Partly Facetious: China’s ‘soft power’ image
"China has sent fighter planes to ensure that its newly declared air space over islands that are currently held by Japan is not violated by the US, Japan and Korea."…
As bad loans mount, India gets tough on ‘wilful’ default
Kemrock Industries and Exports owns a golf course near its plant in western India and its chairman, Kalpesh Patel, talks of the high salaries he pays employees. Still, the company…
US asserts power in Asia with typhoon relief
The sprawling deck of the USS George Washington bustled with activity as helicopters and planes carrying people and goods landed and took off in quick succession. Crews communicated mainly through…
No real end in sight to Thailand’s political conflict
Thailand has experienced yet another month of mass street protests. The latest round of demonstrations may fizzle out or escalate, but they are unlikely to resolve Thailand's deep divide between…
Myitsone Dam project a timebomb for next Myanmar government
Aungmyintha "Model Village" in Myanmar's northern Kachin state didn't exist until three years ago, and its residents mostly wish it had never been built. It is one of two villages…
Remembering JFK
Today is the 50th anniversary of assassination of US President John F. Kennedy. Though the 35th US President never visited Pakistan, his wife did. The walls of the US consul…
Back to the future
DURING a week when we pondered over the iron man of India, Sardar Patel, and remembered the iron lady, Mrs Indira Gandhi, a question kept flitting through my thoughts. Did…
Terms of engagement
WHEN a US drone killed Taliban leader Hakeemullah Mehsud, Pakistan`s interior minister proclaimed it had killed the chances of negotiating peace with the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). In fact, Pakistani reactions…
Much ado about much
WHEN the curtain is pulled back some, when the cannibalisation begins, when rabid dog turns on rabid dog, those are the fascinating, scary moments. Someone said something stupid about martyrdom,…
Magic` and reality
BEFORE his death in a US drone strike, the Pakistani Taliban chief Hakeemullah Mehsud had started to feel better thanks to the `spiritual` healing at the hands of an Arab…
