Kazakh president in German hospital

Source: Daily Times Pakistan BERLIN: Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev is in hospital in Germany, but it is unclear what he is being treated for, the Bild daily reported on Tuesday. The 71-year-old “secretly” checked himself into the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in northern Germany, and is being guarded by a […]

Rebellions on the road to Damascus

Source: Dawn.com // http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?correlator=1311157193888&output=json_html&callback=GA_googleSetAdContentsBySlotForSync&impl=s&prev_afc=1&pstok=bjIxdBGz-YgKBRDup4cX&client=ca-pub-8258178831251847&slotname=Dawn_Columnists_inside_468x90&page_slots=Dawn_Columnists_Ip_top_728x90%2CDawn_Columnists_inside_468x90&cookie=ID%3D7bc0595e8816825a%3AT%3D1303908499%3AS%3DALNI_MaWM22AkqRAF5fH1tLDjMKxcxeZPw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dawn.com%2F2011%2F07%2F20%2Frebellions-on-the-road-to-damascus.html&ref=http%3A%2F%2Fdawn.com%2F&lmt=1311157193&dt=1311157198601&cc=100&biw=1007&bih=462&ifi=2&adk=501409342&u_tz=120&u_his=5&u_h=768&u_w=1024&u_ah=738&u_aw=1024&u_cd=24&u_nplug=7&u_nmime=23&flash=10.0.2&gads=v2&ga_vid=602765599.1310648883&ga_sid=1311157037&ga_hid=71281011&ga_fc=true THE events rocking Rupert Murdoch’s media empire have been compared to the ‘Arab Spring’. That may be an exaggeration, but there is at least one respect in which the analogy isn’t spurious: the British political establishment appears to have overcome its fear of Murdoch. // The […]

US war debt dances on the ceiling

Source: Asiatimes on line. No one knows the true cost in blood and treasure of the United States’ open wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and covert conflict in Pakistan over the past 10 years, but a recent report’s estimates of 225,000 dead and US$4 trillion spent may prove too conservative. […]

Ordination of a new bishop of Shantou

Source:Asiatimes on Line. SINOGRAPH The ordination of a new bishop of Shantou without papal blessing exposes simmering fissures between China and the Holy See in which the possibility of an objectively schismatic Church of China is becoming quite real. Now more than ever, all Catholics in China would be served […]

Execution videos strike terror in Pakistan

Source: Asiatimes on line. A video showing 16 Pakistani policemen, hands tied behind their backs, being executed by Taliban gunmen is a brutal reminder of how they mercilessly take revenge – in this instance to avenge the deaths of six children killed during security operations. Terrorized local people are more […]

“The war against drugs has failed”

by Marie-Christine Bonzom in Washington, swissinfo.ch A report by the Global Commission on Drug Policy has concluded that the war on drugs has failed, triggering a heated debate in the United States. The report, written by a high-profile panel including former Swiss cabinet minister Ruth Dreifuss, criticises the repressive approach […]

King Abdullah I remembered

AMMAN (Petra) – Jordan today marks the 60th anniversary of the death of His Majesty King Abdullah I (1882-1951), who was assassinated as he was entering Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for Friday prayers. King Abdullah I, the founder of the Kingdom, led the Arab forces of the Great Arab […]

China executes corrupt Hangzhou and Suzhou officials

China has executed two officials from eastern cities after convicting them of corruption. Xu Maiyong, a former vice-mayor of Hangzhou, and Jiang Renjie, who was vice-mayor of Suzhou, were put to death after their appeals were rejected. Officials said Xu and Jiang took almost 300m yuan ($46m; £29m) by embezzling and taking […]