CRISIS IN PAKISTAN AS SINDH POLICE RISE IN REVOLT AGAINST ARMY

A high-profile kidnapping of a police chief in Pakistan-allegedly by

official paramilitary troops-has pushed the two-year-old Imran Khan

government to its worst political crisis as Sindh Police has openly risen in

defiance against Pakistan Army. Police officers in Karachi have threatened

to go on mass leave after the Sindh Police chief was allegedly kidnapped and

coerced to act against PML(N) vice president Safdar Awan, the husband of

Maryam Nawaz Sharif and the son-in-law of exiled former Prime Minister Nawaz

Sharif.

The paramilitary troops, known as the rangers, are accused of raiding the

house of Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) in

southern Sindh province. They kidnapped him and forced him to sign an order

to arrest Opposition leader Safdar Awan, a spokesman for Bilawal Bhutto

Zardari's Pakistan People's Party-which rules the state of Sindh-said on a

TV channel on Tuesday.

Pakistan is rapidly slipping into a civil war-like situation with the

ongoing tussle between the Opposition parties and the Army, with the Imran

Khan government acting like a puppet of the generals. The unprecedented

Karachi incident, where almost all top ranking police officers of the

province sought leave for being "ridiculed", exposes the turmoil in Pakistan

which is the worst since PM Imran Khan came into power about two years ago.

Sources said that Sindh IGP Mushtaq Mahar and at least two Additional

Inspector Generals, seven Deputy Inspector Generals and six senior

Superintendents of Sindh Police on Tuesday applied for leave in order to

"come out of the shock" caused by the "episode of registration of FIR

against Capt (R) Safdar". The Sindh Police on Monday had arrested Safdar

Awan, the husband of Maryam Nawaz Sharif, and the son-in-law of exiled

former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, from a hotel in Karachi.

The arrest came just hours after the PML(N) Vice President criticised Prime

Minister Imran Khan's Government at a massive rally of People's Democratic

Movement (PDM) -- an alliance of 11 Opposition political parties which have

joined hands to challenge the Imran Khan Government backed by the Pakistan

Army. He was later released on bail.

POPE FRANCIS BACKS CIVIL UNIONS FOR GAY COUPLES

Pope Francis endorsed same-sex civil unions for the first time as Pope while

being interviewed for the feature-length documentary Francesco, which

premiered on Wednesday at the Rome Film Festival.

The papal thumbs-up came midway through the film that delves into issues the

Pope cares about most, including the environment, poverty, migration, racial

and income inequality, and the people most affected by discrimination.

"Homosexual people have the right to be in a family. They are children of

God," Pope Francis said in one of his sit-down interviews for the film.

"What we have to have is a civil union law; that way they are legally

covered."

While serving as archbishop of Buenos Aires, the Pope endorsed civil unions

for gay couples as an alternative to same-sex marriages. However, he had

never come out publicly in favour of civil unions as Pope. "The film tells

the story of the pope by reversing the cameras," said Vatican communications

director Paolo Ruffini.

THE ELECTORAL COLLEGE COULD BE SUBVERTED BY "FAITHLESS ELECTORS"

Donald Trump won 30 states in 2016-enough for 306 electoral votes-while

Hillary Clinton's haul of 20 state victories would equate to 232 electoral

votes.*

But that didn't happen. When it came time for the Electoral College to vote,

Trump lost two electoral votes and Clinton lost five. In Washington alone,

four electors passed on Clinton: Three voted for former U.S. secretary of

state Colin Powell, the other for Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American

activist.

Members of the Electoral College-with the exception of Maine and Nebraska

which allocate by congressional districts-are pledged to vote for the

highest vote getter in their state. However, in most states, nothing stops

them from breaking that pledge and voting for another candidate. And there

is a name for them: faithless electors. A total of 10 electors cast

faithless ballots in 2016, with seven-the highest since 1912-actually

counting.

Those seven faithless electors weren't numerous enough to swing the

election-it takes 270 electoral votes to win-but faithless electors could

swing the election in 2020 if it's close between Trump and Democratic

nominee Joe Biden.

Biden is currently leading polling averages in eight states Trump won four

years ago.

If Biden pulls off victories in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, he'd

have enough for 278 electoral votes. But let's say nine electors in states

Biden wins don't vote for the Democratic nominee or Trump. That would mean

neither candidate hit 270 electoral votes. In a scenario where none of the

candidates reach 270 electoral votes, the vote would move to the House of

Representatives. But instead of voting as individual representatives, they'd

have to vote as a state-with each state getting one vote. The greatest risk

arises in a razor-thin electoral vote, where one rogue vote could determine

the presidency.

If no candidate has the requisite 270 electoral votes, the winner would be

decided by the newly elected House of Representatives when the U.S. Congress

meets to count the electoral votes on Jan. 6.

THAI PROTESTERS GIVE PM PRAYUTH CHAN-OCHA THREE DAYS TO QUIT

Thai protesters on Wednesday gave Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha a three

day deadline to step down or face more demonstrations, but the leader who

made the announcement was arrested within two hours.

