Gogi, the heroine created by Pakistan's first female cartoonist

Pakistan's first female professional cartoonist, Nigar Nazar, nearly ended up becoming a doctor.

Image copyrightNigar Nazar

Image captionGogi, with her signature polka dot outfits, is beloved by many in Pakistan

"In college I was studying to become a doctor, but I was constantly doodling in the margins of my medical books," she says.

"Shortly afterwards I decided to take a U-turn and managed to persuade my parents to let me take fine arts."

The decision paid off.

The star of Nazar's comics, Gogi, is a progressive, educated Pakistani woman who wears polka-dotted dresses - and is loved by thousands around the world.

One of her favourite cartoons explores how many in Pakistan prefer having sons to daughters.

Image copyrightNigar Nazar

"In our country a girl's birth isn't celebrated very much and I really hate that," Nazar says.

She focuses on social issues and contradictions in society, saying: "I get inspiration from things that happen around me."

Image copyrightNigar Nazar

The Gogi comics have messages about women's education and the environment - but also depict the humorous side of everyday life in Pakistan.

Image copyrightNigar Nazar

Nazar says she began reading comic books as a child in the US: "It really began when my father was on a posting in Washington.

"When we returned to Pakistan, unable to find any local comic books, I stuck to the comics I used to read in the US and frequented the local bookshop to borrow, exchange or buy comics."

Image copyrightNigar Nazar

Image captionNigar Nazar's comics frequently explore the need for women's education

After she dropped her pre-medical degree to pursue her love of drawing, she won a scholarship for art.

However, she says: "It was a struggle because there was no training offered in comic art.

"I joined an art institute but I had no formal classes, I was just told to draw a cartoon everyday."

Image copyrightNigar Nazar

"I borrowed some 'teach yourself' books on cartooning and while that kept me going for some months, the real work began when I got a job with a daily newspaper."

Although Gogi is beloved by many in Pakistan, Nazar says her strip is not often published in local newspapers because comics about social issues are "not as popular as political cartoons".

"I've tried to turn my attention to social media now, and instead of newspapers, I've made awareness raising comic books," she says.

"I've made 14 comic books on a range of issues like extremism and corruption, girls' education and women's rights."

Image copyrightNigar Nazar

Pakistan ranks 147 out of 180 countries for press freedom, according to the Reporters Without Borders index.

Nazar admits that she sometimes has to self-censor: "In a way there's a lot of freedom of speech in Pakistan but it's only limited to certain topics that don't address some of the more real issues that affect people.

"Tolerating freedom of speech will only happen in it's truest sense when people's mindsets also change."

However, she also believes that comics offer a unique way for people to express themselves.

Image copyrightNigar Nazar

"I stay away from religion-related topics but it's not like I haven't addressed any taboos at all," she says.

"In some cases I've used quotations from the Holy Koran and got approval from clergies to support my cartoons on education as a basic right for girls and anti-sexual harassment cartoons."

"I think you can get away with saying a lot through cartoons that you can't say in any other way."

John Ridsdel: Hostage from Canada killed in Philippines

A Canadian man held captive by Islamist militants for months in the Philippines has been killed.
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Image copyrightReuters

Image captionA man who identified himself as John Ridsdel has appeared in video messages released by the Islamists

John Ridsdel, 68, was taken from a tourist resort along with three others by the Abu Sayyaf group in September last year.

Confirming the death, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called it "an act of coldblooded murder".

On Monday a severed head was found on a remote Philippine island, hours after an Abu Sayyaf ransom deadline expired.

The Philippine army has not confirmed if it belonged to one of the captives.

• Islamic State threat in Southeast Asia

Mr Ridsdel was kidnapped from a marina near the city of Davao along with another Canadian, Robert Hall; a Norwegian, Kjartan Sekkingstad; and a Philippine woman, Mr Hall's girlfriend, Marites Flor.

They were taken 500km (300 miles) to the island of Jolo. Abu Sayyaf released a video of the group in November, demanding $80m (£55m) for their release.

