Middle East, Pakistan | featured news

After meeting for more three hours here Wednesday with Afghan and Pakistani leaders, Secretary of State John F. Kerry reported progress in relaunching negotiations but warned that “we’re not going to raise expectations or promise results that can’t be delivered.”

The caretaker government in Pakistan has said it will not put former military ruler Pervez Musharraf on trial for high treason. The government said such a move exceeded its mandate and a decision should be taken by the winner of next month's polls.

The former military ruler of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, fled a courtroom on Thursday, making a dramatic escape after a judge revoked his bail over a case dating to his years in power.

Powerful aftershocks rocked the border between Iran and Pakistan Wednesday, a day after a major earthquake tore through the region, collapsing buildings and killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 170. The Pakistani town of Mashkel was “totally destroyed,” according to a local journalist at the scene.

A Pakistani court disqualified the country’s one-time military leader and president Pervez Musharraf from taking part in coming national elections on Tuesday, dashing his hopes of rejoining Pakistani politics.

Iran has been struck by its most powerful earthquake for more than 50 years, with tremors felt across Pakistan, India and the Middle East. The epicentre of the 7.8-magnitude quake was near the south-eastern city of Khash, close to Pakistan.

CIA drone strikes on Pakistani targets violate Pakistan’s national sovereignty and have resulted in far more civilian casualties than the U.S. government has recognized, a special U.N. human rights envoy reported after a secret investigation in Pakistan this week.

Pakistani officials say the government plans to build a recreation complex in the town where al-Qaida founder Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. commandos in 2011. Syed Aqil Shah, sports and tourism minister in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Monday the project in Abbottabad will have a zoo, paragliding club and water sports facilities. It will also have cultural heritage park.

A Pakistani schoolgirl who underwent reconstructive surgery in Britain after being shot in the head by the Taliban said on Monday she felt much better and was focused on her mission to help others.

Taliban leaders in Pakistan are pressing their soldiers in Afghanistan to step up attacks but minimize civilian casualties, a message that is dividing fighters from the leadership and may encourage some to quit the insurgency, a top Pentagon official said.