Well, at least his mother loves him: Bald, pink (and ugly) newborn baby aardvark makes it five at one UK zoo By Daily Mail Reporter Pink, wrinkly and bald, this baby aardvark certainly isn’t about to win any beauty prizes. But at least his mother still seems to love him. The two-week-old youngster, who has not yet been named, is the latest animal to be born thanks to the only successful aardvark breeding group in the UK The latest addition to the aardvark family at Colchester Zoo is the fourth offspring for mother Oq and father Adela, and the fifth … Continue reading Is this guy ugly?

How liberal are our MPs? A new website ranking MPs’ anti-authoritarian credentials reveals that the Liberal Democrats are the party of freedom Stephen Tall guardian.co.uk One sure-fire way to bring most Lib Dems out in hives is to ask them the question, “Do you think of yourself as rightwing or leftwing?” This right/left dichotomy – an archaic hangover from the French revolutionary period – is a nonsense in today’s political situation, in which all three major parties broadly subscribe to the principles of market economics and parliamentary democracy. Left and right are terms beloved by those parts of the media … Continue reading UK Prepares to OUST authoritarian MPs and their sidekicks?

Biden visit exposed Israeli settler truths This week the US saw Netanyahu’s government in all its glorious stubborness – providing a clarity the peace process badly Daniel Levy guardian.co.uk, US vice-president Joe Biden speaking at Tel Aviv University today, where he moderated his earlier criticism of Israel. Photograph: Uriel Sinai/Getty Images There was a moment of rare clarity this week for America’s efforts to advance Israeli-Palestinian peace. The US vice-president Joe Biden was on a visit, ostensibly a charm offensive to an Israel that has been heretofore neglected by the Obama administration‘s most senior echelons, and an opportunity to discuss broad … Continue reading Joe Biden gives hope to MidEast Peace

Chilling truths —by Afrah Jamal The Al Qaeda Connection By Imtiaz Gul Penguin Global; Pp 320 Today, the landscape has been transformed into a hunting ground as the showdown between the military and militants gets underway and retaliatory strikes against the public intensify. While attempting to curb insurgency within its borders, Pakistan’s security forces have been accused of stage-managing militant outfits that once served as counterweights against traditional enemies. Never disarmed, and left unguided, these heat-seeking entities latched on to a new target. Ever since the region tested positive for militancy post-9/11, there has been a lack of consensus regarding, … Continue reading Various Mullah breeds

No more war songs —Salman Tarik Kureshi Wars do not ever end, they spread. If victories of one side over another do occur, these victories themselves become the seeds of further conflicts down the road “Afghanistan, Bananistan!” said President Truman. Like most of his countrymen, he did not imagine that the distant Durrani Kingdom could ever impact on the lives and fortunes of American citizens. Even well into the 1960s and beyond, Americans thought of Afghanistan as a place for hippy backpackers to lose themselves in a haze of marijuana smoke before trekking further on towards a Nepalese Nirvana. But, … Continue reading “Afghanistan, Bananistan!”

Hobnobbing with terror Legal eye Babar Sattar The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad. What are the irresistible compulsions of power politics that forced the PML-N to jump into bed with the proscribed Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan and its head Muhammad Ahmad Ludhianvi to win the provincial assembly seat in Jhang this week? Is this simply a case of reprehensible electoral politics with the PML-N stooping low to mix with hate-mongers in order to defeat the PPP in a heated election contest? Is this a reflection of the PML-N’s political ideology that has traditionally pandered to the politics of the religious … Continue reading Jumping into bed with terrorist mullahs again?

Posted by Nadeem F. Paracha  Three vignettes revealing how religion really imbues the public sphere. Sticking out Ever since the 1980s, stickers asking people to pray have become a common sight, especially in buses, and on rickshaws. Of course, there is certainly nothing wrong in asking a person to say his prayers, just as there is nothing wrong if that person chooses not to heed this advice. It’s a matter between the individual and God, simple as that. Of course, the latter part of this suggestion does not bode well with most of my fellow Muslims. Religious and sectarian plurality … Continue reading Paradise pulp

Dawn Correspondent At the Senate Armed Services Committee, experts told US lawmakers that while the militants viewed westernisation as a threat, they were not averse to modernisation. –Photo by Reuters WASHINGTON: Muslim militants do not see modernisation as a threat as many of them are highly competent in using modern techniques, the US Senate was told. At a special hearing on violent extremism at the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday evening, experts told lawmakers that while the militants viewed westernisation as a threat, they were not averse to modernisation. “Westernisation is a threat? The answer is yes. Modernisation a … Continue reading US Congress urged to engage with Muslims nationally and internationally