At least 27 dead in Pakistan suicide bombing

Police moved to dissipate possible sectarian violence after a suicide bombing in the middle of a Shia funeral procession killed at least 27 people and injured 75 others in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province Friday morning, police said. Charla Nash, 55, was transferred by airplane and ambulance to the clinic, where doctors in December performed the first facial transplant in the United States

Share

The Quiet American: How the World Sees Obama

At this year’s U.S.-Islamic World Forum in Doha, Qatar, speaker after Muslim speaker had nothing particularly awful to say about the United States. The Muslims were, in fact, hopeful about, and slightly amazed by, the new American President. Some even wondered aloud what they could do to help him succeed.

Share

Pakistani woman watches Taliban take over town she loves

Gul Bibi and her three children fled the Taliban’s bloody interpretation of Islamic law in Pakistan’s Swat Valley, hoping one day to return. But now that the Pakistani government has recognized Taliban rule in the region in exchange for a temporary cease-fire, she said those hopes have been dashed. She warned that the government’s deal with the Taliban will have worldwide implications

Share

Men ‘plotted to blow up jets with liquid bombs’

Eight men plotted to use bombs disguised in drinks containers to blow up planes heading towards the United States in mid-flight in the name of Islam, a British court heard Tuesday. Prosecutors told London’s Woolwich Crown Court the men planned to make the explosives from household objects to resemble drinks bottles, batteries and other items to be carried onto aircraft in hand luggage, the UK’s Press Association reported. The foiling of the alleged plot in August 2006 triggered the imposition of strict new security measures at international airports around the world, restricting the quantity of liquids passengers can carry on to aircraft

Share

Will Beijing Respond to Clinton’s Wish List?

North Korea has a long history of communicating with the United States through provocation and brinksmanship, and it has played to type ahead of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s four-nation trip to Asia that began Sunday. In recent weeks, Pyongyang has annulled its maritime border with South Korea, renounced the nonaggression agreement between the two countries, and moved missiles and equipment around in ways that could signal preparations for a launch, according to U.S. officials.

Share

Rights Groups Probe India’s Shoot-Out Cops

Scarcely a day passes in India by without news of an encounter between the police and criminals elements — “encounter” being the local jargon for shootouts involving the police, who are allowed to fire only in self-defense. On Wednesday, it was a “dreaded mafia don” who was gunned down by the Uttar Pradesh police — shot dead, and therefore unable to challenge the police account of the circumstances of the shooting. But some in India have begun to question the frequency of such “encounters”

Share