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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif embrace each other on the day they sign a defence agreement, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, September 17, 2025.
What We’re Watching: Saudi-Pakistan defense pact, Italy passes AI law, Kimmel removed following Trump admin pressure
Saudi Arabia signs defense pact with nuclear-armed Pakistan
Following years of negotiations, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan bolstered their long-standing security partnership by signing a mutual defense pact on Wednesday. It’s not clear whether the deal obliges Pakistan, which boasts the largest army in the Islamic world, to provide Riyadh with a nuclear umbrella. The announcement comes as Gulf States have become increasingly skeptical about whether they can rely on the US to protect them – Israel’s attempt to kill Hamas leaders in Qatar is a case in point. Riyadh reportedly didn’t inform Washington of the pact until after it was signed.
Italy passes first AI law
Italy has passed the EU’s first comprehensive AI law, imposing prison terms for harmful uses like deepfakes and requiring parental consent for children under 14 to access AI. The legislation, aligned with the EU AI Act, mandates transparency, human oversight, and stricter rules for sectors such as healthcare, education, and justice. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni calls the law a “human-centric” framework to protect rights, promote innovation, and ensure AI develops within ethical boundaries while combating fraud and misuse. It also allocates €1 billion to fund AI and cybersecurity ventures.
Jimmy Kimmel taken off air for Charlie Kirk comment
ABC has pulled Jimmy Kimmel’s late-night show “indefinitely” after his remarks about the suspect in conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s killing sparked backlash. The FCC, whose independence has been questioned since Donald Trump took office, urged stations to stop airing the program. Nexstar Media Group, which is currently seeking FCC approval for a $6.2 billion merger, dropped the show on its 32 ABC affiliates. While Sinclair, the largest ABC affiliate group, vowed not to air the show unless “appropriate steps” are taken. The controversy coincides with concerns that a forthcoming executive order on political violence and hate speech could threaten free speech.Punjab, Pakistan - Photos show flood-hit areas in Punjab, Pakistan, on August 26, 2025. Pakistan has evacuated tens of thousands of people to safer areas after neighboring India released water from overflowing dams and swollen rivers into low-lying border regions, officials said Tuesday.
Hard Numbers: Floods provide test India-Pakistan relations, Signs of Orthodox discontent over Israel, France returns Malagsy king’s remains, & More
80: “We affirm that Hamas’s sins and crimes do not relieve the government of Israel of its obligations to make whatever efforts are necessary to prevent mass starvation,” a group of roughly 80 Orthodox Jewish rabbis wrote in an open letter. Orthodox leaders have largely shied away from criticizing the Israeli government, but this letter marked a turning point.
600,000: US President Donald Trump said up to 600,000 Chinese students would be allowed to study in the US, framing the move as part of ongoing trade negotiations with Beijing. Currently, about 270,000 Chinese students are enrolled in US universities, roughly 100,000 less than the 2020 peak.
128: France is returning the skull of a slain Malagsy king, some 128 years after French forces killed and decapitated him as part of an effort to assert colonial control. The head was then taken to the Museum of Natural History in Paris. Madagascar’s government and King Toera’s descendants had pressed the Élyssée Palace to return his remains.
Why Pakistan sees China as a "force for stability"
Pakistan’s most important relationship may be its deep strategic partnership with China. The two countries have close security ties and economic alignment, especially when it comes to managing their mutual adversary India. On GZERO World, former Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Khar gives her view on the China-Pakistan relationship, which she sees as a stabilizing force in Southeast Asia. Given so much geopolitical uncertainty right now, Khar explains, the world has just started noticing Pakistan and China’s strong ties. But the relationship goes back decades.
Khar says Pakistan doesn’t see the world in competing blocs, and believes there’s value in maintaining friendly relations with Western countries as well as its immediate neighbor, China. Beijing’s Belt and Road program has made significant investments in Pakistan, which has sped up Pakistan’s development and allowed it to strengthen economic partnerships with its neighbors. When multilateral institutions stopped financing infrastructure projects, China was able to provide goods and investment loans, helping to build trains and highways in Pakistan, as well as Iran, Afghanistan, and Uzbekistan.
