ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistani Islamists celebrated their victory over the government and called off their sit-in on Monday after the country’s law minister resigned, caving in to the fundamentalist protesters who have been demanding his ouster in a three-week-long rally. After Zahid Hamid’s resignation, the Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party, which was behind the sit-in … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Pakistan
Woman charged with murder warned against forced marriage
By IRAM ASIM, Associated Press BASTI LASHARI, Pakistan (AP) — Aasia Bibi had warned her parents time and again that if they forced her to marry her cousin, a man she disliked, she would be capable of going to any length to exit the union. She was already in a relationship, she said, and should be … Continue reading
US-Canadian family held 5 years by militants leaves Pakistan
WASHINGTON (AP) — The parents of an American woman freed with her family after five years of captivity say they are elated, but also angry at their son-in law for taking their daughter to Afghanistan. “Taking your pregnant wife to a very dangerous place, to me, and the kind of person I am, is unconscionable,” … Continue reading
Kidnapped, held 5 years, US-Canadian family free in Pakistan
WASHINGTON (AP) — Five years after they were seized by a terrorist network in the mountains of Afghanistan, an American woman, her Canadian husband and their children — all three born in captivity — are free after a dramatic rescue orchestrated by the U.S. and Pakistani governments, officials said Thursday. The U.S. said Pakistan accomplished … Continue reading
Family held captive by Taliban-linked group released
ISLAMABAD (AP) — An American woman, her Canadian husband and their three young children have been released after years of being held captive by a network with ties to the Taliban, U.S. and Pakistani officials said Thursday. U.S. officials say Pakistan secured the release of Caitlan Coleman of Stewartstown, Pennsylvania, and her husband, Canadian Joshua … Continue reading
Serbia introduces lockdown for migrants in Belgrade center
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia on Wednesday, Feb. 1 introduced a lockdown for migrants in their refugee center outside Belgrade after an alleged attack against a woman walking with her children. The measure comes amid widespread claims that the migrants are being forcefully pushed back and beaten when they try to enter Hungary and Croatia, … Continue reading
Pakistan orders 400 Turks to leave ahead of Erdogan’s visit
ISLAMABAD (AP) — Ahead of a visit by Turkey’s president, Islamabad ordered 400 Turkish nationals affiliated with a chain of international schools in Pakistan to leave the country within 72 hours, officials said Wednesday. The move was announced on the website of the Pak-Turk International chain of schools and colleges, and confirmed by two school … Continue reading
The Latest: Small nations leaders pay tribute to Ban Ki-moon
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The latest on the high-level U.N. General Assembly meetings (all times local): 3:40 p.m. The leaders of small Pacific nations are giving emotional tributes to Ban Ki-moon for becoming the first U.N. chief to visit their part of the world in seven decades. Their speeches have been tinged with concern about … Continue reading
Pakistan hit by attack on Christian colony and court bombing
PESHAWAR, Pakistan (AP) — Northwestern Pakistan was struck by two separate militant attacks hours apart on Friday, when gunmen wearing suicide vests stormed a Christian colony near the town of Peshawar, killing one civilian, and a suicide bomb attack on a district court in the town of Mardan killed 12 people and wounded 54 others. … Continue reading
Bangladesh closing notorious 18th-century prison in Dhaka
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh is closing its notorious 18th-century prison where sensational political killings over decades have targeted people on both sides of the South Asian country’s 1971 war for independence from Pakistan. The government wants to reopen the old, dilapidated Dhaka Central Jail as a museum to its tumultuous past, while giving its … Continue reading
AP Explains: Violence against Christians in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD (AP) — The suicide bombing in the city of Lahore on Easter underscores how Pakistan’s Christian minority has become an easy target for the country’s Islamic militants, although Muslims also were among the victims. There are barely 2.5 million Christians in the mostly Muslim country of 180 million, and they say they worry about … Continue reading
As Pakistan mourns, prime minister vows to defeat militants
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — In an emotional televised address, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif vowed Monday to hunt down and defeat the militants who have been carrying out attacks like the Easter bombing that targeted Christians and killed 72 people. “We will not allow them to play with the lives of the people of Pakistan,” Sharif … Continue reading
Pakistan PM vows to fight terror after 70 died in Lahore
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan’s prime minister on Monday vowed to eliminate perpetrators of terror attacks such as the massive suicide bombing that targeted Christians gathered for Easter the previous day in the eastern city of Lahore, killing 70 people. The attack underscored both the militants’ ability to stage large-scale attacks despite a months-long government … Continue reading
Pakistani Oscar-nominated film tackles ‘honor’ killings
KARACHI, Pakistan (AP) — When Saba Qaiser was 19 years old, her uncle and father shot her in the head, stuffed her in a bag and threw into a river to die. They said she had shamed her family when she married the boy of her choice. She crawled from the water, severely wounded. It … Continue reading
Congress bans import of forced labor products
A bill headed for President Barack Obama this week includes a provision that would ban U.S. imports of fish caught by slaves in Southeast Asia, gold mined by children in Africa and garments sewn by abused women in Bangladesh, closing a loophole in an 85-year-old tariff law that has failed to keep products of forced … Continue reading