Vast ocean covered one third of surface of Mars A vast Earth-like ocean covered a third of the surface of Mars 3.5 billion years ago, new research suggests. Artist’s impression of a Martian ocean shoreline seen from the air 3.5 billion years ago, based on satellite images Photo: PA Scientists believe it stretched around the planet’s northern hemisphere and held 10 times more water than all the Earth’s oceans combined. It may also have provided a cradle for the emergence of extraterrestrial life. Related Articles Ancient lake found on Mars Scientists have long debated whether oceans, seas lakes or rivers … Continue reading Mars had ten times more water than Earth

Is Pakistan like Israel? By Khaled Ahmed The writer is a director at the South Asia Free Media Association, Lahore (khaled.ahmed@tribune.com.pk) Ayesha Siddiqa in her June 6 column in The Express Tribune made a very interesting comparison between Pakistan and Israel: both were supposedly formed on the basis of religion, both are national security states with illegal nukes and are internationally isolated. The comparison is favourable to neither. There are minor differences, however. Pakistan has a constitution which says it is a religious state. Israel doesn’t have a constitution, so its legal status is undecided. But were the two demanded … Continue reading Israeli Pakistani? or Pakistani Israeli?

By Syed Talat HussainJune 13, 2010 The writer is executive director news and current affairs at Aaj TV (syed.talat@tribune.com.pk). The website democracynow.org gives a vivid, and by far the most authentic, video account of Israel’s attack on the main ship of the freedom flotilla carrying over 600 passengers including an eight-month-old baby. The video is one of the many that are likely to come out in the weeks ahead captured by those who witnessed recent history’s most audacious insult to efforts to highlight the plight of 1.5 million Palestinians stranded in the Gaza Strip. It shows bullets being fired from … Continue reading Murders on the Mediterranean

Turning outrage into courage By Ayesha Ijaz Khan The writer is a lawyer and political commentator based in London. (ayesha.khan@tribune.com.pk) The brazen attack on innocent Ahmadis in Lahore late last month is not just another terrible terrorist atrocity.  It is more significant because there is speculation that the attack by extremist exclusivist forces targeted Ahmadis in order to bolster their own diminishing popularity among the population at large. The argument is that we have among us people who harbour such bizarre views of righteousness that to them eliminating those who may have slightly different beliefs is justifiable and praiseworthy. The … Continue reading Pakistani outrage into courage?

Make it snappy dad! Father dangles baby son above crocodile’s jaws during religious festival By Sara Nelson As he dangles his writhing baby over the open jaws of a hungry-looking crocodile, you would be forgiven for thinking this man had lost his mind. But there is method in his madness, for he is a Sheedi devotee seeking blessings for his five-month-old son. The terrifying event is part of an annual spiritual festival in Karachi, which sees a community of African-descended Pakistanis appease the crocodile – which is regarded as sacred. Don’t slip! A Sheedi devotee seeks blessings for his five-month-old … Continue reading Sheedi Pakistan Ceremony

New era of stability and prosperity Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah By BADEA ABU AL-NAJA | ARAB NEWS Published: Jun 8, 2010 23:31 Updated: Jun 8, 2010 23:37 Saudis savor five years of King Abdullah’s benevolent rule MAKKAH: The fifth anniversary of the Baiah (Pledge of Allegiance) to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah falls on Wednesday. “The Baiah” is the traditional Islamic system of the subjects expressing their approval and welcoming a new ruler. Since the Pledge of Allegiance on Jamad Al-Thani 26, 1426 (Aug. 1, 2005) the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has witnessed … Continue reading Saudis savor five years of King Abdullah’s benevolent rule

Prisoners of conscience by Guest dawn.com How many of us have experienced prejudiced discrimination and prejudice first hand? Post 9/11, Pakistanis are often subjected to random security checks, prolonged questionings and distrusting stares at international airports, not to mention an unspoken, unwritten “discouraging policy” for visa applicants wishing to study or travel abroad, despite legitimacy of the applications.  Being misjudged and misunderstood abroad has become the norm and we complain, we point fingers at the unfairness of the system and we sit back disgruntled and frustrated, unable to change anything. Here, we’re touching the surface of the iceberg that symbolises … Continue reading Jews and Ahmedis – why so much hatred against them?

Smokers’ Corner: Whiplash By Nadeem F. Paracha dawn.com Jinnah’s death in 1948 reduced his Muslim League (from being a dynamic organisation of visionary action) to a rag-tag group of self-serving politicians. It became a pale reflection of its pre-independence past. Gone too was the party’s ability to bring into policy Jinnah’s modernist Muslim vision. A consensus across various academic and intellectual circles now states that violent entities such as the Pakistani Taliban and assorted sectarian organisations are the pitfalls of policies pursued by the state through its intelligence agencies to safeguard Pakistan’s ‘strategic’ and ideological interests. The supposed ideology was … Continue reading The intellectual bankruptcy of Mullahism compared with Islam

Culture of bigotry By Huma Yusuf dawn.com The day someone like Sharif is awaiting an ulema board’s verdict on whether or not he committed blasphemy is the day that the government should brainstorm and implement non-military means to curb bigotry. The calls for a thorough reform of the education system and curriculum and the repeal of Article 2 are endless, but they continue to fall on deaf ears. – File Photo. What kind of sick democracy do we live in, where the declaration of equality of all citizens of the state can be deemed unconstitutional? This twisted logic was deployed … Continue reading A wake up call to those who would excuse Mullahs for crimes

VIEW: How to de-develop a country —Andleeb Abbas Pakistan’s rating on the human development index is appalling; it has one of the lowest literacy rates and one of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the world If there were an international tender floated for consulting on how to retard development in a country, the Pakistani leadership would win hands down. The present budget is a classic example of this. The economy has retrenched to half its size, inflation has broken previous records, unemployment is at an all time high and basic amenities like water and energy are endangered … Continue reading Women in Pakistan ‘must’ be educated to develop the future