Kyrgyzstan president: Key goldmine may be nationalised

The high-altitude Kumtor mine is at the centre of a long running controversy

Kyrgyzstan may seek to nationalise its largest foreign-run gold mine which has been at the centre of months of protests, President Atambayev has said.

In an interview with the BBC Kyrgyz Service, the president said that a long dispute over ownership of the Kumtor mine had turned into a political game.

There have been persistent protests demanding that Kyrgyzstan take a bigger share of the economically vital mine.

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon re-elected

Opponents accuse President Emomali Rakhmon of developing a personality cult

Tajikistan's President Emomali Rakhmon has won another seven-year term in office, electoral officials say.

They say he secured 83.6% of the vote in Wednesday's elections. Turnout was nearly 87%.

The president, who has been in power for two decades, faced five challengers but the only genuine opposition candidate was barred from standing.

Pakistan Taliban chief Mullah Fazlullah rejects talks

The new head of the Pakistani Taliban, Mullah Fazlullah, has ruled out peace talks with the government, vowing revenge for his predecessor's death.

A Taliban spokesman told the BBC the militants would instead target the military and the governing party.

Mullah Fazlullah was named the new leader six days after Hakimullah Mehsud was killed in a drone strike.

Mullah Fazlullah is a particularly ruthless commander whose men shot the schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai.

Will Imran Khan Block NATO Supplies in Pakistan?

The popular cricketer turned politician is leading the charge against U.S. drone strikes

Daniel Berehulak / Getty Images

Imran Khan, chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party, addresses supporters during an election campaign rally in Faisalabad, Pakistan, on May 05, 2013

Many in Pakistan were outraged last week when a U.S. drone killed militant leader Hakimullah Mehsud, calling the strike yet another example of Washington bulldozing over the nation’s sovereignty. But few have voiced their anger quite so loudly as Imran Khan. The cricketer turned politician, who is chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, has led the charge at the U.S. over the timing of the Nov. 1 attack, saying it was a bald attempt to sabotage imminent peace talks between Islamabad and Mehsud’s group, the Pakistani Taliban.

Bangladesh opposition protest turns violent

Two dead in violence sparked by opposition strike calling on government to quit ahead of January elections.

Police and paramilitary guards were drafted to patrol in Dhaka [AP]

Two people were killed and scores of others injured as protesters set off homemade bombs and set fire to cars during a strike demanding Bangladesh's government step aside ahead of January elections, reports said.

Security was tight across the capital, Dhaka, with extra police and paramilitary guards patrolling the streets at the start of the three-day, opposition-organised strike on Monday.

Bangladesh convicts hundreds in mutiny case

Court sentences more than 300 soldiers either to death or to serve life terms for 2009 mutiny in which 74 people died.

A Bangladeshi court has convicted more than 300 soldiers at the start of a mass verdict over a 2009 military mutiny in which scores of senior officers were massacred.

At a special court in Dhaka on Tuesday, Judge Mohammad Akhtaruzzaman sentenced 152 people to death - and another 157 to life in prison - for their role in the 30-hour mutiny.

Few Afghans register to vote for next leader

Less than quarter of adults have signed up to vote in next year's presidential poll, with only five days left to do so.

Almost a million of those signed up are women [GALLO/GETTY]

Afghan election officials say that with just five days left to register, less than a quarter of the country's eligible voters have signed up to vote in next year's presidential ballot.

India accounts for 33% of world poor: World Bank

WASHINGTON: India accounts for one-third of the world poor, people living on less than USD 1.25 (about Rs 65) per day, a World Bank report on poverty has said.

Iran unveils new drone, missile systems

The drone, named Hazem 3, and Ya Zahra 3 and Mersad 2 missile systems as well as Sayyad 40 mobile electronic interception system were unveiled during a parade marking the National Army Day on Thursday. 

Facing arrest, Musharraf flees Pakistani court

High drama mixed with farce gripped Pakistan Thursday when a court revoked the bail of former dictator Pervez Musharraf and ordered his arrest.

Could mining bonanza be Afghanistan's next source of funding?

An effort to make Afghanistan’s vast reserves of minerals, oil, and gas accessible to foreign investment – a crucial source of income as foreign aid declines – has hit a road block.

Nepal steps up battle against drug traffickers

But it felt heavier than its size, prompting customs officials to take a closer look.
When officers made a thorough check, they found carefully concealed packets of about 5kg (11lb) of hashish in a false bottom inside the case.

Building collapse in India kills at least 12 kids, 33 others

A residential building being constructed illegally on forest land in a suburb of India's financial capital collapsed into a mound of steel and concrete, killing at least 45 people and injuring more than 50 others, authorities said today.

New round of Iran nuclear talks starts in Kazakhstan

North Korea’s warning that its military has been cleared to launch a nuclear attack against the US should be on everyone’s mind as the Western powers sit down again with Iran on Friday in Kazakhstan, Israeli leaders stressed on Thursday.

