Pakistan governor shot dead by bodyguard

The governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province was shot dead by one of his guards today apparently for criticising the country’s controversial blasphemy laws.

The killing of Salman Taseer was the most high-profile assassination of a political figure in Pakistan since former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was shot in December 2007, and it rattled a country already dealing with crises ranging from a potential collapse of the government to Islamist militancy.