“This is a country [the world sees] as very belligerent, very hegemonic. We’ve always seen in our region, an immediate neighbor to China, that it only relies on economic relationships,” Khar says, “Within Pakistan and the broader region, China has been a force of stability.”
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔). GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
India vs. Pakistan: Rising tensions in South Asia
Could tensions between India and Pakistan boil back over into military conflict? Last May, India launched a wave of missile attacks into Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir, claiming it was targeting terrorist infrastructure. After four days of dangerous escalation, both sides accepted a ceasefire, putting an end to the most serious military crisis in decades between the two rival nuclear states. On GZERO World, former Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Khar joins Ian Bremmer to discuss Pakistan’s perspective and where the conflict stands now.
Khar argues India didn’t provide credible evidence to justify the attacks and that Pakistan’s response challenged the narrative of India’s conventional military superiority. She sees China as a stabilizing force in the region and says it’s important for Pakistan to maintain broader strategic relationships within southeast Asia and the West, including the United States. Though the conflict has cooled, nerves are still on edge in Delhi and Islamabad. Now, more than ever, Khar says, it’s crucial for Pakistan to continue to strengthen its military capabilities, including nuclear deterrence, to defend its sovereignty.
“The India-Pakistan region is home to one fifth of humanity, and to put them at stake because of political engineering happening in your own country is very callous,” Khar says, “The moment one nuclear state decides to attack another, you do not know how quickly you go up the escalation ladder.”
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube.Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔). GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Pakistan needs to stand up to India, says former Foreign Minister Hina Khar
After nearly eight decades of on-again-off-again conflict, India and Pakistan neared the brink of all-out war last spring. The intense, four-day conflict was an unsettling reminder of the dangers of military escalation between two nuclear-armed adversaries. Though the ceasefire was reached and both sides claimed victory, Delhi and Islamabad are still on edge and tensions remain high. On the GZERO World Podcast, former Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Khar joins Ian Bremmer to discuss Pakistan’s response to India’s strikes, which she believes were unjustified, and why Pakistan needs to defend itself from further aggression.
One fifth of the world’s population lives on the Indian subcontinent, and Khar says putting them at stake because of a political conflict is dangerous because “you do not know how quickly you can go up the escalation ladder.” Bremmer and Khar also discuss the US role in mediating the conflict with India, Pakistan’s domestic and economic challenges, its strategic partnership with China, and the dangers for global security if the world abandons a rules-based international order.
“As someone who was representing this country as foreign minister, I used to wonder, why were we reduced to eating grass to become a nuclear power?” Khar says, “And now, that is the only thing providing deterrence and security against a country which feels it can attack us anytime, any day.”
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Why India and Pakistan can't get along
When–and why–did India and Pakistan become bitter rivals? The Indian subcontinent is home to some 1.5 billion people who share deep cultural, linguistic and historical ties, but for nearly eight decades, the Indian-Pakistan relationship has been marked by tension, violence, and sometimes all-out war. On Ian Explains, Ian Bremmer breaks down the complicated history of the India-Pakistan conflict to understand why tensions are once again rising after a military clash between the two countries in May 2025.
There are many complex reasons that India and Pakistan have become such bitter rivals. Bremmer unpacks four key issues: the partition after nearly two-centuries of British colonial rule, contested claims over the Kashmir region, the development of nuclear weapons, and leaders stoking nationalist and religious tensions for political gain. A terrorist attack in Kashmir last spring led to an exchange of military strikes and showed the world just how dangerous escalation between two nuclear powers can be. Watch Ian Explains to understand the roots of the conflict and why decades of tensions and war probably won’t be resolved any time soon.
GZERO World with Ian Bremmer, the award-winning weekly global affairs series, airs nationwide on US public television stations (check local listings).
