Three members of the Expedition 34 crew undocked from the International Space Station and returned safely to Earth on Friday, wrapping up a mission lasting more than four and a half months. Expedition 35 now is under way. Station Commander Kevin Ford of NASA and Soyuz Commander Evgeny Tarelkin and Flight Engineer Oleg Novitskiy of [...]
Space Station Astronauts Land Safely In Kazakhstan
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An Unconvincing Secularism At Karachi Literature Festival – OpEd
By Uthman Badar Some of the proposed topics of discussion at the Karachi Literature Festival which took place earlier this month caught my attention as I read about it in the press. In particular the panel discussion on ‘Secularism in Pakistan’ moderated by Irfan Hussain and featuring Hamid Khan, Javed Jabbar, Asma Jahangir, and Nasira [...]
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Iran Viewpoint: Washington Angry Over Tehran-Islamabad Gas Pipeline Agreement – OpEd
By Pir-Mohammad Mollazehi The final phase of the Iran – Pakistan gas pipeline project, which is to be built on the Pakistani soil, was launched in a ceremony attended by Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his Pakistani counterpart, Asif Ali Zardari, on Monday, March 11, 2013. The first section of the pipeline, which runs over [...]
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France Will Soon Repent For Backing Al-Qaeda Terrorists In Syria – OpEd
By Yusuf Fernandez In late February, some international agencies reported that hundreds of foreign rebels were fleeing from the Idleb Province in Northwestern Syria through Turkey under the claim that they were planning to join al-Qaeda militants in Mali in order to fight against French troops deployed there. The reason of this withdrawal is not [...]
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Strengthening China-Qatar Relations Mutually Beneficial – Analysis
The rapidly strengthening ties between China and Qatar are evidence of China’s desire to be a major player in the Middle East. It is also a sign that China is willing to be, and is being embraced as, an alternative to traditional influences, such as the US, in the region. The latest step forward in [...]
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Jihadists In The Syrian Civil War: On The Road To Damascus? – Analysis
The two-year-old civil war in Syria has taken a devastating toll on lives and its cities. The largely secular nationalist rebels have been joined by Islamist militants from Iraq and homegrown jihadists. How will the entry of the Islamists impact on the fighting and on a post-war Syria? By Ahmed S. Hashim THE SYRIAN civil [...]
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Wrong Interpretations By Maulvis Defaming Islam – OpEd
Looking back at over 1450 years of Islam, we would find that maximum damage to the image of this holy religion has been done not by its opponents, alleged Kafirs (non believers) or other enemies of Islam, but unfortunately by those who proudly recite Kalma in the name of Allah and call themselves the true [...]
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Syria: Increasing Number Of Casualties From Cluster Munitions
Syrian forces’ use of cluster munitions in residential areas is causing mounting civilian casualties, Human Rights Watch said today. An initial review of available information has identified at least 119 locations across Syria where at least 156 cluster bombs have been used in the past six months. Human Rights Watch has investigated two cluster bomb [...]
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Corrie Family Calls On Obama To Seek Justice From Israel
The father of Rachel Corrie on Friday called for justice from Israel on the tenth anniversary of his daughter’s death. Rachel Corrie, 23, was killed by an Israeli army bulldozer in the Gaza Strip on March 16, 2003, while trying to prevent the Israeli army from demolishing Palestinian houses in Gaza. Official Israeli investigations, criticized [...]
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Obama Helps Promote Myth Of Racially Integrated Israel – OpEd
I imagine the White House think it’s good to help promote the status of an African first — Israel’s first African-born Miss Israel. And no doubt Israeli leaders welcome a photo-op that is sure to be used to counter the charge that Israel functions as an apartheid state. Look! No apartheid here — as Benjamin [...]
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Brazilian-Made Plastic Solar Panels, A Clean Energy Breakthrough
By Alice Marcondes What looks like a thin, flexible sheet of regular plastic is actually a solar panel printed with photovoltaic cells, which convert sunlight into electricity. This new material, totally unlike the heavy and costly silicon-based panels commonly used to generate solar power today, was created by scientists at CSEM Brasil, a research institute [...]
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Iran: Green Movement Leader Mousavi Allowed Visitation After 4 Months
Imprisoned Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi has been allowed to meet with two of his daughters for the first time after four months. According to opposition site Kaleme, on Wednesday, Mousavi and wife Zahra Rahnavard met with their daughters Narges and Kokab under under tight surveillance. Mousavi’s other daughter, Zahra, was barred from attending [...]
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Iranian Government Regulates Dating Sites
The Iranian government has announced regulation guidelines for online dating, announcing that people can now legally set up dating websites on the internet after getting the necessary licence. The Mehr News Agency reports that the Sports and Youth deputy culture minister said marriage counseling bylaws prepared by the ministry have been approved, adding: “Once the [...]
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EU’s Ashton Urges Push On Iran, Sees ‘Possible’ Serbia-Kosovo Breakthrough
(RFE/RL) — European Union foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton has called on Western negotiators to be “determined and creative” in their discussions with Tehran on Iran’s nuclear program. Speaking on March 16 at the German Marshall Fund’s Brussels Forum, Ashton said negotiators had to do more to build a level of “communication” and “trust” with the [...]
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Sara Brightman’s Space Trip Under Question – Roscosmos
Russia’s space agency Roscosmos and NASA may opt against sending music star Sarah Brightman to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015, Russian agency’s head Vladimir Popovkin said on Saturday. Brightman’s trip to orbit depends on the duration of the 2015 visiting flight to the ISS, Popovkin told journalists. The British soprano was set to [...]
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Wikileaks Shows U.S. Vatican Embassy Profiled Pope Francis In 2005
By Kevin J. Jones Leaked U.S. State Department cables published by Wikileaks show that the U.S. Vatican Embassy saw the future Pope Francis as a contender for the papacy in the 2005 conclave, reporting him to be a “wise pastor” who could appeal to allies of Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. Six cables mention Cardinal Jorge Mario [...]
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Serbia Electric Company Facing Massive Debt
By Igor Jovanovic Experts said that an infusion of capital or a price increase is the only way to keep the Electric Power Company of Serbia from failing. Although electricity supplies to the population and the economy are not in jeopardy, government officials and economic experts are unsettled by the events at the company, which [...]
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Arab Nations To Monitor Jihadist Websites
By Jemal Oumar Arab interior ministers want to keep a closer watch on extremist websites. The new agreement emerged from the 30th session of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, which ended Thursday (March 14th) in Riyadh. Twenty-one Arab ministers approved recommendations to monitor extremist websites used for recruiting young people, as well as online communications [...]
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Is India A Strategic Blind Country? – OpEd
By Dr. G. Thanga Rajeshi Introduction The reason for selecting this particular word such as strategic as a theme of this paper is because of wrong usage of the term amongst the many sections of our population including elites. Though the concept strategic is as old as the concept of India there is a peculiar [...]
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Pakistan’s Gwadar Port Project: Shielding Facts – OpEd
By Umm-e-Habiba The Gwadar port is one of the major sea ports in the western Indian Ocean region. It lies in the south-western coast of Pakistan and is only 180 nautical milesi from the Strait of Hormuz, the global energy conduit. Gwadar accordingly serves as a gateway to the Strait which hosts oil worth 17 [...]
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