Obama and Netanyahu all smiles By Jim Lobe WASHINGTON – Insisting that the bond between their two nations was “unbreakable”, United States President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu emerged all smiles from their long-awaited White House meeting here on Tuesday. Speaking before reporters, the two men, whose last encounter here in March appeared to confirm a crisis in bilateral ties, lavished compliments on each other. “[T]he fact of the matter is, is that I’ve trusted Prime Minister Netanyahu since I met him before I was elected president,” declared Obama before the two leaders were joined by their … Continue reading Obama and Netanyahu in Love?

Afghan probe excluded key witnesses By Gareth Porter and Ahmad Walid Fazly WASHINGTON – A follow-up investigation ordered by General Stanley McChrystal in early April of a botched Special Operations Forces (SOF) raid in Gardez, in Afghanistan’s eastern Paktia province, on February 12 was ostensibly aimed at reconciling divergent Afghan and United States accounts of what happened during and after the raid, in which two government officials and three women were killed. That implied that the US investigators would finally do what they had failed to do in an earlier investigation – interview the eyewitnesses. But three eyewitnesses who had … Continue reading Afghan probe sham?

Al-Qaeda’s new man eyes Pakistan By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – One chapter in the Afghan war came to an end with the killing in May of al-Qaeda’s number three and Afghan operations chief Mustafa Abu al-Yazid in a drone attack in Pakistan’s North Waziristan tribal area. The appointment of a new commander, Egyptian Sheikh Fateh al-Misri, previously not an al-Qaeda member and in Afghanistan only as a battle-hardened Arab fighter, marks the beginning of a shift in al-Qaeda’s strategy that aims for a more focused guerrilla war in Afghanistan. Al-Qaeda’s Pakistan operations will be used to complement the battle … Continue reading Al-Qaeda strategy against Pakistan

THE LIFE OF SALADIN AD 1138-1193 AND THE FALL OF THE KINGDOM OF JERUSALEM By Stanley Lane-Poole CHAPTER I. SALADIN’S WORLD. IN the year 1132 a broken army, flying before its pursuers, reached the left bank of the Tigris. On the other side, upon a steep cliff, stood the impregnable Fortress of Tekrit, defended landwards by a deep moat and accessible only by secret steps cut in the rock and leading from the heart of the citadel to the water’s edge. The one hope of the fugitives was to attain the refuge of the castle, and their fate turned upon … Continue reading THE LIFE OF SALADIN

John’s Childhood John was born a stranger to the world of children who used to amuse themselves, as he was serious all the time. Most children took delight in torturing animals whereas, he was merciful to them. He fed the animals from his food until there was nothing left for him, and he just ate fruit or leaves of trees. John loved reading since childhood. When he grew up, Allah the Exalted called upon him: “0 John! Hold fast to the Scripture (The Torah).” And We gave him wisdom while yet a child. Surah 19: 12 John’s Qualities Allah guided … Continue reading John The Baptist/Prophet Yahya [PBUH]

A gentleman’s dialogue with Hamas By Sami Moubayed DAMASCUS – Israel remains puzzled on how to handle the Palestinian military group Hamas. Former chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization Yasser Arafat could not eliminate its leadership, nor could his successor, Palestinian National Authority (PNA) President Mahmoud Abbas. A war in December 2008 failed at bombing the military group out of existence. Boycotting Hamas and turning the international community against it also did not work. Launching a media smear campaign to make it look like a chain in the global network of terrorism, something similar to al-Qaeda, has also failed to … Continue reading Israel is talking with Hamas?

By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – The twin suicide attacks on Thursday on the shrine of a Sufi saint in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore in which more than 40 people were killed and nearly 200 injured will most likely force the government to reluctantly take action against Punjabi militants while also derailing Washington’s efforts to open dialogue with the Taliban through Pakistan. The attacks in the capital of Punjab province – also known as the country’s cultural capital – took place in the late evening, with the first bombing in the basement reserved for ablutions followed a few … Continue reading Peace sacrificed in shrine attack

Sex scandal rocks Iraqi’s Shi’ites By IWPR-trained reporters BAGHDAD – A top-level Shi’ite cleric has been defrocked over sexually explicit videos posted on the Internet that have outraged devout communities across Iraq and tarnished the image of the sect’s highest religious body. Munaf Hamdan Naji al-Mosawi, a close aide to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani for 11 years, has gone into hiding after intimate footage apparently recorded on his mobile phone ended up in the hands of neighbors, who marched to his home in Amara to demand the return of their religious donations, according to Institute for War and Peace Reporting … Continue reading Top Mullah in Sex Scandal!

The creeping coup By Kamran Shafi Men mourn the death of a relative at a hospital in Lahore, following suicide bomb attacks at the Data Ganj Bakhsh. –AFP Photo As I sit listening to possibly the greatest song — ‘Alif Allah Chambey Di Booty’ by the incomparable Arif Lohar, and the remarkable Meesha Shafi — to come out of the Land of the Pure for many, many years, especially after the passing away of the great (and unlamented in this barren desert of a country) Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, and start to write this piece, with tears in my eyes … Continue reading Satanic Mullahs and Pakistan

A date with death Scientists are getting closer to predicting the date – and cause – of our deaths. But would you want to know? Open thread guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 July 2010 15.15 BST Article history US scientists have developed a genetic test that would help to predict a person’s chances of reaching the age of 100. Photograph: Oli Scarff/Getty ImagesIt may sound like the stuff of horror movies and spooky fortune tellers, but predicting the date of someone’s death seems to be drawing ever closer to becoming scientific reality. Last week, US scientists developed a genetic test that would … Continue reading Predicting death