Pakistan is extending the right to vote in general elections to overseas nationals. The decision was taken at a meeting of the election commission on Tuesday. Aleem Maqbool reports from Islamabad.
The move has been pushed through by Pakistan's electoral commission and will mean over three million overseas Pakistanis will now be allowed to vote from abroad, but there is a potential for many more to join them in the future. That's because the ruling not only allows Pakistani passport holders to vote, but also those who've got a Pakistani identity card, something that's available to all of those of Pakistani origin. The commission says that even a quota of seats in parliament for overseas Pakistanis is under discussion.
United Nations aid agencies are warning of a humanitarian catastrophe in the Sahel region of Africa following poor harvests in several countries. Speaking in Geneva, aid officials said up to 23 million people were at risk of serious food shortages in Niger, Chad, Mali, Mauritania, Burkina Faso and Senegal. Momodou Lamin Fye of the Red Cross warned that there could soon be a major crisis.
"Last week, I was in Mauritania, and I saw for myself how serious the is, with children particularly vulnerable. The situation unfolding in the Sahel could quickly develop into a humanitarian disaster if the world does not start paying attention to the plight of these people. The amount of funding so far pledged is way below what is needed to save millions of lives."