Pakistanis voted in a landmark test of democracy on Saturday and were quickly reminded of the militant violence that plagues the country, with election-related bombings in several cities.

Britain said on Thursday it was "very likely" the Syrian government had used chemical weapons, and Turkey announced it was stepping up testing of people fleeing the Syrian civil war for traces.

Gunmen kidnapped the son of a former Pakistani prime minister on Thursday as a letter from the leader of the Pakistani Taliban revealed plans for suicide bomb attacks on election day.

A Pakistani prisoner who was savagely beaten in an Indian jail in an apparent tit-for-tat assault died on Thursday, prompting Islamabad to demand an international probe into the “heinous” crime.

A Bangladesh tribunal convicted a top Islamic party politician Thursday of atrocities stemming from the nation's 1971 independence war and sentenced him to death, triggering fears of another wave of deadly street violence between party supporters and security forces.

Shahnaj Begum struggles to suppress her rage as she thumbs through banknotes given in compensation after she was left injured and jobless from the collapse of her nine-story workplace.

Prominent Pakistani politician Imran Khan is expected to make a full recovery despite fracturing three vertebrae and a rib in a dramatic fall at a political rally, his doctor said Wednesday.

Physicist Stephen Hawking has dropped plans to attend a major conference in Israel in June, prompting criticism Wednesday from Israeli officials who believe he has joined a boycott organized to protest Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

Barack Obama maneuvered himself into a corner when on Aug. 20 last year he warned “in no uncertain terms” of “enormous consequences” should the Syrian regime use its chemical weapons on rebels.

Secretary of State John Kerry is making his case to Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia to take a tougher stance on Syria at a time when Israel's weekend airstrikes against the beleaguered Mideast nation have added an unpredictable factor to the talks.