JI deputy amir booked for beating cop By Imran Hafeez KARACHI: A case has been registered against five members of the Jamat-i-Islami (JI), including its deputy amir, on charges of assaulting the police. The deputy amir, Farooque Naymatullah, who is a former nazim of Gulberg Town’s union council 5, allegedly attacked the Gulberg Town SP at a JI rally on May 9, Sunday. He was arrested along with Sajjad Dara, JI central district amir Syed Muhammad Iqbal, two activists Altamash Khan and Naseem Mughal. According to the Yousuf Plaza police, SP Asim, who was patrolling the area, asked the JI … Continue reading JI mullah booked for beating cop – will Pakistani police still continue to take a soft line with mullahs?

200,000 Facebook fans want me back: Musharraf By Agencies/Jahanzaib Haquetribune.com.pk Former President Musharraf could face trial if he returns to Pakistan. (AFP) Former president Pervez Musharraf has said that he has 200,000 fans on the social networking site Facebook, and they want him to return to Pakistan. In a recent video message addressed to the members of his newly established party – the All-Pakistan Muslim League (APML), Musharraf said he believed Pakistan has the potential to progress as a developed and prosperous country, and he promised not to let down his fans. Earlier, Musharraf also lauded his supporters for attempting to hold … Continue reading Facebook fans want me back: Musharraf

Falling through the cracks by Sehar Tariq dawn.com On April 13, Ishfaq Hussain, a second-year student at Aga Khan University committed suicide. No one knows why he died. He left a suicide note but this has been confiscated by the Aga Khan administration. All that is left of this young man is a few news stories. Those seem to be fading fast too because he wasn’t the son of anyone important or the popular guy friendly with savvy internet warriors on his side, fighting to keep his name alive online. As I tried to learn more about the life of … Continue reading Suicide at Aga Khan University

dawn.com ‘Starving yogi’ astounds Indian scientists Indian sadhu Prahlad Jani gives a traditional greeting as he takes part in a press conference at a hospital in Ahmedbad on May 6, 2010. – AFP Sci-Tech Mercury high in Japanese town that hunts dolphins Mercury high in Japanese town that hunts dolphins AHMEDABAD: An 83-year-old Indian holy man who says he has spent seven decades without food or water has astounded a team of military doctors who studied him during a two-week observation period. Prahlad Jani spent a fortnight in a hospital in the western India state of Gujarat under constant surveillance … Continue reading ‘Starving yogi’ astounds scientists

The 10 weirdest physics facts, from relativity to quantum physics People who think science is dull are wrong. Here are 10 reasons why. By Tom Chivers telegraph.cco.uk Albert Einstein, who pointed out that the faster you move, the heavier you get Photo: AFP/GETTY The double slit experiment Photo: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS The curvature of space-time Photo: WIKIMEDIA COMMONS – ATAMARI Cherenkov radiation in the Argonne nuclear reactor. Photo: ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY The galaxy NGC-1097. A gargantuan black hole forms the eye at the centre Photo: NASA Events in the future can affect what happened in the past Photo: PHILIP HOLLIS Physics … Continue reading 10 weirdest physics facts, from relativity to quantum physics

Egypt’s peaceful Muslims are being denied religious freedoms as the influence of conservative Salafism grows Baher Ibrahim guardian.co.uk Whenever religious freedom is discussed in Egypt, the topic inevitably turns to the status of the Christian Copts. Thousands of articles have been written about Egypt’s Copts and how they are denied their religious freedoms, but it almost never occurs to anyone that even Sunni Muslims are being deprived of their basic rights to religious freedom and worship. That is exactly what happened at the end of last month when the ministry of awqaf (religious endowments) decided to ban Egypt’s Sufi orders … Continue reading Salafi intolerance threatens Sufis?

Prevent: a dangerous policy failure This counter-terrorism scheme has ended up stigmatising Muslims, undermining security rather than bolstering it Oliver McTernan guardian.co.uk We have been warned that regardless of who forms the new government we should brace ourselves for savage cuts in public spending. Presumably all government programmes will be scrutinised for value to the community and cost-effectiveness. Hopefully high on the list will be the Preventing Violent Extremism programme (Prevent), which has not only proved to be highly contentious but has also cost the UK taxpayer a staggering £140m in 2008-09 alone. Prevent is part of the Contest strategy, … Continue reading Prevent: New Labours dangerous policy failure that ended up stigmatising Muslims

Two votes of no confidence The political class in Britain and Germany have finally woken up to the fact that the public no longer trusts them Denis MacShane guardian.co.uk The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, saw her party lose votes in a recent regional election. Photograph: Tobias Schwarz/REUTERS German politics faces a new nightmare as voters in Germany’s biggest land, North Rhine Westphalia, punished the ruling chancellor, Angela Merkel, but refused to give confidence to the opposition Social Democrats. With its 13 million inhabitants North Rhine Westphalia is as big as a middling EU member state. Now Merkel’s Christian Democratic party … Continue reading The political class has finally woken?

Hamid Karzai is failing Afghan women Afghanistan’s president doesn’t seem to understand that without the inclusion of women there will be no lasting peace Anber Raz guardian.co.uk Women in Afghanistan are still politically excluded. Photograph: S. Sabawoon/EPA The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is hosting a “peace jirga” in Kabul at the end of this month. Its purpose, he told a news conference, will be to “get guidance from the Afghan people on how to move forward reintegration and reconciliation, where reconciliation may be possible” with the Taliban. The decision to reintegrate the Taliban by offering so-called “moderate” members government … Continue reading Is the US and UK fighting against Afghan women?