Prayuth had earlier said he was ready to lift emergency measures he imposed

last week to stop the protests as a move to "de-escalate" the situation.

Tens of thousands of people marched to his offices at Government House. The

protesters have been demonstrating for months against Prayuth and to demand

curbs to King Maha Vajiralongkorn's powers.

They claimed success after handing a mock resignation letter for Prayuth to

an official outside.

In a televised address, Prayuth had said he was ready to lift measures

banning political gatherings of five or more people and publication of

information deemed to threaten security.

"I will make the first move to de-escalate this situation," Prayuth said.

"We must now step back from the edge of the slippery slope that can easily

slide to chaos," he added, saying talks should go to parliament, where his

supporters have a majority.

EU TO U.K. ON BREXIT TALKS: 'YOU CAN'T HAVE CAKE, EAT IT TOO'

The European Union took a defiant tone on October 21 as the standoff over

resuming post-Brexit trade negotiations with the United Kingdom intensified,

telling London that you cannot have your cake and eat it too.

European Council President Charles Michel refused to bow to British

insistence for the EU to fundamentally change its negotiating stance and

cede more to U.K. demands. Michel said instead that if Britain wants vast

access to the 27-member bloc's markets, it will equally have to keep its

waters open to EU fishermen, something the U.K. government has said it

doesn't want to do.

In a combative display at the European Parliament, Mr. Michel said, "Yes, we

want to keep access to U.K. waters for our fishermen. Exactly like the U.K.,

too, want to keep access to our huge and diversified markets for its

companies."

Britain and the EU have been attempting to strike a new trade deal since the

U.K. left the bloc on Jan. 31.

Those talks ground to a halt last week, with each side calling for the other

to compromise in order to secure a deal. The EU said it was happy to keep

talking, but Mr. Johnson said on Friday that negotiations were over unless

there was a fundamental shift from the bloc.

Since then, the EU has agreed to intensify talks - a key U.K. demand - and

to discuss the legal text of an agreement. But Mr. Johnson's Downing Street

office said on Tuesday that it wasn't a big enough change to resume

negotiations.

15 DEAD IN STAMPEDE NEAR PAKISTAN CONSULATE IN AFGHANISTAN

At least 15 Afghans have been killed and more than a dozen injured in a

stampede near a Pakistani consulate in eastern Afghanistan.

The stampede occurred in a stadium in Jalalabad city where thousands of

Afghans had gathered to secure visas from the consulate, officials said on

Wednesday.

Sohrab Qaderi, a provincial council member , where the incident occurred

said of the 15 people dead, 11 were women and several senior citizens were

wounded.

Two other provincial officials said more than 3,000 Afghans had congregated

to collect tokens needed to apply for a visa to travel to Pakistan.

To avoid large crowds from gathering at the visa centre, the applicants had

been directed to a nearby football stadium in Jalalabad, Khogyani said.

The Pakistan consulate had resumed issuing visas last week after a seven

month pause because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Thousands of Afghans from Nangarhar and other nearby provinces had arrived

since the early morning to apply for medical visas or to visit relatives.

Pakistan is one of a handful of countries where Afghans can apply and get a

visa to.

Mansoor Ahmad Khan, Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan said the Pakistani

government is "engaged with Afghan authorities for better facilitation of

visa applicants".

FRENCH MILITANT GROUP DISSOLVED AFTER TEACHER'S BEHEADING

The French government issued an order on Wednesday to dissolve a domestic

militant Islamic group after the beheading last week near Paris of a teacher

who had shown students caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Government spokesperson Gabriel Attal said the Collective Cheikh Yassine

group was formally banned during a Cabinet meeting because it was

"implicated, linked to Friday's attack" and it was used to promote

anti-republican hate speech.

Other groups will be dissolved "in the coming weeks" for similar reasons,

Attal said.

He also confirmed that the government ordered a mosque in the northeast

Paris suburb of Pantin to close for six months.

A terror investigation is under way into teacher Samuel Paty's slaying.

FBI SAYS IRAN AND RUSSIA HAVE US VOTER INFORMATION

US national security officials have reported Iran was responsible for

sending threatening emails to Democratic voters.

The emails appeared to come from a far-right pro-Trump group and were meant

to "incite unrest", National Intelligence Director John Ratcliffe said.

Mr Ratcliffe also said US officials found Iran and Russia have obtained

"some voter registration information".

The announcement comes 13 days before the presidential election.

The unusual intelligence briefing this close to the vote is seen as a

testament to the government's concerns over voting interference and

disinformation campaigns from foreign actors.

Mr Ratcliffe said Iran's "spoof emails" claimed to be sent by the Proud Boys

in order to "intimidate voters, incite unrest and damage" President Donald

Trump.

He added that the voter data could be used in attempts to "communicate false

information to registered voters that they hope will sow confusion chaos and

undermine your confidence in American democracy".

Mr Ratcliffe said officials "have not seen the same actions from Russia",

but are aware they have some voter information.