Three Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Pakistan have been hit in seven days. Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharf is set to visit to China next month to boost the economic ties but, for analysts, new projects are not likely to materialise. While the latest suicide bombing has not been claimed, several groups have reasons to go after the Chinese.
The Catholic Commission for Interreligious Dialogue and Ecumenism organised an Iftar, the dinner that breaks the Ramadan fast, together with other minorities. For Archbishop Benny Mario Travas, the event is a testament to the values of compassion, empathy, and mutual respect that bind everyone.
Pakistan has sent a delegation to Afghanistan to facilitate trade between the two countries, but diplomatic relations remain strained, according to analyst Riccardo Valle, co-founder of the Khorasan Diary, a platform for journalists, researchers, and academics. Attacks by the Pakistani Taliban continue to be a thorn for Islamabad. Meanwhile, Afghanistan is grappling with the Afghan branch of the Islamic State.
In Faisalabad a distribution of basic necessities for 150 families who fled the violence of last August. The intervention coordinated by the Faisalabad diocese with Aid to Church in Need Germany. "We are still in the grip of physical and mental trauma," says Shazia Bibi, one of the victims. The desire to be able to 'celebrate Easter with joy'.
Security forces foiled the assault by a commando linked to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA). Many Chinese companies are active in the economically strategic, mineral-rich region. The port is a strategic component of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The scientific journal Lancet relaunches a statistical study according to which by 2100 only six countries in the world would exceed the replacement threshold of 2.1 children per woman. But already by 2050 India, Bangladesh and Pakistan would see their current birth rates drop by more than a third.