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Female Teachers without Pay in Balochistan

The Chief Minister of Balochistan time and again expresses his determination to promote education in Balochistan. According to Chief Minister of Balochistan his Government has imposed educational emergency. He claims that the educational budget has been raised from 4 per cent to 25 per cent. We also hear about the efforts to provide all the modern facilities to the younger generations for ensuring them quality education and facilitated life to the masses in the fields of education, health and other fields. However, the above mentioned quotations seem not less than exaggerations when we see teachers demanding for their salaries in different parts of Balochistan.

The overstatements of educational revolution in Balochistn become unsound when we see number of hurdles confronting education sector in Balochistan, where one of them is no payment of salaries to the female teachers appointed mostly in primary schools in different districts of Balochistan. Currently more than 150 Teachers are demanding for their salaries who were appointed in last five years by United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).

Recently, more than dozens of female teachers held a press conference in Khuzdar and said that they were forced to starve due to no salary for more than ten months. According to them through an agreement between government of Baluchistan and UNICEF’s education section they were appointed and it was agreed that they would be regularized after three years; however, since UNICEF concluded its project in Kalat division they were not being paid. They added that after UNICEF‘s project conclusion government of Balochistan was responsible to pay their salaries.

The teachers’ appealed government of Balochistan to recognize their plea so that they continue their services to the nation. They said that if they discontinued teaching as protest so it would affect educational career of thousands of students. The teachers from Khuzdr demanded that government should prove itself as education welcoming and fulfill their demands. A group of teacher from Kalat district also informed The Balochistan Point that all Joiner English Teachers appointed by UNICEF have been deprived of their salaries, therefore, to pressurize the government and responsible authorizes they have decided to boycott taking classes at their schools. They further said that if they were not paid salaries and be regularized soon they would prolong their protest for their right.

No doubt, despite huge amount of funds allocated for educational development no remarkable changes have been witnessed. Numbers of schools are still with no facility, even the books have not been provided to the students required in the middle and high sections in the schools.

It is need of the time government should be sincere in its promises and rather than doing its own hyperboles it should make tangible measures. Governments’ first and foremost priority should be provision of salaries to the female teachers, assurance of facilities and protection of teachers in the already backward Balochistan. If possible theses teachers, who have been serving for more than five year should be permanent so that government’s sincerity is proved regarding the dream of educated Balochistan.

Third acid attack on women in Balochistan : Acid attack on women in Pishin

An acid attack in Pishin district of Balochistan inflicted wounds on six women. This is the third acid attack on women in Balochistan during last 10 days.

According to the district administration of Pishin, the brutal attack took place in Tang area of Pishin district. Four assailants entered a house and sprayed acid on faces of women. The assailants managed to flee the crime scene without any problem. The acid attack victims were rushed to the nearest hospital. Luckily, the acid didn’t damage the faces of the women and only their feet were damaged.

Deputy Commissioner of Pishin, Bashir Bazai, ruled out the involvement of religious extremists in the acid attack. An old personal enmity was the reason behind the acid attack, added Deputy Commissioner.

It must be noted that government officials are quick to declare personal enmity the reason behind any criminal activity. This transfers the blame away from the government officials to some extent. The statement by Deputy Commissioner should be taken in the same context. In Baloch and Pashtun society there is no perception of attacking women in tribal or family feuds. So, the claim that perpetrators of the acid attack were motivated by family feud is absurd at best.

Third acid attack on women in Balochistan within last 10 days has put serious question marks on governance of Dr. Malik. No action has been taken against the perpetrators of the first two attacks and it’s less likely that the attackers of Pishin attack will ever be apprehended.

WHY TERRORISM CANNOT BE COMPLETELY ELIMINATED FROM PAKISTAN – OPED

By Kashmala Chaudhry

Pakistan has finally launched a military offensive against militants using its land for terrorism. The operation Zarb-e-Azb has been going on since mid-June with its full pace in the North Waziristan Agency of Pakistan, from where local and foreign militants were not only operating against Pakistan but were aiming at international targets as well.

So far the operation is going on successfully in Mirali after clearing Miranshah, Boya and Degan areas of North Waziristan Agency from terrorists. More than 500 terrorists have been killed, and dozens of hideouts wiped out. Tons of armor, numerous improvised explosive device (IED) making factories have been recovered along with notebooks with clear English handwriting and formulae for explosive materials. All of this depicts how once considered strategic assets are now playing in hands of foreign forces.

The operation, however, is aimed at eliminating terrorism from Pakistan and according to the premier it could bring peace to the motherland. In this wake, Pakistan army has pledged not to spare any militant be it local or be it a foreign militant.

Although security institutes are determined at driving all the terrorists out of the country yet the question that remains integral to address is will this operation alonebe enough to eliminate terrorism from Pakistani soil. Especially when internationally declared terrorists organizations like Jammat ud Dawa are still operating freely in the rest of Pakistan and are even alleged to have the support of the state. The question is when we are going to learn from our mistakes.

We nurtured the Taliban, though it is considered as a requirement of the time by some to secure our western borders because there were no other options to stop the proceedings of the then USSR. Today, these Taliban have become tools in the hands of foreign forces and are used against Pakistani soil. They have done irreparable damage to the country economically, socially, and in terms of precious lives that cannot come back ever. They have damaged the country’s image too. Yet we haven’t learnt from this mistake and are giving protection to groups like Jamat-ud-Dawa.

On the one hand the state is carrying out an operation against Taliban and like-minded organizations in one part of the country, and on the other hand it is allowing these groups to move freely in the main centers of Pakistan and to recruit our youth to fulfill their agenda.

Hafiz Saeed the head of JuD with a 10 million bounty on his head by the US has huge fan base in Pakistan and his gatherings attract massive crowds. Though at the moment Saeed might not seem as a threat to Pakistan — like the Taliban were once considered friends of Pakistan – however, history shows that such groups with extremist mind-sets cannot be trusted.

As Hussain Nadim maintained in 2013, Saeed, a reformed militant acting on the behalf of the state, is considered a key figure by the security establishment who would either assemble militants and mollify their enmity against Pakistan or would evolve them into political actors.

History, however, shows that these extremist groups cannot be trusted. Appeasing them and molding them in favor of Pakistan is not going to work. Because time and again it has been experienced that no agreement can bind them to remain faithful towards the state. And if these militants converted into political actors they again could not be considered safe because their mindset and ideology would remain the same. To eliminate terrorism, this mindset needs to be defeated.

Reforms and rehabilitation policy is required at massive scale and at national level. In this regard not only curricula revision and madrassa transformation is required, but all those Dars centers which are operating as established institutions or from homes should be closed. These Dars centers are preaching extreme interpretations of religion and are attended by hundreds of women. These women are responsible for running the institution of their families. If the mindset of these women is inclined towards extremism, then growing up their children as balanced individuals who can turn down the fancy calls by such radical jammats would become difficult. And most important of all the state should abandon all such organizations which could again become a threat to Pakistan in the future.

Social Media Is Deadly in Pakistan

Gideon Resnick

Pakistan’s blasphemy laws aren’t going anywhere, and innocent people are getting caught in the mix. A grandmother and her young granddaughters are the latest victims, reportedly killed in a mob attack sparked by a Facebook post. On Sunday evening, a grandmother and her two young granddaughters (seven-years-old and eight-months old) were burned to death in their homes during a mob attack on their village. A picture posted on Facebook reportedly sparked the attack.

The city of Gujranwala is primarily populated by the Ahmadi Muslim sect, a minority religion that differs with tenets of Islam, including the belief in the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. As Pakistani law dictates, Ahmadi members are not permitted to identify themselves as Muslim and have been subjected to violent persecution for blasphemy in the past.

In fact, it is written in the Pakistan Penal Code that anyone who “defiles the The Holy Prophet Muhammad” is subject to life in jail or punishment by death.

But the blasphemy accusation wasn’t even leveled at Bushra Bibi, the grandmother mentioned above. The trouble began when an 18-year-old Ahmadi man named Aqib Saleem allegedly uploaded a picture of a shrine in Mecca with a partially naked woman on top. A friend of his alerted authorities in the neighborhood, after which a mob of nearly 1,000 people burned down property in the town. According to police, the fire killed Bibi and the two young members of her family.

“The police and the courts respond to the reports of citizens of alleged violations of the blasphemy law,” Phelim Kine, the deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, told The Daily Beast in an interview. “There’s a proven willingness by the Pakistani police and the courts to pursue these charges. And there is a proven willingness of individuals in Pakistani society who are willing to report on what they perceive as, justifiably or not, violations of this dangerously ambiguous law, that they detect through social media or personal interactions.”

Kine described Pakistani social media as “the new town square” where ideas are more frequently discussed and shared than ever before.

