The Capitals: Islamabad's Imran Khan moment, Ankara's tryst beyond Erdogan, and more

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Little after noon's sun halved over Islamabad on May 9, heavy batons beat through the glasses of a courtroom of the Pakistani capital. The batons and the men beating them through belonged to Pakistan Rangers, a paramilitary force associated with guarding South Asian nuclear power's borders with India. Inside the courtroom was the country's cricket icon-turned-political phenomenon Imran Khan.

Once the glasses were broken enough, Khan, the ousted prime minister, was taken in by the Rangers citing an anti-corruption arrest warrant.

Imran Khan was released days later after Supreme Court deemed his arrest illegal and asked him to approach the high court for bail.

"Why the Rangers had to arrest me?," Khan asked on May 13 in his first public address after his release. "It was the task for Islamabad Police. Why the army had to arrest me?," Khan added, underlining the irrevocable role of Pakistani army in running the affairs of country's power corridors.

At the time of filing this report, Khan has been booked in a case under Pakistan Army Act, meaning he will face trial in a military court.

Read this and more, in The Capitals this week.

Ankara, Turkey

Months after Turkey faced one of the most devastating earthquakes of all time, Ankara's corridors of power are witnessing a sea of change that has challenged President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's dominance.

The country on Sunday voted in a momentous election. In the capital Ankara, Sunday's vote could extend President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's two-decade grip on power or put the mostly Muslim nation on a more secular course.

The emergence of Kemal Kilicdaroglu and his six-party alliance -- a group that forms the type of broad-based coalition that Erdogan excelled at forging throughout his career -- has emerged as an alternatives to the Turkish voters.

Bangkok, Thailand

The military-backed government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha is tipped to be out of Thai capital, almost after a decade in power.

Opinion surveys pointed to a resounding defeat for ex-army chief and coup leader Prayut after a campaign that played out as a clash between a young generation yearning for change and the traditionalist establishment.

The main opposition Pheu Thai party, fronted by the daughter of billionaire former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, was ahead in final opinion polls.

Jerusalem, Israel

The individuals in power in the Israeli capital agreed to a ceasefire with Islamic Jihad, deemed a terrorist group by Jerusalem, Washington D.C. and Brussels, after days of violence claimed the lives of 35 people in the volatile West Asian region.

Meanwhile, the rockets continued to be fired from Gaza in the minutes when the ceasefire was supposed to go into effect.

Rome, Italy

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky met Pope Francis in Rome this week, in an attempt to propel more support towards Kyiv's war effort against Russia. Zelensky met President Giorgia Meloni first, and received an assurance towards continued support for Kyiv against Russian President Vladimir Putin's military aggression.

Washington D.C., United States of America

Washington ended an immigration policy known as Title 42, and returned to its pre-pandemic Title 8 law that governs asylum and deportations.

Following this change, tens of thousands of migrants have surged to the US-Mexico border, and US President Joe Biden acknowledged that the change on May 11 would mean "it's going to be chaotic for a little while".

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