Bangladesh strikes devastate rural farmers

This time his crop is perfect. However, much of it is going to waste in the hot sun in northern Bangladesh. Ongoing political turmoil has led to violence and mass strikes, which have hampered rural communities - especially farmers like Moyez who can't get his produce to market.   

Afghans protest US forces in restive province

Hundreds of residents of Maidan Wardak Province have come to Kabul and staged a protest in front of the parliament, demanding the US forces to adhere to Afghan president's order for US Special Forces to pull out of the eastern province.

Saturday's protest also saw between two and three hundred people from Wardak demand the release of nine locals, whom they believe are under the custody of US forces, the chief of Kabul police's Criminal Investigations Department said.

"The demonstration was peaceful, but the protesters shouted anti-US slogans," General Mohammed Zahir said.

UN denounces US drone use in Pakistan

Critics say the drone strikes in Pakistan's tribal areas have killed scores of civilians and that they are illegal [EPA]

The United States has violated Pakistan's sovereignty and destroyed tribal structures with unmanned aerial drone strikes in its counterterrorism near the Afghan border, a UN human rights investigator has said. "As a matter of international law, the US drone campaign in Pakistan is ... being conducted without the consent of the elected representatives of the people, or the legitimate Government of the State," Ben Emmerson, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights and counterterrorism, said in a statement issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva on Friday. Emmerson visited Pakistan for three days this week as part of his investigation into the civilian impact of the use of drones and other forms of targeted killings.

Several killed in failed Pakistan jail break

Two suicide bombers have attacked a judicial compound in the Pakistani city of Peshawar, killing four people and taking hostages, officials said.

One suicide bomber blew himself up outside the crowded complex on Monday, causing the deaths, said Information Minister Mian Iftikhar.
The other attacker entered the complex in an apparent bid to storm into a jail and release fighters held there.
He took hostages and was later shot dead by security forces, Iftikhar said.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the operation. Police forces sealed off roads around the complex.

Central & South Asia

Malala Yousafzai has returned to school for the first time since she was shot in the head by the Taliban in October for campaigning for the education of girls.

The 15-year-old said on Tuesday that she had "achieved her dream" and was looking forward to meeting new friends at the independent Edgbaston High School for Girls in Birmingham, central England, where she is now living.

Malala was flown to Britain for surgery following the attack and underwent several operations as recently as last month.

"I am excited that today I have achieved my dream of going back to school," she said in a statement. "I want all girls in the world to have this basic opportunity."

Pakistan to hold general election on May 11

Zardari said that a caretaker government would be set up to handle preparations for the vote [EPA]

Pakistan will hold a general election on May 11 in a move that marks the first democratic transition of power in the country's 66-year existence. The government became the first to see out a full five-year term on Saturday, despite Taliban violence, record sectarian unrest, chronic power cuts and a fragile economy. A spokesman for President Asif Ali Zardari said on Wednesday that a caretaker government would be set up to handle preparations for the vote. "The president received a summary from the government asking him to announce a suitable date for the election, so the president announced today that general elections to the national assembly will be held on May 11," spokesman Farhatullah Babar said. So far the ruling Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, the main opposition party headed by Nawaz Sharif, who served as prime minister twice, have failed to come up with a consensus candidate for prime minister. An eight-member committee consisting of equal members from both parties is meeting on Wednesday to come up with a candidate they each agree on.

Obama says US can prevent Iran nuclear bomb

In a Thursday interview with Israeli television, US President Barack Obama said his country could prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, adding that he would keep all options open in the absence of a diplomatic solution.

President Barack Obama has told Israelis that the United States has significant capabilities to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and that he was keeping all options on the table.
In an interview with Israeli television broadcast on Thursday, ahead of his visit next week, Obama said the United States estimated it would take Iran "over a year or so" to develop a nuclear weapon, once Tehran decided to pursue one.
He also acknowledged the differences he has had with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but said the foundation of bilateral ties was strong, as was his commitment to Israel's security.
Obama said he and Netanyahu shared a "terrific, business-like relationship", and a number of times referred to the Israeli leader as Bibi, his popular childhood nickname.
Regarding the long-stalled peace process with the Palestinians, Obama spoke somewhat vaguely, saying he was coming to listen during meetings he would hold with Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Obama's first presidential visit to Israel comes at the onset of spring - the "red line" previously set by Netanyahu for attacking Iran's nuclear sites.
Iran denies it is seeking a bomb and says its nuclear programme is solely for peaceful purposes.
"We think that it would take over a year or so for Iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon, but obviously we don't want to cut it too close," Obama said.
Asked if he would order an attack on Iran should diplomacy fail, Obama said: "When I say that all options are on the table, all options are on the table. The United States obviously has significant capabilities but our goal here is to make sure that Iran does not possess a nuclear weapon that could threaten Israel or could trigger an arms race in the region."
During the visit, Obama faces the challenge of overcoming Israeli suspicions that have lingered since his early days in office when he pressed Netanyahu for a freeze on settlement expansion and launched a short-lived outreach to Tehran, Israel's arch-foe.
Netanyahu, victorious in a January election, only clinched a coalition deal on Thursday, and Obama said any breakthrough in peace negotiations with the Palestinians would be unlikely until the Israeli government stabilised.
"My goal on this trip is to listen," he said.
Obama stopped short of calling for a freeze in settlement building in the occupied West Bank, but suggested a change in Israel's policy would empower moderate Palestinian leaders.
He said "it's a matter of both parties coming together and recognising that their futures in some ways are going to inextricably linked and that Israel will be safer, more secure, more prosperous if the issue can be resolved".
"Obviously Israel can't resolve it by itself, but it can't stop trying."
In a direct appeal to the Israeli people, Obama said he regretted that he would not have an opportunity to walk the streets and hear what average folks have to say.
"Sometimes I have this fantasy that I can put on a disguise, wear a fake moustache, and I could wander through Tel Aviv, go to a bar, and, you know, have a conversation there," he said.

