Day: April 12, 2022

‘Welcome back to old Pakistan’: Imran Khan’s ousting marks return of political dynasties

Ms. Cat

‘Welcome back to old Pakistan’: Imran Khan’s ousting marks return of political dynasties

The toppling of Khan on Sunday was a triumph for Pakistan’s leading political families, the Sharifs and Bhuttos, who were once bitter rivals but united in an alliance against the former sports superstar after he won election in 2018.

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Pakistan has been ruled by the military for about half of its existence since the nation was founded in 1947 while the Bhuttos and Sharifs have led multiple civilian governments since the 1970s.

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Nasir Ali Shah Bukhari, who heads brokerage KASB [Securities], said Sharif’s experience working in his family’s metals business before he went into politics would reassure the business community. “He himself is a businessman and has a thorough understanding of the challenges faced by businessmen,” Bukhari said.

Sharif and his brother Nawaz have been dogged by corruption allegations, which they say are politically motivated. Nawaz was serving a seven-year jail sentence for corruption when he got special permission to visit the UK for medical treatment in 2019. He has remained in the UK since.

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Asfandyar Mir, an expert at the US Institute of Peace, said the two families found common cause as Pakistan’s powerful military sought to reduce their influence. “The military have deep disdain for both of these political parties,” Mir said. “So I suspect they’ll work together . . . they realise Khan is the common rival they have, and that he can make a comeback.”

[03-2022] Ukraine’s Propaganda Offensive, Led By Ad-Tech Entrepreneurs, Appears To Be Winning

Ms. Cat

Ukraine’s Propaganda Offensive, Led By Ad-Tech Entrepreneurs, Appears To Be Winning

As Ukraine’s cyber army takes the war to Russian banks and government websites, it’s working with Elon Musk to set up satellite internet. Two former ad-tech entrepreneurs are leading the country’s information warfare charge. Are they winning?

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Ukrainian propaganda has included exaggerations and untruths, [Dmitri] Alperovitch said, noting that many of its claims were “doubtful or proven to be false.” For example, [Mykhailo] Fedorov’s claim that the Moscow Exchange, which was offline Monday, was still down the next day thanks to a cyberattack by the IT army, was proven not to be true.

David Betz, professor of war in the modern world at King’s College London, agreed that Ukraine was filling the web with fake information, though Russians were quick to point out fabrications. “What’s been impressive on Telegram is how rapidly the Russians are taking them apart,” he said. Conversely, he said that he believed some Russian information, surprisingly, was being provided with little obvious embellishment. He pointed to a Telegram channel, where figures for destroyed military targets were being published with little fanfare and appeared to be accurate.

“I think that [Ukraine] is winning international opinion, but that’s largely because every Western media organization and government is amplifying and repeating their narrative, despite the fact that [Ukraine’s propaganda is] fake and verifiably fake to anybody that has the gumption to do basic research,” Betz added.

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The Ukrainian IT army’s operations are being done in the open on the social-media app Telegram, where target lists of Russian entities are posted and members have been encouraged to send reports to Google’s YouTube to ban Russian broadcasters, such as Russia24. YouTube, though it has blocked channels connected to RT and Sputnik across Europe, hasn’t taken action or responded to requests for information on Russia24. “Our teams continue to monitor the situation around the clock to take swift action,” a YouTube spokesperson said.

Obviously, I missed this. This link is from the previously posted article. Wanted it to have it’s own post.