Boualem Sansal, an Algerian-French writer, was arrested on accusations of undermining national security during a visit to his homeland a year ago and sentenced to five years in prison.

Forty-two migrants were presumed dead after a rubber boat capsized off the Libyan coast this month. Many of the presumed victims were fleeing a raging conflict in Sudan.

A constitutional reform in the nuclear-armed country extends the chief’s power over all the military and brings Pakistan’s highest court under tighter political control.