Pak army to fight IS, Houthi rebels in Saudi

The Pakistan Army will send a brigade of combat troops to Saudi Arabia to strengthen defences along the kingdom’s southern border in the face of threats from the Islamic State and Houthi rebels, according to media reports.

Following discussions with Saudi Arabia, Pakistan plans to send the brigade in response to a request from Riyadh, which “wants the troops as an emergency response force”, The National reported. The brigade will be based in southern Saudi Arabia and be deployed inside its borders to thwart possible attacks by Houthi rebels, Middle East Eye quoted sources as saying. “It will not be used beyond Saudi borders,” one source said.

The National quoted a senior Pakistani military source as confirming the Saudi request and saying the troops would “not go across the border” into Yemen. The troops will be kept in standby for any “major internal security threat or terrorist incident”, the source added.

In the 2016 Chinese movie I am Not Madame Bovary, glamorous actress Fan Bingbing shed makeup for the role of a rural petitioner whose quest for justice takes 11 relentless years.

That is, however, rarely true for the thousands of petitioners with grievances against local governments, who land in Beijing during the annual sessions of China’s Parliament, only to be harassed, driven back or detained by the police.

The National People’s Con-