March 19, 2013 at 4:03pm 314 notes
foreignPakistanwomen's rightsEducation
Source: Los Angeles Times
“
I am excited that today I have achieved my dream of going back to school. I want all girls in the world to have this basic opportunity. I miss my classmates from Pakistan very much but I am looking forward to meeting my teachers and making new friends here in Birmingham.
— Malala Yousafzai, the 15-year-old advocate for girls’ education who was shot in the head by the Taliban in Pakistan last year, on starting classes in England today
February 8, 2013 at 1:22pm 187 notes
MalalaPakistannewswomen's rights
15-year-old Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban in October for defying the group’s ban on girls’ education, has been discharged from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after cranial reconstruction and a cochlear implant to restore hearing in her left ear. Photo: University Hospitals Birmingham / AFP

15-year-old Malala Yousafzai, who was shot by the Taliban in October for defying the group’s ban on girls’ education, has been discharged from Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham after cranial reconstruction and a cochlear implant to restore hearing in her left ear.

Photo: University Hospitals Birmingham / AFP

May 29, 2012 at 11:53am 26 notes
womenpakistancrimes
Little justice for acid attack victims in Pakistan

One little girl whose face was seared away wishes to die or turn back time. Her attackers are fined a few thousand dollars and left to walk free.

This story is heartbreaking.

September 26, 2011 at 10:13am 27 notes
pakistanwomen
Source: Los Angeles Times
Sexy TV host’s popularity underscores Pakistan’s contradictions: Many consider Mathira immoral for her provocative attire and willingness to talk about taboo subjects such as sexuality, love and AIDS. Others admire her for pushing the limits. Photo: “Love Indicator” TV host Mathira Mohammed. Credit: Faisal Farooqui

Sexy TV host’s popularity underscores Pakistan’s contradictions: Many consider Mathira immoral for her provocative attire and willingness to talk about taboo subjects such as sexuality, love and AIDS. Others admire her for pushing the limits.

Photo: “Love Indicator” TV host Mathira Mohammed. Credit: Faisal Farooqui

September 11, 2011 at 9:09am 128 notes
sept. 11pakistan
Source: Los Angeles Times
Before 9/11, Pakistan had only one suicide bombing. Since then, it’s had 290, killing at least 4,600 people. Pakistanis seem to be accustomed to the violence. A decade ago, Peshawar’s bomb squad had it pretty easy. Occasionally, one of its 20 members would be dispatched to a cornfield to defuse a mine planted by a villager who was feuding with his neighbor. Bombs were small and crude; the only tools an officer needed were pliers and a roll of electrical tape. Because their budget was minuscule, the officers traveled by taxi. Today, the squad careens through week after week of carnage and peril in this volatile city near the Afghan border. One day members are defusing a partially detonated explosive vest strapped to the torso of a dead militant, the next they are surveying evidence left behind by a teenage suicide bomber. The squad has grown to 113 members. Nine have died in the line of duty. At least five others have been maimed. Photo: A boy talks to a young victim of a suicide bombing at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan. Credit: Arshad Butt / Associated Press

Before 9/11, Pakistan had only one suicide bombing. Since then, it’s had 290, killing at least 4,600 people. Pakistanis seem to be accustomed to the violence.

A decade ago, Peshawar’s bomb squad had it pretty easy.

Occasionally, one of its 20 members would be dispatched to a cornfield to defuse a mine planted by a villager who was feuding with his neighbor. Bombs were small and crude; the only tools an officer needed were pliers and a roll of electrical tape.

Because their budget was minuscule, the officers traveled by taxi.

Today, the squad careens through week after week of carnage and peril in this volatile city near the Afghan border. One day members are defusing a partially detonated explosive vest strapped to the torso of a dead militant, the next they are surveying evidence left behind by a teenage suicide bomber. The squad has grown to 113 members. Nine have died in the line of duty. At least five others have been maimed.

Photo: A boy talks to a young victim of a suicide bombing at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan. Credit: Arshad Butt / Associated Press

June 7, 2011 at 12:42pm 23 notes
pakistanjournalismnews
Source: Los Angeles Times
Pakistan journalists often put themselves in harm’s way as they try to dig up the truth about Islamic militant groups, shadowy intelligence agencies and the possible links between the two. One reporter recently ended up dead; another has a harrowing tale. Photo: Mourners comfort the son of Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad during his funeral in Karachi this month. Shahzad had said he was being threatened by the country’s intelligence services before he was tortured to death. Credit: Rizwan Tabassum / AFP/Getty Images

Pakistan journalists often put themselves in harm’s way as they try to dig up the truth about Islamic militant groups, shadowy intelligence agencies and the possible links between the two. One reporter recently ended up dead; another has a harrowing tale.

Photo: Mourners comfort the son of Pakistani journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad during his funeral in Karachi this month. Shahzad had said he was being threatened by the country’s intelligence services before he was tortured to death. Credit: Rizwan Tabassum / AFP/Getty Images