Pakistan’s Christians protest against ‘blasphemy’ riots

Hundreds of protesters from Pakistan’s Christian minority clashed with police across the country on Sunday, a day after a Muslim mob torched dozens of Christian homes in retaliation for alleged blasphemy.

Hundreds of Christians clashed with police across Pakistan on Sunday, a day after a Muslim mob burned dozens of homes owned by members of the minority religious group in retaliation for alleged insults against Islam’s Prophet Muhammad.
Christians are often the target of Pakistan’s harsh blasphemy laws, which rights activists say are frequently used to persecute religious minorities or settle personal disputes. Politicians have been reluctant to reform the laws for fear of being attacked by religious radicals, as has happened in the past.
The plight of Pakistan’s other religious minorities, such as Shiite Muslims, Hindus and Ahmadis, has also deepened in recent years as hard-line interpretations of Islam have gained ground and militants have stepped up attacks against groups they oppose. Most Pakistanis are Sunni Muslims.
The latest incident began Friday after a Muslim in the eastern city of Lahore accused a Christian man of blasphemy - an offense punishable by life in prison or even death. A day later, hundreds of angry Muslims rampaged through the Christian neighborhood, burning about 170 houses.
Authorities have arrested 160 suspected members of the mob, many of whom were identified through TV footage and photos published in newspapers, said police officer Abdur Rehman.
But it remains to be seen whether anyone will be held to account. Mob violence is not uncommon following blasphemy allegations, and police often round up large numbers of suspects. However, these arrests rarely result in actual convictions.
There have been no convictions related to a deadly attack on Christians in 2009 in the eastern city of Gojra that was also sparked by blasphemy allegations, the Express Tribune newspaper reported Sunday. Angry Muslims burned dozens of houses in Gojra, killing eight Christians - seven of them from one family trapped in a burning home.
No Christians were hurt in Saturday’s attack in Lahore because they fled the area overnight before the mob arrived. But police were criticized for failing to prevent the mob from attacking the Christians’ homes.
The largest demonstrations on Sunday were in Lahore and the southern city of Karachi. About 1,000 people protested in both places, and smaller demonstrations were held in the capital, Islamabad, and the adjoining city of Rawalpindi.
In Lahore, hundreds of protesters, some carrying large crucifixes, blocked a main highway as they pressed their demands for better compensation payments from the government, said police official Malik Awais. Police fired tear gas canisters and used batons to disperse the demonstrators and took six of them into custody, he said.
The protesters damaged several vehicles, uprooted a fence along the road and burned an electricity generator, Awais said. They also pelted police with stones, injuring seven of them, he said.
Government spokesman Pervaiz Rasheed promised the government would help the Christians rebuild their houses, but the protesters expressed dissatisfaction with the way the government was handling the incident.
“I have been robbed of all of my life’s savings,” said Yousuf Masih, standing outside his burned home. He said the government’s announcement that it would give 200,000 rupees ($2,000) compensation to each family was a joke.
Awais said the protesters were demanding the government raise the compensation amount from 200,000 rupees ($2,000) to 1 million rupees ($10,000).
In Karachi, protesters blocked a road in a main market and damaged about 25 vehicles, said police officer Ali Raza. Some of the demonstrators also attacked 10 shops and looted valuables and cash, he said. Police beat back the protesters and fired tear gas to disperse them. At least two protesters were taken into custody, Raza said.
Police have taken the Christian man accused of blasphemy into custody pending an investigation. Those who attacked the Christian neighborhood are also being investigated for a range of offenses, including arson, robbery and insulting the feelings of the Christian community, said Rehman, the police officer.
Akram Gill, a local bishop in the Lahore Christian community, said the incident had more to do with personal enmity between the two men involved than blasphemy. He said the men got into a brawl after drinking late one night, and in the morning the Muslim man made up the blasphemy story as payback.
Once an accusation is made, it’s difficult to get it reversed, partly because law enforcement officials and politicians do not want to be seen as being soft on blasphemers.
Two prominent politicians were assassinated in 2011 for urging reform of the law. The killer of one of the politicians was hailed as a hero, and lawyers at his legal appearances showered him with rose petals.
According to Human Rights Watch, there are at least 16 people on death row in Pakistan for blasphemy and another 20 are serving life sentences.
While Muslims are frequently accused of blasphemy, members of Pakistan’s small Christian community are especially vulnerable to the accusations. Christians make up less than 5 percent of Pakistan’s 180 million people and many hold low-paying jobs, such as cleaning and street sweeping.
Last year, there was a rare reversal of a blasphemy case against a teenage Christian girl with suspected mental disabilities who was accused of burning pages of the Quran. She was released after a huge domestic and international outcry about her treatment. A local Muslim cleric was arrested and accused of planting the pages in her bag to incriminate her, a rare example of the accuser facing legal consequences. However, he was later freed on bail.

