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Pakistani protesters are fighting the military
A second day of demonstrations in Pakistan’s major cities yesterday escalated the unrest and prompted the army to send units to at least two provinces. Many officials fear that full-scale protests over the arrest of Imran Khan, the former prime minister, could bring the country to a standstill.
Civilians seem to be crossing the line to oppose the army in Pakistan, where protesters rarely oppose the military.
Protesters stormed the gates of the national army headquarters, mobs set fire to the homes of senior military officials and protesters looted a paramilitary school.
At least five people have been killed in two days of protests, local media reported, and more than 1,000 have been arrested in Punjab Province alone, but the crackdown has had little effect.
Khan: A day after his arrest, he appeared at a police headquarters that served as a courtroom in Islamabad. He denied the corruption charges against him and expressed concern for his safety while in custody, local media reported.
Background: The military was accused of paving the way to power for Khan, when he became prime minister in 2018. But when he was ousted in April 2022, with the perception of the military’s green light to remove him, after he began to fight back. general.
Quote: “This has become a perfect political storm with unpredictable consequences,” said Pakistan’s former ambassador to the US and UK. “In the past, the army acted as an arbiter of political disputes. Today, the state has no institutions capable of performing this role.
Ukraine says it has retaken territory in Bakhmut
The Ukrainian military commander said that his troops had penetrated the Russian positions in the southern part of the city of Bakhmut, forcing the Russian units to withdraw from their positions on the important bridge over the canal.
If confirmed, it will be the first significant gain for Ukraine in the battle for Bakhmut since forcing Russia from the key access road two months ago. But it is still far from clear whether the Ukrainian forces can hold the ground.
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the leader of the Wagner paramilitary group, confirmed that the Russian wing had been destroyed but promised to stay and fight for “a few more days.”
High stakes: The 11-month battle for Bakhmut, in the eastern Donbas region, has acquired a symbolic meaning for both sides that goes beyond the city’s strategic value. Ukraine and Russia have invested resources and sacrificed soldiers to wear the other down.
Other developments:
India’s state elections may provide clues about the future
Karnataka state, home to 65 million people, is the only state governed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, in the country’s more prosperous south, where his Hindu nationalist politics have found less fertile ground.
The election is being closely watched for what it might say about next year’s national elections, when Modi will seek to extend his tenure into a second decade. Voters voted yesterday, and the results are expected on Saturday.
During the campaign, the party initially used its usual playbook to try to polarize the state’s voters along religious lines. (About 13 percent of the population is Muslim.) But the BJP then switched tack and made the race on confidence in Modi, who held 19 rallies in Karnataka.
The BJP’s shift is an admission that its polarizing tactics have only strengthened the support of a section of the electorate it is poised to capture, analysts say.
bet: For the opposition Indian National Congress, which has been crushed by Modi at the national level in the last two elections, a win in Karnataka will be a much-needed morale boost. The Congress Party’s chances of forming a government in the state, independently or in a coalition, appear high, according to opinion polls.
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Asia Pacific
In Mexico, groups of volunteer veterinarians travel to treat horses, donkeys and mules in remote areas where vets are scarce. This group has also changed the way people care for the animals they rely on to fetch water, plow the fields or go to school.
“If we can help one donkey carry 80 kilos of water for an old woman, all the effort is worth it,” said the veterinarian.
The mythical power of cats in Japan
Being in Japan should be surrounded by cats.
They can be seen everywhere, on the city streets or in one of the country’s cat theme parks, cat temples, cat cafes and even cat islands. Aoshima Island, in particular, is home to only a handful of human residents, and many cats – perhaps hundreds.
But there is no need to go anywhere special if you can fix your cat in Tokyo, our reporter wrote. Why “travel to an island full of cats when you’re already on a cat island?”
To really try to understand the source of Japanese reverence, love, wariness and sometimes fear of cats requires a journey through history, mythology and religion. Is it a feline friend, an adored captive, or a demon to be despised?
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What to cook
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