AssedBaig

Correspondent for @AJEnglish VIEWS MY OWN. Formerly of @trtworld and @Channel4News RTs/likes not endorsements. PgP

[AssedBaig @AssedBaig]

Muslim women angry at the PM’s comments on their supposed lack of integration within the UK https://t.co/cx1f5KFALw

[Channel 4 News @Channel4News]

.@assedbaig talks to Muslim women angry at the PM’s comments on their supposed lack of integration within the UK
https://t.co/lCTxaCbCVB

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Pakistan-administered Kashmir is facing its biggest political crisis in years, with deadly protests ahead of a final round of voting in regional elections.

Al Jazeera’s Ava Warriner explains why the wider territory is divided and what's driving the latest unrest.

[Danish Khan @khandahnish]

The Financial Times has published a detailed report on the protest movement and the AJK elections, and it includes my commentary as well.

https://t.co/TSRv6tUsra

[Financial Times @FT]

Dozens of people have been killed in election clashes in Pakistan-administered Kashmir, the highest death toll there in decades and a serious political test for Islamabad’s military-backed government https://t.co/7aDqvM1kI1

[Munizae Jahangir @MunizaeJahangir]

A government loses its credibility when it starts to throttle the press because it appears that it is trying to hide the truth. Democracies protect journalists, not persecute them.A free independent press strengthens the democratic process & thereby the politicians.

[Rebel Pulse @R__Pulse]

آئین پاکستان کے مطابق کسی بھی ملزم کو چوبیس گھنٹے کے اندر عدالت میں پیش کیا جاتا ہے۔ لیکن شوکت نواز میر صاحب کو ڈیڑھ ماہ کے لگ بھگ ٹائم گزرنے کے باوجود ابھی تک عدالت میں پیش نہیں کیا گیا ہے۔
#JACC #RightsMovementAJK #releaseshaukatnawazmir

[Financial Times @FT]

Deadly protests in Kashmir test Pakistan’s military rulers https://t.co/fAIXImFjaI

[Joe Kent @joekent16jan19]

The U.S. Intelligence Community assessed this & consistently briefed it. Unfortunately, it was the Israeli government & their lobbyists who convinced the President that Iran would be as easy as Venezuela.

[Al Jazeera English @AJEnglish]

Iran’s Supreme National Security Council secretary, Mohammad Bagher Zolghadr, has urged the US to “correct its behaviour” for Tehran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, as the country sets six demands for reopening the key waterway.

🔴 LIVE updates: https://t.co/iuHu5y86jY

[The Washington Post @washingtonpost]

Exclusive: The Pentagon is asking the U.S. defense industry to rapidly escalate the production and delivery of weapons, including munitions that are in extreme shortage due to the war with Iran, according to a Defense Department memo obtained by The Post. https://t.co/4txzqSKNXg

[Drop Site @DropSiteNews]

💢 🇸🇦 Fires were reported at two major Saudi Aramco energy sites, one on each coast of Saudi Arabia.

🔹 Satellite fire-monitoring data showed a major thermal event at the Berri Gas Plant near Jubail on the Gulf coast, with an estimated 125 MW fire radiative power. The extent of damage and cause remain unclear. (See @MerruX post below)

🔹 Separately, Saudi Arabia’s Energy Ministry confirmed that a fire broke out at dawn at a facility belonging to Aramco’s Jazan refinery on the Red Sea coast. Aramco crews extinguished the blaze and no injuries were reported. It is unclear if there was any damage.

Saudi authorities have not announced a cause for the Jazan fire, and there is currently no confirmed attribution for either incident.

[The New York Times @nytimes]

Breaking News: Iran’s top security official said the Strait of Hormuz would not reopen until the U.S. met a sweeping list of demands, including withdraw the U.S. military from around Iran, pay war reparations and release frozen Iranian assets. https://t.co/D731AnzqFr

[Nikkei Asia @NikkeiAsia]

Pakistan fails to curb Imran Khan's clout after 3 years in jail

Ruling camp sees it has wrongly expected ex-PM to accept deal for his release
https://t.co/lP8frbp6pv

[Michael Kugelman @MichaelKugelman]

Pakistan wants foreign media focusing on its achievements abroad, not its problems at home. So it’s really shot itself in the foot w/its draconian new rules for foreign media reporting in Pak. These rules have made global headlines & highlight widening repression trends in Pak.

