World IN BRIEF : PAKISTAN : Parliament OKs Special Courts

The Senate passed a constitutional amendment allowing the Pakistani government to suspend the Supreme Court and establish special courts allowing only one appeal in “terrorist affected areas.” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said the government “wants to deal with terrorists and miscreants with an iron hand.” The amendment was approved by the lower house of Parliament, where outraged opposition lawmakers stormed out, saying the government banned debate and steamrollered the bill through. Mass murders, abductions and near anarchy in Sind province were given as reasons for the amendment, but an opposition spokesman charged that it “destroyed our traditions, our laws, our values.”