Mr Ridsdel later warned that he was due to be killed if no ransom was paid.

Several hours after the deadline, a severed head was found in a street on Jolo. The Philippine authorities said it belonged to a foreign man but it has not yet been formally identified.

Former mining executive

"It's hard," a friend of Mr Ridsdel, Bob Rae, told CBC News. "It's just very hard. I've been involved behind the scenes for the last six months trying to find a solution and it's been very painful."

A former mining executive, Mr Ridsdel is described by Canadian media as semi-retired.

He also worked as a journalist.

Offering his condolences, Mr Trudeau gave few details, saying he would not compromise the safety of the other captives.

Abu Sayyaf was set up in the 1990s with funding from al-Qaeda, and is fighting for an independent Islamic province in the Philippines.

One of its commanders recently pledged allegiance to so-called Islamic State. The group is also holding several other foreigners.

Eighteen Philippine soldiers were killed in clashes with the militants on Basilan island near Jolo island earlier this month.

Japanese players eye record sales in 2016

 
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Checking out a Mazda at an auto show in Guangzhou this past November.

GUANGZHOU, China -- The top three Japanese automakers and Mazda Motorsee Chinese sales soaring to record highs this year despite the slowing economy, helped by a tax break on compact models.

     New-auto sales increased 7.7% on the year in January, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said Friday. The tallies for Toyota Motor, Nissan Motor and Honda Motor rose even more.

     The four automakers announced 2016 sales plans for China by Friday. Nissan, which enjoys the biggest market share among the Japanese players, targets growth of 4% to 1.3 million vehicles. Toyota and Honda each aim to top 1 million. Mazda targets a 2% rise to 240,000.

     Aggregate sales by the quartet plus Suzuki Motor and Mitsubishi Motors may exceed 4 million vehicles for the first time.

     A tax break introduced last October for autos with engines of up to 1.6 liters is creating a significant tailwind.

     Nissan's Chinese sales have regained momentum since the program's rollout. It sold more than 30,000 units of the Sylphy sedan, which qualifies for the break, for four straight months through January -- an unusually strong showing in a market where a model with sales above 10,000 units a month is considered popular. Compacts and sport utility vehicles, gaining traction in China, are expected to enjoy further growth.

     Toyota sees sales climbing 2.4% on the year to 1.15 million units in 2016. Sales jumped 32.1% in January, underpinned by the mainstay Corolla compact, which qualifies for the tax break.

     Honda, which sold 1 million vehicles in China for the first time last year, expects to move 1.07 million this year. The 6.3% rise would exceed those by Nissan, Toyota and Mazda.

     Japanese brands have also regained their lost popularity here. The six automakers' Chinese sales had fallen to a little over 3 million vehicles in 2012, the year Japan nationalized disputed islands in the East China Sea. Now, drivers are looking again to Japanese brands for their consistent quality, among other expectations. Chinese consumers' trust in Japanese cars has steadily grown.

     With the boost from the tax program seen continuing, the industry association expects sales to rise 5.9% to 26.04 million units. But sales may drop off sharply if the effects of the tax break dissipate from a further slowing of the economy. Stellar sales now simply cannibalize future demand, some say.

India caste unrest: 'Ten million without water' in Delhi

More than 10 million people in India's capital are without water despite the army regaining control of its key water source after protests, officials say.

Keshav Chandra, head of Delhi's water board, told the BBC it would take "three to four days" before normal supplies resumed to affected areas.

Jat community protesters demanding more government jobs seized the Munak canal, the city's main water source on Friday.

Sixteen people have been killed and hundreds hurt in three days of riots.

Defiant India protesters stand ground in Haryana

The Munak canal supplies around three-fifths of water to Delhi's 16 million residents.

Mr Chandra said that prior warnings meant that people had managed to save water, and tankers had been despatched to affected areas of the city, but that this would not be enough to make up for the shortfall.

Schools in the city were also closed after supplies from the canal were sabotaged during the protests.

