SUSTG.com / Research

Discover stories, topics, and more about Saudi Arebia faster.

Recent stories from sustg

MUST-READS

  • Pakistan counts votes in poll hit by violence and suspended mobile services

    Pakistan began counting votes after polling ended on Thursday in a general election marred by militant attacks and suspension of mobile phone services, with authorities saying that at least nine people had been killed nationwide. The vote was held as the South Asian country struggles to recover from an economic crisis while it grapples with rising militant violence in a deeply polarised political environment.

  • Blasts near Pakistan candidates’ offices kill 26 on eve of election

    Two explosions near electoral candidates' offices in Pakistan's southwestern province of Balochistan killed 26 people and wounded dozens on Wednesday, officials said, raising concerns over security on the eve of a general election. Pakistan goes to the polls on Thursday amid rising militant attacks and the jailing of Imran Khan, the winner of the last national election, who has been dominating the headlines despite an economic crisis and other woes threatening the nuclear-armed country.

  • Pakistanis’ Discontent Reaches Record High Before Election

    Ahead of the election on Thursday, Gallup surveys show that Pakistanis are more discouraged than they have been in decades about a multitude of economic, political and security challenges that are threatening their country’s stability. The country’s failing economy will likely be central to the vote, although it is far from the only issue on the electorate’s minds. In late 2023, Pakistanis were more pessimistic about their economy than they have been at any point in the past 18 years that Gallup has polled them. A record-high 70% said economic conditions where they live are getting worse.

  • Pakistan court jails ex-PM Imran Khan for 10 years days ahead of polls

    A Pakistan court sentenced Imran Khan to 10 years' jail on Tuesday for leaking state secrets, his party said, the harshest sentence the former prime minister and cricketer has ever received and coming just days before national elections. The special court found Khan guilty of making public the contents of a secret cable sent by Pakistan's ambassador in Washington to the government in Islamabad, his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party said. Former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi was also sentenced to 10 years in the same case.

  • Inside the Iranian-Pakistani exchange of fire

    Islamabad and Tehran have each emphasized that only their own nationals have been targeted. Whether that is entirely true is another point of contention. Nonetheless, while the respective airstrikes have violated sovereignty, the lack of any local victims in the public realm provides a diplomatic off-ramp for both governments. Yet the incidents have caused a major crisis in the bilateral relationship—and raised questions about the true underlying motives involved.

  • Pakistan, Saudi Arabia hold joint military training-Xinhua

    A joint military training between the Pakistan Army and Royal Saudi Land Forces kicked off on Sunday in Okara district in Pakistan's eastern Punjab Province, the Pakistani military said. At the inauguration of the training in Okara Garrison organized by the Multan Corps of the Pakistan Army, the contingents of both countries displayed remarkable military drill, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the Pakistani military, said in a statement.

  • Why are Iran and Pakistan striking each other’s territory – and what does it have to do with the Middle East?

    Pakistan and Iran have both conducted strikes on each other’s territories in an unprecedented escalation of hostilities between the neighbors, at a time when tensions have risen sharply across the Middle East and beyond.

    The two countries share a volatile border, stretching about 900 kilometers (560 miles), with Pakistan’s Balochistan province on one side and Iran’s Sistan and Baluchestan province on the other.

    Both nations have long fought militants in the restive Baloch region along the border. But while the two countries share a common separatist enemy, it is highly unusual for either side to attack militants on each other’s soil.

  • What is behind Iran-Pakistan attacks and could conflict escalate?

    Iran launched missile strikes on three different countries this week - Iraq, Syria and Pakistan - while proxy militant groups it backs continue to target U.S. and Western interests and fight Israel, stoking fears of conflict that could engulf the Middle East and spread to other regions.

  • Pakistan strikes inside Iran against militant targets, stokes regional tension

    Pakistan used killer drones and rockets to strike separatist Baloch militants inside Iran on Thursday, Pakistani authorities said, two days after Tehran said it had attacked the bases of another group within Pakistani territory. Iranian media said several missiles hit a village in the Sistan-Baluchestan province that borders Pakistan, killing at least nine people. Earlier reports said three women and four children were killed, all non-Iranians.

  • Deadly Iranian Strikes in Iraq and Pakistan Inflame Regional Tensions

    Iran hit its neighbors Pakistan and Iraq with missile strikes on Tuesday, prompting strong denunciations from both countries and raising fears that upheaval in the Middle East could spiral out of control.

    Since the war in Gaza began in October, Iran has used its proxy forces against Israel and its allies. But on Tuesday, it said its latest missile strikes had been in response to terrorist attacks within its borders.