“There are credible reports in the media that Pakistani police stood by and did not intervene to protect those Ahmadiyya who were being targeted by this mob violence,” Kine said referring to Sunday’s tragic incident. “It reflects on this rising religious intolerance that we’re seeing in Pakistan that is now being broadcast and amplified through social media both by extremists and religious minorities who wish to communicate the beliefs and principles of their own faith.”

Human rights organizations like Kine’s have pushed for reform of blasphemy laws for years. But as the Asia-Pacific Human Rights Network noted a death penalty sentence has not been issued in a blasphemy case in Pakistan yet. That hasn’t stopped individuals from being killed, in situations like this most recent event, prior to the conclusion of federal trials. And between 1986 and 2010, over 1,200 had been charged with violations of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws.

The government has also kept close tabs on the spread of perceived blasphemy online, initiating monitoring services for sites like Google and Yahoo in 2010. Facebook was also temporarily banned that year in advance of an event called “Everybody Draw Muhammad Day,” which was a response to censorship of a South Park episode in which the Prophet Muhammad was visually obscured by a black box.

The recent violence was condemned by a spokesman for the Ahmadi community, who alleged that the accused individual in question had his Facebook password stolen, which resulted in the image being posted. A representative of the Ahmadi Muslim community did not respond to a request for comment from The Daily Beast. Nor did the Embassy of Pakistan in the United States.

Taha Siddiqui, the Pakistan correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor, told me that he spoke with other members of the Ahmadi faith who had been targeted with violence as well. “So I spent an evening with some Ahmadis tonight in Karachi where I’m visiting my own family for Eid,” Siddiqui said in an email, referring to the ceremonial breaking of the fast after Ramadan. “Met a guy who was shot thrice and survived. He says he was targeted because of his faith.” This is by no means an isolated incident, according to Pakistani lawyer Yasser Latif Hamdani, who also suggested that anything that goes online could draw the unwanted attention of extremists.

“Ahmadis have been persecuted by the Sunni majority increasingly over the past few years,” Hamdani, known for his advocacy for the Ahmadi community in Pakistan, told The Daily Beast. “As a lawyer I would say that there is no protection for content produced on social media. Pretty much any content produced can land you in trouble and it has in the past.”

The rise in Islamic extremism has been widely reported in Pakistan, creating a situation so dangerous in recent years that even those who choose to defend individuals charged with blasphemy are putting their lives at risk. Rashid Rehman was assassinated in his office earlier this year after defending a university lecturer accused of blasphemy.

“It just tells you how deeply felt and how dangerous this law can be in terms of motivating people towards extra-judicial violence,” Kine said.

In 2011, then Prime Minister Yousaf Gilani asserted that there would be no changes to the controversial blasphemy law, even after another politician and former governor of Pakistan’s Punjab province, Salman Taseer was killed for denouncing the strict legal code.

With social media being increasingly used as a method of discussing and protesting religious beliefs, it seems like there is no discernable end in sight for prosecution of blasphemy in Pakistan.

“The immediate aftermath has been shock and expressions of outrage but soon it will die down and be forgotten as inevitably any tragedy in recent years has in this country,” Hamdani said. “For the Ahmadi Muslim community it has been another incident in a long list of violent outrages against them in the last four years.” And despite persistent efforts from human rights groups, the law doesn’t seem to be changing anytime soon.

“The key is the state stepping up, the Pakistani government stepping up and realizing that this law is facilitating some of the extremely negative and extremely violent tendencies of a very small minority,” Kine said. “All I can tell you, is it’s a very, very uphill fight.”

The Hidden Costs Of Fighting Polio In Pakistan

Pakistan is currently at the center of the global effort to eradicate polio. Although the country has reported only about a hundred cases this year, that's more cases than in all other nations combined.

Eliminating the paralyzing disease is a major logistical operation in Pakistan. More than 200,000 vaccinators fan out across the country, several times a year, to inoculate millions of children. The government also deploys tens of thousands of armed security forces to guard the workers.

All this is happening while Pakistan is fighting against the Taliban — and that militant group continues to threaten polio vaccinators and parents who immunize their children.

The polio campaign is costing Pakistani lives, national pride and precious health resources. Some health leaders are starting to question whether the focus on polio is worth it.

"All the immunization workers have been redirected into the polio campaign, which has resulted in another disaster: Our routine immunization has gone down to as low as 30 percent or less," says Dr. Raza Jamal, of the National Institute of Child Health in Karachi. "So that has resulted in epidemics of measles, diphtheria, cases of pertussis — which we had stopped seeing for a long time."

Jamal supports the polio eradication effort. But, he says, it has become a national obsession and has taken a huge toll on Pakistan's already overstretched health system.

Polio is only one of many challenges facing the poor country. People lack access to jobs, sanitation, decent housing, clean water and electricity. Criminal gangs terrorize the slums of Karachi. Pakistan has a major terrorism problem. Last month, militants in suicide vests fought a five-hour gunbattle with security forces at the Karachi airport, which left 38 people dead. On the same day, 22 Shiite pilgrims were attacked and killed near the Iranian border. Amid all this, Western health officials have pushed polio to the front of the country's national agenda. Mazhar Nisar coordinates anti-polio campaigns for the Pakistani Ministry of Health, but even he thinks the constant drumbeat on polio can be a problem. "There is a serious fatigue factor in the parents," he says. "There is a serious fatigue factor among the providers."

Coordinating the mass immunization drives all across the country is a major logistical operation for the health department. And parents have started to question why the government is directing so much attention to this one disease, Nisar says.

"They [parents] said, 'When we go to the hospital, we don't get the medicines. We don't get the proper treatment. My child is dying of diarrhea. My child has measles. And yet every four or six weeks, you come with the polio vaccine,' " he says.

But being one of the last nations on Earth with polio — even if it's just a hundred cases — is an embarrassment for the government.

"There are people at the highest level [of the government] who've told me they start their day with polio, they end their day with polio, as if this is the only priority," says Zulfiqar Bhutta, a professor of pediatrics at the Aga Khan University in Karachi. Bhutta has worked on polio for decades.

Polio eradication is very important, he says. But it's unclear how long Pakistan can stay focused on mass immunization drives. "What we need to go and try to do is something a bit more holistic," he says, "rather than trying to focus on a single intervention and a single program that bears very little relevance to the lives and livelihoods of people."

Pakistan should work to improve its basic health services, Bhutta says, so kids get immunized for polio along with everything else; and sanitation should be upgraded so the polio virus can't contaminate drinking water.

But projects like those take even more time — and more resources — than the current barrage of polio immunization campaigns.

The Battle to Eradicate Polio in Pakistan

Jeffrey Kluger

Political unrest in Pakistan has been a gift to the poliovirus, with 99 cases reported there so far this year. But Rotary International, which has already vaccinated 2 billion children in 122 countries, is hitting back hard.

Epidemiology can be all about geography—and that’s especially true when it comes to polio. If you live in the U.S., where polio was eradicated in 1979, the specter of the disease has faded almost entirely, though pockets of infections can occur among the unvaccinated. In Pakistan, however, things are moving in precisely the opposite direction, and have been for a while now.

One of only three countries in the world where polio remains endemic (the other two are Nigeria and Afghanistan), Pakistan had been close to joining the world’s polio-free nations, with only 58 infections in 2012. But thanks to bans on vaccinating—and deadly attacks on polio fieldworkers—by the Pakistani Taliban, the caseload rose to 93 in 2013. In 2014, the total reached 99 by July 18—a figure all the more alarming compared to this point last year, when there had been just 21 cases.

“It’s a scary number,” says Aziz Memon, Pakistani chairman of Rotary International’s polio eradication campaign. “Children in North Waziristan have been trapped for three and a half years without a drop of polio vaccine, and that’s what’s causing this.”

The folks at Rotary know what they’re talking about. Since launching their polio eradication effort in 1985, they have been responsible for the vaccination of 2 billion children in 122 countries. Along with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, The Gates Foundation and others, they have helped slash the global infection rate from 350,000 cases per year in 1988 to 416 in 2013.

That’s indisputably good news, but polio is an exceedingly sneaky virus, with 200 symptom-free carriers for every one case of the disease. That fact, combined with the anti-vaccine forces in Pakistan, not to mention the porous borders cause by war and unrest in the overall region, has caused the disease to leak out from the three endemic countries, with stray cases turning up in Equatorial Guinea, Iraq, Cameroon, Syria, Ethiopia, Somalia and Kenya. In a handful of other countries, the virus has been detected in sewage, but it has not led to any cases of the disease—yet.

It’s Pakistan though that’s considered ground zero, and Rotary has announced that it’s now deploying some very simple weapons in what has always been a village-to-village, door-to-door battle. To improve surveillance and tracking—a maddeningly difficult job in a country in which so many people live off the communications grid—Rotary has distributed hundreds of cell phones to midwives who circulate through communities, canvassing residents to find out who has received the vaccine and who has been overlooked. Information on the unvaccinated kids—the “missing children” in the fieldworkers argot—is entered into the phones and uploaded to a central spreadsheet, allowing later vaccinators to target their efforts more precisely.