Afghan forces banned from requesting NATO strikes

Afghan forces will be banned from requesting NATO air strikes "under any conditions", President Hamid Karzai told a Kabul military academy on Saturday. The move comes days after 10 civilians died in a joint NATO-Afghan raid on a Taliban hideout.

Afghan security forces will be banned from calling for NATO air strikes in residential areas to help in their operations, President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday, three days after 10 civilians died in such a strike in the country’s east.
NATO air strikes and civilian casualties have become a significant stress point in the relationship between Karzai and his international backers. The issue threatens to further destabilise a precarious international withdrawal, to be completed by the end of 2014.
Addressing a conference at Kabul’s National Military Academy, Karzai expressed his anger about the strike and said he would issue a decree on Sunday preventing any resort to such measures by his forces.
“Tomorrow, I will issue an decree stating that under no conditions can Afghan forces request foreign air strikes on Afghan homes or Afghan villages during operations,” Karzai told more than 1,000 officers, commandos and students.
If issued, such a decree would for the first time bar Afghan security forces from relying on NATO air strikes, and increase pressure on them as they increasingly assume control of security from international forces.
NATO and its partners are racing against the clock to train Afghanistan’s 350,000-strong security forces, though questions remain over how they well the Afghans will be able to tackle the insurgency in the face of intensifying violence.
On Wednesday, a NATO air strike—requested during an operation in eastern Kunar province involving Afghan and American troops targeting Taliban fighters linked to al Qaeda—struck two houses in a village in the Shultan valley.
The strike killed 10 people, including five children and four women. Four Taliban fighters, who had links to al Qaeda, according to Afghan officials, were also killed.
Strikes critical in difficult areas
Foreign air power is crucial for Afghan forces, particularly in areas like Kunar and Nuristan, which are covered with forests and rough terrain, making ground operations difficult.
Nuristan and Kunar also share a long, porous borders with lawless areas inside Pakistan, known to be home to foreign fighters and al Qaeda members.
Karzai said he had been told that the air strike was requested by the Afghan spy agency, the National Directorate of Security (NDS).
“If this is true, it is very regrettable and it is very shameful. How could they ask foreigners to send planes and bomb our own houses?” he said.
According to Kunar officials one of the dead insurgents was identified as a Pakistani citizen and Taliban leader named Rocketi. A second was identified as a Taliban commander called Shahpour.
A spokesman for NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said there would be no comment on any presidential decree until it was actually issued.
In June last year, following the deaths of 18 civilians in a NATO air strike in the country’s east, the ISAF commander at the time, General John Allen, issued a directive restricting their use against insurgents “within civilian dwellings”.
In a meeting with ISAF Commander General Joseph Dunford following Wednesday’s bombing, Karzai stressed Allen’s 2012 directive and said such attacks must never recur.
Tensions have risen between Karzai and his foreign backers since his comments in October that the United States and its allies should target supporters of terrorism in Pakistan and stop fighting their war in Afghan villages.
The ISAF says it has reduced civilian casualties in recent years, and that insurgents such as the Taliban are now responsible for 84 per cent of all such deaths and injuries.

NATO troops killed in Afghan helicopter crash

A helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan has claimed the lives of five members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, NATO said on Tuesday. No immediate details about the cause of the accident were released.

A helicopter crash in southern Afghanistan killed five members of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, NATO said on Tuesday, although there were no immediate details about the cause of the crash.
A brief ISAF statement said the crash occurred on Monday.
“The cause of the crash is under investigation, however initial reporting indicates there was no enemy activity in the area at the time of the incident,” the NATO statement said.
It also did not give any details about the nationality of the troops killed, although U.S. and British forces make up the bulk of the NATO-led contingent in Afghanistan’s south. Australian troops also still operate in the south.
The crash came on the same day that two U.S. troops and five Afghan police and soldiers were killed in a so-called insider attack by a person in an Afghan military uniform in the restive east of the country.
New U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel left Afghanistan earlier on Monday after a difficult first trip to Kabul.
His trip was marred by a suicide bomb attack near where he was holding a meeting, and differences with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who accused the United States of colluding with the Taliban.
Helicopter crashes are not uncommon in Afghanistan and the Taliban and others often claim to have shot them down, although such claims by insurgents are often exaggerated.
Last August, 11 people, including seven U.S. soldiers, were killed when a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in southern Afghanistan.
The worst such incident was in August 2011, when the Taliban shot down a CH-47 Chinook transport helicopter, killing all 38 people on board, including 25 U.S. special operations troops.

