Former Pakistani leader Benazir Bhutto, the first woman prime minister of an Islamic nation, was assassinated in an attack at an election rally in the city of Rawalpindi. She was 54.

“She’s dead,” a Bhutto aide, Imran Hayat, said today as he sobbed in a telephone interview from Rawalpindi General Hospital. Rioting began as her supporters gathered outside the hospital.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Bhutto died in the blast or was shot by the bomber before he blew himself up, Bhutto spokesman Farhatullah Babar told state-run television. Interior Ministry spokesman Javed Cheema said earlier in a phone interview that she was killed in the bombing. At least 15 other people were also killed and more than 60 were injured, police said.

President Pervez Musharraf condemned the killing and appealed for calm in a statement broadcast on state television, after rioting broke out in cities across Pakistan. In Rawalpindi, where the army has its headquarters, shops were torched and Bhutto’s backers clashed with police. Unrest broke out in her hometown, Larkana, while in Lahore there were reports of gunfire from some parts of the city, Pakistan’s AAJ television reported.

“It was Benazir Bhutto that posed the main threat to pro- Musharraf parties,” Farzana Shaikh, Pakistan analyst at the London-based Chatham House foreign policy institute, said in a phone interview from Montpellier, France. “Long-term it raises very, very serious questions about the stability of Pakistan.”

October Attack

The opposition leader survived an assassination attempt on the night of her return to Pakistan in October after eight years in self-imposed exile. At least 136 people died when suicide bombers attacked her welcome procession on Oct. 19 in Karachi, where thousands of supporters had gathered to receive her.

Harvard and Oxford-educated Bhutto was born in Karachi, Pakistan’s biggest city, and was the eldest of two sisters and two brothers. She is survived by her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, son Bilawal and two daughters, Bakhtawar and Aseefa.

Bhutto attributed her interest in politics to her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the prime minister overthrown by General Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in a 1977 military coup.

“She was, like her father, a deeply flawed leader,” Shaikh said. “But, she was one of the few popular leaders of Pakistan. She did street politics like no other. She was able to give people a certain sense of belonging.”

Zia ul-Haq went on to become president in 1978. The elder Bhutto, founder of the Pakistan Peoples Party, was hanged in 1979 after his conviction on charges of authorizing the murder of an opponent. Both Bhutto’s brothers were also murdered.

`It Chose Me’

“I didn’t choose this life, it chose me,” Bhutto wrote in the preface to the second edition of her autobiography, Daughter of the East, in April 2007. “Born in Pakistan, my life mirrors its turbulence, its tragedies and its triumphs. Pakistan is no ordinary country. And mine has been no ordinary life.”

Bhutto was imprisoned for five years, mostly in solitary confinement, just before her father’s execution. She later lived in London, returning to Pakistan in 1986. She was married to a man from a land-owning family of agriculturists in 1987.

“An arranged marriage was the price in personal choice I had to pay for the political path my life had taken,” she wrote in her autobiography. “My own parents had married for love and I had grown up believing the day would come when I would fall in love and marry a man of my own choosing.”

Zia ul-Haq’s dictatorship ended when he was killed in a plane crash in 1988. Her government was dismissed in 1990. She won a second term in 1993 and was dismissed once again on charges of corruption in 1996.

Managed Party

She lived in Dubai and London since 1999 after being charged in Pakistan with taking kickbacks on state contracts. She wasn’t convicted on the charges. While outside Pakistan, she spent time lecturing at universities and think-tanks around the world. She also remotely managed her party.

Zardari, Bhutto’s husband and a member of the senate, also spent over eight years in jail on 18 corruption cases. He was released in 2004 without any convictions.

Bhutto flew back to Pakistan after President Pervez Musharraf, 64, gave her amnesty on the corruption charges and agreed to give up control of the military by Nov. 15. In return, Bhutto didn’t object to him being re-elected president by parliament and he won another five-year term.

Vowed to Campaign

The former premier had said she would limit mass election rallies and campaign by telephone to avoid a repeat of the Oct. 19 terrorist attacks.

