David Cameron’s words are being used to justify Indian repression in Kashmir Pakistan criticism has shifted focus away from deaths in Kashmir Murtaza Shibli guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 3 August 2010 15.31 BST Article history Indian police walk past burning tyres used as a barricade by Kashmiri Muslims during an anti-India protest. Photograph: Keystone/Rex FeaturesKashmiris may have become the unintended victims of David Cameron’s verbal attack on Pakistan, which has encouraged the hardline Indian establishment to continue to brutalise Kashmiris in the Kashmir Valley, an open-air prison camp much like Gaza. As a salesman determined to shift as much deadly weaponry as … Continue reading David Cameron and Kashmir

Pakistan’s corrosive inequality Zardari’s decision to visit Europe as Pakistan is ravaged by floods reflects the elite’s flagrant indifference to human suffering Mustafa Qadri guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 10.00 BST Article history More than 1,000 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands stranded due to flash floods in Pakistan. Photograph: Hammad Khan Farooqi/EPAContempt for human life is at the heart of Pakistan’s miseries. Although the relationship between rich and poor is complex and far from monolithically asymmetrical, fundamental inequalities make progress difficult. How else to explain our president’s decision to visit Europe while the country suffers one of … Continue reading Zardaris indifference

Keeping Saudi women tagged by text Text alerts for men when their female charges leave Saudi alone is the new frontline in the country’s technology war Nesrine Malik guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 15.00 BST Article history Want to know whether your wife, sister or daughter has left the county? Well, in Saudi Arabia, there’s an app for that. Reportedly, male guardians or mahrams in Saudi Arabia are now receiving text message notifications when their female charges leave the country unaccompanied. “iMahram”, a friend of mine jokingly called it. According to Wajeha al-Huwaider, a Saudi female activist, when she left … Continue reading Tag the Women!

End of the line for mobile calls? Good We’re talking less on mobiles, apparently. I can’t wait for the time I won’t have to overhear stupid, shouty conversations Anna Pickard guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 17.00 BST Article history It’s not good to talk any more. Photograph: Martin Argles for the GuardianSo the word on the party line is that mobile phone calls are falling out of fashion as people find other uses for their handsets. Well, good. It’s about time. Yes, it’s useful to be able to make a call in an emergency, and yes, mobiles are a powerful … Continue reading End of mobile calls?

The time to organise resistance is now We reject these cuts as simply malicious ideological vandalism, hitting the most vulnerable the hardest. Join us in the fight Tony Benn and 73 others guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 15.32 BST Article history It is time to organise a broad movement of active resistance to the Con-Dem government’s budget intentions. They plan the most savage spending cuts since the 1930s, which will wreck the lives of millions by devastating our jobs, pay, pensions, NHS, education, transport, postal and other services. The government claims the cuts are unavoidable because the welfare state has … Continue reading coalitionofresistance@mail.com

Forty US billionaires pledge to give away half their fortunes to charity Bill Gates’s and Warren Buffett’s campaign draws in top names including George Lucas and Michael Bloomberg • In pictures: the billionaires hoping to give something back Andrew Clark in New York guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 4 August 2010 15.53 BST Article history Bill and Melinda Gates with Warren Buffett (right), who has decided to give away most of his fortune. Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesThe world of philanthropy got a huge financial boost today as more than 30 American billionaires pledged to give away at least half of their fortunes to … Continue reading Bill Gates’s decides he can’t take his money when he dies

COMMENT: Letters concerning toleration — I —Ahmad Ali Khalid Faith is a matter of the heart and a concept of deep and inner conviction. No amount of violence and force can sow the seeds of religiosity and faith in the hearts of human beings. Such a transformation can only come about through compassion and mercy In the late 17th century, John Locke, one of the founders and theorists of classical liberalism and modern liberal thought, wrote a letter (‘A Letter Concerning Toleration’) about the virtues and difficulties of tolerance. His letter started a debate about the very meaning of faith, … Continue reading Letters concerning toleration

Airships: a second age They were once the future of travel. Now, more than 70 years after the Hindenburg crash, engineers are designing a new fleet of airships By Horatia Harrod dawn.com The future of air travel? The HAV3 prototype in remote-controlled flight The historic British R101 airship on its mast at Cardington Photo: Trinity Mirror / Mirrorpix / Alamy The HAV3 after a test flight at Cardington Airfield; in the background is one of the iconic hangars At Cardington Airfield, just south of Bedford, two vast corrugated steel hangers tower over the surrounding area. More than 800ft long – … Continue reading Airships: the next generation?

WASHINGTON DIARY: Why the US cannot leave Afghanistan —Dr Manzur Ejaz Pakistan — poised to become an industrial society like South Korea — was subverted to become more like a pauper desert kingdom of the Gulf. Of course, Pakistan’s internal mechanism played a major role but as an external force, the US encouraged the regressive processes to take hold The perception of CIA infallibly having the omnipotent powers of the Almighty has been destroyed by WikiLeaks’ disclosure of over 91,000 sensitive US security documents — amounting to the biggest leak in history and showed chinks in the CIA’s armour. However, … Continue reading US cannot leave Afghanistan like this….

Group to fight vote clearing way for NYC mosque : NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg (L) and Council Speaker Christine Quinn hold a press conference on Governor’s Island across from the Statue of Liberty to speak about the NYC Landmarks Commission vote to deny 45-47 Park Place landmark status on August 03, 2010 in New York City. -AFP Photo dawn.com NEW YORK: Plans for an Islamic community center and mosque near ground zero moved forward as a city panel opened the way for developers to tear down a building that was struck by airplane debris on Sept. 11. Even as the … Continue reading Fanatics to fight vote clearing way for NYC mosque