“The midwives also track pregnant mothers,” says Memon. “And when their children are born they can continue to maintain complete health records, not just for polio but for other vaccines and basic health care as well.”

Rotary has also worked with The Coca-Cola Company to build what’s known as a reverse osmosis water plant—essentially a sophisticated filtration facility—in the town of Malin, within the city of Karachi. Polio is a disease spread almost entirely by human waste, and once it leeches into the water system it can spread nearly anywhere. The Malir plant, which was constructed near a school to give polio-age kids the first access to the newly filtered water, is a relatively modest one, with just 20,000 gal. (76,000 liters) of clean water on hand at any one moment, and cost only $40,000 to build. But as a pilot project it represents a very good start. “We can’t build a massive plant like the government can,” says Memon. “This is a small plant for a small community.”

One thing, paradoxically, that’s working in the vaccinators’ favor is the increased number of displaced people in Pakistan. A recent push by the Pakistani military to flush the Taliban from its safe havens has broken the vaccination blockade, and already 350,000 children have received at least one dose of the polio vaccine. But 1.5 million refugees are scattered around the country. Rotary has dispatched field workers to refugee camps and transit points to identify the children and few adults who need the polio vaccine and administer it on the spot. “The government did not have any idea about what the numbers of displaced people would be,” says Memon. In the refugee camps, he adds, there are at least 40,000 pregnant women, whose babies will have to be vaccinated shortly after birth.

The diabolical thing about polio—and indeed any disease science hopes to eradicate—is that even one case is too many. As long as any wild poliovirus is out there, everyone needs to be protected. It is only when the last scrap of virus has been found and snuffed, that the protective push can stop. That has happened once before in medical history—with smallpox. In the case of polio, it’s tantalizingly close to happening again.

Pakistan or Israel: what’s the difference?

Zara Ahmad

Do we take morbid pride in calling ourselves Muslims and butchering the innocent people of our own country in the name of religion? Who gave us the authority to play God? Is it just illiteracy or did our hearts really turn as cold as those of the Jews we see in Israel today?

Being a Muslim in Pakistan, uploading posts and pictures on social media about the freedom of Gaza is fairly easy but when it comes to saving your own country and making things right for it by practically standing up against the ‘dark forces’, the whole nation goes silent. It is simple! Nobody wants to clean up their own mess. Today, Pakistanis are killing each other in the name of religion. Be it Ahmedis, Christians or Shias who are the victims of this never-ending violence, there is chaos everywhere despite the fact that Pakistan is a so-called ‘Muslim country’. Many Pakistanis, especially those who sit online, are feeling repugnant towards the Israelis. We are calling them cruel, insensitive, soulless and every other bad name we can think of. We are sharing the pictures of burnt Palestinian children online, we are tweeting every hour about the plight of the Palestinians and how remorseful we are about what is happening but have we taken a minute to ask ourselves how remorseful we should be about our own country? Do we take morbid pride in calling ourselves Muslims and butchering the innocent people of our own country in the name of religion? Who gave us the authority to play God? Is it just illiteracy or did our hearts really turn as cold as those of the Jews we see in Israel today? Today, every contact I have on Facebook is standing up for Gaza but will they ever stand up for Pakistan? Will they stand up for every victimised person of this country regardless of the sect he/she belongs to?

We are not willing to make things better as a nation because it is difficult to step out of our comfort zone when we are not the victims of these brutal attacks. We are Muslims and we only stand up when we are the targets of sectarian violence. We only stand up when it is our children who get killed. We only stand up when it is our own houses that get burned. And if we are not the victims, then we are safe enough to continue our lives by sharing posts on Facebook and feeling satisfied at the so-called effort we are making. Maybe today, if we had resolved the sectarian conflicts in our own country, Gaza might have gotten some real help from us. If today we had realised what being a human actually is, we might have saved Gaza along with Pakistan. We are failing our country every day. We are failing because we have forgotten the law of karma. Karma awaits us all. Today, no matter how many Jewish products we boycott, we are no different than them.

Today, Pakistan is divided into two forces in which half of the people are playing the part of the Palestinians and the other half have taken up the responsibility to portray the role of the cruel Zionists. The one thing we have all forgotten is that, first and foremost, we should be human. We have lost the essence of our human nature. Are we killing each other because we do not approve of each other’s choice of religion, way of faith? We are humans when we are born. Religion is a choice. And only God can judge a person on the choices they make. The only choice worth making here is between violence and peace. Any sensible human being would opt for peace.

Today I am not proud to be a Pakistani because my own countrymen are killing each other every day. Today, I do not want to stand up for Gaza because my own country is acting like the aggressive Israel. We are becoming what we hate. Today, I just hope that we extinguish the fires of hate that dwell in our hearts before it is too late. It is about our country, about our people. Save both of them before you head out on a mission to save Gaza.

Anti-Ahmadi apartheid in Pakistan: Speak up for Gujranwala

BY MIR NASAR AHMAD

Seven-year-old Hira, her sister Kainat and 55-year-old Bashiran bibi were burned alive after a violent mob set fire to their homes and then openly celebrated the barbarity. The mob was retaliating against an alleged blasphemous post on Facebook and considered it well within its right to burn alive three innocent people not even directly involved in the incident.

Just as the long standing and well entrenched pro-Israeli bias in the Western media and governments is hard to shake and allows the IDF to kill and destroy with impunity, the victims in Gujranwala were Ahmadis who face an apartheid like state backed persecution in Pakistan. The constitution of the land declares them non-Muslim although the group claims to be within the fold of Islam. Ahmadis are prohibited from preaching their religion or posing as Muslims, an offence that carries a three-year jail term under the Pakistan Penal Code. Ahmadis can, however, also be booked under the more draconian provisions of the said penal code that prescribe the death penalty for blasphemy. Any expression of faith by an Ahmadi can potentially be construed as blasphemy and provide a pretext for mobs to ransack Ahmadi homes and burn their inhabitants alive.

Unfortunately, when the highest court of the country was approached to seek some relief for Ahmadis and have these inhuman laws overturned, the Supreme Court not only rejected the plea but also though fit to remark that the very existence of Ahmadis was akin to blasphemy. This was 1992. Not much has changed since. Every Pakistani who wishes to acquire a national identity card or passport today, in order to be recognised as a Muslim, must denounce the leader of the Ahmadi community and declare him an impostor. Ahmadis cannot vote and have no representation or voice in political discourse. Incidents of target killings and mob violence have been taking place with increasing frequency. Yet many Pakistanis do not feel any outrage when such injustice is perpetrated at home and there continues to be a deafening silence across all strata of society.

Just as one cannot expect the recent massacre in Gaza to shame the United Nations Security Council into unequivocally condemning the Israelis and declaring a Palestinian state, similarly it would be wishful thinking to expect that the Gujranwala incident will bring about a change of heart in the Pakistani parliament and that it will act to repeal the anti-Ahmadi laws in the near future. The anti-Ahmadi bias runs too deep and is interwoven with the political, economic and religious interests of groups that are extremely powerful and totally unwilling to concede any ground on this issue. The media has been criminally silent and millions will celebrate Eid without knowing that two children were burned alive not in Gaza, but in our own backyard.

Is there anything then that can be done for the oppressed and marginalised Ahmadis of Pakistan? To start with, why not show support and solidarity for the victims by speaking up. It is heartening to see social media standing up to propaganda waged by the strong and well-funded pro-Israeli lobby, and creating a counter-narrative that has truly brought the world’s attention to the real facts on the ground. We too can raise our voice against the anti-Ahmadi apartheid in Pakistan to drown out the noise of hate and bigotry. If coming out on the streets is not an option, let us at least reserve one tweet, one post and one message of support for the victims of this horrific tragedy in Gujranwala and remember them in our prayers along with the people of Gaza.

Pakistan: Article 245: questions remain

Now that Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan has deigned to inform the public about his government’s alleged thinking behind the invocation of Article 245 of the Constitution, it is worth examining the substance of what Mr Nisar has claimed.

According to the interior minister, the decision to draft in the army to augment the law-enforcement resources of Islamabad was taken before the launch of Operation Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan and was done keeping in mind past experience with counter-insurgency campaigns and counterterrorism operations in the cities.

In addition, not only was the army consulted before the federal government invoked Article 245, but had been involved in the decision to invoke it.

To begin with, now that Article 245 has been invoked and the army is to be drafted in to boost the security of Islamabad from Aug 1, there are two aspects of its operation that ought to be clarified: one, the specific duration — and it must be limited — that the army will be deployed; and two, that fundamental rights and the operation of the superior court’s suo motu powers will not be curbed.

