Pakistan, Nigeria, St Vincent
Today's three stories you should know
Pakistan
The party of Pakistan’s jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan, who hasn’t been seen for three weeks, has demanded access to him as fears grow for his health. Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf said he has been barred from seeing his family and lawyers since November 4 and that authorities have given no reason. He is reported to have been denied medical treatment. The 73-year-old former cricketer has been in jail since August 2023 after being sentenced to 14 years on corruption charges, which he said were bogus and designed to keep him out of politics. Khan was elected prime minister in 2018 before being ousted by a parliamentary vote in 2022 when he fell out with the country’s powerful military.
More from Reuters here.
It can’t have escaped you because why oh why do they have to start playing the Christmas music in the stores in November? So your mind has likely turned to gifts. I like socks, socks are great. I also like deodorant, deodorant is great, especially when it comes in a set with aftershave and soap and stuff. Anyway, this is my roundabout way of saying why not give someone a Proximities subscription this year? That way, you can bond over non-Western news and not have to hear about Donald Trump all the time. Click the button below and you can schedule the sub to arrive on Christmas Day.
Nigeria
Nigerian President Bola Tinubu has declared a security emergency with his government under pressure after a wave of mass kidnappings, mostly of schoolchildren, over the last two weeks. Tinubu ordered recruitment to the army and the police, saying he planned to hire 20,000 more police and withdraw officers from VIP guard duties. Forest guards are to be deployed to flush armed groups out of hiding places, he said. Nigeria, particularly in the northwest, has for years been plagued by criminal gangs kidnapping people for ransom, in addition to several armed groups, some with links to ISIS, battling government forces.
More from Africa News here.
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Voters in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines go to the polls today in a presidential election expected to return Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves to power for an unprecedented sixth-straight five-year term. Gonsalves, 79, became prime minister of the multi-island nation in 2001 and is one of the longest-serving democratically-elected leaders in the world. Though there are 32 candidates, the election will be a contest between Gonsalves’s Unity Labour Party (ULP) and the opposition New Democratic Party (NDP), led by Godwin Friday. The NDP has pledged to introduce a citizenship-by-investment program and to draw the country closer to China, both policies opposed by the ULP.
More from the Guardian here.