Scores missing after ferry sinks in Bangladesh

Dozens of people were missing on Friday after a ferry carrying around 100 passengers collided with a barge and capsized in Bangladesh’s Meghna River, officials said.

Scores of people were missing after a ferry carrying around 100 passengers sank following a collision on a river in Bangladesh Friday, the latest in a series of disasters blamed on lax safety standards.
The small vessel was ferrying passengers on the Meghna river, close to the town of Gazaria in the central Munshiganj district, at around 8:00 am (0200 GMT) when it collided with a barge laden with sand to be used for construction.
While some passengers managed to swim to safety as the wooden boat went down rapidly, many others remained unaccounted for, said officials involved in the rescue effort.
"So far we have gathered that the ferry was carrying around 100 people. A maximum 40 people are feared missing," local police chief Jahangir Hossain told AFP.
Munshiganj's district administrator Saifuddin Badal said that more than 50 people were still unaccounted for after the disaster.

Afghan forces banned from requesting NATO strikes

Afghan forces will be banned from requesting NATO air strikes "under any conditions", President Hamid Karzai told a Kabul military academy on Saturday. The move comes days after 10 civilians died in a joint NATO-Afghan raid on a Taliban hideout.

Afghan security forces will be banned from calling for NATO air strikes in residential areas to help in their operations, President Hamid Karzai said on Saturday, three days after 10 civilians died in such a strike in the country’s east.
NATO air strikes and civilian casualties have become a significant stress point in the relationship between Karzai and his international backers. The issue threatens to further destabilise a precarious international withdrawal, to be completed by the end of 2014.
Addressing a conference at Kabul’s National Military Academy, Karzai expressed his anger about the strike and said he would issue a decree on Sunday preventing any resort to such measures by his forces.

UN nuclear watchdog fails to reach deal with Iran

UN inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency failed to reach an agreement with Iranian officials in Tehran on Thursday following talks aimed at curbing the Islamic Republic’s nuclear programme.

U.N. inspectors returned on Thursday from talks in Tehran with no deal on access to Iran’s nuclear sites and no date for new talks, failing to produce even a small signal of hope for wider big power diplomacy aimed at averting a war.
“Despite its many commitments to do so, Iran has not negotiated in good faith,” said a Western diplomat accredited to the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna who was not at the talks. “It appears that we now have to ask ourselves if this is still the right tactic.”
The deadlock is a chilling signal for a wider effort by six major powers to get Iran to curb a programme that they fear could give it the capacity to build a nuclear bomb, something Israel has suggested it will prevent by force if diplomacy fails.
The IAEA and Iran “could not finalise the document” setting out terms for an IAEA inquiry into possible military dimensions of Iran’s nuclear programme, chief U.N. inspector Herman Nackaerts said at Vienna airport after returning from Iran.

Scores killed by bomb blast in Shiite area near Quetta

The death toll from a bombing at a market in Hazara town, a Shiite-dominated area outside Quetta in southwestern Pakistan, climbed on Sunday with at least 81 people killed and another 164 wounded, police said.

The death toll from a horrific bombing that tore through a crowded vegetable market in southwestern Pakistan climbed to 81 with many of the severely wounded dying overnight, a Pakistani police official said Sunday.
Police official Fayyaz Saumbal said 164 people also were wounded by the explosion Saturday in the city of Quetta just as people shopped for produce for their evening meal. The bomb was hidden in a water tank and towed into the market by a tractor, Quetta police chief Zubair Mahmood told reporters.

Bangladesh tense amid war crime protests

Bangladesh continues to face political and social unrest over trial of opposition Jamaat-e-Islami leaders accused of involvement in murder and other atrocities during country's liberation war in 1971.

Police on Monday shot dead a protester in demonstrations in eastern Bangladesh amid a nationwide strike called by the Jamaat-e-Islami party.

Authorities kept schools and colleges open and many businesses reopened on Monday.
Jamaat, the country's largest Islamic party, called the strike to protest against the death last Friday of four of its activists in police shooting in the southeastern city of Cox's Bazaar.

At least 14 people have been killed so far during protests against government trials of Jamaat leaders.

Monday’s violence erupted in the town of Chouddogram, a day after Bangladesh parliament amended war crime laws to allow groups, not just individuals, to be prosecuted for war crimes.

The amendment will "empower the tribunals to try and punish any organisations, including Jamaat-e-Islami, for committing crimes during country's liberation war in 1971", Shafique Ahmed, Bangladesh law minister, said.

Amendment cheered
Tens of thousands of demonstrators have been camping in the central Shahbag Square in the capital, Dhaka, for the last couple of weeks demanding capital punishment for those found guilty.

The protests come after a tribunal this month sentenced a prominent Jamaat-e-Islami leader to life in prison in connection with Bangladesh's 1971 war of independence from Pakistan.
The opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of Begum Khaleda Zia, former prime minister, and its Jamaat allies have been boycotting sessions almost since her rival, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, the current prime minister, took office in 2009.
Protests erupted after Abdul Quader Mollah, Jamaat's assistant secretary-general, was sentenced to life for murder, rape and torture.
Lawyers said Sunday's amendment sets a timetable for the government to appeal against Mollah's sentence and secure a retrial.

