Daily News Brief

May 10, 2023

Top of the Agenda

An Islamabad court ruled that former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan can be held for eight days (AP) of questioning following his dramatic arrest on corruption charges yesterday. The arrest sparked protests across the country; authorities have detained nearly a thousand people (CNN) in Punjab Province and reduced internet access in response to the demonstrations. At least four people have been killed in clashes at protests. 

Khan has been investigated on multiple corruption charges (Al Jazeera) since being removed from office by a no-confidence vote in April 2022. He has denied the allegations against him and maintains that the opposition and Pakistan’s influential military sought to remove him from power. In most of the cases, Khan can be barred from holding public office if convicted.

Analysis

“Removing Mr. Khan from the picture solves nothing. Instead, as the protests yesterday showed, arresting him may have deeply fractured the historic compact between the people and the country’s armed forces,” Dawn’s editorial board writes.

“In Pakistan right now, public fury is being directed at the Army on levels that haven’t been seen in a very long time. The images today of people storming and burning military property would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Such dramatic changes over so little time,” the Wilson Center’s Michael Kugelman tweets.

For Foreign Affairs, the Brookings Institution’s Madiha Afzal discusses how Khan polarized Pakistan.

Pacific Rim

Legislation passed today allows Hong Kong authorities (Nikkei) to bar foreign lawyers from participating in cases related to national security. Critics say the law reduces judicial independence in Hong Kong.

China: Authorities raided the offices of Capvision (Bloomberg), a global consulting firm headquartered in New York and Shanghai, and accused the company of leaking state secrets to foreign intelligence agencies. It is the latest move in a crackdown on foreign firms in China.

 South and Central Asia

China’s foreign ministry called on Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities (AP) to more seriously combat extremism and reform policies blocking women from education and public life. China previously raised concerns that Afghanistan is harboring separatists opposed to Chinese control of the autonomous Xinjiang region.

This Backgrounder looks at the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Middle East and North Africa

Israeli forces carried out new strikes (Reuters) today on targets linked to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group. At least one person died, medical officials said. Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip yesterday killed at least thirteen people, ten of them civilians. 

UAE: The United Arab Emirates (UAE) believes countries should commit to phasing out fossil fuel emissions, not fossil fuel production, at the annual UN climate conference that the UAE will host in December, Climate Change and Environment Minister Mariam Almheiri told Reuters.

Sub-Saharan Africa

Fighting between rival militaries has left more than seven hundred thousand people displaced within Sudan (UN News), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said. Last Tuesday, that number stood at 340,000.

Nigeria/UK: The Supreme Court of the United Kingdom (UK) ruled that energy company Shell was not liable (Bloomberg) for damages resulting from a 2011 oil spill off Nigeria’s coast, saying it was an isolated incident. 

This timeline traces major ecological disasters of the past century.

Europe

Today’s meeting focuses on the potential normalization of Syria-Turkey relations and will mark the first time (AFP) that foreign ministers from the two countries have met since the war in Syria began twelve years ago. The Iranian and Russian foreign ministers will also attend.

Ukraine: A rocket attack near the city of Bakhmut killed French journalist Arman Soldin (Politico). He is the fifteenth journalist to be killed covering Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Americas

The opposition-controlled National Assembly voted to move forward (WaPo) with impeachment proceedings against President Guillermo Lasso, who is accused of embezzlement. His impeachment trial, set to begin May 20, will be Ecuador’s first since 1979.

Panama: More than forty thousand migrants reached Panama (Reuters) via its jungle border with Colombia in April, up sixfold from the total in April 2022. On April 11, the United States, Colombia, and Panama announced a two-month push to reduce unauthorized migration in the area.

This photo essay shows migrants making the arduous journey through the Darién Gap between Colombia and Panama.

United States

A Manhattan federal jury found former President Donald Trump guilty (CNN) of sexually abusing journalist E. Jean Carroll in 1996 and of defaming her after she accused him of rape. Trump said he would appeal the civil verdict. 

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