Police say 68 lawyers criticised senior officer whose name is the same as that of one of prophet Muhammad's companions Pakistani police have registered a case of blasphemy against 68 lawyers who took part in a protest after a police officer detained one of their colleagues, officials say, the latest in a wave of such accusations flooding the country. Analysts say the surge in accusations is a worrying...
US State Department confirms that Joel Cox is federal agent and says Pakistani authorities are co-ordinating to resolve arrest A FBI agent arrested in Pakistan for trying to board a civilian flight with bullets and a knife in his luggage is being investigated on possible criminal charges, Pakistani authorities said on Thursday. Joel Cox, confirmed by the US State Department as an FBI agent, was arrested...
World Health Organisation study finds Indian capital had dirtiest atmosphere of 1,600 cities around the world for PM2.5 particles India's state air monitoring centre has admitted that pollution in Delhi is comparable to that of Beijing, but disputed a World Health Organisation (WHO) finding that the Indian capital had the dirtiest atmosphere in the world. A study of 1,600 cities across 91 countries...
Schoolgirls from Jakarta to Timbuktu describe what education means to them and their outrage at the Boko Haram abduction The first time I heard about the kidnappings of schoolgirls in Nigeria was on Twitter, when the headline came up in my feed. I told my best friend about it and she was pretty surprised because she didn't know about it yet. Continue reading... ...
Cleric facing terror charges testifies about bomb experiment Hamza jokes about obtaining cheap passport as 'John Travolta' The Islamist cleric Abu Hamza , extradited from Britain to the US to face terror charges, described to a New York jury on Thursday how he lost his hands and one of his eyes in an accidental explosion in Pakistan more than 20 years ago. Testifying in his own defence, he also boasted...
Some take considerable risks to protect children in tribal belt of Pakistan, one of three countries where disease is still endemic When Amir, a 45-year-old father of five, brings stashes of ice-cooled polio vaccines to his home in an isolated village in Pakistan's tribal belt he takes enormous care not to let anyone know what he is up to. Only his most trusted friends and relatives know about his secretive...
The World Health Organisation has declared a public health emergency as polio returns to countries that were free of it and calls on three governments to immunise adults travelling beyond their borders The heroic effort to rid the world of polio, which was looking so promising only a year ago, has hit a major setback. There have been plenty of disasters in the past - the most obvious being the appalling...
China's Uighur militants appear to be getting more sophisticated, with links to Afghanistan and Pakistan. It's time to take them seriously The knife attack in which six people were injured in southern China is the third high-profile incident at a Chinese train station in a little more than two months. It seems that China is in the grip of a mounting terrorist campaign, with militants apparently able...
World Health Organisation says all residents must show proof of vaccination before they can leave the country Pakistan's failure to stem the spread of polio has triggered global emergency health measures , with the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommending all residents must show proof of vaccination before they can leave the country. The emergency measures also apply to Syria and Cameroon, which...
Journalists in Pakistan live under the constant threat of killings, harassment and other violence from, says Amnesty International in a new report. They suffer at the hands of all sides - armed groups, such as the Taliban, government intelligence services and political parties Continue reading... ...
Mosque named after Punjab governor's murderer Mumtaz Qadri is so popular with worshippers it can't keep up with demand A mosque named in honour of the killer of a politician who called for the reform of Pakistan's controversial blasphemy laws is proving so popular it is raising funds to double its capacity. The modest concrete building in the scruffy suburb of the Pakistani capital is named after Mumtaz...
Amnesty International details journalists' claims of harassment, intimidation and attacks at the hands of military intelligence Amnesty International says it has "credible concerns" that Pakistan's powerful military spy agency kidnaps, threatens and even kills journalists who cross it. The allegations come amid an unprecedented public standoff between the Directorate of Inter-Services Intelligence...
As Amnesty International launches a new report exposing the danger of reporting news in Pakistan, Shaista Aziz reflects on the women who choose to work there While visiting family in Pakistan as a teenager, a former government minister who had popped in to see my uncle, asked me what I wanted to do after my studies. He found my answer hysterical: "Beta (child)," he said, "in Pakistan...
Backed by western forces, assault is one of the biggest against Haqqani network as US attempts to deal lasting blow Afghan troops backed by western air forces have killed at least 60 militants near the Pakistan border, in one of the biggest assaults against the Taliban-linked Haqqani network, Afghan security officials have said. US officials say Washington has intensified its drive against the network...
The killing of two Australian citizens is not end of the conversation, but the beginning. If these men were threats to national security, then the public deserves to know why The news that the US had killed two Australian militants in a drone strike was announced in mid-April. Christopher Havard and Muslim bin John, who also held New Zealand citizenship, were allegedly killed by a CIA-led airstrike...
Risky gamble by media group sign of shifting power in country where once unassailable military being increasingly challenged For decades Pakistan's Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence was the spy agency that could not be named, let alone publicly criticised. The media would refer only to the "agencies", the "establishment" or, even more coyly, "the angels". But...
Newly divorced British Muslim Shaista Aziz says nobody should be ashamed of a marriage failing and thanks the men in her life who helped her through I finally managed to extract a divorce from my ex husband two months ago. A day I won't forget. I felt a heaviness lift from my shoulders and, in the blink of an eye, my life fully opening up again. Continue reading... ...
A Pakistani TV station with millions of viewers, Geo News , is under threat of closure by the government. It followed the broadcasting of allegations that the country's spy agency, Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI), was responsible for the attempted murder of the Geo News anchor Hamid Mir. Continue reading... ...
Unesco study reports huge growth in adults and children reading books on phones in Africa and the Indian subcontinent Unesco is pointing to a "mobile reading revolution" in developing countries after a year-long study found that adults and children are increasingly reading multiple books and stories on their phones. Nearly 5,000 people in seven countries Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Nigeria,...
On Saturday in Karachi, one of Pakistan's most famous journalists survived being shot six times. Soon after, the TV news channel he works for blamed the feared Inter-Services Intelligence agency for the attack. Author Mohammed Hanif reports on a fourth estate under siege More than a hundred bouquets line the lobby of the private ward of Karachi's posh, private Aga Khan Hospital. Outside, dozens of...