Malala stable after surgeries

Hospital statement says surgeries to restore hearing and reconstruct skull of the Pakistani schoolgirl have gone well. Last Modified: 03 Feb 2013 17:44

At 11-years-old, Malala began to keep a blog about life in the Swat Valley under the Taliban [AFP]

Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot in the head by the Taliban, has undergone two successful surgeries to reconstruct her skull and restore her hearing. A statement released on Sunday by Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the British hospital where the 15-year-old is being treated in, said Yousafzai is currently in stable condition.    "She is awake and talking to staff and members of her family," said the statement, adding that she would continue to recover in the hospital until she is well enough to be discharged. The teenager drew the world's attention by being shot and critically wounded by Taliban fighters on October 9, as she walked home from school in northwestern Pakistan. The group said they targeted her because she promoted girls' education and "Western thinking". At age 11, Malala began to write a blog under a pseudonym for the BBC about life under the Taliban in the Swat Valley, where she lived.    After Pakistan's military ousted the Taliban in 2009, she began publicly speaking out about the need for girls' education. She appeared frequently in the media and was given one of the country's highest civilian honours for her bravery. Malala was airlifted to Britain from Pakistan in October to receive specialised medical care and protection against further Taliban threats.    She is expected to remain in the UK for some time after her father, Ziauddin, was given a diplomatic post based in the English city of Birmingham. So far, doctors say she has made very good progress. She was able to stand, write and return home, and doctors said they have seen minimum signs of brain damage.

Dozens arrested after Azerbaijan protests

Activists held after protests against President Aliyev's government, following earlier crackdown in northern town. Last Modified: 26 Jan 2013 23:19

Police have arrested about 40 activists demonstrating in Azerbaijan's capital Baku against President Ilham Aliyev's government, and in support of residents of a northern town were protests were crushed earlier this week.
More than 100 protesters gathered in central Baku on Saturday, some chanting "Freedom!" and calling for the resignation of Aliyev.
Police swiftly stopped the protest, forcing demonstrators out of a park and then arresting some in the street.
The protest was triggered by unrest in Ismailli, about 200km northwest of Baku, where police used teargas and water cannon on Thursday to disperse hundreds of protesters demanding the resignation of a regional leader.
Cars were torched and a hotel set ablaze in a night of rioting.
Unrest in Ismailli reflected frustration at what some Azeris see as an overbearing government, corruption and a large divide between rich and poor in the mostly Muslim Caspian Sea nation of nine million where many lack jobs, money and prospects.
Aliyev succeeded his father in 2003 and has tolerated little dissent in the oil-producing former Soviet republic.
"Our patience came to an end. People are very unhappy with this regime. We demand a change of power in our country," demonstrator Malakhat Nasibova said at the protest in Baku.

Afghan suicide bomber kills anti-terror chief

Counter terrorism police chief, traffic chief and several other police officers killed in suicide attack in Kunduz. Last Modified: 26 Jan 2013 18:23

A suicide bomber has killed several Afghan officials and civilians in a crowded area of the northeast city of Kunduz, provincial authorities said. Officials among the victims included "the city's counter terrorism police chief and head of traffic police chief", the Kunduz provincial governor's spokesman Enayatullah Khaleeq told AFP news agency on Saturday. Kunduz police spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussani confirmed the casualties and the attack. Shortly after 12:30GMT a man driving a motorbike detonated a large bomb at a busy roundabout in the north city of Kunduz near a group of police officers, provincial police chief spokesman Sayed Sarwar Hussaini said.

India gang-rape suspects plead not guilty

start of the trial.

The gang rape case ignited nationwide demonstrations by protesters demanding better safety for women [AFP]
Five men have pleaded not guilty to charges they gang-raped and murdered an Indian trainee physiotherapist, in a
case that led to a shake-up of laws against sexual crimes after protests about a rising number of attacks on women.
The men on Saturday entered the court room with their faces covered, and lawyers in the case said they were read 13
charges including murder, which carries a maximum penalty of death. They left after 15 minutes.
"After the judge read out the charges, the five pleaded not guilty and walked out" said A.P. Singh, a lawyer defending
two of the accused, Vinay Sharma and Akshay Thakur.
Singh said the next hearing will be held on February 5, when the prosecution will call three witnesses to the formal
A sixth person police say was part of the gang that attacked the woman and her friend is a juvenile and will be tried
separately.
Police say the gang lured the 23-year-old physiotherapy student onto a bus, where they repeatedly raped and
assaulted her with a metal bar before throwing her bleeding onto a highway. She died of internal injuries two weeks
later.
The case ignited nationwide demonstrations by protesters demanding better safety for women.
Harsher punishments
On Friday, India's cabinet approved harsher punishments for rapists, including the death penalty.
The changes, which must be approved by President Pranab Mukherjee to become law, include doubling the minimum
sentence for gang-rape and imposing the death penalty when the victim is killed or left in a vegetative state.
"We have taken swift action and hope these steps will make women feel safer in the country," Law Minister Ashwani
Kumar told reporters late on Friday.2/3/13
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Source: Agencies
"This is a progressive piece of legislation and is consistent with the felt sensitivities of the nation in the aftermath of
the outrageous gang-rape," he added.
The gang-rape victim's brother on Saturday praised the cabinet's decision to make sentences tougher for attackers,
calling it a "positive initiative", according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
The changes to the rape laws were expected to be approved by Mukherjee as early as this weekend but must be
ratified by parliament or they will lapse.
Under the changes, the minimum sentence for gang-rape, rape of a minor, rape by policemen or a person in authority
will be doubled to 20 years from 10 and can be extended to life without parole.
Under the current law, a rapist faces a term of seven to 10 years, The cabinet has also created a new set of offences
such as voyeurism and stalking that will be included in the new law