The army took control of parts of the canal on Monday morning, but repairs are expected to take time.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder who is near Delhi's border with neighbouring Haryana state, said protesters who have set up road blocks are refusing to budge.

"We don't trust them. Let's get something in writing. Let them spell it out," one demonstrator who refused to be named told the BBC.

Image copyrightDelhi Jal Board

Image captionThe Munak canal which was damaged by Jat protesters

Image copyrightEPA

Image captionTen million people are without water in Delhi

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Why are the Jats angry?

• The land-owning Jat community is relatively affluent and has traditionally been seen as upper caste.
• They are mainly based in Haryana and seven other states in northern India.
• Comprising 27% of the voters in Haryana and dominating a third of the 90 state assembly seats, they are a politically influential community. Seven of the 10 chief ministers in Haryana have been Jats.
• The Jats are currently listed as upper caste but the demonstrators have been demanding inclusion in caste quotas for jobs and education opportunities that have been available to lower castes since 1991.
• In March 2014 the Congress-led national government said it would re-categorise Jats as Other Backward Castes (OBC), opening the way to government job quotas.
• But India's Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that the Jats were not a backward community.
• As jobs have dried up in the private sector and farming incomes have declined, the community has demanded the reinstatement of their backward caste status to enable them to secure government jobs.

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Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal tweeted that the army was "trying to assess in how much time water would reach Delhi and whether any damage had been done to the canal".

Protesters went on the rampage despite a curfew and the deployment of the army, which is reported to have opened fire on them in the districts of Rohtak and Jhajjar.

Haryana state minister Ram Bilas Sharma said the situation was returning to normal, traffic had resumed on national highways and that railway lines between Delhi and the cities of Jaipur and Chandigarh had reopened.

Mr Sharma also confirmed that the government would introduce a bill on reservations and quotas for the Jat community in the next assembly session, although he did not say when that would be.

Image copyrightReuters

Image captionThe blockage and damage to water treatment plants led to a disruption of supplies to Delhi

Meanwhile, India's federal government has said it will set up a top-level committee to look into the grievances of Jats.

The violence had earlier forced the closure of several key roads and national highways, and paralysed the railway system in northern India.

Australia town consumed by 'hairy panic'

A fast-growing tumbleweed called "hairy panic" is clogging up homes in a small Australian town.

Extremely dry conditions mean the weeds pile up each day outside a row of homes at Wangaratta, in Victoria's northeast.

Frustrated residents are forced to clear out the weeds for several hours every day, with piles of hairy panic at times reaching roof height.

A nearby farmer is being blamed for failing to tend to his paddock.

"It's physically draining and mentally more draining," resident Pam Twitchett told Prime7 News Albury.

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What is hairy panic?

Image copyright7News

Image caption"It's not funny anymore": Wild tumbleweeds have left residents in a rural Australian town exhausted

• Also known by its Latin name Panicum effusum, it is a grass that is found in every Australian state
• It's called "hairy" because while there are a number of other Panicum species, none have long hairs along the edges of their leaves
• It grows rapidly and can form tumbleweeds which are dead grass with seeds inside designed to disperse them for reproduction
• It can cause a potentially fatal condition called "yellow big head" in sheep if eaten in large quantities

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Image copyright7News

Image captionFrustrated residents say they are tired of clearing out the weeds

Wangaratta veterinary surgeon Richard Evans told the BBC the weed would lose its toxicity once it dried up.

"The important thing is it's not going to kill people's dogs and cats, it just makes a hell of a mess," he said.

Authorities are unable to help with the clean-up because the tumbleweeds do not pose a fire threat, reports say.

EU referendum: David Cameron 'battling for Britain' at summit

David Cameron said he was "battling for Britain" as he arrived in Brussels for a crucial EU summit.

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has said he is "quite confident" European leaders can reach a deal with Britain over its future membership of the EU.

Mr Cameron aims to return with a reform package he can put to the British people in a referendum in June.

