Clegg v Ford? I know who gets my vote

Gina Ford says the Lib Dems should get a new leader after Nick Clegg criticised her advice – but many parents agree with him Joanna Moorhead guardian.co.uk, At last, some common sense from the Lib Dems. No, not their decision to shelve their policies on free childcare and free care for the elderly – all said and done, that doesn’t matter enough to make it worth writing home about. But the really exciting news from Lib Dem HQ is this: their leader, Nick Clegg, a father of three young children including a 10-month-old, has decided to ram childcare guru Gina … Continue reading Clegg v Ford? I know who gets my vote

Cross-cultural marriage is no picnic

Marrying someone from another faith and race can involve huge familial strain – it’s not something to be fetishised by liberals Pathik Pathak guardian.co.uk, My engagement present was a book of pocket psalms, with yellow highlighter streaked through passages that warned of the eternal damnation that non-believers face. It was presented to me in the small, dark room of a village house on the outskirts of Nairobi by my future father-in-law, a lay preacher. I had gone there to ask for my girlfriend’s hand in marriage, and to meet her family. I’m a Hindu. That’s why I read Anushka Asthana’s … Continue reading Cross-cultural marriage is no picnic

Bomber’s betrayal shows spy challenge for West

* CIA base attack shows Taliban have developed capacity to disrupt US intelligence efforts * Qaeda keener to kill Western spies than infiltrate them * In need of sources, West to retain spy link with Jordan LONDON: The killing of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employees in Afghanistan by a suicide bomber lauded online as a militant James Bond suggests Al Qaeda’s south Asian allies have developed an unprecedented capacity to disrupt the West’s spy efforts. The attack by a Jordanian double agent also shows militants are keener on killing Western spies than infiltrating them, underlining the daunting challenge for Western … Continue reading Bomber’s betrayal shows spy challenge for West

Mullah-Klashnistan!

By Nadeem F. Paracha By late 1979, markets in the tribal regions of Pakistan were flooded with AK-47s, smuggled across by Afghan refugees. – File photo The famous Russian assault rifle, the Kalashnikov, also called the AK-47, or Klashni in the street and campus lingo of urban Pakistan, has become a permanent feature of the Pakistani landscape. The weapon of choice during student movements, ethnic and sectarian clashes, kidnappings, government raids, and militant uprisings, the AK-47 continues to feature in most acts of violence committed in this country. It’s almost hard to believe that the weapon was a scarce commodity … Continue reading Mullah-Klashnistan!

Khost bomber – Al Qaeda, Taliban and TTP joint operation?

Pakistani Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud, left, sits with his comrade Waliur Rehman during his meeting with media in Sararogha of Pakistani tribal area of South Waziristan along the Afghanistan border on Oct. 4, 2009. – Photo by AP. A video purporting to show a Jordanian suicide bomber, who killed several CIA agents in Khost, seated next to Hakeemullah Mehsud, the leader of the TTP, raises some very troubling questions. While the authenticity of the video has not yet been established, the initial consensus seems to be that it is genuine. Even if it is not, what is clear is that … Continue reading Khost bomber – Al Qaeda, Taliban and TTP joint operation?

Republic of Pakistan? Why not?

Religion and the state By Iqbal Ahmad Khan The Quaid never referred to Pakistan as the Islamic Republic. It did not take the religious lobby too long to collude with civil and military officials to have the name of the country changed from the Republic of Pakistan to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It is not merely in Pakistan that the judiciary has adopted an uncharacteristically activist role; in other countries of South Asia too it is involved in charting new courses. A decision taken by the Bangladesh Supreme Court a few days ago could have far-reaching consequences for the … Continue reading Republic of Pakistan? Why not?

China and a new world economic order

By Henry C K Liu Merely two years before the end of the first decade of the 21st century, the post-Cold-War world economic order found itself facing its most serious crisis under the weight of unsustainable deregulated debt capitalism created by dollar hegemony. There are clear signs that out of this current crisis a new world economic order will emerge. China is in a promising position to influence this development toward a sustainable, balanced and cooperative world order of global fairness and universal justice. The root cause of the current crisis can be traced to the dismantlement of the Bretton … Continue reading China and a new world economic order

The case for a parallel UN

By Kaveh Afrasiabi Speaking Freely is an Asia Times Online feature that allows guest writers to have their say. Please click here if you are interested in contributing. The idea of a second United Nations may seem both idealistic, impractical, and even out of tune with the contemporary needs of the global community, that has vested so much energy in the existing UN, deemed as the preeminent world organization responsible for maintaining global peace and security. Theoretically, the UN provides a unique forum for peaceful resolution of conflicts and conflict-prevention, a splendid mechanism to avoid anarchy in international affairs. But … Continue reading The case for a parallel UN

Sri Lanka cracking in heat of polls

By Amantha Perera COLOMBO – Call it a novel election propaganda ploy. On January 1, millions of mobile-phone users in Sri Lanka received an unusual text message amid the flood of New Year’s wishes. The sender’s name read simply as “President”. This was no joke by a prankster; it was a message by President Mahinda Rajapaksa. It wished millions of Sri Lankans the very best for the new year and noted that he had kept his promises to the nation. Rajapaksa is heading into three pivotal weeks of his four-decade political career. He will battle his former army commander, retired … Continue reading Sri Lanka cracking in heat of polls

Balochistan halts $3.5bn copper project

By Syed Fazl-e-Haider KARACHI – Local authorities in Pakistan have canceled an agreement with an Australian company for the exploration of copper and gold in the Reko Diq area in southwestern Balochistan province at a time when a feasibility study for the project was near completion. Australia’s Tethyan Copper Company (TCC), a joint venture between Canada’s Barrick Gold and Chile’s Antofagasta Plc, had an exploration license for the copper mine at Reko Diq, which has an estimated four billion tonnes of low-grade copper and gold, in the district of Chagai. Last month, when the Balochistan government passed a motion to … Continue reading Balochistan halts $3.5bn copper project