What if they were Muslim?: Israeli Lashed 39 Times by Rabbi for Singing Posted on 31 August 2010 by Garibaldi Can you imagine if this happened in a Muslim country? This actually happened in “secular” Israel, not Saudi Arabia or Iran and at the hands of a Rabbi. If a Muslim cleric had done it you can be sure that Spencer and company would be wailing about how oppressive Shariah is and how there is no fun in Islam. Will we hear a peep from Spencer about this? Don’t hold your breath. ‘Sinner’ singer given 39 lashes by rabbis A … Continue reading Lashed 39 Times by Rabbi for Singing!

Newsweek Pakistan to launch despite an uncertain future at home KARACHI: Media insiders expect cut-throat competition in the English print media market as two new publications enter the once stagnant market that has already witnessed one launch this year (The Express Tribune). The first is the Pakistan edition of US based Newsweek Pakistan which is set to launch today despite facing ongoing losses in the international market. It, along with many other media entities including the New York Times (a partner paper of The Express Tribune in Pakistan) faces a difficult future as the rise of the internet coupled with … Continue reading Newsweek Pakistan to launch

Getting drunk in Kabul bars? Pass the sick bag The expat drinking scene of journalists and diplomats in Afghanistan’s capital is the height of disrespectful colonialism Seema Jilani guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 31 August 2010 09.00 BST Article history “Kabul is the new Beirut.” This frivolous drivel fell from the mouth of a journalist in Afghanistan. She was effervescent with excitement about the prospect of Kabul’s expatriate bars being even more hip than those in Beirut. Beirut – where they dance to the beat of the bombs, where alcohol flows freely and women are freer still. Yay! Kabul has finally left the … Continue reading Getting drunk with Mullahs in Kabul!

Labour’s leader after Miliband Labour leaders always have a successor lurking in the shadows, waiting for their fall. So, after David or Ed Miliband, who’s next? Lance Price guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 31 August 2010 15.30 BST Article history After Ed or David Miliband: ‘It may well be that the next leader but one is not even yet an MP’ Photograph: Stephen Hird/ReutersIn less than a month the leadership speculation will be over. Or will it? Recent history suggests that no sooner is a Labour leader in place than questions start to be asked about who’s best placed to succeed him. Yes, … Continue reading Labour after Miliband

A trillion-dollar catastrophe. Yes, Iraq was a headline war Mission accomplished? The Iraq war did more than anything to alienate the Atlantic powers from the rest of the world Simon Jenkins guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 31 August 2010 20.00 BST Article history today the Iraq war was declared over by Barack Obama. As his troops return home, Iraqis are marginally freer than in 2003, and considerably less secure. Two million remain abroad as refugees from seven years of anarchy, with another 2 million internally displaced. Ironically, almost all Iraqi Christians have had to flee. Under western rule, production of oil – Iraq’s … Continue reading Iraq – The US trillion-dollar catastrophe!

The latest imbroglio in Hamid Karzai’s government suggests that the CIA is fatally undermining the US’s own anti-corruption drive Bilal Baloch guardian.co.uk, Monday 30 August 2010 12.00 BST Article history Afghan president Hamid Karzai (right), with his national security adviser Rangin Dadfar Spanta. Photograph: Shah Marai/AFPDid you hear that one about how anti-corruption agents in Afghanistan arrested the country’s national security adviser – who, in fact, may have been a CIA asset – and who then called the president from his cell and was subsequently released? No? It’s quite a story. According to a report published in the New York … Continue reading Mixed US messages on Afghan graft

Al Huda — an insider’s view The writer is a hafiz-e-Quran and is about to start studying at the International Islamic University Islamabad habiba.younis@tribune.com.pk Khaled Ahmed’s recent article “Daughters of Al Huda” (August 22) met a negative and spirited response by readers. In my opinion, as a former student, the reasoning in the article wasn’t absolutely correct and seemed slightly prejudiced. But it did have some valid points. I don’t believe Al Huda to be as ideal as it is portrayed but not because of the reasons given by the writer in his article but because of my own experience … Continue reading Al Huda – Breeding Conspiricy Robots

The writer is a columnist, and TV and radio anchor fasi.zaka@tribune.com No apologies. I signed up for the backlash. If you can’t distinguish metaphors in polemics as figurative and not literal, then you are going to be self-serving to include Edhi and Imran Khan’s philanthropy and the good people of this country so you can conveniently ignore the message. So again, if you believe all Ahmadis should be killed, all Jews gassed efficiently, all Hindus made slaves, then you can be a Sialkot killer too! Casual prejudice is what creates violence, which is why there are Ahmadi villages in the … Continue reading Pakistan’s human cockroaches – II