Surveillance system monitors conversations A controversial covert surveillance system that records the public’s conversations is being used in Britain. telegraph.co.uk The devices are designed to distinguish between distress calls, threatening behaviour and general shouting. Photo: ALAMY The technology, called Sigard, monitors movements and speech to detect signs of threatening behaviour. Its designers claim the system can anticipate anti-social behaviour and violence by analysing the information picked up its sensors. Related Articles Police cameras to be regulated Internet records to be stored for a year General Sir Richard Dannatt: A heroic advocate of the Army Councils use bugs to spy on … Continue reading British peoples conversations monitored

They suffered under the mujahideen and the Taliban – but Afghan Sikhs still feel a strong bond with the country Nushin Arbabzadah guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 6 July 2010 10.00 BST Article history Few people outside Afghanistan are aware of the Afghan Sikh community: a little-known, inconspicuous religious minority whose mass exodus from Afghanistan began with the coming to power of the mujahideen in 1992. The decision to leave Afghanistan at that particular juncture made sense. After all, the new rulers had an established reputation for religious intolerance. The collapse of the Soviet-backed regime had left Afghan Sikhs in a vulnerable position. … Continue reading Afghan Sikhs: forgotten victims

Clothing and accessories that men hate on women By Afsheen Omartribune.com.pk Where women try their best to look good with the styles in vogue, men have a completely different point of view regarding fashion. Women are known to be more conscious of their bodies, and ongoing trends, trying to keep up with the latest ones and claiming to own the ‘first of its kind’ pieces. Where women try their best to look good with the styles in vogue, men have a completely different point of view regarding fashion. Asking around, it seems a lot of men (to remain anonymous) highly … Continue reading Do you hate women wearing these?

By Faraz Maqsood Hamiditribune.com.pk 1. Dear Aries: Bugger. The zodiac has officially conspired to make you its bugger-in-chief. Because only you know how to really bug the universe. Your passion (read aggression), unfailing sense of adventure (read aggression), and love for advantage (read aggression) have scarred your back from many unseen daggers. 2. Dear Taurus: You won’t be moved by this summation. Because you never do. Move, that is. Your efforts to remain stationary have pre-ordained you to eternal bovinity. (That’s not a word, by the way, but do you even care?) Your persistence at procrastinating helps you inch closer to … Continue reading 10 things I hate about Horror-scopes

By Yousuf Nazartribune.com.pk The writer is an analyst (yousaf.nazar@tribune.com.pk) Pakistan’s failure to evolve as a stable and civilised society with a viable political system relates to some fundamental contradictions with deep roots in its history. It needs to come to terms with and recognise what may be unpleasant facts that have contributed to doubts about national identity, pervasive hypocrisy, misconceptions about the role of religion in the affairs of the state, and failure to generate a climate for honest public discourse perversely dominated by a section of media patronised by the intelligence agencies. The nature of the establishment-media-mullah nexus has … Continue reading A nation in denial

By Ayesha Siddiqatribune.com.pk The writer is author of Military Inc. and a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University, US (ayesha.siddiqa@tribune.com.pk) Quite a few people are anxious about the recent death and destruction at Data Darbar, Lahore. While the government and its agencies must be rummaging through heaps of evidence, there are some who already have an answer. The Hizbut-Tehrer (HuT), a movement for global jihad’s Pakistan chapter, has already committed its findings for its supporters and potential followers on the internet and its press releases. One of HuT’s press release condemns American for involvement in the recent attacks in Lahore. … Continue reading Who’s behind the Lahore attack?

Tolerance for our inner terrorist by Rabia Mehmood tribune.com.pk ‘Data Sahib’ was a place which represented religious harmony I might get my share of hate mail if this piece finds it way online and people read it. Actually, I wanted to claim responsibility for the attacks. I want to share some burden. I want to say that what happened at the Data Darbar was our own doing, we the people of Pakistan brought it upon us. Living in a society which openly engages in discourse where those who have different religious beliefs will always be vulnerable to a death wish… … Continue reading The inner terrorist

The violence seen in Lahore last week was aided by a bigoted constitution. How has stock in our nationhood plummeted so? Basim Usmani guardian.co.uk, Monday 5 July 2010 09.01 BST Article history The recent attacks on a prominent shrine in Lahore demonstrate how the unrest in Pakistan is caused by a minority of few who cannot tolerate the plurality of beliefs in Pakistan. The Tehrik-e-Taliban are lying through their teeth when they claim that they do not attack public places. It’s becoming more and more apparent that these militants aren’t resisting American hegemony; this a war to determine Pakistan’s future … Continue reading Sectarianism has poisoned Pakistan

We are not xenophobes By labelling those who question the EU, Europhiles are trying to take dissent and debate off the agenda Daniel Hannan guardian.co.uk, Sunday 4 July 2010 22.00 BST Article history I am, Guardian readers keep telling me, a xenophobe. Never mind that I speak French and Spanish, that I love Europe, that I’ve lived a high proportion of my life abroad. The fact that I oppose the political amalgamation of the European Union’s states is ipso facto proof that I dislike foreigners. Last week I took part in a debate in Brussels about the euro crisis. The … Continue reading Xenophobes or Eurosceptics?

It would help the debate if we had more than one word for something that comes in so many different guises Simon Woolley The Guardian, Monday 5 July 2010 Article history It’s said that the Inuit people have more than 50 words to describe snow. In one of the most contentious debates taking place in modern Britain, though, we have only one crude term to describe a whole range of individual and institutional practices and prejudices: “racism”. This often blunt instrument becomes even more problematic when we consider that to be labelled a racist is only marginally better than being called … Continue reading Racism has shades of grey