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LONDON (AP) — The U.K.'s first female Muslim Cabinet member resigned Tuesday in protest of the British government's policies on Gaza, describing the approach as "morally indefensible" and detrimental to the national interest. Sayeeda Warsi, a Foreign Office minister of Pakistani descent, announced her departure on her Twitter feed. The move apparently took Downing Street off guard, and loaded more pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron, who is under fire by the opposition and members of his own party for his staunch support of Israel.

Saudi men have been banned from marrying women from three Asian and one African country as the Gulf state toughens the rules restricting marriage with foreigners, a local daily said. Marrying women from Bangladesh, Pakistan, Myanmar and Chad is no longer permissible, Makkah newspaper reported. It said the total population of these communities in Saudi Arabia has exceeded 500,000 people, citing unofficial statistics, implying that this might be the reason.

After recently ending its arms embargo against Pakistan, Moscow seems set to go through with a deal to sell MI-35 attack helicopters to the South Asian nation, ostensibly to assist it in its war against Islamist militants. This sale has little precedent; Pakistan and India’s Cold War alliances, with the U.S. and Russia respectively, have largely endured to this day. After 9/11 especially, Pakistan was a major recipient of American aid and military equipment, while India maintained its strategic relationship with Russia by continuing to be its biggest weapons buyer.

(Please Make Note Of The WARNING not everyone can bear to view this video) The brutality of ISIS in Iraq and Syria has been well documented – even al Qaeda warns ISIS not to be “too extreme.” But the horrors these monsters invent are terrifyingly new each day, and the latest example is the stuff of horror movies. Is our planet entering a new day where a large portion of our population is cloaked behind an “Iron Curtain” of Islamic barbarism? How can life continue “normally” in Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, Pakistan, Nigeria, Somalia, Egypt, Lebanon, Gaza and the West...

Saudi Arabia has deployed thousands of troops from Egypt and Pakistan along its frontier with Iraq, amid fears of invasion by the al-Qaeda splinter group that has declared a radical Islamic state across the border. Panicked by the advance of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (Isis), Riyadh has taken the drastic step of calling in military assistance from its close allies to shore up the porous 500-mile border, Gulf security sources said.

Last week, The Washington Post's Tehran, Iran, correspondent was arrested. The charges are unspecified, but according to the paper, Jason Rezaian, 38; his Iranian wife, Yeganeh Salehi; and two other U.S. citizens were detained. State Department spokesman Marie Harf issued a protest that didn't even rise to the level of tepid, saying "Our highest priority is the safety and welfare of U.S. citizens abroad." Reassured? Rezaian and the others join a list of Americans held captive -- many for years and years. Former FBI agent Bob Levinson, 66, went missing after traveling to Iran in 2007. Warren Weinstein, 72, was...

His pilot's license fresh in his hands, an Indiana teenager set out in June for the adventure of a lifetime: an around-the-world flight with his father designed to break a record and raise money to build schools in his father's native Pakistan. Just days before the father and son were to return home to Indiana, the trip turned tragic when their plane crashed in the Pacific Ocean shortly after leaving Pago Pago in American Samoa on Tuesday night. The body of 17-year-old Haris Suleman was recovered, but crews were still searching Wednesday for the father, Babar Suleman. The Sulemans left...

Navi Pillay said Tel Aviv's two-week onslaught on Gaza - which has cost more than 650 Palestinians lives - would be thoroughly investigated. Ms Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said the attacks have destroyed houses and hospitals and killed civilians. "These are just a few examples where there seems to be a strong possibility that international humanitarian law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes. "Every one of these incidents must be properly and independently investigated." According to Gaza officials, 475 houses have been destroyed and 2,644 damaged, while 46 schools, 56 mosques...

GENEVA, July 23 (Reuters) - The United Nations on Wednesday launched an international inquiry into human rights violations and crimes that may have been committed by Israel during its military offensive in the Gaza Strip. The U.N. Human Rights Council condemned the Israeli assault which it said had involved "disproportionate and indiscriminate attacks", including aerial bombing of civilian areas, collective punishment, and the killing of more than 650 Palestinians. At the end of an emergency session, the 47-member forum adopted a resolution presented by Palestinians by a vote of 29 states in favor, 1 against (the United States) with 17...

Pakistan’s ongoing military operation may be making headway in clearing militant hideouts, but it has shattered the dream of one father of 36 children — to take a fourth wife. Gulzar Khan is one of hundreds of thousands of people who have fled the North Waziristan tribal area since the army moved in to clear longstanding bases of Taliban and other militants. Escaping the military advance meant leaving the 35-room house he shares in the North Waziristan village of Shawa with around 100 family members, including wives, children and grandchildren. The 54-year-old grumbled that paying to transport his brood used...

