Pakistan Blacks Out TV Station Amid Protests

Dozens beaten and arrested as 'long march' to Islamabad begins

(NEWSER) - Pakistani police continued their crackdown on protesters today as Nawaz Sharif, a former PM turned opposition leader, accused the government of conspiring to kill him. Political activists and the country's lawyers defied a ban on protests, facing beatings and arrests in demonstrations from Karachi to Lahore. Sharif said he had information about "threats to my life" from "certain top-most people in the government," a claim the president's office called "outlandish." More»

(NEWSER) - Pakistan has decided it's had about 139 characters too many of Twitter, yanking the microblogging site over material it says is offensive to Islam, reports al-Jazeera . The material in question was promoting a Facebook contest to post images of the prophet Mohammed—which are considered blasphemous, even those framed in positive terms. "We have been negotiating with them [Twitter] until last night, but they did not agree to remove the stuff, so we had to block it,'' says the country's telecommunications chief. No word on how long Twitter will be down. More»

Gunfire heard as thousands take to streets in Kabul

(NEWSER) - Protesters are rallying once again to decry the burning of Korans at Bagram, with more shouts of "death to America"—and deaths—throughout the country. The New York Times reports that gunfire was audible as demonstrators assembled at a Kabul mosque following Friday prayers. Another 4,000 people carrying sticks and rocks moved toward the center of the city; some waved Taliban flags and had a jihadist slogan written on their clothes: "I sacrifice myself." More»

He allegedly asked US to prevent a coup from Pakistan's military

(NEWSER) - Pakistan named Sherry Rehman as its new ambassador to the US today after its old one—the well-regarded Hussain Haqqani—was forced to resign yesterday over an ongoing scandal known in Pakistan as “Memogate.” After Osama bin Laden’s death, Haqqani allegedly sent a memo urging the US to prevent a military coup in Pakistan—a memo that came to light last month thanks to this Financial Times column and caused a media firestorm in Pakistan. Haqqani denies writing the memo, but tells NPR he was happy to step down to end the controversy. More»

Danish cartoons yanked from prof's book to 'avoid violence'

(NEWSER) - Criticism is continuing to mount against Yale University, even from its own professors and alumni, for publishing The Cartoons That Shook the World—while censoring the cartoons that shook the world, reports AP. Yale University Press yanked the Danish caricatures from a book about the protests they spawned out of concerns that publishing them would lead to violence. The book, penned by a professor, is due out next week. More»