India issues Kashmir nuclear war advisory

Officials in India-administered Kashmir have published an advisory in a local newspaper warning residents to be prepared for a possible nuclear war by building bomb shelters and other precautions, barely two weeks after deadly border skirmishes.

In an unprecedented move, the Jammu and Kashmir Police Civil Defence and State Disaster Response Force published the advisory on Monday in English language Greater Kashmir daily.

However, local officials said the advisory was routine and that it did not signal new concerns about a nuclear attack in the region.

"If the blast wave does not arrive within five seconds of the flash you were far enough from the ground zero," stated the notice titled "Protection against Nuclear, Biological & Chemical (NBC) Weapons".

Shot Pakistani schoolgirl discharged from UK hospital

The Pakistani schoolgirl who was shot by the Taliban for advocating education for girls has been discharged from a Birmingham hospital but is set to undergo major cranial surgery in a few weeks, the hospital said on Friday.

India and Pakistan exchange fire in Kashmir

A Pakistani soldier has been killed and another injured in a skirmish with Indian troops in the disputed region of Kashmir.
India and Pakistan traded accusations on Sunday of violating the cease-fire in Kashmir, with Islamabad accusing Indian troops of a cross-border raid that killed a soldier and India charging that Pakistani shelling destroyed a home on its side.
The Pakistani army said in a statement that they had repulsed an attack on the Sawan Patra checkpoint in Kashmir.
The two sides then exchanged fire across the Line of Control, an internationally recognised line in the disputed Kashmir region patrolled by troops from both countries.

Nepalese protest violence against women

Hundreds of protesters have gathered outside the prime minister's residence in Nepal for a 10th day to protest against the alleged rape and robbery of a maid by officials and other violence against women.
The protesters chanted slogans on Sunday demanding the government punish those involved in crimes against women and that authorities do more to protect women in the Himalayan nation.
Activists have called the campaign "Occupy Baluwatar" in reference to the upscale Kathmandu neighbourhood where Prime Minister Baburam Bhattarai's residence is located.

Pakistan blasts: Scores killed at Quetta snooker hall

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Most of the snooker hall casualties were caused
by the second blast as rescuers arrived

Twin blasts at a snooker hall in the south-western Pakistani city of Quetta have killed 81 people and injured more than 120, police say.

Many of the casualties were caused by the second blast as police and media rushed to the scene.

The bombed area is predominantly Shia Muslim, and the Sunni extremist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, said it had carried out the attack.

Afghan 'zero option' raised as  Karzai set for Obama

Quentin Sommerville reports on the US troops returning from Afghanistan

The White House has said for the first time it is possible that no US troops will remain in Afghanistan past 2014, as President Hamid Karzai arrived in Washington for talks with Barack Obama.

Ben Rhodes, a top US security official, told reporters the administration was still considering a range of options.

Mr Karzai's three-day trip will include crucial talks with Mr Obama and other officials, but no final decision.

India rape suspects 'to plead not guilty'

Three of the suspects in the brutal rape and death of a young woman on a New Delhi bus will plead not guilty, Manohar Lal Sharma, their lawyer, has said.

Five men have been charged with attacking the 23-year-old woman and her male companion on a bus as it was driven through the streets of India's capital.

In the Indian capital on Thursday the men appeared in court, which ended quickly after it turned out some of the official court paperwork listing the charges was illegible.

India's legal system is painfully slow, corrupt and inefficient, with many cases lasting years, even decades
The hearing, which was adjourned until Monday, had been expected to result in the case being sent to a special "fast-track" court but no decision was made.

"They are innocent," said Sharma of his three clients on Thursday.

He said he took the case in part to confront the police over "how manipulated evidence is placed for fixing the innocent people".

The woman was raped and assaulted with a metal bar on December 16 and later died of her injuries.
Rape victims are not identified in India, even if they die, and rape trials are closed to the media.

Drone strikes claim lives in Pakistan

At least eight people have been killed in two suspected US drone attacks in Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas, security officials say.

Both attacks took place in the Mir Ali area of the North Waziristan tribal district in the early hours of Tuesday.

In Khiderkhel, eight missiles were fired at a compound, killing at least four people, security sources told Al Jazeera. In Essakhel, meanwhile, two missiles were fired, killing at least three people.

