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Shirin Sadeghi Independent TV & Radio Host, ex-BBC & Al Jazeera When the mighty do not fall, they are felled, but Imran Khan is still going strong despite serious injuries this week at a campaign rally. He's come a long way since  I first interviewed him in 2011 : he's the most important person in Pakistan right now and the biggest election in his country's history is all about him. Unlike in the United States, campaigning in Pakistan has time limits and the brief period of campaigning ended Thursday at midnight with a massive Islamabad rally for Khan followed by a smaller rally for his main opponent: Mian Nawaz Sharif, the two-time former Prime Minister and head of the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N) party. Sharif, sweating under the grand lights of his stage, with a combover lightly flapping in the night's breeze, and his microphone being held for him by a hand other than his, was -- as his campaign has been -- focused on Khan. Kha...

A Pakistani student now at Cambridge University has set a world record by doing 23 A Levels, and achieving the highest mark (A) in 22 of them One ambition was fixed in Ali Moeen Nawazish's mind as he made his way through school in Pakistan. He wanted to win a place at Cambridge. Sitting seven A-levels might easily have done the trick, even though he had started to study some of the subjects only three days before the exam. But he was determined to get some good grades. So he sat another three, and three more. Then another nine. Just in case, he took a couple of AS levels along the way. Qualified success: Ali Moeen NawazishThe result? The remarkable young student, who modestly explains he has 'quite a thirst for knowledge', secured 22 A grades, one B and a C. When he filled out his university application forms at home in Rawalpindi there was barely enough space to list his qualifications. His Cambridge dream came true four months ago when he embarked on a computer science ...

They have announced their arrival with a bang. The police checkpost in Mianwali, a border town near restive NWFP, is a grim reminder that Pakistani society is facing the worst scenario of civil unrest that it has seen for decades. The two story building was reduced to rubble when the militants destroyed it with powerful explosives. They attacked the post around 3 am, killed the constables on guard and then killed 6 police personnel inside before blowing up the building. Militants have come to Punjab with an attitude. So how is it different this time around? I mean, suicide attacks have taken place before in Lahore and Rawalpindi. Yes indeed Punjab has been struck with tragedy of suicide bombings on various occasions but this attack on post signals the fact that militants will now increase their sphere of influence outside the frontier province and tribal belt. Swat is already under Taliban's control, Peshawar is closed from 3 sides, Dir - hitherto untouched- is falling to their con...