“We do not want to endanger our leadership unnecessarily, and we certainly don’t want to risk potential mass murder of my supporters,” Bhutto wrote in the Wall Street Journal on Oct. 23. “If we don’t campaign, the terrorists have won and democracy is set back further. If we do campaign, we risk violence. It is an extraordinary dilemma.”

The U.S. backed a partnership between Bhutto and Musharraf. President George W. Bush banked on the relationship to return stability to a nuclear-armed country that, according to U.S. intelligence reports and officials, is failing to combat a growing Islamist threat.

“Bhutto symbolizes everything that’s anathema to the extremists,” Lisa Curtis, senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, said in a telephone interview. “They want a Taliban-like theocratic state in Pakistan and she stands for democracy, modernity and change.”

Bhutto’s moderate view of Islam and close contacts with the Bush administration made her a potential target for extremists in the world’s largest Muslim nation after Indonesia. Islamic militants had threatened to assassinate Bhutto on her return from exile.

`A Symbol’

“I know that I am a symbol of what the so-called Jihadists, Taliban and al-Qaeda, most fear,” she wrote. “I am a female political leader fighting to bring modernity, communication, education and technology to Pakistan.”

The twin bombings on her return to Pakistan in October also injured more than 500 people in the deadliest attacks since Musharraf took power in a coup in 1999.

Musharraf had been informed that three people may be behind the attempts to kill her, Bhutto told reporters on Oct. 22, without identifying them.

“We will not be intimidated,” she told reporters at her Karachi residence, Bilawal House. “Despite the heavy loss we incurred, we will continue.”

`Al-Qaeda’

Bhutto received a letter from “friends of al-Qaeda” on Oct. 23, threatening more suicide attacks, possibly using women bombers, her lawyer Farooq Naik said. Bhutto also said her houses in Karachi and Larkana in the southern province of Sindh were under threat.

Musharraf imposed emergency rule in Pakistan on Nov. 3 as the Supreme Court neared a decision on the legality of his re- election as head of state while also serving as army chief.

Bhutto called Musharraf’s decision to suspend the constitution and impose emergency a mini martial law and said it jeopardized her power-sharing talks with the army ruler.

A lone gunman opened fire early Sunday morning in a training center for Christian missionary youth, just outside Denver, Colorado, killing two and wounding two others. The gunman walked into Youth With a Mission, began shooting, and then ran away, according to Colorado police.A young man from Alaska and woman from Minnesota, both in their mid-20’s, were killed, and two men aged 22 and 23, were wounded. One of the injured men was in critical condition.

The shooting occurred around 12:30am Sunday morning at the Youth With a Mission center in Arvada, Colorado.

The names of the victims are currently being withheld until authorities have notified their families. A memorial service for the the two who were killed will likely be held on Tuesday or Wednesday, said a rep from Youth With a Mission.

The gunman is still at-large, and police are actively trying to find him. He is believed to be a white male, about 20 years old. He may be wearing glasses and a dark skull cap or beanie, and may have a beard or mustache

Police are using dogs in their search efforts, and are hoping that the fresh snow outside the building may help them track the suspect.

Youth With a Mission has more than 1,000 locations worldwide, and trains people to become missionaries. Approximately 50 people were inside the location at Arvada when the gunman opened fire.

Pimp C, one-half of  hip-hop duo UGK, was found dead Tuesday morning in his room at the Mondrian Hotel in West Hollywood. He was 33 years old.

Craig Harvey, chief investigator at the Los Angeles County Coroner’s Office, said the rapper’s body would be examined Wednesday but a cause of death will likely be deferred pending additional tests. His officers were still at the scene early Tuesday evening.

L.A. County Fire found the rapper, whose real name was Chad Butler, dead in his bed at the Mondrian after responding to a 911 call by hotel security. The hotel released a statement that Pimp C’s family called and said the rapper was to have checked out the day before.

“Security personnel went to Mr. Butler’s room and found him in bed, apparently expired,” according to the hotel.

A Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said the death is being investigated by its homicide division.

A statement by Pimp C’s publicist said his manager “is asking that everyone please respect his family and those close to him at this time and refrain from rumors and innuendo.”

In Port Arthur, Butler’s mother, Weslyn “Mama Wes” Monroe, said she spoke with her son by telephone last week and found him excited about his latest project, a collaboration with Oscar-winning rap group Three 6 Mafia.

