Pakistan’s next government will face myriad challenges, from unsustainable population growth to simmering extremism, all complicated by the decades-long tussle between civilian and military leadership. No matter who is voted into office Wednesday, the new rulers will have to make hard choices, and quickly. Here is a rundown of the biggest hurdles Pakistan is facing:
Extremism
Security has dramatically improved across Pakistan following a crackdown on militant groups in recent years.
But…
Laos dam damage was discovered 24 hours before disastrous collapse, says South Korean builder
The South Korean partner in a Laos hydropower dam said Wednesday it discovered the upper part of the structure had washed away 24 hours before it collapsed, engulfing villages and leaving hundreds missing.
The wall of water unleashed Monday by the failure of the dam in the country’s southeast surged downstream, sweeping away homes and leaving an unknown number of people feared dead. SK Engineering & Construction, a South Korean builder that is one of the partners in the project,…
Pensions cold calling ban regulations released for consultation
Draft new regulations designed to ban pensions ‘cold calling’ and cut the volume of scams have been set out by the UK government.
Satellite photos suggest North Korea is dismantling rocket launch site, a possible disarmament move
North Korea has begun dismantling the facilities at its satellite launch station in Sohae, according to an analysis of commercial satellite imagery released on the 38 North website.
The Sohae location has been the main site for North Korean satellite launches since 2012. The testing facilities at the site are thought to play a role in the development of liquid-fuel engines that can also be used in North Korea’s ballistic missile programme.
If the analysis of the satellite imagery is…
Petition backs UK’s pensions dashboard project
Nearly 85,000 people have signed a petition created in support of the ‘pensions dashboard’ initiative in the UK.
Myanmar police planted papers on reporter to entrap him, court hears as he faces up to 14 years in prison
A jailed Reuters reporter told a court in Myanmar on Monday that documents he is accused of breaking state secrets laws to obtain were planted by a police officer, who handed him papers he had not sought in order to entrap him. The officer had then lied to the court about what happened, he said.
Wa Lone, 32, who began giving evidence last week at the court in northern Yangon, also said under questioning by prosecutors that he had followed journalistic ethics in his reporting of a massacre of…
Prominent South Korean politician found dead in possible suicide
A prominent liberal South Korean politician embroiled in a corruption scandal has been found dead in a possible suicide.
South Korea has one of the highest suicide rates among developed countries. A string of high-profile figures, including a former president and business executives, have killed themselves in recent years.
Police say lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan of the small opposition Justice Party was found dead near a Seoul block of flats on Monday morning.
Yonhap news agency said Roh leapt to his…
Fugitive Malaysian businessman Jho Low still involved in affairs of his Hong Kong companies
Fugitive businessman Low Taek Jho has been actively involved in the affairs of his two Hong Kong-registered companies, even with Malaysian authorities in hot pursuit of him across several countries, the Post has learned.
Meanwhile, his business associate Seet Li Lin, said to be Singaporean, is living in Hong Kong and is connected to a Shanghai consulting firm owned by one of 37-year-old Low’s companies.
Jho Low, as he is widely known, is a key figure in an international money laundering…
Japan’s Haruhiko Kuroda keeps mum on possible steps to soften easing pain
Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda stuck to the bank’s playbook on Saturday, declining to comment on reports that policy makers are considering measures to soften the side effects of their aggressive monetary easing campaign.
Remarks on the issue would not be appropriate given the proximity of the bank’s monetary policy meeting, Kuroda said, adding that policy decision will require sufficient discussion about prices and the state of the economy.
“I know absolutely nothing…
Indonesia deports Frenchman who spent 18 years in jail for smuggling drugs into Bali
A Frenchman who served 18 years in custody for smuggling drugs into Bali was deported on Saturday in a case that sparked outrage in his native country over Indonesia’s tough narcotics laws.
Police arrested Michael Blanc on the day after Christmas in 1999 at the tropical island’s airport with 3.8kg of hashish hidden inside scuba diving canisters.
The now 45-year-old was originally given a life term – narrowly escaping the death sentence handed to some other foreign drug…