ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan has expressed “shock and sorrow” over the inadvertent deaths of an American and an Italian hostage held by al-Qaida in a U.S. drone strike in January near the Afghan border. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs extended Pakistan’s condolences in a statement Friday, saying the deaths of hostages Warren Weinstein and Giovanni … Continue reading
ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — As oil-rich Kazakhstan votes for a president Sunday, the governing elite is pounding home a mantra of stability as fears percolate about the country’s massive Russian minority taking inspiration from the Moscow-backed insurgency in Ukraine. With authorities clamping down on all opposition, Nursultan Nazarbayev’s re-election is a done deal. The former … Continue reading
GALLIPOLI, Turkey (AP) — For the first time at age 95, Bill Grayden has come to Gallipoli, where his father stormed the beach and took a bullet through his lung during the ill-fated British-led World War I invasion. Grayden was among thousands of Australians and New Zealanders who made the pilgrimage from the southern hemisphere … Continue reading
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — Gunmen on a motorcycle killed a prominent women’s rights activist in Pakistan just hours after she held a forum on the country’s restive Baluchistan region, home to a long-running insurgency, police said Saturday. While investigators declined to speculate on a motive for the killing of Sabeen Mahmud, friends and colleagues immediately … Continue reading
ALMATY, Kazakhstan (AP) — Voters in oil-rich Kazakhstan turned out in abundance Sunday for a carefully choreographed presidential election intended to cement the rule of the incumbent, who has ruled over the former Soviet republic for more than 25 years. The election took place against the backdrop of a slump in economic growth and a … Continue reading
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) — Shelter, fuel, food, medicine, power, news, workers — Nepal’s earthquake-hit capital was short on everything Monday as its people searched for lost loved ones, sorted through rubble for their belongings and struggled to provide for their families’ needs. In much of the countryside, it was worse, though how much worse was … Continue reading
WASHINGTON (AP) — The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific said Wednesday that major land reclamation by China at outposts in the South China Sea could allow it to exert more influence over the contested area and deploy military assets such as long-range radar and advanced missile systems. Adm. Samuel Locklear also told the … Continue reading
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — The search area for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 will be expanded by another 60,000 square kilometers (23,000 square miles) in the Indian Ocean if the jetliner is not found by May, officials said Thursday, affirming their commitment to not give up until it is located. Malaysian Transport Minister … Continue reading
NEW DELHI (AP) — Every morning just before dawn, hundreds of trucks loaded with buffaloes trundle into New Delhi’s sprawling slaughterhouse complex where young men rush to unload the bellowing cargo. Skidding on heaps of fresh dung, they pull the animals out of the trucks, herding them for the daily auction and eventual slaughter. The … Continue reading
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Taking a break from filmmaking, Peter Jackson has created a museum exhibition he hopes will broaden people’s perception of World War I from monochrome to color. The first stage of the Great War Exhibition he unveiled Friday in Wellington features large color images depicting life in the trenches and on … Continue reading
BANGKOK (AP) — A draft of Thailand’s new constitution, written to reduce the power of major political parties and keep politicians in check, was submitted to an advisory council for review on Friday, nearly a year after the military took power from an elected government. The military abolished an earlier constitution after the May 22 … Continue reading
HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Guam’s attorney general directed officials to immediately begin processing same-sex marriage applications Wednesday, putting the island on course to be the first U.S. territory to allow gay nuptials. The move by Attorney General Elizabeth Barrett-Anderson came two days after a lesbian couple barred from applying to wed sued over the territory’s … Continue reading
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Thousands marched through the Afghan capital Tuesday, demanding justice for a woman who was beaten to death by a mob after being falsely accused of burning a Quran. Men and women of all ages carried banners bearing the bloodied face of Farkhunda, a 27-year-old religious scholar killed last week by the … Continue reading
MOSCOW (AP) — Uzbekistan’s election commission said 91 percent of eligible voters cast ballots in Sunday’s presidential election, where victory by longtime authoritarian leader Islam Karimov is a foregone conclusion. The 77-year-old Karimov has led the former Soviet republic in Central Asia since the late 1980s and ruthlessly quashed all opposition to his rule. While … Continue reading
BANGKOK (AP) — The United Nations joined international rights groups Thursday in criticizing a decision by Thailand’s military government to invoke a law that gives the junta chief near-absolute authority without any accountability. Junta chief and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Wednesday lifted martial law, which he imposed shortly before taking power in a coup … Continue reading
Spartan Echo 