But he faces resistance to some of his key demands from other EU leaders.

Mr Cameron said: "We've got some important work to do today and tomorrow and it's going to be hard.

"I'll be battling for Britain. If we can get a good deal I'll take that deal. But I will not take a deal that doesn't meet what we need. I think it's much more important to get this right than to do anything in a rush. But with goodwill, with hard work, we can get a better deal for Britain."

Leaked copies of a final draft of Britain's proposals, seen by the Guardian, suggest Mr Cameron still has to convince fellow EU leaders to agree to treaty changes to cement his reforms.

The documents also suggest France is still resisting attempts to secure protection for the City of London by giving non-eurozone nations more power to stall financial regulation.

Mr Cameron's plan to cut the amount of child benefit EU migrants can send back to to their home countries would apply across the EU according to the leaked drafts - something that would be resisted by Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

The key parts of UK deal:

• Allowing Britain to opt out from the EU's founding ambition to forge an "ever closer union" of the peoples of Europe and greater powers to national parliaments to block EU legislation
• Restrictions on other EU nationals getting in-work benefits in the UK for four years. Changing child benefit rules so payment reflects cost of living in countries where the child lives
• Explicit recognition that the euro is not the only currency of the EU and guarantees to ensure countries outside eurozone are not disadvantaged or have to join eurozone bailouts
• A target for the reduction of the "burden" of excessive regulation and extending the single market

Senior EU officials have been talking up the chances of a deal, while admitting there are still difficulties that need to be ironed out.

"I'm quite confident that we will have a deal during this European Council," Mr Juncker told reporters.

"We have to sort out a certain number of questions... and I'm convinced that Britain will be a constructive and active member of the European Union."

European Council president Donald Tusk said "this is a make-or-break summit, I have no doubt" as he arrived.

How on earth did the man who once accused the Conservatives of being out of touch for "banging on about Europe", get himself into a position where he has already been "banging on about Europe" for months and months, and will spend the next four months still doing precisely that?

Most simply, as the years have passed, his party has changed.

As the EU expanded, and generations of MPs came and went, a soft scepticism towards the European project, neither full-throated support, nor hardcore opposition, became more common, and sympathy for the idea of a referendum spread from the margins.

The eurozone financial crisis, and the EU's stumbling approach to sorting it out, gave a fresh energy to eurosceptic MPs who wanted to campaign to leave.

In part that apathy, if not downright dislike, towards the EU spread because of the enormous rise in the numbers of people from around the Union who came to live and work in the UK.

EU Out campaigners say the draft reforms will make no difference to the number of migrants coming to Britain and will not allow the UK to block unwanted EU laws.

UKIP's migration spokesman Steven Woolfe will lead a demonstration outside the meeting in protest at Mr Cameron's "pitiful deal for Britain".

He said: "The prime minister has asked for little and has been granted even less.

"He has taken his begging bowl to Brussels and, in an embarrassment for Britain, has produced a renegotiation package that fails to bring back control of our borders, reduce the daily cost of our membership or secure the sovereignty of our great nation."

Conservative MEP Daniel Hannan dismissed the proposed deal and warned that any changes could be unpicked by the European Parliament in future.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "I don't know of any MEPs or Eurocrats in private who think that this is a fundamental change. All of the sound and fury, all of the negotiations, have come down to amending one directive - which we could have done at any time without needing any renegotiation.

"Privately, the Eurocrats were whooping and high-fiving and turning cartwheels because so little has been asked for."

Former Labour leader Lord Kinnock, who was a European commissioner, said Mr Cameron had "probably done as well as could be expected" and warned of "seismic" consequences if the UK left the EU.

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David Cameron wants to get a deal quickly on his EU reforms so he can hold a referendum by late June.

The prime minister wants to keep up the political momentum, give his opponents less time to organise and get the issue out of the way as soon as possible.

But if the negotiations come unstuck in Brussels this week, can Mr Cameron still get his referendum by June?

The short answer is yes.