A group of Jewish activists intended today to enter the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, a site usually restricted to Arabs only with the exception of specific tourist times during the day. The second intifada began at the site following the arrival of future Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. In order to counter the arrival of Jewish activists, Palestinians organized […]
This article is by a progressive blogger in Lahore, (Pakistan) Raza Rumi. It was first published by Friday Times (picture of the march in Lahore – courtesy Friday Times.) Raza’s article gives voice to millions of Pakistanis who are unable to express their anger and frustration for varying reasons. Raza Rumi blogs at www.razarumi.com and edits Pak Tea House and […]
In another round of truly awful news for Tajiks, two former Soviet nuclear waste sites located in the northern Sughd region are not adequately sealed and will not be in the near future. Some of the dust has been escaping out of these mounds of waste and contaminating water and soil. So far, the dust […]
ISLAMABAD: An exhibition of paintings titled ‘No honour in killing: making visible buried truth’ by various artists opened at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts on Wednesday. Dedicated to the five victims of the brutal Nasirabad honour killings, the exhibition is an attempt to keep their memory alive via art and dialogue and seeks […]
CHRASADDA: Nine police personnel, including a DSP and an SHO, and seven passers-by were killed while 10 others were injured after a suicide bomber rammed his explosive-laden car into a police checkpost on Wednesday evening. The incident took place at a checkpost where police had erected barricades after the Charsadda DPO alerted the police to […]
NEW YORK: Saudi Arabia is showing only ‘muted interest in supporting’ Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari despite Washington’s effort to help strapped Pakistan raise some $ 4 billion to $ 5 billion in immediate infusion of money, the Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday quoting people involved in the deliberations. As the donor nations meet […]
The Egyptian government drafted a new document outlining steps to achieving upcoming Palestinian elections, drawing criticisms from Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. His reservations stem from the lack of clarity in the document that the Ramallah-based Fatah administration remains the officially recognized government of the Palestinians, not the Gaza-based Hamas organization that took control in […]
After the Obama Administration reiterated its boycott of the anti-racism Durban conference regardless of revisions to the preliminary conference document that formerly singled-out Israel, government officials held conference calls with Jewish Americans to appease concerns that the State Department would send representation to next week’s event. The calls appeared to relieve concerns, however the Republican Jewish […]
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is seeking to help Pakistan raise $4 billion to $5 billion at an international aid conference in Tokyo Friday in a bid to stabilize the finances of the key counterterrorism ally. Washington’s effort, however, is coming into conflict with Saudi Arabia, which is showing only muted interest in supporting Pakistani […]
As I reported on March 29 and March 30, Russia and Turkmenistan seemed to be headed for a new level of mutually-beneficial relations. They had signed a series of treaties and left only one to be signed, on gas, for a date in the near future, after they had worked out some kinks. Then on […]
In an article in The Christian Science Monitor Jean-Marc Gorelick posits that African farmers do not need bailouts, and that their priority is not aid. Rather, the problem with agriculture in Africa is that too many farmers are vulnerable to greedy middle men and to a system stacked against them. A sample: Because the farmers […]
ISLAMABAD: The criminal complacency of our elected parliamentarians was amazing to witness. How else does one describe the mood of our House of shame where members could be seen huddled together like excited schoolchildren, joking and laughing, preening about as if celebrating some proud accomplishment. The day after the Swat deal was bull dozed in […]
For Lenin, the only question that mattered in a revolution was ‘kto – kogo’: who is dominating whom? Today, the questions of which people? and whose power? are seldom directly addressed in the media’s euphoric mentions of ‘people power’ during eruptions of popular protest. However, they often determine the press angle and coverage of the […]
Georgia may have once been America’s darling in the Caucasus, but no more. As pressure mounts from within on Georgia’s young President, Mikhail Saakashvili, the political dynamics outside the country seem ever less favorable. First there was the world economic crisis, reducing trade and foreign aid. Then there was the lukewarm attitude toward Georgia on […]
I woke up this morning, opened my laptop, and took a look at my Afghan feeder and found one theme in yesterday’s news, death. If anyone needed to be shown how troubled the conflict still was all they need to hear are these three troubling and sad stories: Afghan officials are reporting that NATO airstrikes […]