Pakistan court orders PM arrest over corruption

Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the prime minister on Tuesday in connection with a corruption case, hours after police in Islamabad clashed with followers of a mysterious anti-corruption cleric seeking the government’s dismissal.

Pakistan’s Supreme Court gave authorities 24 hours to arrest Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and 16 others in connection with a corruption case linked to power generation schemes, Pakistani television channels reported on Tuesday, plunging the country into fresh political turmoil.
The move came as populist Sufi cleric Tahirul Qadri, who is believed to be backed by the military, demanded the resignation of the US-backed civilian government in protests attended by thousands of followers in the heart of the capital Islamabad.

Nepal Maoists vow no return to warfare

party's chairman.

Party that fought armed rebellion said it will back independent prime minister to hold democratic
elections.
Last Modified: 02 Feb 2013 16:502/3/13
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Around 3,000 delegates and 100,000 supporters attended the party's first general convention in 21 years [AFP]
Nepal's Maoists have vowed to never to guerilla warfare and said they are willing to back an independent prime
minister, after holding their party's general convention.
Party leaders said at the general convention in Hetauda on Saturday that they would step down from government to
seek a popular mandate to lead a "socialist revolution", six years after a decade-long armed rebellion which toppled
the world's last Hindu monarchy.
"Let's agree on an independent person who will lead the government. And we will endorse this concept of a
government led by an independent person to hold the election through this convention," said Pushpa Kamal Dahal, the
Around 3,000 delegates and 100,000 supporters at the party's first general convention in 21 years in the southern
town of Hetauda were greeted by a rousing opening address from Dahal, still known by his nom-de-guerre Prachanda.
"We were forced to launch the insurgency after adopting Marxism as a guiding principle. But we don't follow any
ideology in its mechanical form. It's a science and it can be adapted," Prachanda said.

Mass funerals in Pakistan after Taliban raid

Funeral prayers have been held in the northwestern Pakistani town of Bannu for nine solders killed in an attack at an
army post that killed at least 35 people.
Taliban fighters wearing suicide vests fired automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades at the base in Serai
Naurang in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in a pre-dawn raid on Saturday, officials said. At least 10 civilians and
12 fighters were among the dead.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack. Spokesman Ahsanullah Ahsan told The
Associated Press that the attack was in retaliation for the recent deaths of two Taliban commanders in US drone
strikes.
He accused the Pakistani army of helping with the attacks.2/3/13
Source: Al Jazeera and agencies
Pakistani officials often criticise drone operations as a violation of the country's sovereignty, but are known to have
assisted some US strikes in the past.
A police official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to brief the media, said he saw
the bodies of three attackers with their suicide vests intact.
The raid came a day after a suicide bombing at a Shia mosque elsewhere in the northwest that killed 24 people,
police said. The blast at the mosque was the latest in a rising number of sectarian attacks in the country.
The Pakistani Taliban also claimed responsibility for that attack.
The Taliban and allied armed groups have stepped up the pace of attacks in Pakistan in recent months, an indication
of their strength despite numerous army operations against their strongholds in the northwest.

Taliban suicide attack rocks Kabul police compound

Taliban suicide bombers attacked Kabul traffic police headquarters before dawn on Monday, launching a nine-hour gun battle that killed at least three policemen, in the second insurgent assault in the Afghan capital in less than a week.

Two Taliban suicide bombers blew themselves up at the gates of the Kabul traffic police headquarters early Monday before another group of militants stormed the compound, battling security forces for nine hours in an attack that left three policemen and all five attackers dead, authorities said.
The coordinated assault was the second brazen raid in the heart of the Afghan capital in less than a week, a sign that the insurgency is determined to keep carrying out such spectacular attacks even as the U.S. and Afghan governments try to coax the Taliban into holding peace talks.
Nine hours after Monday’s insurgent attack began with two of the five attackers blowing themselves up, police commandos killed the last two insurgents holed up in the police headquarters, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said. He added that four traffic policemen and 10 civilians were also been wounded in the fighting.

Twenty dead after Kazakh flight crashes near Almaty

A passenger plane crashed near Kazakhstan's main city of Almaty on Tuesday, likely killing all 15 passengers and five crew members on board, SCAT airlines said in a statement. The area around Almaty has been shrouded in fog for days.

