Pakistan has joined the Saudi coalition to fight the Houthi rebels in Yemen. The Saudi coalition of Sunni Muslim states has become a global one with the addition of Pakistan. The relationship between the two states is long-standing, and Pakistan has been the recipient of Saudi financial assistance in the past. The alliance, however, brings a nuclear power to the battle. Moreover, the alliance will certainly aggravate the Shia minority in Pakistan.
The Nigerian presidential election was not perfect, but outside election monitors do not believe that the technological glitches or the outbreaks of sporadic violence in certain polling areas fundamentally compromised the outcome. The vote-counting process is still going on, and right now Goodluck Jonthan has a very small lead over his opponent, Muhammadu Buhari. There are, however, numerous complaints of fraud that need to be investigated before the outcome can be determined. There still remains the possibility of violence once the results are announced.
The Iranian negotiations are going down to the wire. The deadline for a political framework is midnight on Tuesday, and Russian foreign Minister Lavrov left the talks with a comment that he would return only if there was progress in the talks. There really is no way to assess the likelihood of success or failure–all the participants have been very close-mouthed about the remaining issues. The Tuesday deadline is only the first step. Even if the deadline is met, the deadline for the final technical agreement is 30 June.
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