Roadside bomb kills 7 soldiers

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This video grab shows visiting US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton during an interview with several prominent female TV anchors, before a predominantly female audience of several hundred, in Islamabad Friday.

ISLAMABAD, Oct 31 (AP): A government official says seven paramilitary soldiers were killed when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in a tribal region of northwestern Pakistan.
Ghulam Farooq Khan says the vehicle was moving Saturday when it was hit in the Khyber region, famed for the pass that is the main route for ferrying supplies to US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. The men, who were initially reported to be injured, died before they reached a hospital.
Pakistan has been involved in an escalating fight with Taliban fighters. Two weeks ago, Pakistan launched a major offensive in South Waziristan, a desolate tribal area that lies further south where the central Pakistani government has long had only minimal control.
Earlier report adds: Addressing a roomful of Pakistani women Friday afternoon at the National Art Gallery here, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made every effort to connect with her audience. But after enduring multiple security checks and waiting over four hours for the secretary to arrive, most women left unimpressed.
"Frankly, it was a waste of my time," said one assistant professor from the Fatima Jinnah Women's University (FJWU) in Rawalpindi, who asked not to be named. "[Clinton] wasn't interested in hearing the about the layman's problems or the reality of our daily lives."
That caused many, such as Shazia Marri, the information minister of the Sindh province, to leave the meeting frustrated that their concerns were not heard. "Emancipated women in Pakistan have a clear point of view that did not come across," she said.
The local media has described Mrs. Clinton's three-day visit to Pakistan as a "charm offensive." Her town-hall meeting with female activists, lawyers, journalists, parliamentarians, and businesswomen from across the country was meant to conclude the trip on a high note, particularly in the wake of Wednesday's car bomb attack on a Peshawar market that killed 117 - mostly women.
In her interactions with Pakistani women, Clinton tried to engage in personal-level diplomacy. Explaining how the US would support democracy in Pakistan, Clinton discussed the importance of "habits of the heart," such as tolerance and compromise, which could be ingrained within families and by teachers in schools.
Several audience members said Clinton's answers did little to allay their concerns or skepticism. "The responses were as expected," added Ameena Saiyid, the managing director of Oxford University Press.
Many women, including Zainab Azmat, a resident of the South Waziristan tribal agency, currently lecturing at Peshawar's Institute of Management Sciences (IMS), complained that Clinton's answers were too "reserved." Ms. Azmat added that the intention of the meeting was unclear. "Why were we here? What did they want us to ask? What did they want to convey to us?" she asked.