If neither of those two conditions hold, then everything that flows from the invocation of Article 245 will be questionable and poisoned by illegitimacy as far as the public interest is concerned. But consider also the total inadequacy of the justification for invoking Article 245 offered by the interior minister.

If there was a weeks-old understanding that Islamabad was under acute threat both because of the operation in North Waziristan and the growing presence of militants in the city, then why has it taken until now to act? And even now, why is Article 245 only invoked from Aug 1? What possible tactical sense could it make to give the terrorists and militants a public warning of several days to either melt away or attack immediately when, in the government’s own telling, the capital’s defences are not as strong as they ought to be at present?

What also about the rest of Pakistan’s cities and urban areas, several of which have suffered much more violence over the years than Islamabad? To talk about the need for army-led security reinforcements in one city with already significant civilian law-enforcement and intelligence resources while the rest of the country where the civilian law-enforcement and intelligence apparatus is known to be much weaker simply makes no security or policy sense.

There is another aspect to the latest vexing move by the PML-N government: in invoking Article 245, the PML-N has boosted the perception of indispensability and profile of the military in civilian domain — precisely the opposite of what the democratic project needs. If indeed Article 245 is linked to the PTI’s Aug 14 rally, then has the PML-N unwittingly made the military the final arbiter in politics yet again?

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Tunnel Wars: The Battle Taking Place Beneath Gaza

Saudi Crocodile Tears Over Gaza

David Hearst

It is tough work being the Saudi ambassador to the UK. First, you have to stir yourself into action to deny the undeniable: The Israeli attack on Gaza comes with Saudi backing. That, in itself, is demeaning. But no sooner has your wrath been righteously expressed, than a colleague contradicts you. Worse still, he's the boss's brother. What is a prince to do?

In his reply to my column, Prince Mohammed bin Nawaf Al Saud wrote: "To think that Saudi Arabia, which has committed itself to supporting and protecting the rights of all Palestinians to self-determination and sovereignty would knowingly support the Israeli action is quite frankly a grotesque insult." He then admits "dealings" between the Kingdom and Israel but claims those "limited to bring about a plan for peace." Then he says:

"The Palestinian people are our brothers and sisters -whether they are Muslim Arabs or Christian Arabs. Be assured we, the people and Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, will never ever give up on them, we will never do anything to harm them, we will do all we can to help them in their rightful claim to their own homeland and return of lands taken illegally from them."

Hardly was the ink dry on this official news release, when Prince Turki al-Faisal, Bin Nawaf's predecessor as UK ambassador, former intelligence chief and the brother of the current foreign minister wrote in al-Sharq al-Awast that Hamas was to blame for firing rockets and for refusing to accept Egypt's ceasefire plan (which would have disarmed them). This is Israel's and Egypt's view too. So which is it? Does the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia support Palestinians in their resistance to the occupation? Or does it support the siege manned by Israel and Egypt, until Gaza is demilitarized? These are two clear policies -- support for the Palestinian resistance to the occupation and ending the siege of Gaza, or keeping the siege in place until all factions in Gaza are disarmed. Either Israel is engaging in genocide (strong words, Mr. Ambassador) or the resisters are terrorists who must be disarmed. Decide what it is you want the Kingdom to say. You can't say both. You can't swear allegiance to the Palestinians and give a nod and a wink to their killers.

And are the kingdom's dealings with Israel really "limited to bring about a plan for peace"? You are privy to the cables, Mr. Ambassador. Tell us what passed between Prince Bandar and the Mossad director Tamir Pardo at that hotel in Aqaba in November last year. The Jordanians leaked it to an Israeli newspaper in Eilat. Were Bandar and Pardo: 1. soaking up the winter sun, 2. talking about the Arab Peace Initiative, or 3. plotting how to bomb Iran?

And why are your new friends the Israelis being so loquacious? Why, to take the latest example, did Dan Gillerman, Israeli ambassador to the UN 2003-08, say at the weekend that "representatives from the Gulf states told us to finish the job in Gaza time and again." Finish the job? Killing over 1,000 Palestinians, most of them civilian. Is that what you meant when you said "we will never do anything to harm them"? The carnage in Gaza at least gives the world clear sight of the protagonists. The wonder of it is that all are American allies, three have US bases on their soil and a fourth is a member of Nato. America's problems in the Middle East are more to do with their sworn allies than their sworn enemies.

On one side, stands Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates and Jordan. They consider themselves the voice of reason and moderation, but their methods are violent -- the military coup in Egypt and the attack on Gaza have all happened in the space of 12 months. On the other, stands Turkey, Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood and its affliate Hamas.

We should, however, talk of governments rather people, because one reason why the government of Saudi Arabia has such an extreme position on Hamas and the Brotherhood in general, is that it knows full well that its own people don't share their view.

Saudi Arabia's leading pollster Rakeen found that 95 percent out of a representative sample of 2,000 Saudis supported the continuation of the Palestinian resistance factions. Only three per cent did not. Eighty-two percent supported the firing of rockets into Israel and 14 percent opposed it. The kingdom's hatred of Islamism stems not from the fact that it presents a rival interpretation of Islam. It is that it presents to a believer, a democratic alternative. That is what really scares the monarchy.

The proof of all those secret Saudi-Israeli meetings is to be seen in the behavior of Egypt. It is impossible to believe that its new president Abdel Fattah al Sisi could act towards Hamas in Gaza independently of his paymasters in Riyadh. He who pays the piper -- $5 billion after the coup, $20 billion now -- calls the tune.

Sisi sees Hamas entirely through the prism of the Muslim Brotherhood he deposed last year. Hamas is villified in the lickspittle Egyptian press as the enemy of Egypt. A trickle of aid has been allowed through the border crossing at Rafah, and it is sporadically opened to a few thousand wounded Palestinians. The Israeli Army is not alone in blowing up Hamas' tunnels. The Egyptian army announced recently they had blown up 13 more, a deed which earned them the title of being "a sincere neighbor" of Israel. Sisi is content to let Hamas and Gaza take a hammering, and make no efforts to get a ceasefire. The last initiative was not even negotiated with Hamas.

Mubarak made a similar miscalculation during the 2006 incursion into Lebanon, supporting an operation which he believed would cripple Hezbollah. In the end he was forced to send his son Gamal to Beirut to express Egypt's support for the Lebanese people. Both the kingdom and Sisi know that dropping the Palestinian card is a risky business.

Saudi Arabia is treading a fine line. According to my sources, Netanyahu's rejection of Kerry's peace initiative over the weekend was due in part to the full support of its Arab allies. Saudi Arabia's active support is keeping this brutal war going.

Video Report: President Obama: New sanctions are not the start of new Cold War

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China: Xi Jinping strengthens his grip with Zhou Yongkang takedown... but what next?

Taking down a party heavyweight has given the president clout not seen since Deng Xiaoping and energised his anti-graft fight, analysts say

With the launch of the formal investigation into former Politburo Standing Committee member Zhou Yongkang, President Xi Jinping has consolidated power in a way that eluded his predecessors.

Xi would have needed a strong consensus among retired and sitting party elites before moving forward with the probe, which marks the first time a Standing Committee member or ex-member has been investigated for "serious violation of disciplines" since the opening up ear of the late 1970s.

Although the case sends a message the party will not hold anyone above the law, other past and current members of the committee were unlikely to become a focus of Xi's anti-graft campaign, analysts said.

The president remains limited by the principle of collective leadership, which arose under Deng Xiaoping as a way to end the political chaos of the Cultural Revolution.

But a single case, especially one so high-profile, is enough for Xi, who is the general secretary of the party, to reinforce his message party stars can no longer use their power bases and state-owned firms to accumulate massive wealth - all with impunity.

"The crux of the matter is that it shows how far Xi has consolidated his position as the leader of China," said Professor Steve Tsang, director of the China Policy Institute at the University of Nottingham in England.

"Not quite a strongman like Deng Xiaoping , but certainly more than Hu or Jiang managed to achieve," he said, referring to former presidents Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin . "This puts Xi in a more powerful position than any leader since Deng."

Xi would have needed a majority from the party elite before moving, and securing that backing might have delayed the announcement, Tsang said.

The South China Morning Post reported last August that retired and current leaders had agreed to the investigation at their annual seaside resort gathering in Beidaihe.

But the delay in launching the official investigation suggests the complexity of the internal bargaining despite the downfall of one of Zhou's key allies, Bo Xilai , the former party boss of Chongqing .

Analysts said the timing of the announcement indicated party elites had reached consensus on major policy issues before the Beidaihe meeting. "The announcement suggested leaders have finally agreed on major policy issues to be finalised at the summer summit at Beidaihe," said Zhang Ming, a professor of political science at Renmin University. The summit is used to discuss the agenda of upcoming fourth plenary session of the 18th Central Committee, which is said to focus on comprehensive law reforms to stamp out corruption and abuse of power.

