Pakistan News
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19 Jun 2009
The military offensive against Taliban militants entrenched in north-western Pakistan is nearly over, the defence minister has said.
25 May 2009
Young and old, poor and prosperous, sick and healthy -- residents of Pakistan's Swat Valley continue to flee the violence that has erupted there as the military clashes with the Taliban.
Those who have fled tell of the whole valley being turned into a battlefield as citizens run away, many of them with no shoes and some elderly. They fall ill from sun and heat exposure -- particularly infants and those already weak and sick -- as they flee.
21 May 2009
The military operation against Taliban militants continues in Pakistan's north-western district of Swat. It is hard to get news from the war zone, other than the official version. The communications network has been destroyed and all journalists have left the region. But the BBC Urdu service's Abdul Hai Kakar has managed to speak to two people in the main town of Mingora. The names have been changed for security reasons.
1 May 2009
Ethnic violence broke out in Pakistan's biggest city of Karachi Wednesday, killing at least 18 people and wounding dozens, officials said.
Karachi, Pakistan's commercial hub and the capital of southern Sindh province, has a long history of ethnic, religious and sectarian violence but the sprawling city has been relatively peaceful in recent years.
14 Apr 2009
In Swat, some residents celebrated in the streets, hoping the law would herald a return of peace to the violence-ridden valley, home to a ski resort and a one-time honeymooners' favourite. But that outcome was far from certain.
Human rights activists condemned the law, worrying it would presage the spread of Taliban rule to other parts of Pakistan. "I don't think this law is going to appease the Taliban. It's just going to give them a taste of victory," said Asma Jahangir, the United Nations special rapporteur on religious freedoms.
9 Apr 2009
The emancipation of women is often linked to the progress of a society in transformation from a feudal society to a modern state. The story of women in the country that became Pakistan can indeed be told in such terms: as part of a struggle for advancement with education at its centre, and linked at critical moments to wider goals of national emancipation and social reform.
29 Mar 2009
"As he carries out a retooled strategy in Afghanistan, President Barack Obama says he will consult with Pakistan's leaders before pursuing terrorist hideouts in that country.
Obama said U.S. ally Pakistan needs to be more accountable, but ruled out deploying U.S. troops there. ''Our plan does not change the recognition of Pakistan as a sovereign government,'' the president told CBS' ''Face the Nation'' in an interview broadcast Sunday.
21 Mar 2009
This article poses two questions: on the day after US/Nato forces invade and occupy some of Balochistan and Waziristan, what will we say we should have done, and why aren’t we doing it now? Is this far-fetched?
22 Mar 2009
The new director of the CIA held high-level talks in Pakistan on Saturday after a provincial leader warned against expanding U.S. missile strikes on al-Qaida and Taliban targets inside the country's thinly policed border with Afghanistan.
Leon Panetta arrived in Pakistan on his first overseas trip since taking office as the Obama administration seeks a strategy to turn around the faltering war against Taliban militants in neighboring Afghanistan.
22 Mar 2009
Chief Justice, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhary has taken charge of his office here after mid night.
21 Mar 2009
The movement for the restoration of the judiciary makes Pakistani civil society proud of its achievement. It is awesome how ordinary professionals struggled for two years to ensure that a civilian and military dictatorship did not obstruct the move for the independence of the judiciary.
21 Mar 2009
Pakistan's Supreme Court chief justice retired Saturday, opening the way for the restoration of a judge ousted by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and championed by opponents of the current pro-Western government.
21 Mar 2009
Not surprisingly, when lawyers and ordinary citizens took to the streets in 2007, there was mostly collective silence from Pakistan's key Western allies. Former President George W. Bush went so far as to describe Musharraf as "a solid friend" who deserved the United States' continued support. Although the U.S. spoke of spreading democracy to the Muslim world, it did nothing publicly to help this most democratic of peoples' movements.
4 Mar 2009
ISLAMABAD: The ruling Pakistan Peoples Party is all set to emerge as the single largest party in the Upper House with the completion of the crucial process of Senate elections today (Wednesday).
All the candidates from Sindh and Punjab (11 from each province), seven general seats from NWFP and one general seat from Islamabad have already been elected un-opposed as a result of a political understanding reached between various political parties.
2 Mar 2009
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari has issued a decree to establish mobile courts that can adjudicate on minor offences on the spot, officials say.
The purpose of the courts is to deliver quick justice "at the doorstep" in remote areas, they say.
Opposition parties fear the courts will be used to target their activists.
The decree comes as protests are planned by a number of opposition groups and legal circles over the next few weeks.
18 Jan 2009
Remittances to Pakistan rose by 24.0% year-on-year in July-November 2007, demonstrating the importance of the emigrant community. Remittances in fiscal year 2006/07 reached 4.3% of GDP. This has helped Pakistan's economy to remain relatively resilient to political turbulence. Since a growing amount of remittances come from the Middle East rather than the USA, this should provide some insulation in the event of a slowdown in the US economy.
25 Feb 2009
full story:
The FINANCIAL -- According to EU business, the European Union and Pakistan on February 24 signed a civil aviation deal, allowing EU-based airlines to operate flights to Pakistan from any EU state which already has an agreement with Islamabad.
"The agreement signed today is good news for both Pakistani and EU airlines as well as for passengers as it removes the legal uncertainty" from existing bilateral deals, said EU Commission vice-president Antonio Tajani.
31 Jan 2009
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Friday that Pakistan was carrying out investigations into the Mumbai terror attacks and would share its findings with the world.
25 Jan 2009
This is encouraging - doesn't make up for the airstrikes killings though.
24 Jan 2009
Pakistan is prepared to amend its laws in the wake of the Mumbai attacks to help it prosecute militants who had committed acts of terror outside its borders, the country's prime minister has said.
Yousuf Raza Gilani told the Financial Times that his government was serious in its resolve to investigate and bring to justice those suspected of masterminding the devastating November strike on India's financial centre.
24 Jan 2009
Barack Obama gave the go-ahead for his first military action yesterday, missile strikes against suspected militants in Pakistan which killed at least 18 people.