New digital episodes of GZERO World are released every Monday on YouTube. Don't miss an episode: subscribe to GZERO's YouTube channel and turn on notifications (🔔). GZERO World with Ian Bremmer airs on US public television weekly - check local listings.
Police officers clash with a supporter of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan during a protest outside Federal Judicial Complex in Islamabad, Pakistan March 18, 2023.
Hard Numbers: Mass political jailing in Pakistan, Musk funding Trump even as they feuded, Russia claims win in eastern Ukraine, Peruvian utility workers find 1,000-year-old remains
108: Pakistan’s anti-terrorism court jailed 108 members of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), for protesting Khan’s arrest in 2023. The cricketer-turned-politician was arrested on corruption charges after running afoul of Pakistan’s military, who have historically dominated the country’s politics.
$15 million: Tesla owner Elon Musk donated $15 million in late June to a trio of Republican campaign committees – including a super PAC that backs President Donald Trump – even as he was publicly feuding with the president and threatening to launch a new political party.
16: After a 16-month battle, Russia claims it has captured the strategic town of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine. Kyiv denies the report, but a Russian military unit posted a video showing a paratrooper raising a Russian flag there. Moscow has been slowly but steadily gaining ground in Eastern Ukraine for months, although at a staggeringly high cost in manpower and equipment
1,000: Utility workers in Lima, Peru, were busy digging underground to expand the country’s gas networks on Thursday, when they came across a pair of pre-Incan tombs, one of which contained the remains of a 1,000-year-old person wrapped in a torn bundle sitting with their legs against their chest. The other tomb was empty.
A satellite overview shows the Fordow Fuel Enrichment Facility, amid the Iran-Israel conflict, near Qom, Iran, June 29, 2025
Hard Numbers: US intel shows two Iranian nuclear sites survive, EU adopts fresh Russia sanctions, Pakistani bird-seller loses nest egg, CBS sunsets Colbert, Cancer takes a long-term hit
1: A new US intelligence assessment says that the US strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities last month destroyed only one of the three sites targeted. While Fordow – Iran’s most fortified enrichment site – was mostly destroyed, the Natanz and Isfahan sites likely did not suffer the same damage. US President Donald Trump, who has said all the sites were “obliterated”, reportedly rejected a more thorough, weeks-long bombing campaign because it would have clashed with his stated objective of disentangling the US from foreign conflicts.
18: The European Union on Friday approved the 18th package of sanctions against Russia over President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. The centerpiece of the measures is a new cap on the price that members can pay for Russian oil. The package, which requires unanimous approval from EU members, overcame opposition from Slovakia, which won some exceptions from wider EU plans to phase out Russian energy imports altogether.
10: After ten years in business, a Pakistani bird-seller recently found his bank accounts suddenly frozen by the government. The reason? He had sold a parrot to prominent journalist and bird collector Asad Ali Toor, who routinely ruffles powerful feathers with his criticisms of Pakistan’s military and judiciary. The government has locked the accounts of others who had done business with Toor too, in what looks like a bid to isolate and silence a prominent critic.
32: After 32 seasons on air, the lights will go down next year on the Late Show, CBS's flagship evening comedy and interview program, which has been hosted by Trump-critic Steven Colbert since 2015. CBS said the move was made for financial reasons, as late night shows have been losing audience and revenue for years. Parent company Paramount said it was unrelated to a controversial settlement with Trump over an allegedly biased edit of a “60 Minutes” interview with his 2024 election rival Kamala Harris. Paramount is also, as it happens, currently seeking US government approval for an $8 billion mega-merger with Skydance Media.
⅓: Good news from the front lines of the “War on Cancer”: the age-related death rate from the disease in the US is fully ⅓ lower than it was in the 1990s, mirroring progress in other developed countries. Experts attribute the improvement to a combination of public policy (such as smoking bans) and scientific breakthroughs. Building on those gains, and expanding them globally, remains a key challenge.