Analysts also pointed out that before the formal investigation was announced, the party had dismantled Zhou's power base, which spanned the oil industry, Sichuan province, the Ministry of Public Security and the legal affairs establishment.

Zhou was head of the China National Petroleum Corporation, then Sichuan party boss, and minister of public security before he was promoted to the Politburo Standing Committee and put in charge of the police, courts and prosecutors.

The party's anti-graft agency has detained a dozen senior ministerial-level officials with close ties to Zhou. Analysts said the crackdown paved the way for Xi to revamp what he saw as the most corrupt sectors within the system - the state sector and security establishments. "It shows that politics has really changed in Beijing," said Dr Kerry Brown, a professor of Chinese politics at the University of Sydney.

Brown said Xi might have felt the party's legitimacy was being eroded by members who treated official postings as an opportunity to get rich through their connections with state-owned companies. "I suppose rules always stand until the time when they are broken, and so just because there was this tradition of Politburo Standing Committee members never being prosecuted, that doesn't mean anything now," Brown said.

"Everything shows Xi regards using the party to make money for clans and networks with disdain. He seems to be operating with a higher political objective, so Zhou is very expendable on this reckoning … [as are the] retired, the networks already decimated by purges so far, and connected to a state sector dying from its own greed," Brown said. The question remains whether the Zhou investigation is a turning point in government accountability or intended merely as a warning to corrupt cadres." Only twice before has the Politburo Standing Committee targeted one of their own. In 1968, former president Liu Shaoqi was removed as deputy party chairman in a power struggle with Mao Zedong . Liu was replaced by Marshal Lin Biao, whom Mao stripped of power in 1971. Both Liu and Lin were ousted for political purposes, while Zhou is being investigated for serious violation of party disciplines. But for the 40 intervening years, the Standing Committee existed largely above the law.

"If using the same criteria, other officials as senior as Zhou should be put under investigation," said Dr Xigen Li, an associate professor at the department of media and communication at City University of Hong Kong. Brown said Xi might feel it was precisely outsiders like Zhou with no family links to the history of the party who have corrupted and twisted its original mission and needed to be expelled.

Overseas media have reported relatives of other party elites had amassed huge wealth. Last year, The New York Times said the family of then-premier Wen Jiabao controlled assets worth at least US$2.7 billion.

Tsang said although Xi had built up immense political capital, he "very much doubted Xi is also targeting other leaders like Wen and Jiang at the moment".

"If there is any real indication of that as a possibility, Wen would have worked closely with Jiang to block the detention of Zhou," Tsang said. "I do not expect other retired PSC members to be put in the same situation as Zhou."

If that happened, Xi would be asserting himself as a strongman, violating the principle of collective leadership established in the post-Deng era. "Xi is asserting himself but he is not a strongman," Tsang said.

Zhou's case sent a powerful message to rank and file members, as well as higher-up officials, that their positions and connections did not equal protection, said Dr Yuan Jingdong, a political scientist at University of Sydney.

"This can also serve to divert or mitigate pent-up societal anger due to the growing gap between the rich and powerful, and the misfortunate and unfairly treated groups," Yuan said. "But to fundamentally redress the problems requires more than putting out fires; it requires introducing effective systems based on the rule of law, and a mechanism to monitor power."

Why plane crash happened so frequently recently

July 2014 must be the darkest month in the aviation history. Three air disasters happened in eight days and 465 people were killed. Despite the varying circumstances of each crash, insufficient preventive measures is a common cause of the accidents.

Zhang Qihuai, vice-president of Beijing Air Law Association, explained that frequent crashes are accidental, but with the development of civil aviation, the growth of the number of passengers and aircraft amortization may be the cause of aviation accidents.

Zhang said that Taiwan's TransAsia Airways was aware of the typhoons and thunderstorms weather conditions, but instead of choosing an alternate airport, it carried out a forced landing. While the MH17 did not choose to avoid the war zone, and ICAO should also be responsible for not providing timely warning.

Rainy season meets travel peak season

"Weather and traffic are the important factors that affect fight safety," Zhang said. "July, August and September are travel peak season for students on summer holidays. With frequent rain and thunderstorms, they are the bad season for flight."

With the increase in traffic, to ensure the normal operation, the airlines will also increase the capacity in two ways: extending the operational time of the current aircraft and putting the aircraft in maintenance into operation. "Some aircraft fly for an average of 16-18 hours a day, without stop. The probability of the accident has been largely increased," Zhang said. Lack of captains globally

According to Zhang, there is a shortage of pilots, especially captains at global level. The captain and crew members are important to protect the safety of aircraft. "Shortage of pilots in peak season will result in the disorder in personnel arrangement. For example, we usually arrange a senior pilot to guide junior or fresh ones and choose the best pilots to fly over the difficult routes and areas. However we cannot apply it strictly during the peak season." In addition, Zhang thinks that fatigue of crews is also a problem. Some crew members have to fly three or four days without rest during the peak season. Flying overtime will also cause safety hazards.

Dutch Prime Minister Urges Kiev to Stop Fighting Near MH17 Crash Site

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte has called on Kiev authorities to stop its military operation against independence supporters around the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash site in eastern Ukraine, Agence France-Presse reported Tuesday, citing a government representative.

"The prime minister this morning called the Ukrainian president with a request to halt hostilities around the crash site," Jean Fransman said.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told Rutte that he would take all measures “to allow investigators access” to the scene, according to the government spokesman.

"Rutte expressed his concern about the fact it appeared the investigators may today yet again not reach the site. This is important because we want to get to the crash site as quickly as possible to get the victims and bring them home," Fransman said. Earlier in the day, a group consisting of Dutch and Australian specialists for the third time failed to reach the crash site near the city of Torez due to ongoing fighting in the region.

On Monday, a spokesman from Ukraine’s National Security Information Center, Andriy Lysenko, claimed that the Ukrainian National Guard gained control over a number of cities in eastern Ukraine, including Torez.

A total of 298 people, including 85 children and 15 crew members, died on July 17 as a Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed in the Donetsk Region of Ukraine. The tragedy claimed the lives of 193 Dutch citizens. The cause of the catastrophe remains unclear and the investigation into the circumstances is still underway, seriously obstructed by continuing clashes between independence supporters and the government forces in the region.

Kiev forces fire ballistic missiles into E. Ukraine

In the past two days Kiev’s forces have launched several short-range ballistic missiles into areas in east Ukraine controlled by self-defense forces, CNN reports, citing US government sources.

The move “marks a major escalation” in the Ukrainian crisis, CNN said.

“Three US officials confirmed to me a short time ago that US intelligence over the last 48 hours has monitored the firing of several short-range ballistic missiles from territory controlled by Ukraine government forces into areas controlled by the pro-Russian separatists,” Barbara Starr, CNN’s Pentagon correspondent, said in a live report.

Short-range ballistic missiles can carry warheads of up to 1,000 pounds (450 kg) and are capable of killing dozens of people at a time, Starr said.

A Moscow correspondent for another American television network, ABC, tweeted Tuesday that the Kiev forces fired three ballistic missiles at self-defense forces near the town of Snezhnoe (Snizhne in Ukrainian) in the Donetsk Region. According to Kirit Radia, this is what a US official told ABC’s Pentagon digital journalist Luis Martinez.

The CNN gave no details regarding the exact missiles’ launch and impact point. “In fact, the US is holding this information right now fairly tightly, officials say, because they are in an awkward position: these are, you know, the so-called ‘good guys’ firing ballistic missiles, Ukraine government forces,” Starr said on air.

So far, there has been no official reaction from Kiev and Moscow. The question now is how Washington – which has strongly backed the Kiev government – will comment on the revelations, CNN’s correspondent said.

Earlier this week, the US State Department released satellite images via email which it said act as “evidence” that Russia was firing rockets at Ukrainian troops across the border. Russia’s Defense Ministry stated in response that the “fake” images were created by American advisers “with close links to Ukraine’s Security Council.”

“Will we see the satellite imagery of the Ukrainians firing against the separatists? That may be a very tricky political question for the US intelligence community today,” CNN’s Starr said.

However, CNN’s correspondent in Donetsk, Nick Paton Walsh, said he had heard nothing of ballistic launches in the area and nothing of that kind has been openly discussed. He added, though, that it is no secret that both sides of the conflict were using “very heavy weaponry” against each other.

Russian military experts say that if the Ukrainian military did use ballistic missiles, most likely they would be Tochka-U (NATO Designation SS-21 Scarab). Viktor Murakhovsky told RT that the military possibly used the missile against a fixed target, such as the militia’s staff headquarters. “I’m talking about the Tochka-U tactical ballistic missile on a wheeled chassis, which the Ukrainian army has in its arsenal. It’s a Soviet-designed and produced missile. It may have a high-explosive fragmentation warhead or a disintegrating warhead,” Murakhovsky said.