Three weeks into its offensive against militants in the tribal region of North Waziristan, Pakistan's military has taken the media to see Miranshah, formerly a hotbed of Taliban activity.

In a revelation that is sure to raise worries in India's security establishment, the first-ever audio message of Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the ISIS, has confirmed suspicions that Indians could well be part of his organisation's ranks. While enumerating the nationalities of fighters who constitute ISIS, Al-Baghdadi's 20-second-long audio titled 'A message to the Mujahideen and the Muslim Ummah in the month of Ramadan' that was released on Tuesday mentions that Indians, among a host of other nationalities including Chinese, American, French, German, Australian, etc. figure in the ISIS squad. According to intelligence sources, on January 22, a...

A victory beyond the wildest dreams of Osama bin Laden is within reach of fighters from ISIL, a group of which he would likely approve regardless of what current Al Qaeda leadership says about the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. And it's all Obama's fault. “Iraqi troops battled to dislodge an al Qaeda splinter group from the city of Tikrit on Monday,” reports the Hindustan Times, “after its leader was declared caliph of a new Islamic state in lands seized this month across a swathe of Iraq and Syria.” The caliphate claims worldwide authority over all Muslims, and...

At least 15 militants were killed and three soldiers were injured on Monday as the Pakistani military began the second phase of its offensive in North Waziristan with a ground operation in Miramshah (NYT, ET). The military released a statement on Monday that said infantry and special forces units moved from house to house throughout the city and uncovered networks of tunnels and bomb factories. The operation included the mobilization of tanks, artillery, and gunship helicopters in support of those infantry forces. The statement also said that 376 militants and 17 soldiers had been killed since the beginning of the...

A prominent Pakistani cleric who lives in Canada arrived in Lahore Monday after his plane was diverted from Islamabad following clashes between his supporters and police at Islamabad's airport. Tahir-ul-Qadri returned to Pakistan to lead a self-proclaimed revolution against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Security was tight Monday ahead of Qadri's planned arrival in Islamabad. Armed guards were stationed around the capital and roads leading to the airport were blocked with shipping containers in an effort to deter the cleric's supporters. However, some of Qadri's supporters pelted police officers with sticks and stones, while the police retaliated by firing tear gas....

While his government’s focus remains squarely on domestic issues, Mr Modi is also charting a rather ambitious foreign policy course. He has already visited Bhutan and his future destinations over the next few months are likely to include Japan, Brazil, Southeast Asia, Australia and Nepal. Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign minister has saluted the new Modi government for injecting “new vitality into an ancient civilisation”.

Nawaz govt responsible for loss of life, property *Militant group warns foreign firms to leave Pakistan. PESHAWAR, Pakistan – The Taliban on Monday warned foreign firms to leave Pakistan and vowed retaliatory strikes against the government after the Pakistan Army launched a long-awaited offensive in a tribal area. The statement came as Pakistan's major cities braced for a backlash by deploying thousands of soldiers and paramilitaries while placing hospitals on high alert for incoming casualties. The offensive on North Waziristan was launched a week after a brazen insurgent attack on the Jinnah International Airport in Karachi. “We warn all foreign...

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has called on Afghan President Hamid Karzai to seal the common borders between Afghanistan and Pakistan in order to blcok the escape of pro-Taliban forces from military operations. Tasnim Aslam, spokeswoman for Pakistan’s Foreign Office said the request was made during a telephone call by Prime Minister Nawaz with president Karzai on Monday night. “Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif called Hamid Karzai last night to request him for the closure of Afghan border to avoid exit of militants to Afghanistan from Pakistan during the military offensive,” Aslam quoted by AFP said. She also added that military...

Cameraman Ilyas Khan, left, and reporter Iftikhar Hussain, two Pakistani journalists working for Voice of America, covered the reaction of the Hailey community to the release of Bowe Bergdahl from Taliban custody last week. Two Pakistani journalists stopped in Pocatello last week on their way to Hailey to cover the story of American soldier Bowe Bergdahl’s release with listeners in the tribal region of northeast Pakistan. Ifthikhar Hussain and his cameraman, Ilyas Khan, work for Voice of America. Voice of America, operated by the U.S. government, provides programming for broadcast on radio, television and the Internet outside of this country...

Pakistani fighter jets have carried out air strikes against militant hideouts, killing dozens of fighters, officials in the north-west of the country say. The strikes were in the mountainous Dehgan area in the North Waziristan tribal district, a stronghold for Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants. ... No exact casualty figures were given. "The strikes were carried out based on confirmed reports about the presence of Uzbek and other militants in the area," an official said. It is the second set of strikes in the region this week, days after the airport attack claimed by the Pakistani Taliban, which killed at least...