The two attacks happened within an hour of each other. The identity of those killed could not be immediately confirmed. The US, however, claimed that an al-Qaeda operative was among those killed.

'Pakistan soldier killed' in Kashmir

A Pakistani soldier has been killed by Indian troops in the disputed Kashmir region, according to the Pakistani military. 

Thursday's incident comes two days after the Indian army said that two Indian soldiers were killed by Pakistani troops, after crossing the ceasfire line in the Himalayan region, Islamabad denies the incident occured. 

A Pakistani army spokesperson said that the soldier was killed by "unprovoked" Indian fire while manning a post in the Battal sector of Kashmir, which is split between the two sides by a heavily fortified border known as the Line of Control (LOC).

"Pakistan Army soldier, Havildar Mohyuddin, embraced shahadat (martyrdom) due to unprovoked firing by Indian troops at Hotspring sector in Battal at 2:40 pm (0940 GMT) today," the military said.  

In a major diplomatic move on Wednesday, Pakistan's high commissioner was summoned to New Delhi to discuss Tuesday's incident, as the country lodged a protest with Pakistan after the incident at the LOC. 

The Pakistani military has said that its investigations had revealed no evidence of the deaths of the two Indian soldiers. 

Deaths in Pakistan Bus Blast

At least six dead and 40 others injured after blast on a bus in Karachi.

Karachi is believed to be home to many Taliban fighters
 who have fled US drone attacks [Reuters]

An explosion has ripped through a passenger bus while it was at a terminal in the southern city of Karachi, killing six people and wounding 40 others, police and hospital officials said.

It is unclear if Saturday's blast was caused by a bomb or a gas cylinder exploding.

The blast set the vehicle on fire and reduced it to little more than a charred skeleton.

Some of the injured were in critical condition, said Seemi Jamali, a doctor at the hospital in Karachi where they were being treated.

India Gang-Rape Victim Dies in Singapore

India's police tell Al Jazeera that murder charges will be filed against the gang-rape suspects.

Doctors have announced that a young Indian woman who was gang-raped and severely beaten on a bus in India's capital, New Delhi, has died at the Singapore hospital.

A statement by Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital where the 23-ear-old victim was being treated said she "died peacefully" early on Saturday.

"We are very sad to report that the patient passed away peacefully at 4:45am [local time] on December 29, 2012," Kelvin Loh, the chief executive of Mount Elizabeth Hospital, said in a statement.

"Despite all efforts by a team of eight specialists in Mount Elizabeth Hospital to keep her stable, her condition continued to deteriorate over these two days," Loh continued.

The statement said her family and officials from the High Commission of India were by her side.

Iran Starts War Games in Strait of Hormuz

Tehran begins naval drills in oil and gas shipping route aimed at showcasing its military capabilities.

Iran held a 10-day drill last December and sent a submarine
and a destroyer into the Gulf four months ago [Reuters]

I ran has started six days of naval drills in the Strait of Hormuz aimed at showcasing its military capabilities in what is a vital oil and gas shipping route, the officials IRNA news agency reported.

The manoeuvres began early on Friday, involving warships, submarines, jet fighters and hovercrafts.

Naval commander Habibollah Sayyari said on Friday the "Velayat 91" drills would last until Wednesday across an area of about one million square jm in the Strait of Hormuz, the Gulf of Oman and northern parts of the Indian Ocean, IRNA said.

Deadly Blast Kills Pakistan Politician

(This article is from December 23rd.)

Suicide bomber kills at least eight people at political gathering in country's northwest, including prominent minister.

Pakistani police say a suicide bomber has attacked a political rally in the country's northwest, killing at least eight people.

Police officer Arfan Khan said the bombing on Saturday in Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, also injured more than 20 people.

Indians Call For 'No Mercy' in Rape Case

( this article is from December 19th)

Gang rape of woman on bus triggers outrage as three of four accused confess to the crime in court.

Students, politicians, and activists across India have come out into the streets demanding no mercy to be shown to the culprits of the New Delhi bus gang rape case - as some of the accused confessed to the crime in a local court.

Delhi police chief Neeraj Jumar said four men had been arrested and a search was under way for two others.