Anatoly Tsyganok, the head of the Military Forecasting Center in Moscow, agreed that the Ukrainian army could have used the Tochka-U missile.

The news broke amid growing tensions between Washington and Moscow over the ongoing violent confrontation in Ukraine. The US, giving strong backing to the Kiev government, has repeatedly accused Russia of supporting anti-government separatist forces in east Ukraine and supplying them with arms – an accusation Russia has strongly denied. Last week, US government officials claimed that Russia was firing artillery across the border into Ukrainian territory, but refused to provide any hard evidence besides some pictures captured by a civilian satellite, which were rebuffed by Russia’s Defense Ministry.

So far the US has failed to back its statements with any trustworthy proof, mainly referring to some images, “commons sense” and social media.

Charges and counter charges between the two powers have been boiling following the tragic accident with Malaysian Airlines Boeing-777 that crashed in Ukraine on July 17. The very next day after the incident, long before experts arrived at the scene and a probe was launched, President Barack Obama said that America had “increasing confidence” that the plane was shot down by a surface-to-air missile that was launched from militia-controlled territory. US intelligence said later that it found no direct link between Russia and the plane disaster. But, still, the blame-game continued with Russia being accused of “creating conditions” that led to the incident.

A fresh bunch of accusations were thrown at Moscow on Tuesday, with Obama stating that Russia was not cooperating with the international investigation of the plane crash.

Russia on the contrary has been calling for a transparent and impartial investigation of the tragedy from the very beginning. Russia’s Defense Ministry presented its own evidence on the movements of Ukrainian military before and after the tragedy, including surface-to-air missile systems, and a fighter jet that had been tracking the civilian aircraft. During the press conference, Russian military posed a number of questions to Kiev and Washington answers to which could shed light on what really happened on that day and help the international investigation. Those questions however were left unanswered with western media and politicians instead blaming Russia of not willing to use its “influence” on anti-Kiev forces whom they accused of hampering the investigation despite the fact that it was Kiev’s forces who intensified the military operation in the direct vicinity of the crash site.

On Tuesday however, Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko finally said that Kiev is ready for a cease-fire at the MH17 crash site, as was demanded by the UN Security Council resolution on July 21. The local militia in the meantime confirmed they were ready to further cooperate with international experts investigating the crash.

Shakira - Dare (La La La)

Music: Lea Michele - On My Way

Pakistan: Shah criticises Govt inability to handle matters

Opposition leader Khursheed Shah said that if Federal Government cannot deal with 1.5 million people in capital city then they have no right to run this country. Government should take decision wisely rather to create chaos.

Talking to media after performing Eid prayer, he wishes Eid to nation specially IDPs. He also showed his concern that who is behind Interior Minister he is unable to understand anything, we try to build good relations with government but Chaudhry Nisar ruined it every time, he added.

Shah further said that If PTI chief Imran Khan wanted to register a protest along with his followers, let him do it as its his political right.

Talking about Article 245, he said it is made for extraordinary circumstances and applied when things get out of hands. Government should take all parties

Talking about political hormony, opposition leader said that Governemt should take all the parties in confidence when these type of decisions need to be taken.

PPP to confront Federal Govt over 16 to 18 hours loadshedding

http://mediacellppp.wordpress.com/

Pakistan People’s Party will not tolerate the unabated torturous load shedding of electricity of 16 to 18 hours and will confront the ruling Party for its abject failure despite its tall claims, said Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo, President Punjab PPP, in a statement issued from the Party Secretariat Monday.

He predicted that the unbearable load shedding of electricity in the country would push government’s early demise because the people had lost all hopes of their ability to get rid them of the menace.

He pointed out that the farmers in the country were most hit because they were paying more for the electricity which was not available and the agriculture produce had been suffering badly due to the water shortage. He said that the industrial sector especially the small entrepreneurs were devastated as the excessive and unscheduled load shedding had ruined their small businesses besides daily wage earners losing their jobs.

Mian Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo said that during the PPP previous democratic government the it used to ensure three hours uninterrupted supply of electricity to the tube wells at affordable rates to meet the irrigation requirements. Now sporadic supply of one hour electricity to tube wells has caused acute water shortage and the resultant decline in productivity is like the economic murder of the farmers’ community, he added.

He said that the continuous shortfall of 7000 mw in the country was source of utter disappointment for the people of Pakistan because of the government had miserably failed to narrow down the gap between the demand and supply over the more than one year. It smacks of their claim of controlling it in months and not in years, he observed.

He pointed out that the present government had not added a single mw in the national grid and the Nandipur Hydel Power Project of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had proved the disaster of unimaginative proportion in terms of power generation and its competitiveness.

He recalled that the PPP government added around 3400 mw in the national grid and the scheduled load shedding then was reduced to three to four hours. He asked the Punjab Chief Minister to compare the situation of his protest then near Minar-i- Pakistan by setting up a tent beating the heat with hand fan. His sense of righteousness is at stake indeed, he observed.

Pakistan's Article 245 in Islamabad: PPP submits Adjournment Motion in National Assembly

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PPP has submitted an adjournment motion in the National Assembly against imposition of Article 245 in Islamabad.

MNAs Dr Nafisa Shah, Ms Shazia Atta Marri, Syed Naveed Qamar, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah & Mrs Beelam Hasnain submitted the Adjournment Motion in the National Assembly:

The motion stated, “Under Rule 110 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the National Assembly, 2007, we request that the proceedings of the house be adjourned to discuss the Government’s decision to impose Article 245 in the capital territory of Islamabad as it reflects the failure of the civil administration, involves the total suspension of the jurisdiction of the high courts and setting up of military courts.

This is a serious issue with grave consequences and requires immediate discussion on the floor of the house”, it said.

George Michael - Everything She Wants

Surgeon general: Stop tanning and save your skin

Those of you tanning or burning your skin this summer should stop — seek the shade, wear a hat and some sunscreen and, whatever you do, stay out of indoor tanning salons. It's a familiar skin-cancer prevention message, but it's coming from a new source: the office of the U.S. Surgeon General.

The call to action from acting Surgeon General Boris Lushniak, released Tuesday, says that skin cancer is a "major public health problem" and that too much exposure to indoor and outdoor ultraviolet light is a major cause. It comes just two months after the Food and Drug Administration announced it will soon require labels on tanning beds and lamps warning against use by anyone younger than 18.

But more action is needed, because skin cancers in the United States, unlike many other cancers, continue to rise, the new report says. Nearly 5 million people in the United States are treated for skin cancer each year, at a cost of $8.1 billion, the report says. About 63,000 cases are the most serious kind, melanoma, and about 6,000 of those cases are directly linked to indoor tanning, the report says.

The report says ultraviolet radiation exposure from indoor tanning is "completely avoidable."

In an interview, Lushniak said it is time for additional states to join the several that have banned indoor tanning by minors and the 44 with some kind of restrictions.

The report also calls for individuals — of all skin colors — to follow the usual advice for minimizing sun exposure, including using sunscreen, hats and shade. It also says everyone from schools to businesses to urban planners have roles to play in providing shady spaces and making it easier for people to protect themselves.

The report does not say we should all live in caves. "Enjoy the great outdoors," Lushniak says, "but take steps to protect your skin."

There's some evidence some people are listening to some of the warnings: Indoor tanning use by teens dropped in recent years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC says 12.8% of teens younger than 18 admitted to indoor tanning in 2013, down from 15.6% in 2009.

The World Health Organization called indoor tanning devices cancer-causing in 2009.

The report "is a major step forward in the fight against the epidemic of skin cancer, but the value of this step will be measured in the follow up," says Tim Turnham, executive director of the Melanoma Research Foundation.

The Indoor Tanning Association did not immediately return a call for comment. In past statements, the industry group has disputed the WHO position that tanning devices cause cancer and has also said use by teens should be up to parents, not government.

The one thing everyone in Israel seems to agree on: John Kerry blew it

By Adam Taylor

Anyone who has made even a passing glance at the Israeli media in the past few days will have noticed the incredible chorus of criticism being directed at John Kerry right now. The secretary of state has been lambasted by all sides for his apparent failure in attempts to negotiate a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

Here's a small selection of the nasty things being said.

On Monday, Israel HaYom, a Sheldon Adelson-owned free daily, published the following from Prof. Ron Breiman on its English-language Web site.

Like a blind person groping for the ladder to climb down from the roof but instead falling down the chimney, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the government he represents have not missed an opportunity to step in all the Middle Eastern potholes along their way. Kerry is imbued with good will, but this is not enough. Kerry and U.S. President Barack Obama suffer from a misunderstanding of reality in our region, as well as in other parts of the world.

