Terrafugia Transition ‘flying car’ gets go-ahead from US air authorities The Terrafugia Transition, a light aircraft that can convert into a road-legal automobile, is to go into production after being given a special weight exemption by the US Federal Aviation Administration. By Tom Chivers telegraph.co.uk The Terrafugia Transition takes off. The Terrafugia Transition takes off into a dramatic sky. Photo: TERRAFUGIA The Terrafugia Transition at sunrise. Photo: TERRAFUGIA The Terrafugia Transition in flight. The Terrafugia Transition in a garage. Photo: TERRAFUGIA The Terrafugia Transition on the road. Photo: TERRAFUGIA The Terrafugia Transition and chase plane. Photo: TERRAFUGIA The Terrafugia Transition … Continue reading The Terrafugia Transition – flying car!

‘Russian spies’ bungle was epic To have an alleged spy ring uncovered before it could do any work is embarrassing – and the last thing Medvedev needs David Hearst guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 June 2010 16.30 BST Article history Dmitry Medvedev admires the iPhone 4, but his attempts at portraying himself as a moderniser will be hit by spy ring allegations. Photograph: Dmitry Astakhov/APIt is heartening to know that even alleged Russian spies have problems with their computers. Anna Chapman complained about the difficulties she had establishing a private wireless local area network to her handler UC-I, so that she could … Continue reading ‘Russian spies’ in US epic

Only Vince Cable can halt the Foxification of UK news If successful in his bid to buy up the rest of BSkyB, Rupert Murdoch will be able to eat up opponents and squeeze other media Polly Toynbee The Guardian, Tuesday 29 June 2010 Article history Was it Rupert Murdoch wot lost England the World Cup? With shedloads of sports rights money he corrupted the game, turning clubs into highly leveraged financial instruments overpaying their players, while fans pay for what was once free on TV. So say some, but I leave that to football aficionados. Hardly noticed, something else is … Continue reading Fox News comes to UK!!

VIEW: The imperatives of regional connectivity —Dr Rashid Ahmad Khan The rapidly growing economies of leading Asian countries such as China, Japan and India have created strong imperatives for inter-regional as well as intra-regional connectivity The federal government has allocated a hefty amount of Rs 61 billion in the annual budget for enhancing regional connectivity with member countries of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) and the Economic Cooperation Organisation (ECO). The countries include Iran, India and Afghanistan. The amount would be spent under the transport development programme for 2010-2011, which envisages the establishment of industrial clusters, oil … Continue reading The imperatives of regional connectivity

VIEW: Americans in Afghanistan —Dr Mubashir Hasan Since its birth, Pakistan has served the US slavishly enough to earn the title of a client state. Even today, the rivers of Afghan blood irrigate the American killing fields in Afghanistan with the crucial help of Pakistan While innocently attributing the assertion to unnamed Pakistani and American officials, Jane Perlez, Eric Schmitt and Carlotta Gall, in their despatch to The New York Times (NYT) on June 24, 2010, unfairly accuse Pakistan of “exploiting the troubled US military effort in Afghanistan to drive home a political settlement with Afghanistan that would give Pakistan … Continue reading

VIEW: Nationalism: inclusive versus exclusive — I —Ishtiaq Ahmed Jinnah was too intelligent and too much of a liberal not to understand that religious nationalism is inherently anti-minorities. Therefore, he wanted to go back to his pristine liberal convictions based on equal rights and equal citizenship. However, here he miscalculated As an ideology and political doctrine, nationalism is a claim set forth on behalf of a body of people claiming to constitute a nation to establish a sovereign state over a specific territory. Once that state comes into being, it has to devise a national identity to distinguish itself from … Continue reading Jinnah was too intelligent and too much of a liberal ………..

by Sana Saleem dawn.com Last month, I had the opportunity to talk on behalf of citizen media in Pakistan, at the Global Voices Citizen Media Summit in Santiago, Chile. Global Voices is an international community of bloggers who blog on social issues, current events and other topics from around the world. It was an overwhelming experience to be a part of a community of over two hundred and fifty citizen journalists from sixty countries. But more importantly, it was an honour to represent my country at a globally-recognised forum. The panel of speakers included also citizen journalists from Sri Lanka, … Continue reading Rights to self-regulation

dawn.com The Pakistani economy appears to have stabilised somewhat; but security, governance and energy shortages are major challenges that require strong, consistent, incorruptible leadership rather than political brinkmanship, cronyism and corruption that remains endemic nationwide. – AFP Photo World Zardari to visit China as nuclear deal advances Zardari to visit China as nuclear deal advances WASHINGTON: The Afghanistan war may be lost on the battlefields of Pakistan, where Pakistan authorities are fighting a vicious conflict against a home-grown insurgency spawned by the war across its western frontier, warns a report released on Monday by the Atlantic Council. “The situation in … Continue reading Afghan war may be lost in Pakistan’s battlefields

dawn.com It was a dramatic departure for the Palestinians, who have traditionally viewed the American Jewish leadership with a mixture of awe, animosity and envy for its political skills and influence over what is seen as a pro-Israel US policy. – AFP Photo JERUSALEM: The Palestinians have long feared the Jewish lobby in Washington. Now, they are embracing it. During a swing through the US capital this month, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was the guest of honor at a dinner with a small but influential gathering of more than 30 Jewish American leaders and political heavyweights. In what participants on … Continue reading Palestinians seek new partner: American Jews

thenews.com.pk Sherry Rehman The writer is an MNA and former federal minister for information. The nexus between state identity and religion is always a dangerous link. When citizens are massacred and abused on the status of their religious identity, then the slide into bestiality is no longer a heartbeat away. It is firmly among us. At this point only unmitigated public outrage and a matching state response puts us back in the league of the civilized and therefore, human. The massacre of Ahmadis in Lahore is not the first event to have exposed fault lines in the crafting of a … Continue reading The embrace of insanity