VIEW: Living on a prayer —Yasser Latif Hamdani The truth is that we are living on a prayer in sport, in politics and even in our economy. And prayer usually means a handout, which itself is a reprehensible thing for any self-respecting people and, may I remind the self-styled Islam-pasand types, a clear violation of the dignity with which a Muslim ought to live his life under Islamic injunctions As I write these lines, editorials and blogposts all over the blogosphere are full of euphoric scribbling on how the unpredictable Pakistani cricket team has brought down the mighty Australians by … Continue reading Living on a prayer

Longcroft Luxury Cat Hotel in Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire A luxurious hotel suite – complete with four-poster bed, state-of-the-art sound system and fine dining – for just £15 a night? Sounds like quite a bargain. But this is a hotel for cats http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/7910465/Longcroft-Luxury-Cat-Hotel-in-Welwyn-Garden-City-Hertfordshire.html Continue reading Luxury Cat Hotel

The software Usmani has developed can simulate suicide bomb explosions in three dimensions. KARACHI: Even though catching suicide bombers may be difficult, it is possible to minimise casualties and injuries from their attacks by putting in place pre-emptive measures based on studying past explosions, says a 32-year-old Pakistani scientist. Zeeshan-ul-Hassan Usmani, who currently teaches at the Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology in Topi, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, completed his PhD in computer science from the US-based Florida Institute of Technology where he went to study on a Fulbright scholarship. His PhD topic, “Modelling and Simulation of Explosion Effectiveness as … Continue reading Learning from suicide blasts

Why Binyamin Netanyahu tape is no real shocker Netanyahu’s words highlight his hostility to the peace process, but in Israeli-Palestinian politics being two-faced is not unusual Seth Freedman guardian.co.uk, Monday 26 July 2010 12.00 BST Article history US president Barack Obama looks on as Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas shake hands at a meeting in New York last September. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images A recently released tape revealing Binyamin Netanyahu’s contempt for both the Palestinian and US administrations has caused far less of a diplomatic storm than his opponents hoped it might. For all that … Continue reading Netanyahu – no suprise!

Wikileaks Afghanistan: leak inquiry centres on US intelligence analyst The investigation into the biggest leak in US military history centres on a US Army intelligence analyst who allegedly boasting online that he was going to reveal “the truth” about the war in Afghanistan. By Gordon Rayner and Alex Spillius in Washington telegraph.co.uk Bradley Manning is currently awaiting court martial Photo: AP Bradley Manning, 22, was arrested in Baghdad in May and charged earlier this month with multiple counts of mishandling and leaking classified data, after a computer hacker turned him in. During online chats with the hacker, a man thought … Continue reading Bradass87

Respected Hitlerji, please don’t be so unfair! By Jawed Naqvi dawn.com Everything coincides with the opening of the parliament’s monsoon session on Monday. –File Photo With clockwork precision and often with a detailed script, fascism consolidates itself in stages. In the advanced mode, ideologically driven street lumpens are let loose to terrorise the people and then quasi-legal measures are summoned comprising police and military to rein in the minions who were only carrying out orders. To the average TV watcher in India this may give the impression that rule of law has been restored when in reality fascism has just … Continue reading Hitlerji!

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Oil and Mineral Resources, Ali Al Nuaimi (© AFP/ KAMIR JAAFAR/ GETTY IMAGES) By Joel Schoppig Published: Friday 04 June 2010 Updated: Friday 04 June 2010 Saudi Arabia is positioning itself well in the global economy. It opened its stock market to foreign investors in 2008 and thanks to strong macroeconomic fundamentals and highly positive demographics, it is becoming an increasingly attractive place to invest in. Saudi Arabia is positioning itself well in the global economy. It opened its stock market to foreign investors in 2008 and thanks to strong macroeconomic fundamentals and highly positive demographics, … Continue reading Attracting Capital to Saudi Arabia

India’s Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal displays a low-cost tablet at its launch in New Delhi on Thursday. The device looks like an iPad and is 1/14th the cost. India has unveiled the prototype of a US$35 basic touch screen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to bring into production by 2011. (AP) By ERIKA KINETZ | AP Published: Jul 23, 2010 14:32 Updated: Jul 23, 2010 14:39 MUMBAI, India: It looks like an iPad, only it’s 1/14th the cost: India has unveiled the prototype of a $35 basic touchscreen tablet aimed at students, which it hopes to … Continue reading India unveils prototype of $35 iPad!

An Interview with Professor Ismail Kara Turkish Islamists women attend 26 November 2006 in Istanbul a rally against the upcoming visit of Pope Benedict XVI. By Nicholas Birch Published: Sunday 18 July 2010 Updated: Sunday 18 July 2010 In this interview with The Majalla, Ismail Kara, professor of Turkish intellectual history, speaks about Islam’s relationship with modernity and the state. Professor Kara discusses, among other things, political Islamism and its origins, and the increasing visibility of Islam in Turkey. Born in 1955 in the north-eastern Turkish province of Rize, the son of a village religious teacher, Ismail Kara is professor … Continue reading Islamism Versus Islam

Between Peacekeeping and War Making in Afghanistan Members from the US Army’s Basic Combat Training Brigade stand at attention at Fort Benning, Georgia. By Paula Mejia Published: Monday 19 July 2010 Updated: Monday 19 July 2010 Although soldiers are trained to fight conventional wars, the American counterinsurgency in Afghanistan resembles a peacekeeping effort more than anything else. The values that counterinsurgency efforts depend on are not those that soldiers are trained to appreciate. Given this contradiction and the US’s questionable successes in Afghanistan, it is time to review what our expectations are of a military that is doing a job … Continue reading Trained to Kill