. Khan’s lawyers denied wrongdoing (Dawn) and said he was speaking out against corruption.
Hundreds of people gathered outside Khan’s house in Islamabad yesterday to express their support for him. Khan has not been arrested, and today he was granted protective bail until Thursday. A senior official in Khan’s party said his arrest would be a “red line” that would lead to something “very bad.”
Analysis
“Every effort Pakistan’s government makes to weaken Imran Khan will only end up making him stronger. Its dysfunctional and repressive policies play to his strengths as a populist and enable him to channel public outrage to his advantage. The numbers in those huge crowds don’t lie,” the Wilson Center’s Michael Kugelman tweets.
“It is not only the civilian government who wants to arrest Khan,” political analyst Nusrat Javeed tells The Guardian. “His tirade against the military establishment and judiciary has pushed him to a place where he can be arrested soon.”
U.S. Governor Eric Holcomb (R-IN) and a bipartisan group of Japanese legislators are in Taiwan (FT) today, the latest in a series of high-level foreign visits that Beijing has criticized.
Singapore: The country will end a ban on sex between men (SCMP) but amend its constitution to prohibit same-sex marriage, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.
South and Central Asia
Washington Reportedly Pursues Talks to Release Frozen Afghan Bank Assets
The United States will move forward with the talks despite the Taliban’s recent harboring of al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, unnamed sources told Reuters. A proposed agreement would transfer billions of dollars of U.S.-held Afghan central bank assets to a Switzerland-based trust, from which an international board would then direct disbursements that bypass the Taliban.
Authorities detained (AP) at least sixty foreign workers who had gone months without pay and deported some of them, an advocacy group said. Qatar’s labor laws have drawn increased scrutiny as the country prepares to host the FIFA World Cup later this year.
Israel: NSO Group, the maker of the phone-hacking software Pegasus, will lay off (Times of Israel, AP) one hundred workers and replace its CEO. The United States blacklisted the company last year after reports that some governments used its technology to “conduct transnational repression.”
Sub-Saharan Africa
Al-Shabab Siege on Mogadishu Hotel Kills More Than Thirty People
The militant group claimed responsibility (CNN) for the attack, which began in Somalia’s capital Friday evening and lasted through the weekend. More than one hundred hostages were rescued and some fifty people were injured.
Kenya: Presidential runner-up Raila Odinga filed a legal challenge (BBC) to last week’s election results. Kenya’s Supreme Court will rule on the challenge within fourteen days.
Europe
Moscow Car Bomb Kills Putin Ally’s Daughter
A car bomb killed the daughter (WaPo) of Alexander Dugin, a far-right ideologue close to Russian President Vladimir Putin. Moscow blamed Ukraine for the attack but provided no evidence. Kyiv denied the accusation.
Russia: The country’s permanent representative to the United Nations told the Financial Timesthat he sees no diplomatic end to the war in Ukraine and accused North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries of pressuring Ukraine to walk away from talks.
Flash Floods at National Parks Strand Two Hundred People
Heavy rains over the weekend left visitors stranded (NYT) at national parks in Utah and New Mexico. Researchers expect the frequency and intensity of such floods will increase due to climate change.
