dawn.com Two toads are on their way to a lake in a forest. – Reuters Photo Scientists find early dinosaur cousin PARIS: For ages, mankind has craved a tool that can provide early warning of that terrifying moment when the earth begins to shake.But if a scientific paper published on Wednesday is confirmed, we may at last have found one. The best hope yet of an earthquake predictor could lie in a small, brown, knobbly amphibian, it suggests. The male common toad (Bufo bufo) gave five days’ warning of the earthquake that ravaged the town of L’Aquila in central Italy … Continue reading Toad is a telltale for impending earthquakes

From NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa By Ismail Khan dawn.com People are seen in a busy market in Peshawar, March 31, 2010. — AP Govt tables 18th Amendment Bill in parliament PESHAWAR: It took 109 years to correct a historical wrong and what a journey it has been. It was in 1901, when the North-West Frontier Province was carved out of Punjab. The province was merged into what was called One Unit in 1955, with Lahore becoming the capital of the new administrative unit. Gen Yahya Khan dissolved the One Unit in July 1970 and restored the provinces of the NWFP, … Continue reading NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa!

US Marines offer war or peace to Afghan elders dawn.com Tribal leaders gather in the desert for a meeting with US Marines of 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines, in Sistani, Helmand province, on March 28, 2010. – AFP Peace body chief shot dead near Peshawar SISTANI: The tribal elders gathered in the desert outside Marjah, the frontline of the US-led battle in southern Afghanistan to provide services and security after years of Taliban control. Around 20 sat in a circle, waiting for Lieutenant Colonel Brian Christmas, US Marine commander in northern Marjah who has – so far – kept American troops … Continue reading Marines offer war or peace to Afghan elders

Indian designers go back to their roots as retro-chic rules dawn.com Models presents a creation by Indian designer Tarun Tahiliani during the Wills India Fashion Week in New Delhi.–AFP Photo Media Gallery Travelling cinema Travelling cinema NEW DELHI: Raw silk, cotton, jute – India’s traditional fabrics are finding favour among top designers raring to break new ground in the highly competitive Indian fashion market.The tendency to ape Western cuts and style in recent years has seen the country’s own rich craftsmanship take a backseat. But a reversal in the trend was evident at this year’s Wills India Fashion Week, where … Continue reading Back to their roots as retro-chic rules!

Waking the Middle East up to animal rights A few activists are struggling to establish animal rights in the Middle East – but they face misunderstanding and prejudice Joseph Mayton guardian.co.uk A Palestinian youth drags a sheep to be slaughtered for Eid al-Adha in Ramallah. Photograph: Muhammed Muheisen/AP We were screaming through a Beirut suburb as bombs started to fall. Reaching the end of the road, the driver took a sharp left and came to a screeching stop as the two young Lebanese women quickly hopped out the vehicle, cages in hand and ran into the building. When they emerged … Continue reading Struggling to establish animal rights in the Middle East

The curse of public swearing From ‘fcuk’ to ‘fancy a quick Rank?’, coarseness is big business – but should we care about the rise of public profanity? Ryan Gilbey guardian.co.uk Schoolyard naughtiness … A French Connection shop sign. Photograph: David Sillitoe Last Sunday, I took my nine-year-old daughter swimming. There was a towel hanging up at the poolside, bearing the letters “fcuk“. “Isn’t that a rude word?” she grinned. “Almost,” I replied. After swimming, we passed a billboard advertising an exhibition by the photographer Rankin. The poster posed the rhetorical question: “Fancy a quick Rank?” Classy. And was I imagining … Continue reading Public swearing – but why?

Whatever happened to the politics of happiness? The consensus seems to be that talking feelings is no vote-winner. But wellbeing should be at the centre of the debate Libby Brooks guardian.co.uk Some years before it was deemed electorally sound for him to share his inner life with Piers Morgan on primetime TV, our prime minister was, contrary to popular perception, quite capable of talking about emotion. Gordon Brown’s appointment of economics professor and Labour peer Richard Layard in 2007 as the government’s “happiness tsar” was greeted with inevitable scepticism about the infiltration of proper policy by touchy-feely. But back then, it … Continue reading Why are British politicians miserable rats?

I’m not the messiah, says food activist – but his many worshippers do not believe him Members of religious group believe London-born author has come to save the world Bobbie Johnson, San Francisco guardian.co.uk Raj Patel, author of The Value of Nothing. Photograph: Eliot Khuner The trouble started when Raj Patel appeared on American TV to plug his latest book, an analysis of the financial crisis called The Value of Nothing. The London-born author, 37, thought his slot on comedy talkshow The Colbert Report went well enough: the host made a few jokes, Patel talked a little about his work … Continue reading I am not the Maitreya – he is!

From NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa By Ismail Khan dawn.com People are seen in a busy market in Peshawar, March 31, 2010. — AP Asfandyar praises Zardari, Nawaz over Pakhtunkhwa PESHAWAR: It took 109 years to correct a historical wrong and what a journey it has been. It was in 1901, when the North-West Frontier Province was carved out of Punjab. The province was merged into what was called One Unit in 1955, with Lahore becoming the capital of the new administrative unit. Gen Yahya Khan dissolved the One Unit in July 1970 and restored the provinces of the NWFP, Punjab, … Continue reading NWFP to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa?

Kashmir shrine bars tourists over Jesus burial row dawn.com A woman prays at a small opening to The Rozabal Shrine in Srinagar on March 30, 2010. Foreign tourists have been banned from entering a Muslim shrine in Indian-ruled Kashmir due to increasing curiosity about a theory that it contains the body of Jesus Christ. – AFP Fighting in Kashmir kills six suspected rebels SRINAGAR: Foreign tourists have been banned from entering a Muslim shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir due to increasing curiosity about a theory that it contains the body of Jesus Christ. The shrine in Srinagar city is the focus … Continue reading Kashmir shrine bars tourists over Jesus