The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a $96.7 billion measure to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September 30 as well as rush critical economic and security aid to Pakistan.
Pakistan will defeat the Taliban militarily but could lose the public relations war if it fails to help the hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting, Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday.
The ruling Congress-led coalition was slightly ahead of the opposition Hindu-nationalist alliance in India's general election, but both groups fell short of a parliamentary majority, early projections said on Wednesday.
Helicopter-borne Pakistani soldiers swooped into a Taliban stronghold in a remote corner of Swat on Tuesday as the United Nations urged help for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the fighting.
The United States said Monday that it would provide $4.9 million in emergency aid to help the refugees displaced by the current anti-Taliban offensive in northwest Pakistan.
The International Monetary Fund slashed its 2009 economic growth forecast for the Gulf region by more than half to 1.3 percent as the three largest oil-exporting economies, including Saudi Arabia, shrink in a global slowdown.
A suicide bomber killed 10 people at a security post in Pakistan on Monday as the army pressed on with an offensive against the Taliban in which the government said 700 militants had been killed.
Pakistani forces have killed 143 militants over the past 24 hours in fighting in the Islamist bastion of Swat northwest of the capital, the military said on Friday.
President Barack Obama warned on Wednesday of more violence in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but said his government was still committed to defeating al Qaeda, while trying to avoid civilian deaths on those countries.
Pakistani security forces attacked Taliban fighters on Wednesday killing at least 64 of them, the military said, after the United States called on the government to show its commitment to fighting militancy.
The man accused of being the lone surviving gunman from last year's Mumbai attack pleaded not guilty Wednesday to 86 charges against him, including murder and waging war against India, lawyers said.
Kashmir's separatist leaders are struggling to win back popular support, and are hoping that a boycott of Thursday's election to the Indian parliament may yet breathe new life into the 20-year movement.
U.S. President Barack Obama will urge the leaders of Pakistan and Afghanistan to put aside a history of mistrust and join Washington in an alliance against Islamic extremists at a White House meeting on Wednesday, senior administration officials said.
President Barack Obama presents his strategy for defeating al Qaeda to the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday amid growing U.S. concern that it is losing the war and neither is a reliable ally.
Pakistani forces battled Taliban fighters on Monday as the militants denounced the army and government as U.S. stooges and said a peace pact would end unless the government halted its offensive.
President Barack Obama presents his strategy for defeating al Qaeda to the leaders of Afghanistan and Pakistan on Wednesday amid growing U.S. concern it is losing the war and neither is a reliable ally.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday she expected intense sessions when the presidents of Afghanistan and Pakistan come to Washington for three-nation talks next week.
Taliban militants kidnapped 10 Pakistani paramilitaries in an attack on their headquarters on Friday as Islamic militants fought back against an army offensive in the troubled northwest.
WASHINGTON - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday pressed Congress to quickly approve $83.4 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and for aid to Pakistan.
The Pakistan army battled through mountain passes on Thursday in a third day of fighting to evict Taliban fighters from a strategic valley, after U.S. President Barack Obama welcomed its newfound resolve.
President Barack Obama sought to reassure Americans on Wednesday he was making progress tackling the economic crisis and in fixing the U.S. image abroad, but urged patience.
U.S. financial markets are stabilizing as data suggest the recession's worst may be over, but a surprise event like a flu outbreak or fresh bank troubles could send them tumbling anew, bankers and analysts said on Wednesday.