A passenger plane crashed Tuesday near Kazakhstan’s principal city, Almaty, likely killing all 20 on board, Kazakhstan airline SCAT said.
Almaty and surrounding areas have been shrouded in fog for the last two days and the accident appears to have been caused by limited visibility.
A SCAT statement said 15 passengers and five crew members were aboard the plane.
Visibility was limited, forcing the plane to make a second approach to Almaty airport, the airline said.

Deadly Taliban attack on Pakistani checkpoint

At least 23 people were killed on Saturday after Taliban militants attacked an army checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan. The assault comes a day after a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque that claimed the lives of two dozen people.

Taliban militants wearing suicide vests and firing automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades attacked an army post in northwestern Pakistan before dawn on Saturday, killing 23 people including 10 civilians, officials said. Twelve attackers were also reported killed in the assault.
The raid followed a suicide bombing at a Shiite Muslim mosque elsewhere in the northwest on Friday that killed 24 people, police said. The blast was the latest in a rising number of sectarian attacks in the country.
The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility for both attacks. The group has been waging a bloody insurgency against the government for years and also has sometimes targeted the country’s minority Shiites, whom the militants consider to be heretics.
The Taliban and allied militant groups have stepped up the pace of attacks in Pakistan in recent months, an indication of their strength despite numerous army operations against their strongholds in the northwest.

Pregnant US woman Caitlan Coleman missing in Afghanistan with husband

Mr Coleman says his daughter needs medical care

The family of a pregnant American woman missing with her husband in Afghanistan have made a fresh appeal for her safe return.

Caitlan Coleman, 27, is due to give birth in January and needs urgent medical attention, her father told the Associated Press news agency.

James Coleman said she had been travelling with her Canadian husband across Central Asia.

There are fears they were abducted, but no ransom has been demanded.

India rolls out cash transfer scheme for poor

The government says that cash transfers will be a game-changer

India has rolled out an ambitious plan for a cash payout of subsidies to the poor in 20 districts, officials say.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram said the scheme would benefit more than 200,000 people initially, and would cover the entire country by the end of 2013.

Authorities say it will bring the country's poorest citizens "into the mainstream".

But opposition parties have accused the government of "bribing the voters" ahead of the 2014 general elections.

India's Kingfisher Airlines loses licence to fly

Kingfisher's licence has been suspended because of concerns over finances and safety

India's troubled Kingfisher Airlines has lost its flying permit after a deadline to renew its suspended licence expired, the aviation regulator said.

The debt-ridden carrier has been grounded since October after repeated strikes by workers over unpaid wages.

The airline said there was no cause for concern as rules allowed the renewal of a permit within two years of expiry.


Kingfisher has $1.4bn (£870m) in debts and it is looking to raise funds after lenders refused to give fresh loans.

"Kingfisher's flying permit has lapsed," news agency AFP quoted the Directorate-General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) chief Arun Mishra as saying.

"They failed to provide additional details on the funding of operations," Mr Mishra said, referring to Kingfisher's revival plan submitted to the DGCA last month.

The airline said it was "confident of securing approval from the regulator on the restart plan, licence approval and reinstatement of its operating permit".

Owned by flamboyant billionaire Vijay Mallya, Kingfisher has made annual losses for five years in a row.

The firm's debt woes have increased and it has not been able to pay its dues to staff, airports, tax authorities and its lenders.

Recently, the airline said it was in talks with Etihad Airways Andy other investors to take a stake in the embattled carrier.

Some reports said that Kingfisher planned to sell a 48% stake, though the firm did not confirm the claims.

Pakistan: Explosion 'hits Karachi crowd'

A big explosion has hit a crowded area in the Pakistani city Karachi, killing one person and injuring several others, local media report.

Geo News television said it was a "major blast" near a market.

Police have arrived at the scene and the injured are being taken to hospital.

Karachi has long suffered outbreaks of violence, caused by Taliban militants or by rival political groups fighting turf wars.

India gang rape: New Year celebrations scaled back

The attack has triggered an outpouring of anger across India

India has scaled back New Year celebrations, as it mourned the death of a woman whose gang rape on a bus a fortnight ago sparked public outrage.

The army has cancelled all official celebrations as have the states of Punjab and Haryana.

The president of the governing Congress party, Sonia Gandhi, also said she would not be celebrating.

Meanwhile, protests continued on Monday in the capital, Delhi, where the 23-year-old medical student was assaulted.

Pakistan: Seven charity workers shot dead

The driver of the vehicle (in white) was injured in the attack

Seven charity workers, six of them women, have been shot dead in north-west Pakistan, police say.

The women, some of them teachers, were attacked near a children's community centre. A male colleague died with them. All were Pakistani citizens.

Their vehicle came under gunfire near the centre run by Pakistani charity Ujala, or Light.

Militants targeting a vaccination programme are suspected. No group has said it carried out the attack.

The incident happened in the Swabi district close to a road connecting Peshawar to the eastern city of Lahore.