Pakistan

On Friday, American forces dropped one of the largest conventional bombs ever used in combat on what they described as a tunnel complex used by Islamic State militants in Nangarhar's Achin district.

In Achin village, about 5 kilometres from the remote, mountainous area where the bomb was dropped, witnesses said the ground shook, but homes and shops appeared unaffected.

Many students have been arrested after the brutal attack in the northern city of Mardan, and the campus has been closed.

Reports suggest that two young men were accused of posting offensive content on Facebook. One survived with injuries.

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive and incendiary issue in Pakistan.

'Badly tortured'

Critics say blasphemy laws, which allow the death penalty in some cases, are often misused to oppress minorities.

There have been other cases where people accused of it have been killed by an angry crowd.

Facebook has agreed to send a team to Pakistan to address reservations about content on the social media site, according to the interior ministry.

Blasphemy is a highly sensitive and incendiary issue in Pakistan.

Critics say blasphemy laws, which allow the death penalty in some cases, are often misused to oppress minorities.

Earlier this week Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif voiced his support for a wide-ranging crackdown on blasphemous content on social media.

The order prohibits the display of adverts on electronic and print media that reference Valentine's Day, bans the sale of associated merchandise and states that the day cannot be celebrated in "any public space or government building."

The court has requested Pakistan's Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to monitor these platforms and share any information that shows that the ban has been compromised.

Parveen Bibi told a court in Lahore, Punjab that she killed her daughter "for bringing shame to her family," police spokeswoman Nabila Ghazanfar told CNN Tuesday.

Parveen's son Ahmer Rafique was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the crime.

Brutal killing

Zeenat Rafique, 18, was strangled and set alight by her mother and brother in June 2016 after she eloped against their wishes.

Warner became just the fifth batsman to achieve the feat and the first on Australian soil as he clocked up 100 runs off just 78 balls in the first session in Sydney.

Wahab finally dismissed the Australia opener on 113 when he drew an outside edge that flew to wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed.

However, the Pakistan paceman said Warner, who also claimed a ton in the Boxing Day Test, had already done the damage.

"Everybody knows Warner is an attacking player and we know where he is strong," said Wahab.

The decision to ban the films came amid a rise in military tensions over the disputed territory of Kashmir.

The boycott was imposed after some Indian film-makers had banned Pakistani actors from working in Bollywood films.

Bollywood is popular in Pakistan, and the self-imposed ban is reported to have led to a dramatic loss of revenue.

The move followed a surge in violence in Indian-administered Kashmir.

Film distributors and cinema owners in Pakistan said they would resume screening the films on Monday.

 The powerful 7.5 magnitude quake pummelled central New Zealand, especially the top half of the South Island, killing at least two people, damaging roads and buildings and setting off hundreds of strong aftershocks.

It was felt strongly in Christchurch, the South Island's largest city, which was hit by a 6.3 quake in 2011 that killed 185 people.

RNZ reports that New Zealand Cricket officials told reporters in Christchurch the match would go ahead.

Both teams arrived in the city yesterday, with the Pakistan side arriving from Nelson, where they felt the tremors.

Azam Tariq died in Paktika province, near Pakistan's border. His son and nine others were also reported killed.

Tariq was a former Pakistani Taliban spokesman and part of a breakaway faction after the group split in 2014.

Many Pakistani Taliban now operate from Afghanistan after they were dislodged from strongholds in north-west Pakistan by a military offensive.

After all, both countries have long been nuclear powers -- a deterrent that encompasses the lives of a combined 1.4 billion people. Both nations have also seen some years of relative peace along their border, a break from the wars that pockmarked the 20th Century.

And yet, hours after 18 were killed in an attack on an army base in Indian-administered Kashmir, the director-general of military operations for the Indian Army announced that the terrorists carried gear which had "Pakistani markings."

The allegation unleashed a torrent of fury on social media.