Gordon Brown Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom We can’t carry on like this: an emergency of incredible proportions only half funded; vital days used up talking about aid fatigue — and what we have not done — instead of urgent need — what we now have to do. The Pakistan floods are the world’s biggest emergency — 60,000 square miles under water, 20 million people displaced, 14 million in need of emergency health care, six million short of food, two and a half million homeless. It is a tragedy whose book of names of lives lost, presumed dead, … Continue reading Gordon Brown and Pakistan Floods

Hating the Taliban The writer is head of research and analysis at the National Counter Terrorism Authority and senior superintendent of police A recently conducted poll in Pakistan has revealed escalating unpopularity of the Taliban since the inception of the group as a unified movement in 2007. The unpopularity of the Taliban amongst the general public rose from 34 per cent to 81 per cent during the period under review. This finding was coupled with the perception of al Qaeda as an existential threat to Pakistan, in roughly similar proportions to the rising unpopularity of the Taliban in Pakistan.  The … Continue reading Taliban are the common enemy?

Don’t act surprised — II The writer is a freelance print and broadcast journalist george.fulton@tribune.com.pk The kneejerk reaction from some designer patriots to my last piece surprised me. I certainly do not believe – as some people have claimed – that all 170 million Pakistanis are barbaric. That’s patently absurd. The point I was trying to make, perhaps clumsily, was that Pakistan has always been a society underpinned by latent brutality — so why the surprise over the Sialkot killings? Before we can improve a society, we need to acknowledge we have a problem. Too many of my detractors were … Continue reading Designer Patriots!

Even in calamities, religious differences prevail Relief camps see segregation on religious lines. QUETTA: Religious differences remain significant even in times of utmost crisis, as Hindu and Muslim flood victims chose to live separately after moving to relief camps in Quetta. Around 1,500 flood survivors from the Hindu community are taking shelter in the Arya Samaj and Krishna temples near the city centre, while another camp is set up at a Sikh temple in Quetta Cantonment. “We have been living separately because our established traditions, culture and norms are different from Muslims. Also, we are few in number so we … Continue reading The Mullahfication of Aid?

VIEW: The Manhattan mosque —Yasser Latif Hamdani President Obama and his government are now under great stress because of the difficult position the mosque issue has put the Obama administration in. Logically, there should not be a problem with building a place of worship, a right guaranteed under the First Amendment to the US Constitution, but the issue is much larger than one of freedom of faith The mosque in Manhattan has stirred a hornet’s nest. The issue now threatens to test the very ideals of western secular democracy that we admire and cherish and seek to emulate in the … Continue reading Manhattan mosque

COMMENT: After the deluge, what next —Dr Syed Mansoor Hussain The prophets of doom and gloom are out in full force predicting the end of Pakistan, the end of this government, the end of democracy or the end of something if not everything else If talking heads on TV and the punditocracy in Pakistan be believed, President Zardari is solely responsible for the floods and its consequences. Two years ago the same group were equally vehement in insisting that General Musharraf was responsible for all evil that visited Pakistan and that if he left everything would be just fine. And … Continue reading After the deluge, what next

COMMENT: We must keep the economy afloat —Muhammad Aftab We expect larger inflows of home remittances from the overseas Pakistanis, who would like to help their flood-hit families to rebuild homes and buy household equipment. The volume of imported inputs on this account, and to help industrial revival and infrastructure development is also likely to rise substantially. But, everyone needs to jump on board We must do everything to keep the economy afloat. By this I mean business, industry, farmers, the people, and the government — not the government alone. This is essential because the flood havoc, fifth week into … Continue reading Pakistan must keep the economy afloat

All together now… where’s our tea?: The baby swallows who’s nest was saved from demolition By Daily Mail Reporter These baby swallows have much to chirp about. Their nest, built in a barn that was about to be demolished, was saved in an elaborate removal operation by the building’s owners. Colin and Susy Varndell covered it in a tea towel, cut away the beam to which it was attached, and then reattached the beam to a part of the barn in Netherbury, Dorset, that was being left. The parents soon found their chicks, which leaves the youngsters nothing to worry … Continue reading Baby Swallows

Stand aside, the behe-moths of the insect world have arrived By Mail Online Reporter With their stunning colours and 12in wingspan they’re not the sort of insect you could ignore. And now not just one but nine of the world’s largest months have hatched at a butterfly sanctuary in Gloucestershire. The giant Atlas moths emerged from their chrysalises at Berkeley Castle Butterfly House. And stretch … Atlas moths are named after the intricate, colourful map-like patterns on their wings It is the first time the moths have successfully bred and hatched offspring in two years The sole purpose in life … Continue reading Englands Moths

Muslims donate nearly $1 billion to Pakistan Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi greets Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) secretary-general Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu before attending a conference on emergency assistance for flood victims in Islamabad. -AFP Photo ISLAMABAD: Muslim countries, organizations and individuals have pledged nearly $1 billion in cash and relief supplies to help Pakistan respond to the worst floods in the nation’s history, the head of a group of Islamic states said Sunday. The announcement came as floodwaters inundated a large town in Pakistan and authorities struggled to build new levees with clay and stone to prevent one of … Continue reading Muslims pledge nearly $1 billion to Pakistan