At times I just wonder why India and Pakistan can’t live in peace. Why the relationship between the two countries is so fragile that any violent terrorist act brings the two countries on the threshold of war? Will the relationship improve (or heal) if the leadership in politics in the two countries were to pass […]
Musharraf might soon end his speechless days
By Saeed Minhas Islamabad: Gen. (Retd) Pervaiz Musharraf formally applied for a visit Visa by visiting the British High Commission on Thursday afternoon, where he was asked to go through the usual bio-matrix examination (taking digital fingerprints and photographs) for the visa application processing, informed the reliable sources. “I can only confirm that […]
Fulya Atacan: “In Turkey the military say the State should not use religion, but they did it first
Black, long hair and an open smile that often turns ironic. I meet Fulya Atacan on a hot summer day, at the beginning of August, in the Cihangir branch of the famous Kaktüs Café. The music is quite loud, and her voice is not, but my dictaphone luckily succeeds in recording it without too much […]
Interview: Palestine as seen by Matt Rees, author of crime novels
What is the right book to read during the celebrations for Israel 60th anniversary? Probably a crime fiction set in Palestine. That is, what Matt Rees’ books are about. Matt Beynon Rees is (or he might prefer to say was) a journalist from Wales who for over a decade wrote stories from the Middle East for […]
Bahrain: Lebanese Singer Causes Political Storm
– by Ayesha Saldanha Earlier this week the provocative Lebanese singer Haifa Wehbeperformed in Bahrain, but not before Bahrain’s MPs protested and tried to ban her concert. Mahmood gives us a taste of Haifa Wehbe’s music in a vlog: He adds: So what’s so special about this lady then, that would make her so damnably dangerous that they’re all […]
Iraq: A Defining Moment?
– by Salam Adil War in Basra… curfews in Baghdad… airstrikes on city centres… then a ceasefire… what on earth happened? As a BBC report said, the Basra operation is an empty vessel – it can be filled with any interpretation you choose. And fill it I will, with interpretations of Iraqi bloggers. Some polarised, some contradictory, […]