Pakistani girl listed as satisfactory

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — A 14-year-old Pakistani activist who was shot by a Taliban gunman after speaking out for girls’ education is in “satisfactory” condition at a military hospital, a spokesman said today, cautioning that the next few days will be critical.

The shooting of Malala Yousufzai on Tuesday as she was coming home from school set off an international outcry. Maj. Gen. Asim Saleem Bajwa said she is being kept unconscious and on a ventilator, and doctors will decide when to take her off.

“Her blood pressure is normal. Heartbeat is normal, and thanks to God, her condition is satisfactory,” Bajwa said.

Bajwa said the bullet entered her head and went into her neck toward her spine, but it was too soon to say whether she had any significant head injury.

Yousufzai is widely respected for her role in promoting girls’ education in the Swat Valley, where she lives, and the rest of Pakistan. A Taliban gunman shot and wounded her and two other girls Tuesday, sparking widespread condemnation. There has been an outpouring of praise for her bravery from Pakistani and international leaders.

The school she attended in Mingora reopened today. The atmosphere was grim as everyone tried to come to terms with what had happened.

Pastor denied entry to Canada

TORONTO — A spokesman for U.S. pastor Terry Jones said Thursday that Canada has denied entry to the preacher, whose congregation held a Quran burning in March 2011 that triggered deadly protests in Afghanistan.

Stephanie Sapp said fellow pastor and her husband Wayne Sapp, along with Jones, were turned back at the Michigan-Ontario border after being detained for several hours. Jones, who leads Florida’s tiny Dove World Outreach Center, and Wayne Sapp, were scheduled to attend Freedom Showdown, an inter-faith debate Thursday evening outside the Ontario Legislature.

Stephanie Sapp said Jones was denied entry because of a fine he got in Germany almost 20 years ago for using the title “doctor” there (he had received an honorary doctorate in theology from a Californian university in 1993). Also, both men had been charged with breaching the peace at a planned rally in Detroit last year.

By The Associated Press