“He was in L.A., doing what he loved most,” Monroe said.

Pimp C’s death follows a commercial peak for UGK. Its first studio album in five years, Underground Kingz, was released in August. The two-CD opus tallied six-figure sales and gave the group its first No. 1 album, behind the popular single and video Intl’ Players Anthem (I Choose You).

The rapper had performed Saturday in Los Angeles with labelmate Too Short.

In addition to working with his UGK partner Bun B, Pimp C collaborated with rappers including Mike Jones and Chamillionaire. Those two took a Houston rap scene that he helped build to a national audience.

“It’s a sad day in the city. A legend has passed,” said Jones, who traded verses with Pimp C on 2006 single Pourin’ Up.

UGK’s breakthrough was a long time coming. The Port Arthur duo formed almost two decades ago when Pimp C left a group called Mission Impossible to work with Bun B. A Mission Impossible song, Underground Kingz, gave the duo its name.

Some underground tapes circulated before the duo recorded Too Hard to Swallow in 1992. UGK recorded several albums for major label Jive, while also working on locally-produced recordings, some with Houston’s late, legendary DJ Screw. Though big success took years, UGK had venerable status among Southern rappers.

“Pimp C is a true legend. As far as the South goes, as far as Houston goes, he was the definition of a true pioneer,” said rapper K-Rino, who also got his start on the local scene in the ’80s.

“(Pimp C) and UGK came along at a time — with the Geto Boys — and really hit the underground and then the mainstream when groups from the South weren’t getting exposure. They knocked down a lot of doors and let a lot of people shine.”

UGK earned its first taste of A-list attention with a guest shot on Jay-Z’s Big Pimpin’.

“I know a lot of guys that call themselves pimps, but he’s a real pimp,” said Brooke Valentine, a Houston-bred singer who featured Pimp C on her single Dope Girl.

The rough and tumble lifestyle that informed some of UGK’s music was sewn closely to Pimp C’s life. The group’s rise after the Jay-Z collaboration stopped when he was imprisoned in January 2002 after falling behind on community service required after pleading no contest to aggravated assault.

His label painted a kinder portrait of the artist. “He was truly a thoughtful and kind-hearted person,” said Jive Records president and CEO Barry Weiss. “I’ve known Chad since he was 18, and we loved him dearly.”

Pimp C was paroled in December 2005 and promptly issued a solo album, Pimpalation, in 2006. It was certified gold.

He then got to work with Bun B on a UGK album. The 26-track Underground Kingz showcased a barrage of explicit lyrics, hard club beats and trademark Southern swagger. It also played up the duo’s contrasting dynamic — Bun B’s cool flow vs. Pimp C’s more aggressive, animated rap attack.

The album’s release was a point of contention between the group and its label. Underground Kingz was first slated for retail in November 2006 but was held up. It was released nine months later. Pimp C was outspoken about his irritation at the way it was handled.

“The record was going to be thrown out there to the wolves, and they … really didn’t care,” he said in an August interview.

“Make no mistake — this record business is prostitution.”

Rick Martin, UGK’s manager, said Butler was looking forward to a new solo deal on Jive Records, a satellite radio show and a national cologne endorsement.

Pimp C is the second area rapper to die in the past few months. Kenneth “Big Moe” Moore died two months ago of a heart attack. Hip-hop artist John “Big Hawk” Hawkins was shot and killed outside his home in 2006.

“The situation is we have to step our game up,” K-Rino says. “The people who die, their job is done. They’re examples for the people who are still here. We have to see what a person’s death can teach us. What adjustments we can make on our life to make sure we get the best quality of life while we’re still around.

“My prayers go out to his family. We lost a true legend, but more than that, he had friends and a family, he had children.”

After a long fought battle with kidney cancer, Denise Richards’ mom Joni, died this week.

According to OK! Magazine, Denise Richards and her young daughters and father, held a two-week hospital bedside vigil during her mothers final days.

In February, the actress told PEOPLE her mother’s struggle with cancer was “hard,” and that she was helping to raise money for Houston’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, where her mom was being treated at the time.