Come clean, there is still time By Kamran Shafi dawn.com Maryam Saddiqui, the missing daughter of Aafia Siddiqui, has been identified after mysteriously reappearing on her family’s doorstep, a top Pakistani official said. The 12-year-old is one of three children of Aafia Siddiqui. –AP Photo It’s official: according to none other than this journal of record, the 12-year old child “left outside a house in Karachi [on Sunday, April 4, 2008] is the missing daughter of Dr Aafia Siddiqui, the neuroscientist who was convicted in a US court for shooting at her US interrogators in Afghanistan.” The child was left … Continue reading Come clean, there is still time

Afghan anger at US casualty payments By Habiburrahman Ibrahimi KABUL – An ad hoc system of payments by the United States military primarily to victims of its Helmand operations has enraged Afghans who feel a price has been put on their lives. The existence of payment guidelines for commanders in the field regarding civilian casualties was first reported by Western media in February and quickly picked up by their Afghan counterparts. According to the original Associated Press report, the death of a child or adult is worth US$1,500 to $2,500, loss of limb and other injuries $600 to $1,500, a … Continue reading Afghan anger at US casualty payments

‘Ignorance’ leads to botched Afghan raids By Gareth Porter WASHINGTON – A Special Operations Forces (SOF) raid on February 12 on what was supposed to be the compound of a Taliban leader but killed three women and two Afghan government officials demonstrated a fatal weakness of the United States military engagement in Afghanistan: after eight years of operating there, the US military still has no understanding of the personal, tribal and other socio-political conflicts. In targeting the suspected Taliban in such raids, therefore, the US military command has been forced to rely on informants of unknown reliability – and motives. … Continue reading American Ignorance!

Kandahar crossroads for NATO By Syed Saleem Shahzad ISLAMABAD – Afghan President Hamid Karzai has threatened to attempt to delay or have cancelled the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s planned summer offensive against the Taliban in the southern province of Kandahar, even as more than 10,000 American troops have poured in for the battle. However, there may be a more compelling reason to delay the Kandahar offensive, which, after the recent operation in Marjah in Helmand province, would be the biggest in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001: across the border in Pakistan, the tribal areas are not, … Continue reading Kandahar – what is NATO up to?

Croatian teenager wakes from coma speaking fluent German A 13-year-old Croatian girl who fell into a coma woke up speaking fluent German. The girl, from the southern town of Knin, had only just started studying German at school and had been reading German books and watching German TV to become better, but was by no means fluent, according to her parents. Since waking up from her 24 hourcoma however, she has been unable to speak Croatian, but is able to communicate perfectly in German. Doctors at Split’s KB Hospital claim that the case is so unusual, various experts have examined … Continue reading Can you wake up German?

No, your eyes aren’t deceiving you – 3D really is a con Avatar has seen Hollywood re-embrace the format, but it’s all about gimmickry, not creative film-making Mark Kermode The Observer, Sam Worthington in Clash Of The Titans, which has been retro-fitted into 3D. Photograph: Jay Maidment Like it or loathe it, 3D is everywhere, the 21st century equivalent of the snood. Last week, Sky launched its new 3D channel by screening Chelsea’s victory at Old Trafford in a “revolutionary” format designed to bring the excitement of the Premier League right into your local. All the major electronics companies are bombarding … Continue reading 3D Films – A Con?

Halal comedy? You might as well ask for halal bacon The organiser said not to talk about religion, sex or the president. But when you tell a comedian not to do something … In all the countries that I have travelled to to perform standup comedy – the United States being a regular destination – I have never been held up or interrogated at customs. Or I hadn’t, until I arrived in Pakistan last week. I spent six hours at Lahore customs, as I did not have a visa in my British passport to enter the country. The people who organised my gig had … Continue reading Halal Pork – Only in Pakistan!

Your life, your choice! Continue reading PROOF: Eating McDonalds makes you a psycho!

Police investigate homosexual link in Terreblanche killing South African police are investigating whether there was a link between homosexual sex and the murder of far-Right leader Eugene Terreblanche at him farm. telegraph.co.uk Police had earlier said a pay dispute led to the killing of Eugene Terreblanche. Photo: Sipa Press/Rex Features Puna Moroko, the lawyer for Chris Mahlangu, 28, the elder of two people accused of the killing, said that “something shocking happened on that day”. A police spokesman confirmed that was among possibilities being investigated. Police had earlier said a pay dispute had led to the killing of Mr Terreblanche, … Continue reading Terreblanche indulged in Gay sex with black killer?

We don’t need a messiah (and anyway, it isn’t me) Coincidence led to my being hailed as a prince of peace. But change will come from our own hard work, not a deity Raj Patel guardian.co.uk Firstborn sons of British Asian families aren’t so much raised as feted, and as a child I became quite comfortable being a little prince. At seven years old, I wanted the privileges of primogeniture to carry on forever. When people asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I responded with the full spectrum of acceptable answers: Accountant! Dentist! Quantity Surveyor! Secretly, … Continue reading EXCLUSIVE: The Messiah Speaks!