World in brief: U.S. journalist ordered to leave

An American freelance journalist and scholar based in Pakistan was ordered to leave the country after writing an article that might have been deemed unflattering to the Pakistani government, according to friends, colleagues and a U.S.-based media rights group.

Nicholas Schmidle, a frequent contributor to Slate magazine and a fellow with the Institute of Current World Affairs in Washington, was served with a deportation notice at his Islamabad home Tuesday night and left Pakistan on Friday, the Committee to Protect Journalists said in a statement.

Under an arrangement hammered out with Pakistani officials, his departure would not be recorded as a deportation if he agreed to leave the country, according to a colleague familiar with the deal.

The deportation order came after an article by Schmidle titled “Next-Gen Taliban” appeared in last Sunday’s New York Times Magazine. The 5,300-word story included interviews Schmidle had conducted with pro-Taliban leaders who operate freely in areas of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province and in North-West Frontier province.

Bathurst, New Brunswick

Basketball team van crash kills 8

A van carrying a Canadian high school boys basketball team collided with a truck Saturday, killing seven students and the coach’s wife on their way home from a game.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police Sgt. Derek Strong said the seven players – between the ages of 15 and 18 – were pronounced dead at the crash site after their van crossed the centerline and hit the tractor-trailer shortly after midnight.

The accident occurred after a storm dumped snow, sleet and freezing rain on much of the province. The nine senior varsity players – accompanied by their coach, his wife and their daughter – were minutes from reuniting with their families when the team’s coach lost control of the van.