Nawaz Sharif

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Timing of Former Pakistan PM's Convictions Is Noteworthy

Sentences come ahead of next week's parliamentary elections

(Newser) - On Tuesday, former Prime Minister Imran Khan of Pakistan was sentenced to 10 years in prison. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to another 14 years in a separate case and disqualified from holding any public office for a decade. The timing is noteworthy—not in that the sentences were handed...

Here's the Latest Twist in Saga of Pakistan's Ex-PM

Sharif and his family freed from prison

(Newser) - Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, his daughter and son-in-law were released from prison Wednesday after a court suspended their sentences and granted them bail pending their appeals hearings, the AP reports. The Islamabad High Court made the decision after the Sharifs petitioned to appeal their sentences, which were...

Pakistan in Turmoil: PM Resigns After Court Verdict

Court says Nawaz Sharif wasn't 'truthful and honest' in corruption case

(Newser) - A five-judge panel of Pakistan's Supreme Court on Friday disqualified thrice-elected Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif from holding office over corruption allegations against him and his family. In a unanimous decision, the court said Sharif was disqualified for not remaining "truthful and honest," the AP reports. It also...

Trump Apparently Had 'Reckless and Bizarre' Call With Pakistan PM

Protocol was apparently breached on both sides

(Newser) - A phone call between Donald Trump and Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif took place on Monday, and Pakistan's press office took a most unusual step afterward: It released on Wednesday what appears to be a transcript of what Trump said, the Washington Post reports. "Appears" comes into play because...

Pakistan Buries 132 Children, Vows Revenge

Even Afghan Taliban condemn Peshawar massacre

(Newser) - "We will take revenge for each and every drop of our children's blood," Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed as funerals began for 132 children slaughtered in a Taliban attack on a school in Peshawar yesterday. Sharif said there would be three days of national mourning for...

'No Mercy' for Mob That Shoved Christian Couple Into Kiln: PM

Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif calls murders of Christian couple 'unacceptable crime'

(Newser) - The mob that swarmed a Christian couple's home in Pakistan on Tuesday broke down their door and beat them before dragging them to the kiln where they worked and throwing them in, CNN reports. For those acts, the killers should receive "no mercy," says Pakistani PM Nawaz...

Protesters Storm Pakistan State TV

Anti-government protests also target PM's residence

(Newser) - Pakistani anti-government protesters stormed the state TV building today, forcing the channel briefly off the air as they clashed with police and pushed further into the sprawling Red Zone government complex in the capital, Islamabad, in an effort to reach the prime minister's residence. The violence is the latest...

Pakistan, Bush Made Secret Drone-Strike Deal

Meanwhile, top-secret CIA documents show Islamabad was kept in the loop

(Newser) - Though Pakistan has often condemned US drone strikes—this week, PM Nawaz Sharif called them an obstacle in the countries' relationship—officials there reportedly signed a secret deal with the Bush administration regarding the attacks. "The exact terms were never shared with civilians, but there was a protocol between...

Why Pakistan Made Workers Stop Wearing Socks
Why Pakistan Made Workers Stop Wearing Socks
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Why Pakistan Made Workers Stop Wearing Socks

Because it's hot, and the electricity grid is a hopeless mess

(Newser) - Just how bad are Pakistan's power grid problems? This bad: The government has ordered civil servants to stop wearing socks, reports Reuters . The weird order goes hand in hand with another edict that forbids government offices from turning on their air-conditioners. That makes things so unbearably hot that the...

Sharif Heads for Victory in Pakistan

Ex-PM looks set to cruise to 3rd term in landmark elections

(Newser) - Pakistan's former prime minister appears headed to return to the office for a third term as the restive country makes its first democratic transition since 1970, reports the New York Times . Early returns this morning show Nawaz Sharif's party easily securing enough seats to form a government—besting...

Pakistan Begins Landmark Vote
 Pakistan Begins Landmark Vote 

Pakistan Begins Landmark Vote

For first time, one civilian government hands off to another

(Newser) - Defying threats of violence, Pakistanis streamed to the polls today for a historic vote pitting a former cricket star against a two-time prime minister and an unpopular incumbent. But militant attacks that killed 22 people underlined the risks many people took just casting their ballots.The violence was a continuation...

Could Pakistan Soon Quit the War on Terror?

Leading PM candidate Nawaz Sharif says he'd do just that

(Newser) - Pakistan's leading candidate for prime minister has said he'll escort the country out of the US-led "war on terror" if elected on Saturday. Nawaz Sharif tells the BBC , "We have to" quit the effort, arguing that the move would be a step toward peace both in...

Taliban Bombs Own Allies at Pakistan Rally

Protection racket suspected after blast kills 20

(Newser) - A bomb tore through an election rally in Pakistan's tribal belt yesterday, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens more in the deadliest incident yet in the violence-plagued run-up to this Saturday's election. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the blast, but while other attacks have targeted liberal,...

Pakistan Assassination Gives Rise to Extremists

Salman Taseer fought to repeal blasphemy laws, was major PPP force

(Newser) - Yesterday’s assassination of Salman Taseer could deepen Pakistan’s political crisis, and seriously weaken the government’s ability to oppose Islamic extremists. Taseer, the governor of Punjab Province, was maybe the country’s most prominent opponent of religious parties and extremism, and a major ally of the embattled secular...

Pakistan High Court Lifts Ban on Sharif

Two-time ex-PM will be allowed to contest elections

(Newser) - The Pakistani Supreme Court has lifted a ban on opposition leader Nawaz Sharif that prevented him from running for election, clearing the way for the popular politician to vie for a third term as prime minister. Sharif had been blocked from public office because of a criminal conviction in 2000...

US Reaches Out to Pakistani Opposition

Administration presses bitter rivals to unite against Taliban threat

(Newser) - The Obama administration is seeking closer ties with the Pakistani president's biggest—and most bitter—rival, the New York Times reports. The US previously shunned Nawaz Sharif because of his links to Islamists, but diplomats now believe Sharif's popularity among that group could help bolster Asif Ali Zardari's embattled government...

Pakistan's Top Justice Returns to Jubilation

Reinstated judge calls for end to corruption

(Newser) - Pakistan's chief justice triumphantly returned to the bench today, reports the BBC, as supporters showered him with rose petals outside the supreme court in Islamabad. Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was suspended by former president Pervez Musharraf during the 2007 state of emergency. Last week current president Asif Ali Zardari finally fulfilled...

Pakistan to Restore Ousted Chief Judge
 Pakistan to Restore 
 Ousted Chief Judge 
updated

Pakistan to Restore Ousted Chief Judge

(Newser) - Two days of massive demonstrations have convinced the Pakistani government to reinstate the nation's chief justice, CNN reports. Hundreds of angry lawyers filled the streets as a government spokesman said Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would soon regain his position. Protesters demanded that the government fulfill its promise to reinstate...

Pakistan Puts Sharif Under House Arrest

(Newser) - Pakistan's tensions reached new heights today as President Zardari put rival Nawaz Sharif under house arrest, the New York Times reports. The move comes just hours before Sharif was to address supporters at a demonstration in Lahore. The government, meanwhile, has begun pulling troops away from the fight against militants...

US Envoys Try to Defuse Pakistan Crisis

Obama administration holds talks as violence, protests continue

(Newser) - The US is attempting to defuse the escalating political crisis in Pakistan, reports the New York Times, as the police continued to beat and arrest protesters marching to Islamabad. The American ambassador yesterday visited Nawaz Sharif, the former PM whose supporters have joined the lawyers movement in anti-government demonstrations. Later...

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