EU leaders open emergency talks on defense and Ukraine aid as US support wanes

ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai reminisced on Thursday about her childhood memories during a return to her hometown in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Shangla district, her first visit since being shot in the head by the Pakistani Taliban in 2012.

The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan targeted Yousafzai when she was 15 years old and returning from school. The attack was in retaliation for her open advocacy of women’s right to education at a time when her district had fallen under TTP control, with the militant group enforcing strict restrictions on women’s mobility and education.

Yousafzai had visited Pakistan in January as a speaker at the global summit on girls’ education in the Islamic world, which brought together representatives from Muslim-majority countries in which millions of girls remain out of school. However, she was unable to visit her hometown during that trip.

She said in a post on X: “As a child I spent every holiday in Shangla, Pakistan, playing by the river and sharing meals with my extended family.

“It was such a joy for me to return there today — after 13 long years — to be surrounded by the mountains, dip my hands in the cold river, and laugh with my beloved cousins.”

She said her hometown held a “dear place” in her heart and expressed hope to return “again and again,” adding that she prayed for peace in “every corner of Pakistan.”

She also extended condolences to the victims and families of an attack at a military cantonment in Bannu this week, in which five Pakistan army soldiers, 13 civilians and 16 militants were killed.

News agency Agence France-Presse reported that the area was sealed off to provide security for her visit, which took place on Wednesday and included a stop at local education projects backed by her Malala Fund.

“Her visit was kept highly secret to avoid any untoward incidents,” AFP quoted a senior administration official as saying, who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media.

“Even the locals were unaware of her plans to visit.”

Local media reported that Yousafzai also reunited with her family in Barkana and visited her ancestral graveyard during the three-hour trip.

Yousafzai gained global recognition after the 2012 attack, when she was evacuated to the UK for treatment. She later became a prominent advocate for girls’ education and, at the age of 17, became the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize laureate.

Her first return to Pakistan after being shot was in 2018. She returned again in 2022 to visit flood-affected areas in the country.

She has been living in the UK since 2012.

LONDON: A 26-year-old man who murdered three women in a crossbow and stabbing attack was found guilty of raping one of them, his ex-girlfriend, by a British court on Thursday.
Kyle Clifford had pleaded guilty in January to the murder of two daughters of a BBC sports commentator and their mother in their home in Bushey, northwest of London in July 2024.
The killings had sparked a manhunt for Clifford, who was found hours later injured in a cemetery in north London.
A jury at Cambridge Crown Court in eastern England on Thursday found Clifford guilty of raping one of the daughters, his ex-girlfriend Louise Hunt, 25, before he killed her.
His sentencing for all the crimes is expected on Tuesday.
Clifford admitted murdering Carol Hunt, 61, the wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and two of their daughters, Louise and Hannah, 28.
He had pleaded guilty to three counts of murder, one of false imprisonment, and two of possessing offensive weapons but denied raping Louise.
In the resulting trial, the court heard that after he stabbed Carol Hunt to death, Clifford “lay in wait” for an hour for Louise, before tying, raping and then killing her with a crossbow.
He then killed Hannah when she returned home from work.
The prosecution accused Clifford, a former soldier, of committing a “violent, sexual act of spite.”
He had become “enraged” after Louise ended their 18-month relationship, the court heard, and had “carefully planned” the attack.
According to the prosecution, Clifford searched for a podcast by misogynistic social media influencer Andrew Tate less than 24 hours before the killings.
The prosecution said the murders were fueled by the “violent misogyny promoted” by Tate.
The judge, Justice Joel Bennathan, said Clifford’s crimes were “dreadful” and were “almost unspeakable.”