By Wu Zhong, China Editor HONG KONG – It was not much of a surprise when the power center of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) announced in April that Wang Lequan, the “King of Xinjiang”, was being removed as party secretary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in northwest China. It was a surprise, however, when the People’s Daily, the CCP’s flagship newspaper, published a lengthy special report on May 7 praising Wang’s “contributions to the stability and prosperity in Xinjiang” over the past two decades. Publishing a report that salutes a provincial leader who has just been removed is rare – … Continue reading Beijing seeks a fresh start in Xinjiang

By Jerrold Kessel and Pierre Klochendler JERUSALEM – Suddenly, the Middle East is awash with talk of war this summer. Or, is the talk of war merely meant to keep real war at bay? Moshe Ya’alon, Israel’s strategic affairs minister and a former chief of staff, declared that Israel was essentially in confrontation with Iran already. War talk or soothing antidote, Ya’alon added his personal warning that Israel has the capability to strike at the Islamic Republic. Speaking at the Air and Space Strategic Studies Institute, north ofTel Aviv, Ya’alon said bluntly: “As far as I’m concerned, offence remains the best form of … Continue reading Israel, Iran talking war to ward off war?

By Richard M Bennett Tehran‘s only genuine first strike or retaliatory capability against Israel in the event of an attack on Iran remains the thousands of medium- and longer-range missiles massed in Lebanon under the control of Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah. These weapons are an immediate and actual threat to most of northern and central Israel. It would seem inconceivable that any planned Israeli attack on Tehran’s nuclear infrastructure could fail to seriously take into account that such an operation would almost certainly bring an immediate and incessant barrage of Iranian and Syrian-supplied missiles against Haifa, Tel Aviv and even Jerusalem. The … Continue reading Israel has its eyes on Hezbollah

By Tom Engelhardt On stage, it would be farce. In Afghanistan and Pakistan, it’s bound to play out as tragedy. Less than two months ago, President Barack Obama flew into Afghanistan for six hours – essentially to read the riot act to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, whom his ambassador had only months before termed “not an adequate strategic partner”. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen followed within a day to deliver his own “stern message”. While still on Air Force One, National Security Adviser James Jones offered reporters a version of the tough talk Obama was bringing with … Continue reading Obama’s AfPak flip-flop

ROVER’S DIARY: Idiot bomber and Hillary —Babar Ayaz When Pakistan, which had installed the Taliban in Afghanistan and supported it financially, morally and militarily, asked Mullah Omar to choose between Osama and Pakistan, he opted to side with Osama “Sub-prime bomber” and “an idiot bomber” is how Faisal Shahzad, who tried to blow up Times Square, has been labelled by the US media. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) proudly owned the ‘idiot’. So far nothing is surprising if one understands the complexities of the ongoing jihadi streak among rabid Muslims across the globe. But the knee-jerk reaction of an otherwise mature politician, Hillary … Continue reading Idiot bomber and Hillary

VIEW: Confronting the Taliban apologists —Ammar Zafarullah The time has come for the silent majority to break its silence and speak out loud against the blatant atrocities of the Taliban “Terrorism is the tactic of demanding the impossible and demanding it at gunpoint” —Christopher Hitchens. The aforementioned rationale is not shared by many here who are staunch advocates of making peace with the demons. Every now and then a violent act claims several cherished lives. As we mourn the lost ones and seek refuge in the rituals burial, a sense of vulnerability and frustration keeps on mounting and most start losing … Continue reading Confronting the Taliban apologists

development: Preventing child smuggling —Syed Mohammad Ali Research reveals that many underage girls continue going to the Gulf States from Pakistan to serve as ‘entertainers’. Agents help the families of these girls obtain fake birth certificates stating they are 20-years-old, when, in fact, they are four to five years younger than that During the past week, the Supreme Court held a hearing based on a suo motu notice of the problem of child smuggling and has directed the interior ministry to report back within a month why no action has been taken against those responsible. This show of judicial activism was … Continue reading Preventing child smuggling

view: The phantasmagoria called Muslim women —Ishtiaq Ahmed Whenever outmoded religious laws and practices stood in the way of progress, reformers started an internal critique and ended up recommending that the secular state, respectful of religion as a spiritual and moral code as well as of the human rights of individuals, alone can serve as the basis of a pluralist democracy The past few days have been filled with such dramatically contrasting news about the fortunes of Muslim women that one can call them a phantasmagoria. A phantasmagoria is a changing scene made up of many elements in which the changes … Continue reading The phantasmagoria called Muslim women

By Martin J Young HUA HIN, Thailand – Microsoft’s cash cow is set to get fatter this week as the software giant rolls out the latest version of its Office productivity suite. In years that Microsoft does not launch new operating systems, most of the company’s profits come from corporate licensing of Office, which primarily consists of the familiar applications of Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Access amongst other programs. Office 2010, which hit the shelves on Wednesday, is poised to set a precedence for the firm, which is eager to thwart rivals such as Google that are leading the … Continue reading Office 2010 in the clouds?