Controversial father of Pakistan nuclear bomb dies at age 85

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Family members say Abdul Qadeer Khan, a controversial figure known as the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, has died of COVID-19 following a lengthy illness. He was 85. Khan, who launched Pakistan on the path to becoming a nuclear weapons power in the early 1970s, died in a hospital in the capital Islamabad. Thousands of people attended a state funeral at the massive white-marble Faisal Mosque in the capital. His body arrived with an honor guard and military and political dignitaries offered funeral prayers. Flags in Pakistan flew at half-staff.