KHAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – Pakistani authorities have begun expelling Afghan refugees from a tribal region that has become the main battleground between troops and fighters linked to the Taliban and al Qaeda, officials said on Monday.

BHAKKAR, Pakistan (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed at least 12 people and wounded around 30 including a leading Pakistani opposition politician and member of the minority Shi’ite Muslim community on Monday, police said.

SAMARRA, Iraq (Reuters) – A ring of scaffolding around charred bricks is all that now stands in place of the golden dome that adorned one of Shi’ite Islam’s holiest shrines.