At Israel's leading liberal newspaper, Haaretz, Ari Shavit argued that Kerry had been reckless and suggested that any future Israeli ground operation should be named "Operation John Kerry":

The Obama administration proved once again that it is the best friend of its enemies, and the biggest enemy of its friends. The man of peace from Massachusetts intercepted with his own hands the reasonable cease-fire that was within reach, and pushed both the Palestinians and Israelis toward an escalation that most of them did not want.

That post came not long Shavit's colleague Barak Ravid published his take on Kerry's cease-fire plan, titled simply "What was he thinking?" Ravid tried to be kind to Kerry, but couldn't hide his anger at the article's end:

If Kerry did anything on Friday it was to thwart the possibility of reaching a cease-fire in Gaza. Instead of promoting a cease-fire, Kerry pushed it away. If this failed diplomatic attempt leads Israel to escalate its operation in Gaza, the American secretary of state will be one of those responsible for every additional drop of blood that is spilled.

On Sunday, Ynetnews the English-language Israeli Web site of Israel's most-read newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, published an article titled "Obama's wars on Israel." The author, Guy Bechor, also singled Kerry out:

This isn't the first time Kerry is caught smiling at Israel while inciting against it behind the scenes. But not just towards Israel. This is also a betrayal of the moderate axis of the Middle East – Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia – as well as encouraging and rewarding jihadist terror, and a betrayal of all the real American values.

At the Times of Israel, a Web site that boasts of its independent politics, analyst Avi Issacharoff wondered if Kerry was "merely naive," or if the United States was now aligning itself with the Muslim Brotherhood. He pulled a dummy in the article's lede before launching into a criticism of Kerry:

Despite the tendency to criticize US Secretary of State John Kerry’s efforts, credit should be given where credit is due. Over the weekend, Kerry did manage to facilitate something in the Middle East: unparalleled unanimity.

Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan were all in agreement that Kerry’s efforts were undermining the attempt to bring about a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas as quickly as possible. Moreover, Kerry’s framework and the ideas he presented led to an extraordinary phone call taking place between a senior Palestinian Authority official and an Israeli counterpart, during which the two mocked the senior diplomat’s naivete and his failure to understand the regional reality.

The Jerusalem Post's Herb Keinon noted that Kerry's ability to unite Israelis was really what was quite remarkable:

It takes a certain artistry to irritate and annoy not only the Israeli left and the Israeli right at the same time, but also both Jerusalem and Ramallah.US Secretary of State John Kerry has found that artistry.

As Keinon noted, there were even reports that the Palestinian Authority had become exasperated with Kerry. An unnamed official was quoted in the London-based Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper as saying that the PA leadership was angry with Kerry's attempt to “tamper with Palestinian blood and make it hostage to regional rivalries.”

It all became so much that on Monday, the Obama administration was forced to push back against what it said was a "misinformation campaign” against Kerry. “It’s simply not the way partners and allies treat each other,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said. Israel's ambassador to the United States spoke out too. “The criticism of Secretary Kerry for his good faith efforts to advance a sustainable cease-fire is unwarranted," Ron Dermer said Monday. But given that so many of the articles in the Israeli media mentioned officials speaking off the record, his attempt to distance the government may fall flat.

India, US Look to Reset Ties During Kerry Visit

India and the United States will attempt to reset their ties during the upcoming visit by U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry. This week’s talks will be the first high level interaction between the two countries since a right wing government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi took charge.

For months, India-U.S. ties have grabbed headlines for the wrong reasons: Washington’s denial of a visa to the Hindu nationalist leader who is now India’s Prime Minister, and an ugly spat over an Indian diplomat’s arrest in New York last December.

But the mood is more positive as the Bharatiya Janata Party government prepares to host Kerry, for the fifth India-U.S. Strategic Dialogue which will begin later this week.

The issue of the visa denial was set at rest after Modi’s election when the U.S. government reached out to him and invited him to visit Washington in September.

Chintamani Mahapatra, a professor at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, , recalls that the foundation for a closer India-U.S. relationship was laid by a previous BJP government 15 years ago. He expects Modi, who is widely regarded as a pragmatic leader, to do the same.

“Again the BJP is in power, they have history behind it, so they will improve relationship with the U.S.A with the sole aim of bettering India’s economic and defense capabilities and political credibility," he said.

Indian leaders are expected to pitch for more U.S. investment and trade as they look to restore the economy to a high growth path.

However, Manoj Joshi at the Observer Research Foundation in New Delhi points out that persisting disputes between the two countries over issues such as trade, protectionism and patents pose as roadblocks.

“Indian expectations are basically on the development front, because the focus of the Modi government is really on the issue of economic development," Joshi said. "Right now India and the U.S. have a certain number of problems with regards to WTO (World Trade Organization) and issues of IPR (intellectual property rights) etc. Certainly the Indian side would be expecting that the U.S. can be more helpful in those areas.”

Observers like Professor Mahapatra remain optimistic. He says such differences exist between the best of partners.

“These are going to be part of the process, they are not going to hurt, they are not going to break the relationship, but rather they will be part of the challenges that the two countries need to sort out through dialogue of the kind that John Kerry is going to hold," he said.

In India concerns are also running high that the withdrawal of international combat troops from Afghanistan could lead to a spike in terrorist violence in the region.

Joshi says this is a potential problem for a government that is stressing the need for security in South Asia.

“India has certain regional aspirations, certain regional policy, which the Modi government has been very active on," he noted. " I think certainly when it comes to countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan, the government of India would appreciate a U.S. policy which could promote stability in the region.”

The venue for the India-U.S. Strategic dialogue was shifted from Washington to New Delhi to give American officials an opportunity to meet top leaders of the BJP government.

Most observers expect that the dialogue, to be held Thursday, will give some momentum to the relationship, but do not expect any quick progress.

Video: President Obama: "If you're a strong man, you should not feel threatened by strong women."

President Obama participated at a Young African Leaders Presidential Summit Town Hall in Washington, D.C., July 28, 2014

POWER SCENARIO STILL BLEAK IN PAKISTAN – OPED

By Muhammad Waqas

When Sharif’s government came into power last year, it prioritized all efforts to overcome Pakistan’s nagging energy crisis.

The worsening problem of power outages across Pakistan, lasting up to 18 hours in some regions, had crippled the economy and dampened manufacturing output, leading to industrial shutdowns and massive layoffs. Amid much fanfare, the government launched several new power initiatives that promised to pull out the country from shadows of darkness and revive economic growth. Some of these major initiatives included the Thar Coal and Dasu hydel power projects, and Bhasha dam. These projects were envisioned to increase the country’s power generation capacity in coming years and reduce its reliance on expensive, imported furnace oil for power generation.

However, recent media reports suggest that some of these projects are in a limbo. It has been reported that the commissioning of multi-purpose Diamer Bhasha dam has been delayed by about 17 years and it will now be completed in 2037. The project has been postponed as the relevant authorities failed to arrange required financing for its construction. Instead, a decision has been made to focus all efforts on early completion of Dasu hydel power project.

Given the imminent threat of acute water shortage and floods faced by Pakistan, the government’s decision may come as a big surprise.

The Diamer Bhasha dam held strategic importance as it could have alleviated the country’s energy woes, while also averting floods and a famine-like situation due to water crisis. As a result of this delay, Pakistan may struggle to feed a rapidly-growing population, projected to touch about 260 million people by 2037. The country is already facing an acute level of ‘physical water scarcity’ and its mainly agriculture-based economy could face stunted growth in the coming years. It is feared that the project delay could prove to be a strategic mistake and pose an existential threat to Pakistan.

The Nandipur Power Plant is another sorry tale of corruption and starting projects only to gain political mileage. At the time of inauguration, Sharif had launched a scathing attack on the ex-government for putting the project on backburner and termed its delay an “unforgivable sin”. Ironically, the project was shut down only after operating for five days and generating electricity at a record high cost. According to power regulatory authorities, the project did not meet technical and legal requirements for smooth operations and its premature launch was intended merely for political point scoring. Other recently launched projects such as the Guddu Thermal Power Station and a 1320MW coal-fired plant also suffer from gross mismanagement and not being fully utilized for power generation.

Before the government signs further agreements to setup new power projects, it is advisable that focus is shifted to enforcing stricter controls and improving management of existing resources. In case the government fails to properly manage these projects, the country will continue to suffer from long spells of power outages and fail to turnaround its economy. The government should realize that any aggravation of the existing power crisis may put its authority and the country itself in a precarious situation.

‘Green And Clean Peshawar’ Claims Washed Away By Rain

Dunya News - ‘Green and Clean Peshawar’ claims... by dunyanews Claims of ‘Green and Clean Peshawar’ made by the government of Khyber Pakhtunkhawa (KPK) have yet again been washed away by rain just before the Eid. Even the idea of cancelling municipality staff holidays has not worked. While the tradition of 2 Eids in Peshawar remains alive, heaps of garbage in the streets and roads of provincial capital also portray the same sorry picture. Garbage containers are filled beyond their capacity. It can be guessed by looking at these containers how long it has been that the municipality staff last visited them.

