It seems that President Zardari has finally had enough about the power shortage in the country. He has decided to get directly involved in the struggle to have the crisis of power cuts and load-shedding (load means electric load on the grids and shedding means of course to lessen the burden on the system that […]
The U.S. government has released high-resolution photographs of the Arctic taken by a spy satellite. Just a few hours before their release, the National Academy of Sciences recommended that the photos be made available to scientists and the general public in order to study climate change – demonstrating the swift action of the government. The […]
There is a new controversy brewing in Pakistan about the local governments. Musharraf government had introduced a system under which local body elections were held and Nazims (a Nazim is like a mayor) were directly elected. However, the problem is that Nazims had very little authority to begin with and now that the current government, […]
Here are three Afghan-related pieces I read recently that I want to comment on: 1. MountainRunner.us, Tom Broun Tom Broun, a US military officer assigned to NATO, discusses the implications of the ongoing ‘Why Afghanistan Matters’ contest being hosted on Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube on a guest post for Mountainrunner.us. Broun analyzes the media coverage […]
Russia and Italy just go together. Because Italy had the warmest relations with the Soviet Union of any Nato member state, Russia’s best-selling car was based on a Fiat and manufactured in a town named after the head of the Italian Communist Party. But it’s no longer movies, Ladas and socialism that keep the two […]
On a much lighter note, Jimmy Leach of South Africa’s Tribune newspaper has compiled a list of the greatest insults in cricket. My two favorites: Eddo Brandes, the chicken farmer who batted at 11 for Zimbabwe, was surviving in entirely haphazard fashion. The exasperated bowler wandered down the pitch and drolly asked: “Eddo, why are […]
According to journalists and human rights organizations, Gambian authorities are cracking down on free speech and have been engaging in increasing numbers of unlawful arrests, detention, torture and unfair trials. Journalists in particular have felt the repression.
Well, give Khartoum points for chutzpah. The Sudanese government has referred Chad to the United Nations, urging that body to act on alleged Chadian air force incursions into Darfur. I do not even deny that Sudan is probably right on this matter, just that its brazenness in running to a global body whose judgment Sudan […]
The headline to a recent New York Times article, South Africa is Seen To Lag in AIDS Fight, is misleading (something that should come as a shock to no one, least of all anyone who has ever written an article and suggested a headline only to have something wildly misrepresentative appear at the top instead). […]
The majority of Palestinians lack trust in Fatah, Hamas, or any other political party, according to a recent poll. Conducted by Near East Consulting, the poll found 38-percent of Palestinians maintain confidence in Fatah, compared with only 11-percent for Hamas and five-percent for other groups. Of likely voters, the poll found that 35-percent of those […]
-AP has published more on the Indonesia Hotel Bombing suspect, Malaysian born, Noordin Mohammad Top. The U.S. State Department believes he aided in financing the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings. After becoming radicalized in an Islamic boarding school ran by the Indonesian Muslim cleric, Abdullah Sungkar, he underwent training in the Southern Philippines and joined […]
According to a report in Dawn, Pakistan government has lost billions in revenue because of the chaos that was caused by rain in Karachi. This is not good news. There is no question that this rain in Karachi broke all records, at least for the last 30 years, but the response from those who were […]
‘Opposition supporters who attended the Friday Prayer service in Tehran had responded to calls to chant “Death to America!” by chanting “Death to Russia!” instead’, Robert Mackey writes in today’s New York Times blog. Though I completely agree with the commenter who noted ‘I’m not sure that “Death to Russia!” is the best way to […]
A lot is being said in the Indian media about the inclusion of Balochistan in the India-Pakistan joint statement at Sharm el-Sheikh. [ link, link] Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is accused of giving Pakistan the upper hand by making Balochistan a bilateral problem, instead of the internal problem that it is. The Pakistani Prime Minister’s […]