Second Pakistan bomb targets Dera Ismail Khan

The bomb went off as Shia Muslims marked their holiest day, Ashura

US President Barack Obama in South East Asia visit

Barack Obama wants to refocus his foreign policy on Asia

Barack Obama has begun a tour of South East Asia, which will include a historic visit to Burma.

Mr Obama landed in Thailand's capital Bangkok on his first foreign trip after his re-election as president.

Afghan leader Karzai calls for more India investment

The two leaders signed a series of agreements

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called for greater Indian investment in Afghanistan during talks with PM Manmohan Singh in Delhi.

At a joint press conference, Mr Singh said Afghanistan's economic development would lead to "the overall prosperity and stability in the region".
The countries also signed a series of agreements, including on mining and development projects.
Delhi has already pledged $2bn (£1.3bn) in assistance to Kabul.

Afghan attack kills newborn baby and mother

A mother and her newborn baby were among six people killed when a roadside bomb exploded in eastern Afghanistan, officials have said.

The bomb hit a group returning home from hospital, striking their vehicle as it travelled through Khost province, on the Pakistan border.
Taliban insurgents frequently use roadside bombs to target security forces in Afghanistan.
The same roads are used by civilians who often become the victims.
Two more women and two men were also among those killed in Sunday's attack, AFP reports.
"A pregnant woman was taken by her family to a hospital last night at 10pm, and they were making their way home in the morning with their newly born baby when the bomb hit," Zarmaeed Mokhlis, governor of Khost's Sabari district, told Reuters.
A Taliban spokesman said the group was aware of the Khost incident, the news agency reports, but could not immediately confirm or deny involvement.
According to the United Nations, some 1,145 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in the first six months of the year.
It blames 80% of these deaths on insurgents, with more than half caused by roadside bombs.

Pakistan 'to pay cash to poor to send kids to school'

 

Despite footage showing Malala injured, some say the attack was a Western conspiracy

Families of three million of Pakistan's poorest children will get cash sums if their child attends school, in a scheme announced ahead of a day of action for a schoolgirl shot by the Taliban.

Under the scheme, funded by the World Bank and UK, families would reportedly get $2 a month per child in school.
The news came as the UN held "Malala Day", in the name of Malala Yousufzai, 15, a Pakistani education campaigner.
She is recovering in the UK after she and two others were shot in October.
Saturday has been declared a global day of action in Malala's name aimed at getting school places for 32 millions girls around the world who are not attending classes.
Cash payments
The Waseela-e-Taleem programme was announced in Islamabad by Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and special UN envoy for global education, Gordon Brown.
"Malala's dreams represent what is best about Pakistan," said Mr Brown, the former UK prime minister.
The initiative aims to enrol three million of the poorest children in education in the next four years and, according to Reuters, will see poor families receive $2 a month per child in primary school.

UK to End Financial Aid to India by 2015

International Development Secretary, Justine Greening:

"India is very successfully developing as an economy"

The UK is to end financial aid to India by 2015, international development secretary Justine Greening has said.

Support worth about £200m ($319m) will be phased out between now and 2015 and the UK's focus will then shift to offering technical assistance.

Ms Greening said the move, which will be popular with Tory MPs, reflected India's economic progress and status.

Giving his reaction, India's foreign minister Salman Khurshid said: "Aid is the past and trade is the future."

But charities described the move as "premature" and warned it would be the poorest who suffered.

US Troop-Pullout Plan Worries Afghanistan

Helmand governor fears his country faces insecurity, saying foreign combat forces plan to withdraw too soon.

(Here is a video that came with the article.)

The war in Afghanistan will be a challenge for whoever the next US president is. Both candidates have promised to bring combat troops home by the end of 2014, but as Al Jazeera's Bernard Smith reports from Helmand province, the country faces continuing insecurity.

Helmand's governor has told Al Jazeera he believes foreign combat troops are trying to pull out too soon.

His remarks came as Mario Monti, the Italian prime minister, made an unannounced visit to the western province of Herat to see his country's troops and hold talks with President Hamid Karzai.

India Ruling Party Stages Pro-Reforms Rally

Prime Minister Monmohan Singh, left,and Congress
 leader Sonia Gadnhi, right, both spoke at the rally [AFP]

Congress stalwarts, wary of voter backlash, seek to defend moves to liberalize retail, insurance and aviation sectors.

Sonia Gandhi, India's ruling Congress party chief, and Manmohan Singh, the prime minister, have addressed a major rally in New Delhi to gather support for contentious economic measures in the run-up to the 2014 parliamentary elections.

Gandhi, the head of the Congress, will be seeking to drum up support for the party in a bid to win elections for the third straight time.

In her speech at the rally in the Indian capital on Sunday, she vowed that her party was working with the best interests of the country's impoverished at heart.