Girls’ Right to Education Threatened in Balochistan

By Yousaf Ajab Baloch

Threats to girls for abandoning education in Pakistan’s Panjgur district and in other areas of Makran, has unfortunately failed to gain media attention or response from International human rights organizations.

Tanzeem-ul-Islami-ul-Furqan, is another Boko Haram in Balochistan, that has got forcibly closed down all private running schools and English learning centers in Panjgur district opposing coeducation and Western-style learning. In May 2014, Tanzeem-ul-Islami-ul-Furqan distributed pamphlets warning all private schools in the district to shut down girls’ education or to suffer the consequences. The pamphlets denounced female education as haram, an Islamic term referring to things forbidden.

The intimidation by this militant group on May 7 has caused panic and closure of all private educational institutions for last two months in Balochistan’s southern district of Panjgur. The armed men of Tanzeem-ul-Islami-ul-Furqan attacked and burned a school van of the Oasis School carrying female students in Panjgur on May 14. The students remained unhurt but the attackers beat the school head Major (retired) Hussain Ali, who was driving female students to school. After this attack all private school owners had decided to shut down the schools for an indefinite time considering the lack of security

Since the first day of receiving threats by militants, the students, teachers, human rights organizations and civil society are protesting against threats and demanding security. However, security officials made an announcement during a press conference in Panjgur on June 16 to reopen all non-government schools and English learning centers on June 23. Yet militants once again threatened to keep schools closed.

Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan in terms of area but the least populated. Despite its natural resources, Balochistan is very backward; only 36 percent of girls are receiving an education and 44 percent of boys are enrolled in school. But Panjgur is marked with an outstanding position in Balochistan and Pakistan due to its quality education. This credit goes to around 30 private institutions, including schools and English language centers, in the district.

Failure of government in reopening of schools and provision of security

The government of Balochistan claims to have imposed an educational emergency in Balochistan. The government assured action against extremist elements threatening private schools in Panjgur. However, the teachers and students still fear vengeance from extremists. Even in a seminar held in Quetta, Balochistan, Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch vowed to fight terrorists. Senator of the ruling party Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo emphasizes that Balochistan’s issues can be resolved through education and he says that there is no restriction on girls’ education in the province. He underscores the need for at least 26,000 primary schools in the province. However, the reality differs with the senator’s statements when we see educational institutions being closed after threats by religious extremists and government fails to ensure security.

Closure of schools a great menace

The closure of schools by extremists is a great menace to the already backward region. Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) observed this as the latest sign of extremism gnawing at the vitals of the country. HRCP in its official statement condemning the threats said, “These events intimidated most private schools — at least 35 private schools and 30 English language centers – and forced them to close their doors to about 25,000 students.”

HRCP explains

“The drive for stopping girls from going to school is not new in Pakistan – the attack on Malala Yousafzai is just the most infamous example – but it now seems to be spreading to parts of the country that had previously been spared. The Panjgur move is the latest attempt to deprive girls of education.”

On October 9, 2012, Malala Yousafzai, an education and peace campaigner, faced a deadly attack as a result of her campaign for girls education in Swat District of Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where the Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school.

Answering a question to this writer on July 20, 2014 via email regarding school closures in Balochistan, Malala said “What is happening to girls in Panjgur, we faced in Swat from 2007 to 2009. When more than 400 hundred schools were bombed or burnt and girls were banned to be going to school. Children, especially girls need complete safety and security to continue their education. It is the responsibility of the government to make schools safe havens not a place of terror and fear. Both teachers and pupil must be protected from all terror and violence.”

Seventeen-year-old Malala has received the EU’s Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. She has motivated thousands of women and leaders to educate women.

Considering the issue a great threat Ziauddin Yousafzai, the UN adviser on Global Education urged: “We strongly condemn the closure of schools by the terrorist organization. The federal government, provincial government and the law enforcing agencies must take an action to ensure the girls come back to school and resume their studies.”

Senior Baloch journalist Shahzada Zulfiqar wrote,

“The people of Panjgur suspect that security forces are involved in supporting Islamist groups to punish the Baloch people, who are considered to have liberal inclinations when it comes to education. According to them, the military establishment believes that their liberalism is the root cause of the on-going separatist movement.”

The rise of Talibanization and religious extremism in Balochistan is very alarming. The extremists’ moves against education – mainly girl’s education – are a great menace to the already deprived and backward land of Balochistan. It is the responsibility of the state to address the issue otherwise Balochistan may become Nigeria for another Boko Haram because the students and teachers’ lack security and are unable to continue their education.

If the government, international community and human rights organizations keep silence over this burning issue and the misinterpretation of Islamic teachings regarding education remain uninterrupted, the moves of extremists will push Balochistan back to the Stone Age.

US Aims for Afghanistan Elections Are a Whole Lot Different Than They Used to Be Share Tweet

By Gary Owen

Recent weeks have proven that Afghans haven't quite embraced American democracy — or if they have, it’s the Florida-in-2000 variety.

Afghanistan is, however, dealing with issues that are a bit more complicated than hanging chads. Right now the country is in the middle of a UN-supervised election audit that's the result of allegedly fraudulent votes cast during the recent runoff election between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah. What’s clear is that the audit will decide the winner, who will be the next leader of Afghanistan. What’s not clear is what powers the winner will have, or what role the loser will play in the new government.

Under the plan brokered by US Secretary of State John Kerry, the next president of Afghanistan won't have the same powers currently held by President Hamid Karzai, who enjoys the kind of dictatorial authority one typically associates with Nikita Khrushchev or Kris Kardashian. Instead, the next leader of the graveyard of common sense will share many of those powers with an additional executive officeholder along the lines of a prime minister. It’s a similar arrangement to what Vladimir Putin engineered in Russia so he could run for president a second time.

Given Karzai’s own ambitions, this approach could help him hold onto some measure of power. But whether or not that happens, the current arrangement isn’t a Karzai construct — it was orchestrated publicly by the United States. And while things may not wind up being as contentious between Kabul and Washington as they have been in recent years under Karzai, the days of an American puppet in the Arg are as done as Jose Canseco’s professional boxing career.

Kerry’s latest deal in Afghanistan upends a key tenet of the current Afghan constitution: presidential power. Ratified in 2004 with the blessing of the Bush White House, the constitution gave Afghanistan’s senior elected official executive powers that would make Dick Cheney blush. Under the current constitution, the Afghan president has more executive authority than his American counterpart, part of an effort by the United States to control Afghanistan through its president. Which worked just fine — as long as the Afghan chief executive stayed pliable.

In 2004, Karzai was the best president American money could buy. But money corrupts and reconstruction money corrupts absolutely, and so everything had changed by 2009. Reports of corruption in the Karzai administration were becoming unavoidable, and the US decided Karzai had to go. Attempts to sway the election in favor of his main opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, failed miserably, and America's relationship with Karzai was damaged beyond repair.

Now it’s 2014, and the Americans are once again playing a central role in an Afghan presidential election. But this time, instead of helping to pick a winner able to wield his official power to shape the country in his image, the current deal reshuffles power in Afghanistan along more reasonable lines. What should result is a government more capable of compromise and less prone to cronyism; sharing power between the president and a chief executive lessens the sway of any single party. That's not to say personal power won’t play a role in the new government — it just won’t be as easy for one man to enact his own agenda.

Though the deal has been met with optimism, it’s too early to declare this an unqualified victory for Kerry and the Americans. Almost as soon as Kerry left the country, the audit process, meant to move Afghanistan forward into this new power-sharing agreement, hit the first of what promised to be many roadblocks — the latest popped up this past Saturday — as the candidates struggled to agree to terms for the voting audit. Last week, President Barack Obama urged both Ghani and Abdullah to publicly support the UN’s audit process, a not-so-subtle reminder of what had been agreed upon during Kerry’s discussions with the presidential hopefuls.

Whether or not the Kerry-brokered agreement is going to be good for Afghanistan depends on what Ghani and Abdullah do next. If they agree with the audit results, regardless of who is declared the winner, there is the sense among Afghans that the country may be able to move past the American-engineered Karzai era. For Afghans, that's what this election has really been about, even though the story America wants to tell is that the election demonstrated Afghans are not afraid of the Taliban.

While Afghans see the value of the power-sharing agreement Kerry put together, they’re also concerned about American influence on the next Afghan president. And young Afghans in particular are not so sure that the next president will be any less corrupt than Karzai. There is a deeply held cynicism among many young Afghans, some of whom refused to vote because of perceived corruption. They don’t blame the current state of affairs entirely on the Americans, but they do insist that their country won’t be able to move forward on its own until the Afghan government is able to rely a little less on Washington for its survival.