Taliban

• During the online event, Hassan and two other survivors of Muslim extremism shared their inspiring stories of persecution with a vast, global audience.
• Christians around the world began displaying the Arabic letter " ن" to raise awareness of the persecution, show solidarity and encourage prayer.
• VOM's virtual event featured Hassan, who was arrested in 2015 in Sudan for providing aid to a persecuted Christian.
• The "I Am N" Virtual Event was broadcast in English with worship led by Steven Curtis Chapman and in Spanish with worship led by Alex Campos.

• Contemporary Art represents 17% of the art market, compared with 16% in 2022 and only 3% in 2000.
• The Contemporary art market has therefore increased 36-fold in 23 years, reflecting a historic phenomenon with Contemporary Art becoming a primary locomotive of the global art market.
• Modern art remained the largest segment of the art market, accounting for 40% of its auction turnover revenue (compared with 38% in 2022).
• When looked at over the longer term, it is clear that Brexit has negatively impacted the UK's art auction market.

• The strikes have been in retaliation for Houthi attacks on shipping – both merchant and naval – in the Red Sea in recent months.
• UK government minister Huw Merriman claimed recently that these airstrikes are not just a “one off”.
• For almost a decade, the Houthis have been subject to airstrikes by their Sunni rivals in Saudi Arabia and they have proved resilient.
• Western foreign policy in the Middle East has historically been tainted by what some call “mission creep”.

Clarity of purpose

• There are three main conditions governing how we come to regard a military engagement as constituting mission-creep.
• These are: the scope of conflict, as well as the temporal parameters and spatial limits.
• Sunak must emphasise that any military action taken will be limited to naval and aerial assaults.

Past successes and failures

• The then defence secretary, Michael Portillo, similarly received questions on the potential dangers of mission creep.
• He made a statement in the House of Commons in which he stated:
  I am determined that the Nato operation will be limited in scope.
• In part, this was shaped by its failures to withdraw in a timely manner.
• The current government needs to do the same when making tough foreign policy decisions about the Middle East.

Ben Soodavar does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• The country’s popular former leader, Imran Khan, has been sentenced three separate times in recent weeks to lengthy jail terms.
• Read more:
  Pakistan election: the military has long meddled in the country's politics – this year will be no different

Khan’s downfall

• Khan, a former cricket star, led the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party to victory in the 2018 elections.
• But he lost the support of the military and was ousted in April 2022 through a no confidence vote in the National Assembly.

ten years in prison for breaching the Official Secrets Act
14 years in prison for failing to disclose gifts received from foreign leaders, selling them and then not disclosing the amounts earned
seven years in prison for being in an un-Islamic marriage.

• The electoral commission made things even more difficult by blocking the party’s use of the cricket bat symbol to identify its candidates.
• In a country with low levels of literacy, many people rely on these symbols when they cast their ballots.

The return of an exiled former leader

• Sharif owes his initial entry into politics to the military regime led by General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq in the 1980s.
• His relationship with the military since the 1990s, however, has vacillated between being cordial and antagonistic.
• In fact, Sharif blamed former military and spy chiefs for orchestrating his ouster from power in 2017 when he was convicted of corruption.
• As such, Pakistan appears to be heading for a coalition government, which will have to address several challenges facing the country.

A struggling economy and spiralling inflation

• Pakistan’s GDP growth rate has fallen from 5.8% in 2021 to about 0.3% in 2023.
• Rates increased from 8.9% in 2021 to a whopping 29.7% in December 2023.
• Meanwhile, the rate of people living in poverty in Pakistan has climbed to nearly 40%, more than five percentage points higher than fiscal year 2022.
• A small minority of people in private gatherings are even questioning the legitimacy of the idea of Pakistan.

Samina Yasmeen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.