NEWS
| Beyond the veil |
| IT IS so sad to see the newspapers in the UK make fun of the Muslim British citizens over this new controversy about veil or hijab. But it is not the media's fault. They are in no way responsible for this state of affairs. |
| United they stand |
| DESPITE its initial reservations, Kabul has apparently come round to appreciating Islamabad's jirga-decision of engaging with elements believed responsible for the Taleban uprising. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has proposed an elaborate grand jirga of Pashtun tribes from both Pakistan and Afghanistan to decide on what is to be done to tame the Taleban. |
| Need for unity in Iraq |
| US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice’s unannounced tour of Baghdad during her scheduled visit of the Middle East was not without good reason. Three years after Saddam Hussain’s regime was toppled, the country is on the brink of total collapse. Other than the unprecedented carnage owing to constantly increasing sectarian violence, which is the worst element, ordinary Iraqis have little solace as they continue to face acute power and fuel shortages. |
| Nato in Afghanistan |
| Nearly five years to the day since the war on terrorism was unleashed on Afghanistan, the occupying forces are seen struggling to contain a constantly escalating insurgency. The glee that accompanied the end of the Taleban having long since subsided, the Afghan population is apparently sheltering come-again remnants of the ousted regime as they launch the fiercest wave of insurgency since the US took over. |
| Dangerous delusions of ‘Dear Leader’ |
| NORTH Korea’s ‘Dear Leader’ Kim Jong-il is rattling his missiles once again. Pyongyang says it is going to conduct nuclear test to bolster its self-defence against what it calls increasing US hostility towards the Stalinist state. |
| Back to Balkans |
| SERBIA remains firmly stuck in the past, paying little attention to the changes taking place all around it. The country has presented a serious challenge to the UN and world community by adopting a new constitution that claims Kosovo as its own. |
| Lying in state |
| POLITICIANS are the same all over, argued Nikita Khrushchev. They promise to build a bridge even where there is no river. Watching this sordid drama unfold in Hungary, I am reminded of the late Russian leader's immortal words. Prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany of Hungary refuses to bow out in the face of continuing public protests and demonstrations against his leadership. |
| The media and ground realities |
| I OFTEN come across this complaint in Western media that the Arab and Muslim media fails to renounce and condemn things such as violence, bombing and terror attacks in no uncertain terms. Pundits and wonks in the West also question why the media in Muslim world does not back the campaign or war on terror. |
| View from Washington |
| BOB Woodward is no stranger to controversy. The celebrated American journalist together with his colleague Carl Bernstein at the Washington Post played a key role in bringing down President Richard Nixon by their investigation into the infamous Watergate scandal. |
| Unprovoked madness |
| THE news of the gunman taking six girls hostage at a Colorado high school on Wednesday and fatally wounding one before taking his own life is cause for the most serious concern. |
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