[Mishal Husain @MishalHusain]

No Objection Certificates have long been used to restrict foreign correspondents’ movements in Pakistan but this draconian framework goes far beyond 🔽

[AssedBaig @AssedBaig]

Scandalous

[Kenneth Roth @KenRoth]

Pakistan will now require all journalists working for foreign media outlets to seek permission to travel outside Pakistan’s three major cities. The rule comes after a surge of media covering elections in the Pakistan-administered part Kashmir. https://t.co/DNjgKyFzfD

[Murtaza Hussain @MazMHussain]

Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have signed updated and expanded versions of a defense pact for years and now have seemingly added Turkey to the same framework. We have actually obtained and reviewed one of these recent updates and the most notable aspect is that the agreement itself is hedged to the point of oblivion. On top of that everything is done to not enforce it when a situation actually arrives since enforcing the most expansive version of its terms is politically indigestible.

At most I expect that this new agreement would be intended as a political signal in the wake of rising fears in the Gulf following serious attacks on Saudi infrastructure and the failure of U.S. defense guarantees. At best I imagine it would produce increased joint defense investment in the Turkish and Pakistani arms industries and perhaps the gradual alignment and interoperability of military systems. https://t.co/QWAqWlU3FQ

[brief. @brief_pk]

We examine whether Pakistan is truly being governed in the interests of its people or for something else entirely. The decisions made by the military and government have consistently failed to benefit the public. This system of rule operates at the public’s expense while failing to provide even the basic services necessary for survival. https://t.co/DqFqP1fj8U

[BBC News Press Team @BBCNewsPR]

BBC statement on the new restrictions imposed by the Pakistani authorities to limit the movement of international media

https://t.co/bSQenNCNoi

[Patricia Marins @pati_marins64]

War: India Sent More Than 3,000 Weapon Shipments to Israel

A report by Amnesty International, confirmed by the Indian government, shows that Israel received 2,596 confirmed shipments of weapons between October 2023 and November 2025.

These transfers did not stop there. As the organization has confirmed that exports and joint supply chains remain active in 2026, even after repeated international warnings, I dare to state that the total number of shipments, including those conducted in secrecy and those from 2026, exceeds 3,000.

This places India’s military industry as an active participant in the devastation of Gaza, alongside those of the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and other European countries.

In June and July 2026, Amnesty International sent official notifications to the Indian state and to nine companies involved, demanding explanations. No response was received from the authorities by the time the document was published. Meanwhile, the partnership between India and Israel continues to consolidate.

In June 2026, senior officials from Israel’s Ministry of Defense made official visits to India to align regional security interests and strengthen industrial ties. Indian companies operate in partnership with Israeli defense giants such as Elbit Systems, producing armaments under the Made in India policy.

Cheap Indian labor is precisely what these corporations seek.
But the exports were not carried out solely by Israeli companies operating in India; they directly involved the Indian government and public-sector companies.

There were direct shipments of weapons manufactured by enterprises owned by the Indian state itself and controlled by the Ministry of Defense, such as MIL and Yantra. 

Even when production is carried out by an Israeli company operating inside the country, these weapons cannot leave India without explicit approval from the government in New Delhi.

India’s Ministry of Commerce and its customs authorities had to issue specific military export licenses for each of the shipments sent throughout the conflict.

The Indian government has stated that the country maintains a robust export-control mechanism and that all military transactions comply with international obligations and laws.

However, there is no dispute over legality here, the core issue is the morality of the act itself.
New Delhi is deepening ties with the Israeli defense industry, which already accounts for 15% of the country’s arms imports. 

Read more:
https://t.co/R8P7eOIcvh

[CNN @CNN]

The sons of the imprisoned former leader of Pakistan Imran Khan told CNN they fear for their father's health, claiming authorities in the South Asian country are preventing them from seeing him.

Pakistan's government said it "categorically rejects" the claim that Khan has faced a communication blackout or been denied access to his family, lawyers and doctors. Read more: https://t.co/e7nMvqM6XF