Blackwater chief makes a run for it by Farrukh Salim Erik Prince Prince has spent enough time in the power corridors of Washington, DC to realize that the noose around him is tightening. … Mercenary-in- chief and head of Blackwater, Erik Prince is reportedly moving to the United Arab Emirates to avoid prosecution or indictment in United States. The report comes from ultimate Blackwater watchdog Jeremy Scahill. Almost all of Scahill’s reports on Prince and his company have been authentic and congressional committees on Capitol Hill have even summoned Scahill to testify. Prince’s plans to move to the United Arab … Continue reading Muslim nations must not protect Christian Terrorists

By Asha’ar Rehman dawn.com PTI chief Imran Khan. — Photo by AFP The scene in Lahore has changed totally from what it was in the run-up to the 2008 general election. The Jamaat-i-Islami and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf had both boycotted the 2008 polls as was initially the intention of the Pakistan Muslim League-N, which was later on persuaded to join the electoral race. Come June 2010 and these three parties were fiercely fighting it out among themselves for a mere Punjab Assembly seat. It was widely expected that the PML-N will retain the seat which it had won in 2008, only … Continue reading An Imran Khan cameo that wasn’t

Swat girl offers ray of hope in former militant stronghold Dawn.com Zenab Sanah is seen in this photo. PHOTO: EXPRESS “Now it seems like a nightmare when Taliban were dynamiting our schools and stopping us from attending classes,” says a teenage girl from Swat district where Maulana Fazlullah recently led a bloody rebellion against the government. The teenager, Zenab Sanah, made headlines in local press by securing first position among girls in the SSC exams conducted by the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education. “I wasn’t able to sleep properly. The ghastly images of bearded Taliban brandishing swords haunted me … Continue reading A Brave Swati sister challenges the Barbarian Mullahs on education

Pakistan may ban Yahoo, Google, MSN dawn.com A petition has been filed calling for the ban of nine websites in Pakistan. LAHORE: Deputy Attorney General, Bahawalpur, Muhammad Azad has said that the Lahore High Court has ordered Ministry of Information officials to appear in court regarding the blockage of nine websites including Google, Yahoo, YouTube and MSN. Rabia Mehmood, reporter Express 24/7 confirmed that a writ petition had been filed by a citizen in the Bahawalpur bench of the LHC seeking a ban on websites publishing blasphemous material and misquoting the Holy Quran. The Lahore High Court (LHC) has ordered Ministry … Continue reading Will Pakistan ban the Internet to please a Jahil Mullah?

By Ibrahim Sajid Malick The writer is a Pakistani-American technologist and entrepreneur (ibrahim.malick@tribune.com.pk) Pop quiz: what are the names of Pakistan’s ambassadors to Chile, Malaysia, Venezuela, Brazil, or Russia? It is very likely that most people will not know this and there is a reason — these countries don’t get adequate visibility in Pakistan. Hussain Haqqani (US), Wajid Shamsul Hassan (UK) and Shahid Malik (India) are the few ambassadors whom the Pakistani media finds relevant, relegating all others to secondary positions. At the UN in New York, a venue that provides an effective medium to socialise ideas of national interest, … Continue reading Pakistan’s narrow foreign policy

Airport security, Pakistan-style By Naveen Naqvi The writer is a former TV morning show host (naveen.naqvi@tribune.com.pk) You would think going off to Europe for a week would be fun, yes? Think again if you’re taking a flight out of Karachi’s Jinnah Terminal. I’m one of those people who leaves home three-and-a-half hours before my flight is meant to leave. For a 6:15 am departure, means being in the car at 2:45 in the morning. There is some attempt to sleep — basically a three hour ‘nap’ or a euphemism for tossing and turning. In these less than ideal circumstances we … Continue reading Pakistan-style Airport security

Not all extremists are terrorists, says ex-jihadist By Salman Siddiqui Mugshots of three US citizens caught in Pakistan trying to join militant organisations. KARACHI: “There’s a difference between an extremist and a terrorist. All terrorists are extremists but not all extremists are terrorists,” claimed a former member of a UK-based jihadist group, Hizb ut Tahrir. Majid Nawaz explained that an extremist may impose his ideology on people through non-violent means as compared to a terrorist. However, he quickly added that both are equally reprehensible and must be condemned openly by the civil society. The NGO Individualland organised a seminar ‘Citizens … Continue reading Not all extremists are terrorists?

Macedonia and Greece live up to Balkan stereotype The Greek and Macedonian governments are absurdly mired in backward-looking defensiveness over their country’s identities Ivo Petkovski guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 June 2010 15.00 BST Article history There has long been a plan to erect a 40m statue of Alexander the Great in Skopje’s main public square. Photograph: Unknown/ Bettmann/CORBISAs any fan of Asterix the Gaul can confirm, national stereotypes are funny because they tend to carry a grain of truth. They give us a broad caricature of a people and their quirks, and also, crucially, how those people are perceived from the … Continue reading Macedonian and Greek leaders to wrestle in the nude?

World leaders beware: there are John Terrys everywhere Traditional hierarchies are crumbling, and it isn’t only football managers left having to deal with teams full of soloists Mark Lawson guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 June 2010 20.00 BST Article history In the business and political cultures the popular metaphor of “singing from the same song sheet” conveys the idea of an organisation as a united choir. But as traditional systems of hierarchy break down in tie-less, open-plan offices, some employees may understandably feel encouraged to drop the photocopied page. This week two footballers – England’s John Terry and Nicolas Anelka of France … Continue reading We are all ‘Leaders’

Richard Dawkins and the atheist school Dawkins has said he’d like to set up an atheist school. But would it really be able to teach religion as anthropology, without bias? Nick Spencer guardian.co.uk, Friday 25 June 2010 13.29 BST Article history So, Richard Dawkins has promised – no, that’s too strong – intimated that he might set up an atheist school, as he would presumably have the right to under new government “free school” plans. During a chat on mumsnet he responded to a few suggestions that he start “an atheist free school” by saying he liked the idea very … Continue reading Will Mullah Richard Dawkins set up an atheist school?