Pakistan cleric Maulana Sami ul-Haq backs polio campaign

In some areas, hundreds of thousands of children have gone without a polio vaccination

A prominent religious seminary in Pakistan has backed polio vaccinations, saying they are not un-Islamic.

The decree was issued by the school's head, Maulana Sami ul-Haq, who urged parents to immunise their children.

The fatwa comes amid a decade-long campaign of violence by Islamist groups against health workers who they accuse of being spies or part of a Western plot to sterilise Muslims.

THE AFPAK CHANNEL

Afghanistan's Bumper Opium Crop: Don't Panic

• BY WILLIAM BYRD
• NOVEMBER 27, 2013
•    

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The U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime's recently published summary report on Afghanistan's opium harvest in 2013 paints a dire picture on first glance: Estimated opium poppy cultivation expanded by 36 percent and, at 209,000 hectares (ha), set a new record, slightly exceeding the previous record of 193,000 ha in 2007. While estimated opium production in 2013, at 5,500 metric tons, is only the fourth-highest year recorded (well below the 2007 peak level of 7,400 metric tons), it rose steeply -- by almost 50 percent -- from 2012. And despite a modest reduction in opium prices, the volume of drug money -- most of which goes to drug traffickers, their sponsors and associates inside and outside the government, and to warlords and the Taliban insurgency -- also has risen sharply.

Pakistani Chief Justice Retires; Indian Leaders Denounce SC Ruling; 2nd Kabul Blast an Accident

• BY EMILY SCHNEIDER, SHRUTI JAGIRDAR, ANA SWANSON, BAILEY CAHALL , THURSDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2013
• DECEMBER 12, 2013 - 09:24 AM
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Pakistan

Passing the torch

Iftikhar Chaudhry, chief justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court, retired on Wednesday and was replaced by Tassaduq Hussain Jillani on Thursday (Dawn, RFE/RL, Times of India, VOA, AFP, ET). Chaudhry, who helped oust former president Pervez Musharraf in 2008 and led the court in firing then-prime minister Yusuf Raza Gilani in 2012, is credited with promoting human rights in Pakistan.He has also been accused of taking partisan positions, although many say he brought independence to the judiciary. The Geneva-based International Commission of Jurists said in a report published earlier this month that Chaudhry's court had gained "public acclaim for demanding government accountability," but noted that it also acted in a "political and partisan manner." Chaudhry served on the Supreme Court for over six years, the longest term in Pakistan's history. 

India's economy

Turning a corner

Dec 3rd 2013, 12:53 by P.F. | MUMBAI

OVER the past two years Indian officials have excelled at predicting with magnificent conviction that an economic recovery would happen in the next quarter, always the next quarter. As things steadily got worse, culminating in a currency scare that lasted from June through August, their credibility slumped in tandem with India’s growth rates. But now there is something to cheer about. Three pieces of data over the past week suggest that economic growth has bottomed out at the 4-5% range and that a precarious balance-of-payments position is improving sharply. Optimists will argue that the stage is set for a sharp recovery in Asia’s third-biggest economy—if the country elects a more coherent government, in elections due by May.

Turkey cashes in on the Iran talks

By Jonathan Schanzer

You may have thought the Geneva deal struck last month between Iran and the P5+1 nations (the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany) was a sweet one for Tehran — getting billions in sanctions relief in exchange for mere promises to halt its nuclear program.

But Turkey may be an even bigger winner. It just needs to open its doors and wait for Iranian funds to pour in.

Iran was Turkey’s third largest export market in 2012. In fact, Turkey is reportedly exporting more than 20,000 products to Iran right now; among them gold and silver. It turns out that the Geneva deal also loosened sanctions on precious metals.

White House bid to hold off Iran sanctions gains backing

BY PATRICIA ZENGERLE

Senator Tim Johnson (D-SD) chairs the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee on the collapse of MF Global in Washington April 24, 2012.

CREDIT: REUTERS/GARY CAMERON

(Reuters) - President Barack Obama's campaign for Congress to hold off on new sanctions over Iran's nuclear program won a key endorsement on Thursday when the chairman of the U.S. Senate Banking Committee rejected tightening measures against Iran now.

Senator Tim Johnson, a Democrat, said he agrees with the Obama administration that such legislation could disrupt delicate negotiations seeking to curb Iran's nuclear program. The Banking Committee oversees sanctions legislation in the Senate.

Bangladesh hangs opposition leader convicted for war crimes

December 12, 2013 12:19PM ET

Abdul Quader Molla's son said his father was 'proud to be a martyr for the cause of Islamic movement'

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Abdul Quader Molla, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, flashes a victory sign at the central Dhaka jail in February. 

2013 AFP

Bangladesh has hanged a senior opposition leader described by prosecutors as the "Butcher of Mirpur,” making him the first person to be put to death for massacres committed during the country's bloody 1971 war of independence.