Colleges in Islamabad are now home to multiple gangs. ISLAMABAD: It all started with Mrs Khalid Butt finding cigarettes in her son’s room. This was all the more worrisome for being discovered around the same time that he had stopped asking her for pocket money. After questioning his friends, she was even more traumatised to discover that her son, an O-level student, had joined a group of boys who called themselves the “Sheesha Gang”. The gang was involved in a number of anti-social activities that included purse snatching, smoking, hooliganism, vandalism and female harassment. “I was shocked. I immediately changed … Continue reading Gangs of Islamabad

Ground Zero mosque plans ‘fuelling anti-Muslim protests across US’ Religious leaders warn of Islamophobia surge with hate speech and opposition to new Islamic centres across America Chris McGreal in Washington guardian.co.uk, Thursday 12 August 2010 20.01 BST Article history A woman holds up a sign protesting plans to build a mosque close to the World Trade Centre site in New York. Photograph: Michael Nagle/Getty ImagesThe battle over plans to build a mosque near the site of the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York is fuelling a surge in anti-Muslim protests across the US, including opposition to new Islamic centres from … Continue reading Are Americans Anti-Muslim?

The melon Michelangelos: Amazing sculptures carved from fruit By Claire Cohen With their green skins and a hint of red flesh, there is something familiar about these artworks. A closer look reveals they are carved out of watermelons — and these photographs, capturing their intricate designs, are the latest sensation to sweep the internet. The art form originated in the Far East 700 years ago when the carved fruit were often presented to royalty at banquets. Sage: A godly figure in a fruit frame Fishing for compliments: A sea scene Mutant turtle: This reptile berries a juicy fruit salad beneath … Continue reading Michelangelo says ‘Ramadan Mubarak!’

Having a whale of a time: The 20ft sea giant who couldn’t resist smiling for the camera By Mail Online Reporter These remarkable ‘mugshots’ of a group of pilot whales were snapped last week in the clear blue waters of the Straits Of Gibraltar, the gateway to the Mediterranean sea. After several loud ‘barks’ this whale stopped to gaze at its own reflection in the lens. Smugshot: The pilot whale smiles contentedly for the camera as he swims through the Straits Of Gibraltar Don’t let the big cartoon grin on this huge three-ton pilot whale fool you. While the 20-foot … Continue reading Cool Whale!

Who are you calling a dumb animal? Chimps that can understand English, crows that have mastered physics and a very shrewd shrew: New research shows how we’ve woefully underestimated so many animals’ intelligence By Sarah Chalmers Sitting on the floor, surrounded by an assortment of objects and utensils, Kanzi the bonobo pauses for a moment, a look of contemplation flickering across his warm brown eyes, before picking up a knife with his left hand and beginning to chop the onions in the bowl in front of him. He has done exactly what the researcher asked him in English, in much … Continue reading Evolving Animals

Saturday nut fever: The red squirrels who can’t resist showing off their dance moves By Daily Mail Reporter It’s Saturday NUTS fever . . . the red squirrels who have been caught on camera showing off their far from wooden dance moves. These bushy-tailed Travoltas were snapped strutting their stuff on the branches of trees deep in the ancient forests of Poland. In this series of hilarious pictures photographer Marek Paluch followed the frisky forest creatures’ fast and furious furry feet over several weeks. Boogie Nights: The red squirrel brushing up on his dance moves. But was he inspired by … Continue reading Red Squirrel – John Travoltas Guru?

L of a fiddle! The man who took a hefty fee to sit your driving test (but failed) By Paul Bentley Man of 1000 faces: Gageen Preet Singh adopted a variety of disguises to fool driving test examiners as part of his fraudulent ‘test taking’ business A conman who charged thousands of pounds to take driving tests for incapable clients – but kept failing them – was jailed yesterday. Gageen Preet Singh, 35, tried to outwit test centre staff by alternating his headwear, sometimes arriving in a turban, at others in a beanie hat, a wig or a flat cap. … Continue reading Gageen Preet Singh – Did you pass with him?

VIEW: Comprehending the catastrophe —Dr Mahjabeen Islam Explaining the current floods crisis, the ultra-right claims God’s wrath for the Lal Masjid fiasco. If the Lal Masjid fiasco is to be blamed, why does its primary perpetrator, Pervez Musharraf, sit in luxurious dry land in England? Regardless of one’s persuasion when faced with catastrophes and personal suffering, the question ‘why’ always comes up. And with all that Pakistan has been through in variegated forms, from terrorism to economic collapse and now the floods, for Pakistanis it is not a simple question but a chorus of agony. On a mundane and scientific … Continue reading Comprehending the catastrophe

VIEW: Keeping him alive —Gulmina Bilal Ahmad The greatest medal that all of us can award Safwat, which would be true to his legacy, is to earnestly carry on the fight against extremism and terrorism. If truly the whole country feels his loss, then let us as a whole country keep him alive in our work against the terrorists He has been called the “hero cop who died with his boots on”, a brave, fearless police officer who would personally mourn every time a police picket was attacked. Personally picking up the bodies of shaheed police constables, he would vow … Continue reading ‘Shaheed’ Safwat, The Suicider Chickens and Their Mullah Owners

HUM HINDUSTANI: Not by another Nalanda —J Sri Raman If students are taught by rote and the rod in primary classes, and evaluated by extremely unfair external examinations at the secondary stage, universities cannot be unique suppliers of scholarship of independence and integrity Re-creating Nalanda: why has the idea failed to elicit an enthusiastic response in a country that seeks a future greatness to match its past glory? Is it because the media finds news of other kinds more saleable? Or is it because the people are instinctively more cynical about the significance of the impressive-sounding scheme? A bit of … Continue reading Not by another Nalanda